Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal opened his Wimbledon title defence with a convincing victory on Monday, beating Michael Russell 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 on a "fantastic" day while his parents watched from the Royal Box.
In keeping with tradition, the defending men's champion played the first match on Centre Court at the All England Club — and the top-ranked Spaniard put on a worthy performance to begin the 125th edition of the championships.
Five-time women's champion Venus Williams, back on her favorite grass surface, also swept into the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over 97th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan. The American also made a fashion statement, wearing a one-piece playsuit with cutout sleeves and gold accents that exposed part of her back.
Nadal, coming off his sixth French Open title and 10th overall Grand Slam championship, double-faulted to go down a break 4-2 in the first set against the 91st-ranked Russell. But Nadal buckled down, ran off six straight games to take the set and go up a break in the second. He was in command the rest of the way against the 33-year-old American.
"I started so-so in the first set but after that I started to hit very well the forehand and I think I finished playing a very good level," Nadal said.
The two players shared a laugh after Russell successfully challenged what had been ruled an ace by Nadal on match point. Nadal won the next point, though, to finish the match in just under two hours.
It was the first time Nadal had walked onto Centre Court as defending champion. After winning the title for the first time in 2008, he missed the tournament the following year with a knee injury.
"Fantastic," he said. "Seriously, I never played in a court like this. (It) was a big emotion to be the first player to play in this fabulous court. It was a very, very exciting feeling."
Watching from the Royal Box were Nadal's parents, Sebastian and Ana Maria.
"Too many beautiful things to see my mom and my dad in the Royal Box," Nadal said. "I think for them (it) was a great experience. So, everything in general was very, very nice today."
Although Nadal and Williams played in mostly sunny conditions, rain fell in late afternoon and forced organisers to call off all play for the day except on Centre Court, where matches continued under the retractable roof.
Resuming play in covered conditions at 1-1 in the third set after a delay of about 50 minutes, sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone completed a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over 45th-ranked Jelena Dokic of Australia.
Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion and this year's runner-up at Roland Garros, capitalised on two double-faults by Dokic to break for 5-3. With rain drops drumming on the translucent roof, the Italian saved four break points in the next game before winning on her second match point.
Organisers later announced there would be no more play on the outside courts, including matches involving Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro. Roddick hadn't started yet against Andreas Beck, while Del Porto won the first set 6-1 and was down 3-1 in the second against Flavio Cipolla.
Meanwhile, the final Centre Court match of the day went ahead under the roof, with fourth-seeded Andy Murray playing Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain.
The roof was added to Centre Court before the 2009 tournament and was used once that year because of rain. It was used once in 2010 because of darkness — artificial lights go on when the roof is closed — and occasionally to provide shade from the sun, but not because of rain.
The two-time Wimbledon semifinalist Murray won 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 over his 59th-ranked rival. Murray is trying to give Britain its first male champion at any Grand Slam tournament since 1936.
He overcame a slow start against Gimeno-Traver, a first-round loser for the eighth time in 12 major tournaments.
Williams, who played at Eastbourne last week after an injury layoff of nearly five months, looked right at home on the Wimbledon grass where she has been so dominant.
She kept her opponent waiting for several minutes on Court 2, with Amanmuradova sitting patiently on her courtside chair for the 31-year-old American to arrive.
Once play started, Williams took Amanmuradova apart in 59 minutes with her hard-hitting all-court game. She served seven aces, broke four times and had 23 winners to only five unforced errors — none in the second set.
"It's always great to be back," Williams said. "To play a few matches at Eastbourne helped me feel pretty comfortable here. All in all, I'm pretty pleased. I only see pluses for today. I missed being out here playing."
Amanmuradova, who has now lost in the first round at Wimbledon in all four appearances, is taller than Williams at 6-feet-3 and can hit hard. But once Williams found her rhythm, she couldn't be stopped, winning six games in a row and the last 12 points to close the match.
Williams, always the fashionista, sported an eye-catching outfit that featured a deep 'V' neckline and a gold belt wrapped around the waist.
"It's a jumper," Williams said. "Jumpers are very 'now', as is lace. The shoulders have a lot of draping. It's a kind of trendy dress. It's fun. The back is a like a cutout or peekaboo. I'm always trying to do something different and fun."
Williams had been sidelined after injuring her hip at the Australian Open. She had fallen to No. 30 in the rankings but is seeded No. 23 — the same position she held when she won the tournament in 2007. Playing in her 15th Wimbledon, she extended her record to 69-9.
Williams' second-round opponent will be Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm, who became the second oldest women to win a match at Wimbledon, beating Katie O'Brien 6-0, 7-5 on Monday.
The 40-year-old Date-Krumm, the third oldest women to compete at Wimbledon in the Open era and the oldest in this year's draw, came out of retirement in 2008 but lost in the first round the last two years at the All England Club.
In another featured women's match, 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva downed 115th-ranked American Alison Riske 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. The second-seeded Russian looked in trouble after the second set against the 20-year-old Riske, whose best career results have been on grass. But Zvonareva raised her game and closed the match with an ace.
The first seeded man to lose was No. 30 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil — 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-2 to 35-year-old German Rainer Schuettler, the oldest player in the men's draw.
Sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, who lost to Nadal in last year's final, moved into the second round with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win over Filippo Volandri of Italy. He served 12 aces.
Tenth-seeded American Mardy Fish beat Spain's Marcel Granollers 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4. Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, playing his first Wimbledon, topped Marc Gicquel of France 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3. No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Potito Starace of Italy 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners included two Frenchmen — No. 9 Gael Monfils, who beat Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3, and No. 17 Richard Gasquet, who defeated Santiago Giraldo 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
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