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Zabaleta wins as seeds take break
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSSTUTTGART, Germany -- Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta beat teenage wild-card Aljoscha Thron 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the Mercedes Cup. On a day when all 16 seeded players had a bye, the 18-year-old German wasted numerous breakpoint chances against the 28-year-old Zabaleta. "I'm not ready for this level yet," Thron said. "I just don't have the experience. You can see by the break points -- I think I had 10 of them." French Open champion Rafael Nadal, seeking to extend his 29-match winning run on clay and secure his sixth straight title on the surface, leads a field containing two other Paris winners -- Gaston Gaudio and triple champion Gustavo Kuerten. Other first-round matches saw Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber rally to beat Argentina's Juan Pablo Brzezicki 3-6 6-3 6-3 and Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo beat Austria's Stefan Koubek 6-4 6-3. The top-seeded Nadal's 29-match run is ninth on the all-time winning streak on clay, behind Guillermo Vilas' 53 in 1977. The 19-year-old Spaniard is chasing his eighth title on clay this season. Kuerten, who has a 2-5 record since coming back from a right hip operation in April, is scheduled to play Nadal in the second round. Nadal is featured on the event's poster, with tournament director Bernd Nusch saying: "The interest in tickets has been gigantic." 
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