ROME: Latvia's unseeded Ernests Gulbis stunned an out-of-sorts world number one Roger Federer 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 to reach the third round of the ATP Rome Masters 1000 at the Foro Italico on Tuesday.
In a match littered with unforced errors -- Gulbis edged the top seed 39-38 on that score -- the Swiss maestro looked a shadow of his normal self as his game collapsed following a typically dominant opening set.
When the Wimbledon and French Open champion raced through the first set, breaking in the first and seventh games, there was no way of predicting what was to follow: steadily his game crumbled.
He gave up a break for 3-1 when he went wide with a forehand before in his next service game he missed a smash and netted a backhand to give up two break points before a wild forehand into the tramlines saw him fall 5-1 behind.
Gulbis sealed the set with an ace while Federer won only 10 percent of points on his second serve.
Another long forehand saw him broken in the fifth game of the deciding set and then Federer went wide with a backhand down the line to give up double match-point at 3-5 on his own serve.
Gulbis had a great chance to convert the second but went wildly long on the forehand.
In the next game Gulbis had four more match points on his serve but seemed to choke as he hit two double faults and went long off both flanks.
He then missed a smash and went wide with an inside out forehand to allow the world number one to break back.
But four more unforced errors from Federer saw Gulbis serve for the match for a second time and he made no mistake, courtesy of two more Federer unforced errors.
While both players made a flurry of mistakes, the big difference was in winners where Gulbis hit 33 to Federer's 20.
The defeat continued Federer's poor record here where he has reached the last four or better only three times in 10 attempts.
Earlier, world number two Novak Djokovic was barely stretched as he crushed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-1.
Djokovic showed no signs of the service problems he'd suffered recently as he claimed victory in five seconds under the hour.
It was the 22-year-old Serbian's fourth win in four meetings with the Frenchman, one year his senior, who has yet to take a set off Djokovic.
And the second seed was quite happy to get this second round match out of the way quickly.
"The sooner you finish the happier you are. I've played in this tournament many times so you don't need many hours to get used to the court," he said.
"I've been here practising five or six days so I was already used to the courts and wanted to finish as quickly as possible."
Djokovic's return of serve was particularly impressive against a player known for his big serve.
"Always in your first match in a tournament you don't know what to expect, especially playing against a player with such a hard serve, it can be difficult but I was very focused right from the first moment," he said.
"I think (the return) was one of the keys today, I knew he was going to serve well so I needed to return well to be in control of the match."
The 2008 champion here and finalist last year is playing in only his second clay court event of the season having reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo two weeks ago.
Here in three previous appearances he has never failed to make the quarter-finals.
In a match littered with unforced errors -- Gulbis edged the top seed 39-38 on that score -- the Swiss maestro looked a shadow of his normal self as his game collapsed following a typically dominant opening set.
When the Wimbledon and French Open champion raced through the first set, breaking in the first and seventh games, there was no way of predicting what was to follow: steadily his game crumbled.
He gave up a break for 3-1 when he went wide with a forehand before in his next service game he missed a smash and netted a backhand to give up two break points before a wild forehand into the tramlines saw him fall 5-1 behind.
Gulbis sealed the set with an ace while Federer won only 10 percent of points on his second serve.
Another long forehand saw him broken in the fifth game of the deciding set and then Federer went wide with a backhand down the line to give up double match-point at 3-5 on his own serve.
Gulbis had a great chance to convert the second but went wildly long on the forehand.
In the next game Gulbis had four more match points on his serve but seemed to choke as he hit two double faults and went long off both flanks.
He then missed a smash and went wide with an inside out forehand to allow the world number one to break back.
But four more unforced errors from Federer saw Gulbis serve for the match for a second time and he made no mistake, courtesy of two more Federer unforced errors.
While both players made a flurry of mistakes, the big difference was in winners where Gulbis hit 33 to Federer's 20.
The defeat continued Federer's poor record here where he has reached the last four or better only three times in 10 attempts.
Earlier, world number two Novak Djokovic was barely stretched as he crushed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-1.
Djokovic showed no signs of the service problems he'd suffered recently as he claimed victory in five seconds under the hour.
It was the 22-year-old Serbian's fourth win in four meetings with the Frenchman, one year his senior, who has yet to take a set off Djokovic.
And the second seed was quite happy to get this second round match out of the way quickly.
"The sooner you finish the happier you are. I've played in this tournament many times so you don't need many hours to get used to the court," he said.
"I've been here practising five or six days so I was already used to the courts and wanted to finish as quickly as possible."
Djokovic's return of serve was particularly impressive against a player known for his big serve.
"Always in your first match in a tournament you don't know what to expect, especially playing against a player with such a hard serve, it can be difficult but I was very focused right from the first moment," he said.
"I think (the return) was one of the keys today, I knew he was going to serve well so I needed to return well to be in control of the match."
The 2008 champion here and finalist last year is playing in only his second clay court event of the season having reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo two weeks ago.
Here in three previous appearances he has never failed to make the quarter-finals.
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