JAMAICA’S top women’s tennis player, Alyssa James, saw her first Grand Slam appearance end at the opening hurdle of the Australian Open in Melbourne following a three-set loss to second-ranked Czech Jana Kovakova in first-round action on Monday night (Jamaican time).

The 17-year-old Jamaican fell 3–6, 7—6, 2–6 to the 15-year-old world number eight, marking her third defeat against Kovakova. It was their first meeting on a hard court.

They had previously faced each other twice on clay last year — in the first round in Offenbach, Germany, and the semi-finals in Zapopan, Mexico — with the Czech player winning both encounters in straight sets.

James will now turn her attention to the junior girls’ doubles during which she and her Polish partner, Maja Pawelska, advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating Clara Harding of the United States and Rira Kosaka of Japan 2–6, 6–4, 10–6.

They will next face the fifth-ranked duo of Mariella Thamm of Germany and Rulen Zhang of China.