Nadal has work cut out against Del Potro, Williams sisters eye final date

DEFENDING champion Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon campaign runs into the imposing 1.98m (6’6”) figure of dangerman Juan Martin del Potro today while the rejuvenated Williams sisters eye another final date.

World number one Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 winner, has the toughest-looking clash of the fourth round when he tackles Argentine del Potro, the man who blew him off court in the US Open semi-finals in 2009 for the loss of just six games.

But the Spaniard, fresh from his sixth French Open title, can take heart from his form so far at Wimbledon where he has yet to drop a set.

Germany off to perfect start in women's World Cup

Kerstin Garefrekes and Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi led host nation Germany to a 2-1 win over Canada in the official opening game of the women's World Cup on Sunday after an impressive opening ceremony.

Christine Sinclair scored for Canada with a free kick in the 82nd minute.

The game took place after the opening ceremony in which a globe was "peeled" to reveal a mirrorball reflecting the fans in festive mood, before it released hundreds of helium footballs into the sky.

German President Christian Wulff, Chancellor Angela Merkel and FIFA President Sepp Blatter were among the capacity crowd of 73,680 at the Olympic stadium.

Earlier, Marie-Laure Delie scored the first goal of the three-week tournament to give France a 1-0 victory over Nigeria.

Nadal, Venus make comfortable starts to their Wimbledon campaigns

Defending champion Rafael Nadal made an emphatic start to his bid for a third Wimbledon title yesterday while five-time winner Venus Williams was back in the old routine with a dominant display.

Nadal, fresh from a record-equalling sixth French Open, was only troubled briefly by 33-year-old American Michael Russell as he cantered to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 first round win.

Russell, who has never got beyond the second round, broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set, but Nadal then reeled off six games in succession to take the opener and lead 2-0 in the second set.

Nadal was quickly 4-1 ahead in the third set and there was no way back for the world 91 as the top seed, who unleashed 35 winners, set up a second round meeting with Ryan Sweeting of the United States.

Victorious: Russia’s Ksenia Pervak celebrating her 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 upset win over Israel’s Shahar Peer in the first round yesterday. – AP

Murray beats Gimeno-Traver in 4 sets at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - The racket bag emblazoned with messages of support from Facebook fans looked like it might have had the opposite effect Monday when Andy Murray dropped the first set of his Wimbledon campaign.

But as if flicking on a switch, Murray reeled off 15 straight games from 3-3 in the second set for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver to reach the second round.

Gimeno-Traver began the match confidently under the roof on Centre Court and hit some particularly brutal forehands, but by the end, the 56th-ranked Spaniard looked every bit the player who has lost in the first round at eight of his 12 Grand Slam tournaments.

McIlroy breaks several records en route to capturing his first major title

BETHESDA (Maryland): Rory McIlroy captured his first major golf title in historic fashion on Sunday, turning the final round of the 111th US Open into a virtual victory lap on his way to an eight-stroke triumph.

The 22-year-old Northern Ireland prodigy fired a two-under 69 to finish 72 holes at Congressional Country Club on 16-under 268, the lowest winning total in US Open history, and become the youngest US Open winner in 88 years.

“The whole week has been incredible,” McIlroy said. “I couldn’t ask for much more. I’m just happy to be holding this trophy.”

The Ulsterman humbled course and rivals the same way 21-year-old Tiger Woods ripped apart Augusta National and overwhelmed the field in the 1997 Masters for the first of his 14 career major triumphs.

Proud moment: Rory McIlroy posing with the trophy after winning the US Open tournament by eight strokes in Bethesda, Maryland on Sunday. – AP

McIlroy became the youngest major winner since Woods at the 1997 Masters and the youngest US Open winner since Bobby Jones in 1923.