Tue Jun 24 14:19:16 2008

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Nadal, Roddick roll; Davydenko falls at Wimbledon

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Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Two-time runners-up Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick posted opening-round victories, 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. Gulbis got past 6-foot-9 American John Isner 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (8-6). The 19-year-old Gulbis reached the French Open quarterfinals three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, a sixth-seeded Roddick, who gave way here to Federer in the 2004 and 2005 finals, handled Argentine Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) to improve to 28-7 at the All England Club.

Roddick, whose top serve speed reached 140 miles per hour on Day 2, fired 17 aces and moved on in 2 hours, 14 minutes. He committed a mere nine unforced errors and did not allow even one break-point chance for Schwank.

The former world No. 1 and former U.S. Open champion Roddick will be opposed by capable Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.

Big-serving German Benjamin Becker doused the Russian Davydenko in 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 fashion on another sun-drenched day here.

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.

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. 19 Nicolas Almagro downed fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2; 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; Austrian Jurgen Melzer dismissed No. 26 Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 2-6, 6-3; No. 27 German Nicolas Kiefer erased Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-1, 7-5, 6-3; and No. 28 Frenchman Gilles Simon subdued Poland's Dawid Olejniczak 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

France's Arnaud Clement topped 36-year-old Swede Jonas Bjorkman in four sets, while Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean whipped Italian Potito Starace in three and German Tommy Haas overcame Argentine Guillermo Canas in four. Bjorkman announced on Monday that this will mark his final Wimbledon appearance, as he will retire from the tour in October.

Other Day-2 wins came for Serbians Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki, Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, Croat Marin Cilic, Argentines Agustin Calleri and Martin Vassallo Arguello, and Belgian Xavier Malisse.