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.

Nadal and Murray go through after opponents succumb to injuries

WORLD number one Rafael Nadal and last year’s finalist Andy Murray eased into the Australian Open second round on the back of injury retirements yesterday.

Nadal advanced after Marcos Daniel retired during the second set with a knee injury, while Murray got through when Karol Beck succumbed to shoulder trouble while trailing in the third set.

Swedish fourth seed Robin Soderling was untroubled in downing Italy’s Potito Starace in straight sets, while former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro also made a winning Grand Slam return after missing nearly all of last season with a wrist injury.

Argentine 27th seed David Nalbandian came from behind to overhaul Australian Lleyton Hewitt to win a compelling five-setter, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 9-7 in a 4 hours 48 minutes night match.

Spanish top seed Nadal, bidding for his fourth straight major title to complete a non-calendar year Grand Slam, was leading 6-0, 5-0 when Brazil’s Daniel retired with a painful left knee.

Nadal was only on court for 47 minutes and the nine-time Grand Slam champion sought more work on his service after the injury-shortened match.

Soderling and Murray hurdle for Nadal

MELBOURNE: World number one Rafael Nadal faces a likely Australian Open semi-final with Robin Soderling or Andy Murray as he bids to become the first man in 42 years to hold all four major titles simultaneously.

Soderling and 2010 finalist Murray were placed in the top half of the draw yesterday as Nadal chases his fourth consecutive Grand Slam after stringing together wins at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year.

The powerful Spaniard would become the first man since Australian Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once if he can win the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.

Nadal said while he was constantly reminded of that possibility, he did not feel the weight of history.