The seeds continued to fall at the season-opening Brisbane International tennis event on Wednesday with German Florian Mayer toppled by former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis.
The 71-minute upset meant world No.28 Mayer was the second seed in the men’s draw, on top of five in the high-quality women’s field, to be bundled out of the tournament.
The sixth seed, who played a key role in Germany’s Davis Cup victory over Australia in September, was far from his best as Baghdatis broke him four times on Pat Rafter Arena for a 6-4 6-2 victory.
The popular Cypriot will play third-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon, who advanced to the quarter-finals with a tight 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) second-round win over Colombia’s Alejandro Falla.
All the top four seeds received first-round byes. World No.3 Andy Murray meets local hope John Millman on Thursday to start his title defence.
Eighth-seeded Slovak Martin Klizak fell to Denis Istomin on Tuesday but Japanese fifth-seed Kei Nishikori moved into the quarter-finals on Wednesday with a 6-3 6-3 win over Spaniard Tommy Robredo.
Lleyton Hewitt plays his second-round match on Thursday afternoon against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin.