Birmingham, London , 8 June 2011 | AP

Australians enjoyed a mixed day at the WTA event in Birmingham on Tuesday, with Casey Dellacqua advancing to the second round, while Anastasia Rodionova crashed out.

Dellacqua took her place in the next round thanks to a 7-5 7-6 (7-5) straight sets victory over Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic.

Rodionova, meanwhile, fought hard but was unable to finish the job in her 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 loss to American Christina McHale.

In the biggest upset of the day, Russian qualifier Arina Rodionova knocked off top-seeded Kaia Kanepi 6-4 6-2.

The Estonian, who had a first-round bye, was broken once in the first set and twice in the second in her first match on the surface for almost a year.

Rodionova, who had had two matches in qualifying, advanced to the round of 16 against 2009 champion Magdalena Rybarikova after the 14th-seeded Slovakian beat Coco Vandeweghe of South Africa 6-2 6-1.

“I remember last year when I played in (qualifying) here, it was much easier for me in the main draw,” said Kanepi, whose world ranking of No.17 is more than 200 places higher than Rodionova’s.

“I think I didn’t have any rhythm at all and she played very well. I didn’t move her around and it’s pretty difficult to have a ‘Plan B’ on grass if your game’s not working.”

Mirjana Lucic defeated the only other seeded player to lose, saving a match point to win 6-7 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 against No.5 Roberta Vinci of Italy.

“I am very impressed and very happy that I can get a win like this,” Lucic said.

“Sometimes when you start the grass-court season you have to prepare your mind as well as your body. You have to stay positive, and I felt like I did that.”

Lucic will play either ninth-seeded Ayumi Morita of Japan or Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic in the round of 16.