But he made a dramatic return prior to the AFC Wild Card round wearing an arm brace and made a team-high 13 tackles as the Ravens defeated the Indianapolis Colts 24-9.

FORBES: Connect

The closest precedent for this conundrum comes from 1995, the first year that baseball added the wild-card teams and an extra round of the playoffs.

WSJ: Baseball's Unsure If It Wants to Party

Elsewhere former women's world number one Ana Ivanovic lost to 21-year-old German wild-card Mona Barthel in the first round of Stuttgart's clay-court WTA tournament.

CNN: Nadal wins in Barcelona, Ivanovic out of Stuttgart

Federer, whose return to action in Madrid after a two-month break ended with a third-round loss to Japan's Kei Nishikori, also eased through to the third round after beating Italian wild card Potito Starace 6-1 6-2.

CNN: Djokovic eases ankle fears with comfortable win in Rome

Elsewhere, fifth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden beat Italian wild card Paolo Lorenzi 6-1 7-5 to reach the third round.

CNN: Nadal cruises through at Rome Masters

On Wednesday, No. 1-ranked Serena Williams extended her career-high winning streak to 26 matches and improved to 69-3 since a first-round loss at the French Open a year ago by beating French wild-card entry Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-2.

NPR: Ex-No. 1 Jankovic Advances At Rainy French Open