Nadal dumped out of Halle
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ByEurosport
Published 08/06/2005 at 15:10 GMT
Newly-crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal lost in the first round of the Halle Open to Germany's Alexander Waske as the Spanish teenager made an unhappy transition from clay to grass on Wednesday.
Eurosport
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Nadal, who arrived in Germany on Monday evening and had only one day to prepare for the match, fell to the local favourite 4-6 7-5 6-3.
It was the 19-year-old's first defeat in 26 matches and he said the contest had been a vastly different experience to his triumph on the clay at Roland Garros.
"Today was totally different, no? He served well and I could not play my best tennis on grass within these couple of days", he said.
The Mallorcan had looked fresh and energetic in winning the first set at the pre-Wimbledon event, mixing powerful drives with delicate volleys, drop shots and lobs against and error-prone Waske.
But the German journeyman, who has played only two ATP tournaments this year, losing both times in his first match, came back strongly to take the next two sets.
"Rafael Nadal has just turned 19 and I think he has a great future ahead of him," Waske said. "He will definitely be giving spectators a lot of pleasure in the years to come."
If Nadal had reached the semi-finals of the Halle event, he could have faced world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland, who he beat in the French Open at the same stage.
Nadal decided not to play doubles at Halle where he would have faced Waske again later on Wednesday and said he was heading home for a rest.
"I am going to Mallorca and there will be two days completely without tennis," he said. "I am feeling a bit tired right now and then I will be preparing for Wimbledon."
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