TENNIS ROUNDUP : Manchester Grass Perfect for Eltingh

Defending champion Jacco Eltingh extended his winning streak at the Manchester (England) Open to seven matches, defeating Australian Richard Fromberg, 6-3, 7-5, Wednesday at the grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon.

The big-serving Dutchman has yet to drop a set in two years at Manchester, and feels he has a good chance of retaining his title if he can maintain the form he showed against seventh-seeded Fromberg.

Second-seeded Henrik Holm had a 7-5, 6-4 second-round victory over fellow Swede Anders Jarryd, and No. 8 Guillaume Raoux of France defeated Venezuelan qualifier Nicolas Pereira, 6-4, 6-3.

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Rain washed out play at grass-court tournaments at Eastbourne, England, and Halle, Germany.

Officials at the women’s event at Eastbourne made contingency plans for the tournament to run until Sunday, which would be only 24 hours before the start of Wimbledon.

At the men’s event in Germany, second-round matches were rescheduled for this morning, with quarterfinals in the afternoon.

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At Genoa, Italy, third-seeded Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden joined Spaniards Francisco Clavet and Carlos Costa in the quarterfinals of the clay-court tournament.