by The Journal

Fifth seed Del Potro has assumed Nadal's position in the draw following the Spaniard's withdrawal with a knee injury, and turned in a suitably impressive display in beating Arnaud Clement in straight sets on Court One.

The Argentinian raced to a 6-3 6-1 6-2 victory in just 97 minutes to set up an intriguing second-round clash with former champion Lleyton Hewitt.

"It was easier than I was thinking before the match," said Del Potro, who pushed Roger Federer all the way in the French Open semi-finals recently.

"I don't know if I can win this tournament some day, but I'm trying. I want to improve my game on this kind of surface," he said.

Hewitt, the 2002 champion but unseeded this year, also only dropped six games in thrashing American Robby Ginepri 6-4 6-1 6-1.

Elsewhere, sixth seed Andy Roddick maintained his record of never having lost in the first round in nine visits to Wimbledon, but needed four sets to see off former junior champion Jeremy Chardy of France. Tommy Haas beat Alexander Peya of Austria in four sets.

There were also victories for 23rd seed Radek Stepanek over Alejandro Falla and 16th seed David Ferrer beat Kevin Kim in four sets.

Fernando Gonzalez, the number 10 seed, enjoyed a straight-sets win over Teimuraz Gabashvili, but 33rd seed Nicolas Kiefer was beaten in three sets by France's Fabrice Santoro.

Marat Safin became the biggest casualty of the championships so far when the 14th seed crashed out at the hands of little-known American qualifier Jesse Levine.

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