LONDON -- Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal -- and sometimes bot

Geregistreerd op: 04 Jul 2019 Berichten: 15

LONDON -- Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal -- and sometimes both -- appeared in all 10 Wimbledon finals from 2003-12, combining to claim nine of those titles. Jake McQuaide Jersey . Neither made it that far in 2013. Not even close. Federer lost his second match at the All England Club. Nadal exited in the first round, a year after bowing out in the second. With play at Wimbledon starting Monday, Federer and Nadal are eager to return to the heights they once reached with regularity at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. They sound certain that they are prepared to fare better than 12 months ago -- and, as might be expected from a seven-time champion, Federer came right out and called himself "a contender." "I feel like, yeah, if things click here, I should be able to win the tournament," Federer said Saturday. "I feel I have a very good chance again this year. I hope to utilize my fitness, the amount of matches Ive played this year," he added. "So Im really coming in with a much better feeling." Federer tuned up for Wimbledon, where he is seeded fourth, by winning a title on grass at Halle, Germany, last weekend. That showing gave Federer all the assurance he needed that his game is in prime form at the moment, especially on the slick surface he dominated for a decade. Last season, Federer explained, there were "certain things I wanted to do, but I couldnt figure out or couldnt do it." "This year," he continued, "I feel all the options are there. Return, serve, serve and volley, come in, my backhand -- everything is working to my liking. For that reason, I feel Im a bit more relaxed mentally, because I know it is there. I clearly want to do better than last year, theres no doubt about it." So does the second-seeded Nadal, of course. He reached five Wimbledon finals and earned a pair of trophies, including by edging Federer 9-7 in the fifth set in 2008. They met in three consecutive title matches at the All England Club from 2006-08, and could meet in the semifinals this year. First things first, though. Nadal has a test in the first round against big-hitting Martin Klizan, then could face Lukas Rosol, the man who stunned the Spaniard in 2012s second round. The third round could bring a challenge from tough server Ivo Karlovic. For now, Nadal is most pleased with the state of his left knee, which acted up during his 7-6 (4), 7-6 ( Cool

