The gloomy stat was sealed after Jelena Ostapenko eased past Kimberly Birrell on Tuesday evening in Melbourne.

The comeback has officially begun for the time-challenged Spaniard, who has moved into the quarterfinals in Brisbane.

Nadal's comeback from a year-long injury layoff has reached the Brisbane International quarterfinals after dominating Jason Kubler, 6-1, 6-2.

The Australian pair defeated Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski, 6-4, 7-6 (4), to complete their fairytale run that included saving a match point in the third round.

Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata may not be the easiest names to mash together—but the Australian Open doubles finalists will draw the line at “Team Kinky”.

In a match carried over to Thursday, Félix Auger-Aliassime endured the same fate when Jason Kubler ousted Newport's No. 1 seed.

The 2019 women's champion needed just 59 minutes to beat Paula Badosa, while the American achieved his best major result with his own dominant straight-set victory.