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Federer crashes out of Rome Masters to Gulbis

Roger Federer completely lost his game after the first set against Ernests Gulbis © Getty Images

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Reigning French Open champion Roger Federer crashed out in his first match at the Rome Masters on Tuesday, committing a plethora of unforced errors to lose to the dangerous Ernests Gulbis 2-6 6-1 7-5.

Federer has never won the title at Foro Italico, having twiced finished runner-up in 2003 and 2006. Yet he had extra incentive to go one step further this year, knowing victory would move him level with Bjorn Borg on 63 career titles in the Open Era.

Furthermore, the world No. 1 is currently locked on 16 ATP Masters shields with Rafael Nadal, one behind the all-time record holder Andre Agassi. Nadal now has a free run at Agassi when he begins his title defence on Wednesday.

Against Gulbis there were initially glimpses of the Roger Federer who won at Roland Garros for the first time last year, a victory that came during a superb clay court season that saw him compile an 18-2 record. Having already bagged this year's first Grand Slam at the Australian Open, Federer would love to put himself in position for a charge at the clean sweep by retaining the French.

He looked in the mood to prepare in perfect style too as Gulbis, who beat Marcos Baghdatis comfortably in round one, was distinctly outclassed in the first set, picking up just one point behind his second serve as Federer mixed clever angles with a high level of consistency. Two breaks handed the Swiss the set without even a hint of the red clay dirtying his crisp white shirt.

Federer has been a world No. 1 for a total of 280 weeks during his career, and seven more would take him past Pete Sampras's record of 286 weeks. June 14 is the date on the horizon, and victory at the Rome Masters would have more-or-less guaranteed the landmark.

However, at 21 years of age, world No. 40 Gulbis is growing into a dangerman for the game's top players, and he capitalised on a rash of unforced errors from Federer to force two breaks of serve in order to claim the second set. Combining a big serve with a smearing forehand, Gulbis was turning on the kind of tennis that Juan Martin Del Potro so troubled Federer with in the 2009 US Open final.

The rot continued into the final set as a Federer forehand drifted long to hand Gulbis his third break of the match, but the Latvian - who had not beaten a top-10 opponent in his previous 10 attempts - choked on six match points. Back level at 5-5, Gulbis appeared to have lost his chance, but he somehow found the resolve to break again before finally closing out the contest when Federer dumped the ball into the net.

"That's the best win of my career," Gulbis told Sky Sports. "I was really scared to win. He kept putting the ball in the court and I was scared to win. It was an interesting feeling.

"My whole body was shaking, and even now I'm still shaking. I cannot believe I won. My confidence could not be higher now."

Novak Djokovic has only ever been beaten by Rafael Nadal in Rome © Getty Images

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Last year's losing finalist Novak Djokovic looks sure to have a major say in the outcome of the 2010 Rome Masters after he moved ominously into round three with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Jeremy Chardy.

Djokovic lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 final, and the Spanish clay court king is currently the only man to have beaten Djokovic in the three years he has been coming to Foro Italico. Nadal beat the Serbian in the quarter-final back in 2007, while Djokovic got the better of Stanislas Wawrinka to get his hands on the title in 2008.

World No. 46 Chardy was not even allowed a foothold on the newly-opened centre court on Tuesday, losing his opening service game to fall 2-0 behind. Djokovic smelt blood and in the blink of an eye the first set was wrapped up 6-1.

Chardy had never beaten his rival in three previous attempts, and David Nalbandian is the only top 10 opponent he has ever enjoyed success against, coming from two sets down at Roland Garros two years ago.

Djokovic's superiority was clear, and another break of serve in Chardy's first of the second set made it clear he was not about to ease the intensity. Winning over 80 percent of points on the Frenchman's second serve, Djokovic powered towards match point with a stunning backhand off his back foot, and he clinched the contest when Chardy volleyed wide of the tram lines.

Victor Hanescu is also into round three after he beat Juan Monaco 7-6(4) 6-4. Hanescu edged a tight first-set tiebreaker to break Monaco's resistance, knocking the 16th seed out in a match that could have swung either way.

Lleyton Hewitt battled his way into the second round after he saw off a spirited fightback from Mikhail Youzhny to triumph 6-4 4-6 6-3. Hewitt raced out of the blocks against his ninth-seeded opponent, breaking in the third game before going on to take the opening set. It then looked like the second stanza would follow suit as Hewitt secured a break in the third game once again, but Youzhny dug deep to turn the tables.

The Russian levelled at 3-3 when Hewitt dumped the ball into the net, and then a further break of serve brought parity to the match at one set apiece. With tension high throughout the first six games of the third set, Hewitt finally made the breakthrough for a 4-3 lead, and the Australian's passage into round two was confirmed when Youzhny sent an unforced error into the net.

Stanislas Wawrinka, who was a beaten finalist in 2008, made extremely light work of his opening match against Jurgen Melzer, defeating the Austrian 6-1 6-2. Wawrinka broke twice in either set to wrap the match up inside an hour.

Elsewhere, Feliciano Lopez served 11 aces in a 6-4 6-3 victory over Benjamin Becker, Simone Bolelli broke four times to beat Simon Greul 6-4 6-1, and the exertions of Barcelona Open semi-finalist Thiemo De Bakker took their toll as he retired due to injury when poised at 6-3 1-6 0-1 against Viktor Troicki.

No.13 seed David Ferrer made quick work of Evgeny Korolev with a 6-4 6-1 victory in just 70 minutes. Nicolas Almagro came back from a set down to beat Lukasz Kubot 6-7 6-2 6-3 while Thomaz Bellucci outlasted Leonardo Mayer 6-4 3-6 6-1 in the battle of the 22-year-olds.

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