Tennis/ Wimbledon Championships: As so often happens after you've burnt a vapour trail through the clay-court season, the grass trips you up. For all of its perceived gentility, the surface has teeth as well as an unpredictable personality.

Rafael Nadal, just three weeks ago crowned French Open champion, discovered his game, though athletic and dynamic, is not yet ready to scorch Wimbledon as it did Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Rome and Paris.

Disappointed in failing to make the third round, he need only look toward Tim Henman, the grass-court specialist, and see just what this tournament can do to reputations.

Both players made their exit from this year's competition within minutes of each other, Henman having saved two match points and swung the momentum before wilting to Russian Dmitry Tursunov in five sets, and Nadal after dropping his serve three times for Gilles Muller to stop his run.

The expert eye of the committee here believed Nadal could make a spirited charge well into the second week and so seeded him fourth. Tursunov said Henman's achievements in making four semi-finals had been "downsized" by the British media; conversely, Nadal's reputation was "upsized" by the seedings.

His speed around the court, his ability to return and his left handedness were all major factors in recently accounting for the best players in the world, including the number one, Roger Federer.

But the 19-year-old Spaniard had always downplayed his chances, claiming he had to work on his serve and his movement.

This was only the third grass-court tournament of his career. In addition to appearing in 2003 and missing last year through injury, Nadal competed in Halle two weeks ago. Nothing more.

As the third seed in Halle he lost in the first round to wild card Alexander Waske just three days after his Roland Garros triumph. In that context there wasn't much grass mileage in his legs.

"Today I think he played a very good match," said Nadal. "I had my chance in the first set at love-40. In the second set I did the break and after that I had a very, very good chance to break again. He played very good. He played better than me today."

It was a tight match and just one service break in the 10th game gave the only Luxembourg player in the draw a 6-4 first set. Again in the second set, one service break was enough, this time Nadal using his backcourt game to squeeze Muller and serve for the set 6-4.

But the vagaries of the surface finally began to work in Muller's favour, the 22-year-old breaking Nadal's service in the third and fourth sets for the match.

"I think I need to improve some things," continued Nadal. "When I improve my serve I can win a lot of matches here. I need to improve my volley and my confidence with the game on grass. Sometimes I am a little bit nervous when I serve because I know I can lose the set.

"My aim is to play more, to train more. For that I have to play a lot of matches. But I am fast."

Admitting tiredness was a factor after a frenetic last month, he departed London for a week in Majorca claiming, "I need to disconnect a little bit."

Henman, at 30 years old, will have to do some thinking, though his instincts are to keep competing. He needs to connect a little bit. It is the first time in 10 years he has not been able to play his way into the second week.

Uncontrollably frustrated by his failure to perform against a player who has only recently come back into the game after breaking his back in a boating accident, Henman is also in trouble with the BBC, who issued an apology after his audible profanities were broadcast live.

Early on in the match Henman shouted, "Come on. Fuck." Then to the crowd he screamed: "More - make some f***ing noise. It's f***ing Wimbledon."

When the ball boys were slow to get him a drink he said to the umpire, "Tell them to get their heads out of their arses and get me a diet Coke."

Hardly dignified but Henman builds his year around Wimbledon and it has provided him with the best moments of his career.

"If I said some bad words I apologise," he said later. "You know these things happen on the spur of the moment when you're out there competing, wanting to get fired up. If you say the wrong word then yeah, I apologise."

And as if to emphasise the inability of the British number one to beat a player 143 places below him on the ladder, Scotland's Andy Murray came out shortly after his Davis Cup team-mate had lost to sweep aside the number 14 seed, Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

The win was completely unforeseen for the 18-year-old from Dunblane, in his first Grand Slam event and ranked almost 300 places below the Czech. Hi is the first British wildcard to make the third round since Chris Wilkinson in 1998.

Number two seed Andy Roddick was leading the Italian Daniele Bracciali by two sets to one when their Centre Court match was called off owing to poor light.