Top-seeded Rafael Nadal overcame a sluggish start to beat Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Hamburg Open on Tuesday.
Nadal was playing his first match since losing to Dustin Brown in the second round of Wimbledon. The former No. 1 in the world has fallen to No. 10.
In the all-Spanish match, Nadal appeared to have trouble adjusting to clay and finding his timing. However, his game picked up noticeably in the last two sets. Verdasco saved one match point, but then hit the net with a backhand to hand Nadal the win. Nadal’s last match on clay was his quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
Photo: AFP
“For my mentality, it is important to finish the match better than how I started. To be able to make that change during the match was a very positive thing to me,” Nadal said.
The match was played under the court’s canvas cover because of rain.
Second-seeded Tommy Robredo also needed three sets to advance, rallying for a 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2 win over wild card entry Alexander Zverev.
Third-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, fourth-seeded Andreas Seppi and sixth-seeded Juan Monaco all advanced into the second round.
ATLANTA OPEN
AP, ATLANTA, Georgia
The first stop of Mardy Fish’s farewell tour ended quickly with a 6-4, 6-4 first-round loss to Israel’s Dudi Sela in the Atlanta Open on Tuesday.
Fish said it was a success just to play only his second competitive match of the year.
He recently announced he will retire after the US Open, and he also disclosed details of his battles with anxiety disorder.
Fifth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus earlier downed the US’ Austin Krajicek 6-4, 6-0, while No. 6 seed Steve Johnson of the US ground out a 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 victory over Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.
In other first-round matches, Benjamin Becker beat fellow German Michael Berrer, who retired at the start of the second set while trailing 7-5, Denis Kudla came back to beat fellow-American Ryan Harrison 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), Australia’s Sam Groth defeated American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and Jared Donaldson of the US had a hard-fought 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win over India’s Somdev Devvarman.
Fish, who won the Atlanta tournament in 2010 and 2011, also will play doubles this week with his friend Andy Roddick, who is taking a break from his retirement.
The 33-year-old Fish says he wished he could have played better, but added: “It’s just nice to finish on my own terms.”
Fish also plans to play in Cincinnati before the US Open.
SWISS OPEN
AP, GSTAAD, Switzerland
Two-time Swiss Open champion Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil eased to a 6-2, 6-3 first-round victory over Kimmer Coppejans on Tuesday.
The left-handed Bellucci, who won the Gstaad clay-court title in 2009 and 2012, dominated on serve against the 21-year-old from Belgium.
Two former champions lost first-round matches: 2013 champion Mikhail Youzhny of Russia exited 6-1, 6-2 against seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno of Spain, and 2011 winner Marcel Granollers of Spain lost 1-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
Eighth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-2.
There were straight-sets wins for Stephane Robert of France against Brazilian Joao Souza, and Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan against Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.
Julian Reister, a German qualifier, advanced after losing the first set when Serbian opponent Blaz Kavcic retired injury.
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