Defending champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova

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linhe
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Defending champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. Brian Dawkins Eagles Jersey . -- Defending champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova were upset in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday. First, Sharapova went down to qualifier Camila Giorgi, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, giving the young Italian her first victory over a top-five player. Then, Nadal followed on the main stadium court, losing 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. Nadal staged a furious rally in the third. He won three straight games, including a break of Dolgopolov, to tie it at 5. Both players held serve to send the match into the tiebreaker. They slugged it out from the baseline accompanied by a noisy soundtrack, with fans yelling and cheering. Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol watched nervously from Nadals box. Nadal led 4-2 before Dolgopolov won three straight points to take a 5-4 lead. The Ukrainian hit two forehand winners and came up with a big service winner. "I had enough breaks to win the match, but I didnt play enough well from the baseline then to be solid with my serve," Nadal said. "I didnt go for the points. I played with too many mistakes." Nadal evened it at 5-all, but he hit the ball long to set up match point. Dolgopolov served what he thought was an ace, but it was called out. He challenged the call and it showed the ball barely missed tagging the T. Dolgopolov put his second serve into play and produced a cross-court forehand that the worlds top-ranked player couldnt return. "Its a moment for the people to be proud a little bit for someone from their country," Dolgopolov said, referring to the political upheaval going on between Ukraine and Russia. "Its good to make some results and make the people forget a little bit and have some happy moments in the news." Dolgopolov had more errors (49) than winners (36). Last month, Nadal defeated Dolgopolov to win the Rio de Janeiro title. The Ukrainian has risen quickly in the ATP Tour rankings, going from No. 57 to 31st after a strong February, posting three wins against top-20 players in Rio and made the semifinals in Acapulco. Before Nadal was sent packing, Sharapova committed 58 errors in her first loss to a player ranked outside the top 30 since Wimbledon last year. "Shes someone that doesnt give you much rhythm," Sharapova said. "Shes quite aggressive, but some shots she hits incredible for a long period of time. Sometimes they go off a bit. If Im speaking about my level, it was nowhere near where it should have been." Ranked 79th in the world, Giorgi made it through qualifying to play Indian Wells for the first time. She improved to 3-2 against top-10 opponents. The 22-year-old led 4-2 in the final set, but Sharapova broke Giorgi twice to tie it at 5. "I was trying to just play my game, and maybe I accelerate more than the other set," Giorgi said. "I just play more aggressive." Giorgi then broke Sharapova at love before serving out the match, overcoming her 11th double fault to set up match point. Giorgi had 48 unforced errors and 24 winners. Awaiting Giorgi in the fourth round will be fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta, who beat No. 16 seed Sam Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. American Sloane Stephens was to play Ana Ivanovic, and Tommy Haas took on Kei Nishikori of Japan in night matches. Tied 4-all in the third, Sharapova was broken when her forehand was called long and Sharapova raised her arms. The chair umpire took the gesture to mean Sharapova was challenging the call, and the call showed the ball was out. Sharapova argued she was only throwing her arms up as if to ask, "Who made the call?" But the umpire disagreed, and Sharapova retreated to her sideline chair trailing 5-4. Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka routed 29th-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-0, 6-2. Andy Murray outlasted Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 in his second straight three-set match, and four-time tourney champion Roger Federer defeated 27th-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) with an ace on match point. Murray had 47 of the 99 unforced errors during the nearly three-hour match in the 80-plus-degree heat of the Southern California desert. The third set featured six service breaks, with Murray taking the last two. Top-seeded Li Na defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4, while American Sloane Stephens beat 11th-seeded Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (3), 6-4. Mike Quick Womens Jersey . The teams official Twitter account quoted coach John Tortorella on Friday saying that Kesler "has a sprained knee and is out at least a couple of weeks". Kiko Alonso Eagles Jersey . "I just want to help, just want to have fun, just want to play," Yakupov told reporters on Tuesday. The first overall pick from 2012 added that head coach Dallas Eakins doesnt trust him and something needs to be done.NEW YORK -- The "laughingstocks" won in a laugher. The Knicks resembled the division champions of a season ago rather than the biggest losers in New York, outplaying and even outtalking the Brooklyn Nets, who look like the real Big Apple busts. Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Iman Shumpert scored a season-high 17 points, and the Knicks ended a nine-game losing streak with 113-83 romp Thursday night in the first meeting of the season between the city rivals. "I think everybody looked like they had that feeling that we were tired of losing," Anthony said. "It showed from the tipoff." The Knicks (4-13) snapped a tie with the Nets (5-14) for most losses in New York, winning the game and the crowd with a dominant second half that had Spike Lee and the rest of the fans wearing blue and orange cheering perhaps the Knicks most complete performance of the season. Andrea Bargnani scored 16 before he was ejected in the fourth quarter, Knicks fans roaring in support of him standing up to Kevin Garnett. Brook Lopez had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, who again played without Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, or much passion in the second half. "Were struggling but were going to come out of this, man, thats the only way to think," Garnett said. "Im not going to think anything else." The game was nationally televised, as all four matchups are this season, but neither team had been giving fans much reason to watch. Nets coach Jason Kidd said Tuesday that both teams "stink," and Anthony not only agreed but added that the Knicks were the "laughingstock" of the league. Nobody was laughing at the Knicks on this night. New York made a season-high 16 3-pointers in 27 attempts (59 per cent), rediscovering a stroke that has been missing all season after it set an NBA record for makes in 2012-13, and led by as many as 34 points. Shumpert, who has been the subject of trade rumours and has struggled, hit five 3s and added six rebounds. The Nets hung in while the Knicks made 16 of their first 21 shots overall and trailed by only seven at halftime "Youve got to give the Knicks credit. They came (for) the season shooting around 32 per cent. Tonight they looked like the team of last year where they made a lot of 3s," said Kidd, who played for the Knicks last seaason. Wes Hopkins Eagles Jersey. "When they started the game off it didnt seem as if they were going to miss. But we stayed the course." Until the third quarter, that is, when their season-long woes in that period returned and the Knicks outscored them 34-16. When the public address announcer urged fans to stand and cheer before the fourth, they responded by booing, clearly sick of watching Brooklyn get hammered over the previous 12 minutes yet again. Tensions rose a couple of times, chiefly in the fourth quarter when Bargnani and Garnett became tangled as Bargnani fell to the court while trying to box out. Both players, along with Amare Stoudemire, were called for technical fouls, and Bargnani was hit with a second and thrown out shortly after when he appeared to say something toward Garnett after making a jumper. Garnett wouldnt discuss the incident, saying "I dont understand Italian" -- though Bargnani insisted whatever he said was in English. He also downplayed the exchange. "The most important thing is that we won the game, we played a great game and weve really got to start to build on this," Bargnani said. There were also double technicals and words exchanged after Andray Blatche set a hard pick on Shumpert in the first half, but that was about all the fight the Nets showed on the way to their sixth straight home loss. Both teams were booed during the introduction of starting lineups by split fan bases who are united in their early season disgust. The Nets believed they were a championship contender after acquiring Garnett and Pierce from Boston, the centerpieces of a roster that will cost more than $180 million in salary and luxury taxes. The Knicks are second to the Nets in payroll but had never gotten going after losing Tyson Chandler to a broken leg in their fourth game of the season. But they were the better team right from the tip. The Knicks made 12 of their first 14 shots and were ahead 30-15 after Anthonys 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining in the opening quarter. NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game for Nelson Mandela, South Africas first black president, who died Thursday at 95. Commissioner David Stern called Mandela "one of the most powerful and inspirational leaders in the world and a great friend of the NBA." ... The Knicks will try to end their seven-game home skid Friday against Orlando. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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