Bernard Tomic's run of outs has continued into the claycourt season with the Australian suffering a first round loss at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Taking to his least favourite surface against Argentine claycourt specialist Diego Schwartzman, Tomic was always up against it and went down 6-1 7-6 (7-3).
The Queenslander at least had his moments as the match wore on, serving for the second set and even having a set point.
But the world No.41 broke back and ultimately took the set in a tiebreak to win the match.
It leaves Tomic, who has slipped to No.43 in the world from a high of 17 last year, with five first round losses in the first four months of the year.
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Things will likely get worse before they get much better for the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, with Tomic winning just three of 11 matches on clay during the past two years.
His best chance of a rankings boost comes during the grass court season where he typically performs well.
Even that could be something of a curse this year though, Tomic unlikely to be seeded for Wimbledon where he has points to defend from making the fourth round in 2016.
