INDIAN WELLS (California), March 12: Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva struggled to clear her first hurdle at the Pacific Life Open on Saturday, but at least she didn’t have to struggle with the rain.

Dementieva edged unheralded Anastasiya Yakimova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. And while she found the 104th-ranked Belarussian a tough nut to crack, at least she didn’t have to contend with the weather delays that threw the schedule into chaos and finally saw organizers call a halt for the day shortly after 9:00pm.

Only 18 of the scheduled 42 singles matches were completed. The evening ended with organizers telling the sparse stadium court crowd — most of them huddled under blankets in groups dotted about the stands — that the court could not be sufficiently dried to allow play.

American James Blake, the 12th seed, became the first man to reach the third round with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over unheralded Sam Querry.

Blake shrugged off a mid-match rain-delay, and said it was his 18-year-old opponent rather than the cold, wind, and intermittent rain that thwarted him in the opening set.

Saturday’s results:

Men’s singles:

Second round: 12-James Blake (US) bt Sam Querrey (US) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

First round: Nicolas Massu (Chile) bt Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (12-10); Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) bt Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Daniele Bracciali (Italy) bt Luis Horna (Peru) 6-3, 6-3; Jeff Morrison (US) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3; Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) bt Paul Capdeville (Chile) 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-3; Julien Benneteau (France) bt Novak Djokovic (Serbia and Montenegro) 6-3, 6-4; Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) bt Wesley Moodie (South Africa) 7-6 (6-2), 6-4; Justin Gimelstob (US) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 7-5, 6-3; Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia and Montenegro) bt Sam Warburg (US) 6-4, 7-6 (6-4); Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) bt Greg Rusedski (Britain) 6-2, 6-4; Kevin Kim (US) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 7-5, 6-4; Vince Spadea (US) bt Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) 6-1, 4-1 — Berlocq retired.

Women’s singles:

Second round: 4-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Belarus) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Vania King (US) bt 16-Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-3; Aiko Nakamura (Japan) bt 25-Mara Santangelo (Italy) 6-3, 7-5; Na Li (China) bt 24-Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-0, 6-1; 6-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Ivana Lisjak (Croatia) 6-1, 6-2.—Agencies