Nadal eases through in bid to reclaim his Queens title

Nadal, fresh from his French Open triumph, overcame Daniel 6-2 6-2 in the second round of the AEGON Championships and will face Denis Istomin in the last 16.

The Spaniard was in fine shape, returning serve superbly, but admitted it was not straightforward to switch from clay to grass.

He said: "It's difficult to adapt but I am happy to be back on grass, it is one of the surfaces I enjoy playing on."

Elsewhere Mardy Fish beat Santiago Giraldo 7-6 6-2 to set up a last-16 clash with defending champion Andy Murray, who will be hoping to exact some swift revenge after his disappointment at the hands of Fish and his partner Mark Knowles in the doubles.

Murray – partnered by brother Jamie – crashed out 6-3 6-3 in the second round to the American pair.

Feliciano Lopez overcame Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 6-4 in a rain-affected contest. The eighth seed will play ninth seed Julien Benneteau, who beat Kevin Anderson 7-5 6-3, in the last 16.

Elena Baltacha lasted only seven games of her opening match at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham but Anne Keothavong reached the second round with a battling performance.

British No 1 Baltacha continued her good form in 2010 by winning the ITF title in Nottingham last week but it came at a cost as she was laid low by heatstroke.

She admitted earlier in the week she was struggling to recover and called it a day after losing the first set 6-1 to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

"I didn't feel too bad in the warm-up but I felt terrible by 2-1," said the Scot. "I felt sick. I got the trainer and the doctor on and they gave me some pills but they didn't really help."

Keothavong was given a major test by France's Pauline Parmentier before coming through 4-6 7-5 7-5.