Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus during his match against Dutchman Robin Haase in the ATP Chennai Open on Tuesday. (AFP)

Chennai: The Cypriot showman had a bad day in office and true to his colours he gave his opponent the due credit.

Marcos Baghdatis, who was expected to brush away Dutchman Robin Haase for a possible title clash with Rafael Nadal, was swept aside in straight sets in a first round encounter in Chennai Open Tuesday.

But if the 3-6, 4-6 scoreline suggested rustiness, he admitted as much.

“I don’t really know what happened,” a slightly bemused Baghdatis said during the post match news conference.

“This is the first match of the season and I was very nervous. It wasn’t an easy game to begin with and I made too many mistakes.”

The second seed couldn’t have been more precise. He failed to convert even one of his seven break opportunities and managed only 46 per cent winning points.

“Haase took his chances… He had nothing to lose and played well. I haven’t played for more than two months and this match was always going to be tough.

“Don’t try to take anything away from him (Haase),” Baghdatis said when asked if the court was a tad too slow. “He was moving well, serving even better and his forehands were coming off well.

Baghdatis denied any fitness problems.

“I am fit enough but wasn’t in my rhythm at all… It happens… I need to concentrate on my on-court movement. It will come slowly,” said Baghdatis.

For Dutchman Haase, whose world ranking of 114 is sure to be revised for the better, sounded surprised more than anything else.

“Well, Baghdatis is a great player and one has to play really well to beat him.

“Frankly speaking, I was a little lucky. He was not playing too well and not attacking me too much,” said Haase.

“In fact I was quite surprised that he didn’t go on the attack sooner.”

Haase, who needed six match points to finally come through in an hour and 23 minutes, said drop shot is his favourite weapon.

“I play drop shots quite frequently… I am not scared to use them even during matchpoints,” said the Dutchman who used the weapon many times during the epic 10th and last game of the second set.