Wimbledon - Nadal says It's a dream as he opens Centre court action

World number one Rafael Nadal will open the Wimbledon action at centre court as he plays his first round tie against American Micahel Russell on Monday.

The women's single match between Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone and Australian Jelena Dokic will be the second match at centre court before Britain's Andy Murray begins his quest of claiming his first grand slam against Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

American Andy Roddick, a three-time finalist at Wimbledon, will open against German Andreas Beck after last year's finalist Tomas Berdych starts off against Italian Filippo Volandri.

Six-time champion Roger Federer will begin his tournament on Tuesday against Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin while second seed Novak Djokovic opens against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on the same day.

There is a forecast for slight showers on the day, and during the tournament. However, with the Centre court having a retractable roof, it shouldn't interrupt play.

After winning his sixth French Open title, Nadal seemed to be bogged down by fatigue as he lost to Frnechman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Queens in the quarterfinals. However, the Spaniard took the chance to refresh himself with a short break at home in Majorca, where he played two fantastic rounds of golf.

He will look to claim his third Wimbledon title, and the break was just what he needed. He said, I hadn't spent a weekend at home since the Davis Cup match against Belgium in February, so I needed it. I enjoyed it a lot. On Monday I started to practise. Tuesday, too. By Wednesday I was here practising in the afternoon.

With the chance to open the tournament at Centre court, the world number claimed it was all a dream.

He said, My inspiration comes every day. I love to play big matches. I love to play in big stadiums like here, historic stadiums like Wimbledon. Tomorrow I start by playing the first match of the tournament on Centre Court; for me it's a dream.