Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2013 | Ethan James

Despite some vocal home crowd support, Australia’s Daniela Di Toro was unable to progress to the semifinal of women’s wheelchair tennis, as she fell to Lucy Shuker in three sets on Wednesday.

With family and friends cheering on from the stands, Di Toro claimed the first set but eventually went down to the seventh-ranked Brit 2-6 6-4 6-4.

“They’re just beautiful and incredibly respectful … they enjoy a good cheer for me but they’re also quite ready to cheer good tennis,” Di Toro said after the match.

“It’s a joy to be able to play with that kind of crowd.

“I think they’re just the best cheer squad in the world.”

Having received a wildcard into the main draw, and after a lengthy absence from the game due to injury, Di Toro said she had zero expectations heading into the opening round.

“I only started hitting balls last week … I could probably have done with a bit more time in the gym. My body was hating it midway through the second set but it was cool to get that far,” she said.

“Everyone in the top eight is just quality.”

On the men’s side of the draw, a gallant effort from Sydney’s Adam Kellerman wasn’t enough to overcome experienced Swede Stefan Olsson.

After claiming the wildcard playoff against fellow Australian Ben Weekes, world No.20 Adam Kellermann, playing in his first Grand Slam, went down 6-4 6-3 in his quarterfinal.

Writing on his official Facebook page, Kellerman said he will “learn from this experience and use it for the future”.