his first postseason start in Game 4 on from corse178's blog
Andy Murray has been placed in Rafa Nadals half of the draw for the Madrid Open, with the Spaniard keen to continue his superb return to form. Cheap Falcons Jerseys China . Defending champion Murray comes to Madrid of the back of a much improved showing in Monte Carlo where he reached the semi-final, only to run into a Nadal beginning to show signs that he is back to his very best. Sky Live: Madrid Masters How to follow the Madrid Masters on Sky Sports Murray beat Nadal to win in Madrid last year while Nadal saw off Murray in three sets on his way to the title in the principality before going on to win in Barcelona and a victory in Madrid this week would set him up perfectly for a run at the French Open later this month where he is aiming to win an unprecedented 10th title at Roland Garros. Murray and Nadal are joined by Roger Federer and world No 1 Novak Djokovic in an A-list cast in Madrid and after a couple of years on inconsistency it is the Spaniard who arrives as the form player. Rafa Nadal beat Andy Murray in Monte Carlo Ive been playing well for a while, Nadal said at a promotional event this week. But you need the results to come along with that.Murrays win in Madrid last year gave him his first ever Masters title on clay and the world No 2 practiced with Nadal at the Spaniards tennis academy in Manacor in the lead up to the tournament. Andy Murray claimed his first clay court Masters with vcitory in Madrid last year And Murray, whose season has been disjointed after some time off following the birth of his first child, is well aware of Nadals capabilities Every player goes through periods where they dont necessarily play as well as they have done previously, Murray said.Rafa is still one of the best players on the surface and he still works as hard as he can on and off the court. I am sure he has gone away and worked at things since last year, so its hard to say if hell ever be back up to where he was, I guess we will have to wait and see. Watch highlights as Andy Murray mastered Rafa Nadal in Madrid last year In terms of the defence of his title Murray admits last year he was in top condition before claiming a memorable success over the home favourite.My preparation last year was probably the best its ever been for the clay, said the the Scot.I prepared for the event more thoroughly than I had done in previous years. When you have done everything you can do to ensure that youre ready for the surface, it gives you confidence. Roger Federer has added the Madrid Open to his schedule Federer, a winner in Madrid in 2012, added Madrid to his schedule in the last week as he steps up prepertions for the French Open and he is in the same half of the draw as Murray and Nadal - if the draw pans out he could play the Spaniard in the quarter finals.The Swiss while play either Nicholas Mahut or Joao Sousa, Murray will face either Vasek Pospisil or a qualifier while Nadal faces either Viktor Troicki or Andrey Kuznetsov. Novak Djokovic will be keen to make amends for a shock defeat to Jiri Vesely in his last outing In the other half of the draw, Djokovic will be looking for a third Masters title of the year but after success in Indian Wells and Miami he faces a particularly tricky assignment with clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro or talented teenager Borna Coric his second round opponent.Djokovics only Madrid title came in 2011 and he will be keen to make amends for a shock second round defeat to Jiri Vesely in Monte Carlo. Masters of their trade Nadal and Djokovic tied on total Masters crowns You can follow all the action on Sky Sports this week with the action getting underway at 11am on Sky Sports 3 on Monday.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: Sky Live: Madrid Masters Masters of their trade ATP schedule Tennis on Sky Cheap Falcons Jerseys Authentic . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Cheap Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. http://www.cheapfalconsjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-julio-jones-jersey . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. CHICAGO -- Clayton Kershaws playoff renaissance is over, at least for this year. The ace flopped at a big moment -- again.Kershaws postseason resume took another hit in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series, finishing off the reeling Los Angeles Dodgers. The Chicago Cubs beat up the three-time Cy Young Award winner and took advantage of Los Angeles shaky defense on their way to a 5-0 victory Saturday night, leaving the Dodgers still in search of their first World Series trip since winning the title in 1988.Kershaw could have started Game 5 on three days rest, but manager Dave Roberts decided to save him for Saturday night at Wrigley Field. Roberts was hoping a couple more days would help Kershaw duplicate his performance from Game 2, when he pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in a 1-0 victory.The decision worked out quite well -- for the Cubs. After winning a pair of shutouts in Games 2 and 3, the Dodgers dropped the next two by a combined score of 18-6. Even the great Kershaw was unable to slow Chicagos momentum, and Dave Roberts first season as Dodgers manager ended in disappointment.The left-hander allowed four earned runs and seven hits while dropping to 4-7 with a 4.55 ERA in 18 playoff games.I think that the first thing I saw is the Cubs hitters, they had a great game plan tonight, Roberts said. And there was a couple mistake sliders that they took advantage of. But they were running counts, they used the whole field, and there was traffic all night for Clayton. And he gave it everything he had, but when they did -- when he did make a mistake, they made him pay.Fowler hit a ground-rule double on Kershaws third pitch of the night, and the Cubs were off and running. Kris Bryant followed with an RBI single. Then left fielder Andrew Toles dropped Anthony Rizzos fly ball to the gap in left-center, setting up Ben Zobrists sacrifice fly.It was the first time Kershaw had given up two runs in the first inning all season. Cheap Falcons Jerseys. Fowler added a two-out RBI single in the second, rookie Willson Contreras hit a leadoff drive in the fourth and Anthony Rizzo connected in the fifth. It was the first time Kershaw had allowed two homers in a game since April 9 at San Francisco.That was it for Roberts, who hit for Kershaw in the sixth.While Kershaw struggled against the Cubs, the Dodgers were shut down by Kyle Hendricks and Aroldis Chapman, who combined on a two-hitter. Los Angeles had four baserunners, no advancing past first as the Cubs turned three double plays and ended an inning with a pickoff.Dave Roberts managed the Dodgers to the NL West title after taking over for Don Mattingly. But injuries to Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson and Hyun-Jin Ryu hurt rotation depth.Kenta Maeda, who won 16 games during his rookie season, struggled in the playoffs, and 20-year-old Julio Urias was knocked out in the fourth inning of his first postseason start in Game 4 on Wednesday night.Los Angeles went with three starters in the Division Series against Washington and Kershaw pitched three times, including a two-out save in the clinching Game 5. When he stepped up again in his first start in the NLCS, it looked as if he might be on the verge of a postseason breakthrough.But his turnaround came to a screeching halt on a cool night in the Windy City. He dropped to 1/3 with a 6.28 ERA in five career starts with the Dodgers facing postseason elimination, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.We have asked a lot of Clayton all year long, so, again, its just more of you got to give those hitters credit, Roberts said.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
The Wall