The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed into a riverbank on the Volga River immediately after leaving an airport near the western city of Yaroslavl, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. It was sunny at the time.

The plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where the team was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season for the Kontinental Hockey League. The ministry said the plane had 45 people on board, including 37 passengers and eight crew.

Officials said Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crewmember.

A Czech embassy official said Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek were among those killed, and Latvian officials confirmed the death of Latvian defenseman Karlis Skrastins.

“This is the darkest day in the history of our sport. This is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from 10 nations,” said Rene Fasel, president of the international Ice Hockey Federation. “This is a terrible tragedy for the global ice hockey community.”

In recent years, Russia and the other former Soviet republics have had some of the world’s worst air traffic safety records. Experts blame the poor safety record on the age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.

The plane that crashed was built in 1993 and belonged to a small Moscow-based Yak Service company.

Swarms of police and rescue crews rushed to Tunoshna, a picturesque village with a blue-domed church on the banks of the Volga River. One of the plane’s engines could be seen poking out of the river and a flotilla of boats combed the water for bodies. Russian rescue workers struggled to heft the bodies of large, strong athletes in stretchers up the muddy, steep riverbank.

One resident, Irina Pryakhova, saw the plane going down, then heard a loud bang and saw a plume of smoke.

“It was wobbling in flight, it was clear that something was wrong,” she said. “I saw them pulling bodies to the shore, some still in their seats with seatbelts on.”

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation’s transport minister to the site, 10 miles (15 kilometers) east of Yaroslavl. President Dmitry Medvedev also planned to tour the crash site.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a leading force in Russian hockey and came third in the KHL last year. The team’s coach is Canadian Brad McCrimmon, who took over in May. He was most recently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for years in the NHL for Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix.

The Russian team also featured several top European players and former NHL stars, including Slovakian forward and national team captain Pavol Demitra, who played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks.

Other top names on the team include Russian defenseman Ruslan Salei and Swedish goalie Stefan Liv.

The KHL is an international club league that pits together teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia. Lokomotiv was a three-time Russian League champion in 1997, 2002-2003. It took bronze last season.

A cup match between hockey teams Salavat Yulaev and Atlant in the central Russian city of Ufa was called off midway after news of the crash was announced by Kontinental Hockey League head Alexander Medvedev. Russian television broadcast images of an empty arena in Ufa as grief-stricken fans abandoned the stadium.

“We will do our best to ensure that hockey in Yaroslavl does not die, and that it continues to live for the people that were on that plane,” said Russian Ice Hockey Federation President Vladislav Tretyak.

Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year. The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and about 100 are still being used by Russian carriers.

In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error.

In other plane crashes involving sports teams, 75 Marshall University football players, coaches, fans and airplane crew died in a plane crash in Kentucky on Nov. 17, 1970, on the way home from a game. Twenty-six of the dead were players

Thirty members of the Uruguayan rugby club Old Christians were killed in a crash in the Andes in 1972.

The entire 18-member U.S. figure skating team died in a crash on their way to the 1961 world championships in Brussels.

In 1949, the Torino soccer team lost 18 players near Turin, Italy, while the Munich air crash of 1958 cost eight Manchester United players their lives.

___

Vladimir Isachenkov and Peter Leonard in Moscow, Steve Wilson in London and Graham Dunbar in Geneva ontributed to this report.

There’s the Serena Williams style, filled with intimidation and huge shots. And there’s the way Caroline Wozniacki does it, with great hustle and even better conditioning.

Both players made it through the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday and stayed on a path that could collide in the semifinals — Williams with a big-serving 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 16 Ana Ivanovic and Wozniacki with a 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 15 Svetlana Kuznetsova that took 3 hours, 2 minutes.

Among the matches scheduled for Tuesday were American Donald Young against No. 4 Andy Murray and another American, No. 28 John Isner, against No. 12 Gilles Simon of France. But before any of those matches could begin, rain hit the National Tennis Center, delaying play for the first time at this year’s U.S. Open.

After Monday’s matches, the 28th-seeded Williams was the only one of the eight women left in the draw who has won a Grand Slam title, which could answer the question of whose style works better in the sport’s biggest events.

But Wozniacki is top-seeded at the U.S. Open and No. 1 in the rankings — tops in a system that rewards consistency more than big moments. By that standard, it is, indeed, hard to find anyone better.

“I know I can be out there for hours and hours,” she said. “It’s great to know that, and it’s great to know that it doesn’t matter how long the match takes. I mean, I will not lose because I’m not physically well.”

Knowing that, as well, Kuznetsova pressed throughout and took a 4-1 lead in the second set. But that’s when the party ended for the two-time major champion. She lost 12 of the next 14 games and finished the night with 78 unforced errors on a windy night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“She was a wall,” Kuznetsova said. “To break a wall, you cannot hit hard all the time. You have to mix it up. I think I did the right things. I just couldn’t close it up in the right moments.”

