(June 12, 2014) Just four days after winning his ninth Roland Garros title, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal fell in his opening match at the Gerry Weber in Halle, Germany to German wild card No. 85 Dustin Brown 6-4, 6-1 in 58 minutes. With the victory, Brown becomes the lowest-ranked player to beat a No. 1 player since No. 98 Mardy Fish beat Roger Federer at Indian Wells in 2008.
“I lost today because my rival was playing better than me,” said the Spaniard “And at the same time, as I said yesterday, the transition from clay to grass is difficult, especially when you arrive a little bit tired and not at 100 per cent. But I tried my best.”
Nadal is now 1-3 at Halle, with all three losses coming to German players.
“It was the worst draw possible against a player like this,” Nadal said. It’s very difficult to talk about the match because I don’t know what to say. I didn’t play. My opponent always served over 200kph with his first and second serves. So, that can happen on this surface if you face an opponent like this.
“I tried but my serve was not good enough. At the same time he changed the dynamic completely. For four games he really didn’t put many returns on the court and then suddenly he was playing winners from the return. So, it’s difficult to analyze these kind of matches.”
“I’ve had a lot of great wins before, but this was my first time playing against a World No. 1, at home in Germany and on grass – my best surface,” said the German Brown. “Everything came together. I tried to play my game as aggressively as possible.
“I took away the big things in (Nadal’s) game that make him the unbelievable player that he is. I hit a lot of big serves. I had a plan and it worked out.”
It’s Brown’s second top ten win of the year, he defeated No. 10 John Isner at the tournament in Houston in April.
Brown will play countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals.
Nadal has now lost his last three grass court matches to Brown, No. 135 Steve Darcis at last year’s Wimbledon and No. 100 Lukas Rosol at 2012 Wimbledon.
Roger Federer had to rebound from a first set loss to stop Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2.
RESULTS – THURSDAY, 12 JUNE 2014
Singles – Second Round
[WC] D Brown (GER) d [1] R Nadal (ESP) 64 61
[2] R Federer (SUI) d J Sousa (POR) 67(8) 64 62
S Johnson (USA) d T Gabashvili (RUS) w/o (right knee)
Y Lu (TPE) d I Karlovic (CRO) 76(2) 76(3)
Doubles – Quarter-finals
M Draganja (CRO) / F Mergea (ROU) d [1] L Kubot (POL) / R Lindstedt (SWE) w/o (Kubot – left heel)
A Begemann (GER) / J Knowle (AUT) d R Haase (NED) / K Nishikori (JPN) 63 64
[WC] M Chiudinelli (SUI) / R Federer (SUI) d A Falla (COL) / S Giraldo (COL) 63 63
SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, 13 JUNE 2014
STADIUM start 12:00 noon
[WC] P Gojowczyk (GER) vs A Falla (COL)
[WC] D Brown (GER) vs P Kohlschreiber (GER)
S Johnson (USA) vs [4] K Nishikori (JPN)
Not Before 5:30 pm
Y Lu (TPE) vs [2] R Federer (SUI)
COURT 1 start 1:00 pm
M Draganja (CRO) / F Mergea (ROU) vs A Begemann (GER) / J Knowle (AUT)
After Suitable Rest – [WC] D Brown (GER) / J Struff (GER) vs I Karlovic (CRO) / M Pavic (CRO)