Gulbis, who is 375th in the ATP ranking, lost 4-6, 6-7 (2:7) to the Argentinian Santiago Taverna (ATP 163), who is seeded seventh in the tournament.
The Latvian tennis player ended the tournament with five ATP ranking points, which he got for overcoming the qualification.
In the first round of qualification, Gulbis won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 over French tennis player Jonathan Esrik (ATP 863), and in the second, he defeated another Frenchman Mateo Martino (ATP 380) 6-3, 6-4.
Gulbis has won 20 out of 36 matches this season, mostly playing in “Challenger” tournaments. At the ATP level, the Latvian has not participated in the main tournaments since the summer of last year.
Trieste “Challenger” tournament takes place on clay courts.
