CHENNAI: Seventh seed Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan began the new year on the wrong foot as he crashed to a first-round defeat in the US$430,000 Chennai Open on Tuesday.

Yen-hsun, the 29-year-old veteran ranked 59th in the world, failed to shrug off the rustiness of the off-season to lose to number 123 Matthias Bachinger of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

“It took me time to settle down. I made too many mistakes,” said Taiwan’s premier player who finished in the top-100 for the fifth straight year in 2012.

The big-built Bachinger next plays Roberto Agut of Spain, who beat Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.

There was no early trouble for fifth-seeded Benoit Paire of France, who brushed aside Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 18 minutes. Paire, one of the most improved players on the circuit who rose from number 95 to 47 last year, was delighted to get his first match out of the way.

“It is nice to start the season with a win,” said the 23-year-old from Avignon, France.

“It is not easy to adjust to this hot weather, but I hope to play better in my next match.”

Indian wildcard Somdev Devvarman, fit again after an injury-prone year that saw him slip to 663 in the rankings, beat number 106 Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.

“I felt good out there, both physically and mentally,” said Devvarman, who faces top-seed Tomas Berdych in the second round today.

The top four seeds – Berdych, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka – were given byes in the first round. — AFP

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