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Rookie ousts Thomas Johansson

Juan Martin Del Potro hits a forehand against Thomas Johansson at Queen's Club in west London on Monday. Photo: AFP

Former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson was sent packing from Queen's club by grass-court rookie Juan Martin del Potro on a day of surprises at the traditional Wimbledon warm-up.

Johansson won in Australia in 2002 and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals as recently as 2005, but the Swede came unstuck as del Potro, who had never played a competitive match on grass before, clinched a 6-2, 6-4 first round victory.

Del Potro, 18, was the youngest player in the top 100 last year and the Argentine showed no signs of being daunted by his debut appearance on the lush lawns of west London.

He rushed to a convincing victory that set up a tie against French Open champion Rafael Nadal, fresh from his third consecutive triumph at Roland Garros.

British wild card Alex Bogdanovic had earlier eliminated 13th seed Lee Hyung-taik with a dominating 6-4, 6-4 win.

Bogdanovic is 70 places below Lee in the ATP rankings in 117th position, but he easily bridged that gap with a confident display to set up a second round tie against fellow Brit Jamie Baker.

South Korean Lee has a good track record on grass courts, having reached the semi-finals at Queen's in 2004 and the last eight two years earlier, so the win represents a significant scalp for Bogdanovic.

The 23-year-old broke Lee's serve twice in the first set, with the second break proving decisive as he then held on to that advantage to close out the set.

He broke again early in the second set and Lee was unable to claw his way back into the match. Bogdanovic showed no sign of nerves as he served for the match and he won it on his second match point.

"I just tried to stay as aggressive as possible. My game is based about my serve and I have to use it to dictate matches. This is a great opportunity to play good players and every match is going to help me move forward and break into the top 100," Bogdanovic said.

Baker, a wild card entry ranked 247 in the world, also ensured the absence of injured British No. 1 Andy Murray wasn't a source of regret for the home fans as he beat Austria's Alexander Peya 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Baker is 100 places below Peya in the world rankings so he might have been expected to crumble after losing the first set, but he fought back to wrap up his first ATP Tour win.

France's Julien Benneteau was the highest ranked player to exit on the first day as the 10th seed lost 7-5, 6-3 against Alejandro Falla, who is ranked 122nd.

Giant Belarussian Max Mirnyi had created the first upset when he beat 16th seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3.

At 1.95m Mirnyi cuts an imposing figure as he lopes across the court and a series of booming forehands helped him to break Verdasco, ranked world No. 38, in the second game.

The 29-year-old possesses a well-grooved grass court game and once he got in front he was never in any danger of relinquishing his lead.

Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, ranked 115th, was another relatively unheralded player to defy the rankings as he defeated Oscar Hernandez, the world No. 55.

Udomchoke set up a meeting with fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic with a 6-2, 6-3 success over Hernandez, the fourth Spanish player to go out on the first day.

Radek Stepanek was to face second seed Andy Roddick on yesterday after Davide Sanguinetti was forced to retire with a twisted knee.

Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman, the 11th seed, overcame a spirited challenge from Justin Gimelstob, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Robby Ginepri, the US 15th seed, beat British wild card Richard Bloomfield 6-4, 6-2, while Arnaud Clement saw off Ivan Navarro Pastor 7-6, 6-4 and will play Australia's Chris Giccione, who beat Andreas Seppi 7-6, 6-4.
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