Rotterdam Open 2017: British No 4 Aljaz Bedene suffers first round loss to Denis Istomin

Aljaz Bedene crashed out of the Rotterdam Open, losing to Denis Istomin in straight sets, a day after beating the Uzbek player.

The British number four defeated the 30-year-old 7-6, 6-3 in a second round qualifier on 12 February, however Istomin was granted a lucky loser spot into the main draw of the tournament where he faced Bedene again in the first round.

This time, the scoreline was reversed as Istomin defeated the Slovakian-born Bedene 6-3, 7-6 after the Briton surrendered a 5-3 lead in the second set and missed three set points.

The 27-year-old was left frustrated and slammed his racquet on to the court after going down 6-1 to Istomin in the tie break.

The Uzbek had notably made a comeback from being two sets down to upset Novak Djokovic in the 2017 Australian Open.

"It means so much for me, of course, to beat the World No. 2," Istomin had said following his Australian Open win.

"I just I hope that is not the only one victory of mine. I will try to keep going the same way and trying to win some more."

The world number 77 will now face the winner of the second round clash between Grigor Dimitrov and Mischa Zvrerev. Istomin had lost to the recent Sofia Open winner in the fourth round in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Tomas Berdych – winner of the Rotterdam Open in 2014 – defeated Romanian Marius Copil 7-6, 6-4 and will await the winner of the match between Viktor Troicki and Richard Gasquet.

Elsewhere, Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert advanced to the second round of the event, beating Spain's Feliciano Lopez 7-6, 7-6. Robin Haase defeated Florian Mayer 7-5, 7-6 while Evgeny Donskoy beat Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-4.

The 2014 US Open winner and top seed Marin Čilić will begin his Rotterdam campaign against Benoit Paire, who replaced the injured Stan Wawrinka, on 14 February.