Federer suffers early defeat in Rome

ROME: Roger Federer will be returning to his newborn twins earlier than expected after his Italian Open adventure ended with a 1-6 6-3 7-6(6) second-round defeat by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday.

Federer had been hoping to get his claycourt form back in gear after skipping last week´s Madrid Open to attend the birth of his twin boys Leo and Lenny but the winner of a record 17 grand slam titles will now be flying back home to his family.

Fourth seed Federer made a promising start but, with dust whipping up off the surface and the ball playing tricks, Chardy fought back with some brutal forehand winners and saved match point in the tiebreak before sealing victory.