Gavrilova the eighth local Open winner

Samantha Stosur led a day-two Australian exodus at Melbourne Park, but in Andrew Whittington, local fans found someone worth shouting about.

The world no.194 wasn’t daunted in his first major, earning a 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-3 success over Czech Adam Pavlasek.

By sundown, he was joined by Jordan Thompson as a second-day success.

And late on Tuesday, fan favourite Daria Gavrilova also won through to the second round.

For those three successes, there were seven losses on a disappointing day for Australian hopes.

Stosur was joined by qualifiers Alex Bolt and Blake Mott and wildcards Omar Jasika, Chris O’Connell, Lizette Cabrera and Arina Rodionova as day-two losers.

From a total of 18 Australian starters, eight have won through to the second round – including first day winners Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic, Alex De Minaur, Ashleigh Barty and Jaimee Fourlis.

For Whittington and Thompson, Tuesday’s sweltering heat also brought maiden major first-round wins.

Thompson outgunned world No.37 Joao Sousa of Portugal despite giving away the first two sets, triumphing 6-7 (2-7) 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1.

The pair of unheralded Aussie aces shone brighter than the highest-ranked local in action on Tuesday.

Stosur was slow out of the blocks and couldn’t win the points that counted in a 6-3 3-6 6-0 defeat to Brit Heather Watson.

The Queenslander played a flat first set, found her groove in the second and collapsed in the decider.

Stosur’s unforced errors (47) tallied almost half of Watson’s points (103) in the two hour, 15 minute struggle.

It was an all too familiar feeling for the 32-year-old, leaving her home major after the first round for the second successive year.

“You get a bit sick of this feeling,” she said.

“You’re disappointed – you’re upset, angry.

“I feel like I’ve done everything I can to try and prepare as best as I can. I gave it my best shot and it didn’t happen again.”

Gavrilova got one back for Australia over the mother country when she defeated Brit Naomi Broady 3-6 6-5 7-5 in just under two hours.

Whittington capped the best 12 months of his career with a first grand slam success in his debut major.

The Melburnian rose almost 400 rankings places in a tremendous 2016 and celebrated with family.

“It was an unbelievable feeling out there and just great to get the win,” he said.

The 23-year-old said he was driven to join day-one victors Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic, Alex De Minaur, Ashleigh Barty and Jaimee Fourlis.

“It’s good to have a lot of Aussies in the draw and a couple of your best mates as well,” he said.

“We’re getting the job done as well which is even better.

“It’s a great feeling for everyone. Hopefully, we’ll just keep pushing each other.”

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