Nadal, Venus Williams Win Opening Round Matches

Rafael Nadal opened his Wimbledon title defense in convincing style Monday, shaking off an early service break and cruising to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Michael Russell.

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 kick off proceedings on 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 straight-set win over 97th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

Nadal, coming off his sixth straight French Open title and 10th overall Grand Slam championship, double-faulted to go down a break 4-2 in the first set against the 91st-ranked Russell. But Nadal buckled down, ran off six straight games to take the set and go up a break in the second. He was in total command the rest of the way against the 33-year-old American.

From: http://ping.fm/HR437