Last modified: Friday, July 10, 2009 2:20 AM EDT Santoro finally finishes off win BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NEWPORT - The challenges were many for Fabrice Santoro - wet grass to tread upon, a hungry opponent, a lack of practice time. "You have to be careful," said Santoro, the two-time defending champion at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, who finally finished his first-round, two-day match, taking a 6-3, 7-5 verdict over No. 103 ranked Flavio Cipolla of Italy Thursday in the wet-court delayed grass court championships. "It was impossible to play," added Santoro of the outside court conditions (wet endlines) where his match began and just a wee bit better on the No. 1 of the 3 Stadium Courts which required nearly eight hours of hot air dehumidifiers, towels and breezes blowing out of the east, northeast. "The bounces here are always low, but they are lower now," said Santoro, who has made a career out of slicing shots, hitting drop shots and putting the ball where his opponent, generally, isn't. "You have to be closer to the bounce." Santoro, whose ranking (No. 34) is better than his age (36), had played Cipolla to a 3-3 standoff Wednesday before a deluge of rain sent the players retreating. Santoro is unbeaten in 10 matches over three years of playing at Newport, having lost just one set. The rain also interrupted practice time, "I played doubles Monday, played twice indoors, I don't need to play a lot," said Santoro. "But, physically, if I don't play I feel down." Santoro won the first three games of the first set against Cipolla when play resumed, saving a break point in the seventh game, breaking his foe at love in the eighth game, then losing just one point on his service in the ninth game. Although Santoro dropped service in the second game of the second set, to fall behind 2-0, he broke Cipolla at love in the third game and broke him again in the 11th game. Most importantly Santoro saved 11 of 12 break points and won 79 percent (22 of 28) second serve return points. "I wait, go back to the hotel, wait," he said of the on-again, off-again schedule of matches. Then he had to hurry onto the Stadium court when Sebastien Grosjean retired in the preceding match. "I have to be on the court and go quickly and be ready." Through four days, Santoro endured a lot of well-wishing and glad-handing from appreciative fans. "They are happy to see me back, it's good, they are very sincere." Santoro has indicated that 2009 will be his final year on the ATP Tour. "It's always a great pleasure to be on the court, with the crowd around - and playing good tennis. There is no more stress for me." DOUBLE FAULTS - "It was awful," said Seekonk's Dan Robillard, the head groundskeeper at the Hall of Fame of Wednesday's deluge of rain which forced a four-hour delay for singles matches, throwing the entire schedule out of whack for a third straight day. "I came in at 5:30 (a.m.) and there were 4-5 inches of standing water on the courts," said Robillard, whose staff has been challenged to maintain the integrity of the already spongy courts without a drainage system. "The courts were saturated, the rain had nowhere to go" ... Only 10 of 16 first round matches had been completed through three days, but five more were finished before sunset Thursday, including No. 8 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky (No. 87) of the Ukraine having 10 aces, six doubles faults and winning eight of 10 break points, to beat Canada's Frank Dancevic (7-6 (11-9), 2-6, 7-5 ... No. 7 seed Kevin Kim of California won when two-time Wimbledon semifinalist (2003, '04) Sebastien Grosjean (ranked No. 950 after shoulder surgery and not playing for a year) retired at the outset of the third set. Kim lost the first set 6-4 Monday, but won the final four games to take the second set 6-3 when play resumed ... Normally quarterfinal round matches are slated for today and depending upon court conditions, Hall of Fame Executive Director Mark Stenning and ATP Supervisor Mark Darby may settle for playing those on Saturday and moving the semifinals (usually Saturday) to Sunday morning, prior to the title match Sunday afternoon. "We'll be one day behind, but we'll be fine," said Stenning ... The Hall of Fame brought in folding chairs for patrons to watch matches sitting, instead of standing along the walkways to the outside courts ... "It's mentally draining, but we've all be through it before," said 2002 titlist Taylor Dent (who meets Santoro in a second round match today)of the delays. "There's nothing you can do about it." Four of the eight outdoor practice courts were off-limits too, sending players indoors to practice ... Two players nearly out the door won, lucky loser Rajeev Ram, a straight set winner and qualifier Samuel Groth, a three-set winner.