Marcos Baghdatis has become the highest seed to fall so far at this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament when he was beaten in the first round in a five-set thriller by seasoned Frenchman Arnaud Clement.
The Cypriot 16th seed led by two sets to one and then by 3-1 in the fifth set but eventually went down 6-3 2-6 1-6 6-4 7-5 to the 32-year-old Clement, who clinched his first win since Wimbledon.
In the battle of the two former Australian Open finalists, Baghdatis recovered from a poor start to storm through the second and third sets for the loss of just three games.
But Clement snatched the fourth and then came from 3-1 down to seal victory and a meeting with either American Robby Ginepri or Eduardo Schwank of Argentina.
