cond round of the post-season for
cond round of the post-season for
PARIS -- The closest thing to intrigue or drama involving Rafael Nadal on Saturday came after his 31st consecutive French Open victory concluded. Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. For now, leave the on-court theatrics to others. Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, for example, was clutching at aching hamstrings while being taken to 7-all in the fifth set by No. 28 Philipp Kohlschreiber before their third-round match was suspended for fading light. No. 23 Gael Monfils acknowledged tanking a set en route to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 victory over No. 14 Fabio Fognini, who was docked a point for chucking his racket near a ball boy. "They make a good show for the crowd," Nadal said. "Long match. Crowd involved. Good for tennis." Well, aside from the fact that Monfils and Fognini combined for more than twice as many unforced errors, 137, as winners, 66. Nadals play was much, much cleaner: During the entire course of his 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win against 65th-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, the No. 1-seeded Spaniard made 10 unforced errors -- two in the first set, three in the second, five in the third. Hes dropped a total of 19 games through three matches. More worrisome would be his back, which also acted up in January during a loss to Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open final. "During my career, I had (a) few problems. ... Hopefully will not be (the) case" the rest of the way in Paris, Nadal said. Against Mayer, Nadal averaged only 102 mph (165 kph) on first serves, with a top speed of 114 mph (184 kph). That was down from an average of 111 mph (179 kph) and top of 122 mph (197 kph) in the first round last Monday. Through two matches, Nadal faced five break points and lost serve twice. He dealt with eight break points Saturday, losing two. The last time Nadal won 31 matches in a row in Paris, he failed to get No. 32, losing in the fourth round in 2009 to Robin Soderling -- a defeat that later was blamed, in part, on injured knees. That remains the Spaniards lone setback in 63 matches at the tournament. Next for Nadal is 83rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who beat Jack Sock of the United States 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Another American, Donald Young, lost in five sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, leaving No. 10 John Isner as the last U.S. man. Before this French Open, Lajovic had a 10-21 career record in tour-level matches, never winning two in a row. "I saw him play a few times on TV. Sure, its great to have new players on tour, young players on the tour that are coming strong. Hopefully not too strong," Nadal said with a smile. "Well see on Monday. I hope to be ready." Asked whether he would seek advice from another Serbian, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, before facing Nadal, Lajovic joked: "Yeah, I will try to ask everybody (for) some tips." That wont help if Nadal produces shots of the sort he did when Mayer served at 5-all in the second set -- a stretching, scooping backhand lob to break. As Mayer watched the shot sail overhead, he waved his left hand to signal to the ball to go out, then rolled his eyes when it curled in. Nadal pumped his fist, ahead 6-5 and on his way to reaching the fourth round for the 10th time in 10 French Opens. Monfils will take on Garcia-Lopez for a quarterfinal berth. Whoever emerges from Murray-Kohlschreiber meets the winner of another suspended match scheduled to resume Sunday: No. 24 Fernando Verdasco led No. 12 Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 2-2. Womens fourth-round matchups set up Saturday were No. 4 Simona Halep against No. 15 Sloane Stephens, 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against Lucie Safavora, 2012 runner-up Sara Errani against Jelena Jankovic, and Andrea Petkovic against 148th-ranked qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. As the sun came out and the temperature topped 70 degrees (20 Celsius) after several days of overcast skies and occasional rain, Stephens eliminated No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3, 6-4, while Halep beat 55th-ranked Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-3, 6-0. Halep is the highest seeded woman left, following losses by No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 2 Li Na and No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska. Said Halep: "Thats a surprise for everyone." Tremaine Edmunds Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. Jerry Hughes Jersey . Both of Padakins goals came in the second period while Zane Jones added a single in the first period for Calgary (13-6-4). Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger finished with 30 saves for the shutout. http://www.thebillsgearshop.com/Bills-V ... -Jersey/.C. -- Martin Kaymer set a U. Ramon Humber Jersey . - After sewage backups, toilet overflows and foul smells surfaced the past two years, nothing at the Oakland Coliseum surprises the home team anymore. Bruce Smith Jersey . -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance.CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane scored two goals for Chicago in the third period, including a terrific dash through the Minnesota zone for the tiebreaking score, and the Blackhawks beat the Wild 5-2 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Friday night. Bryan Bickell also scored twice to help the Blackhawks win their fifth in a row after losing the first two games against St. Louis in the first round. Marian Hossa had a goal and two assists as the defending Stanley Cup champions made the most of two costly high-sticking penalties on Minnesota defenceman Jonas Brodin. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday. The Wild showed no sign of any fatigue just two days after their dramatic 5-4 overtime win in Game 7 of their first-round series against Colorado. Playing in the second round of the post-season for the first time since 2003, Minnesota used third-period goals from Clayton Stoner and Kyle Brodziak to tie it at 2. Brodziaks third goal of playoffs on a slick pass from Erik Haula silenced the sellout crowd of 21,116 with 13:04 left, but Kane then electrified the United Center once again with his 33rd playoff goal. The flashy wing carried the puck into the Minnesota zone, hesitated as teammate Patrick Sharp skated behind him, and then split Brodziak and Brodin on his way to the net. He finished the play by roofing a backhand over goaltender Ilya Bryzgalovs left shoulder at 8:22. Kane then yelled "Showtime!" twice and pumped his right arm as the delirious crowd cheered wildly. But he was only getting started. The 2013 Conn Smythe Trophy winner picked up his fifth goal of the playoffs on a nice pass from Ben Smith, and Bickell added an empty-netter as Chicago pulled away. Minnesota went 0 for 3 on the power play in a disturbing sign after it struggled with the man advantage in iits first-round playoff series against Chicago a year ago.dddddddddddd The Wild were unsuccessful on all 17 power-play chances when they were eliminated by the Blackhawks in five games in 2013. Bryzgalov had 17 saves in his first start since he was pulled from Minnesotas 4-2 loss to the Avalanche in Game 2. Darcy Kuemper took over for the Wild in net until he got hurt in the third period of the final game, and Bryzgalov made one save to help the Wild advance. Kuemper is day to day with an upper-body injury, but Wild coach Mike Yeo said before Game 1 against the Blackhawks that the goalie was not in Chicago, making it unlikely that hell be able to play Sunday. Bryzgalov got off to a slow start, and Chicago used the penalties on Brodin to build a 2-0 lead. Bickell tipped in Brent Seabrooks slap shot at 14:48 of the first, and then had some fancy footwork on the Blackhawks second goal in the second period. Nick Leddy made a nice pass to Brandon Saad streaking through the middle of the Minnesota zone. Saad then sent a backhand pass toward the left side of the net that Bickell stepped over, leaving it for Hossa to flip into the open side of the goal at 11:21. The rest of the period belonged to Minnesota, which outshot Chicago 17-3 in the second. Mikael Granlund had a shot go high off the left post, and Corey Crawford made nice glove saves on Wild captain Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise. Crawford finished with 30 saves after he made 35 stops in Chicagos 5-1 victory over St. Louis in Game 6 on Sunday, closing out the series for the Blackhawks. NOTES: The Blackhawks lost C Andrew Shaw to a lower-body injury in the first period. ... Blackhawks F Kris Versteeg was scratched for the second straight playoff game in favour of Joakim Nordstrom. It was Nordstroms second career playoff game. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '