NEWPORT (Rhode Island), July 10 Two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro of France won his rain-delayed opening round match by beating Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 7-5, at the Hall of Fame Championships on Thursday.

Santoro, 36, the oldest singles player on the ATP Tour, had his match postponed by heavy rain on Tuesday and halted in the first set on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Santoro will face 2002 champ Taylor Dent in the second round.

In other opening-round matches, seventh-seeded American Kevin Kim advanced when France's Sebastien Grosjean retired after the second set with a shoulder injury; lucky loser Rajeev Ram of the US ousted Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 7-5; eighth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine beat Frank Dancevic of Canada 7-6 (9), 2-6, 7-5; Austria's Samuel Groth edged Brazil's Ricardo Mello 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 and Belgium's Olivier Rochus defeated Austria's Alexander Peya 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

After two days of heavy late-afternoon rain, the singles matches didn't get under way until late in the afternoon to allow the soggy courts to improve.

“The way the courts were, they were marginal for a guy to go out and cover the whole court,” said tournament director Mark Stenning about why the doubles were played first.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding)

First round 7-Kevin Kim (Korea) bt Sebastien Grosjean (France) 4-6, 6-3, retired; 8-Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) bt Frank Dancevic (Canada) 7-6 (11-9), 2-6, 7-5; Rajeev Ram (US) bt Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 6-4, 7-5; Samuel Groth (Australia) bt Ricardo Mello (Brazil) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Olivier Rochus (Belgium) bt Alexander Peya (Austria) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; 2-Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Flavio Cipolla (Italy) 6-3, 7-5.

DULKO MAKES SEMIS

BASTAD (Sweden) Unseeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina saved match points for the second straight day in eliminating second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the Swedish Open quarter-finals on Thursday.

Dulko saved two match points at 6-4 down in the tiebreaker, rallying to win it 8-6 after 3 hours, 19 minutes. The day before, she staved off four match points to beat fifth-seeded Sorana Cirstea in the second round.

Seeking her fourth career title, Dulko will face in the semi-finals Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez after the Spaniard beat countrywoman and seventh-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki edged Maria Kirilenko of Russia 7-5, 7-6 (4). Kirilenko had set point in the first set and served for the second at 5-4.

Wozniacki advanced to play third-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy for a berth in the final.

Results

Quarter-finals 3-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) 6-4, 6-2; Gisela Dulko (Argentina) bt 2-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(6); 1-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 7-5, 7-6(4); Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) bt 7-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

SCHNYDER INTO QUARTERS

BUDAPEST (Hungary) Top-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland eased into the Budapest Grand Prix quarter-finals by defeating Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

Schnyder, a wild-card entry, broke Camerin at 4-3 in the first set, and rolled through the second in a bid for a 12th career title.

Her opponent in the quarter-finals will be fifth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, who beat Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated Tathiana Garbin of Italy 7-6 (2), 5-7, 7-5. Garbin took a 4-0 lead in the first set but Szavay cut down on her mistakes and fought back to a 6-5 lead, winning the set in a tiebreak.

Garbin levelled the set score thanks to Szavay's plentiful unforced errors, but both players kept breaking each other's serves in the last set until Szavay managed to break Garbin for the match.

Results

Second round 1-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) bt Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 6-3, 6-2; 4-Agnes Szavay (Hungary) bt Tathiana Garbin (Italy) 7-6(2), 5-7, 7-5; 5-Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) bt Patricia Mayr (Austria) 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.—Agencies