Nadal in ominous form

RAFAEL NADAL began his bid to reclaim the Wimbledon title from Roger Federer in a determined mood as the world number one eased to a straight-sets win on Centre Court yesterday.

Second-seed Nadal bulldozed his way into round two by knocking out spirited wild-card entrant Kei Nishikori.

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.

Andy Murray recovered from a shaky start to cruise through his first-round match against Jan Hajek in a rare appearance on Court One this afternoon.

The British number one is more used to being centre stage at Wimbledon but it was not an extended stay on the All England Club’s second court as he dispatched his Czech opponent 7-5 6-1 6-2 in little over an hour and a half.

Next up for Nadal, meanwhile, is an encounter with Holland’s Robin Haase, who defeated James Blake of the USA in three sets, 6-2 6-4 6-4.

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.

Britain’s Jamie Baker suffered defeat by Andreas Beck despite making a battling start.

Baker took the German all the way in the first set but a dropped service game in each of the next sets saw him lose 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 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, who lost 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 to Andreas Seppi.