Hosts Australia got off to a losing start at the Hopman Cup after suffering a 0-3 defeat from the hands of Poland at the on Sunday.

Earlier, a lethal performance from World No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanka, gave Poland an early lead, as the former pulled off a serene 6-2, 6-3 win over Casey Dellacqua in the opening clash.

“It was an extremely tough match first up, but I gave what I had,” AAP quoted Dellacqua as saying. “Obviously it wasn’t good enough to beat someone like Radwanska.

In the men’s rubber, Australian Matt Ebden almost clinched a stunner over Jerzy Janowicz, before the latter capitalized on his counterpart’s calf injury. Eventually, Janowicz went on to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 to hand over Poland an unassailable lead.

The Australians could not even salvage pride in the mixed doubles rubber, as Dellacqua and substitute Ben Mitchell went down to Radwanksa and Janowicz, 6-8.

Earlier in the day, Czech Republic had triumphed over Canada in the tournament opener.