Defending champion Nadal scores easy first-round win

Wimbledon—Rafael Nadal opened his Wimbledon title defense with a convincing victory yesterday, 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.

Returning to Grand Slam tennis after a year out with health problems, Venus’ sister, Serena Williams picked up where she left off with a winning display on Centre Court at Wimbledon — then burst into tears with emotion.

The four-time champion overcame the gutsy play of Arvane Rezai to beat the French player 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

On a day when rain washed out 31 matches on the outside courts, fourth-seeded Andy Murray also moved into the second round, winning in four sets against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0, in a match played entirely under the retractable roof over Centre Court.

While Nadal and Williams played in mostly sunny conditions, rain fell in late afternoon and forced organizers to call off all play for the day except on Centre Court, where matches continued under the sliding 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.

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.

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.

Other seeded winners included No. 9 Gaels Monfils, No. 10 Mardy Fish, No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka and No. 17 Richard Gasquet. /ap