Roger Federer upset in opening round of Rome Masters

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Playing his first singles match in nearly a month, top-ranked Roger Federer was upset by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the opening round of the Rome Masters on Tuesday.

The match was the clay-court season opener for Federer, who took several weeks off after losing to Tomas Berdych in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., on March 30.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion struggled with his consistency under a light rain against the 40th-ranked Gulbis, who closed out the match on his seventh match point.

Federer won a doubles match with Yves Allegro on Monday at the Foro Italico.

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.