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.

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

Nadal out, hopes over for four Slams in a row

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP): Rafael Nadal's bid to win four straight Grand Slam tournaments ended when he lost his Australian Open quarterfinal 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer on Wednesday.

An injured Nadal, who appeared to have tears in his eyes during a changeover while trailing 3-0 in the third set, took a medical timeout for an apparent leg injury after three games and was clearly out of sorts, failing to chase down balls that he would ordinarily return easily.

It was the second year in a row he lost in the quarterfinals here due to injury - in 2010 he retired against Andy Murray due to a right knee ailment that kept him off the tour for two months, again on the Australia Day national holiday.

Nadal breezes into 3rd round at Australia Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Rafael Nadal extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 23 matches, continuing his pursuit of a "Rafa Slam" with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 win over American qualifier Ryan Sweeting to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

The top-ranked Nadal is aiming to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. He's conceded only four games en route to the third round, sealing his win over Sweeting on Thursday with another of his rifling forehands.

After retiring with an injury in the quarterfinals at the last Australian Open, Nadal rebounded to win the French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.

Nadal hit some shots that Sweeting could barely believe, including an ace to finish the first set and forehand on set point in the second when the Spaniard's curling shot caught the baseline for the winner. Sweeting challenged the call as he walked off, but the call stood."

The only hint of anything other than complete domination for Nadal came in the third set, when Sweeting broke serve in the fifth game and then had game points to bring it back to 4-2 in a game that to deuce five times. Again, Nadal held on to convert a break and served out in the next game.

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.

Nadal, Federer and Co. headline flood fundraiser

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP): Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal teamed up with other top players in a special sold-out "Rally for Relief" charity match to raise money for Australian flood victims, a day before the start of the Australian Open.

Players cracked jokes and poked fun at each other, mixing entertainment with pledges of support at Sunday's fundraiser.

Third-seeded Kim Clijsters told the cheering crowd: "Hopefully, we can take some of the stress away."

Organizers aimed to raise more than $1 million for flood relief at the tournament.

The floods have caused at least 27 deaths in Australia's northeast since late November, and 14 other people are missing, most of them from a flash flood that swept through towns west of Brisbane on Monday.

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.

Spaniard Nadal targeting the historic ‘Rafa Slam’

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal has already achieved a career Grand Slam but has never owned all four major titles at the same time.

That may all change for the Spaniard in next week’s Australian Open when he vies with his great rival Roger Federer for the first major of the season.

Nadal became only the seventh man in history – and the youngest at 24 in the Open era – to claim a career Grand Slam of the four major tournaments when he conquered Novak Djokovic in the US Open final last September.

Nadal finished 2010 reigning supreme at the top of the rankings and enters the Australian Open 3,145 rankings points ahead of Federer, aided by his French Open, Wimbledon and US Open wins.

And Nadal admits he may never have a better chance than in the coming fortnight of taking possession of all four major crowns simultaneously, a feat not accomplished since Rod Laver in 1969.

Nadal wins Abu Dhabi exhibition

ABU DHABI: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal started 2011 with a win over his main rival, beating Roger Federer 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3) yesterday to defend his title at the invitational World Tennis Championships.

Both players held serve throughout the match, and Federer had the early momentum in the first tiebreaker, hitting a couple of blistering forehand winners to go up 3-0. But Nadal won the next five points and clinched the set when the Swiss hit a forehand long.

In the second tiebreaker, Nadal went up 3-1 with a drop volley and Federer sent his return long on the next point. The Spaniard then set up match point with a crosscourt forehand winner and converted it when Federer hit a forehand long.

“For both of us, these are the first matches of the season. So it is special for us,” Nadal said.

“This is the perfect place to start the season here in Abu Dhabi.”