Djokovic will be glad of his wildcard entry to the Sydney International [GALLO/GETTY]

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.

Early days

"I am not panicking," the Serbian top seed said.

"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."

Gulbis had lost his two previous matches to Djokovic but was not getting carried away with his victory.

"It is probably one of my best wins but best games I don't think so, I have had some beautiful losses," he said.

Djokovic's hasty exit was a big disappointment for organisers 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 main drawcard and followed Marcos Baghdatis, Daniela Hantuchova, Francesca Schiavone and Ai Sugiyama, who all lost on Monday.

Fewer casualties

There were fewer casualties amongst the seeds on Tuesday.

Last year's Australian Open runner-up and second seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, beat Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-2 7-5 to emerge as the new favourite to win in Brisbane.

"I have more of a chance than Novak to win this tournament," Tsonga joked.

Men's fifth seed Tomas Berdych cruised past Australia's Brydan Klein 6-0 6-4.

Women's second seed Victoria Azarenka survived a torrid workout from Slovakia's Jarmila Gajdosova before winning 7-6 7-5, while third seed Marion Bartoli of France defeated Hungary's Melinda Czink 5-7 6-3 6-1.

Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva made a successful start to her first tournament in Australia since 2005 by beating Czech Iveta Benesova 1-6 6-4 6-2.

The 19-year-old returned to professional tennis 12 months ago after serving a two-year doping ban and said she felt like she was starting all over again.

"I kind of feel like a rookie again which is not bad, I kind of like it," she said.

"(But) I feel like the grandmother on tour, you know, seeing all these 14 and 15 year olds.

"I remember when I was 14, 15 and I was like 'Oh my God, I'm playing this 20-year-old grandmother.

"I can understand perfectly."