It's unusual for Rafael Nadal to be slam-less. Since 2005, the Spaniard has at least won one singles grand slam crown, but it's a different story so far this year as he heads into Wimbledon as the 10th seed. Despite his grass court triumph in Stuttgart, speculations of an early Wimbledon exit have been looming. Nadal, however, silenced his critics by defeating Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets to advance to the second round.

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The Spaniard only needed 2 hours and 12 minutes to send the Brazilian packing. Fans cheered on and witnessed the 29-year-old, who didn't show signs of physical ailment, power his way through with 21 winners. Tennis writer and analyst Peter Bodo highlighted Nadal's clean groundstrokes that resurged after lackluster performances earlier this year. Notwithstanding the number of unforced errors, his weapons, combined with speed and agility, gave him the edge to defeat the big-serving Bellucci.

"It was a very positive victory," Nadal told BBC. "Straight sets, no bad feelings, good backhands. The forehand needs to be a bit more aggressive."

Nadal's next opponent is Dustin Brown, the culprit for his loss in Halle last year. The German advanced to the 2nd round by defeating Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu in four sets with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

"It is difficult to think about how the match going to be; he's not a usual player," said Nadal as reported by the ATP website. "Anything can happen. He beat me last year in Halle. It is little bit different, the surface and everything. He's a tough player. He won today against good opponent. Probably he will come with good confidence. I'm going to try to be ready for it."

The rest of the seeds in the men's draw also advanced to the 2nd round but not without a good fight. Thirteenth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was twice a semifinalist, played a tough five-setter against Gilles Muller but eventually prevailed with a 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 3-6 6-2 win.

Sixth seed Tomas Berdych, meanwhile, nearly fell until coming through with a 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) victory over Jeremy Chardy. The 3-hour match ended with Berdych hitting a total of 55 winners and 16 aces to beat the Frenchman.

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