Top-ranked Roger Federer lost to Julien Benneteau of France 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday, continuing his miserable run at the indoor event. The 15-time Grand Slam champion still has never been further than the quarter-finals in seven appearances.

“He played incredible at the end,” said Federer. “I definitely had chances. I missed them.”

Federer took the first set when Benneteau’s backhand return hit the net, but the Frenchman found his range in the second set and dominated the tiebreaker, levelling the match with a low return that landed just inside the baseline. “I didn’t have my rhythm from the baseline. Every time I had a chance he was winning the point,” Federer said.

Benneteau forced mistakes on Federer’s backhand as the Swiss rushed his shots in the decider. Benneteau broke early and then held to lead 3-1. Federer missed his chance in the fifth game when Benneteau saved two break points, and held for 4-2. He smacked a two-handed crosscourt winner past a startled Federer to set up two match points, acing the first one. He, however, lost to fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4 6-3 in the third round on Thursday.

Bhupathi, Paes lose

The third seeded pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Bahamian Mark Knowles lost 6-4 6-7 (6) 10-7 to the Swede-Australian pair of Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley, while Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy went down 6-7 (5) 6-4 10-5 to Jordan Kerr and Travis Parrott.