LONDON, June 20 -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal blast past his first round opponent Michael Russell in straight sets at the Wimbledon Championships on Monday while Venus Williams also took an easy win on the first competition day at the grass court Grand Slam.
Nadal, 25 began his title defending campaign with a comfortable victory over American Russell. The Spaniard only took one hour and 58 minutes to beat the world No. 90 Russell 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Nadal will meet Ryan Sweeting from the United States in the second round as the Wimbledon debutant came from two sets down to edge out higher-ranked Pablo Andujar of Spain 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) and 6-1. [ In the women's singles, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams defeated Akgul Amanmuradova from Uzbekstan 6-3, 6-1.
The 31-year-old injured herself at the Australian Open this year and rested until warming up for the Wimbledon Championships in Eastbourne earlier this month.
"It's always great to be back," said Williams whose next opponent is Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm. "To play a few matches in EAstbourne I think helped me to feel pretty comfortable here. So all in all I was pretty pleased to play today."