Wimbledon, England – Two-time champion Rafael Nadal was a first-round winner Tuesday at Wimbledon.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 star was tested mightily in the opening set before ultimately cruising to a 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Brazilian fellow lefthander Thomaz Bellucci on the famed Centre Court at the All England Club.
Nadal moved on in 2 hours, 15 minutes with the help of six service breaks, compared to three breaks for the loser from South America.
The great Nadal owns 11 Grand Slam titles, including seven French Opens and a the pair of Wimbledon championships. The super Spaniard has appeared in the last five major finals, going 2-3, including another big win in Paris a few weeks ago.
Nadal is now 36-5 lifetime at Wimbledon and a perfect 33-0 in his career first-round Grand Slam matches overall.
Also on Day 2, flashy Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and on-the-mend American Mardy Fish reached the second round at tennis' most prestigious event.
The fifth-seeded former Australian Open runner-up Tsonga whipped fading Aussie star Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Court 1. The two-time major titlist Hewitt is a former world No. 1 and was the Wimbledon champ back in 2002.
Tsonga was a semifinalist here last year.
Meanwhile, the 10th-seeded world No. 12 Fish handled 34-year-old Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) on Court 12.
Fish serve-and-volleyed his way past Ramirez Hidalgo, striking 43 more winners (61-18), including 24 aces, than his overmatched Spanish counterpart, who was the oldest player in the men's draw.
The 30-year-old Fish had been sidelined with fatigue-like symptoms since late March and underwent a medical procedure called a cardiac catheter ablation to correct a heart problem, which involved misfiring electrical pulses in his heart.
Fish was a Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year.
Meanwhile, 12th-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro outlasted diminutive Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-7 (4-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4 in a match that was suspended because of darkness on Monday, and Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen took out 14th-seeded Spanish fellow lefthander Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Almagro survived Rochus in 3 hours, 24 minutes with the help of a whopping 48 aces.
In other action involving seeds, No. 19 rising Japanese Kei Nishikori bested Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, Belgian David Goffin upset No. 20 Aussie Bernard Tomic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 22 Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov handled Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. The talented Tomic was a surprise Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year.
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