Houston, Apr 11 (EFE).- Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo defeated India's Somdev Dewarman 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 to advance to the second round at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston. Ramirez managed to get his match in on Wednesday before the rain started coming down and forced tournament officials to suspend play. Among the matches moved to Thursday was the one pitting Spain's Nicolas Almagro, the top seed, against France's Gael Monfils.

France's Gael Monfils has been handed a wild card for next month's Monte Carlo Masters, but Roger Federer will be absent from the event, tournament organisers confirmed on Friday. Monfils, a former top-10 player who has fallen down the rankings during his recent struggles with injury, has not played since falling at the first hurdle in Marseille last month. Currently ranked 99th in the world, Monfils plans to make his return to action on clay in Houston the week before Monte Carlo, which runs from April 14-21.

By Theo Ruizenaar ROTTERDAM, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Second seed Juan Martin Del Potro, aiming to go one better than his runner-up finish at last year's World Indoor Tournament, eased past Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3 6-4 in the first round on Tuesday. The world number seven was in command from the moment he broke serve in the second game. "I chose to approach the net a lot and that went well for me," Del Potro told reporters.

Juan Martin del Potro spent just over an hour in reaching the second round of the Rotterdam World Tennis tournament as he dispatched France's Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday. The second seeded Argentinian is keen to improve on last year's loss in the final to Roger Federer in what was his first appearance at the tournament. Del Potro broke Monfils for 5-4 in the second set and sealed victory a game later as he beat a player who spent much of last season injured. "He's dangerous coming back from injury and is playing well," said the 24-year-old South American.