Rome: Novak Djokovic overcame a lapse midway through the first set and started off the defense of his Rome Masters title by beating Albert Montanes 7-6 (5), 6-0 on Tuesday.

Djokovic, who needs to win the clay-court tournament again to hold on to the No 3 ranking, wasted a 5-2 lead and was broken while serving for the first set at 5-3. After missing three straight forehands to fall behind 4-2 in the tiebreaker, the Serb slammed his racket onto the clay. After the outburst, Djokovic regained his focus and won four straight points to take control of the tiebreaker, then cruised through the second set in 25 minutes.

Earlier, Tommy Robredo rallied to beat two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the first round. Safin was broken when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and the Russian didn't even bother to move when the 13th-seeded Robredo hit a returnable serve to close the match out. Robredo will next face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who also came back from a set down, eliminating Simone Bolelli of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Andreas Seppi of Italy ousted Sam Querrey of the United States 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, while 28th-ranked Mardy Fish, the last American in the draw, defeated Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2). Seppi will next face three-time Rome champion Nadal, while Fish will play sixth-seeded Fernando Verdasco.

Two matches on outer courts were suspended due to darkness. Florent Serra of France led 16th-seeded Radek Stepanek 6-5 in the first set and Paul-Henri Mathieu of France led 11th-seeded David Ferrer 6-3, 0-1. Andy Murray's match against Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco was postponed. The Rome Masters is a key clay-court warmup for the French Open, which starts May 25.

Stuttgart Open

STUTTGART: Russia's Dinara Safina celebrated her first match as world No 1 by needing just 51 minutes to blitz Italy's Sara Errani 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of Stuttgart Open on Tuesday.

The Russian dominated to win the first set in just 26 minutes against Errani, ranked 37th, and it took the 21-year-old Italian 40 minutes to even win a game as the Russian hit five aces. Safina will play either France's Alize Cornet or Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the second round.

In contrast, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva needed more than two hours to survive a scare from local favourite Anna-Lena Groenefeld before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Having had few problems in the first set, the Russian pin-up was put under pressure in the second and could only defend one of the three break points against her. But the Russian regained control in the third set.

In the other first round matches, eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland needed a first set-tie break against Aleksandra Wozniak before her comfortable 7-6 (7/2), 6-0 victory over the Canadian. China's Na Li beat compatriot Shuai Peng 6-2, 6-3 while Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova rallied for a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Italy's Alberta Brianti.

Seventh-seed Caroline Wozniacki booked her second-round berth as she beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic in straight sets while France's Marion Bartoli beat Croatia's Karolina Sprem 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.