Canadian Denis Shapovalov squandered a one-set lead and lost in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the first round of the lawn tennis tournament from Stuttgart on Tuesday.
Facing an 86 ranked rivale at the ATP and who had to go through qualifying, Shapovalov was erratic on serve, committing 11 double faults for only two successful aces.
The 24-year-old Ontarian, 29e in the world, finished the match with a success rate of only 44% in first serves, despite winning 76% of the points after lodging his first serve in play.
However, Fucsovics was better in both categories, with a 66% efficiency rate on first serve, and 78% of points earned after placing his first ball in play.
Shapovalov was often struggling on his serve. He offered nine break points to Fucsovics, who converted three.
The Canadian took the lead in the match by making one of his two breaks of the day, in the fourth game of the initial set. This was enough to allow him to win this first round.
Fucsovics, however, forced a decisive set with his first break of the match, in the sixth game of the second set.
The 31-year-old Hungarian followed that up with breaks in the first and fifth games of the third set en route to a comfortable 5-1 lead.
Shapovalov stayed in the duel by saving three match points in the seventh game, on his serve, before scoring his second break of the match, in the eighth game.
Serving with a 5-4 lead, Fucsovics lost the first two points of the 10e game, but won the next four to end the game.
