Tue Jun 24 12:24:19 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Nadal rolls; Davydenko falls at Wimbledon

---

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Two-time runner-up Rafael Nadal posted a nice opening-round victory, while world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko came up a loser Tuesday at Wimbledon.

The second-seeded Nadal improved to 13-2 in his last 15 matches at the All England Club by handling German Andreas Beck 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-0). Nadal lost to Roger Federer in the last two Wimbledon finals and beat Federer at Roland Garros earlier this month to capture a fourth straight French Open championship.

Nadal, who leads the ATP with 50 match wins this season, is currently riding an 18-match winning streak and will face dangerous rising Latvian Ernests Gulbis in the second round here on Thursday. The 19-year-old Gulbis reached the French Open quarterfinals three weeks ago.

Big-serving German Benjamin Becker doused the Russian Davydenko in 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 fashion on a sun-drenched Day 2 on the grass at the All England Club.

Davydenko, who dislikes playing on grass, is now a career 4-7 at Wimbledon. He actually reached the fourth round here a year ago after going 1-5 in his previous five trips to the AEC.

The 27-year-old Davydenko tuned up for the Wimbledon grass by titling at a clay-court event in Warsaw two weeks ago.

Eighth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet tattooed American Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to improve to 6-1 in his last seven matches at Wimbledon. Gasquet lost to the five-time champion Federer in last year's semifinals here.

American men are a dismal 1-7 in opening-round play over the first two days of this fortnight.

Fourteenth-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu came from behind to advance, which he did with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 decision against Spaniard Oscar Hernandez, while 16th-seeded Radek Stepanek moved on with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-0 decision against fellow Czech Jan Hernych.

In other action involving seeds, No. 23 Spaniard Tommy Robredo got past Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; No. 24 Finn Jarkko Nieminen topped American Wayne Odesnik 6-3, retired; and No. 27 German Nicolas Kiefer erased Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-1, 7-5, 6-3.