Federer Stumbles on Grass, Recovers at ATP Halle

World No. 1 Roger Federer, talking up his grasscourt prowess after another failed Roland Garros outing, almost paid for his hubris Tuesday at the ATP stop in Halle, forced to come from a set down to defeat unheralded Swede Robin Soderling 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4 to move into the second round.

The victory extended the Swiss' grasscourt win streak to 25 matches, but Federer almost paid the price for failing to show up early in Halle to acclimate to the chilly weather and slick lawns.

"I'm relieved, it was tough," Federer said. "He was obviously a few points away from beating me, but he came up short. It's OK, I had tough matches like this at Dubai too -- then I went on to win the tournament."

Federer trailed by a set and 4-5, 15-30 in the second before extending it to another tiebreak, then in the third set out-nerving the 20-year-old, who double faulted on match point. There was also some rare controversy involving the Swiss when Federer, leading 3-2 in the third set, sat down on the court and called for the supervisor, appearing to protest Soderling making line calls before the line judges during points.

"I wasn?t happy with a decision after a long rally which should have been replayed," Federer said.

Federer was the only seed to advance Tuesday as (5) David Nalbandian was shocked by Germany's Rainer Schuettler who rode the homecountry crowd support to victory, and (6) Joachim Johansson, returning off a shoulder injury, straight-setted by another German in Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Schuettler was awarded two penalty games in the second set by the chair umpire after a Nalbandian racquet-smashing tantrum that included a time where the Argentine refused to play on.

"I have never seen something like this before," said Schuettler, who after the game penalties benefited from Nalbandian tanking the remainder of the match and walking off to the thunderous booing of the Halle fans. "That was a strange match."

Other un-seeds into the second round were wildcard and former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. former Wimbledon semifinalist (Q) Voltchkov from a set down), France's Fabrice Santoro (d. Pavel), and three qualifiers in Yeu-Tzuoo Wang of Taipei (d. Llodra in three), Belgian Dick Norman (d. countryman C.Rochus 6-1 in the third), and Serb Nenad Zimonjic (d. Kiefer from a set down).

Scheduled for Wednesday in Halle is Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro vs. the knee-addled (2) Safin in a nemesis match-up (upset alert), newly-minted French Open champ (3) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (WC) Waske, (Q) Wang vs. Kohlschreiber, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (7) Haas, and (8) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus.