Canada's Vasek Pospisil returns a shot to win his Davis Cup World Group playoff tennis match against Israel's Amir Weintraub in the city of Ramat Hasharon near Tel Aviv, September 18, 2011.Reuters
Canadian Vasek Pospisil dropped a 6-3, 7-6 (8) decision to Germany's Andreas Beck in the first round of the Chennai Open on Tuesday.
Beck, the world No. 98, is 21 positions higher than the Vernon, B.C., native in the latest ATP Tour rankings.
Fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., received a first-round bye. The world No. 31 will next play Victor Hanescu of Romania, who defeated American Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-4.
Lucky loser Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France beat compatriot Eric Prodon 6-4, 6-3 and will meet defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the second round.
Qualifier Yuichi Sugita of Japan — the world No. 235 — upset eighth-seeded Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-4.
"It was one of the best matches I've played," Sugita said. "This is one of the highest-ranked players I've beaten."
Predominantly a baseline player, the 23-year-old Sugita counterpunched hard and strong to keep No. 67 Rochus at bay.
Sugita said coming through the qualifiers helped him adapt to the conditions, while Rochus was playing his first match of the new season.
"It was good for me," Sugita said. "I hope to play this well in the coming rounds and be prepared for the Australian Open qualifiers."
In other matches, Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan defeated Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3 while Belgium's David Goffin topped seventh-seeded compatriot Xavier Malisse 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.