Murray wins in three sets in Rome

ROME, May 10 (UPI) -- Fourth-seeded Andy Murray, despite dropping serve in each set, claimed a second-round win Tuesday at the BNL International tennis tournament in Rome.

Murray got past Xavier Malisse 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. He lost his serve once in each the first and third sets and was 0-for-3 in saving break points in the second. However, he was able to finish off six of his own nine break-point opportunities and pushed through to the third round.

Lucky loser Jarkko Nieminen is making the most of his late entry into the draw. He slipped by Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 and was the only unseeded player to make the third round Tuesday.

Three other seeded players moved on. Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling rallied to beat Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, No. 7-seeded Tomas Berdych blitzed Juan Monaco 6-2, 6-2, and No. 16 Richard Gasquet ripped Igor Andreev 6-1, 6-2 in 61 minutes.

In first-round play, ninth-seeded Nicolas Almagro eliminated Simone Bolelli 6-0, 7-5 and No. 14-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka topped Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4.

Unseeded players who advanced out of the first round Tuesday were Paolo Lorenzi, Feliciano Lopez, Ivan Ljubicic, Marin Cilic, Juan Ignacio Chela and Sam Querrey.