Ernests Gulbis lost to Andreas Haider-Maurer at the Monte Carlo Masters

Ernests Gulbis' atrocious form since the turn of the year continued into the clay court season as he was thrashed by Andreas Haider-Maurer at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Haider-Maurer got the job done inside an hour, winning 6-1 6-0 against his out-of-sorts opponent.

Gulbis has now lost his opening match in seven of the eight tournaments that he has entered in 2015, winning just one match this year.

The Latvian, world No 17, was a semi-finalist at last year's French Open and isn't concerned at his downturn in form.

"I was in a great state of mind this week practicing," Gulbis said. "Everything was really good, except the match. This one last hour was bad in Monte Carlo. All the rest of the week was really unbelievable. It was just this one hour."

He expects the hiring of Thomas Enqvist as his coach to improve his results.

"Everything is new for me," Gulbis continued. "I think (Thomas) is a very smart, intelligent guy who understands tennis. That's enough for me. I think it's still a lot to get to know each other. It's just a matter of time."

Haider-Maurer advances to face Bernard Tomic.

Temper

Fabio Fognini took advantage of Jerzy Janowicz's poor record in Monaco to win their Monday meeting.

The Italian, who reached the semi-finals of this tournament two years ago, won 6-3 6-1 to inflict Janowicz's third consecutive first-round elimination in the clay court event.

Fognini's temper also briefly threatened to spill over when he disagreed with an umpire's call before a firing a shot clearly long, prompting Janowicz to teasingly question the decision.

But Fognini ended a five-match losing streak by winning five games in a row in a dominant second set.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, Benoit Paire, David Goffin and Alexander Dolgopolov also progressed with first round victories.