Latvian Ermests Gulbis, the World No. 40, knocked out top seed and two-time runner-up Roger Federer of Switzerland 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 for a place in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia third round.It is the first time since 2002 that Federer has lost before the quarter-finals in three straight ATP World Tour tournaments. In his past two tournaments, Federer has lost to Marcos Baghdatis in the BNP Paribas Open third round at Indian Wells and to Tomas Berdych at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
It also represents Federer's first opening-round loss at the Foro Italico, venue of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, since 2002.
"I hope I can bounce back, it's usually what I do after a loss like this," said Federer, who had beaten Gulbis in three sets in the pair's first meeting at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha in January.
"Sometimes it takes a loss to shake your mind through. When you lose, you understand how difficult it is to dominate this tour. This knockout format is brutal - one week you are great and the next week you are terrible.
"My game wasn't up to speed, even at 5-5. My serve wasn't working at all by then and from the baseline I wasn't making the balls. I need to put in the hard yards."
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