Greg Rusedski and Pat Rafter crashed out of the Sydney International yesterday at the first-round stage.
The British No.2's bad start to the year continued when he was defeated 6-1, 3-6, 4-6 by Gustavo Kuerten, meaning Rusedski has now notched up early exits in both the opening ATP tournaments of the year.
Last week, Rusedski fluffed his match against German Bernd Karbacher in the Qatar Open, while his British rival Tim Henman made the final.
However, Rusedski, who now goes into next week's Australian Open in Melbourne with just two competitive matches under his belt since the end of last season, was calm after the latest blow.
''There's nothing to be negative about, nothing to be down about it,'' he said. ''Kuerten just played a great match, he was just too good.''
World No.4 Rafter was beaten by fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt, aged just 17. Rafter went down 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 against Hewitt, who reached the final of the Adelaide tournament last week.
Rafter's game disintegrated after having lost a first-set tie-breaker. He had two breaks on his service and made several unforced errors.
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