UK, July 25: Sebastien Grosjean became the latest big name to tumble out at the Mercedes Cup, going down in a final set tie-break to Michael Llodra.
The Frenchman, seeded third, lost 6-3 3-6 7-6 to his unseeded compatriot.
After finishing last season ranked sixth in the ATP Champions Race, Grosjean is currently down in a disappointing 22nd position.
Llodra, ranked 101, arrived in Los Angleles having had his best result of the year in Rhode Island, where he made the last four.
And despite fighting back from 5-2 down in the final set, Grosjean made an early exit from his first tournament since the French Open. "You always want to win but sometimes you go into a tournament and you know you're not in good shape.
"I'm not in really good shape. I'm not moving too well but I'm back on the court."
Grosjean follows top seed Tommy Haas out of the tournament, after the German lost to qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. late on Tuesday. Bogomolov, who was born in Moscow and became a naturalised American citizen last year, will meet Nicholas Kiefer in the next round.
"I will dream about it tonight and wake up tomorrow and hope it's real," he said Bogomolov.
However, fourth seed Andy Roddick sailed through with a 7-5 6-4 win over American compatriot wildcard Brian Vahaly.
Bureau Report