Venus Williams, Nadal Lose Openers

A day after her younger sister swept into the second round of the Australian Open, Venus Williams failed to match that seemingly modest achievement.

On Tuesday, the No. 8-seeded Williams was forcefully dispatched by Johanna Konta of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2. It was the third major main-draw win of Konta's career, her first in Melbourne and without doubt the biggest of her life.

Was Venus' 16th Australian Open her final appearance?

Konta, who was born in Australia and moved to Great Britain at the age of 14, is, incredibly, now 4-2 against top-10 players. She said after the match that she was hoping to last more than an hour. As it turned out, she lasted 79 minutes.

"I have a very strong belief in the way I want to play, the way I want to think," Konta said in her on-court interview. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and today, I won."

 Two days ago, Rafael Nadal told the media in Melbourne that he had an unlucky draw.

That was clearly understating it. With momentum shifting in seemingly every game of their 4-hour, 41-minute slugfest, Nadal finally succumbed to countryman Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Australian Open.

Verdasaco, who won the final six games of the match, ended the battle with a punishing 96 mph cross-court return winner, his 90th of the match.

For the second time in his career, Nadal suffered a first-round defeat in a Grand Slam. In 2013, 135th-ranked Steve Darcis shocked Nadal in straight sets at Wimbledon.

This was the worst possible start to the season for Nadal, who last season failed to reach a major final for the first time in a decade.