Tennis superstar Roger Federer (39) failed in the second round when he returned to his beloved lawn in Halle / Westphalia.
The Swiss had to admit defeat to the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6: 4, 3: 6, 2: 6 at the ATP tournament and has to cope with the next setback with a view to the highlight at Wimbledon.
Federer, who last left the tournament at the French Open after his round of 16 against Dominik Koepfer (Furtwangen), made slight mistakes with the forehand, as in the opening game against Ilja Iwaschka (Belarus) on Monday, which his opponent initially too rarely despite some possibilities could punish.
Auger-Aliassime won the contested second set, in the third round the 20-year-old managed two quick breaks to make it 3-0.
Federer, who is the record winner with ten titles in Halle, did not find his way back into the match and was beaten after 1:45 hours.
Auger-Aliassime transformed his first match point.
Federer did not make it to the round of 16 in Paris to spare his body after two knee operations last year and a long break for the grass season.
The maestro has set his sights on winning his ninth title at Wimbledon (June 28 to July 11) as a major goal.
So far he had triumphed ten times in Halle, more often than in any other tournament.
Since his comeback after two knee operations in the spring, Federer has now lost three out of eight matches.
In Doha he lost his second match of the tournament, in Geneva his first, at the French Open he got out before the round of 16 and now it was over again after two matches.
Before Federer's defeat, experienced Philipp Kohlschreiber had reached the quarter-finals. The 37-year-old from Augsburg prevailed on Wednesday in the round of 16 against the Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 4). Kohlschreiber used his first match ball after 1:44 hours. The long-injured Davis Cup professional will now face number four seeded Russian Andrei Rublew in the quarter-finals on Friday.