Querrey, who beat compatriot Mardy Fish to win the Wimbledon
warm-up event last year, made few forays to the net on the pristine center
court lawn but had enough power from the baseline to dominate his opponent.
World number one and top seed Rafa Nadal, fresh from
claiming his record-equaling sixth French Open title, was greeted by steady
rain as he arrived in London for the start of the brief grasscourt season he
hopes will culminate in a third Wimbledon title in four years.
The 25-year-old Spaniard, along with the other top seeds,
was given a bye in the first round and will start on Wednesday against India's
Somdev Devvarman or Australia's Matthew Ebden.
Nadal's French Open semi-final victim Andy Murray, seeded
two at Queen's, is expected to play on home turf although he is yet to make a
decision on the ankle injury sustained in Paris.
Big serving Querrey, the 13th seed, struck the ball cleanly
from the start against the highly-rated Nishikori, breaking serve in the second
game and then booming down some huge serves of his own to fend off break points
and move 3-0 ahead.
From then on it was plain sailing, even if he seemed
reluctant to sharpen up his volleys.
"Coming out the first day with the brand new grass was
a little bit slippery, but it felt good," Querrey, who reached the last 16
at Wimbledon last year where he lost to Andy Murray, told reporters.
"I had a few jitters but I thought I served really well
and moved well. I was pretty happy for my first grass court match of the
season." After the early rain cleared on a chilly day in west London,
Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who beat Nadal in the quarter-finals here last year,
overcame Russia's Dmitry Tursunov 7-6, 6-3 to set up a clash with four-times
champion Andy Roddick.
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut's first singles match on London grass
since last year's freakish 11-hour 183-game epic defeat by American John Isner
was a rather less memorable affair.
Mahut,
runner-up to Roddick in 2007, beat British junior Oliver Golding 6-3, 6-4 and
will face Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco next.
