Nadal, Sharapova cruise through

LONDON: Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams moved into the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday but men's fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko crashed to an embarrassingly limp defeat.

Second seed Nadal, bidding to become the first Spanish men's champion since 1966, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (0) win over German qualifier, and fellow left-hander, Andreas Beck.

The second seed, fresh from his fourth successive French Open title and first grass-court trophy at Queen's, is also bidding to be the first Roland Garros-Wimbledon back-to-back winner since Bjorn Borg in 1980.