E-Kantipur

LONDON, JUN 09 -  

Rafael Nadal had no problems making the switch from clay to grass courts as the French Open champion beat Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4 at Queen's on Wednesday.

Nadal was last seen four days ago swathed in a Spanish flag as he celebrated his record-equalling sixth French Open title after another victory over his old rival Roger Federer.

There was little time to savour that latest success on the crushed earth of Roland Garros however and, after a quick trip to EuroDisney, Nadal has set his sights on successfully defending his Wimbledon crown.

The rapid change of surfaces at this time of year has troubled many great players in the past, but Nadal copes with remarkable ease.

He won back to back French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2008 and 2010 and made the Eurostar train journey from Paris to London firmly believing he can tie Bjorn Borg's record of three French-Wimbledon doubles.

Nadal, who was given a first round bye, rarely needed to get anywhere near his best against such a raw opponent as 23-year-old Ebden, who is ranked 168th in the world and has spent most of his career playing in Futures and Challenger tournaments.

Back on grass for the first time since beating Tomas Berdych in last year's Wimbledon final, Nadal quickly stamped his authority on Ebden by breaking in the first game.

He served out the first set and then broke again in the opening game of the second before cruising through to a third round meeting with Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who beat 16th seed Ivan Ljubicic 0-6, 7-5, 6-4.

"It's never easy at the start of the grass season. You don't have a lot of days to adapt to the different surface but I've progressed," Nadal said.

"I am a little bit tired because I had a tough Roland Garros and clay-court season but I am here to try my best like always."

Meanwhile, Andy Murray also made a winning start to his grass-court campaign as the world number four defeated Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Murray, seeded second, sustained an ankle ligament injury during his run to the French Open semi-finals that briefly threatened his participation in a tournament he won in 2009.

But with the start of his home Grand Slam at Wimbledon just 11 days away, Murray, who was given a first-round bye, will be encouraged that he was able to last the distance in a tough test against the experienced Malisse.

Although this was hardly a vintage display from the British number one, he had no obvious problems with his ankle and showed plenty of spirit to set up a clash with Serbian 14th seed Janko Tipsarevic.

"It was tricky. The court is very slow for a grass court," Murray said.

"I managed to turn it around in the end and I moved pretty well considering it was the first match. It's good to get through.

"The ankle was all right. It was a little bit sore at times but it's getting better every day."

Next up for Murray is the talented but erratic Tipsarevic, who defeated American Michael Russell 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5).

Elsewhere in the second round, South African 15th seed Kevin Anderson set up a third-round clash with four-time champion Andy Roddick after a 6-2, 6-4 win against American youngster Donald Young.

Croatian eighth seed Marin Cilic eased through to the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win against French qualifier Arnaud Clement.

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russia's Igor Kunitsyn.

Argentine ninth seed David Nalbandian defeated Serbian qualifier Ilija Bozoljac 6-4, 6-4, while Brazilian 11th seed Thomaz Bellucci beat Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-2, 6-7, 7-6.

Posted on: 2011-06-09 11:06

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