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Claycourter Puerta flounders on grass
French Open runner-up, Argentine Mariano Puerta lost to German Lars Burgsmueller 6-1 6-1 6-4 in the first round at Wimbeldon on Monday.
French Open runner-up Mariano Puerta hardly had time to knock the clay from his shoes before skidding out of Wimbledon in the first round on Monday.
The Argentine, seeded 16th at the All England Club on the strength of his Roland Garros heroics earlier this month, joined an ever-growing list of claycourt specialists at the exit of the grasscourt grand slam on the first day of the championships.
Puerta was never in with a shot against German Lars Burgsmueller, losing 6-1 6-1 6-4.
Spanish 13th seed Tommy Robredo also fell by the wayside, beaten 6-1 6-2 7-5 by compatriot Fernando Verdasco.
For Puerta, Monday's match was his first departure from clay since a hardcourt tournament in the first week of January. Since then he had played 42 straight matches on the red dirt.
His miserable effort on the lush lawns is unlikely to encourage him to flex his grasscourt muscles in future. In four visits to Wimbeldon, the Argentine is yet to win a match.
Formidable claycourters like Puerta are noticebly not able to adapt to the faster green grass at Wimbledon. The only notable baseliner to buck the trend on Monday was former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The Spaniard, seeded 23rd this year, has steadfastly turned up at the grasscourt major and reached the second round with a three-set win win over Briton Jamie Delgado.
While his compatriots floundered, a determined Ferrero showed that it was possible to play from the back of the court and still win on the grass.
After all, it was only three years ago that Wimbledon witnessed a baseline tussle in the men's final between Lleyton Hewitt and Argentina's David Nalbandian.