Williams had to tone things down a bit for her match, played hours earlier, but also in blustery conditions.

Still, there were two moments that stood out: A key point she won after letting a 3-0 lead slip in the first set, after which she clenched her fist and screamed, “Come On”; and the way she closed out the match, with four straight serves Ivanovic couldn’t return, maxing out at 111 mph.

Not surprisingly, the discussion afterward was whether Williams tries to be intimidating on the court.

“No, I don’t try,” she said. “I just am.”

Roger Federer can be pretty intimidating, as well.

Forced to wait until 11:51 p.m. to start his match, he came out like a man in a hurry, putting away the first set against Juan Monaco in 18 minutes en route to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 victory. In the second game of the second set, he served four straight aces — a perfect game, of sorts.

“It’s only a game. Only four points,” he said. “But it’s nice to do it that way instead of having to take 10 minutes.”

Just as impressive was the quick way Federer closed out the match, with a light mist falling, the court slickening ever so slightly and the unsavory prospect of having to sit through a rain delay at 1 in the morning. He only lost 12 points in the third set.

“There was not much margin for us, because it was so late,” Federer said. “Probably one rain delay and they’d have sent everybody home.”

Federer hasn’t missed a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2004 French Open and his quarterfinal here will be against No. 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who overcame a two-set deficit against Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the victory. Tsonga beat eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

“Doesn’t necessarily need to be the next Grand Slam, but it’s sure something I’m looking forward to,” Federer said of the rematch. “I live for the big matches, live for playing a guy who is explosive, has got some firepower. I like to play those kind of players, especially now that we’re in the deeper stages of the tournament.”

Also winning in straight sets Monday, though nowhere near as quickly, was No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Djokovic held off four set points in the first-set tiebreaker en route to a 7-6 (14), 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 22 Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Djokovic improved to 61-2 on the season and his opponent, a highly regarded 22-year-old from Ukraine, knew what his odds were even before the long tiebreaker.

“No, I don’t think the tiebreak would change the match even if I’d won it,” Dolgopolov said. “I mean, he’s better than me physically now.”

Djokovic’s quarterfinal will be against his Serbian Davis Cup teammate, No. 20 Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2. The Serbs practice together a lot, which might give Tipsarevic the advantage of some familiarity.

“But those things are maybe 2 percent of the overall outcome of the match,” Tipsarevic said. “You know, who plays better tennis is going to win. It’s as simple as that.”

Also earning spots in the women’s quarterfinals were No. 10 Andrea Petkovic, who faces Wozniacki next, and No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, whose next match is against Williams.

Pavlyuchenkova defeated No. 7 Francesca Schiavone, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that featured 16 service breaks in 31 games. She knows Williams probably won’t be contributing to that kind of number in the quarterfinals.

“I don’t want to go out there and enjoy just being on the center court playing against Serena,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I would like to do well, try to fight, and with my effort I try to beat her. But of course I respect her a lot, as well. She’s just great.”

The Minnesota Twins couldn’t hit his pitches. The Chicago White Sox couldn’t stop praising the rookie’s composure.

Stewart took a perfect game into the eighth inning and finished with a one-hitter as the White Sox completed a doubleheader sweep of the Twins with a 4-0 victory on Monday night.

“It was a lot of fun. It was just one of those things,” Stewart said. “In the ‘pen, the ball was coming out good. I could tell it was going to be somewhat of a good night. I didn’t know it was going to be that good. But it just felt good from the beginning.”

The Twins were 21 up and 21 down against Stewart until Danny Valencia’s leadoff double in the eighth spoiled the right-hander’s bid to become the 21st rookie in major league history to throw a no-hitter.

“He didn’t really have stuff that was overpowering. He was just locating really well,” Valencia said. “He had all his pitches going, and he was throwing everything for a strike.”

The 24-year-old Stewart (2-3), whose only previous major league win came at Target Field last month, struck out nine in the first complete game of his career.

This was only Stewart’s fifth start for the White Sox — and eighth of his career — after being traded to Chicago by Toronto on July 27.

With black curly hair flowing out from under the back of his cap and an intense expression on his face, Stewart made up for a rough start against the Twins last week in Chicago. He gave up seven hits and six runs in 4 2-3 innings that time.

This night was different.

“I thought it was possible the way he was throwing the ball,” catcher Tyler Flowers said.

The White Sox won the afternoon game 2-1.

After their long-shot chance of chasing down division-leading Detroit was chewed up during a three-game sweep by the Tigers over the weekend — by a combined score of 35-11 — the White Sox were able to put the discouragement behind them and enjoy the day. That came at the expense of their chief rival, the American League Central champions of the last two years.

