James Blake reacts to a lost point in the Sydney International

The American had been bidding to win the title for the third year running, a feat last achieved in 1940 by the late John Bromwich, but he lost 7-6 6-2.

Top seed Richard Gasquet brushed past Russian Igor Andreev 6-3 7-6.

In the women's draw, fifth-seeded Russian teenager Anna Chakvetadze suffered a surprise loss to Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik, 7-5 6-1.

Blake, whose off-season was shortened by his commitments to the winning US Davis Cup team, said: "Fabrice is a great player, he's been around the tour for a while and knows how to win matches and give the top guys headaches."

606: DEBATE There's a pretty strong field in the Medibank International Raskolnikov.

Frenchman Santoro is one of the oldest players on the men's tour at 35 but says he has lost none of his enthusiasm for the sport.

"I love the game and I love to play and fight," he said.

"What is going to push me out of the tour is being in the hotel, taking planes and having to leave my daughter and my friends."