OMNISPORT

David Ferrer - who beat Tomas Berdych in last season's final - was out of sorts as he fell to a 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-2 defeat to Illya Marchenko in first round of Qatar ExxonMobile Open. 

It marks the first time that Marchenko, ranked 94th, has beaten a top-10 player and fourth seed Ferrer - who won 19 out of his first 20 matches in 2015 - admitted his opponent deserved to progress.

"He was better than me all the match," Ferrer said after the defeat. "From the first set, he deserved win the match. I didn't obviously play my game."

Third seed Berdych safely came through the first round with a 7-5 6-4 beating of Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Leonardo Mayer thrashed Benjamin Becker 6-1 6-2, but sixth seed Andreas Seppi was left reeling by a brilliant Ricardas Berankis display - the Lithuanian triumphing 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Pablo Andujar was taken the distance in a 6-4 0-6 6-4 victory over Paolo Lorenzi, while Teymuraz Gabashvili and Paul-Henri Mathieu also needed three sets in their victories over Simone Bolelli and Albert Ramos.