Top seed Li Na's eagerly-awaited return to action after her stunning Australian Open triumph last month ended in a bewildering loss to a qualifier in the third round of the Qatar Open.
The much-celebrated Chinese player appeared to have turned the match around when she came from behind to lead 3-1 in the final set against Petra Cetkowska, a Czech ranked outside the top 100, only to stumble to a 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-4 defeat.
True, Cetkowska has solid attacking ground-strokes which held up well against the forceful Li, and is making her way back from injury having once been in the top 30. She also won their last encounter, more than two years ago.
But Li had so many chances to grab hold of the contest in the final set, holding points for 3-0, 4-1, and 5-3, and was infuriatingly unable to convert any of them.
She also appeared to tire in a two-hour 46-minute tussle full of demanding rallies and emotional twists, and her error ratio soared worryingly as her attacks became less controlled.
Cetkowska admitted that she had tired too, adding: "I somehow just tried to play every single ball, and what has happened is so amazing."
What made the result even more surprising is that Li appeared to have benefitted greatly from a highly-charged moment in the second set when she might have gone a set and a break of serve down.
She swung a ferocious backhand drive close to the baseline, and heard it called out as a lunging Cetkowska managed only to get the edge of her racket to it.
Had that decision stood she would have gone 1-2, 15-40 down, but her appeal to the video review system showed the ball having touched the back edge of the line and the score became 30-all instead.
