NEWPORT — They waited and waited and waited some more, but at 2:15 on Thursday afternoon they finally started playing tennis again at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

Wet grounds delayed the start of play for almost four hours. The courts were okay but the area behind the baselines was soft and squishy as a result of thunderstorms Tuesday and a deluge late Wednesday afternoon.

Groundskeepers used squeegees to remove standing water from the southwest corner of the Stadium Court and then slowly rolled blowers over the grass for at least two hours.

Meanwhile, spectators and players milled about the Newport Casino during the third consecutive day of weather-related delays. When tournament officials decided the courts were playable, they went with doubles before singles, a surprising move in that singles usually take precedence.

"The way the courts were, they were marginal for a guy to go out and cover the entire court," said Mark Stenning, CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and tournament director.

"We went to the doubles guys, and they said great, fine."

So as the lunch crowd lingered on the Horseshoe Piazza and the East Porch, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo and Santiago Ventura of Spain took Court 2 on the Front Lawn to play Philipp Petzschner of Germany and Alexander Peya of Austria. And at 3 Frank Moser of Germany and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan went out to meet Michael Kohlmann of Germany and Rogier Wassen of the Netherlands. And at 3:15 Jesse Levine and Justin Gimelstob took on Taylor Dent and David Martin in an all-American match.

Players were happy. Spectators hugging the fences beyond the baselines were happy.

Gimelstob, who retired after the 2007 U.S. Open, returned to one of his favorite ATP World Tour stops because he has known the 21-year-old Levine since he was 15 and because he loves Newport. He mentioned that he played the Hall of Fame Championships 11 times and reached the final in 2006, cited the Black Pearl as his favorite restaurant and said he loves playing tennis on grass.

Gimelstob and Levine won, 6-3, 6-2.

"He carried me like a champ," Gimelstob said of his partner.

Petzschner and Peya also won, 7-5, 6-2, and Kohlmann and Wassen prevailed, 7-6 (6), 6-4.

American Rajeev Ram and Colombian Alejandro Falla were the first singles players to get the green light as persistent low clouds shared the mid-afternoon sky with patches of blue. Ram prevailed, 6-4, 7-5.

"It's been a strange couple of days," the 25-year-old ranked No. 181 said, "not knowing what to do with these matches."

Ram would not still be here without top-seeded Mardy Fish's withdrawal Monday to replace the injured Andy Roddick on the U.S. Davis Cup team for its tie at Croatia this weekend. Ram got into the main draw as a lucky loser, the highest-ranked player after the final round of qualifying. He withrew from his final qualifying match Monday because he knew that win or lose he was in the main draw based on his pre-Wimbledon ranking and top seed in the qualifying draw. He had injured his left calf in his qualifying match Sunday.

"The trainer said it was in my best interest to have a day off. I ended up having eight days off," he said with a laugh.

It only seemed like eight because when it wasn't raining Wednesday and Thursday, play was limited because of the wet grounds.

"It's brutal," Ram said. "It's one thing if it's raining but another if you're looking at clear, blue skies. I know they are looking out for our safety."

Seventh-seeded Kevin Kim of the U.S. and Sebastien Grosjean of France were the first players on the Stadium Court. They resumed their match at 4 o'clock with Grosjean ahead by a set, 6-4. Kim rallied and won the second set, 6-3, and Grosjean retired with a sore shoulder. He had surgery on the shoulder last December.

Two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro of France broke Flavio Cipolla of Italy in the 11th game of the second set and completed his first-round victory, 6-3, 7-5. Their match was on the Tuesday schedule.

"You have to be careful. The bounce is very low. The bounce has always been low, but this year it's worse. It's slippery, so you have to be careful when you move," Santoro said of the conditions.

A few hundred fans in the stadium applauded as he left the court shortly after 6 o'clock.

"Everyone has been pretty understanding about the weather, and we've said if you want to come back tomorrow, bring your ticket," Stenning said. "It would be different if it were Saturday, when we have no inventory."

Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and the semifinals are scheduled for Saturday. So is sunshine.

mszostak@projo.com