Nadal blocks out star names

Rafael Nadal
12 April 2012

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic launch their Wimbledon campaigns on Tuesday - with defending champion Rafael Nadal insisting it is far to early to contemplate facing either man later in the tournament.

World number one Nadal beat American journeyman Michael Russell in his first-round match on Monday, coming through 6-4 6-2 6-2, and will now face unseeded American Ryan Sweeting.

"My biggest opponent now is Sweeting," Nadal said, when asked which of the rest of the world's top four he feared the most. "I am focused on my part of the draw. I'm focused on myself. To play against Djokovic or Federer can only be in the final, Andy (Murray) in the semi-final."

He added: "Let's talk about tomorrow. Let's not talk about 10 or 12 days' time, because I don't know if I am here or fishing in Majorca. You never know what's going on in a tournament like this."

Murray was also victorious on Monday, but unlike Nadal he was unable to progress without dropping a set as he beat Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver in four.

Playing under the roof on a Monday night, something Murray is no stranger to, he lost the first set 6-4 before hitting back to take the next three 6-3 6-0 6-0, winning 15 games on the bounce in that sequence.

Federer takes on Mikhail Kukushkin in the second match on Centre Court on Tuesday, looking to work his way towards a seventh Wimbledon title, while the second-seeded Djokovic is up against Jeremy Chardy after him.

There will be a backlog of matches carried over from Monday too, with play called off early on all courts barring Centre due to rain.

Among those not to have finished their games were Britain's Daniel Cox, who trailed Sergiy Stakhovsky by a set, and former US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro, who was a set up but a break down against Flavio Cipolla.

Number 10 seed Andy Roddick did not get to hit a ball in his match with Andreas Beck, while the same went for Fernando Verdasco against Radek Stepanek.

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