ROME - Roger Federer's form dropped drastically after an easy first set, and the top-ranked player lost to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 Tuesday in his opening match of the clay-court season.
It was Federer's first singles match in nearly a month. He took off several weeks after losing to Tomas Berdych in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., on March 30.
The 40th-ranked Gulbis fought off nerves at the end and finally closed out the match on his seventh match point.
Federer teamed with Yves Allegro to win a doubles match Monday at the Foro Italico, but the 16-time Grand Slam champion struggled with his consistency under a light rain as the match with Gulbis wore on.
