(AFP) – Jun 24, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams moved into the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday but men's fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko crashed to an embarrassingly limp defeat.

Second seed Nadal, bidding to become the first Spanish men's champion since 1966, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) win over German qualifier, and fellow left-hander, Andreas Beck.

The second seed, fresh from his fourth successive French Open title and first grasscourt trophy at Queen's, is also bidding to be the first Roland Garros-Wimbledon back-to-back winner since Bjorn Borg in 1980.

"My opponent was another leftie and his second serve was difficult to read. He served to the body and that was hard for me," said Nadal.

"It was a strange match. There weren't many points from the baseline."

Nadal, who has lost the last two Wimbledon finals against Roger Federer, will face Latvia's Ernests Gulbis, a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, for a place in the last 32.

Sharapova, the third seed and 2004 champion, took to Court One in a tuxedo-style jacket and trousers which she peeled off before playing in a pair of shorts.

The Russian wasted little time in ending French opponent Stephanie Foretz's involvement with an untroubled 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Sharapova, seeded three, will face fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round.

"It was my first match on grass this year so I did pretty well," Sharapova said.

Defending champion Venus Williams successfully launched her bid for a fifth title.

The 28-year-old recovered from 1-3 down in the first set to see off Britain's Naomi Cavaday 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 and will meet another Briton, Anne Keothavong, for a place in the last 32.

The American blamed a Centre Court bee for her sluggish start.

"I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. It was a bee, a big old bumblebee," said Williams.

"I didn't want it to sting me. Then I ended up losing that service game, so I guess the bumblebee got me off to a bad start."

While those three Grand Slam winners were making progress, Russian fourth seed Davydenko was collapsing to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Germany's Benjamin Becker, the world 116.

It was a limp performance by the 27-year-old who has now lost five times in the first round on his seven visits despite boasting a record of having reached at least the quarter-finals of all of the other three Grand Slams.

"I was too slow. On soft grass you need to be much faster and play faster," said Davydenko who joined Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian, who lost on Monday, as a top 10 player on the sidelines here.

American sixth seed Andy Roddick, the runner-up to Roger Federer in 2004 and 2005, started his bid to reach a third final with a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) win over Argentina's Eduardo Schwank.

"I actually hit the ball probably better than the score indicates," Roddick said who goes on to face Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic.

"It seemed like every game I was 30-love on his serve and kind of cruising on mine. I actually felt all right.

Roddick was joined in the next round by British 12th seed Andy Murray who put out veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) and American ninth seed James Blake who saw off Christophe Rochus of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

Santoro, 35, was not the only veteran bowing out.

Swedish 36-year-old Jonas Bjorkman, a semi-finalist in 2006, saw his 15th and last Wimbledon end in a four-set defeat at the hands of France's Arnaud Clement.

Murray wasn't the only British man reaching the second round as 20-year-old qualifier Chris Eaton, the world 661, beat Serbia's Boris Pashanski, ranked more than 450 places higher, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 to mark his Grand Slam debut in style.

Elsewhere in the women's event, Jelena Jankovic, the Serbian second seed, saw off Ukraine's Olga Savchuk 6-3, 6-2 while there were also straight sets wins for Russian ninth seed Dinara Safina and Daniela Hantuchova, the Slovakian 10th seed.

America's Lindsay Davenport, the 1999 champion, marked her return after a three-year break, with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic.

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