Golubic stuns Vinci
Italian Roberta Vinci, a former US Open finalist, was one of the highest profile casualties of the qualifying round for the women's draw at the Miami Open tennis tournament after she lost in straight sets to Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic.
The 35-year-old Vinci, ranked 166th in the world, lost 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday to Golubic, 10 years her junior and ranked 99 places higher.
Britain's Katie Boulter fought back from a set down to defeat Canadian Carol Zhao 3-6, 7-6, 6-2.
The 21-year-old Boulter, ranked 208 and playing at Miami on a wild card, booked her place in the main draw.
Her qualification will soften the blow to British hopes after Heather Watson was eliminated in the first round by Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Russia's Natalia Vikhlyantseva, ranked 88 in the world, saw off the USA's Nicole Gibbs, world number 177, in straight sets 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
Canada's Eugenie Bouchard, a former Wimbledon finalist who was once ranked world number 5, lost 6-4, 6-3 to Sweden's world number 116 Rebecca Peterson.
Several high profile players in the qualifying and 1st rounds at Miami will take to the court starting Thursday.
Several, including Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza, Caroline Garcia, and Jelena Ostapenko, on Wednesday were participating in the tournament's Media Day.
Wozniacki, who is coming off the back of her maiden Grand Slam title after her win at the Australian Open in January, was confident that finally securing her first Major trophy would allow her to play more freely, although she said her preparation for Miami would be the same as with any tournament.
"I think once I go to the next Grand Slam -- the French Open -- I'll feel differently, I'll feel less pressure. I think that will be the biggest difference for me", Wozniacki said.
Forget slams ATP
Meanwhile, French Open director Guy Forget hit out at the ATP's plans to restart the World Team Cup, saying it could hurt the fortunes of the historic Davis Cup.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced last month a plan to run the Davis Cup -- traditionally played over four weekends spread across the season -over a single week in November from next year.
Separately the ATP is hoping to revive the World Team Cup to be played for the first time in eight years in January 2020, possibly only two months after the Davis Cup.
"We could end up with two strictly identical competitions a few weeks apart, which I think would be dangerous," said former world number four Forget.
"There is no place in the calendar to have two competitions of this kind. Whatever the format of the Davis Cup, I hope it will have the edge."
The ITF is hoping the possible change to a one-week format improves the appeal of the Davis Cup, as leading players, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, skip ties over scheduling concerns.
The ITF's proposal will be put forward at a meeting in August in Orlando.
Unlike the Davis Cup, the ATP's revived World Team Cup, announced last week, would offer world ranking points.
The last time the World Team Cup was played in 2012, Czech Tomas Berdych and Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic were the only top-20 players to take part.