Nadal Loses in Grass Debut at ATP Halle

French Open champ Rafael Nadal was sent packing in his opening-round match on grass Wednesday at the ATP stop in Halle, ousted by homecountry German qualifier Alexander Waske 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Arriving from Paris only 24-hours before his match after besting Mariano Puerta in the Roland Garros final, Nadal looked out of sorts on the skidding lawns.

"I never found my rhythm due to his net attacks," Nadal said. "I felt very tired after the French Open and it was hard to keep up the concentration...I also had thigh problems."

No. 2 seed Marat Safin was spared a loss at the hands of French nemesis Fabrice Santoro, who was forced to retire at 2-3 in the third set with a muscle pull in his left thigh.

"The way I played today was pretty good, pretty clever," Safin said of his survival technique, entering the match with only one win in eight meetings versus Santoro. "I cannot become a serve-and-volley player because of my style to play tennis. So basically I have to be aggressive from the baseline, try to come in as much as I can and just keep on putting pressure."

Safin wasted 10 of 11 break points in the contest, while Santoro failed to convert a match point in the second set.

Other players into the quarterfinals Wednesday were Germans (7) Tommy Haas (d. Melzer in three) and Philipp Kohlschreiber (d. (Q) Wang 7-6 in the third), and Belgian Olivier Rochus (d. (8) F.Lopez).

On tap for Thursday in Halle is (4) Canas vs. (Q) Zimonjic, (1) Federer vs. Mayer, (WC) Waske vs. (WC) Ferrero, and Schuettler vs. (Q) D.Norman.