Alex de Minaur has crashed out of the opening round in Dubai, falling to 2014 US Open champion Marin Čilić.
Broken to love in his opening service game and trailing 0-4 in the first set, de Minaur never fully recovered against his 36-year-old opponent, losing the match 2-6 6-3 3-6 in two hours and 18 minutes.
"It was a little gusty, but I was feeling the ball extremely well, I know how dangerous Alex is," said the big-hitting Croatian after the match. "He is an incredible runner on the court, he gets some balls that nobody gets. I had to stay patient but aggressive. I'm just so pleased that I was able to keep that great level throughout the whole match."
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The top-ranked Aussie hit a first serve rate of 49 per cent, ultimately proving costly as Čilić converted four from four break point opportunities.
It now prevents an all-Australian second-round clash between de Minaur and world No.26 Alexei Popyrin, with the latter dispatching Lebanon's Hady Habib 6-2 6-4.
De Minaur dropped to No.8 in the ATP rankings at the start of the week after exiting the quarter-final stage in Doha.
Čilić's unexpected victory means he is the second player ranked outside the top-30 to beat de Minaur in 34 matches.
Elsewhere, it was good news for Christopher O’Connell, who won in unfortunate circumstances after Grigor Dimitrov retired after dropping the first set 6-0.
O’Connell will face former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini.
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