Low five for Rafael Nadal

“Rafa Nadal didn’t play his best tennis today,” the 29-year-old Belgian said. “The first match on grass is always difficult. It’s his first one. Of course,it’s a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could,not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today.”

Nadal was coming off his eighth championship at the French Open last month but,on this day,he never looked like the player who has won 12 Grand Slam titles and established himself as one of the greatest players of his generation. It’s the second straight early Wimbledon exit for Nadal,who was ousted in the second round last year by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.

Lacking preparation

After that loss,Nadal took the rest of the year off to recover from the knee problem. Since returning to action this year,he had made it to the finals of all nine tournaments he entered,winning seven. After winning the French Open,Nadal pulled out of a grass-court tuneup in Halle,Germany. He came to Wimbledon without any serious grass-court preparation.

Darcis is the lowest ranked player to beat Nadal at any tournament since Joachim Johansson ranked No. 690 defeated the Spaniard in 2006 in Stockholm. Gustavo Kuerten,in 1997,was the last defending French Open champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon. Darcis,who had won only one previous match at Wimbledon,played the match of his life Monday,going for his shots and moving Nadal from corner to corner. Darcis amassed a total of 53 winners,compared with 32 for Nadal. Darcis finished the match in style,serving an ace down the middle his 13th as Nadal failed to chase after the ball.

Earlier,Roger Federer began his bid for a record eighth title at the All England Club with the same dominance that has defined his grass-court greatness. Ten years after his first Wimbledon championship,Federer opened the tournament on Centre Court as defending champion and looked right as home as he dismantled Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-3,6-2,6-0.

This was a grass-court clinic from Federer that lasted 68 minutes. He had 32 winners,seven aces and just six unforced errors. He won 90 percent of the points when he put his first serve in. When his serve is clicking,Federer usually is unbeatable. On this day,he won his first 15 service points and 24 out of the first 25. “I’m happy to get out of there early and quickly,” Federer said. “So it was a perfect day.”

Women’s fifth seed sent packing too

Italian fifth seed Sara Errani became the first major casualty of this year’s Wimbledon when she slumped to a 6-3,6-2 defeat to Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig. In other results,Maria Sharapova battled through to the second round while Victoria Azarenka overcame a bad fall to also win in round one on Monday.

Errani,a semi-finalist at the French Open earlier thismonth and runner-up in Paris to Maria Sharapova in 2012,had gone into her first round clash carrying a groin injury which forced her out of Eastbourne last week. Puig,19,goes on to face Silvia Soler Espinosa of Spain.

Puig,who became the first Puerto Rican woman to reach the third round of a major at Roland Garros,took victory on a seventh match point. Her latest success was celebrated by Puerto Rican popstar Ricky Martin,who tweeted his congratulations.

Third seed Sharapova beat Kristina Mladenovic 7-6(5) 6-3 to move into the second round at Wimbledon on Monday but had to work hard to end the resistance of French opponent.

Second seed Azarenka fought through the pain barrier after a nasty fall that left her in shock to beat Maria Joao Koehler 6-1 6-2 on Monday. The Belarussian had cruised through the first set against the Portuguese world number 106 and was one point away from going 2-0 up in the second when she slipped behind the baseline while trying to reach a shot and almost did the splits.