Two-time Wimbledon champion secured a safe passage through to the third round of the championship on Thursday as he dispatched Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-4).

The Spaniard's day, however, will have been somewhat marred by his incursion of two time violation penalties during the match - which could land him a fine of up to £15,000.

Number two seed Nadal was hit with the first of his penalties before the match had even begun.

Match umpire Carlos Bernades called time on the warm-up period prior to the match, but Nadal continued to hit a total of four more serves following the announcement.

This meant that whilst Kukushkin was ready to play within the allotted 60-second time period which followed, Nadal was not - breaking tournament rules.

Per The Sun, Nadal insisted that he had not intended to fall foul of the match official, but accepted that he was at fault.

"I was slow," admitted the 32-year-old. "I had to change and everything. I accepted the violation. I couldn't see a clock here unlike at the Australian Open and Roland Garros...It's more difficult for me to understand what's going on."

Curiously, though, this is not the first time that Nadal has had an issue with Bernades.

The pair also clashed at the Rio Open in 2015 over whether it was reasonable of Bernades to expect Nadal to change his shorts on-court. As a result of the dispute, Nadal even made an official request to the ATP that Bernades no longer be assigned to his matches.

However, Nadal stated after Thursday's win that he did not believe the penalties were imposed because of a personal vendetta. 

"I don't have a problem with the umpire. What happened in Rio a couple of years ago was disrespectful. I put my shorts on the wrong way and you can't force me to change on court in front of everybody. I respect him when I am slow."

Nadal's victory over Kukushkin sees him move on to face Australia's Alex de Minaur in the third round - as well as guaranteeing him tournament prize money of at least £100,000.

With reported career earnings of in excess of $98 million, it is doubtful that Nadal would have much difficulty in paying any fine that is levied against him.

Indeed, for now, Nadal simply seems happy to find himself in improved form on grass, particularly following a recent knee injury.

"I always like to play on grass but it's the most difficult surface because we play on it less. But when I have been healthy I played well here."