Fish proves small fry for Nadal

The second seeded-Spaniard was not at his sparkling best but he proved too strong for the big-serving American, winning 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in two hours and 18 minutes on Centre Court.

In the process, he offered further evidence of his growing confidence on grass even though the soft surface, due to days of wet weather, is hardly conducive to his baseline game.

Fish held his own in the early stages although he gifted Nadal the first break of the contest with a double fault which handed the Spaniard a 4-2 lead and the Majorca-born 21-year-old served it out to establish a one-set advantage.

Fish was certainly contributing to an entertaining encounter and he comfortably fended off Nadal in a second set which remained on serve up to the tie-break.

The 25-year-old threatened to level the match but a misjudgement at 4-4, when he allowed a Nadal forehand to dip inside the baseline, derailed his challenge. Again, Nadal was ruthless in the way he took full advantage.

With two sets in the bag, Nadal's concentration wavered at the start of the third with Fish finally claiming his first break point after an hour and 54 minutes.

But he was unable to convert, clipping a half volley long, while a second chance was lost when Nadal whipped a wonderful forehand winner which Hawk-Eye confirmed had clipped the line.

The technical aid, new to Wimbledon this year, was also on Nadal's side when he claimed what proved to be the vital break. At 3-4, 30-all with Fish serving, a clever lob from the clay court specialist was shown to have landed in by a fraction of an inch.

A deflated Fish then served a double-fault to hand Nadal the chance to serve for the match which he gobbled up gratefully. Next up for the left-hander is a meeting with Austria's Werner Eschauer.