The second-seeded Russian, who reached the semifinals last week at the French Open, is 2-12 on grass. He has lost four times in the first round of Wimbledon in five years and has never won consecutive matches on grass.

"My coach says for these four weeks on grass, just take a holiday," Davydenko said. "Otherwise I just get disappointed, frustrated."

Mayer, a 37th-ranked German, forced Davydenko out of his game with low, fast shots.

"He didn't hit winners," Davydenko said. "But after the ball was so low you have no chance to hit it back. What do you do?"

Mayer, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2004, faces Marcos Baghdatis on Friday in the quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Baghdatis came back from a break down in the final two sets to beat Robin Soderling 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-3.

"First set, he served very, very well," Baghdatis said. "The second set he broke me and then I just tried to focus on a corner, like a penalty in soccer."

A double fault by the 28th-ranked Soderling handed Baghdatis a decisive break in the fifth game of the final set.

The 18-ranked Cypriot reached the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semifinals.

"For sure, this time I want to do better and win the title at Wimbledon _ that's my goal," Baghdatis said. "Now I play good on grass. I played on it a couple of times as a junior and was really bad."

Baghdatis fell four times on the slippery grass of center court. He even cut his knee, but said it did not affect his play.

Sixth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny pulled out Thursday with a back injury, giving Tomas Berdych a spot in the semifinals.

"I really would like to have won the title here at the Gerry Weber Open," Youzhny said. "This is too bad for the tournament here in Halle."

Berdych, Baghdatis and James Blake are the favorites following the withdrawal of Roger Federer, the four-time champion who lost to Rafael Nadal last week in the French Open final.

"I'm definitely a favorite now, but there are many good players," Baghdatis said. "Your really have to concentrate. Two or three stupid mistakes and a break and you are out."

Jarkko Nieminen beat lucky loser Andrei Pavel, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1. The Romanian got into the field when Federer withdrew.