Rafa Nadal’s return to form was stopped in its tracks when he lost his opening match at the Aegon Championships to Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4 yesterday.

The Spaniard arrived in London fresh from winning the Stuttgart grasscourt title last week, but his game misfired at crucial moments against the tricky Dolgopolov.

Fifth seed Nadal, who won the prestigious Queen’s Club tournament in 2008, saved a match point in the second set tiebreak and seemed to have taken control in the deciding set when he broke early.

However, Dolgopolov produced a stunning drop volley to break back for 4-4 and crunched consecutive winners, one a searing backhand return and the other a threaded forehand down the line, to seal victory when Nadal served to stay alive.

Dolgopolov, who now has consecutive wins against Nadal, plays another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in the second round.

Earlier, Stanislas Wawrinka took only 49 minutes to beat Australian Nick Kyrgios as he continued to bask in the glow of his French Open triumph.

The Swiss, who stunned Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier this month to claim a second grand slam title, picked up where he left off in Paris with a 6-3 6-4 victory on the sun-drenched west London grasscourts.