RAFAEL NADAL has vowed to be ready for a Wimbledon showdown with a dreadlocked German who has already taught him a lesson on grass.

There were no nasty first-round surprises for Nadal or Roger Federer yesterday as the two star names in the bottom half of the men's draw made progress in straight sets.

Lying in wait for Spaniard Nadal tomorrow, though, will be Dustin Brown, a tricky player he knows can cause him trouble on grass, because Brown beat him last June in Halle, Germany.

"It is difficult to think about how the match is going to be. He's not a usual player. Anything can happen," said Nadal, a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 winner on Court One against Brazilian Thomas Bellucci.

"He beat me last year in Halle. It is a dangerous match. He's a tough player. He won today against a good opponent in Lu (Yen-hsun).

"He will probably come with good confidence. I'm going to try to be ready for it."

Brown, who represented Jamaica until 2010, counts grass as his favourite surface and saw off Taiwanese player Lu 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Federer sped through his opener against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur with familiar panache. The seven-time champion was never in any danger as he enjoyed a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 stroll on Centre Court.

But the Swiss fears the time is approaching when "everything has to be rebuilt" in men's tennis.

The established big four of Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have dominated over much of the last decade.

But Federer will turn 34 in August, Nadal is 29 and both Djokovic and Murray are 28, albeit both arguably in their prime.

Asked how the profile of the men's game could change when all four disappear from the tour, bringing a golden age of men's tennis to an end, Federer said: "I know it's going to be a bit of a change.

"Everything has to be somewhat rebuilt to some extent. Players are going to win slams, players are going to be number one. It's going to be a bit different. It depends when is Rafa going to go out, when I go out, Novak, Andy, what are they going to do in their respective careers?

"That still might be five, six, eight years. Who knows what it's going to be like.

"There are still a lot of opportunities for other players to win stuff in the meantime, let's be honest. Then after that, the young generation that we all talk about now is going to be in their prime. Then it's going to be new players coming up again.

"There's always going to be another story, to be quite honest. I'm not that worried.

"At the same time you need to look ahead on the political side, for the tour, what's best to make sure that events stay successful. It's something the ATP and also the slams and everybody else has to think about."

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, meanwhile, was pushed all the way by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, a player who beat Grigor Dimitrov at Queen's Club where he also took a set off Murray.

The 13th seed from France came through a 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 winner, a searching examination that should set him up well for the tests to come.

"I thought it was going to be difficult, and it was. He's a very good player, especially on grass and indoors. He likes that kind of surface," Tsonga said. "In the end, the most important is to win, and I think I did a good job."

Ivo Karlovic, the 36-year-old from Croatian with a vicious serve, fired down 42 aces in beating Sweden's 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).

Other men's winners included French 12th seed Gilles Simon, Spanish 15th seed Feliciano Lopez, Serbian 22nd seed Victor Troicki and Holland's unseeded Robin Haase, who will face Murray next.

Haase beat a young Murray in Rotterdam but has lost their three subsequent meetings, each of them in grand slams.