Rome Masters: Djokovic, Blake advance

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ROME -- Third-ranked Novak Djokovic showed no signs of illness, cruising past Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday in his opening match at the Rome Masters. At the recent Monte Carlo Masters, Djokovic pulled out of his semifinal match against top-ranked Roger Federer after falling behind 6-3, 3-2. Tests revealed he had strep throat. "I finished with my medication yesterday," Djokovic said. "So, hopefully, now I'll get better in the future." James Blake held off Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1 before a partisan crowd. "A lot of times, Americans have trouble on clay, but the older I get the more I learn and my clay-court game is starting to come together," Blake said. Against the 49th-ranked Darcis, Djokovic broke at love in the final game of the first set, then rolled through the second. "I feel good. I'm satisfied with the way I played today," the Serb said in fluent Italian. "The first match is always tough. "I feel at home in Italy. I like playing here." Fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated wild-card Mario Ancic 6-2, 6-2, and Fernando Gonzalez -- last year's finalist -- dispatched qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-2. In other second-round play, two seeded players were upset. Coming off a runner-up performance in the Barcelona Open, fifth-seeded David Ferrer lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to Radek Stepanek. Seventh-seeded David Nalbandian lost to clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro upset 6-4, 7-5. Also, qualifier Luis Horna eliminated Jose Acasuso 6-3, 7-6 (1). Later, Rafael Nadal opened his bid for a fourth straight title against 2001 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. The top eight seeds had first-round byes in this clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins May 25. Djokovic led 18-11 in winners and had 18 unforced errors, with Darcis committing 31. In January, Djokovic won the Australian Open for his first Grand Slam title. "The Australian Open changed my life," Djokovic said. "Now I want to become No. 1 this year." Blake struggled with his forehand -- committing 33 errors on that side -- but his one-handed backhand worked well. A backhand passing shot up the line broke Seppi's serve for a 3-1 lead in the third set, and he cruised from there. "In the third set, I really started to find my game," Blake said. "A lot of shots I was missing starting going in." Blake, 28, reached his first career clay-court final last month in Houston, losing to Marcel Granollers. Nalbandian saved seven match points before finally surrendering a forehand into the net. Nalbandian was the runner-up to Carlos Moya in the 2004 final, and reached the semifinals in 2006, losing to Roger Federer.

Rome Masters: Qualifier upsets Gasquet