• Wimbledon, Day Two

Nadal relieved, Tomic criticises work ethic

ESPN staff
June 26, 2012
Bernard Tomic blamed himself for his defeat © Getty Images
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ESPN will be providing extensive coverage of Wimbledon in association with Rolex, with live scores, commentary and analysis and you can follow it all with our live scorecentre Murray demolishes Davydenko, Ward wins
Men's report: Nadal overcomes early test
Women's report: Kvitova kicks off defence
Baltacha & Keothavong win, Robson falls

Day Two Gallery
Plays of the Day: Australia dismay

Rafael Nadal lost his first four games against Thomaz Bellucci, but rallied back to claim a regulation win on Centre Court. He said: "It's always tough to transition [to grass, from clay], and physically you start having some troubles this time of the year. But it's great to be back on perhaps the greatest court in the world. I have to improve, but that will come.

"I had more mistakes than usual but I was happy to come back after being 4-0 down. Every time when I have the chance to play here it is a joy. The fans were great and I want to say thanks to them."

Defending champion Petra Kvitova experienced a similarly slow start, but was happy to overcome some nerves to win with some ease - albeit after a late rain delay. She noted: "It's very different, the first match on Centre Court was unbelievable to come back as defending champion. The nice memories came to my mind. In the beginning I was nervous, first match on grass it is hard to know what to expect, but I tried to play my game and go forward. I tried to win the match before the rain but it is not always that simple!"

Britain's Laura Robson was downcast after losing to Francesca Schiavone - who needed injury treatment during the contest - in three sets. She said: "It's always tough to stay warm in a break that long, but I tried to stay focused and I won my first service game - so I don't think it affected me too much. Definitely at 3-3 in the second set I had three break points on her serve that I missed, but that next game I went for a bit too much to stay ahead.

"I'm really disappointed - I thought I was playing well in the first set and I'm disappointed I let her get back into the match. But I'm continuously improving and I think I just have to get back onto the practice court and keep learning."

Schiavone received some criticism on court for the time she took between points, but she defended her pace of play: "We have a lot of seconds (between points), and it's important to use them. We forget that because we are in a rush, but it's important to play at the best, and not just keep running and running."

A candid Bernard Tomic blamed a poor work ethic as he fell to defeat against Belgian Daniel Goffin in four sets - as all of the Australians in the men's draw went out in the first round. He revealed: "I think to have talent is one thing. The last few months I have been casually sort of working. I have sort of slacked off a little bit and look what it's costing me. Last eight, nine weeks I'm losing a lot of first and second round matches. So it's not my quality of tennis.

"I should be getting to a lot of semi-finals and finals at tournaments or even winning, but lack of concentration, not working hard, it costs you. On the way up, I have been growing up and everything's got easy. Now you let the foot off the pedal and it's costing you. It's something I'll learn. I'll wake up and get back to the way I was playing."

Leyton Hewitt is not sure he will be back at Wimbledon after his loss, but held no fears for the future of Australian tennis. He said: "Obviously the boys didn't have the best day today. Who knows? The three guys that played today, we could have beaten a lot of guys that are still going in the tournament."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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