Mahut puts Nadal out of Queen's

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) Top seed Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon preparations suffered a hiccup when he was beaten 7-5 7-6 by little-known Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the quarter-finals at Queen's Club today.

The French Open champion was undone by the superior court coverage of an inspired opponent ranked 106th in the world.

Mahut had earlier accounted for fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic in a rain-delayed third round match and then handed out similar treatment to the world number two.

Nadal squandered numerous chances to break at 5-5 in the second set and once he was taken into the tiebreak, Mahut steamed ahead 7-0 to claim a famous win.

''It's the best day in my tennis life,'' said Mahut.

''I beat Ljubicic this morning and Rafa now, I am so happy right now.'' Reuters AKD VP0055