Djokovic crashes out of Brisbane International

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic''s preparations for the defense of his Australian Open title suffered an unexpected setback on Tuesday when the Serb was knocked out of the Brisbane International in the first round.

The 21-year-old world number three lost his debut match at the brand new Pat Rafter Arena to former training partner Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4 6-4.

Facing the prospect of arriving in Melbourne with only one competitive match under his belt this season before the start of the Open on January 19, Djokovic asked for and was granted a wildcard entry into next week''s Sydney International.

"I am not panicking," he told reporters.

"The Australian Open is my highest goal for this part of the year and I really want to play well there.

"It''s not the end of the world. It''s the first match, so I''m not going to be pessimistic.

"I have a lot of time now to prepare for the Aussie Open."

Djokovic''s hasty exit was a big disappointment for organizers of the Brisbane International, a new co-sanctioned event formed when the now-defunct Australian men''s and women''s hardcourt championships were merged.

Djokovic was the top seed and main drawcard and followed Marcos Baghdatis, Daniela Hantuchova, Francesca Schiavone and Ai Sugiyama, who all lost on Monday.

There were fewer casualties amongst the seeds on Tuesday.

The women''s second seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, survived a torrid workout from Slovakia''s Jarmila Gajdosova before winning 7-6 7-5 while third seed Marion Bartoli of France came from behind to defeat Hungary''s Melinda Czink 5-7 6-3 6-1.

Men''s fifth seed Tomas Berdych cruised past Australia''s Brydan Klein 6-0 6-4. Last year''s Australian Open finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was due to play Argentine Agustin Calleri in Tuesday''s showcase match at the brand new Pat Rafter Arena.

(Reporting by Julian Linden; editing by Pritha Sarkar)