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2B Daily News – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 TOUR DE FRANCE WORLD TEAM TENNIS Kastles pass Blood and bruises: A Lakers' day's work for sprinters SAINT-MALO, France (AP) — Hitting the asphalt at something like 60 kilometers (40 miles) per hour flayed off a patch of skin from Tom Veelers' right thigh. Blood snaked down his leg from his sliced-up right knee. His white jersey was torn and soiled. ''Bruised and scratched from all sides,'' said the big Dutchman when asked how he felt. ''But ... yeah, OK.'' In short, Stage 10 was another day at the office for the charging-bull sprinters of the Tour de France. Chris Froome, the race leader, isn't a sprinter. The Briton was just relieved to survive unscathed all the pushing and shoving on two wheels. The ''worst nightmare,'' he said, for riders like him — lighter, less muscular and with eyes fixed on reaching the podium in Paris on July 21 — is to be felled by crashes like the one that floored Veelers on Tuesday in Saint-Malo. The fall came in the shadow of this Brittany port's crenelated walls, with spectators crammed cheek by jowl to get a look. ''Every day you get through with the yellow jersey is a blessing,'' Froome said. ''So I'm happy just to tick that one off.'' Veelers' job is to help launch his teammate, sprinter Marcel Kittel, in the final mad dash for the line. He did that just fine on Tuesday, because Kittel won — becoming the first rider at this 100th Tour to win two stages, having also won Stage 1. As Kittel sprinted away, rival Mark Cavendish hared after the German. In doing so, Cavendish's left arm barged into Veelers' right arm. Because both were riding at such speed, the contact was enough to tip the Dutch rider over. ''Marcel went all the way left and Cavendish dived to the left, I think to try to follow Marcel,'' Veelers explained after he picked himself up, climbed back on his bike and rode through the finish to his Argos-Shimano team bus, where a shoal of impatient, sharpelbowed reporters waited. ''He touched my handlebars and knocked me over.'' winning streak AP photo Andrew Talansky of the U.S., left, and Svein Tuft of Canada, right, get back on their bicycles after crashing during the tenth stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday. Cavendish was adamant this wasn't deliberate. The Briton with 24 Tour stage wins lost his temper with an Associated Press reporter who asked if he was at fault, grabbing his voice recorder. ''I touched with him. But the road's bearing left. I know you're trying to get all the 'Oh, Mark Cavendish, a really bad sprint again.' The road's bearing left. Two hundred and fifty meters to go, the road bears left ... I followed the road,'' he said. ''So I think if anyone's trying to get, 'Oh, Mark Cavendish, dangerous sprint.' I think you're in the wrong there, you know?'' The race jury studied video of the incident but took no action, allowing Cavendish to keep his third place behind Kittel and stage runner-up Andre Greipel, another German who won the finishing sprint on Stage 6. Kittel also gave Cavendish the benefit of the doubt. ''I cannot imagine that it was on purpose because it was a very hectic situation and it was just the last moment of the sprint,'' he said. ''Sometimes that is something which just happens.'' Having luxuriated Monday in their first rest day, riders were generally content Tuesday to race at a leisurely pace. The pack allowed five riders to race away and build up a lead — and then reeled them in as teams set up their sprinters to compete in the final dash. The 197-kilometer (122mile) jaunt from the Brittany town of Saint-Gildas-DesBois to Saint-Malo on its northern coast took the race past Plesse, where Lucien Mazan was born in 1882. Better known as Lucien Petit-Breton, he won the Tour in 1907 and 1908. On Wednesday, the focus shifts away from the sprinters and back to Froome and his rivals for overall victory. Stage 11 — a time trial where the riders all race individually against the clock — could be one of the most visually spectacular of this Tour where every day already has delivered a feast for the eyes. The 33-kilometer (20.5mile) course loops from the Normandy port of Avranches, with its memorial to U.S. Gen. George S. Patton, to the breathtaking MontSaint-Michel, a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey and walled village that towers skyward from an islet perched in a bay. Froome got bronze in the time trial — a specialist discipline — at last year's London Olympics. This year, he used a wind tunnel in Southampton, England, to improve his position on his time trial bike. As race leader, Froome will set out last on Wednes- day afternoon in his canary yellow jersey. He aims to widen the time gaps he opened on Saturday, when he demoralized rivals by blowing them away on a climb in the Pyrenees mountains. The Tour runner-up last year behind Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins, Froome already has a lead of 1 minute, 25 seconds over second-placed Alejandro Valverde. Another Spaniard, two-time champion Alberto Contador, is 1:51 