Top-seeded Rafael Nadal opened his grass-court season with a hard-earned three-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus at the Mercedes Cup on Thursday. The Spaniard needed 2 hours, 40 minutes to win 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-2 and book a place in the quarterfinals. ''The first match on grass is always tough,'' Nadal said. ''He's a very good player and he'd already played a match.'' Nadal had a bye into the second round. He will next face fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic, who cut short the comeback of German veteran Tommy Haas with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory. ''I need to be more aggressive, to return better, and to move better,'' Nadal said after his first match since losing in the French Open quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic. Nadal was 4-2 down when he saved three break points. He took the first-set tiebreaker with a service winner. In the second, Baghdatis hit some big forehand winners down the line and was steadier. But in the third, Nadal broke serve for 3-1 and stepped up his game. Baghdatis finished with 12 aces, and Nadal seven. The 37-year-old Haas played his second match after missing more than a year with a shoulder injury. Tomic saved two set points and then won the first 11 points of the second set as he quickly broke Haas' serve twice for a decisive lead. ''I couldn't serve the way I wanted to,'' a frustrated Haas said. German qualifier Mischa Zverev continued his good run, beating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 6-4 for a place in the last eight. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/132572.aspx