“It was fun for probably everybody but me. It was pretty stressful back there. I didn’t want to screw up and cause something bad to happen,” Flowers said.

Stewart dominated a lineup featuring only two regulars from opening day — Joe Mauer and Valencia. Mauer got good wood on the ball, sending an opposite-field fly to the warning track in the fourth inning and smashing a line drive that zipped straight to shortstop Alexei Ramirez to end the seventh.

Third baseman Brent Morel pitched in, too, making a slick pickup of a sharp one-hopper hit by Trevor Plouffe in the fourth and backhanding a hard grounder down the line by Drew Butera to end the sixth.

But Stewart didn’t need much help.

He worked quickly and enticed the Twins to swing at his first offering often, needing only 65 pitches to complete six innings. Valencia finally had him figured out, though. He hit a hard liner that hooked foul and bounced into the seats behind third base before delivering a sharp drive to right field that skipped away from defensive replacement Alejandro De Aza for a sure double.

“I guess, if anything, that’s a good way to lose one if you’re going to lose on. That’s a legitimate hit,” Chicago designated hitter Paul Konerko said.

Valencia saw eight pitches in that at-bat and fouled off three straight before straightening one out on a 2-2 fastball. But Stewart shrugged that off and retired the last six batters he faced, striking out three.

“I thought he was going to crack a smirk or something out there, but he was like, ‘All right. Let’s get the next guy.’ So that’s good to see,’” Flowers said of his visit to the mound after the double.

Stewart just smiled when asked about his ability to stay poised.

“Yeah, I’ve given up hits before, so I guess you just get used to it,” he said.

Said manager Ozzie Guillen: “He’s very comfortable out there. He seems relaxed, not letting anything bothering him. That’s a good sign.”

Morel drove in two runs with a seventh-inning single, and Alex Rios had three hits for the White Sox. Twins starter Scott Diamond (1-3) gave up eight hits, two walks and two runs in five innings.

Philip Humber (9-8) set the tone in the matinee by pitching seven scoreless innings to snap a four-game losing streak. During that slide, the starters posted a 12.50 ERA while failing to get past the fifth inning each time.

Anthony Swarzak (3-6) took the loss for the Twins in the opener, allowing seven hits in eight innings.

NOTES: LHP Jake Peavy (6-7) pitches for the White Sox on Tuesday night against RHP Liam Hendriks of the Twins. Hendriks will make his major league debut. Peavy is 1-2 with a 7.23 ERA in his last four starts. … Stewart was acquired from the Blue Jays with reliever Jason Frasor in exchange for Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen.

Team officials said Monday that the four-time league MVP has been told by doctors not to practice and he will be listed as doubtful for the season opener against Houston. He is still undergoing tests, but no additional surgery has been scheduled.

“As a result of the most recent development the doctors have decided that Peyton will not practice,” a Colts statement said. “His participation therefore, in Sunday’s game versus Houston will likely be doubtful. We will update his playing status as required by NFL policy as the week goes on.”

Manning started training camp on the physically unable to perform list as he rehabilitated from neck surgery performed in May. He wasn’t activated until last Monday, when he returned to practice, albeit with limited work.

When Manning experienced soreness in his back, team officials originally thought it was simply part of the normal rehab process. But over the weekend, the statement said, doctors re-evaluated Manning and told him to stop working out.

“At the conclusion of the diagnostic process, if there are any new developments in the prognosis which we outlined for Peyton at the start of training camp we will report them,” the team said. “As of now, Peyton continues to deal with a complicated neurological recovery, the end date of which is unpredictable.”

Manning, the only four-time MVP in league history, has never missed a regular-season start and his streak of 227 games including playoffs is second for quarterbacks; only Brett Favre made more consecutive starts.

If Manning cannot start, the job will likely fall to Kerry Collins. The Colts brought Collins, a 16-year veteran, out of retirement Aug. 17 after team owner Jim Irsay told fans to be prepared for the possibility of starting the season without Manning — an unthinkable thought until now.

Speculation about Manning’s status began all over Sunday night when a local sports talk radio host tweeted that Manning would need a second surgery on his injured neck.

After the original posting, it was reported that Manning was expected to see more doctors about the slow pace of his recovery.

Team officials repeatedly have said Manning would not be cleared to practice without the consent of the doctors. Manning often has blamed the NFL’s 4 1/2-month lockout, in part, for the slow progress because he could not work with team doctors.

On Aug. 20, Manning ruled himself out of the final two preseason games and acknowledged he would need “every bit” of the remaining time to get healthy enough to play in the opener.

Manning, however, did not even dress for Thursday night’s exhibition finale at Cincinnati and missed the entire preseason for only the second time in his career. He also sat out in 2008 after he needed surgery twice to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee.

