Mardy Fish became the highest men's seed to fall at the Australian Open when he was upset by Alejandro Falla.
American eighth seed becomes highest casualty so far
Mardy Fish became the highest men's seed to fall so far at the Australian Open when he was upset by Alejandro Falla on Wednesday.
The eighth-seeded American produced an error-strewn display as he went down 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
Having lost the first set on a tie-break, Fish became distracted by Falla's use of the trainer - controversially it looked like the treatment was for cramps - and a solitary break handed the world No.71 a two-set lead.
Fish rallied in the third, coming from a break down to force a tie-break he simply had to win.
However, it was Falla, best known previously for blowing a two-set lead against Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2010, who made the running in the breaker.
He blew his first two match points - the first with a nervy double fault - but when a third chance arrived Fish sent a backhand volley wide to give the Colombian a fine win.
Fish admitted afterwards he "didn't play great".
Errors
"He played well. I made a lot of errors. You know, conditions are about as ideal for me as I would have liked," he added.
"It just didn't work out."
The American also admitted his frustration at Falla's treatment, saying the interruptions had had a "significant bearing" on the third set.
"I was under the impression that you can't get treatment for cramps. I guess you can," he added.
The man seeded immediately above Fish, Tomas Berdych, had no such problems.
He eased past diminutive Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1 6-0 7-6 (7/4) to book his place in round three.
Berydch will now play South African Kevin Anderson, a four-set winner over Sergiy Stakhovsky.
