MELBOURNE, Australia -- John Isner fired 23 aces in a match which had no service breaks to beat Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) in the final of the ATPs Heineken Open in Auckland on Saturday. Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Isner played six tiebreaks in 10 sets at the tournament and won five. The third-seeded Isner, playing with a right ankle injury he picked up at the Hopman Cup the previous week, took a crucial minibreak to open the first set tiebreaker. In the second tiebreaker, he rallied from 3-0 down and closed with an ace on his third championship point. "This match was very tight as every match Ive played this week was very tight," Isner said. "I needed every bit of it to come out on top. "Ive spent a lot of time on this court this week but as each match progressed I was getting more and more comfortable." Isner heads into the Australian Open with a question mark hanging over his fitness because of his injured ankle. He has drawn a qualifier in the first round. "Id like to thank my chiropractor because I had a bit of a banged-up ankle coming in here and he spent tireless hours working on me," he said. "Without him I wouldnt have been able to take this court." In the final of the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, Japans Kei Nishikori joined his coach Michael Chang as a tournament champion with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Tomas Berdych. Nishikori, seeded No. 16 at the Australian Open, was watched in the stands by former French Open champion Chang, a three-time winner at the Melbourne venue in 1995-97. Nishikori is drawn to face Australias Marinko Matosevic in the first round of the Australian Open. "It wont be an easy first match, and its not easy to play an Australian," Nishikori said. "But if I can play like I did today, I have a big chance to win." In the WTA event at Hobart, Spanish qualifier Garbine Muguruza defeated Klara Zakapalova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-0 to claim her first singles title. The 20-year-old Muguzura, who did not drop a set from the qualifiers to the final, joins 2012 champion Mona Barthel as the only qualifiers to win the Hobart event. Muguruza, ranked 58th, beat second-seeded and Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens in the quarterfinals, while Zakapalova defeated top-seeded and former U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur in the semis. Muguruza won the opening set when she broke Zakapalovas service in the 10th game. The 20-year-old Muguruza didnt play after Wimbledon last year after due to right ankle surgery, and the recovery took longer than expected. "I started to play on a chair, and then it was a little bit more until I was like normal," she said. "I didnt expect to win a lot of matches in the second tournament of the year but I just know that Id worked so hard before. I was like a big bull." The Venezuelan-born Muguruza has a first-round match against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia at the Australian Open. . This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. .Y. - Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez has a strained lower back and will miss at least a week.
http://www.cheapbrewersjerseysauthentic ... aun-jersey. - The first sign that Kansas Speedway was going to be a heartbreaker for Hendrick Motorsports should have come during qualifying when Jimmie Johnson inexplicably spun and earned one of his worst starting spots since 2005. .com) - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo were named the NHLs players of the week on Monday. .com) - Ryan Johansens creative moves and hometown appeal highlighted Team Folignos successful night at the NHL All- Star Skills Competition. RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Twice now, Belgium has relied on a late revival boosted by stamina and its bench to turn desperate situations around at the World Cup. On Sunday, it was teenager Divock Origi who turned a listless Belgian performance into a late 1-0 win over Russia, enough to qualify for the next round. Belgium barely contained a reinvigorated Russia for most of the match, yet struck with a blistering late spurt of class and opportunism to turn a bad situation into a wild, fist-pumping celebration for coach Marc Wilmots and his team in the 88th minute. "Why were we good in last 10 minutes? Simple, the others were tired," said Wilmots. "The Russians were so tired they looked at their feet, and it offered us chances to counter." After its dour 1-1 draw with South Korea, Russia produced the kind of sparkle and dominance that most had been expected more from Belgium in front of 73,819 increasingly restless fans at Maracana stadium. With Belgian King Philippe looking on, substitute Kevin Mirallas hit a freekick against the post in 84th minute, setting off the amazing turnaround. At first it appeared as if late flashes from Eden Hazard would only camouflage a dismal performance. But then the playmaker made a move into the area on the left and spotted Origi free in the centre. A pinpoint pass from Hazard and cool right-foot finishing from the 19-year-old Origi gave Belgium the victory. "Nobody could have thought this possible," said Origi, who was only called into the squad because No. 1 striker Christian Benteke injured his Achilles in April. Most of Belgium barely knew of the talented young player developing quickly for Lille in the French league. Belgium didnt play with any real authority for most of the game on a bright, sunny afternoon in Rio, confounding predictions that it should be one of the teams to watch at the World Cup. Instead, it was Russsia applied most pressure in the second half and was let down by its blunt finishing touch.dddddddddddd That helped give Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois his 100th professional clean sheet at age 22. "We got the last pass wrong, or shot too quickly," Russia coach Fabio Capello said. "The result was unfair, but the fact is we lost." Belgium moved to six points with the win, five ahead of Russia and South Korea -- the Koreans were playing Algeria later Sunday. "Now we will build a party, but then it is back to work as of tomorrow," Wilmots said. Belgium could be considered lucky to go to halftime at 0-0, escaping a penalty in the 26th minute when German referee waved on play after defender Toby Alderweireld was late with a challenge on Maksim Kanunnikov in the area. While most critics had been expecting a defence-oriented Russia against Belgium, Capello decided otherwise and the addition of 22-year-old Maksim Kanunnikov gave some zip to the team that it so badly lacked against South Korea. Wilmots promoted his two substitute goalscorers from the 2-1 win over Algeria to the starting lineup and while Dries Mertens thrived on the right wing, Marouane Fellaini was sloppy and ineffectual in the centre of midfield. Once Russias central defence of Sergey Ignashevich and Vasily Berezutskiy worked out how to control the Belgian passing combinations, momentum changed. And after the early massive cheers for Belgium from the crowd, shouts of "Ro-ssi-ya, Ro-ssi-ya," took over. Belgium captain Vincent Kompany recovered from a groin strain to play a polished first half, but the surprise call-up of defender Thomas Vermaelen to start the game backfired and forced a first-half change. The Arsenal defender injured his knee in the warmup and lasted only 31 minutes before limping off. "That was my only big setback today," Wilmots said. ' ' '
