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LONDON: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams moved into
the Wimbledon 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 grass court 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,” said Nadal.
Nadal, who has lost the last two Wimbledon
finals against Roger Federer, will face Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, a
quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, for a place in the last 32.
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 American 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,” said Williams.
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
quarterfinals of all of the other three Grand Slams.
-- AFP
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