PARIS -- He was a three-time champion already this year, at Marseille, Dubai and Munich. He was a finalist three weeks ago in Rome, having defeated highly regarded Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals. Most important, he was the No. 5 seed here at Roland Garros.

	The red clay of Roland Garros seems to be a stumbling block fro Roger Federer.

Was, as in the past tense, for Roger Federer is already gone. The Swiss Miss was a 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (3) loser to Peruvian Luis Horna -- technically, the biggest upset Monday as the French Open began. A number of tennis aficionados had installed Federer as the pre-tournament favorite.

"No one," observed top-seeded Serena Williams, after hammering Germany's Barbara Rittner 6-2, 6-1 in a tidy 54 minutes, "wants to lose in the first round -- especially of a Grand Slam."

And, understand, Federer is thought to be a player of substance. At 21, he has the big game of a future Grand Slam champion. On the center court, Philippe-Chatrier, he ran into a perfect storm named Luis. Horna, 22, won his first Grand Slam match ever -- after two previous failures, at last year's U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open.

"This is the most wonderful feeling that I've ever had throughout my life," Horna said. "My first time at Roland Garros, I've been very nervous."

Actually, it is not his first time here. Six years ago, Horna was the boys' singles runner-up and doubles champion at the age of 16. On Monday, he looked younger and more energetic than the stoic Federer.

"It's a big disappointment," Federer said, stating the obvious. "Very sad to leave so early. It's not fun. He definitely didn't play a bad match, but I didn't play a good match. I definitely think I helped him."

Throughout the match, Federer was oddly laconic. It was the second straight year that he was banished after the first round; Hicham Arazi had the straight-sets honors a year ago.

At the same time, Horna was aggressive and feisty. In the first set, after he had a run-in with the chair umpire over a line call, Horna left a tennis ball on the court -- just outside the line umpire Remy Azemar claimed the ball had touched. While Federer seemed off-balance and stiff, Horna moved around the red courts with ease, picking his spots artfully.

Horna had already won the first two sets, one easily, one not, when he found himself in a third-set tie-breaker. He was up 4-3, when Federer double-faulted blowing a chance to draw even. Horna, by now feeling it, stepped into a forehand and ripped a winner down the line to go up 6-3. Federer's weak backhand into the net was his last shot.

The turning point came with Federer leading tenuously, at 5-4, in the first set. Horna was able to break him and, when Federer missed an overhead and squandered a set point, Horna prevailed in the tiebreaker.

"It's not the smash that makes me disappointed, it's the way I lost the first set," Federer said. "The overhead was just adding to the whole thing. I knew the danger. People [were] saying, 'Who is the first seed you're playing?' I told them, 'You guys have to relax a little bit because I'm not playing a bad guy in the first round.' Here I am, you know, sitting, trying to explain why."

Horna credited his coach, Gabriel Markus, with settling him down before the match. Federer, after all, had beaten Horna in straight sets earlier this year on the hard courts at Miami.

"He said, 'Try to make the best of [your possibilities]. You have to feel happy,' " Horna said. "That's what I tried to do. I thought to myself last night that this was a great chance for me. All I have to do the best I can. I won, so this is the best thing that ever happened to me."

That matter, however, is open to conjecture. You see, Horna's wife gave birth to a daughter, Luna, only a month ago.

"I said this is the best day of my life, but you cannot compare the winning in tennis and the coming of a daughter," he said. "The coming of a daughter is something you cannot compare to anything else."

With the courts playing slow and the balls heavier than usual, it looks like the clay-court wizards are going to have the upper hand this fortnight. Federer's downfall means an American hard-court player, 29th-seeded Vince Spadea, now won't face a higher seed than himself until the round of 16. But Federer's demise raises some questions -- albeit early in his career -- about the stoutness of his heart.

After reaching the quarterfinals in 2001, he is now a stark 0-for-2.

Will Federer become one of those strong, gifted players (like Pete Sampras?) who comes to dread the French Open?

"We'll see about that," Federer said. "It's not a question I can answer now at this moment in my career. I've had good moments and not so good moments. This year, it didn't work. I'm not going to start hating the tournament just because I lost twice in the first round.

"I'm not really sure I can win this tournament. We have a number of players here who have got better experience on this surface."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.