Nadal through as Davydenko bows out

Rafael Nadal flexed his muscles at Wimbledon today with a grinding 6-4 6-4 7-6 defeat of German qualifier Andreas Beck in the first round.
   
The Spanish world number two, runner-up to Roger Federer at the All England Club for the last two years, looked comfortable on his return to Centre Court, dispatching an obdurate opponent with few alarms.
   
Nadal was kept on his toes by some fierce Beck serving but was ruthless when the few opportunities arose, pocketing the first two sets with single breaks of serve.
   
Left-hander Beck, making his grand slam debut, put up some dogged resistance in the third, not least when saving four break points at 3-3, and came within two points of snatching a set before Nadal romped through the tiebreak 7-0.

Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko became the biggest casualty this year so far as the Russian suffered a disappointing straight sets defeat to Germany's world number 116 Benjamin Becker.

Davydenko's 6-4 6-4 6-4 loss was his fifth first-round exit in seven appearances at the All England Club, although his best run had come last year when he reached the last 16.

However, it was back business as usual on Court Two today as Becker - hardly brimming with grand slam pedigree having lost in the first round of his last six majors - made a mockery of Davydenko's lofty ranking.

The German seized control of the match from the start, serving consistently and never once losing his advantage as he marched into the second round.

Last year's semi-finalist Richard Gasquet comfortably moved into the second round at Wimbledon, beating American Mardy Fish 6-3 6-4 6-2

The eighth-seeded Frenchman returned to Court One where he memorably defeated Andy Roddick in five thrilling quarter-final sets last year and showed glimpses of the form that had led to his best grand slam finish.

Gasquet broke the 39th-ranked Fish, a finalist in Indian Wells this year, early in each set and was only fleetingly troubled by the American in one hour and 51 minutes.

He next faces compatriot and former semi-finalist Sebastien Grosjean, who overcame Italian Potito Starace 6-2 7-5 6-1.

Sixth seed Andy Roddick reported no ill effects from his recent shoulder problems as he eased past Argentina's Eduardo Schwank 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7/0) on Court One.

Roddick produced his usual display of consistent and powerful serving to overcome the world number 60.

The American said: 'The shoulder feels all right. I don't know if it's going to be perfect but it's about as good as could be expected. I didn't feel pain today so that's good.

'First-round matches are always a little uncomfortable at any grand slam. It's a battle with nerves and anxiety so it's never really that comfortable.'