WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Trying to switch directions while chasing a shot beneath the Royal Box at Wimbledon's Centre Court, Rafael Nadal lost his footing and took a nasty-looking spill, flinging his racket in the air while he fell.
The Spaniard was OK, even if he did land on his back behind the baseline and glanced overhead to make sure his equipment wasn't going to nail him in the noggin. Nadal toweled off and, four games later, wrapped up a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori in the first round at the All England Club.
Said Nadal: "I'm happy to be here again."
Another past Wimbledon winner coming off an injury, Maria Sharapova, also played Tuesday, and also won convincingly, eliminating 127th-ranked Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia 6-1, 6-0 in only 54 minutes.
Joining her in the second round were defending champion Serena Williams, who pounded 15 aces in a 6-0, 6-4 victory over 17-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal to improve to 43-0 in first-round Grand Slam matches; two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who overcame 16 aces by Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and won 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4; and No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 7 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 9 Li Na and No. 10 Flavia Pennetta.
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But No. 6 Samantha Stosur, the runner-up at the French Open a little more than two weeks ago, lost to 80th-ranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4, 6-4. The woman who beat Stosur at Roland Garros, first-time major champion Francesca Schiavone, bowed out of Wimbledon on Monday.
The only other seeded woman who lost Tuesday was No. 25 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.
Four seeded men exited, and three are from Spain: No. 8 Fernando Verdasco, No. 19 Nicolas Almagro, and No. 14 Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion.
The other was No. 24 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up.
Winners included No. 4 Andy Murray, two-time French Open finalist Robin Soderling, No. 9 David Ferrer, No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and No. 18 Sam Querrey of Santa Monica, Calif. Murray is the only British man or woman still left, making this the first time in tournament history that the hosts have but one representative in the second round.
"It's not great, is it?" Murray said.
