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London • Chasing a shot to his right, Rafael Nadal slipped and tumbled to the Centre Court turf. He popped up, raced across the baseline to get back into the point, and later capped the 14-stroke exchange with a backhand passing winner.

The reason for the two-time Wimbledon champion's recent inability to play well on grass remains something of a mystery. As far as Nadal was concerned Tuesday, all that mattered was that he dusted himself off and eventually ended a three-match — and seven-set — losing streak on the slick surface.

Overcoming a deficit against a flat-hitting opponent who kept finding lines early, Nadal beat 51st-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round. Nadal's reaction afterward — pumping fists, raising arms aloft, tossing souvenirs to the crowd — was rather over-the-top for a guy who owns 14 Grand Slam titles.

"So happy for the victory. In the end, the match was difficult. After the first set, [it] was even more difficult," said the Spaniard, who is ranked No. 1 and seeded No. 2 but approached this opening-round encounter with some trepidation. "When you go on court and you lost last year in the first round, the year before in the second round ... [I'm not] going to lie ... it stays in your mind."

Next for Nadal is a match against the man who beat him in 2012's second round, Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.

"He is a very dangerous player; very strong, very powerful at the baseline," Nadal said.

Other past champions in action on Day 2 advanced, too, including Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, all in straight sets. Last year, when everything around these parts was turned upside down by surprise after surprise, that trio joined Nadal with early exits; Williams was the last of the group standing, and she departed in the fourth round.

Williams needed to cast aside four break points during a 10-minute first game Tuesday, but after getting that out of the way, breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 win against Anna Tatishvili. Sharapova lost all of one game against British wild-card entry Samantha Murray.

Seven-time champion Federer's 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory dropped Italy's Paolo Lorenzi to 0-13 for his Grand Slam career, while 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt eliminated Michal Przysiezny of Poland 6-2, 6-7 (14), 6-1, 6-4.

"This is what I still play for," said the 33-year-old Hewitt, a former No. 1 now ranked 48th after a series of injury issues. "You do all the hard work to come back and play in places like this. You don't get sick of coming out here and playing at Wimbledon." —

Wimbledon Results

At The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, London

Purse • $42.5 million (Grand Slam)

Singles

Men

First Round

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (14), France, def. Jurgen Melzer, Austria, 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Stan Wawrinka (5), Switzerland, def. Joao Sousa, Portugal, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Kei Nishikori (10), Japan, def. Kenny de Schepper, France, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Nick Kyrgios, Australia, def. Stephane Robert, France, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1), 6-7 (6), 6-2. Lukasz Kubot, Poland, def. Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4. Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, 6-1, 7-5, 6-0. Yen-hsun Lu, Taiwan, def. Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Kazakhstan, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Denis Kudla, United States, def. Marsel Ilhan, Turkey, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Sam Querrey, United States, def. Bradley Klahn, United States, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 7-5. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, def. Michal Przysiezny, Poland, 6-2, 6-7 (14), 6-1, 6-4. Dusan Lajovic, Serbia, def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (28), Spain, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3. Jerzy Janowicz (15), Poland, def. Somdev Devvarman, India, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Marcel Granollers (30), Spain, def. Nicolas Mahut, France, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-4. Roger Federer (4), Switzerland, def. Paolo Lorenzi, Italy, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. Richard Gasquet (13), France, def. James Duckworth, Australia, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Milos Raonic (8), Canada, def. Matthew Ebden, Australia, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Frank Dancevic, Canada, def. Ivo Karlovic (29), Croatia, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4). Lukas Rosol, Czech Republic, def. Benoit Paire, France, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Mikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstan, def. Dudi Sela, Israel, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Feliciano Lopez (19), Spain, def. Yuichi Sugita, Japan, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Ante Pavic, Croatia, def. Alejandro Falla, Colombia, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. Jiri Vesely, Czech Republic, def. Victor Estrella Burgos, Dominican Republic, 5-1, retired. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, def. Martin Klizan, Slovakia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Jack Sock, United States, def. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, France, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, def. Julien Benneteau, France, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). John Isner (9), United States, def. Daniel Smethurst, Britain, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Gael Monfils (24), France, def. Malek Jaziri, Tunisia, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-4. Adrian Mannarino, France, def. Pere Riba, Spain, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Simone Bolelli, Italy, def. Tatsuma Ito, Japan, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (5). Philipp Kohlschreiber (22), Germany, def. Igor Sijsling, Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Jarkko Nieminen, Finland, def. Federico Delbonis, Argentina, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, def. Dmitry Tursunov (32), Russia, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Tommy Robredo (23), Spain, def. Lukas Lacko, Slovakia, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. Julian Reister, Germany, def. Michael Russell, United States, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-5.

