Frustrated defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova has crashed out of the Moorilla Hobart International quarterfinals at the hands of German qualifier Mona Barthel.
Poor serving and a litany of unforced errors saw her fall 2-6 6-3 6-2.
The meltdown came after Gajdosova had declared she was ready to break her Australian Open drought, which stands at six first round losses from as many attempts at Melbourne Park.
The fifth seed managed to land just 51 per cent of her first serves, one of the biggest weapons in her armoury.
Giant-killer Barthel, the world No.64 who ousted second seed Anabel Median Garrigues in the second round, will now play fourth seed and US Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber, who beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-0 3-6 7-5.
Gajdosova raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set and produced a scorching forehand return to break Barthel for the third time at 5-2.
She saved three break points to serve out the set after 31 minutes.
But the Australian slipped to 3-0 down in the second as the errors crept into her game and called a coach in for a courtside pep talk.
It didn’t achieve much and Barthel served for the set at 5-3, converting her first set point.
Gajdosova’s frustration boiled over when she was broken to go 2-1 down in the third and she lost the next three games before Barthel served it out, converting her second match point after one hour, 50 minutes.