Murray breezes through but Nadal struggles

The British No 1 gave an impressive display of all-court tennis as he dispatched Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-4 6-2 in little over an hour and a half on Centre Court.

Nadal, by contrast, was forced to do it the hard way, coming from two sets to one down against Holland's Robin Hasse to eventually progress on the back of a 5-7 6-2 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory.

Murray's match was given significant prestige by being the only one watched by the Queen on her visit to the All England Club.

Her previous appearance in 1977 was to see Virginia Wade win Wimbledon, and there was little doubt she would witness another British victory from the moment Murray broke in the second game after saving four break points in the opener.

Much of the focus beforehand had been on the bows the players would make to the Royal Box on entering and leaving the court, and the fourth seed admitted his efforts left him underwhelmed.

"They were all a little bit different," said Murray, who also bowed on meeting the monarch after the match.

"I saw the second one when I was warming down. It wasn't great. It just looked a little bit awkward. But I'm not used to doing it."

Despite his bowing issues, Murray felt he was privileged to be part of such a rare event.

He explained: "Obviously it was quite a big occasion but you try to prepare for it the same as every match.

"For all the players, it's probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You saw by the players that were there to meet her this morning that it was a big deal for everybody.

"I'm sure everyone thought it was a great occasion. I don't know whether she'll be coming in the next few years, but I definitely enjoyed it."

In many ways the match took second billing to the occasion but Murray did his best to draw attention back to his game with a display of some promise for the days ahead.

The Scot had won both his previous matches with Nieminen, who was a fixture in the top 30 until a couple of years ago, but they had been tough and he would have expected a test.

It certainly looked that way when the Finn forced four break points in the opening game but Murray saved them all and they turned out to be the only ones he would face all day.

His first break arrived in the next game and from then on it was fairly plain sailing for the 23-year-old, who was finding tremendous power on his serve and groundstrokes, hitting 18 aces without allowing his opponent one.

He had to wait until the seventh game of the second set for another break but the third was all Murray, with the Scot breaking in the opening game and again to put him 5-2 ahead.

He served out the match to love, and afterwards reflected on a job well done.

"He had a few break points in the first game but once I managed to hold that game, I obviously got the break straightaway," he said. "That settled me down a little bit.

"It was a good match. He's a tough player, very solid. He doesn't give you many free points. I served very well, which is good."

Nadal was subjected to a difficult afternoon by a strong opponent who produced some spectacular shots.

The speed and accuracy of Haase's serve was his greatest weapon – Nadal found it impenetrable at times during the first three sets – but the 23-year-old Dutchman's aggression was also influential.

Nadal's response in the final two sets was magnificent, but he was helped by the disintegration of Haase's serve which was only restored to full working order once the match had slipped from his grasp.

"It was a very difficult match and I knew it would be because he's a very good server. I was playing well all the time," said Nadal.

"I had to stay in there, try to concentrate, focus and fight all the time.

"On this surface it is very difficult to stop him.

"Everybody prefers to win in three sets, but it's not possible all of the time, especially on this surface because it all depends on a few points.

"I probably played four bad points in two sets and I lost both of them.

"That's what the match was like."