Tomic's Halle progress checked by Gasquet

Bernard Tomic has been sent crashing out of the Halle ATP grasscourt event in Germany by a sweet-swinging Richard Gasquet, 6-3 6-3.

Buoyed by Tuesday's excellent win over wily German Tommy Haas, the Queenslander was looking to build on that victory ahead of Wimbledon, starting on July 3.

However, he made the worst possible start as the world No.30 broke his serve in the opening game and again in the 10th to seize the early initiative.

The second set followed a similar pattern, as Tomic struggled to overcome the Frenchman's excellent returning game and was broken two further times to sink to defeat in exactly one hour.