• Wimbledon, Day Two

Nadal sparkles on Wimbledon return

Rafael Nadal was making his first appearance at SW19 for two years © Getty Images

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2008 champion Rafael Nadal marked his return to Wimbledon with a commanding first-round victory against wildcard entrant Kei Nishikori.

The newly-crowned world No. 1 missed the tournament last year due to injury, but he has been in scintillating form ever since returning to full health this year.

He won every tournament he entered over the clay-court season - including the French Open title - and he carried that momentum forward to overpower his Japanese opponent 6-2 6-4 6-4.

Nishikori had his moments early in the first set as Nadal took his time to ease into his usual fluid movements, but there were scant few from that point forward as the Spaniard made him pay a heavy price for failing to take the chances offered.

Nadal is scheduled to face Robin Soderling in the quarter finals and the Swede made an early statement of intent with a 6-2 6-2 6-3 win over Robby Ginepri. The No. 6 seed found Nadal too good on the clay of Roland Garros, but grass could level the playing field and he made an impressive start by disposing his American opponent with ease.

Jo Wilfried-Tsonga produced a serve-and-volley masterclass to move past Robert Kendrick 7-6 7-6 3-6 6-4. In a match that was light on subtlety, the two players bombarded each other with hammered forehands from the baseline. It was the tenth seed Tsonga that produced the variation required to take him over the line, winning 25 of 28 points when he left the back of the court to charge to the net.

Nicolas Almagro, who is always sad to see the back of the clay-court campaign, wasn't at the races as he sank to a 7-6 7-6 6-2 defeat against Andreas Seppi. The Spaniard produced 42 unforced errors as just about every aspect of his game misfired in the oppressive mid-afternoon heat. His countryman David Ferrer fared better, easing through against Nicolas Kiefer.

Dudi Sela claimed the eye-catching scalp of Andy Roddick at Queen's, but he couldn't repeat the feat against Mikhail Youzhny. The hulking Russian used every inch of his power to blast 53 winners in a baseline battle, which finished 6-3 6-4 4-6 7-6, that did not feature much in the way of graceful navigation of the court.

Queen's champion Sam Querrey enjoyed a light first-round workout as opponent Sergiy Stakhovsky retired in the third set feeling unwell. The American, who could be a fourth-round opponent for Andy Murray, is seeded 18th in this year's draw and showed his undoubted ability as he won the first two sets in comfortable fashion, before his Ukrainian opponent quit with the score at 7-6(4) 6-3 2-1.

A big name to fall on the second day was Fernand Verdasco. The Spaniard, the No. 8 seed, found Fabio Fognini too strong. The Italian secured a 7-6 6-2 7-6 6-4 win.

The No. 24 seed Marcos Baghdatis slipped up at the first round, with Slovakia's Lukas Lacko claiming a 6-3 2-6 6-3 6-1 win.

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