Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna went down fighting to world number one Roger Federer in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle on Wednesday.
Bopanna, ranked 267, forced the Swiss into a first set tie-break before losing 7-6 (4), 6-2 in an hour an 11 minutes.
Federer, a three-times winner in Halle, won the first set tiebreak 7-4 before sealing his 37th successive win on grass. He will play France's Richard Gasquet in the next round.
Last year in Halle Federer struggled past Sweden's Robin Soderling in his first match after losing the first set, before beating Russia's Marat Safin in the final.
He then dropped just one set on his way to winning his third successive Wimbledon crown.
Earlier, Leander Paes and Czech partner Martin Damm, the third seeds, were ousted in the doubles first round. Chris Haggard of South Africa and Jiri Novak of Czech Republic beat the duo 7-6, 6-4, 10-8 to advance into the second round.
The big-built Indian, having won his three qualifying matches, served with purpose in he first set and fired six aces. He saved four break points to deny Federer, who was playing his first match on grass after losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal on Sunday, any advantage in the opening set.
Bopanna was also level 4-4 in the tie-break before Federer broke through to win it 7-4.
Once into the second set, and more comfortable on the surface, Federer pulled the trigger. He took the first service game off the Indian and attacked his serve, winning 50 per cent of the receiving points. Bopanna's game fell through once Federer took command, and he served four double faults and the first serve percentage also dropped to 32.
