Florian Mayer was knocked out of the Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest after losing 7-5 4-6 6-4 to Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse.
World number 21 Mayer struggled on his serve in the first set and was broken three times, and despite fighting back to level the match he was broken again in the decider of a match lasting two hours and 15 minutes.
Malisse will next play Hungarian qualifier Attila Balazs, who beat Italy's Potito Starace 6-3 6-4, while another qualifier, Germany's Daniel Brands, beat Estonia's Jurgen Zopp 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
