The rain did not come early enough to save 13th seed James Blake from a first-round upset at the Rome Masters.

The US number two lost his opening five games to Victor Crivoi and, despite hitting back to level, Blake slumped 7-5 6-3 to the Romanian qualifier.

"It was just a really bad day for me," said Blake, the 13th seed at the Italian event.

"So far it hasn't been good for me on clay this season.

"I'd love to snap my fingers and magically turn it around and be playing better but I don't have those powers."

Blake never found any rhythm against Crivoi, with the windy conditions making life difficult for both players.

"I don't want to make any excuses," said Blake. "It was tough but it was tough for the both of us.

"You got clay in your eyes and you can't control the ball because of the wind.

"And when it starts to drizzle, it's not much fun.

"But he did a better job at handling the conditions."

Local favourites Potito Starace and Flavio Cipolla of Italy bowed out of the tournament.

Starace lost 7-6 (10/8) 6-4 to Spaniard Alberto Montanes while Croatian Marin Cilic brushed aside Cipolla 6-2 6-2.

Montanes will meet defending Rome champion Novak Djokovic next.

Argentinian Juan Monaco booked a meeting with world number four Andy Murray after seeing off Nicolas Kiefer 6-3 6-4.

Ivo Karlovic needed three sets to overcome Jan Hernych 4-6 6-4 6-2 and he is likely to face a far more difficult challenge when he goes up against Roger Federer in the next round.

In other first-round action, 10th seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland dismissed Igor Kunitsyn 6-3 6-4 and Viktor Troicki from Serbia eased past Victor Hanescu.

The other first-round matches were postponed due to rain.

Murray, meanwhile, who received a first-round bye, played in the doubles today but he and Davis Cup team-mate Ross Hutchins lost 6-4 6-4 to French duo Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"The conditions were terrible," said Murray. "There was dust everywhere, wind blowing leaves from the trees on to the court.

"We had to stop in between points because dust was getting in our eyes.

"I've played in windy conditions before but, unlike Barcelona, where it also can get windy, this was something else."