Becker broke in the 11th game of the first set. He took advantage when Verdasco made a string of errors in the second-set tiebreaker.
"It is without doubt one of the biggest wins of my career," Becker said.
Ivan Navarro defeated 2008 finalist Marc Gicquel 6-4 3-6 7-5, and Dudi Sela reached the quarterfinals at the grass-court warm up for Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Igor Kunitsyn.
Marcos Baghdatis beat second-seeded Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-2 to set up a second-round clash with Ramon Sluiter.
The Cypriot, who reached the Ordina Open semifinals in 2006, broke Robredo four times and dropped serve once.
"It's always good to win. It's encouraging to win against a player like Tommy," Baghdatis said.
Robredo said Baghdatis deserved to win the match, which was postponed because of darkness.
"Grass is not my favorite surface," Robredo said. "I think I will need a little bit of time to play my game."
On the women's side, top-seeded Dinara Safina defeated Anna-Lena Gronefeld 6-0 6-3 to advance to the second round. Tamarine Tanasugarn dispatched seventh-seeded Iveta Benesova 6-3 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
Fifth-seeded Alona Bondarenko beat Stephanie Foretz 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3. Foretz made the draw as a replacement for Magdalena Rybarikova, who won her first WTA title at Birmingham on Sunday.
No. 2 Dominika Cibulkova lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Nathalie Dechy. Michaella Krajicek, the 2006 champ, was bounced out by Kristina Barrois 6-4, 6-3.
Third-seeded Flavia Pennetta cruised past Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-1, while wild-card entry Yanina Wickmayer ousted fourth-seeded Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3.
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