Nadal Advances At Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal smacked a double fault while serving at 5-2, 40-15 in the second set against Thomaz Bellucci in their first-round match at Wimbledon, whereupon a fan wailed, "Come on Rafa, we love you!" It was a measure of how desperately Nadal's fans would love to see the fallen "King of Clay," who is seeded just No. 10 here at Wimbledon, recapture the form that carried him to five finals and two titles here in years past.

He took a significant step toward that goal in his debut against Bellucci.

Simona Halep became the highest-seeded player to lose at Wimbledon, falling in the first round a year after reaching the semifinals at the All England Club.

The third-seeded Romanian, who also reached the French Open final last year, lost to Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday.

Andy Murray didn't disappoint his local fans on Tuesday. The third-seeded Brit advanced to the second round at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Centre Court.

Two years ago, Murray won the title at the All England Club, becoming the first male champion from Britain since Fred Perry in 1936.

Last year's Wimbledon runner-up, Eugenie Bouchard, lost her opening match at this year's tournament, losing to Chinese qualifier Duan Ying-Ying 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Canadian, who had lost 10 of 11 matches in one stretch this year, also lost in the first round at the French Open.

Last year, Bouchard reached the semifinals at the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the season. She lost in last year's Wimbledon final to Petra Kvitova.

Not a good start Tuesday for the American men. No. 31 Jack Sock, seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, bowed out in the first round of Wimbledon, beaten 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 by 69th-ranked Sam Groth of Australia.

And in another early match on Day 2 of the tournament, Tim Smyczek lost to No. 30 Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.