off Froome, in sixth. ''Time trialing is one of those things that the more you do it, the better you become at it. You have that feeling of your own body, your own pace. This year, I've done a few races with similar kind of time trials and I don't think there's any real secret to it. You can make small advantages with equipment. We've got a new time trial bike this year, I've spent a bit of time in a wind tunnel, which I've never done before. All of these things add up,'' Froome said. ''The course is fast and flat so hopefully a good one for me,'' he said. ''I should be able to hold on to my advantage and maybe get some more time.'' If Froome significantly increases his lead, then barring a crash or other mishap, victory in Paris should pretty much be in his pocket. WASHINGTON (AP) — Martina Hingis and the rest of the Washington Kastles wasted no time putting on the red Tshirts, the ones that proclaim that they're now at the top of the list among the ''longest winning streaks in major U.S. pro sports history.'' And they even got congrats from the Los Angeles Lakers. The Kastles of World TeamTennis won their 34th consecutive match Tuesday night, routing the Boston Lobsters 25-12. Their streak is one better than the storied run of the 1971-72 Lakers, a team that included Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. ''We made history. Tonight is magic,'' said coach Murphy Jensen, sporting a white hat with the number ''34.'' ''This experience has been beyond belief. These guys have made a masterpiece, and this team will never be forgotten.'' Such hyperbole is a matter for debate, considering that the WTT typically isn't considered a ''major'' sports league and that its top players appear only in selected matches, creating an atmosphere more comparable to that of a fan-friendly minor league baseball team. The Lakers, on the other hand, had an undisputed landmark achievement that continues to stand as the high-water mark for the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball. Still, winning 34 in a row on any level isn't easy. Among those tipping a hat to the Kastles was Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, who was involved with World TeamTennis in the 1970s as an executive for the Los Angeles Strings. ''Winning 33 consecutive games was an amazing accomplishment by our 1971-72 Lakers team, as evidenced by the fact that no other team has come close to reaching it for over 40 years now,'' Buss said in a written statement. ''On behalf of the Buss family and the Lakers family, I want to congratulate the Washington Kastles, their players, and our good friends (WTT co-founder) Billie Jean King and (WTT Commissioner) Ilana Kloss on this milestone accomplishment of theirs.'' The streak has brought invaluable publicity to a league that packs its entire season into a three-week span in July. Jensen's squad is 2-0 this season and is coming off back-toback WTT titles, going undefeated both years. Washington's last loss came on July 22, 2010, also against the Lobsters. They've become the streamroller of the league. ''I've been really lucky to have had a great Olympic career and a great Davis Cup career,'' said the Kastles' Leander Paes, who remains one of the top doubles players in the world. ''And this is exactly like that.'' The streak has included both Venus and Serena Williams, although neither is playing for the Kastles this year. Venus Williams was supposed to make the occasional appearance as the star player in 2013, but she dropped out with a lower back injury. She was on hand to support her teammates Monday night when the streak reached 33, following the customary White House visit with President Barack Obama to celebrate the Kastles' 2012 title. First lady Michelle Obama also attended Monday's match. With neither Williams on the squad, Hingis is now the Kastles' marquee player in her first year with the team. The 32-year-old Swiss, who won five Grand Slam singles titles in the 1990s and will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this month, paired with Anastasia Rodionova to win the women's doubles and with Paes to take the mixed doubles. Hingis then cruised past Jill Craybas 5-2 in women's singles, pumping her fist and getting a big hug from Jensen after Craybas' shot landed long to end the set. NBA Rockets fined TENNIS for talking Mardy Fish ready to make return about Howard By RACHEL COHEN AP Sports Writer Mardy Fish watched from afar as one side of the Wimbledon draw opened up. He couldn't help but wonder if he would have taken advantage to make a deep run. Still, the American still knew he made the right decision by delaying his return until he could enter a tournament at home in the United States and take the court in front of familiar faces. Fish has played just one ATP Tour event since pulling out of the U.S. Open before his fourth-round match last September. Apologizing for his ongoing vagueness about the reasons, Fish again hinted Tuesday that many of his obstacles have been mental. He missed about 2 1/2 months earlier in 2012 because of an accelerated heartbeat, but Fish said the procedure he underwent in May of