Green on grass, Rafael Nadal stumbled Thursday at Wimbledon.
The French Open champion converted only one of 13 break-point chances and lost in the second round to unseeded Gilles Muller 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal, 19, had said he was too inexperienced on grass courts to win Wimbledon this year, and missed opportunities doomed him against Muller.
PHOTO: AP
"He played better than me," Nadal said. "I am playing good on grass. But [against] any player, when he serves good all match, it's difficult. And Muller served at a very good level all the time. It's not easy."
Nadal was eliminated two days after French Open women's champion Justine Henin-Hardenne lost in the first round.
Also ousted was England's Tim Henman, who failed to make it into the second week of the tournament for the first time since 1995. Henman lost to Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6.
PHOTO: EPA
Easing the anguish of fans was an upset win by Andrew Murray, an 18-year-old Scotsman ranked 312th. The last Brit in the tournament, male or female, Murray beat No. 14-seeded Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
"I didn't really expect to win at all," Murray said. "He's a lot better than me."
No British man has won Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
PHOTO: EPA
No. 2 Andy Roddick led Daniele Bracciali 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (3) when their match was suspended until Friday because of darkness.
On the women's side, the Williams sisters advanced to the third round. No. 4-seeded Serena dropped the first set for the second straight match but rallied to beat qualifier Mara Santangelo 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. No. 14 Venus defeated Nicole Pratt 7-5, 6-3.
The sisters, both two-time champions, could meet in the fourth round.
"We always motivate each other to be our best," Venus said. "In the end we just want equal for each other, or maybe more for each other."
French Open runner-up Mary Pierce saved a match point with an ace and beat qualifier Julia Vakulenko 4-6, 7-6 (7), 9-7.
Defending Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova won the first nine games, lost just four points in the second set and beat 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva 6-0, 6-1.
While the No. 4-seeded Nadal was sidelined, another promising 19-year-old player advanced. No. 27 Richard Gasquet of France hit 18 aces and beat qualifier Gilles Elseneer 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-2.
Sebastien Grosjean of France, a semifinalist the past two years, beat Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Nursing a sore ankle, Serena Williams said she was unsure until last week whether she would play at Wimbledon.
Now she's into the third round, and perhaps one win from another sibling showdown.
Williams dropped the first set for the second match in a row but rallied Thursday to beat qualifier Mara Santangelo 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Venus Williams also won, and the sisters, both two-time champions, could meet in the fourth round.
Serena Williams was sidelined for six weeks by a sore ankle before entering Wimbledon. On Thursday, she said for the first time that the injury was a slight fracture.
"I'm working on playing through the pain," she said. "Some days it feels good. In general, as long as I tape it, it's OK. But I have to have pretty heavy taping on it."
Williams said she made a late decision to play.
"I was like, `Oh, I'm not sure if I'm going to go,'" she said. "Every day I was like that until my flight came on Tuesday and I was on it: `Guess I'm going to Wimbledon.'"
The reigning Australian Open champion, Williams is bidding for her eighth major title. To win it, she said she must play better than she did in the first two rounds.
"I think I have the best chances of people left in the draw," she said. "I'm probably the most mentally tough person out here. I want to win this title really bad."
LUCKY LOSER
To ease a back ache so he could play at Wimbledon, American Justin Gimelstob last week received a cortisone shot -- his third this year, and the 13th of his career.
But the 28-year-old Gimelstob, whose stocky physique bears little resemblance to muscular Rafael Nadal, said he's not worried about violating tennis' doping rules.
"I don't know if you guys have seen my body. There's no anabolic-ness there. This is as natural as it gets," Gimelstob said with a grin. "This is part Jewish, part Christian, part upper-class upbringing working-as-hard-as-you-can genetics."
Gimelstob, who plays 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt on Friday, retired after one game in his final qualifying match last week. He still made it into the main draw as a "lucky loser" when another player withdrew, then drove all over London looking for a doctor to give him an injection.
"I feel this desire and this need to eke out every possible ounce of talent and memory that I can drag out of my body and my tennis," he said.
Gimelstob is one of the more outspoken players on the men's tour. He's quick to voice his opinion even when watching a match from the stands -- as he did Tuesday when three fans were complaining about England's Tim Henman as he struggled.
"I finally snapped and I just said to these guys, `I just want you to know, you guys are the biggest idiots I've ever come across in my life,'" Gimelstob said. "You guys have an unbelievable ambassador to England, he conducts himself unbelievably well, he deals with pressure -- the pressure you guys put on him in this country -- as well as anyone can handle.'
"Maybe he won't ever win Wimbledon, but since when is the barometer of success or failure being the absolute greatest at something?"
Henman's 12th bid for a Wimbledon title ended Thursday when he was upset by Dmitry Tursunov.
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