17 January 2018 | Tennis Queensland

Ajla Tomljanovic and Lizette Cabrera were edged out in opening matches at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

Twenty-ninth seed Lucie Safarova had too much firepower in a 7-5 6-3 passage past Ajla Tomljanovic, who plays under the Australian flag at Grand Slams and was based in Brisbane until recently.

Safarova, reigning doubles champion at Melbourne Park, stole an early break, before the Aussie restored parity with a fizzing forehand return winner for 4-4 on the scoreboard.

Three games in a row sent the world No.29 a set up, but the left-hander met more stern resistance in the second set. Locked at 3-3, Safarova hooked a curving forehand passing shot just out of Tomljanovic’s reach to clinch the pivotal break.

Meanwhile wildcard Lizette Cabrera defied her ranking to push world No.70 Beatriz Haddad Maia in a finely poised match.

The Brazilian had cruised past Cabrera at Hobart last week to the loss of just five games, but the 20-year-old Australian sauntered to an early 3-0 advantage.

However, the world No.70 soon found her groove and took the first set into a tiebreak, which she dominated, ahead of building on that momentum for a 4-1 second set lead.

World No.161 Cabrera fought on valiantly and was able to chalk up 4-4. The Aussie youngster fended off break point with a sublime, disguised drop shot, but the Brazilian soon booked a second round ticket in straight sets.