Rain stifles start in Nice

May 20, 2012 - 5:52 PM Nice, France (Sports Network) - The final French Open tuneup was plagued by rain on Sunday, as first-round play at the Nice Open was halted because of inclement weather.

Qualifying final matches were completed Sunday, but the two main draw matches on the schedule were postponed.

Xavier Malisse of Belgium had built a lead of 7-5, 1-0 over Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu when rain halted play. Fifth-seeded Australian Bernard Tomic was slated to play Slovakia's Lukas Lacko, but that match never started.

Monday's action will include both postponed matches from Sunday, as well as first-round play for Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and Italy's Fabio Fognini. Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko is also on the docket.

Spaniard Nicolas Almagro beat Romanian Victor Hanescu in last year's Nice finale. Almagro is seeded third this year, behind American John Isner and Frenchman Gilles Simon. The top four seeds, including France's Gael Monfils, have byes into the second round.

The 2012 Nice titlist will claim $91,000.