Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. The reigning U.S. and French Open champion and world No. 1 Nadal took the first set from Bernard Tomic, 6-4, before the Aussie decided to retire to a chorus of boos, citing a groin injury, on a hot Day 2 at Melbourne Park. The 21-year-old Tomic was a runner-up in Sydney last week. Nadal captured his lone Aussie Open title in 2009 and was the runner-up here in 2012. He missed last years edition due to injuries. Up next for the 13-time major champion will be 17-year-old Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded and three-time Aussie Open runner-up Murray made short work of Japans Go Soeda, routing him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, while a sixth- seeded Federer dominated Aussie James Duckworth 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 46 minutes at Rod Laver Arena. Murray, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last years Melbourne finale, will face Frenchman Vincent Millot on Thursday. The Swiss legend Federer, who owns a mens-record 17 major titles and is appearing in a record 57th straight Grand Slam event, is looking to win for a fifth time in Melbourne and for the first time since 2010. He was also a runner-up here to Nadal back in 2009. Asked how he handled the heat on Day 2, the 32-year-old Federer said: "Im here. Im speaking. Actually, its not crazy. Im feeling OK right now. "It was very dry, just hot, stinging sort of sun. Depending on where you come from it has a bigger effect on you, this type of heat. So its very personal, and it can become just a very mental thing -- you just cant accept that its hot." The former world No. 1 Federer, who has reached the semifinals or better in Melbourne every year since 2004, will meet Slovenian Blaz Kavcic in his next outing. Last weeks Sydney champion, fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, was a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 winner over American Rhyne Williams. Up next for the former U.S. Open champ will be Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. Former Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 10th this year, cruised past Italian Filippo Volandri 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, while 11th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic downed Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Winning the Auckland title last week may have taken too much out of 13th- seeded John Isner. The highest-seeded American lost the first two sets to Slovak Martin Klizan, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), before retiring because of a foot injury on Tuesday. Isner did not appear in last years Aussie Open due to a bone bruise in his right knee. Fans sat through temperatures that reached well over 100 degrees and watched local favorite Lleyton Hewitt fall to 24th-seeded Andreas Seppi, who saved a match point before winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 in a grueling 4-hour, 18-minute affair. The former No. 1 Hewitt was making his 18th straight appearance in the event, where he finished as a runner-up back in 2005. Sixteenth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan outlasted Aussie Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in 3 hours, 41 minutes. In other action involving seeds, No. 18 Gilles Simon outlasted German Daniel Brands 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 16-14; No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov grounded American Bradley Klahn 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3; No. 25 Gael Monfils dismissed American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; No. 26 Feliciano Lopez topped Indian Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); No. 27 Benoit Paire doused Canadian Frank Dancevic 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4; and No. 31 Fernando Verdasco overcame Chinese Ze Zhang 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Several other men reached the second round including Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, Croat Marin Cilic, Aussie Nick Kyrgios, Romanian Victor Hanescu, last weeks Auckland runner-up Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, and Americans Donald Young and Jack Sock. Young defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 1-0, retired, while Sock subdued German Tobias Kamke 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. The second round will get underway Wednesday, as the second-seeded former world No. 1 Djokovic will take on Argentine Leonardo Mayer. The formidable Djokovic is seeking a fourth straight and fifth Aussie Open title in seven years. In other Wednesday action involving top-10 seeds, No. 3 David Ferrer will meet Frances Adrian Mannarino, No. 7 Tomas Berdych will battle Frenchman Kenny De Schepper, No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka will be opposed by Colombian Alejandro Falla, and No. 9 Richard Gasquet will take on one-time world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko. . The Senators will put the busy off-season and training camp behind them when they open their regular season on the road. They kick things off Friday against the Buffalo Sabres and then head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Saturday. . The Bruins forward has been fined $5,000 by the National Hockey League for spearing Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser in the groin.
