Defending champion Gambill out of Millennium

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Defending champion Jan-Michael Gambill was beaten in straight sets Monday by fourth-seeded Mario Ancic in the rain-interrupted first round of the Millennium International Tennis Championships.

A 20-year-old Croatian with a career record of 46-47, Ancic beat Gambill 6-4, 6-3 in the first meeting between the players.

Ancic broke Gambill's serve in the opening game of the second set, and was leading 4-3 before rain halted play for 1 hours, 18 minutes. After play resumed, Ancic needed only eight minutes to close out the match, surrendering just five points to Gambill over the final three games.

"I just missed a lot of balls," Gambill said. "He served well, but it just comes down to making too many errors on the court. It's very simple."

The match was delayed twice by rain, which caused opening day to drag well into the late evening and forced postponement of two matches until Wednesday. The 27-year-old Gambill had won the tournament in two of the last three years, but entered this year's event unseeded. Gambill's record fell to 14-21 this year.

Ancic finished in the ATP Tour's top 100 for the first time last season and reached the semifinals of this year's Wimbledon, but had lost in the first round of the three events since heading into Monday.