Rest quickly gave way to rust Wednesday at the Mercedes Open when Roger Federer ended his two-month break from tennis with a shock 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 defeat at the hands of 39-year-old and world No. 302 Tommy Haas. It marked the first time Federer had lost to a player ranked so high since 1999, was his first opening-round loss on grass in 15 years and starts his much-hyped grass-court season with a bizarre, listless performance. In his entire career, he has never been ranked so high and lost to a player so low.
Federer was up a set and a break in Stuttgart and appeared to be cruising in his first match in 74 days.