Women

First Round

Andrea Petkovic (20), Germany, def. Katarzyna Piter, Poland, 6-1, 6-4. Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania, def. Virginie Razzano, France, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. Alize Cornet (25), France, def. Anna Schmiedlova, Slovakia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Sabine Lisicki (19), Germany, def. Julia Glushko, Israel, 6-2, 6-1. Agnieszka Radwanska (4), Poland, def. Andreea Mitu, Romania, 6-2, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki (16), Denmark, def. Shahar Peer, Israel, 6-3, 6-0. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic, def. Karin Knapp, Italy, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8. Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland, def. Sharon Fichman, Canada, 6-1, 6-3. Caroline Garcia, France, def. Sara Errani (14), Italy, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5. Varvara Lepchenko, United States, def. Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2. Madison Keys, United States, def. Monica Puig, Puerto Rico, 6-3, 6-3. Heather Watson, Britain, def. Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia, 6-3, 6-2. Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal, def. Svetlana Kuznetsova (28), Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland, def. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Maria Sharapova (5), Russia, def. Samantha Murray, Britain, 6-1, 6-0. Petra Cetkovska, Czech Republic, def. Jovana Jaksic, Serbia, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Victoria Duval, United States, def. Sorana Cirstea (29), Romania, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Angelique Kerber (9), Germany, def. Urszula Radwanska, Poland, 6-2, 6-4. Klara Koukalova (31), Czech Republic, def. Taylor Townsend, United States, 7-5, 6-2. Eugenie Bouchard (13), Canada, def. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, 7-5, 7-5. Serena Williams (1), United States, def. Anna Tatishvili, United States, 6-1, 6-2. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, def. Jelena Jankovic (7), Serbia, 6-3, 6-2. Carla Suarez Navarro (15), Spain, def. Zhang Shuai, China, 6-1, 6-2. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spain, def. Petra Martic, Croatia, 6-0, 6-1. Zheng Jie, China, def. Annika Beck, Germany, 6-1, 6-3. Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan, def. Kristyna Pliskova, Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-4, 8-6. Kirsten Flipkens (24), Belgium, def. Tamira Paszek, Austria, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2. Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Spain, def. Olga Govortsova, Belarus, 6-2, 6-3. Simona Halep (3), Romania, def. Teliana Pereira, Brazil, 6-2, 6-2. Alison Riske, United States, def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (26), Russia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine, def. Dinah Pfizenmaier, Germany, 6-3, 6-0. Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, def. Christina McHale, United States, 6-3, 6-3. Ana Ivanovic (11), Serbia, def. Francesca Schiavone, Italy, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Camila Giorgi, Italy, def. Alexandra Cadantu, Romania, 6-1, 7-6 (5). Donna Vekic, Croatia, def. Roberta Vinci (21), Italy, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Zarina Diyas, Kazakhstan, leads Kristina Mladenovic, France, 7-6 (4), susp., darkness. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, vs. Tara Moore, Britain, 6-4, 6-7 (3), susp., darkness. —

Wimbledon

Wednesday

P TV • 5 a.m., ESPN; 9:30 a.m., ESPNews; noon, ESPN2