Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/40814
2B Daily News – Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Nadal has shaky start NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Nadal's first match as defending U.S. Open champion was hardly a tour de force. He would fall behind in a set, then come back. Fall behind, then come back. His serve was broken six times; that happened a total of five times in seven matches during his 2010 run to the title at Flushing Meadows. His shots didn't have their normal depth. He needed to save seven set points during the second set. Locked in a struggle for nearly three hours, the second-seeded Nadal eventually got past 98th-ranked Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Tuesday night to reach the second round of the U.S. Open. ''Well,'' Nadal conceded, ''I was a little bit lucky to win today in straight sets.'' That's for sure. And Nadal expended a lot more energy Tuesday than Novak Djokovic, who overtook the Spaniard at No. 1 in the rankings last month. Indeed, it didn't take too long to see that Djokovic's right shoulder is feeling fine. He began his first-round match with a 121 mph service win- ner. Four points later, he closed that game with a 120 mph ace. He whipped forehands exactly where he wanted them. He returned well, too. Playing his first match since Aug. 21, when he quit because of a sore and tired shoulder, the top-seeded Djokovic began setting aside any questions about his fitness for Flush- ing Meadows, building a 6-0, 5-1 lead before 197th-ranked qualifier Conor Niland of Ireland stopped after 44 minutes. Niland had food poison- ing. ''Great opening performance,'' Djokovic declared. ''Today I didn't feel any pain. I served well, and I played well, so I have no concern.'' The 24-year-old Serb improved to 58-2 with nine titles in 2011, includ- ing at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Djokovic is on his way to com- piling one of the greatest seasons in tennis history, particularly if he can earn his first championship at the U.S. Open, where in the past four years he's lost twice in the final and twice in the semifinals. ''This year has been tremendous — best so far in my career — and there has been a lot of talk about his- tory-making and this incredible run,'' said Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in last year's U.S. Open final but is 5-0 against him this season. Nadal didn't enter the year's last Grand Slam tournament under the best of circumstances. ''His confidence is not too good,'' said Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle and coach. ''I hope in one week, it will be different.'' After losing to Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, Nadal lost his first summer hard-court match at Montre- al, then bowed out in the quarterfinals at Cincinnati, where he also burned two right fingers on a hot ceramic plate in a restaurant. ''I didn't have the best summer possible for me,'' said Nadal, whose second-round opponent is Nicolas Mahut, the man who lost the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set, at Wimbledon last year. Against Golubev, who has a 3-13 career record in Grand Slam matches, Nadal trailed 3-2 in the first set, and 5-2 in each of the others. ''I hit good shots, but not enough,'' said Nadal, who finished with 18 winners, 23 fewer than Golubev. There was one especially impor- tant point: At 5-all in the second set, Golubev hit a terrific drop shot with Nadal stuck behind the baseline. On a full sprint, Nadal lifted the ball over the net; Golubev flubbed an overhead to lose the point. Golubev thought the ball bounced twice — which would have meant he won the point — and argued at length with the chair umpire, but TV replays showed Nadal got there in time. That gave Nadal a break point, which he converted to lead 6-5. He got broken yet again, but then reeled off the last six points of the tiebreak- er. Golubev served for the second set at 5-3, and for the third set at 5-2 and 5-4. Nadal broke each time. ''If you don't think about the points, it was not bad performance,'' Golubev said. ''I mean, you have to win the points when you have to win — for example, like second set or third set, when you serve for the set.'' While Djokovic had no problems Tuesday, and Nadal overcame his, Day 2 of the tournament included a second consecutive first-round depar- ture from the U.S. Open by the sixth- seeded French Open champion Li Na. Since becoming China's first major singles champion at Paris in June, Li has gone 5-6, exiting in the second round at Wimbledon, then losing 6-2, 7-5 to 53rd-ranked Simona Halep of Romania on Tues- day. ''Terrible feeling,'' Li said. ''I real- ly want to do well after Roland Gar- ros. But, I mean, it's not easy to do. Always easy to say, 'I want to do, I would like to do,' but always lose early. Now I even lose all the confi- dence on the court. I was feeling, 'Oh, tennis just too tough for me.''' It's the first time in 40 years that none of the women's champions at a season's first three Grand Slam tour- naments reached the second round at the U.S. Open. