Rafael Nadal began his campaign for a first Wimbledon title since 2010 with a routine 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory over Dudi Sela on another sweltering day at the All England Club.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, playing his first match on grass since an epic defeat to Gilles Muller last year, had little trouble against his Israeli opponent, needing just 1hr 50mins for a straight-sets win that sees him through to a second-round match with either Vasek Pospisil or Mikhail Kukushkin.
Ten years on from their memorable 2008 showdown on Centre Court when Nadal emerged triumphant for his first Wimbledon title, the Spaniard matched Roger Federer’s opening-day triumph with the minimum of fuss in Tuesday afternoon temperatures comparable with his native Mallorca
After seven successive holds of serve, Nadal was handed the first break of the match when the world No 127 double faulted and the Spaniard held to love to claim the opening set.
Nadal started fast with a break to love in the opening game and he never looked back as 33-year-old Sela’s lack of game time became apparent.
The Israeli has not played since a first-round exit at Roland Garros and not won a match on the ATP Tour since beating Kyle Edmund at Indian Wells in March.
His best Grand Slam performance came on the lawns of Wimbledon when he reached the fourth round before defeat to Novak Djokovic in 2009 but he never threatened those heights on Tuesday.
Nadal, who won the pair’s two previous meetings without dropping a set, eased to the second set and despite the occasional flash from his opponent a solitary break was enough to establish a two-set advantage.
Sela threatened to upset Nadal’s progress, breaking in the opening game of the third but the two-time Wimbledon champion struck back immediately and reeled off the next three games, while saving a handful of break points from a freewheeling Sela, to move to the brink of the match.
He wrapped up his second-round spot on his third match point, a trademark ‘Vamos’ and clenched fist greeting an impressive afternoon’s work for the 2010 champion.
Novak Djokovic safely secured his passage into the next round, winning 6-3 6-1 6-2 against Tennys Sandgren.
A 12-time Grand Slam champion including three Wimbledon titles, Djokovic is seeded 12th this year, but he blew past Australian Open quarter-finalist Sandgren.
Elsewhere, world No 3 Alexander Zverev coasted into the second round by beating James Duckworth 7-5 6-2 6-0. But Dominic Thiem’s campaign drew to an early close – the seventh seed retired injured when 6-4 7-5 2-0 behind to Marcos Baghdatis. Tenth seed David Goffin lost 4-6 3-6 4-6 to Matthew Ebden.
Nick Kyrgios won plaudits for his kind consoling of a ballgirl who he accidentally had made cry, by hitting her with an errant 138mph serve. Kyrgios, the No 15 seed, beat Denis Istomin 7-6 7-6 6-7 6-3.
