Wimbledon: Nadal survives scare, reaches second round

Rafael Nadal scored a 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Thomaz Bellucci in the first round at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

Bellucci surprised Rafa and tennis fans by racing into a 4-0 lead in the first set but the Spaniard regained his composure to canter through to the second round.

After winning the opening set in a tie-break, Nadal powered through the second set in typically aggressive fashion.

Bellucci stuck with him until midway through the third set when a booming Nadal forehand secured a break for a 4-2 lead and the Spaniard was soon serving out the win.

"It's always tough to make the change from clay to grass, especially when over the last couple of months I played almost every match on tour. Physically you start having some troubles," Nadal said.

"He started well, with some good serves, and after that I had more mistakes than usual and I was very lucky to come back from 4-0.

"But I'm very happy to be back on probably the best court in the world and winning in three sets is good for me. Everytime I have the chance to play here I try to enjoy it."

Rafa will face Ivan Dodig or Lukas Rosol in the second round.


Source AP