Nadal crashes out of Qatar Open

Defending champion Rafael Nadal was surprised in the first round of Qatar Open on Tuesday, losing to German qualifier Michael Berrer 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The second seed just came back from an appendectomy in November and has yet to find his top form.

Nadal had three break points on Berrer's serve in the final game, but couldn't convert on those opportunities to draw the third set score even to 5-5.

Berrer had never before beaten a top five ranked player. The 34-year-old father of two has already announced he's retiring at the end of the year.

Also on Tuesday, top-seeded Novak Djokovic eased past fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-1 in just 59 minutes.

Djokovic withdrew from the Abu Dhabi exhibition final last week with the flu, but showed no lingering signs of illness against Lajovic.

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic also advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in 62 minutes.

Fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain toiled to get past the first hurdle when he beat Dutch qualifier Thiemo De Bakker 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours, 18 minutes.

Jan-Lennard Struff produced another surprise of the day as he defeated fellow German and fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-1. Endi