He struggled during the first half of that season before leading the Colts to nine consecutive wins, back to the playoffs, and picked up his third MVP award.

This time, who knows?

]]> http://queenzine.com/colts-say-manning-doubtful-for-sundays-opener-ap.htm/feed 0 http://queenzine.com/nadal-feels-the-pain-after-the-win-ap.htm http://queenzine.com/nadal-feels-the-pain-after-the-win-ap.htm#comments Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:27:03 +0000 Admin http://queenzine.com/nadal-feels-the-pain-after-the-win-ap.htm NEW YORK – Even if it turns out to be nothing, which Rafael Nadal insists was the case, the frightening scene in his post-match interview Sunday will go down as memorable.

Answering questions in Spanish, Nadal suddenly started grimacing in pain. He tilted his head back, covered his face with his arm. His face twisted in agony as he slid down in his chair, he motioned for help.

After a few nervous moments with the trainers crowded around the table, Nadal popped back up. A simple leg cramp, he insisted.

“It’s bad luck it happened here and not in the locker room,” he said.

But because it did, that was the big news Sunday at the U.S. Open — bigger than Nadal’s straight-set win over David Nalbandian that came about two hours before the cramping episode, bigger than wins by Americans Donald Young (a surprise) and Andy Roddick (not as much of one).

“I just have cramping in my leg, that’s all,” Nadal said.

His 7-6 (5), 6-1, 7-5 win over Nalbandian was routine, at least as routine as they’ve been going for the defending champion and No. 2 seed through the first week at Flushing Meadows. He gave up a break early in the first set but fought back to force a tiebreaker that he won. He gave back a break in the third set to turn a possible 6-3 close-out into something much closer.

He is winning but not steamrolling — serving well, but not dominating the way he did last year. Last year, he lost serve five times in seven matches; this year, he’s lost nine service games in three.

“I was happy about almost everything today,” Nadal said. “I think my movements worked pretty well, and the forehand worked really well, and the backhand, too. Just when I had to win the match at 5-3, I played a really bad game there. For the rest of the match, I happy about everything.”

But shortly after saying that, the cramping came — in his right quadriceps and his right hamstring. A scary scene with a few dozen reporters looking on and the cameras rolling. Certainly something that will give people plenty to talk about as Nadal gears up for the second week.

Nadal wasn’t the only one who struggled with the heat on a windy, humid day in Queens with temperatures in the mid-80s.

In Louis Armstrong Stadium, No. 26 Flavia Pennetta backed up her victory over Maria Sharapova with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over No. 13 Peng Shuai of China. But she also struggled with the heat. Trailing 5-3 in the second, Pennetta got a break to stay in it. She forced a tiebreaker but appeared near exhaustion as the set wore on. The match took 2 hours, 31 minutes.

“This one is one of the worst I’ve ever felt on the court,” Pennetta said.

Pennetta fell behind 5-0 and 6-2 in the tiebreaker but won the last six points to pull out the match. Pennetta made it 6-6 when she answered Peng’s overhead with a shot that hit near the frame of her racket for a crosscourt winner.

Trying to move past the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam for the first time, Pennetta will play Angelique Kerber of Germany, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Monica Niculescu of Romania.

Later, Roddick and Young won their matches.

Roddick, seeded 21st, defeated Julien Benneteau 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (5) — a relatively easy match except for a third set that dragged out to 65 minutes.

Young, the one-time top-ranked junior in the world, took another step toward fulfilling his vast potential with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 upset over No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela on the Grandstand Court. The 84th-ranked Young, who also has a win over 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka this week, is in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

“It’s been tough,” he said. “I’ve been through times I didn’t want to play or pick up a racket anymore, didn’t want to watch TV because they’d be talking bad about me. I got up this morning and was watching CBS and they were showing good things about me.”

Also advancing was fifth-seeded David Ferrer, who beat 26th-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (2)

Playing later Sunday were No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 2 Vera Zvonareva.

And, in an All-American match, No. 28 John Isner was to play Alex Bogomolov Jr.

Being without standout cornerback-punt returner Cliff Harris was more than mistake-prone and third-ranked Oregon could overcome.

The Ducks’ fill-in punt returner had a fumble that led directly to an LSU touchdown and Lee’s touchdown pass came against the defensive back playing in Harris’ spot in the fourth-ranked Tigers’ 40-27 victory Saturday night.

“I asked them to put to the perimeter all the things that could be considered distractions,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I enjoyed Jarrett Lee’s gutty effort. I liked how the offense did the things they needed to do.”

Already without the suspended Harris, the Ducks made things even harder on themselves with four turnovers — three that LSU converted into 20 points while building a 30-13 lead.