http://www.cheapgeorgiajerseys.com/?tag ... jersey.com) - Houston Texans interim head coach Wade Phillips confirmed Monday that starting quarterback Case Keenum sustained a sprained right thumb during Sundays 25-3 loss in Indianapolis. . -- Quarterback Josh Johnson has returned to the San Francisco 49ers and his former college coach, Jim Harbaugh. . Browns owner Jimmy Haslam announced the move with Young on Monday during a speech at a Pro Football Hall of Fame luncheon.COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- As the final seconds of regulation ticked off the clock, the sellout crowd was poised to storm the court to celebrate an upset victory in Marylands final regular season game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Disappointment ensued. No. 5 Virginia forced overtime, forcing the fans back to their seats to see if the Terrapins could rebound from the letdown to pull off an upset against the best team in the league. And that is precisely what happened. Maryland closed out its 61st and final ACC regular season in stunning fashion, outlasting the Cavaliers 75-69 in overtime Sunday to end Virginias 13-game winning streak. "Today wasnt just an ordinary game. It was a lot of things," Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon said. "We always play for Maryland, but today we played for former players, former coaches, all our fans." After blowing a seemingly secure lead in the closing seconds of regulation, the Terps (17-14, 9-9 ACC) never trailed in the extra session in front of an emotional crowd of 17,950 at the schools final home basketball game in a conference it joined as a charter member in 1953. When the final buzzer sounded, thousands of fans raced onto the court to celebrate another unforgettable ACC memory at the expense of one of its biggest rivals. Anthony Gill scored 15 points and London Perrantes had 14 for Virginia (25-6, 16-2), which had already clinched the regular season title and was vying to set an ACC record for most league wins during the regular season. "Not that we felt were invincible, but now we know we arent," coach Tony Bennett said. "So now we address it, and now we get after it." What hurt the most it that Maryland shot 48 per cent and scored 32 points in the paint against the nations top-ranked defence. "I was surprised how our defence didnt execute like we should have down the stretch," Gill said. "We are a defensive team, but we made it too easy for them. Theyre a good team, but we just slipped up." Seth Allen scored five of his 20 points in overtime and Dez Wells finished with 18 for the Terrapins, who will play in the Big Ten next season. Maryland had lost six straight to Virginia, including a 61-53 decision in February that was part of the Cavaliers school-record winning streak against ACC competition. This game, however, was unlike any that preceded it. "The crowd was lively and thats what our guys got to understand, that youre getting teams best shots," Bennett said.dddddddddddd "I dont know if all that mattered. It was just a team that outplayed us. The crowd was great for them, the atmosphere was great. But we did get it to overtime and they answered the bell." The end of regulation was a horror show for Maryland. After Jake Layman made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to put the Terrapins ahead 64-61, Maryland quickly fouled. Malcolm Brogdon made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second before the Terrapins swatted the ball out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go. Gill caught the inbounds pass in the lane and dropped in an uncontested jumper to force overtime. "Our guys were down. I was down," Turgeon said. "I said, Lets make this the best five minutes of the year. They didnt believe me the first time I said it. But I said it 15 times during the timeout." Overtime began with Allen making two straight layups for a 68-64 lead. The guard then blocked a shot before adding a free throw. The Cavaliers used a layup by Gill to close to 71-69 with 1:13 left, but they would not score again. Despite the loss, Virginia will head into the ACC tournament as a top seed for only the second time. "I feel like we just need to get back in practice and just get back to what we know -- and thats defence and not letting people penetrate," Gill said. Maryland opened the second half with an 11-2 run, turning a one-point deficit into a 45-37 lead. After Wells made two free throws, Perrantes answered with a foul-line jumper. Wells then made a basket and added two foul shots before Allen popped a 3-pointer and Shaquille Cleare added a layup. The teams combined for only two field goals over the next 5 minutes, but Virginia made five free throws during that span to close to 47-44 with 11:34 left. Minutes later, Joe Harris hit a 3-pointer to end a 6-0 spree that put the Cavaliers in front 52-51 with 8:30 to play. Maryland went ahead 62-58 with 2:39 remaining but could not make the lead stand up. Perrantes scored 12 first-half points on four 3-pointers, including one in the closing seconds that put the Cavaliers ahead 35-34. As an expression of gratitude to the lone senior on the squad, Turgeon started seldom-used forward John Auslander, who missed his only shot before being replaced with just under 4 minutes elapsed. ' ' '
