Two-time defending champion Santoro advances at Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Two-time defending champ Fabrice Santoro of France won his rain-delayed opening round match, beating Italy's Flavio Cipolla, 6-3, 7-5, at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Thursday.

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

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

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"I feel like they are very happy to see me back," said Santoro, who promised to return for one more year if he won Newport last year.

But he wasn't about to make that commitment again.

"I don't want to promise anything I can't hold," he said. "I feel like it's time for me to retire at the end of the year and start a new life."

In other opening round matches, seventh-seeded American Kevin Kim advanced when Sebastien Grosjean retired after the second set with a shoulder injury; lucky loser Rajeev Ram ousted Alejandro Falla of Columbia, 6-4, 7-5; eighth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine beat Canada's Frank Dancevic, 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 Alexander Peya of Austria, 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 get in better condition.

"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.