Nadal Out; Blake, Nieminen Progress in Stockholm

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Top seed Rafael Nadal crashed out of the If Stockholm Open today, losing to home favorite, Joachim Johansson.
The 20-year-old Spaniard faced 17 aces from the 24-year-old, who was playing only his third ATP tournament match of 2006. Johansson also saved 86% of break points that he faced against the World No.2.
The loss was Nadal's ninth of the year, and only the third straight sets loss he has suffered so far in 2006. Johansson, who obtained a wild card into the event, will next face Kristof Vliegen, who defeated Canadian Frank Dancevic in a three-set match, which lasted 103 minutes. The Belgian's 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win was the 28th win of his 2006 campaign.
The No. 2 seed James Blake needed just under an hour to defeat Swede Thomas Johansson in Stockholm Wednesday. Blake's 6-3, 6-2 victory was the 51st of his 2006 campaign.
The American is currently placed at number 6 in the INDESIT ATP Race, and the victory improves his chances of qualifying for Shanghai. Blake now faces German Simon Greul in the second round. Greul beat Swedish wild card Ervin Eleskovic 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the day.
Fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen defeated Michael Llodra of France 6-4, 6-4 to post his 49th win of the season.
The Finn, who is still in the hunt for a Tennis Masters Cup berth, trailed No.8 Nalbandian by 125 points entering Stockholm.
Nieminen won his first ATP title in Auckland in January and reached a career-best INDESIT ATP Ranking of No. 13 in July. He has a career record of 6-6 here, finishing as runner-up in 2001 (l. to Schalken).
Olivier Rochus, the sixth seed, justified his seeding by progressing in three sets against Paradorn Srichaphan. The Belgian comfortably won the first set 6-2, but then surrendered the next set 7-6(5), before prevailing 6-2 in the decider.
Rochus saved an impressive 88% of the break points he faced (14 out of 16). The victory improved the 25-year-old's 2006 record to 31-17, and means he will face either second seed James Blake, or Simon Greul in the next round.
In an all-Swedish contest, Robin Soderling was too strong for Jonas Bjorkman, as he won with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 scoreline. Bjorkman, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist this year, only won 4% of Soderling's first service points. Soderling, now 22, took only 49 minutes to advance to the last eight, where he will either face the third seed Tomas Berdych, or another Swede, the wild card Andreas Vinciguerra.