Badosa lost her inaugural meeting with Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-4 6-4 after two hard-fought 50 minute sets in which she struggled to discover her best tennis.

The world number 26 looks set to plummet at least 40 places down the WTA rankings after failing to defend her rankings points earned during her remarkable run to the semi-finals in Melbourne last year.

Humble as always, Badosa began her post-match chat with Flashscore by drawing attention to her opponent Selekhmeteva, who battled hard to save nine of 12 break points.

"First of all, praise to her (Selekhmeteva)," Badosa said.

"She played good tennis. She played at a very good level.

"On my side of the court, I didn’t feel myself. I didn’t feel I was playing good tennis. I was uncomfortable right from the beginning. It is what it is - I have to accept it and keep working.”

Considered one of the top-ten servers of the WTA circuit of the last 52 weeks according to the Elo rating system, Badosa registered a first serve percentage of only 47% in the first set and won just 53% of first serve points, whilst a slight adjustment between sets yielded slightly better serve stats but couldn't ultimately save the match.

Unseasonably cold summer winds didn't help, but Badosa explained that she has been battling with serving issues throughout the start of the season.

"It was a bit windy and that was impacting my serve a little," Badosa said.

"I’ve not been feeling great with my serve lately, and it’s one of my best shots so I’ll have to go home and keep working on it. Hopefully in the next tournaments it starts working again.”

“I think (the wind) was (hard) for both of us, so I have to be fair there. It definitely wasn’t helping me. Playing a lefty, she did everything really well with the angles and made me uncomfortable from the beginning.”

Badosa's live ranking dropped from 26 to 66 as a result of her premature exit, and whilst that remains subject to change throughout the tournament, it'll leave her with plenty of work to do when the tour heads to the Middle East in February.