| ROME - Rafael Nadal lost on clay for only the second time in 105 matches, falling to Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-1 Wednesday in the second round of the Rome Masters. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS Nadal appeared bothered by a blister on his right foot, calling for the trainer late in the second set. The second-ranked Nadal, the three-time defending champion in Rome, had never lost at the Foro Italico. The 23rd-ranked Ferrero won the Rome tournament in 2001. Nadal also won the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open the past two weeks, but he appeared slightly off his game Wednesday. Ferrero connected on a cross-court backhand winner to break Nadal and win the first set, then broke again to take a 3-1 lead in the second when Nadal netted a forehand. With Ferrero ahead 4-1 in the second set, Nadal called for a trainer and had his foot re-taped. After deciding to play on, he was broken again, then Ferrero served the match out at love. Nadal's last loss on clay came against top-ranked Roger Federer in the Hamburg Masters last year. Ferrero won the French Open in 2003, the same year he reached the top spot in the rankings. He has struggled in recent years, finishing outside the top 15 every year since 2003. The Rome Masters is an important clay-court warm-up tournament for Roland Garros, which begins May 25 with Nadal the three-time defending champion. Third-ranked Novak Djokovic showed no signs of illness when he cruised past Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-0 in his opening match. In the Monte Carlo Masters, Djokovic pulled out of his semifinal match against Federer after falling behind 6-3, 3-2. Tests afterward revealed he had strep throat. "I finished with my medication yesterday", Djokovic said. "So hopefully now I'll get better in the future." Against the 49th-ranked Darcis, Djokovic broke at love in the final game of the first set, then rolled through the second. "I feel good. I'm satisfied with the way I played today. The first match is always tough", Djokovic said in fluent Italian. "I feel at home in Italy. I like playing here." Two seeded players were upset in the second round. Coming off a final appearance at the Barcelona Open, fifth-seeded David Ferrer lost to Radek Stepanek 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. Spanish clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro upset seventh-seeded David Nalbandian 6-4, 7-5. Fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Croatian wild card Mario Ancic 6-2, 6-2; No. 8 James Blake held off Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1; and No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez - last year's finalist - defeated Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-2. Djokovic led 18-11 in winners and also had 18 unforced errors, with Darcis committing 31. In January, Djokovic won the Australian Open for his first Grand Slam title. "The Australian Open changed my life", Djokovic said. "Now I want to become No. 1 this year." Darcis, Belgium's top player, was participating in his first Masters Series event. Nalbandian saved seven match points before finally surrendering to Almagro with a forehand that landed in the net. Nalbandian was the runner-up to Carlos Moya in the 2004 final here, and reached the semifinals in 2006, losing to Roger Federer. Blake struggled with his forehand - committing 33 errors with that stroke alone - but his one-handed backhand was working well. The American used his backhand to hit a passing shot up the line to break Seppi's serve and take a 3-1 lead in the third set, then rolled from there. "In the third set, I really started to find my game", Blake said. "A lot of shots I was missing starting going in." The 28-year-old Blake reached his first career clay-court final last month in Houston, losing to Marcel Granollers. "A lot of times, Americans have trouble on clay, but the older I get the more I learn and my clay-court game is starting to come together", Blake said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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