US No. 1 James Blake dodged heavy rain and thunder to secure a quick-fire win, but other stars were not so lucky as the Olympic tennis tournament faced serious weather disruption yesterday.
Blake, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez waited out a two-hour rain delay before booking their place in the second round, but top US women’s seed Serena Williams was frustrated by a series of showers.
Williams was on and off Center Court and was leading Belarus’s Olga Govortsova 6-3, 2-1 when the heavens opened with a vengeance, forcing a halt to proceedings.
Only nine of 18 matches in the morning session were completed, giving officials a headache as they juggle the packed singles and doubles schedule.
Blake defeated Australia’s Chris Guccione 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Athens bronze medalist Gonzalez of Chile eased past China’s Sun Peng 6-4, 6-4 while Russian fourth seed Davydenko overcame dangerous Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-2.
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur of Australia, Italian Francesca Schiavone and Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova also progressed in the women’s draw.
IVANOVIC PULLS OUT
AFP, BEIJING
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