Success of friend McIlroy spurs on Nadal for blistering opening

Nadal and McIlroy’s friendship started when they met at the US Open last September, and they have traded compliments ever since, with both big fans of the other’s chosen sport.

As McIlroy lifted his maiden major title at Congressional, it was approaching half past midnight in the UK yesterday.

Nadal was at his base in London, keeping his eyes open long enough to watch the 22-year-old’s staggering eight-shot victory.

He sent McIlroy a text message to congratulate him on his triumph – and is looking forward to meeting up with the man from Northern Ireland over the coming days, with McIlroy planning to visit Wimbledon upon his return from America.

When asked if he had heard from McIlroy in the aftermath of his win, Nadal said: “No, I texted him a message. You know how when you win a tournament like this, how many messages you have on the phone.

“He did amazing. He played solid (on Sunday), doing what he had to do all the time, no mistakes. In my opinion, it was the perfect round of golf. He played solid all the time with no mistakes.

“When you have to play aggressive, you know what you have to do and sometimes it is easier. When you have to defend the advantage, you start to play a little bit more defensively and sometimes that can be dangerous. He managed the moments perfectly in my opinion.

“Hopefully I will have the chance to congratulate him in person.”

A master of his own sport, Nadal wasted little time in booking a second-round meeting with Ryan Sweeting, easing past the unheralded Russell 6-4 6-2 6-2.

The world No 90 was the better player out of the two in the early stages, and forced the first break of the match in the sixth game when Nadal double-faulted.

That only served to spur the 25-year-old into life, though, and he broke back twice in a row to take the opening set, before taking the first game of the second against the serve to take an early stranglehold on that.

Having found himself given the runaround by Russell’s hard-hitting style in the opener, Nadal mixed up his shot selection in the second set, and the introduction of the sliced backhand allowed him to dominate.

Russell was far from a walkover, however, and enjoyed some of the more memorable moments of the match, most notably when he twice flung himself to the floor to prevent Nadal’s trademark forehands leaving him for dead.

Despite Russell’s effort, Nadal’s class was evident and, when he took his total number of breaks to seven in the third set, the game was up.

“I think he (Russell) started playing very well,” Nadal said.

“He was aggressive and having good returns. I started trying to play too fast in the beginning. I had a few mistakes with the backhand and the forehand, so he had the break.

“After that I started to change my rhythm, using the slice and trying to play longer points.

“I think I did well after that first moment and my level in general was positive.”

With injury having prevented him from defending his title in 2009, yesterday was Nadal’s first chance to open play on Centre Court as the champion.

He managed to do so in the open air too, with the bad weather that arrived later nowhere to be seen when he started, and he was happy to have kicked things off in 2011.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “Seriously, I have never played on a court like this. There was big emotion to be the first player to play on this fabulous court. It was a very, very exciting feeling.

“It was fantastic to see the court in really perfect conditions. I was very happy for everything.”

Ninth seed Gael Monfils of France was another straight-sets winner, 6-4 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 over Germany’s Matthias Bachinger.

Swiss 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-3 6-4 6-4, American 10th seed Mardy Fish sank Spain’s Marcel Granollers 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5) 6-4, and France’s Richard Gasquet overcame Colombian Santiago Giraldo 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7/3).

Milos Raonic of Canada has been touted for a successful Wimbledon career and the 20-year-old, seeded 31st, began it with a solid 6-3 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 win over Frenchman Marc Gicquel, who was called in at late notice when Italian Fabio Fognini withdrew.

Raonic – who could meet Nadal in the third round – served 25 aces, including three to win the opening three points of the match on Court 14.

“It was good. I think I played well,” he said. “I think it’s tough always, especially being at a completely new tournament, and also being at this stage and people talking it up, how I should be doing well. It’s not that easy just doing well right away.”

There were also wins for sixth seed Tomas Berdych, 6-2 6-2 6-1, over Filippo Volandri, Feliciano Lopez, 6-4 7-5 6-3, against Michael Berrer, and Dudi Sela, who beat Frederico Gil 6-4 6-1 6-4.

Denis Istomin needed four sets to see off Philipp Kohlschreiber, as did Donald Young to get past Alex Bogomolov Jr.

Julien Benneteau went the distance with Ruben Bemelmans, prevailing 6-4 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-1, while there were straight-set wins for Igor Kunitsyn and Simone Bolelli over Igor Sijsling and Martin Fiscger. Grega Zemlja defeated Lukas Lacko 6-4 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.