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova lost her first-round match Monday, while Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters with- drew because of a stomach muscle injury. The active leader for women's Grand Slam titles, Serena Williams, followed Nadal in Arthur Ashe Stadi- um on Tuesday night. Earlier, top-seeded Caroline Woz- niacki — who's been ranked No. 1 for most of the past year but is still in search of Grand Slam trophy No. 1 — defeated 125th-ranked Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-3, 6-1. Afterward, Wozniacki was asked about criticisms that she lacks a big- time shot. ''They can say what they want,'' said Wozniacki, who is dating U.S. Open golf champion Rory McIlroy. ''I'm the type of player I am.'' Among the past major winners who advanced Tuesday were 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who overcame 16 double- faults, including four in her last ser- vice game; 2008 French Open cham- pion Ana Ivanovic, whose blood pressure was checked by a trainer at the final changeover and said after- ward she felt overwhelmed while thinking about the recent death of her grandfather; and two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetso- va. Other winners included No. 4 Vic- toria Azarenka, No. 10 Andrea Petkovic, No. 11 Jelena Jankovic and three young Americans: Sloane Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe and Vania King. Two seeded men lost during the day: No. 16 Mikhail Youzhny was beaten by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6- 2, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 32 Ivan Dodig was eliminated 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 by Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who was a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2006 and 2007 and once was ranked No. 3 but now is 39th. Winners included No. 5 David Ferrer, No. 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 17 Jurgen Melzer and Americans James Blake and Donald Young. Gore agrees on 3-year extension SANTA CLARA (AP) — Frank Gore has his new deal from the San Francisco 49ers, 13 days before the season opener. Just as he wished it. Agent Jason Rosen- haus told The Associat- ed Press on Tuesday that Gore had agreed to terms on a new three- year contract extension that keeps him with the team through 2014. Gore is set to make $21 million, with $13.5 million in guaranteed money. The team hadn't made a formal announcement. That likely will come Wednesday ahead of the Niners' exhibition finale Thursday night at San Diego. Gore said earlier Tuesday that his prima- ry agent, Drew Rosen- haus, had a productive, all-day meeting with team brass Monday. Gore said he instructed Rosenhaus to contact him when there was what he considered a ''fair'' offer on the table. ''Positive that they met face to face,'' Gore said. ''Drew felt good about everything, (about) the talk.'' The 28-year-old Gore, third on San Francisco's career rush- ing list heading into his seventh NFL season, had repeatedly said he wanted a new long-term deal before the Sept. 11 season opener against Seattle. Both sides had been throwing around plenty of praise for the other party. 49ers team Presi- dent Jed York and gen- eral manager Trent Baalke said they wanted Gore to be a ''49er for life.'' Gore said he even spoke to Baalke about working for the organi- zation when he's done playing. ''I told Drew, man, just call me when he feels right, when he feels what's fair for both sides,'' Gore said. ''Hopefully I can be a Niner. I want to be here for my whole career. Our GM said he wanted me here for my whole career. Hopefully my side, their side can get it done.'' They did. New coach Jim Har- baugh wouldn't address Gore's unsettled con- tract situation during his afternoon media availability. ''Frank is a true 49er. I've said that from when I first got here,'' Har- baugh said. ''That's how I thought I would feel about Frank Gore. Now, I know how I feel about Frank Gore. The guy is awesome. Some- body should do a movie. Somebody should do the Frank Gore story, because it's an awesome story.'' Gore didn't play in last Saturday's 30-7 loss to the Houston Tex- ans, and Harbaugh wouldn't say whether he would play in Thurs- day night's exhibition finale at San Diego. It's nothing new for him to sit, as Gore has rarely played during the pre- season in the past. Gore, who missed the final five games last season with a broken right hip, held out for the first four days of training camp, but has been his energetic, focused self on the field ever since. There have been no signs of his 2010 injury, either. Gore hurt the hip in a Monday night game at Arizona on Nov. 29. ''I haven't noticed any lack of focus,'' quarterback Alex Smith said. ''He's all in. He's here. He's been a part of everything. Jumped in full go, so I'm not