Dan Evans was unable to give Great Britain a winning start to their Davis Cup Finals qualifier as he lost to Colombia's Nicolas Mejia in three sets.
The 253rd-ranked Mejia, accustomed to the challenging conditions in Bogota and strongly backed by the partisan home support, beat Evans 6-2 2-6 6-4.
Cameron Norrie will seek to level the best-of-five rubbers contest against Nicolas Barrientos later on Friday.
Ten-time winners GB are bidding to reach September's group stage.
Captain Leon Smith claimed the tie in Colombia, played on clay using the pressureless balls required to cope with an altitude of 2,566m, was the "most complicated" his side could have drawn.