Sunday's torrential rain wasn't the only gloomy part from an Australian perspective, with all four locals bowing out of Melbourne Park despite two comfortable leads.
On Margaret Court Arena, wildcard Daria Saville entered all guns blazing against Russia's Anna Blinkova to drop the sole game and race out to a one-set lead in half an hour.
But a slight dip in form was always on the cards, and the 30-year-old will be left to rue missed opportunities after only converting three break-point chances from a possible 15.
After a gruelling one hour and 13-minute third set, Blinkova's hard-hitting and precision proved enough to secure a come-from-behind 1-6 6-4 7-5 win.
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The nightmare didn't end there, because roughly at the same time, world No.90 Adam Walton failed to run away with a two-set advantage to bow out against Frances Quentin Halys.
Halys' whopping 31 aces, 88 winners and 84 per cent win rate on first serves contributed greatly towards the 28-year-old's commendable comeback in front of a passionate pro-Aussie crowd on Court 3, progressing 4-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(4) 7-5.
Elsewhere, Li Tu, who received a wildcard to enter the main draw, put up a gallant fight against No.24 seed Jiří Lehečka, going down 1-6 6-3 3-6 6-7(1) on the first night session match at Margaret Court.
A routine put-away volley to break back at 3-5 in the third set was wasted by the Australian battler, while dropping seven consecutive points in the fourth-set tie-break also wasn't ideal.
Omar Jasika, who won five straight ITF tournaments at the back end of last season, exited the tournament with a 2-6 6-3 2-6 2-6 loss at the hands of 24-year-old Frenchman Hugo Gaston.
The 27-year-old Victorian became the first player in 28 years to win the US Open boys' singles and boys' doubles title in 2014.
Thankful to Tennis Australia for providing a wildcard to him, the world No.179 has set new goals for this season.
"Hopefully, I can have a career-high this year and try and break into the top-100," Jasika said.
"That’s the goal for me, for sure."
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