Tennis-Blake sees off Kendrick after more showers

By Simon Evans

DELRAY BEACH, Florida, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Top seed James Blake beat fellow American Robert Kendrick 7-5 7-5 in their rain-delayed first-round match at the Delray Beach International on Wednesday.

The clash was halted after just 17 minutes on Tuesday and more persistent showers meant Blake, ranked 12th in the world, had to spend most of Wednesday hanging around waiting for dry weather.

"It was tricky in these conditions with the wind as well," Blake told reporters.

He is strong favourite to claim his first win on the hard court at Delray Beach following the early elimination of second seed Tommy Haas and defending champion Xavier Malisse.

Blake, a member of the U.S. Davis Cup-winning team last year, will face Chilean Paul Capdeville in the second round.

A good day for the U.S. included victories for Sam Querrey and Vincent Spadea over European opponents.

Querrey overcame Russian Yuri Schukin 6-1 6-4 and Spadea defeated Germany's Denis Gremelmayr 6-3 6-4.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)