Bulgaria's two top tennis players Grigor Dimitrov and Tsvetana Pironkova both exited the Australian Open in the second round on January 18. Pironkova once again stumbled at her usual second-round hurdle, but Dimitrov took 10th-seed Nicolas Almagro to five sets.

It was Dimitrov's second five-set match in a row, having defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 just two days earlier, but was unable to pull off the upset, losing 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 0-6.

Both players banked on a aggressive approach, but Dimitrov – who had pulled out of a preparation tournament in Sydney before the Australian Open – appeared to have aggravated an old injury late in the fourth set and looked in physical pain during the tie-break; nevertheless, he chose to finish out the match rather than retire.

Until then, the two were evenly matched, with Dimitrov scoring more winners (an edge he would keep despite his fifth-set collapse, 49 to 43) and both players often venturing close to the net, where the Bulgarian won more frequently than his opponent.

Pironkova lost 4-6, 4-6 to Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan, ranked 10 spots lower in the WTA Tour rankings. The two had met only once previously, also in Melbourne, with Pironkova prevailing in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open.

But in an ugly match that saw only six winners (one for Pironkova and five for her opponent), Voskoboeva capitalised on her numerous break points, converting five of 11 to wrap up the match in 87 minutes.