Nadal and Federer secure passage

Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal was made to work hard for his opening-round win at Wimbledon, rallying from one set down before beating hard-hitting Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

The top-ranked Nadal battled for nearly three hours to erase memories of his loss in the first round last year, prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion, who won his ninth French Open title earlier this month, will next face Lukas Rosol, who beat him here two years ago in the second round.

Seven-time men’s winner Roger Federer crushed Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-1 6-1 6-3.

The Swiss did stutter in the penultimate game, wasting five match points before putting his opponent out of his misery to claim his 269th grand slam match victory and leave the hapless Italian still hunting his first.

Sharapova breezes through

French Open champion Maria Sharapova defeated British wild-card entry Samantha Murray 6-1, 6-0 in a first-round match at Wimbledon.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova won her first Grand Slam title at the All England club 10 years ago as a 17-year-old and added her fifth last month in a three-set win over Simona Halep at Roland Garros.

The Russian was perfect in converting all five of her break-point opportunities, while Murray failed to break the Russian’s serve in the 58-minute match. Murray also had six double-faults.

Sharapova could face five-time champion Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.