Funkerstation » )But then again, who could have been

RIO DE JANEIRO -- What was shaping up as a very long day of Olympic tennis for Rafael Nadal began shortly after 11 a.m., when he played the first point of what would become a victory that put him in the singles quarterfinals.Then, after a break of less than 2 hours, Nadal went back out on court for a mens doubles semifinal Thursday and won that, too, assuring himself of leaving the Rio de Janeiro Games with at least one medal for Spain.Apparently, though, that was enough for the 14-time Grand Slam champion, who pulled out of mixed doubles shortly before he was scheduled to pick up his racket yet again in the evening for a first-round match in that event.Nadal, the gold medalist in singles eight years ago, missed the 2012 London Olympics with a knee injury and spoke about making up for that in Brazil.The last-minute decision not to remain in all three draws he was eligible for this time might create questions about how hes feeling at the moment. But when hes been on court, Nadal has shown zero lingering effects of an injured left wrist that kept him off tour for 2+ months and forced him to withdraw from the French Open before the third round and skip Wimbledon altogether.Its not been an easy season for me, Nadal said. Two weeks ago, I really didnt know if I will have the chance to be here and compete in this Olympic Games, because the practice (time) was almost zero for two months.After Wednesdays entire tennis schedule was washed out because of rain, giving Nadal and everyone else a chance to rest, he resumed his pursuit of some hardware by beating 15th-seeded Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (5), 6-3 in singles. That match lasted 2 hours, 2 minutes in the main stadium, and was contested in shifting wind that made it tricky to calibrate shots and repeatedly knocked over courtside signage.In the end, hes still the same, Simon said. He never had three, four bad points in a row.Nadals next opponent will get plenty of home crowd support: Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, who advanced by eliminating David Goffin of Belgium 7-6 (10), 6-4.The other mens quarterfinals: Andy Murray of Britain vs. Steve Johnson of the United States; Kei Nishikori of Japan vs. Gael Monfils of France; and Robert Bautista Agut of Spain vs. Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.The womens semifinals are Angelique Kerber of Germany against Madison Keys of the U.S., and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic against Monica Puig of Puerto Rico. The winners will meet for gold; the losers will meet for bronze.Its obviously a little bit different playing for an Olympic medal, versus a Grand Slam, said Keys, an Australian Open semifinalist in 2015. But theyre both big stages. Theyre both big moments.A little past 3:30 p.m., Nadal was at Court 3 alongside his good friend Marc Lopez for doubles, and after playing for a minute more than 2 hours, they were lying on top of each other at the baseline, celebrating a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) victory over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil of Canada.When Nadal sat on the sideline bench, he planted a kiss atop Lopezs head. Then Nadal appeared to begin crying, and Lopez threw an arm around his shoulders.High emotions on court, Nadal said, and a lot of nerves.They will wind up with either gold or silver, depending on the outcome of their final against Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania.Nadal is trying to become the first player to win gold in singles twice. Also attempting to achieve that: Murray, the defending Olympic champion.For a stretch of Thursdays 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win against the combustible Fabio Fognini of Italy, though, Murray appeared to be headed out of the tournament.The two-time Wimbledon champion dropped eight consecutive games to lose the second set and trail 3-0 in the third.Sometimes your opponent can be playing great. Sometimes youre playing terrible. Sometimes the conditions dont allow for you to play really well, and the conditions didnt allow that today, Murray said. Shadow on the court was making it very hard to pick up the ball and the wind was swirling everywhere.The 40th-ranked Fognini, who recently married 2015 U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta, acknowledged he got distracted by what he thought was a bad line call while one point from leading 4-1 in the final set.I was playing better than him for 1+ sets, Fognini said. And then, unfortunately, there was that call.Later, Murray suddenly found himself doing double duty, entering the mixed doubles field with Heather Watson and playing Thursday night after a late withdrawal by another team. Murray and Watson reached the second round, beating Carla Suarez Navarro and David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichJames Johnson Heat Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Meyers Leonard Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/Derrick-Jones-City-Edition-Jersey/ . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. James Johnson Jersey . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. Jeremiah Martin Heat Jersey . PAUL, Minn.Throughout the Tour de France, Australian professional cyclist Richie Porte will be checking in. Here is his latest entry, as told to ESPN contributor Rupert Guinness:Stage seven: LIsle Jourdain to Lac de Payolle, 162.5kmWhat about that for a reminder of how the unexpected can happen in the Tour de France; the collapse of the inflatable one kilometre to go arch in stage seven on Friday.It was hard to know what led to the inflatable arch falling as it did, on British rider Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) seconds before the peloton and I hit the last 1000m stretch of the 159.5km seventh stage.When we got there, the police stopped us and were like, What the hell happened?Richie Portes stage six diaryRiders were trying to get around and underneath it in a rush to re-start their sprint. You just never know what is going to happen in any given situation.Until now, I certainly had never been in a race where this happened ... Well, I have been in races where the 20km to go sign has fallen, but to this extreme and with one kilometre to go in the Tour, never.Although, Im grateful the race jury implemented the three-kilometre to go rule that is not normally in place for mountain stages like this - the first of three in the Pyrénées - where the pelotons time is taken with three kilometres to go due to an incident out of its control inside that mark.I was on the right side of the road when the arch collapsed. We were very lucky. If we were sprinting and the arch fell it would have been dangerous.Not so lucky was Yates. I saw him on the side of the road with his bike stuck in the arch. I was initially with him and Irishman Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) as we got a gap on the peloton near the summit of the Col dAspiin.ddddddddddddOn the descent, Yates was taking some risks; I was not really keen on pushing that much ... not this early in the Tour.It was quite a tricky and fast descent though, and Yates deserved the result he finally got after we were given the same time on the stage - the white jersey of best young rider, that was his aim with the late attack.The jersey had previously been worn by Frenchman Julian Alaphilipe (FDJ)But then again, who could have been ready for what we saw when we got to the last kilometre: the one kilo to go arch down.Forgetting our shock, it still made for a bit of an anti climax for the stage. We would normally have been sprinting for the finish, but then that happens.That drama aside, the stage still ended superbly for us, with our Belgian teammate Greg Van Avermaet keeping the yellow jersey for Saturdays eighth stage in the Pyrénées. Greg raced smart to get into the early break of 29 riders that got up to a five-minute lead. With that advantage up his sleeve he rode as hard as he could to the end of the stage. He extended his overall lead by 39 seconds, to five minutes 50 seconds which was incredible.I thought we might have ridden a little quicker up the Col dAspin, but then no one was really committed. Maybe that is a sign everybody is a bit fatigued by the heat or they are saving it up for stage eight and beyond.You never know. This tour is a bit of a poker match at the moment. Nothing taken away from Greg. His race was still brilliant. It is not often that you see a yellow jersey - especially in the Tour - just jump in the days break as he did. ' ' '