Capriati's reign ended by waif-like Weingartner

Right until the final moment, it seemed unthinkable that Jennifer Capriati's famous fighting spirit would not prevail. But then the unthinkable happened: the defending champion of the Australian Open was ousted in the first round by a slightly-built German ranked No 90 in the world.

The 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 defeat by Marlene Weingartner was a crushing blow for Capriati, winner of the singles title at Melbourne Park two years running and hoping for a hat-trick this year. The 26-year-old American blamed poor preparation following an eye operation in November and her first-round exit from a warm-up tournament in Sydney last week.

"Probably if I wasn't the defending champion, I wouldn't have shown up," said a shaky-voiced Capriati. "She got on a roll; I felt the momentum swing, and mentally and physically I wasn't strong enough." Weingartner, who has never won a tournament and was playing in her first grand slam match on centre court, looked stunned after dispatching the No 3 seed in 1hr 49mins. "I think I played the big points well," she said. "I didn't really think about winning, I just tried to put her under pressure. I stayed in the match and fought. That was the key."

The 22-year-old German was initially overawed by Capriati, who breezed through the first set in 24 minutes, breaking serve three times and dropping her own just once. She then opened up a 4-2 lead in the second set, but her game suddenly deserted her and Weingartner won a tiebreaker. Capriati saved six break points in the third set, but Weingartner refused to give up. She kept her cool and set up match point on Capriati's serve; the American dumped the ball into the net.

The first woman champion to be beaten in the first round of the Australian Open, Capriati had surgery to remove sun spots from both eyes at the end of last season. She had to spend two weeks in the dark and it was four weeks before she was back full-time on the practice courts.

Her victory here in 2001 propelled her back to the top of the game after the career slump that followed her rebellious teenage years. Last year she sensationally fought back from the brink, saving four match points to defeat Martina Hingis. Her early exit smooths the path for one of the Williams sisters to claim the crown.

"It's disappointing but I guess I've got to look on the positive side," Capriati said. "I came here as defending champion and maybe didn't feel like I was at my best. But I put myself on the line and took that risk. I guess I would have to give myself credit for being strong enough to just come and try to fight."

Meanwhile, Britain's hopes evaporated at 2.08pm on the first day of the tournament when Elena Baltacha, the Kiev-born Scot, succumbed to the fast-serving Alexandra Stevenson. Baltacha, who lost 6-1, 6-4 to the Californian, was the only British player in the draw, with Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski both injured.

The 19-year-old British No 1 was floored by nerves in the first set, with Stevenson, the No 15 seed, breaking serve twice for a 5-0 lead. Baltacha, ranked No 157 in the world, recovered briefly in the second set but could not match the self-confident American, who sent 11 aces past her.

"She played really well today and there was nothing really that I could have done," said Baltacha, who reached the third round of Wimbledon last year but was beset by health problems for much of the season.

"It was a bit of a shock how she came out of the blocks, especially on her serve. I was really nervous at the start and once I got myself going, it was too late."

Baltacha, who was given a wild card into the tournament, suffered liver damage from heavy doses of antibiotics prescribed for chronic tonsillitis last year.

Conchita Martinez, the former Wimbledon champion, joined Capriati on the casualty list, losing to Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Two men's seeds fell by the wayside: Tommy Robredo, the Spanish No 26 seed, beaten 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 by Wayne Ferreira, and Andrei Pavel of Romania, the 21st seed, who retired injured in his match against Renzo Furlan.

Venus Williams, the second seed, swept past Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2, while Anna Kournikova won her first grand slam match in two years, beating Henrieta Nagyova. The No 5 seed, Justine Henin-Hardenne, and the No 9, Lyndsay Davenport, won easy matches, as did the men's No 2 seed, Andre Agassi.

Asia's two rising players both triumphed, with Thailand's Indian Open champion, Paradorn Srichaphan, beating Jürgen Melzer of Austria in four sets and last week's Sydney tournament winner, South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik, defeating Spain's David Ferrer.