Highly touted freshman De’Anthony Thomas fumbled on consecutive touches late in the third quarter, one on a rushing attempt and then on the ensuing kickoff, and the Tigers took control with touchdown runs from Michael Ford and Spencer Ware in a span of less than 3 1/2 minutes.

“Those are self-inflicted wounds,” coach Chip Kelly said. “The drops, the turnovers and the penalties are the things that really killed us. Against a team like that, you’re not going to win the game.”

Harris, who can be found on most preseason All-America teams, was suspended in June after police caught him driving 118 mph, and also having a suspended license at the time.

The Tigers were also without receiver Russell Shepard, who was suspended for at least this game because he discussed another NCAA inquiry with a teammate. He was third in receiving and fourth in rushing for LSU last season.

Besides the legitimate national title hopes both teams had, they had a tie in ongoing NCAA investigations into their dealings with Willie Lyles, who ran a Houston-based service that provided scouting reports of high school players.

And this was the first season-opening game of top-five teams on a neutral field since 1984, when Jimmy Johnson won his debut as coach of Miami against an Auburn squad featuring Bo Jackson a year before he won the Heisman Trophy. There was a crowd of 87,711 at Cowboys Stadium, where LSU played its second consecutive game.

The Tigers ended their 2010 season on the Dallas Cowboys’ home field in January with a 41-24 victory over Texas AM in the Cotton Bowl when Jefferson passed for three touchdowns and ran for another score.

But Jefferson is now suspended indefinitely, as is reserve linebacker Josh Johns, because they are facing felony charges of second degree battery stemming from a bar fight near campus last month.

Plenty of subplots in this one.

“We’ve had a lot on our minds as team coming into this game,” Lee said. “It’s not something that we wanted to happen. But you have to put that to the side and move forward.”

Lee’s 10th career start, his first since a win over Louisiana Tech in 2009, was far from spectacular. The senior completed only 10 of 22 passes for 98 yards, but didn’t have an interception and appeared steady throughout the game.

The lone LSU turnover came when Lee stepped up toward the line to point out a pending blitz, at the same time the ball was snapped behind him. That set up Rob Beard’s second field goal to give Oregon a 6-3 lead.

Oregon, which lost to Auburn in the BCS national championship game last season, has consecutive losses for the first time since they losing its last three regular-season games in 2007.

“This is going to show the character of this team, how hard we’re going to come back and play after this loss,” Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas said. “The offense had self-inflicted wounds all game.”

LSU took a 16-13 lead just before halftime, going ahead to stay, on Rueben Randle’s 10-yard TD catch from Lee.

Randle caught the ball in the front corner of the end zone over freshman cornerback Terrance Mitchell — in the spot Harris would have been playing on defense.

The other LSU touchdown before halftime came when fill-in punt returner Barner fielded a punt inside the 5, took a couple of steps backs. That’s when Tyrann Mathieu stripped the ball away, scooped it up after it bounced on the turf and took a couple of steps into the end zone.

LSU has won 34 consecutive nonconference games, the longest such streak in the nation, including all 23 in the regular season under seventh-year coach Miles.

“Our football team is united. They play together,” Miles said. “You put a ball on the line and they’ll scrap you for it.”

Ware had 26 carries for 99 yards while Fort had 14 runs for 98 yards and two TDs, his second on a 16-yard run in the fourth quarter.

LaMichael James had one of the worst games at Oregon, even though he scored a touchdown for the 12th time his last 13 games. James had 18 carries for 54 yards, only five more than he had against Auburn in the national title game.

“I don’t think we were ready mentally. We have a lot of underclassmen and people who’ve never played in a college football game,” James said. “It was difficult.”

De’Anthony Thomas, who scored on a 4-yard run in the final minute, had his first fumble when big defensive end Sam Montgomery reached in and stripped the ball away. The ball popped directly into the hands of safety Eric Reid.

After Ford’s 5-yard TD, Craig Loston punched the ball out of Thomas’ hands, setting up Ware’s 1-yard TD that made it 30-10 after Mitchell was called for pass interference in the end zone.

Darron Thomas was 31-of-54 passing for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a game the Texas native considered “bigger than the national championship.” Thomas went to Oregon instead of LSU after Miles wouldn’t promise that he could play quarterback.

Next comes the interesting part.

The five-time U.S. Open champion defeated 27th-seeded Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at blustery Flushing Meadows on Saturday, marking the 30th straight time he has made it to the round of 16 in a major.

Federer needs an Open title to extend his streak to nine straight years with a major championship. He fought off the range of his 6-foot-6 opponent and dealt with an unpredictable wind in Arthur Ashe Stadium to win his 225th match at a major, second best behind Jimmy Connors.

