JK Rowling makes rare public appearance; Rafael Nadal works his magic

Author J. K. Rowling (L) made a rare public appearance sitting in the Royal Box on Day 2 at Wimbledon yesterday.

Meanwhile Rafael Nadal worked his magic last night after a slow start with 4 games down against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. Nadal survived an early scare to kick off his bid for a third Wimbledon title with a 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Rafael Nadal

Others who also made it to the second round were Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga.

Grigor Dimitrov

Kei Nishikori

It has been rumoured that the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton will attend the championships later this week with her mother Carole Middleton, and possibly her sister Pippa.

(Via Telegraph, Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Rafael Nadal on football

World Cup fever is here again. The first match will kick off in just less than two weeks.

"I love football," Nadal says. "Sure, I'm going to watch the World Cup."

Being a Spaniard, Nadal will of course root for his own country.

Nadal plans to see as many matches as he can in between matches during the Wimbledon later this month.

"I think Spain has an unbelievable team, a complete team: the goalkeeper, the defenders, and the attack is unbelievable. We have a chance to win," Nadal says.

"But at the same time, when you play matches ... anything can happen."

Speaking of match results, so far Nadal is doing great at the French Open.

The King of Clay moved into the quarterfinal yesterday after beating up and coming player Thomaz Bellucci in straight set 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

(Via madison.com)

Weekend winners: Quick update

It's been days without updates... but nevertheless here are the winners last weekend.

Sam Querrey, who made headlines with his Samurai gang (Querrey's fan club members), won his second tour title, ending qualifier Carsten Ball's run 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in Los Angeles.

Nikolay Davydenko won his second title in two weeks, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-0 in Umag.

Qualifier Thomaz Bellucci won his maiden ATP title, rolling through Andreas Beck 6-4, 7-6(2) to win Gstaad.

Vera Dushevina taking her first WTA title in easy fashion, winning 6-0, 6-1 over Lucie Hradecka in Istanbul.

And lastly, Marion Bartoli brushed off Venus Williams in the Stanford final, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 43 minutes.

(Via tennis.com; Images via Yahoo! Sports)