Rome - Tommy Robredo earned a three-set elimination of popular Russian Marat Safin 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 on a rain-plagued Tuesday as officials played for time at the Rome Masters. After finishing a mere handful of Day one matches Monday, Tuesday was equally brutal on scheduling after lashings of overnight rain continued from mid-morning.

The weather only died down enough to take to the courts at the Foro Italico two hours after the intended start, with officials packing as many courts as they could get cleaned and dried.

Barcelona - Clay-tough Spaniard Tommy Robredo ended the Barcelona Open dream of Gaston Gaudio as he hammered the former French Open champion out of the second round on Wednesday.

Sixth seed Robredo, who trailed 4-3 in a series with the last match played in 2006, piled on a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 win after being made to work in the opening set.

Gaudio, 30 yearf age and ranked 966th, was on a high after winning his first match since 2007 and now pointing at a wild card request for Roland Garros after claiming the Grand Slam there in 2004.