“The first and second set could’ve gone either way,” Federer said. “He was dominating more of the baseline rallies. I didn’t think I was serving particularly well during that period. I knew I had work to do on my serve. I think the wind was tricky. It took some adjustments but I took the right ones and thought it was a very high-quality match.”

Federer’s only major hiccup came at the end of the second set, when he got broken in the last game off a big Cilic forehand that Federer couldn’t get back.

With Cilic facing a break point while serving at 4-all in the third set, he was warned by the chair umpire for a time violation. Cilic promptly double-faulted, giving Federer a 5-4 lead. Third-seeded Federer won seven of the next nine games to close out the match.

“As long as I’m moving on in the draw, I’m a happy man,” he said.

Earlier in the stadium, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki rolled through her third straight match, avoiding an upset bug that has turned big sections of the women’s bracket into a free-for-all.

Wozniacki, the Open runner-up in 2009, defeated American Vania King 6-2, 6-4 and has lost a total of 12 games over her first three matches. Like Federer, it took her time to figure out the breezes on a warm, windy day in New York

“The wind, it was going everywhere,” she said. “You had to keep the margin over the net and away from the lines.”

That’s Wozniacki’s game, though, and it has served her well. Though she is still in search of her first major, she has been ranked No. 1 for most of the last year.

“To be honest, I felt like I was playing with her,” King said. “But she isn’t No. 1 without a good reason. She is used to winning. She has that confidence.”

Wozniacki and Serena Williams are the favorites in a tournament that has lost a number of prime contenders.

Already, French Open champion Li Na and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova have been knocked out. Venus Williams withdrew after revealing she’d been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Defending champion Kim Clijsters never entered because of an injury. On Friday, third-seeded Maria Sharapova lost a three-set match to Flavia Pennetta.

Serena Williams, the No. 28 seed, began her match against No. 4 Victoria Azarenka later Saturday. In other women’s matches, No. 7 Francesca Schiavone beat Chanelle Scheepers 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that lasted 2 hours, 57 minutes. Schiavone’s next opponent will be No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 11 Jelena Jankovic.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play Saturday night.

In early men’s play, No. 20 Janko Tipsarevic was leading No. 9 Tomas Berdych 6-4, 5-0 when Berdych quit with a shoulder injury — something that started bothering him last month at a tuneup in Cincinnati.

“There was no other reason to stay and doing something else, something more, because I already had these problems in Cincinnati,” Berdych said.

Tipsarevic’s opponent in the fourth round will be 2003 French Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was leading 6-1, 4-3 when No. 31 Marcel Granollers retired with an abdominal muscle injury.

The Spaniard was the 14th player to quit in the middle of a match over the first week, the most for any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era. The previous record was 12 at Wimbledon in 2008.

Ferrero could use the break. The Spaniard, ranked No. 1 in the world in 2003, played two five-set matches to get to the third round.

“Obviously, yesterday, I felt very tired,” Ferrero said. “Today I was a little bit better but still, very tired in all my body.”

On Friday night at the U.S. Open, he saw that future up-close in a player named Jack Sock — and made sure Sock didn’t become the story line of the present.

Roddick beat the 18-year-old Sock 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to close out a day filled with U.S. stories — some of them about success, some not.

The 29-year-old former champion has been on the decline of late. Once the world No. 1, he’s seeded 21st at Flushing Meadows this year. But he’s still a headliner, and during the prime-time match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he pushed around the two-time 18-and-under USTA champion, blunting his big serve, working him around the court and, overall, using Sock’s aggression and inexperience on the sport’s biggest stage against him.

It was a fine performance against the teenager, more impressive than Roddick’s opening-round match, a four-set evening that ended with an interview in the ESPN booth in which he took exception to some of the TV analysts and ex-players who like to pick apart his game.

“The thing is, I’m getting hammered the other night, but I’m not way too down on myself,” Roddick said. “I come here and I don’t know what to think about what people think they saw. Tonight I’m getting praise, so I kind of stay in the middle. I’m not going to get way too up or down about it. I’m in the third round.”

Roddick, who has struggled through a difficult summer, has moved to underdog status at the tournament he won back in 2003.

But he’s still around.

Third-seeded Maria Sharapova, clearly a favorite in a women’s draw that gets more unpredictable by the day, made an unexpected exit with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 loss to No. 26 Flavia Pennetta.

“It’s just one of those days,” Sharapova said. “Unfortunately, it’s the U.S. Open.”

In other women’s action, No. 2 Vera Zvonareva beat No. 30 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 7-5. Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and 28th-seeded Serena Williams play Saturday.

On the men’s side, No. 2 Rafael Nadal was leading Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-2 when Mahut retired with an injured stomach.

No. 4 Andy Murray, long trying to break through at the Grand Slam level, had to rally from two sets down for a momentum-swinging 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 victory over Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

But the best five-setter on this day belonged to another American, 22-year-old Donald Young.

