Rusedski in fury after being tamed by wild card

After a first-round defeat at the French Open two years ago, Greg Rusedski said he did not want to play on a clay court ever again. He got over that disappointment. Yesterday, having lost to a wild card, Stefano Galvani, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, in the opening round of the Italian Open here, the British No 2 was so "peed off" with the state of his game that he put his immediate plans on hold.

Rusedski is due to play in Hamburg next week before teaming up with Tim Henman at the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf in preparation for the French Open, which starts on 27 May. The likelihood is that he will fulfil those obligations in the hope of rekindling his form and confidence in time for Wimbledon.

Yesterday, after his lack of match fitness had been cruelly exposed by an enthusiastic opponent, Rusedski's frustration surfaced in the interview room. "I thought that was probably one of my worst performances ever," he said. "I was struggling for my rhythm from the first ball to the last ball. I didn't do anything right. I didn't attack properly and I didn't defend properly. I was totally lost in what I was doing with my thinking process."

It was the big-serving left-hander's first match since he was blown away by Andre Agassi in the second round of the Nasdaq-100 Open on rubberised concrete in Key Biscayne, Florida, in March. Rusedski has worked on his physical fitness for three weeks, but has only practised for 10 days after withdrawing from the Monte Carlo Open because of a neck strain.

"I'm going to go home tonight and reflect and try and make a decision about what I'm going to do for the rest of the clay court season," he said. "That's something I just have to think about. I don't think it's clay that I'm complaining about at the moment. I'm complaining about the way I played. I've got to be fresh. I've got to be hungry. I've got to be doing the right things on the court. If I'm not, I'm just wasting my time. That's the way I felt today was."

Ranked No 33 in the ATP's tournament-entry system, Rusedski cannot afford to lose more ground. "I thought things were going to be OK this week, but that's the way it goes," he said. "On paper, it was a great draw. I just didn't take advantage. [Galvani] competed well. He did what he had to do to get the win today. I'm looking at it from my point of view, what I did rather than what he did."

Galvani, a short, chunky character from Padua, is ranked No 117 in the entry system. A late developer, his gritty performance yesterday reflected the progress he made he made last week in Barcelona where, as a qualifier, he defeated Ivan Ljubicic, of Croatia, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the Russian former world No 1.

He now waits for the winner of today's match between Tim Henman, the British No 1 and fifth seed, and Ferdnando Gonzalez, of Chile, a qualifier remembered for a remarkable victory against Pete Sampras in Key Biscayne.

Rusedski, though unhappy with his game yesterday, took the opening set, breaking for 5-4 after losing an early advantage, and recovered from a 5-2 deficit to level at 5-5 in the second set, only to unravel in the tie-break, which Galvani won, 7-1. Even after that disappointment, Rusedski held two break points for a 2-0 lead in the final set. Unable to convert either of them, he was subsequently broken to go 2-1 down and double-faulted for the eighth time to lose his serve a second time, falling 5-2 behind. It was a day when 19 aces amounted to scant consolation.