Teen sensation Destanee Aiava has lost her maiden grand slam match to Germany’s Mona Barthel at the Australian Open.
The 16-year-old Australian – the first player born in the 2000s to contest a main-draw match at a major – was far from over-awed in a tight 6-3 7-6 (7-4) defeat.
Aiava dropped serve in the ninth game of the second set after pushing a straightforward forehand volley wide and then double-faulting.
The teenage wildcard then showed nerves of steel to save a match point and break straight back to level the set at 5-all.
But the German held sway in the tiebreak to see off the challenge from Aiava and advance to the second round.