Jelena Dokic ran true to the miserable form she has shown this season, falling 6-3 6-0 to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in the first round of the China Open on Tuesday.

After struggling with unforced errors and Tamarine's strong serve in the first set, a visibly dejected Dokic fell apart in the second, hanging her head and losing the will to chase the ball.

The former world number four from Serbia and Montenegro has had a nightmare tennis year in 2004, losing in the first round of the three grand slam tournaments she has played and dropping to 43rd in the rankings.

In other first-round matches, Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland beat Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi 2-6 6-4 6-3 while Russian Vera Douchevina overcame Anca Barna of Germany 2-6 6-2 6-3.

It was a mixed day for Chinese hopefuls with Li Na beating Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-3 6-2 but Sun Tiantian overpowered 6-4 6-2 Croatia's Sanda Mamic.

Li, who entered the tournament in the last round of qualifiers on Monday, will face newly-crowned U.S. Open champion and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.

The Russian is on a hot streak after winning her first grand slam title at Flushing Meadows and the Bali WTA event over the last two weeks.

"The less I think about that match the better," Li told reporters. "I'll be happy if I can play my style and don't embarrass myself."

(China Daily September 22, 2004)