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INDIANAPOLIS, July 22: Top seed Andy Roddick was embroiled in a tight second round match at the RCA Tennis Championships against Swiss qualifier Michel Kratochvil before bad weather intervened on Wednesday.
Roddick, the defending champion, was leading 6-4, 2-5 when heavy rain suspended play at the hardcourt event which serves as a warm-up for the US Open.
The match was scheduled to be completed on Thursday and the winner will go on to face 15th-seeded American Robby Ginepri, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Frenchman Sebastien de Chaunac, later in the evening.
There were several upsets in earlier matches, including unseeded Gregory Carraz's 7-6, 7-6 win over fifth-seeded American Mardy Fish.
Two other seeded players also withdrew from the event, both citing stomach problems.
Number seven seed Sjeng Schalken lost his first set to Jan Hernych 7-5 and trailed 1-0 in the second set before retiring.
Taylor Dent, the number nine seed, left before playing his match against Todd Reid after getting a bye into the second round.
Reid took advantage of the break by defeating Dent's replacement in the draw, Alex Kuznetsov 6-1, 7-5.
Third-seeded Sebastien Grosjean lost his opening set to compatriot Julien Jeanpierre in a tiebreak before rallying to take the remaining two sets by identical 6-2 margins.
Eleventh-seed Joachim Johansson also needed three sets to see off Britain's Greg Rusedski 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
WEDNESDAY's RESULTS (prefix number denotes seeding):
Second round: 1-Andy Roddick (US) leads Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland) 6-4, 2-5 - match suspended due to rain; Todd Reid (Australia) beat Alex Kuznetsov (US) 6-1, 7-5; Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) beat 7-Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) 7-5, 1-0 - retired; Alex Bogomolov Jr (US) beat 16-Robin Soderling (Sweden) 6-2, 6-2; Noam Okun (Israel) beat Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 7-6 (7-5); Karol Beck (Slovakia) beat 13-Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5); Gregory Carraz (France) beat 5-Mardy Fish (US) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4); Rik De Voest (South Africa) beat Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; 12-Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 6-0, 7-6 (7-0); 6-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-3, 6-2; 15-Robby Ginepri (US) beat Sebastien De Chaunac (France) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; 14-Xavier Malisse (Belgium) beat Jeff Morrison (US) 6-1, 6-2; 3-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Julien Jeanpierre (France) 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 6-2; 11-Joachim Johansson (Sweden) beat Greg Rusedski (Britain) 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4.
SERENA STRUGGLES
CARSON (California): Top seed Serena Williams struggled to overcome Eleni Daniilidou 6-1, 7-6 in the second round of the JP Morgan Chase Open on Wednesday, her first match since losing the Wimbledon final.
In a sloppy encounter played in intense heat, Williams struggled with her footwork and control against the big-hitting Greek, who had not won a match since early May coming into the tournament.
Williams, who was stunned by 17-year-old Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon, debuted a new a lime green dress at the tournament being played close to where she grew up in Compton.
Third seed Lindsay Davenport continued her winning run with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Luxembourg's Anne Kremer. Davenport beat Venus Williams in the final at Stanford last week.
Other seeded winners included number five Svetlana Kuznetsova, who eased past Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-3 6-3; number six Ai Sugiyama, a 6-2, 6-4 victor over Nicole Pratt; and number 15 Amy Frazier, who beat Barbara Schett 6-4, 6-4.
Eighth seed Vera Zvonareva advanced without hitting a ball when Tina Pisnik pulled out of their match with a neck strain.
In the day's only major upset, Croatia's Jelena Kostanic stunned ninth seed Patty Schnyder 6-1, 7-6.
WEDNESDAY's RESULTS:
Second round: 1-Serena Williams (US) beat Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3); 3-Lindsay Davenport (US) beat Anne Kremer (Luxembourg) 7-5, 6-2; 5-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) 6-3, 6-3; 6-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Nicole Pratt (Australia) 6-2, 6-4; 8-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat Tina Pisnik (Slovenia) - walkover; Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) beat 9-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5); 10-Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (Israel) beat Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 11-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Nathalie Dechy (France) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; 14-Chanda Rubin (US) beat Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; 15-Amy Frazier (US) beat Barbara Schett (Austria) 6-4, 6-4; Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) beat Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Marion Bartoli (France) beat Akiko Morigami (Japan) 6-2, 6-0; Arantxa Parra Santonja (Spain) beat Anca Barna (Germany) 6-0, 7-6 (7-2).
CROATIA OPEN RESULTS
UMAG (Croatia): Results from the Croatia Open ATP tennis tournament on Wednesday:
Second round: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat 7-Flavio Saretta (Brazil) 7-5, 6-0; Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) beat Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 7-6, 3-6, 6-4; 2-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; 4-Filippo Volandri (Italy) beat Florent Serra (France) 7-5, 6-0.-Reuters
