The phrase "a poor start on" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe an unfavorable beginning to a project, task, or situation.
Example: "The team had a poor start on the new marketing campaign, which affected their overall performance."
Alternatives: "a bad beginning to" or "an unfortunate start to".
Callum MacLeod's 84 on debut helped Durham recover from a poor start on day one in the Championship Division One against Lancashire at Old Trafford.
However, Shanghai's Composite index recovered from a poor start on Tuesday and was up more than 2% in afternoon trading.
KANSAS 72, COLORADO 59 Darnell Jackson scored 18 points and No. 2 Kansas overcame a poor start on the road.
Home Retail Group, the Argos and Homebase owner, has got off to a poor start on its return to the FTSE 100, as retailers continue to be hit by concerns about Christmas trading.
In addition to Sprewell's comments about rotating with Glen Rice and Houston, Rice, who is also off to a poor start on the season, had talked about how tough it was to adjust to coming off the bench.
The 23-year-old, who crashed out of the 2008 BMX final in Beijing, finished sixth after a poor start on Friday.
Division Two strugglers Northants recovered from a poor start to end day one on a high against Derbyshire.
Kent spinner Adam Riley took four wickets but Surrey recovered from a poor start to reach 276-8 on day one.
One operator said he had seen such a poor start to the season on only two or three occasions but was optimistic that things would turn around.
Czech number one Berdych and Switzerland's Wawrinka, both 28, have reached career-high rankings in 2013 but with losing records against Nadal and Ferrer, neither can afford a poor start to Group A on Monday.
Levein was sacked on Monday following a poor start to Scotland's 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.
