Tennis: Ivanisevic draws level as rain stops play again

Second seed Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia came from a set down to level the scores at one set all before rain again interrupted his second round singles game at the Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland today.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny won the first set 6-4 but was trailing 0-1 when the players left the court for about an hour because of rain.

When play resumed, Ivanisevic was able to break Youzhny's serve in the sixth game of the set, and served out the second set 6-3 before heavy rain again forced players to the dressing room.

Although he had drawn level, the day was not without drama for Ivanisevic, whose racket was bearing the brunt of his annoyance. He was eventually given a warning from the chair umpire after smashing a ball out of the centre court in frustration at his own serving woes.

In other second round singles results today, fifth seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic beat Fernando Vicente of Spain in straight sets 6-3 6-3. Jerome Golmard of France beat qualifier Gilles Elseneer of Belgium 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.