Associated Press

Newport, July 7:

Top-seeded Vincent Spadea and No 2 James Blake advanced to the second round of the rain-delayed Hall of Fame tournament. Spadea, looking to become the first top seed to win the title in its 28-year history, beat Jeff Salzenstein 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 after rallying from a 2-3 deficit in the final set. Spadea broke serve in the sixth game of the set, and held in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. He won 16 of the last 19 points. In other matches, third-seeded Jurgen Melzer ousted Jan Hernych 6-2, 6-4; No 5 Cyril Saulnier beat Justin Gimelstob 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; No 8 Antony Dupuis topped Jan Vacek 6-2, 6-2; Nicolas Mahut beat Jerome Golmard 6-2, 6-2; and Alex Bogomolov stopped Harel Levy 6-3, 6-3.

Also, seventh-seeded Alexander Popp defeated Amer Delic 6-4, 6-3; Jeff Morrison beat sixth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill 6-2, 6-7, 6-3; Greg Rusedski downed No 4 Gregory Carraz 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; and Kenneth Carlsen ousted Todd Reid 6-1, 2-6, 7-6.

Swiss Open

GSTAAD: Defending champion Jiri Novak defeated Albert Montanes of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to the quarter-finals of the $544,750 Swiss Open tennis tournament. With the victory, fourth-seeded Novak improved his record to 15-4 in Gstaad. In last year‘s final, Novak defeated local favourite Roger Federer. Novak is seeking his third title here after winning in 2001 and 2003. In other match, Potito Starace of Italy beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.