June 15, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1428

LONDON, June 14: Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to French qualifier Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his first match at the Queen's grasscourt tournament on Wednesday.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal 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 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.

Tsonga, who had struggled with two years of injuries before a comeback in January, said grass suited him.

Del Potro must have known what to expect after losing to Nadal twice already this year in Miami 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.

Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round: Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Alex Kuznetsov (US) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2); 3-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7); Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat 6-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2); 15-Robby Ginepri (US) beat Florent Serra (France) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Nicolas Mahut (France) beat 11-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3; 12-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Michael Llodra (France) 7-6 (7-4), 0-0 – Llodra retired; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat Gael Monfils (France) 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 7-5; 1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 6-4, 6-4; Alex Bogdanovic (Britain) beat Jamie Baker (Britain) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Robert Kendrick (US) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; 14-Arnaud Clement (France) beat Chris Guccione (Australia) 6-4, 6-4; Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 6-3, 6-4.

YOUZHNY WINS

HALLE (Germany): Mikhail Youzhny of Russia came through a second-set slump to beat Germany's Simon Stadler 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Halle Open on Wednesday.

SMOOTH STARTS

BIRMINGHAM: Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic made smooth starts to their grasscourt season on Wednesday, cruising into the third round of the Birmingham Classic.

Top seed and world No 2 Sharapova returned to her favourite surface with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Lilia Osterloh of the United States in the second round, after a first-round bye.

Second seed Jankovic, like Sharapova a beaten semi-finalist at Roland Garros last week, disposed of Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-1 at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.

Sharapova beat Jankovic in the final at Birmingham two years ago. The Russian also won the title in 2004 just before sealing her first Grand Slam tournament win at Wimbledon.

Serb Jankovic has become one of the most talked about players this year after a consistent run of results, including three singles titles, that has propelled her up to third in the world rankings.

Wednesday’s results:

Second round: 5-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Naomi Cavaday (Britain) 6-3, 6-1; Vania King (US) beat Alicia Molik (Australia) 7-6 (12-10), 6-4; Ayumi Morita (Japan) beat 7-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Ahsha Rolle (US) 6-4, 6-1; 6-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Chan Yung-Jan (Taiwan) 6-3, 6-4; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Lilia Osterloh (US) 6-4, 6-0; 9-Julia Vakulenko (Ukraine) beat Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; 8-Mara Santangelo (Italy) beat Sania Mirza (India) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6); Tamira Paszek (Austria) beat 13-Meilen Tu (US) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) beat Milagros Sequera (Venezuela) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-4, 6-1.—Reuters