real- ly thinking or paying attention to any of that other stuff.'' Gore sought a con- tract comparable to the $43 million, five-year deal running back DeAngelo Williams — 20 days older than San Francisco's star — recently received from the Carolina Panthers. That includes $21 mil- lion guaranteed. Williams missed the final 10 games last year with a sprained right foot. Gore needs 931 yards to become the fran- chise's all-time leading rusher. While that is a goal, he also wants to have a big year to help turn the 49ers around after eight straight sea- sons without a playoff berth or winning record. He ran for 853 yards ODDS NCAA Football Thursday's games at Wisconsin 35.5(56) UNLV Mississippi St. 28.5(50) at Memphis at Syracuse 6.5(50) Wake Forest at Idaho at FIU Kentucky-a 19 (51) W. Kentucky a-at Nashville, Tenn. 7.5 (53.5) Bowling Green 14.5 (53.5) NorthTexas and three touchdowns last year before getting hurt in his sixth NFL season. Gore also caught 46 passes for 452 yards and two TDs. His 24 100-yard rushing games are the most in 49ers history. The 49ers rewarded two other key players with long-term con- tracts last year. Tight end Vernon Davis signed a five-year extension worth $37 million overall, includ- ing $34 million guaran- teed, a night before the 2010 season opener. That made him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. In May of last year, All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis received a $50 million, five-year contract extension that takes him through the 2016 season and includes $29 million in guaranteed money. He earns $10 million per season. WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB z-Minnesota 24 6 .800 — Phoenix 17 12 .586 6.5 Seattle 17 12 .586 6 .5 San Antonio 14 15 .483 9.5 Sparks 12 17 .414 11.5 Tulsa 3 26 .103 20.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB x-Indiana 19 10 .655 — Connecticut 18 12 .600 1.5 New York 17 13 .567 2.5 Atlanta 16 13 .552 3 Chicago 14 16 .467 5.5 Washington 5 24 .172 14 x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference —————————————————— Tuesday's results Atlanta 92, Indiana 90 Minnesota 73, Washington 56 New York 71, Chicago 67 Phoenix 96, Tulsa 74 San Antonio 78, Connecticut 66 Seattle at Los Angeles, late Thursday's games Atlanta at Washington, 4 p.m. Phoenix at San Antonio, 5 p.m. Santana, Hannahan homer to beat A's and he yanked it over the wall. ''Even in innings I didn't CLEVELAND (AP) — It was young Jeanmar Gomez's turn to join the Cleveland Indians' hero of the night club. The right-hander allowed one unearned run over six innings and was backed by two-run homers from Carlos Santana and Jack Hannahan as the scrappy Indians kept pace in the AL Central race by beating the Oakland Athlet- ics 6-2 Tuesday night. ''The young man gave us a lift,'' Indians manager Manny Acta said of Gomez (2-2), who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start in place of the injured Josh Tomlin. Cleveland continues try- ing to overcome injuries and gain ground in the divi- sion, winning four of five. The Indians are 5 1/2 behind first-place Detroit, which beat Kansas City 2-1 in 10 innings. ''I feel like we've got a couple of streaks (left) in us,'' Acta said. ''There's a month to go. The pitching is there. You get good pitching, you're in every game.'' For a change, the Indi- ans added some offense to win by their largest margin since beating the Tigers 10- 3 on Aug. 10. Their previ- ous three wins were by one run. Hannahan had three hits and is 18 for 42 (.429) with 10 RBIs in his last 13 games. The third baseman, signed to a non-roster con- tract in the winter, is enjoy- ing the pressure of playing for a playoff berth. ''It's a different atmos- phere,'' Hannahan said. ''It's someone different every day, getting big hits, pitching well. The young guys are coming up and getting it done.'' Santana connected for his 21st homer with one out in the sixth inning off Trevor Cahill (9-13) for a 4- 1 lead. ''I think the homer shocked him a little bit,'' Oakland manager Bob Melvin said of the right- hander. ''His stuff was good again. He'll go through periods where he's painting on all his pitches and every- thing's sharp, and then he'll have gaps where he gets out of whack a little bit.'' Cahill is 1-6 in nine starts since the All-Star break. He opened the sea- son 6-0 with a 1.72 ERA through May 14, but is 3-13 since. He said the location on the pitch to Santana was not close to where he want- ed it. ''I was trying to throw it low,'' Cahill said. ''Hope- fully he would chase it and hit it into the ground for a double play, but I left it up MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 72 62 .537 4 A's 77 59 .566 — 60 75 .444 16.5 Seattle 57 76 .429 18.5 East Division WL Pct GB Boston 82 52 .612 — New York 81 52 .609 .5 Tampa Bay 73 61 .545 9 Toronto 67 68 .496 15.5 Baltimore 54 79 .406 27.