Johanna Konta is still waiting for her first win of the 2016 season after she exited the Hobart International with a first-round defeat to Dominika Cibulkova.
The British number one slipped to a 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 loss, but she will be regretting missed chances as she wasted five first-set points and failed to capitalise on three break of Cibulkova's serve in the second.
It looked like being a far more routine defeat for Australia-born Konta as she lost the first four games of the match, struggling to cope with the third seed's power from the baseline.
But from 5-1 down she mounted an impressive recovery to take the first set to a tie-break, which she then bossed, taking a commanding 6-1 lead.
However, a capitulation allowed Cibulkova to reel off seven successive points to take the breaker 8/6.
The second set was a topsy-turvy affair that contained seven break of serves.
Konta was in the early ascendancy, breaking to go 2-0 and 3-1 to the good, but each time she conceded her own serve straight away before another exchange of breaks saw it head to 5-5.
Then Cibulkova got a vital fourth break in the 11th game, coming back from 0-40, to leave her serving for the match.
Konta gave herself a chance, forcing 0-30, but the Slovakian served it out to book her place in the second round.
Source: PA
