Another coachless Australian, Casey Dellacqua, suffered a first round loss to highly rated Serb Ana Ivanovic at the Sydney International tennis tournament.

Perth's Dellacqua went down 6-3 6-4 in a rain-interrupted match to the world No.14 and said life without a coach - a situation compatriot Lleyton Hewitt is getting used to - was tough.

"Coaching support is vital, obviously I know my game well but there's no-one watching me to tell me what I'm doing right or wrong or to give me tips on players that I'm going to be playing," she said.

"It is hard not having a coach and obviously for 2007 that's something that I would look at." The world No.157 has also been without guidance from Tennis Australia's elite development program since the French Open in May.

"I guess I just didn't fit into the program or what they wanted and I guess I've just made the choice to get out there and try and do it by myself," Dellacqua said.

"I don't know next year what's going on or anything or where I fit in but right now I've just hired a fitness trainer myself and kind of just been doing everything myself.

"They (TA) pretty much I guess want me to go out and do it for myself.

"I'm not really sure the rationale behind it." The 21-year-old left-hander said she was in better shape than she had been in 2006 as she looks to make it past the first round of the Australian Open for the first time in her fifth attempt.

"I'm getting there, I'm ten times better than I was in 2006," she said.

"Obviously it's a work in progress.

"I really feel like this year I've got an opportunity if I played someone like obviously probably out of the top ten, I could probably beat, have a good win." In other matches on a day hit by several rain delays, China's Na Li downed Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-5, Israel's Shahar Peer beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-4 6-2 and eighth seed Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic defeated Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-4.

On the men's side of the draw, Swede Joachim Johansson withdrew with an infected blister on his right foot, his place to be taken by a lucky loser.

The tournament gets underway in earnest with big names Martina Hingis and Marcos Baghdatis in action, along with Australian women Samantha Stosur and Nicole Pratt.

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