Britain's grass season claimed its first ATP tour victims on Monday when 13th-seeded Korean Lee Hyung-Taik and 16th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco fell at Queen's. Lee could not find his grass range and went down 6-4 6-4 to British number three Alex Bogdanovic to the delight of local fans on an overcast Centre Court.
The Korean is ranked 70 places above Bogdanovic, who put his victory down to a good serve and attacking tactics. "It was a really nervous start but then I played a bit more aggressively," the 23-year-old Davis Cup player said. "I've been really working on my physical side," he added.
Verdasco, ranked 38th in the world, was out-hit by big Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-3 6-3. He could not cope with the 1.96-metre Mirnyi's huge serve and looked baffled when the Belarussian's shots skidded through low on the pristine green surface at the west London club.
The tournament is a traditional warm-up event for Wimbledon, which starts on June 25 and it kicks off the day after the French Open final - the culmination of the claycourt season. Adapting to the faster surface can be tough, though Verdasco managed it last year when he reached the third round here and the fourth at Wimbledon.
On Monday the experienced Mirnyi, who turns 30 next month and has carved out a successful doubles career as well as reaching Wimbledon's fourth round three times, looked much more at home, however. He opened his broad shoulders to serve an ace for the first point of the match and never looked back, wrapping up the tie in just over an hour.
Top seed Rafael Nadal, crowned French Open champion less than 24 hours earlier with his victory over Roger Federer in Paris, gets a couple of days' rest before stepping on to London's lawns.
He and the seven other leading seeds, including defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, who has won four titles here, and three-times former winner Andy Roddick have been given byes into the second round.
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