Hewitt ousted but Nadal marches on

Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt [Images] lost to French qualifier Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his first match at the Queen's grasscourt tournament on Wednesday.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal [Images] had no problems adapting to the grass and warmed up for Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-4 win over regular victim Juan Martin del Potro to reach the third round.

Both men had byes into the second round and Hewitt, looking for his fifth title here, might have expected an easy passage against the 121st-ranked Tsonga.

But Tsonga had already won a challenger tournament in the London [Images] suburbs last week at the same time as qualifying at Queen's. Last weekend he played at Queen's in the morning and Surbiton in the afternoon, beating lofty Croat Ivo Karlovic to win the challenger event.

Hewitt lacked Tsonga's verve and aggression. The Frenchman whooped, jumped and pumped his fists, delighting the crowd while Hewitt looked out of sorts.

"I don't feel like I hit the ball that badly out there," Hewitt said. "Grass is a totally difference surface. You're going to get matches now and then...that are going to come out like this."

Tsonga, who had struggled with two years of injuries before a comeback in January, said grass suited him. "The best thing is it's spectacular," he said.

Del Potro must have known what to expect after losing to Nadal twice already this year in Miami [Images] and at the first round of the French Open.

Nadal, the claycourt grand master, looked entirely comfortable despite his protestations that he has difficulty adapting to the faster surface.

The Spaniard, who completed a hat-trick of titles at Roland Garros on Sunday and reached the Wimbledon final last year, barely broke sweat while he pummelled del Potro from the back of the court.

The 1.96 metres-tall teenager held his own for the first eight games with is big serve but Nadal's formidable strength and pinpoint returning eventually wore him down.

Third and fourth seeds Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Novak Djokovic of Serbia also advanced. Djokovic, the man Nadal beat in the semi-finals in Paris, beat American Robert Kendrick 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Gonzalez beat Djokovic's compatriot Janko Tipsarevic 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.

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