Defending champion Ashleigh Barty has been bundled out of the Adelaide International after suffering a shock 6-3 6-4 loss to American Danielle Collins.
The second-round clash was the world No.1’s first outing since her disappointing Australian Open quarter-final loss against 25th seed Karolina Muchova.
For the second-straight match, Barty was below her best and Collins took full advantage to avenge last year’s semi-final loss at the hands of the Queenslander.
Barty built an early 3-1 lead in the opening set but was quickly overrun by the world No.37, who rattled off five straight games.
Collins found the rapid surface at Memorial Drive to her liking as she dictated terms from the baseline and took advantage of Barty’s misfiring first serve.
It was a similar story in the second set as Aussie wrestled back the momentum to take a 4-1 lead.
But once again the American produced a run of five-straight games to shock the top seed, - and the parochial home crowd – in just 65 minutes.
Despite the loss, Barty will hold onto the No.1 ranking for now but has opened the door for 2021 Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka to close the gap in the coming weeks.
Collins will meet Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals after the Polish fifth seed beat Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis in straight sets, 6-1 6-3, on Wednesday night.
Earlier on Wednesday, Australian world No.292 Storm Sanders upset seventh seed Yulia Putintseva, 6-4 5-7 6-1 to progress to the final eight.
