HALLE, Germany: Seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet became the biggest first-round casualty at the ATP tournament in Halle yesterday when he was shocked by Pakistani qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.
The 27-year-old from Lahore shocked sixth-seed Gasquet in straight sets, knocking out the 20-year-old who is ranked 11th in the world, 293 places higher than Qureshi.
Qureshi was delighted to take out a seeded player in straight sets and after winning the first set on a tie-breaker, he put in a commanding display to take the second 6-4 as the Frenchman struggled to modify his game on grass.
"It's not about winning my first-round match, it's about beating a player ranked just outside the top 10," said Qureshi, who had the advantage of three qualify games over the weekend to get used to playing on grass.
"The hard work for the last 12 years is paying off, I learned a lot last year from some of the mistakes I made and I just kept telling myself I could do it.
"I went out with the clear plan of moving him around and it paid off.
"I had tie-breakers in both sets of my last two qualifying games over the weekend, so when it got to 6-6 in the first-set tie-breaker, I knew I had a good chance.
"Having normally played at Queen's and in Nottingham, I only decided to switch to Halle last year and the move has paid off in only my second appearance."
Meanwhile, top-seed Nikolay Davydenko made it safely into the second round despite suffering an eye injury late in his win over Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
After world number one Roger Federer withdrew from Halle on Monday morning suffering from fatigue and a groin strain after reaching the Roland Garros final on Sunday, Davydenko is now favourite to pick up the winner's cheque of 96,000 euros.
But the 26-year-old, ranked third in the world, was hit just below the eye and needed attention from the doctor just before he won the final game to seal his 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-2 victory over the Austrian, ranked 28 places below him. (AFP)