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Nadal, Sharapova and Venus advance

Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan returns a shot against Dinara Safina of Russia during their first-round match at the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Tuesday. PHOTO: EPA

Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams moved into Wimbledon's second round on Tuesday, but men's fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko crashed to an embarrassingly limp defeat.

Second seed Nadal, bidding to become the first Spanish men’s champion since 1966, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) win over German qualifier and fellow left-hander Andreas Beck.

The second seed, fresh from his fourth successive French Open title and first grasscourt trophy at Queen’s, is also bidding to be the first Roland Garros-Wimbledon back-to-back winner since Bjorn Borg in 1980.

“My opponent was another leftie and his second serve was difficult to read. He served to the body and that was hard for me,” Nadal said. “It was a strange match. There weren’t many points from the baseline.”

Nadal, who has lost the last two Wimbledon finals against Roger Federer, will face Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, for a place in the last 32.

"I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. It was a bee, a big old bumblebee ... I didn't want it to sting me." — Venus Williams, defending Wimbledon singles champion

Sharapova, the third seed and 2004 champion, took to Court One in a tuxedo-style jacket and trousers which she peeled off before playing in a pair of shorts.

The Russian wasted little time in ending French opponent Stephanie Foretz’s involvement with an untroubled 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Sharapova, seeded three, will face fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round.

“It was my first match on grass this year so I did pretty well,” Sharapova said.

Defending champion Venus Williams successfully launched her bid for a fifth title.

The 28-year-old recovered from 1-3 down in the first set to see off Britain’s Naomi Cavaday 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 and will meet another Briton, Anne Keothavong, for a place in the last 32.

The US player blamed a Centre Court bee for her sluggish start.

“I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. It was a bee, a big old bumblebee,” Williams said. “I didn’t want it to sting me. Then I ended up losing that service game, so I guess the bumblebee got me off to a bad start.”

While those three Grand Slam winners were making progress, Russian fourth seed Davydenko was collapsing to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Germany’s Benjamin Becker, the world 116.

It was a limp performance by the 27-year-old who has now lost five times in the first round on his seven visits despite boasting a record of having reached at least the quarter-finals of all of the other three Grand Slams.

“I was too slow. On soft grass you need to be much faster and play faster,” said Davydenko, who joined Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian, who lost on Monday, as a top 10 player on the sidelines here.

US sixth seed Andy Roddick, the runner-up to Roger Federer in 2004 and 2005, started his bid to reach a third final with a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) win over Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank.

Roddick was joined in the next round by British 12th seed Andy Murray, who put out veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), and US ninth seed James Blake, who saw off Christophe Rochus of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

Santoro, 35, was not the only veteran bowing out.

Swedish 36-year-old Jonas Bjorkman, a semi-finalist in 2006, saw his 15th and last Wimbledon end in a four-set defeat at the hands of France’s Arnaud Clement.



Also See: Never mind the matches, look at the outfits
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