The Temple of Dagon

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. Manuel Neuer 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. Julian Draxler Germany . -- Brian Dawkins biggest contribution Sunday in the AFC wild card playoffs will be with his talking and not his tackling. Benedikt Howedes Jersey . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end.After winning the Phoenix Open twice in a three-year span, J.B. Holmes was starting to make a name for himself on the PGA Tour. Thanks in part to his second victory at the greatest show on turf, Holmes made his first Ryder Cup team, and looked destined to be a long-standing member of U.S. international teams. That was all derailed when he began battling vertigo-like symptoms in the 2011 season. In his last three starts that year, he missed two cuts and had to withdraw from the PGA Championship. Shortly thereafter, Holmes was on the operating table undergoing brain surgery. He was diagnosed with structural defects in his cerebellum, or Chiari malformations. During the surgery, he had a quarter-sized piece of his skull removed. He came back and played a full season on the PGA Tour in 2012, but managed only two top-10 finishes, both of which came before the Masters. In March of last year, Holmes was roller-blading as part of his conditioning routine, but suffered an awkward fall in which he broke his left ankle. As he rehabbed that injury, Holmes decided it was time to go under the knife, again. This time, Holmes was going to have his troublesome left elbow fixed. Why not? He wasnt fully ready to come back to the tour anyway. Once the calendar changed to 2014, Holmes was ready to go. He waited until late January at the Farmers Insurance Open to make his debut. It has been a slow build to fully get back into game shape. He had more finishes outside the top 50 -- five -- than he had inside the top 20 -- four. However, all four of those top-20 finishes came in his last five starts before the Wells Fargo Championship. Entering the Wells Fargo, Holmes had shot par or better in 14 or his last 20 rounds, and that trend continued at Quail Hollow. Holmes shot 2-under 70 in the opening round, then went 11-under par in the middle two rounds to take the lead entering the final round. Coming down the stretch, he led by two and made the finish interesting. Jim Furyk sat two strokes back and had been in the clubhouse for nearly two hours. He started to pack his things while Holmes was on 18, but stopped when Holmes hit a poor chip shot. Needing to get down in two putts for the win, Holmes did just that to close out a 1-under 71. The win was his third on the PGA Tour. Among the biggest aspects of the victory for Holmes is that he now qualifies for all four majors. When he tees it up at Pinehurst for the U.S. Open next month, it will mark his first start in a major since that 2011 PGA Championship, which he had to withdraw from. Next spring, hell return to Augusta National for the Masters for the first time since 2008. He also moved himself into conttention for a spot on the U. Jurgen Klinsmann Germany. S. Ryder Cup team. Holmes did go 2-0-1 as a captains pick at the 2008 Ryder Cup, and not many Americans in line for this years team have winning records. Those things are far off at this point, but for Holmes to even be in that conversation is a huge victory by itself. Now that he is healthy, we are seeing what kind of player Holmes once was, and can be again. A word of warning, though. After Holmes other two wins, which were in February 2006 and February 2008, he posted only two more top-10 finishes in those seasons and both were in 08. The way Holmes is playing now, it isnt hard to see him bucking that trend the rest of this season. LPGAS BEST AMERICANS TOO HOT, TOO SOON? Whether it is the Solheim Cup, Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, each teams captain wants her players to be playing their best heading into that event. Three potential U.S. Solheim Cup team members are off to scorching starts this year on the LPGA Tour. Stacy Lewis just earned her first win this past weekend in Texas, and that was her eighth top-10 finish in nine starts. Michelle Wie also has a win and six top-10s in nine events, while team stalwart Cristie Kerr has six top-10s in eight tournaments. Is it too much too soon? The Solheim Cup wont be played for another 16 months. Captain Juli Inkster has to be happy to see how well some of her potential team members are playing right now. The Americans suffered a crushing defeat last year at the Solheim Cup, and the players from that team, and those hoping to make the 2015 squad, want to make sure what happened last year doesnt happen again. Five of the 10 winners this year on the LPGA Tour have been Americans, while two wins were by a European, Anna Nordqvist. With many of the tours top players hailing from Asia, having Americans winning half of the tours events is a great start for the team. Lets just hope they can keep the momentum going. MINI-TIDBITS - Dont try to blame John Daly for slow play problems, whatever tour he may be playing on. Daly was the first out in the final round of the Web.com event last weekend, and played as a single. Daly cruised around in 2 hours, 21 minutes. There are twosomes that dont play nine holes that fast at some tournaments. - From the where-are-they-now category, we bring you the curious case of Anthony Kim. According to a Golf Channel report last week, Kim rarely plays golf anymore. Kim had three PGA Tour wins by the age of 25, but he hasnt been seen on tour since 2012. The 28-year-old battled wrist, forearm and elbow injuries before tearing his Achilles. We might never know how great he could have been had he stayed healthy. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '