Rafael Nadal continued his imperious run of form as he swept aside American Donald Young 6-4 6-2 7-5 in the Wimbledon second round.

The two-time champion was rarely troubled by an opponent ranked 43rd in the world who chose to slug it out from the back of the court against the supreme Spanish baseliner.

Fourth seed Nadal, fresh from winning his 10th French Open title last month, was roared on by the crowd and he seemed to be able to produce winners at will with his swashbuckling forehand.

Young, 27, sought to mix up his play in the third set by rushing the net and he broke his 31-year-old opponent’s serve but in the end there was nothing he could do to prevent the Nadal juggernaut rolling on.

“It was a good match again, almost all the time more or less under control,” Nadal said.

“It’s true that in the third I served a little bit worse. But in general terms, I am happy. I played well.”

As Nadal left to rapturous applauds, he received an unusual request for an autograph as one adoring fan asked him to sign his prosthetic leg.

“It was already off,” Nadal said. “I don’t know if he took it off at that moment or not.”

Asked if it was the strangest autograph he had ever signed, Nadal said with a smile: “Probably not.”