Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman gave a scare to seventh seed Marcos Baghdatis before going down in a gruelling three-setter in the ATP Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.
The unseeded Indian battled for two hours and two minutes but lost 2-6 6-0 5-7 against world number 26 from Cyprus in the second round of the $1,166,400 hard court tournament.
Somdev had beaten Baghdatis in March this year but after this win, the Cypriot leads the head-to-head record 2-1.
Somdev pocketed $7,585 as prize money and earned 20 ranking points for his effort.
The Indian challenge is still alive in the ATP 500 tournament with Rohan Bopanna featuring in the doubles event with Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi.
They have been seeded fourth and will open their campaign against unseeded but experienced pair of Mark Knowles and Xavier Malisse.