Nadal takes to grass to beat Spadea

French Open champion Rafael Nadal pounded American Vince Spadea into submission with a 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory in the first round at Wimbledon.

Updated on: Jun 23, 2005, 18:26:00 IST

PTI | By Anonymous, London

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French Open champion Rafael Nadal made a seamless transition to grasscourt tennis by pounding American Vince Spadea into submission with a 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old Spaniard had little problem unleashing his muscular style of play on the lush lawns of Centre Court as he began his bid to become the first man in 25 years to win back-to-back French Open and All England Club crowns.

The last man to have achieved the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double was Bjorn Borg in 1980 and on Tuesday, Nadal showed it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he could follow in the Swede's footsteps.

Spadea had won the pair's only previous meeting but a year on from that clash, the fourth seed proved to be in a different league, despite playing in only his fifth match on the slick surface.

"Wimbledon is special for me because only one Spanish player has won (here), Manuel Santana," said Nadal referring to Santana's triumph in 1966.

"I like playing on grass. it's nice. I played a good match, it turned out to be a little bit easier than I expected it to be."

Having swapped his fluorescent shirt for an all-white ensemble complete with cut-off pirate pants, Nadal gave his growing army of female fans plenty to cheer about as he flexed his bulging muscles to leave Spadea bewildered and beaten.

A single break of serve was all Nadal needed in the first set to turn on the screws on the American, who was making his 10th appearance at Wimbledon.

Despite his commanding performance, Nadal warned that he had modest expectations this year at the exclusive South London club.

"I (don't) think I can win this year because there are a lot of better players (on grass) but I am happy with today's match because (it proved) I can play good on grass," he said.

"And that's important, not only for today but for the next few years."

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