And on a day when the main draw belatedly began at Victoria Park, after Typhoon Koinu-enforced delays, Eudice Chong of Hong Kong bowed out following two tight sets with Australian Priscilla Hon.

Ukrainian Yastremska, the 2018 winner, refused to pose for pictures with her Russian opponent before the match. Added to an earlier announcement telling spectators the players would not shake hands, it all made for a rather unsavoury opening gambit for a tournament returning after five years away.

Yastremska was increasingly tetchy as the match reached its conclusion, and when it was over after one hour and 22 minutes the players neither met at the net, nor made eye contact.

The outcome was a repeat of the pair’s meeting in Lausanne in July, where Yastremska called for WTA sanctions against Andreeva, after the teenager liked a social media post supporting Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“I tried to think only about the match, and on court my only thought was to win as many points as possible,” Andreeva said.

Centre Court was barely half-full for the beginning of Yastremska’s title defence, but those who showed up were treated to a succession of bludgeoning exchanges from the back of the court.

However, Yastremska’s formerly sound groundstrokes, and perhaps her nerve, betrayed her at 4-4 in the opening set.

Locked at 30-30 in the ninth game, Yastremska dumped a backhand into the net, then went long with a forehand from midcourt, leaving Andreeva to comfortably close out the set.

Yastremska double faulted to lose her serve to love and trail 4-3 in the second set. The floodlights piercing the afternoon gloom struck a notable contrast to Yastremska’s darkening mood, and she duly fell away, coughing up a series of unforced errors for Andreeva to cruise through 6-4, 6-3.

The attendance had grown and artificial light had completely replaced the natural variety, when Azarenka arrived on court.

The 34-year-old former world No 1 initially showed no signs of a hangover from her shock first-round exit at last week’s China Open. Azarenka broke Fernandez three times and won 71 per cent of points on her first serve to earn a one-set lead.

And the two-time Australian Open champion appeared to be taking charge of the second when she levelled from 2-0 down, only to hurt herself chasing a Fernandez forehand into the corner.

A visibly infuriated Azarenka hurled her racquet at her seat before the changeover, but played on after a medical timeout. No amount of stretching and flexing, goodwill from the crowd, or downright stubbornness could convince the uncooperative joint to play ball, and Azarenka slammed her racquet to the ground at 4-3 down, before retiring after Fernandez won the next two games to level the match.

“When I see someone struggling I want to help,” Fernandez said. “ I had to try to put aside my emotions and do what I needed to. It was difficult, because I am a super-nice person, which sometimes is my downfall.”

Hong Kong’s Chong served for the second set but was eventually beaten 7-5, 7-5 by Hon of Australia, who advanced to a last-16 meeting with Russian fifth seed Anna Blinkova.

Chong’s compatriots Wu Ho-ching and Cody Wong Hong-yi are in first-round action on Wednesday.