Nervy Nadal takes time to find groove

It was not always pretty, but it was job done for Rafael Nadal as he started his bid for a third Wimbledon title with a first-round win over Thomaz Bellucci yesterday.

Seeded second, Nadal is fresh from winning a record seventh French Open title and, Novak Djokovic apart, is the favourite to add to the titles he won here in 2008 and 2010.

Winning against an opponent ranked 78 places below him in the world was always expected, with his 7-6 (7/0) 6-2 6-3 success the first step of what the Spaniard hopes will be the route to a 12th grand slam title.

But his free-hitting opponent did not let him have it all his own way, catching him cold in the first set as he raced 4-0 ahead, before eventually buckling under the weight of Nadal’s class and experience.

Nadal later admitted to having early problems but was happy to have navigated his way through a second round meeting with Michael Russell.

“I don’t think I played my best match today. Especially in the first set, I was too nervous and didn’t know what to do,” Nadal said.

“But I was able to keep winning the first set. That’s the important thing and the good news. Then I started to play better. The second and third set I played better, even if I made mistakes.

“I felt in that moment I started to hit my forehand better. That’s the most important thing for me. In the beginning I didn’t start the best, but I finished well so I’m happy.”

Andy Murray put on a devastating display of grass-court tennis to hammer former world No 3 Nikolay Davydenko and race into the second round.

Fourth seed Murray looked in great shape in the first two sets and, although he could not quite sustain his level in the third set, it was more than good enough to win 6-1 6-1 6-4 and set up a clash with either giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic or Dudi Sela of Israel.

Elsewhere, former champion Lleyton Hewitt was unable to roll back the years as he was beaten in straight sets by fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3 6-4 6-4.

In the women’s section, defending champion Petra Kvitova overcame her nerves to secure a less-than-convincing victory over world number 96, Akgul Amanmuradova.

The 22-year-old Czech waltzed to the women’s title at SW19 last year, but she was clearly on edge and had to come from behind to earn a 6-4 6-4 victory yesterday.

“I was nervous,” Kvitova said. “It was the first time for me to play as the defending champion of a grand slam.

“It was a huge honour to come to Centre Court and I wanted to make people happy but it’s not that easy.”

Serena Williams succeeded where sister Venus failed by making it through to the second round.

The younger of the two sisters, who has four Wimbledon titles to Venus’s five, claimed a straight-sets victory against Czech player Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Venus lost on the same court to Russian Elena Vesnina on Monday but Serena gave a more effective performance to win 6-2 6-4.

Serena complained about having to play on Court Two last summer but had no qualms with the decision yesterday, saying: “I’m over it. I don’t care to talk about it.”