Like Sock, Young is a two-time junior champion. But Young’s star hasn’t always shone so brightly. Once touted as the next big thing in American tennis, he has struggled to fulfill that potential. On Friday, he gutted through a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory over No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka — a match that compelled Patrick McEnroe, the head of USTA player development who had been at odds with Young this year, to tweet: “In tennis terms Donald Young became a man today.”

Young shrugged off the tension with McEnroe, said the relationship with the USTA is fine, but also conceded that the win over Wawrinka was a big one.

“I’d like to think I’m a pretty tough person, deep down,” said Young, now ranked 84th in the world. “I just had to grow up a little bit. Everybody’s light goes on at a different time. Hopefully, mine’s coming on right now.”

Also playing well now is American John Isner. Isner beat another American, Robby Ginepri, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 for his seventh straight win — a streak that earned him a title at a tuneup in Winston-Salem last week.

Isner’s next match comes against another American, Alex Bogomolov Jr., who won in straight sets. The 28-year-old Bogomolov, ranked 44th, is trying to kick his career into high gear after enduring, over the past decade, a failed marriage, a failed doping test and wrist surgery that briefly forced him into a teaching job in New York.

“I was ready” for this, Bogomolov said. “I was ready mentally, physically for this. It’s just that you never knew with tennis, especially with how my life was.”

American James Blake was also on the court Friday, a straight-set loser to fifth-seeded David Ferrer.

In women’s play, American Irina Falconi lost, and before Roddick played, U.S. teenager Christina McHale went on the show court and fell 6-2, 6-3 to No. 25 Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

“This one, it’s disappointing,” McHale said. “But, yeah, I think I just kind of have to take the positives from it and keep working hard and keep going.”

Same thing for Sock who, after the match, received an offer from Roddick to head down to Texas and practice with him at his house.

Quite a final chapter to an amazing night for the 18-year-old.

“It was the best tennis experience of my life,” Sock said. “You don’t really realize how big the stadium is, I think, until you get down there.”

If he stays on this path, he’ll be there plenty. Which wouldn’t make Roddick, who takes pride in mentoring America’s next generation, unhappy.

“I think we’ve got a couple of legit prospects,” he said, adding Young and 19-year-old Ryan Harrison to that list. “My favorite thing about them is that they compete. They really, really, really compete.”

No. 26 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy knocked off the 2006 champion 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round to hand Sharapova her first loss in 13 three-setters this year.

“I didn’t know that,” Pennetta said when asked if she was aware of Sharapova’s perfect record in matches that went the distance. “It was a good thing.”

Sharapova made 12 double-faults, including two in the last game. She did not look sharp over a 2 hour, 29-minute match that featured plenty of nervous tennis. Sharapova made 60 unforced errors and lost four break points while trailing 2-0 in the third set.

“I didn’t feel comfortable with most of my game today,” Sharapova said.

Pennetta, who also had a big win in Arthur Ashe Stadium two years ago against Vera Zvonareva that put her in the quarterfinals, said calming her nerves was the key as the match wore on.

“I was just trying to be focused on my game, trying not to think about the score,” she said. “But when you’re there, too many things come into your mind. You just try to focus and play your best tennis.”

The loss by third-seeded Sharapova, the runner-up at Wimbledon this year, kicked yet another top player out of a wide-open draw. Already, the defending Wimbledon and French Open champions have been dispatched and two-time defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters didn’t enter because of an injury.

Earlier, No. 2 Vera Zvonareva defeated No. 30 Anabel Medina Garrigues and No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki is still in the draw, but neither has won a Grand Slam title. Sharapova was largely considered the biggest remaining threat to No. 28 Serena Williams, but now the Russian is gone, as well.

“It’s disappointing to lose in the middle of nowhere, disappointing to lose in New York,” Sharapova said. “Losing isn’t fun for anyone because we work to win. We don’t work to lose.”

Elsewhere at Flushing Meadows, No. 28 John Isner defeated fellow American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to get to the third round. Isner, who won the title in Winston-Salem last week, is on a seven-match winning streak and said his confidence is “high as it’s ever been.”

“I feel like I’m moving very well, I’m getting to balls and able to get a lot more balls back in play because I’m very comfortable out there,” Isner said.

Another all-American matchup between No. 21 Andy Roddick and 18-year-old Jack Sock was the main event scheduled at night in Ashe Stadium. Before that, 19-year-old American Christina McHale was to play No. 25 Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

Other winners included 2009 champion, No. 18 Juan Martin del Potro and No. 24 seed Juan Ignacio Chela. On the women’s side, No. 13 Peng Shuai of China defeated No. 19 Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

]]> http://queenzine.com/pennetta-goes-the-distance-with-sharapova-and-wins-ap.htm/feed 0 http://queenzine.com/martins-2-run-double-lifts-yanks-over-red-sox-4-2-ap.htm http://queenzine.com/martins-2-run-double-lifts-yanks-over-red-sox-4-2-ap.htm#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:22:45 +0000 Admin http://queenzine.com/martins-2-run-double-lifts-yanks-over-red-sox-4-2-ap.htm BOSTON – A.J. Burnett kept the New York Yankees close, Russell Martin put them ahead and Mariano Rivera nailed down a satisfying victory over Boston.

Rivera struck out AL batting leader Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded for the final out and Martin hit a go-ahead double in the seventh that sent New York to a 4-2 victory Thursday night despite stranding 12 runners over the first six innings.

Burnett, coming off an awful August, allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings after adjusting his delivery. Yankees manager Joe Girardi thought the changes would work.

“I just had a feeling tonight he was going to get it done,” Girardi said, “and he did.”

Struggling to stay in the rotation after going 1-2 with an 11.91 ERA in five starts last month, Burnett changed the position of his hands at the start of his windup.

“I’ve only really been working on that for three days. I’ve been pitching the same way for 11 years so it’s a big change, but as the game went on I felt more comfortable,” he said. “It all goes down to focus and conviction and that was a lot better.”

The Yankees trailed 2-1 when Burnett left, then scored three times in the seventh off Alfredo Aceves (9-2) in a tense game that took 4 hours, 21 minutes.

Nick Swisher started the inning by striking out. Aceves then walked Andruw Jones and hit Jesus Montero, a top prospect making his major league debut, with a pitch. Aceves was replaced by Daniel Bard, who gave up a double to right-center by Martin, the first batter he faced. Two runners scored and Martin went to third on the throw to the plate. Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez followed with an RBI single.

“Tremendous,” Girardi said of Martin’s hit. Bard “is one of the best relievers in the game and we were able to get some runs off him.”

The Red Sox threatened in the ninth, loading the bases on walks to Jed Lowrie and Jacoby Ellsbury and a single by Marco Scutaro. But Rivera caught Gonzalez looking at a third strike and picked up his 36th save in 41 opportunities.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” Boston manager Terry Francona said.

Dustin Pedroia’s two-run homer after a double by Gonzalez gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Aceves escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, then struggled in the seventh and took his first loss in relief after winning 18 straight decisions out of the bullpen.

The Yankees moved within a half-game of the first-place Red Sox in the AL East by winning two of three in the series. New York is 4-11 against Boston this season, and the teams have one three-game series remaining at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 23-25.

Cory Wade (3-0) got the win after pitching to just one batter, Lowrie, who ended the sixth by flying out.

Boston starter Jon Lester struggled in each of his five innings, throwing 114 pitches, but gave up only one run. That scored in the first when he needed 43 pitches. Leadoff hitter Derek Jeter struck out, but Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira singled and Robinson Cano drove in the run with a double.

“I tried to minimize the damage,” Lester said. “I was happy to get out of the first with one and from there on out it was a struggle.”

Teixeira left the game in the bottom of the seventh and is day-to-day after being hit by a pitch from Aceves on the side of the right knee in the sixth.

“I don’t know if I’ll have him (Friday)” in the opener of a three-game series against Toronto, Girardi said. “We’ll just wait and see.”

Burnett allowed one hit through three innings before giving up Pedroia’s homer into the center-field bleachers, his career-high 18th of the year. He hit 17 in 2008, when he was the AL MVP.

Burnett threw 94 pitches, walking David Ortiz on the last one. Boone Logan then struck out Carl Crawford. Wade came in and ended the inning by retiring Lowrie.

“It feels good to keep my team in it,” Burnett said. “Obviously, you want to go deeper, but to bounce back after a homer and to go as long as I could go and leave it all out there, it’s all I can do.”

NOTES: Aceves is 23-3 in his career. He entered the game as the only pitcher in baseball history to win 23 of his first 25 decisions. … The Red Sox added first baseman-outfielder Conor Jackson, obtained Wednesday night from the Oakland Athletics, and recalled left-hander Felix Doubront from Triple-A Pawtucket. … Montero stranded six runners as the designated hitter. … Bard’s streak of eight scoreless outings ended. … Ortiz extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the second. … Phil Mickelson, playing in the Deutsche Bank Championship starting Friday in Norton, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … The Yankees return home for the opener Friday night of a three-game series against the Blue Jays. Ivan Nova (14-4) pitches for New York against Brandon Morrow (9-9). … The Red Sox send Andrew Miller (6-1) to the mound against Derek Holland (12-5) in the opener Friday night of a three-game series with the Texas Rangers.