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Detroit 74 61 .548 — Chicago 68 65 .511 5 Cleveland 67 65 .508 5.5 Minnesota 56 79 .415 18 Kansas City 56 80 .412 18.5 —————————————————— Tuesday's results Cleveland 6, Oakland 2 Baltimore 6, Toronto 5, 10 innings Chicago White Sox 8, Minnesota 6 Detroit 2, Kansas City 1, 10 innings N.Y.Yankees 5, Boston 2 Texas 2, Tampa Bay 0 L.A. Angels at Seattle, late Today's games Oakland (Harden 4-2) at Cleveland (Jimenez 2-1), 4:05 p.m. Kansas City (F.Paulino 2-6) at Detroit (Porcello 12-8), 10:05 a.m. Minnesota (Diamond 0-2) at Chicago (Peavy 6-6), 11:10 a.m. Toronto (H.Alvarez 0-2) at Baltimore (Jo-.Reyes 7-10), 4:05 p.m. N.Y.Yankees (P.Hughes 4-4) at Boston (Beckett 11-5), 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Shields 12-10) at Texas (Ogando 12-6), 5:05 p.m. L.A. Angels (Haren 13-7) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 12-11), 7:10 p.m. Thursday's games Oakland at Cleveland, 9:05 a.m. Toronto at Baltimore, 9:35 a.m. Kansas City at Detroit, 10:05 a.m. N.Y.Yankees at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay at Texas, 5:05 p.m. L.A. Angels at Seattle, 7:10 p.m. give up runs, I was fighting myself. When you're doing that the whole game, it's tough to get big league hit- ters out.'' After Cahill hit Shelley Duncan with a pitch, Fauti- no De Los Santos came on and yielded Hannahan's sixth homer to make it 6-1. Oakland has lost four straight and five of six. In five games against Cleve- land this year, the A's have totaled 10 runs. ''We've basically done nothing,'' Melvin said. ''We'll search for those answers, but I don't have one right now.'' Kosuke Fukudome's two-run double put Cleve- land up 2-0 in the third. Lou Marson and Eze- quiel Carrera reached on infield singles. Fukudome, hitting .379 (11 of 29) with five RBIs over his last eight games, then doubled to the wall in right-center, scoring both runners. Oakland pulled to 2-1 in the fifth, helped by an error by Gomez covering first base. That sent Jemile Weeks to second, where he scored on Coco Crisp's two-out single to right. Indians designated hitter Jim Thome went 1 for 2 with two walks. That extended the 41-year-old Thome's team record to 1,000 walks. He has 1,717 for his career, eighth all- time and 16 behind Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. Notes:Oakland called up hard-throwing RHP Neil Wagner from Triple-A Sacramento. Cleveland's 21st-round pick in 2005 and sold to Oakland a year ago, Wagner had 87 strikeouts in 66 1-3 innings in the minors this year and fanned the first batter he faced, Santana, in the eighth. ... A's RHP Michael Wuertz (thumb) is scheduled for a rehab outing Wednesday and could rejoin Oakland this weekend. He's been out since July 30. ... RHP Rich Harden (4-2) will face Indians RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (2-2) on Wednesday. Harden's 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings are sixth-best among AL pitchers with at least 50 innings. Jimenez is 2-0 at home since being acquired by Cleveland from Colorado for four prospects at the trade deadline July 31. ... A's manager Bob Melvin said OF Ryan Sweeney, batting .200 (9 for 45) in August, may play the last two games of the series. ... Weeks is 12 for 29 (.414) in a seven-game hitting streak. ... A's OF Brandon Allen went 0 for 4 and is in an 0 for 14 slump. MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Arizona 76 59 .563 — GIANTS 71 64 .526 5 Colorado 64 71 .474 12 Dodgers 63 70 .474 12 Padres 60 75 .444 16 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia 85 46 .649 — Atlanta 79 55 .590 7.5 New York 64 69 .481 22 Washington 63 70 .474 23 Florida 60 74 .448 26.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Milwaukee 81 55 .596 — St. Louis 71 64 .526 9.5 Cincinnati 67 68 .496 13.5 Pittsburgh 62 73 .459 18.5 Chicago 58 77 .430 22.5 Houston 46 90 .338 35 —————————————————— Tuesday's results Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, late Florida 6, N.Y.Mets 0 Houston 8, Pittsburgh 2 Philadelphia 9, Cincinnati 0 St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 Washington 9, Atlanta 2 Colorado at Arizona, late San Diego at L.A. Dodgers, late Today's games Chicago Cubs (R.Lopez 4-5) at S.F. (Bumgarner 8-12), 12:45 p.m. San Diego (LeBlanc 2-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Lilly 8-13), 12:10 p.m. Florida (Volstad 5-11) at N.Y. Mets (Capuano 10-11), 4:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Cl.Lee 14-7) at Cincinnati (Willis 0-3), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Lannan 8-10) at Atlanta (D.Lowe 8-12), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Ja.McDonald 8-6) at Houston (Happ 4-15), 5:05 p.m. St. Louis (Westbrook 10-7) at Milwaukee (Wolf 11-8), 5:10 p.m. Colorado (Rogers 6-3) at Arizona (Collmenter 8-8), 6:40 p.m. Thursday's games Philadelphia at Cincinnati, 9:35 a.m. L.A. Dodgers at Pittsburgh, 1:05 p.m. St. Louis at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m. Florida at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m. Washington at Atlanta, 4:10 p.m.