Nadal out in first round at Halle

Rafael Nadal was brought back down to earth with a bump by Dustin Brown in Halle.

Four days after winning the French Open for a record ninth time, Nadal lost his opening match on the grass 6-4 6-1 in less than an hour.

Brown, the flamboyant and big hitting Jamaican-German, was not the man Nadal would have wanted to meet as he tried to find his feet on the grass.

The world number one looked to have adjusted well in the first set but Brown, who beat Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon last year, broke serve in the 10th game and did not look back.

In the opening five games of the second set, Nadal won just five points and, although he stopped the rot eventually, 85th-ranked Brown confidently served out the best win of his life.

Nadal had said before leaving Paris that his expectations for Halle were not high but, having won just one match in two years at Wimbledon, it is hardly ideal preparation.

Defending champion Roger Federer avoided the same fate but did have a scare against Portugal’s Joao Sousa.

Second seed Federer lost the opening set on a tie-break but recovered to win 6-7 (8/10) 6-4 6-2.

The Swiss was in a positive mood after the match, saying on atpworldtour.com: “It was slightly frustrating at times clearly, but nevertheless I served well and kept on doing my thing.

“It was important to stay calm and actually I think it gives me more confidence winning this way. I had to stay calm, fight through the match and find a way and then the last set and a half were much better. So, I’m actually pretty happy now.”

Federer next meets Lu Yen-hsun, who defeated Ivo Karlovic in two tie-breaks, while American Steve Johnson was given a walkover into the quarter-finals by Teymuraz Gabashvili.