Three days after winning the French Open, Rafael Nadal learned the hard way what he needs to do to succeed at Wimbledon.
German wild card Alexander Waske upset the 19-year-old Spaniard 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open -- a key warmup for Wimbledon -- to snap Nadal's 24-match winning streak.
All those wins came on clay, and on Wednesday his serve wasn't powerful enough on the faster surface of grass.
PHOTO: AFP
"I belong to those people who want to learn when things don't go well," Nadal said. "I will go to Wimbledon five days early and work on my serve."
Nadal complained of fatigue, plus a mild thigh strain and blistered finger.
"I'm tired -- I need two or three days off," said Nadal. "My fitness is not the best. When I go to the net I am too slow. My fitness is a big part of my game."
The match turned in the 147th-ranked Waske's favor when the third-seeded Nadal netted two drop shots to fall behind 6-5 in the second set, losing his serve for the first time.
"I played a horrible game," Nadal said. "I started well, but it is hard to concentrate after so many matches at the French."
Cheered on by 9,000 spectators, Waske -- known as a doubles specialist -- received a standing ovation when he volleyed into the open court to close out the two-hour match.
Nadal, who had trouble with the trajectory of his strokes and over-relied on topspin, still expects to do well at Wimbledon.
"My confidence didn't just come from the French. I won five titles before that -- I've played good all year," he said.
He has played just one previous tournament on grass as a pro -- reaching the third round of Wimbledon two years ago. Last year, his grass-court season was wiped out by an ankle injury.
Australian Open champion Marat Safin saved a match point before advancing when Fabrice Santoro retired with a left thigh injury in the third set. The second-seeded Russian led 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-2.
Safin, who had lost seven of his previous eight matches against Santoro, erased the match point with Santoro up 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker.
Safin won only his second match on grass in three years while fighting a knee injury that has bothered him for two months.
Also, Olivier Rochus defeated eighth-seeded Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Defending champion Andy Roddick easily beat Australia's Mark Philippoussis 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday in the second round of the Queen's grass-court tournament.
Philippoussis opened with three straight aces, but the second-seeded American responded with 10 aces, including one that was clocked at 243kph. Roddick holds the world record for fastest serve at 249kph.
"I wasn't super-comfortable with the draw," Roddick said. "But I felt I played about as well as I could have asked for in the first match."
Roddick, who won the Wimbledon warmup in 2003 and last year, took a 3-2 lead after breaking the 1997 champion at love. A strong return then forced a backhand error to give Roddick a second break.
In a match of short rallies, Philippoussis failed to gain a point on Roddick's serve in the second set as the American once more forced a backhand error with a big return to get the only break at 3-3.
"I felt like I lifted my percentages a lot in the second set and was putting a lot of first serves in," Roddick said. "That put the onus on him to try to figure something out."
Also, Mario Ancic, the last player to defeat Roger Federer on grass in the opening round of Wimbledon in 2002, earned a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 win over Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic.
The young Croatian next plays 18-year-old Richard Gasquet of France, who ousted Britain's Jamie Delgado 6-4, 6-1.
Big-serving Max Mirnyi of Belarus set up a third round clash with former champion and top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt. Mirnyi topped Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 6-4, 6-3.
American wild card James Blake also advanced, overcoming Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-4 to earn a meeting with Sebastien Grosjean of France.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS