There were no dearth of chances to stage a comeback but Yuki Bhambri struggled to contain his unforced errors and was knocked out of the Chennai Open with a straight set defeat against world number 47 Benoit Paire, here on Thursday.
Yuki, who entered the main draw via qualifying, squandered all seven breakpoints he got in the match to concede a 3-6, 4-6 defeat in the second round.
Yuki played well in patches and had Paire, who was ranked as high as 18 last year, under the water but could not finish off points. It allowed Paire, who does also boxing, breathing space and chance to re-strategise.
A penetrating serve proved to be the saving weapon for Paire since the Frenchman used it effectively whenever he faced breakpoints.
With Yuki's defeat, India's challenge has ended in the singles with Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni exiting in first round.
Yuki said his Futures title-win in Hong Kong and three wins here set up him nicely for the Australian Open qualifiers.
Despite the defeat, the 24-year old was positive as he made a decent comeback from an elbow injury, which cost him six months in 2016.
"If I would have taken those chances, the outcome could have been different. But it still was a good match for me. He is ranked 47 but is much better than that and it was good to make him sweat," Yuki said.
He said he was not at his best as yet but is "getting there".
Paire said he lost concentration mid-way and that's why he faced so many breakpoints.