Vasek Pospisil of CanadaGONZALO FUENTES/Reuters
Canadian Vasek Pospisil fell short of a quarter-final place at the Erste Bank Open, losing in the second round to Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.
The 22-year-old from Vancouver admitted that he played below expectations after qualifying into the field and winning his opening match.
"I'm extremely disappointed now, for sure," said Pospisil, ranked 113th on the ATP Tour. "I didn't play relaxed and certainly didn't play my best tennis.
"He's a tough player who didn't make many mistakes and didn't give any free points. But I didn't perform up to my standard today."
Pospisil managed five aces in the match lasting nearly 90 minutes, losing his serve once per set and failing to convert on his only break point.
Pospisil saved a match point before Lorenzi finished the win with an ace.
Pospisil has had a let down since playing the Malaysian Open last month as a qualifier and getting to the quarter-finals, where he lost to Juan Monaco. He then lost in qualifying for Tokyo before coming to Europe for Vienna.
He said that he still has confidence in his game despite his recent lack of success.
"I played well in Kuala Lumpur, and I had three good matches this week. This one was tougher," he said.
"I had the wrong approach to this match. I still have my confidence though. I want to carry on and keep improving."
Pospisil now heads to Spain where he hopes to join Canadian No. 1 Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., in next week's Valencia Open.