MEN’S TENNIS ITALIAN OPEN : Gilbert Starts Slowly, Finishes Fast to Win

Already missing the world’s top four players, the Italian Open men’s tennis championships almost lost its top seeded player in the first round.

American Brad Gilbert survived a disastrous first set and an eye problem, then benefited from a rain delay Monday in defeating Jim Pugh, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, at the Foro Italico.

In other matches involving seeded players, No. 3 Andres Gomez of Ecuador beat Yannick Noah of France, 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3; No. 4 Emilio Sanchez of Spain beat Andrew Sznajder of Canada, 6-2, 6-1; No. 5 Jay Berger defeated Amos Mansdorf of Israel, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0; and No. 12 Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina edged Ronald Agenor of Haiti, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4.

Gilbert, ranked No. 5 in the world, was seeded No. 1 after organizers failed to attract Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi. Top-ranked Ivan Lendl, who won the title here two years ago, has vowed not to return because of the boisterous crowds.

In the first set, many may have wondered why Gilbert had been seeded at all. Looking lost on the slow red clay, he fell behind, 5-0, prompting whistles of disgust from the crowd.

When Gilbert broke for 5-1, he threw up his arms in mock triumph. The match was interrupted at that point because of rain. During the 90-minute delay, Gilbert received treatment on his right eye. On his return, Pugh broke serve at love to win the first set. But Gilbert broke back to open the second set and settled down to win the match.