Sydney teenager Sophie Ferguson paid the price for daring to think about winning the second-round match at the Australian Open too soon.

Having claimed the opening set against powerful Russian Nadia Petrova, Ferguson was overrun and lost 4-6 6-0 6-1.

But not before giving the No.11 seed a sizeable scare on the biggest occasion of her young career before a capacity crowd on Rod Laver Arena.

"I probably fell away a bit physically and mentally," said Ferguson who dropped 10 straight games during the second and third sets.

"It was a tough first set, pretty mentally draining and she started to play better.

"She picked up her game and maybe I lost a bit of belief in my game and started going for shots that weren't on.

"Maybe I started thinking about winning the match a little too soon - I'd only won the first set, there was still a long way to go."

Petrova, 22, is a veteran of 20 grand slam tournaments and can boast a victory over Justine Henin-Hardenne at last year's US Open.

Ferguson's major experience extends no further than wildcard entries to the last two Australian Opens.

But throughout the opening set of the second-round encounter there was nothing between the pair.

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