Rafael Nadal enjoyed a comfortable win as he began his bid to become the first man since Bjorn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back.

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Beck was playing his first Grand Slam match on Centre Court and though he did not appear over-awed, the 22-year-old never looked like troubling Nadal.

Nadal may face a tougher test in round two against rising star Ernests Gulbis.

"It was my first match, which is always very difficult," said Nadal. "Against a lefty, his second serve was very difficult to read.

"He served a lot of times to the body and it was difficult for me. But I think I played well.

"In the beginning, it was a strange match because we didn't play a lot of points from the baseline - and that's my game.

"So I'm very happy for the victory."

Gulbis, the 19-year-old from Latvia, stretched Andy Murray to three sets in the third round at Queen's and beat dangerous American John Isner in his opening match at Wimbledon.

The teenager said: "A lot of players, when they play Federer or Nadal or even Djokovic now, they just don't believe in themselves that they can win. But I don't want to go into any match like a loser."

However, on current form, a shock seems highly unlikely.

Nadal, fresh from winning his first grass-court title at Queen's, hammered a remarkable 17 aces down against Beck and did not face a single break point in an impressive serving display.

Beck, who was playing his first top-level match outside Germany, managed to force a tiebreak in the third set but the effort proved too much and he lost it 7-0.

(BBC)

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