TENNIS/Wimbledon men's round-up:Rafael Nadal began his bid to reclaim the title from Roger Federer in a determined mood as the world number one eased to a straight-sets win on Centre Court today.
Second seed Nadal bulldozed his way into round two by knocking out spirited wild-card entrant Kei Nishikori.
The Majorca player, champion at SW19 in 2008, looked at home in the Wimbledon sunshine as he took to the hallowed Wimbledon grass for the first time in two years after missing out with tendinitis 12 months ago.
Faced with 80-degree heat and a talented Japanese opponent tipped for a bright future on the men’s tour, Nadal kept his cool to post a 6-2 6-4 6-4 triumph.
Next up for the five-time French Open champion is an encounter with Holland’s Robin Haase, who defeated James Blake of the USA in three sets, 6-2 6-4 6-4.
British fourth seed Andy Murray beat Czech player Jan Hajek 7-5 6-1 6-2 in their first-round encounter.
Ninth seed David Ferrer advanced with little drama as he beat unseeded German Nicolas Kiefer 6-4 6-2 6-3, while 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga survived a gruelling four-set battle with American Robert Kendrick.
After slugging through two sets decided on tie-breaks, both won by Tsonga, the match became slightly more open and the Frenchman won it 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (8/6) 3 6 6-4.
Mikhail Youzhny, the 13th seed from Russia, was a 6-3 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7/2) victor over Dudi Sela of Israel, while there was an early exit for Nicolas Almagro, the 19th seed from Spain, who lost 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 at the hands of Italy’s Andreas Seppi.
Thomaz Bellucci, the 25th seed from Brazil, progressed in straight sets at the expense of compatriot Ricardo Mello, while 26th-seeded Gilles Simon of France did likewise against Spain’s Guillermo Alcaide.
Paul-Henri Mathieu triumphed in four sets in the all-French clash with Marc Gicquel, 6-1 7-5 3-6 6-1.
There were also wins for Ukrainian duo Alexandr Dolgopolov and Illya Marchenko, Sam Querrey of the USA, France’s Florent Serra, Martin Fischer of Austria, Tobias Kamke of Germany and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig.