SPORTS DIGEST

Today's other stories in brief

Blake blown away in Rome

TENNIS:American James Blake was beaten 7-5 6-3 by Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi in the first round of the Rome Masters, where play was curtailed by rain and wind yesterday.

The 14th seed fought back to 5-5 after losing the first five games, but he failed to force a tiebreak by dropping serve in the final game of the first set.

Blake briefly perked up again but then appeared to lose heart after relinquishing a 2-0 lead in the second set and 26-year-old Crivoi sealed the match with a sweet drop volley at the net.

Last year’s runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka overcame a few concentration lapses to move into the second round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Igor Kunitsyn.

A Senna may again drive in F1

FORMULA ONE:The iSport International team that raced in the GP2 feeder series with Brazilian Bruno Senna last year is considering a Formula One entry in 2010 if budgets are capped, founder Paul Jackson has said.

“I aim to give a few people in F1 a kick up the backside and to show them that they are chucking money out of the window for nothing,” he told motorsport-magazin.com.

Senna is a nephew of Formula One’s late triple champion Ayrton.

Robertson and Higgins on cue

SNOOKER:Neil Robertson demolished Ali Carter's bid for world title glory by knocking out last year's beaten finalist at the Crucible yesterday.

Australian Robertson surged into the quarter-finals of the World Championship with a 13-8 victory over the Essex cueman.

Left-hander Robertson, from Melbourne, developed a 9-7 lead after pinching four of Sunday’s final five frames on the black, and the 27-year-old was in no mood to permit a Carter comeback.

John Higgins came from 12-10 down to beat Jamie Cope 13-12, and at one stage was convinced he was heading out of the tournament.

“I was really proud of myself to come back from 12-10 to 12 each,” said Higgins.

Stephen Maguire set up a clash with Robertson in the last eight by beating Mark King 13-6.

The pair had been tied at 5-5 earlier in the day, but Maguire, who had been struggling at that point, produced some stunning snooker in the remainder of the match, including a break of 133 in frame 14.