Roger Federer's Australian Open build-up suffered an early setback as he lost to teenager Alexander Zverev at the Hopman Cup in Perth.
Federer showed plenty of the class which has won him a record 17 Grand Slams, but couldn't quite hold off the bold 19-year-old German.
Federer, 35, was left to rue his failure to serve out the first set when leading 5-3 and although he hit back in the next, two booming first serves from Zverev, the first teenager to make the top 20 since Novak Djokovic in 2006, closed out the match 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) in front of a record Perth tennis crowd in two hours and 30 minutes.
It was Zverev's second straight win over the Swiss champ, having beaten him in Halle last June, and the result also mirrored that of an unofficial match on the practice court on New Year's Eve.
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Despite the result, Switzerland kept their hopes of reaching Saturday's final alive with a 2-1 win over Germany - Belinda Bencic beating Andrea Petkovic in the women's singles and then teaming with Federer to win the deciding mixed doubles.
Federer was upbeat despite his defeat to a player he believes will be a star for the next decade.
"Who really cares ... it was good to play for two and a half hours," he said.
"Zverev __can serve big and showed what he __can do, but I was happy how I hung around and I had some really good moments."
Federer was playing only his second match since a six-month layoff due to knee and back injuries following his win over Dan Evans on Monday.
But Federer - who is out of the top 10 for the first time since late 2002 - said he was on the right track for the upcoming Australian Open.
"I am very happy, I have played five good sets so far," he said. "I am very pleased, practice has gone great, the matches have been a lot of fun and I am playing good tennis."
Federer and Bencic will face the French pairing of Richard Gasquet and Kristina Mladenovic on Friday, with the winner advancing to the final.
Earlier in the day, Gasquet and Mladenovic overcame extreme heat to sweep Great Britain 3-0 to also notch their second win of the week.
In sweltering conditions with the temperature passing 40 degrees Celsius, the duo were too good for Evans and Heather Watson, winning both singles matches and the mixed doubles.
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