, 6-4 loss in 2013 to 135th-ranked Steve Darcis, saying it "hurts less this year than last year." Thats allowed Nadal to put in longer hours than usual on the practice courts this week, a key as the nine-time French Open champion transitions from clay to grass, on which he has lost three matches in a row. A year ago at Wimbledon, a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) loss to 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky ended Federers streak of getting at least to the quarterfinals at 36 consecutive major tournaments. It was Federers earliest Grand Slam defeat since May 2003. Somber that day, at least Federer can joke about it now. He said that when he ran into Stakhovsky on Friday, they kidded around about how they could only meet in the final this year, because they were drawn into opposite sides of the bracket. "So its all good for both of us," Federer said, then paused before delivering the punch line: "For me, at least." Micah Kiser Jersey .com) - Rakeem Christmas scored 21 points, B. KhaDarel Hodge Jersey . He says he will have the operation Wednesday and be ready in time for training camp in September. Bernier missed five games in March due to the injury. http://www.cheapramsjerseyschina.com/torry-holt-jersey/ . A larger-than-life personality known for his intimidating style in the 18-yard box, Schmeichels career spanned some 20 years -- including a memorable tenure at Manchester United.ST. LOUIS - John Lackey was just as advertised for the St. Louis Cardinals. Their post-season power surge has been a big surprise.Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to snap a seventh-inning tie, Matt Carpenter went deep for the third straight game and Lackey pitched St. Louis past the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 Monday night to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five NL Division Series.Well, we just kind of knew what we were going to get, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. He wants the ball. He proves it by how he goes out and throws.Facing elimination in St. Louis for the second consecutive post-season, the Dodgers will turn to ace Clayton Kershaw on short rest Tuesday night in Game 4. Shelby Miller makes his first playoff start for the Cardinals, one win from a fourth straight trip to the NL Championship Series.The Cardinals finished off Los Angeles in a six-game NLCS last fall, knocking out Kershaw in the fifth inning of a 9-0 blowout in the final game.Two runners reached against Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth before he earned his second save of the series a€” with an assist from the grounds crew on a rainy night.Rosenthal said he was unable to find his footing, missing badly on consecutive pitches to Juan Uribe, before the grounds crew applied a drying agent and raked the mound. The right-hander then threw a pair of practice pitches and regained his stride, retiring the next two batters on flies to right for his sixth career post-season save.Hanley Ramirez had three of the Dodgers seven hits, including an RBI double in the sixth.Lackey, acquired from Boston at the trade deadline, gave up five hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts. The veteran right-hander improved to 7-5 in post-season play, including three wins for the Red Sox last year a€” one against St. Louis in the World Series.I think theres definitely different energy, different adrenaline level. And that can take you to special places when you use it the right way, Lackey said. The atmosphere tonight was great. Fans were unbelievable. You feel that. You feed off that. If you channel it the right way, it can definitely help you out.Asked what made the 35-year-old Lackey so tough, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly mentioned plate umpire Dale Scott.I thought Dale was very generous, Mattingly said. We had a lot of guys complaining about the strike zone. We felt like he was really generous, and that puts you in a bind.You cant go too far with it, but really generous.St. Louis hit 105 homers in the regular season, the second-lowest total in the majors, ahead of only Kansas City. But the Cardinals have shown plenty of power in the playoffs, scoring 10 of their 15 runs on six homers in three games.Carpenter connected in the third and then Wong, the rookie second baseman who was picked off to end a World Seeries loss against Boston last year, hit a two-run shot off loser Scott Elbert to put the Cardinals ahead 3-1. Eric Weddle Jersey. That pickoff last year definitely crushed me for a long time throughout the off-season, Wong said. But it was something that I definitely look back and Im not thankful for it, but I know it made me stronger as a person and as a player.Once you go through something like that, everything else is a walk in the park.Carpenter and Wong, both left-handed hitters, connected against left-handed pitchers.Hyun-Jin Ryu tossed six solid innings for the Dodgers in his first start since a shoulder injury on Sept. 12.Pretty amazing, a guy can be off that long and be that sharp, Mattingly said. He settled down and went farther than we thought.Heavy rain fell briefly in the bottom of the seventh, when Molina greeted Elbert with a double for his second hit. Molina advanced on a sacrifice before Wong drove the next pitch into the Cardinals bullpen in right-centre and let out a scream as he rounded first.An awesome feeling, he said.Carpenter had eight homers in the regular season and had never connected in consecutive games before these playoffs. He hammered a 1-2 pitch from Ryu over the right-centre wall leading off the third.Yasiel Puig struck out in seven consecutive at-bats before hitting a leadoff triple in the sixth. Lackey almost got out of it, getting Adrian Gonzalez on a fly to shallow left and striking out Matt Kemp before Ramirez doubled to tie it.The crowd of 47,574 was the largest for a baseball game at 9-year-old Busch Stadium.Before the game, Mattingly announced Kershaw will start Game 4 on three days rest instead of Dan Haren, the only way Los Angeles has a chance to get two starts apiece out of its twin aces in this series. Zack Greinke would start Game 5 on regular rest in Los Angeles on Thursday night.This was certainly kind of a must-win, knowing that we do have Kershaw and Greinke left, Carpenter said.Kershaw was 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA this season and is a heavy favourite to win his third NL Cy Young Award in four years, but he blew a 6-1 lead in the Cardinals 10-9 victory in Game 1.UP NEXTDodgers: Kershaw pitched on three days rest against Atlanta in the Division Series last fall, allowing two unearned runs over six innings in the Game 4 clincher.Cardinals: Miller won 15 games as a rookie last year but was left out of the post-season rotation, partly because of workload concerns and partly because hed struggled against Division Series foe Pittsburgh.POWER COMPANYCarpenter and Albert Pujols are the only Cardinals players to homer in three consecutive post-season games. Pujols did it in 2004.COZY CONFINESThe Cardinals tied for the NL lead with 51 home wins during the regular season, while the Dodgers were the best road team at 49-32. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale NHL Jerseys Wholesale MLB Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Wholesale NCAA Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '