LONDON: Rafael Nadal had no problems making the switch from clay to grass courts as the French Open champion beat Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4 at Queen's Wednesday. Nadal was last seen four days ago swathed in a Spanish flag as he celebrated his record-equalling sixth French Open title after another victory over his old rival Roger Federer. There was little time to savor that latest success on the crushed earth of Roland Garros however and, after a quick trip to EuroDisney, Nadal has set his sights on successfully defending his Wimbledon crown. The rapid change of surfaces at this time of year has troubled many great players in the past, but Nadal copes with remarkable ease. He won back to back French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2008 and 2010 and made the Eurostar train journey from Paris to London firmly believing he can tie Bjorn Borg's record of three French-Wimbledon doubles. Back on grass for the first time since beating Tomas Berdych in last year's Wimbledon final, Nadal quickly stamped his authority on Ebden by breaking in the first game. He served out the first set and then broke again in the opening game of the second before cruising through to a third round meeting with Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who beat 16th seed Ivan Ljubicic 0-6, 7-5, 6-4. Meanwhile, Andy Murray also made a winning start to his grass-court campaign as the world No. 4 defeated Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Next up for Murray is the talented but erratic Tipsarevic, who defeated American Michael Russell 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5). Elsewhere in the second round, South African 15th seed Kevin Anderson set up a third-round clash with four-time champion Andy Roddick after a 6-2, 6-4 win against American youngster Donald Young. Croatian eighth seed Marin Cilic eased through to the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win against French qualifier Arnaud Clement. Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russia's Igor Kunitsyn. Argentine ninth seed David Nalbandian defeated Serbian qualifier Ilija Bozoljac 6-4, 6-4, while Brazilian 11th seed Thomaz Bellucci beat Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-2, 6-7, 7-6. Berdych beats Hernych In Halle, Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych beat Jan Hernych 6-3, 7-6 (7) to reach the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open Wednesday. The seventh-ranked Berdych broke twice in the first set and closed out the second-round match against his fellow Czech on his fourth match point at the grass-court tournament. On Tuesday, Berdych saved three match points before beating Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans. Berdych will play the 12th-ranked Viktor Troicki, who dismissed Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 6-1. The Serb needed just 53 minutes to complete the victory, breaking five times and losing just five points on his first serve. Also Wednesday, defending champion Lleyton Hewitt won his first-round match against Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-3. Mayer was the lucky loser replacement for Roger Federer, who withdrew from the event Monday. Also advancing to the quarterfinals were Canadian Milos Raonic, a 7-6 (2), 6-3 winner against Tobias Kamke of Germany; and Philipp Petzschner of Germany, who got past Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2, 6-4. Barthel beats Strycova In Copenhagen, German qualifier Mona Barthel knocked out fifth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday. The 20-year-old Barthel, playing in only her third WTA main draw, won her first tour-level match only this week. Eighth-seeded Italian Alberta Brianti also advanced to the quarterfinals after a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Zuzana Kucova of Slovakia. Also, Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine beat Kathrin Woerle of Germany 6-0, 1-6, 6-2, while 112th-ranked Petra Martic of Croatia hit a dozen aces in defeating Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 50 minutes. Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki faces Angelique Kerber of Germany in the second round Thursday. On Tuesday, Wozniacki eased into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over unseeded Irina Falconi of the United States. Earlier, Simona Halep of Romania beat sixth-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-0, while Kazakh qualifier Galina Voskoboeva earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory against seventh-seeded Jelena Dokic of Australia.
