Playing his first match since losing his second consecutive Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, Nadal connected on 67 percent of his first serves, compared to 39 percent for Waske, who is normally a big server. Nadal faced two break points and saved them both.

Nadal, who won the Stuttgart event two years ago, won his third straight French Open in June and has won 89 of his last 90 matches on clay. His only loss in that span came in the final of the Hamburg event in May to Federer _ Federer is not playing in Stuttgart.

Defending champion David Ferrer eased into the second round by beating qualifier Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-2. The fourth-seeded Ferrer is seeking his second straight title on clay, after winning the Bastad tournament last week.

Philipp Kohlschreiber swept past Simon Greul 6-1, 6-2 and Stefan Koubek beat Jose Acasuso 6-2, 7-5 in other first-round matches.

Kohlschreiber next plays Nadal.

"I've got nothing to lose, there is nothing better than to play against Nadal at home," he said.

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Nicolas Lapentti. Berdych dropped just eight points on serve and saved the lone break point he faced. Berdych is at a career-high No. 10 in the ATP Rankings with a 31-14 record this year.

Fifth-seeded Guillermo Canas won the first set against Stanislas Wawrinka but was forced to retire after the first game of the third set with an injured right hamstring. Wawrinka advanced 6-7 (5), 6-2, 1-0.