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The bottom half of the men's draw kicked off their assault on Wimbledon 2012 today, and the favourites showed their week 2 credentials rather early by powering their way into the second round. Two-time former champion Rafael Nadal had to battle back in a tight opening set before getting the better of Thomaz Bellucci in three sets 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3. World no.4 Andy Murray was meanwhile in sublime form, giving the local fans plenty to cheer about during his 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 triumph over former world no.3 Nikolay Davydenko. Also picking up wins were charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and American no.1 Mardy Fish.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal was given a rude shock early in his match against Brazilian left-hander Thomaz Bellucci, who raced away to a 4-1 lead before the world no.2 started playing catch-up. The opening set eventually made its way into a tiebreak which Nadal romped through to love as if to emphasize his distaste at having been pushed so early in the contest.

Nadal was back to his best in the next couple of sets, and despite dropping serve once again, fired in 23 winers to complete a good win.

Andy Murray meanwhile appeared to have put his back problems well and truly behind him as he put on a masterclass to physically dissect a rather competent opponent in Davydenko. The Russian may be well and truly past his prime, but that did not prevent him from sending down a barrage of 23 winners in the match. However, Murray was completely ruthless in his performance on Tuesday, firing down 10 aces and making only 6 unforced errors en route to picking up a rare easy win.

The no.5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was perhaps the most impressive of the trio, beating 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The Frenchman, who has the uncanny habbit of gifting his opponents a set in Grand Slams, was all focus today as he hammered an incredible 61 winners past the dogged Aussie.

Juan Martin del Potro, seeded 9th, did drop a set to Robin Haase, before recovering to pull off a tight 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 win against the ever improving Dutchman. Mardy Fish meanwhile needed two tiebreaks to get the better of·Ramirez Hidalgo 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.

Select Results:

[2] R Nadal (ESP) d T Bellucci (BRA) 76(0) 62 63
[4] A Murray (GBR) d N Davydenko (RUS) 61 61 64
[5] J Tsonga (FRA) d [WC] L Hewitt (AUS) 63 64 64
[7] D Ferrer (ESP) vs D Brown (GER) 76(5) 64 11 - To Finish
[9] J del Potro (ARG) d R Haase (NED) 64 36 76(3) 75
[10] M Fish (USA) d R Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 76(3) 75 76(1)·
[12] N Almagro (ESP) d O Rochus (BEL) 67(4) 36 76(4) 62 64
J Nieminen (FIN) d [14] F Lopez (ESP) 76(4) 36 76(5) 64
[16] M Cilic (CRO) d C Stebe (GER) 64 36 63 62
[19] K Nishikori (JPN) d M Kukushkin (KAZ) 75 63 64
[WC] D Goffin (BEL) d [20] B Tomic (AUS) 36 63 64 64
[21] M Raonic (CAN) vs S Giraldo (COL) 64 64 54 - To Finish
[22] A Dolgopolov (UKR) d A Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) 63 64 75
J Melzer (AUT) vs [25] S Wawrinka (SUI) 36 76 26 64 54 - To Finish
[27] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d [WC] T Haas (GER) 36 76(8) 67(5) 76(1) 62
[30] A Roddick (USA) vs [WC] J Baker (GBR) 76(1) 42 - To Finish
G Dimitrov (BUL) d [32] K Anderson (RSA) 75 76(3) 67(4) 63
N Mahut (FRA) d P Lorenzi (ITA) 63 57 67(3) 75 62

Nadal Photograph Copyright: SCosta

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