that year ''gave us peace of mind that everything was OK.'' ''I'm trying to make sure mentally I'm where I want to be,'' he said on a conference call to promote this month's Citi Open in Washington, which he plans to make his second tournament back. The 31-year-old Fish said he has worked closely with Jim Loehr, a performance psychologist who has counseled Jim Courier among other pro athletes. ''Some days are better than others,'' Fish said. ''Some weeks are better than others.'' The night after he lost at Key Biscayne in March 2012, Fish's heart started racing uncontrollably. That May, doctors induced extreme palpitations to try to pinpoint the problem. He returned for last year's Wimbledon. His third-round victory in the U.S. Open went five sets, lasting more than 3 hours and ending after 1 a.m. Afterward, Fish did not attend the news conference, and tournament officials said he was receiving unspecified medical treatment. The next day, he withdrew before his match against Roger Federer, saying it was for ''precautionary measures'' on doctor's advice. At the time, Fish expected to return to the tour quickly. He didn't play again until Indian Wells in early March near his Los Angeles home, beating Bobby Reynolds in three sets in his first match back. Afterward, he talked about fighting ''some demons.'' ''For the first three months after the U.S. Open, I had retired and nonretired in my head almost every week,'' he said that day. ''And there was awhile where I was done.'' Fish lost to a top-10 player, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the next round in two tiebreakers. He originally planned to play Key Biscayne later that month but wound up skipping it. Since then, his only tournament was a lower-tier Challenger event in Savannah, Ga., in late April, when he lost his first match to 103rd-ranked Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in three sets. He described those forays as tests of where he stood in his comeback. ''Every move we've made has been very calculated,'' Fish said. He has recently returned to the court with his World TeamTennis squad in Sacramento. He plans to enter the Atlanta Open, which starts July 22, then play in Washington a week later. ''I've turned the corner and been able to train as hard as I possibly can the last three months,'' Fish said. Skipping Wimbledon was tough; he's always felt comfortable on those grass courts. And then it was frustrating to see all the upsets that might have given him a clear path to the late rounds. But the Minnesota native wouldn't have had his full support system behind him in England. ''It was too far away, too soon,'' he said. Fish, who reached a career-high No. 7 in 2011, tries not to worry about a ranking that has fallen to 61st in the world. He hopes his return will boost the floundering contingent of American men, none of whom reached the third round at Wimbledon. ''I know in the back of my mind that the tour's not going anywhere,'' Fish said. ''The more time that goes by, the better I'll feel.'' He can lean on the experience of successfully coming back from injuries in the past, and Fish even finds a positive in this absence. The last 10 months have put little wear and tear on his body, so perhaps that will lengthen his career. Fish optimistically mentioned Tommy Haas, who is ranked No. 11 at age 35 after missing significant stretches because of injuries. Fish said he would eventually reveal more about his struggles, hoping to help others who have faced similar trials. NEW YORK (AP) — The Houston Rockets talked too much, too soon about Dwight Howard. A league spokesman confirms the team and its personnel were fined $150,000 by the NBA for comments made about the All-Star center during the moratorium period. Howard committed to leave the Los Angeles Lakers and join the Rockets on Friday, and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey gave an interview later that night with Comcast SportsNet Houston in which he talked about the recruitment and landing of him. Coach Kevin McHale also discussed Howard over the weekend at the Orlando Summer League. Though free agency opened July 1, deals can't become official until Wednesday, after the 2013-14 salary cap is set. ESPN.com first reported the fine. A'S York. Cespedes, who has 15 home runs this season, is the first A's player to be chosen for the Home Run Derby since Jason Giambi in 2001. ... McCutchen went 0 for 3, ending his 10-game hitting streak. ... The series wraps up on Wednesday when Pittsburgh LHP Francisco Liriano (8-3, 2.20 ERA) faces Oakland LHP Tommy Milone (87, 4.11). ... Hall of Fame golfer Arnold Palmer, who grew up in Latrobe, about 45 minutes east of Pittsburgh, was in attendance. (Continued from page 1B) to first as Balfour extended his club record for consecutive save chances converted to 42, dating to last season. NOTES: The start of the game was pushed back due to the potential of inclement weather. While lightning flashed several times during the 1:42 delay, it never actually rained. ... Oakland LF Yoenis Cespedes was selected to the American League team for the Home Run Derby next Monday night in New