Injury appears to have played a role in Nick Kyrgios losing his first match since his Shanghai shenanigans.
The world No.20 won a tense first set but was beaten 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 3-6 by Belgian Ruben Bemelmans in the second round of the European Open.
Neither player earned a break point in the first set, which was dominated by serve.
Kyrgios pounded down 14 aces but world No.98 Bemelmans relied on his heavy left-handed serve to hold Kyrgios at bay.
The Australian third seed, who received a bye in round one, appearing to struggle with a hip injury as the almost two hour contest progressed and he called a medical time during the second set.
From that point world No.98 Bemelmans took control of proceedings to record an impressive victory.
Kyrgios was fined $US10,000 and stripped of $US21,085 prize money after walking off the court during his Shanghai Masters match last week against American Steve Johnson.
Meanwhile, Bemelmans’ countryman Steve Darcis profited from Cedrik-Marcel Stebe’s retirement in their firs-round match while Joao Sousa and Julien Benneteau won through to the last eight in Antwerp.