There was drama early on as Sonay Kartal finally took to the court to make her Australian Open main draw debut.
The British No. 3 was made to wait hours to get on the court after rain wreaked havoc on day one.
And there was more chaos when play got underway as Kartal was left frustrated by a rogue electronic line call that interrupted the players.
The Brit got on the board early on, holding to take a 1-0 lead over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. But there was chaos after Bouzas Maneiro stepped up to serve.
Electronic line calling is used at the Australian Open, with ‘out’ calls coming automatically whenever a player sends the ball outside the lines. And one came as soon as the world No. 54 served for the first time.
Both players stopped in response, with Bouzas Maneiro nonchalantly hitting the ball back over the net as Kartal halted.
But, to their surprise, the chair umpire gave the Spaniard the point and called the score at 15-0. Kartal was stunned, waving her arms in disbelief.
“The call came as out, the electronic line call. What is going on there?” commentator Chris Bradnam asked.
It quickly emerged that the call was from an adjacent court, coincidentally coming at the same time Bouzas Maneiro hit her serve.
Bradnam added: “I think it was from another court. That’s surprised everybody. That was weird. What are the chances of a call coming from another court and that exact moment.”
The Brit conceded once she realised the confusion and continued playing as normal. But things quickly went from bad to worse for Kartal.
The world No. 87 didn’t win another game in the first set as Bouzas Maneiro stormed through, winning the opener 6-1 in just half an hour. The Spaniard kept on rolling, taking an early break lead in the second.
Kartal has little experience at the Grand Slams. The 2025 Australian Open is her first main draw appearance at any Major outside of Wimbledon. She got in off her own ranking after cracking the top 100 in 2024.
The 23-year-old reached the third round at Wimbledon last year but, prior to that, had never won a match at Grand Slam level.
Bouzas Maneiro was also making her main draw debut in Melbourne – the only Major she had yet to play. But the 22-year-old knows how to put together a great run at a Slam.
She stunned reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova at SW19 last year to get her first win at any Grand Slam and went on to reach round three. Bouzas Maneiro backed it up by getting to the third round of the US Open, beating another Brit – Katie Boulter – en route.
