Following a solid start to his grass court campaign at the All England Club, two-time champion Rafael Nadal will further his campaign with a second round match-up against the always dangerous German Dustin Brown. This is just the second time these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour with Brown leading the head-to-head series 1-0 following a win at Halle last season.

For the first time since being seeded at the tournament for the first time, Rafael Nadal will have to deal with the draw of a No. 10 seed, as he began his campaign against Thomaz Bellucci, whom he defeated in straight sets. Nadal downed the Brazilian 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 10 minutes. Nadal struck 21 winners and saved four break points during the encounter.

“I think I played okay; played well, played solid,” said Nadal. “I am a little bit more confident now than I was few months ago. [It’s] just day by day for me. Obviously victories help.”

“It is difficult to think about how the match going to be; he’s not a usual player,” Nadal said of his next opponent. “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.”

Nadal’s upcoming opponent, Dustin Brown, defeated Yen-Hsun Lu in four sets after dropping the first set. He won the match 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round for the second time in his career.

This is the second time these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, and should be a highly intriguing contest, as it serves the purpose of gauging Nadal’s readiness for Wimbledon. Given that Nadal lost to Brown at last year’s Halle tournament, it will be interesting to see how he handles the rematch and if he is capable of avenging his loss en route to the third round of the tournament.