Seles downs Martinez for WTA crown

Seles broke Martinez in the final game of the second set as well, capitalizing on her first match point when the Spaniard miss-hit a forehand long to hand Seles her second consecutive crown here.

Ilie gets early birthday present

ATLANTA: Andrew Ilie beat Jason Stoltenberg 6-3, 7-5 in the all-Australian final of the ATP Atlanta Challenge here on Sunday, giving him an early 24th birthday present.

Ilie, the eighth seed, won his second career title and collected 49,500 dollars prize money to help him celebrate his birthday on Tuesday.

The Romanian-born Ilie, who now lives in Melbourne, ripped off his shirt when he won the 375,000-dollar event and tossed it into the crowd.

He then hugged Stoltenberg, who was playing in his first tournament since losing in the opening round at the Australian Open because of a right knee injury.

After his win, Ilie was a lot more subdued than his on-court exuberance. quot;It was a really good match,quot; Ilie said. quot;Jason and I always have good matches and this was no different. I just went for it and it came off.quot;

Ilie, who served four aces and was 4-of-11 at break point opportunities, said he quot;tightened a bitquot; in the second set when Stoltenberg fought back to 5-5. With the crowd behind him, he steadied and won the next two games.

Ilie said he hoped the win would be a quot;jumping point to better thingsquot; later this year. quot;Anything can happen and I hope it will carry me through.quot; He broke Stoltenberg in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead. He again broke Stoltenberg early in the second to grab a 2-1 lead before he began to feel tight and allowed Stoltenberg back into the contest.

Rain delays proceedings

MONTE CARLO: Torrential morning rain prevented a prompt start to play on show courts, on the opening day of the 2.95 million Monte Carlo Masters Series event at the Monte Carlo Country Club.

Mark Philippoussis of Australia, the 14th seed, was due to play the opening match on centre court against South African Wayne Ferreira on a day when 16 first-round singles matches were scheduled.

The only court on which the play was able to start promptly was court two, where there is a retractable roof. Norwegian qualifier Christian Ruud was playing Sweden8217;s Andreas Vinciquerra.

The tournament is the first major clay court event in the lead-up to next month8217;s French Open at Roland Garros in Paris and the third in the Masters Series after Indian Wells and Miami.

Local weather forecasts suggested the clouds and rain would clear during the afternoon. Russia8217;s Yevgeny Kafelnikov is the top seed for the 64-draw event and Brazil8217;s Gustavo Kuerten, the number two seed, is the defending champion.