Jun 26, 2008, 20:04 GMT
London - Rafael Nadal polished the day's tennis chores with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 defeat of Latvian Ernests Gulbis at the Wimbledon Championships and rushed home to watch Spain play a Euro 2008 football semi-final.
The Thursday move into the second round for the world number two gives Nadal some breathing room as he aims to try and unseat Roger Federer from the top ranking position.
But that scenario would only come to pass if the four-time French Open champion wins Wimbledon while five-time All England club winner Federer fails to reach the quarter-finals.
Nadal had his hands full with the fast-rising Gulbis, tipped as a future top player.
The second seed had to recover after losing the first set as he eventually overhauled the 19-year-old ranked 48th.
'The football was a special motivation for today,' said Nadal, whose nation will challenge Russia later for the chance to face Germany in the Sunday final.
'I'm very happy with this victory. I knew it would be a tough match against a very aggressive player,' said Nadal, who needed a shade under three hours to nullify the effects of 16 Gulbis aces
'I improved during the match, especially on my serve.'
Nadal, losing semi-finalist at the last two editions to Federer, won his 17th Wimbledon match, sending a winner to the empty court on his first match point.
Women's holder and four-time champion Venus Williams fought off a first-set charge from Anne Keothavong before dispatching the British player 7-5, 6-2.
Williams reached the third round after winning a struggle which lasted for one hour, 40 minutes.
Keothavong put pressure on the seventh seed but was able to convert on just one of 11 break chances while losing her own serve four times.
Williams needed more than an hour to secure the first set against the number 92, last British woman remaining in the field.
Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn upset 13th seed Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (12-10), 4-6, 6-3 while Argentine Gisela Dulko got a walkover into the third round as former champion Lindsay Davenport quit before their match with a knee injury.
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