ekansekans's blog: "df"

BARCELONA, Spain -- Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times after beating David Ferrer 7-6 (1), 7-5 in Sundays Barcelona Open final. The second-ranked Nadals 21st straight victory on clay followed up his eighth straight win in Monte Carlo, as Nadal won the 10th all-Spanish ATP final for a 48th career win. The sixth-ranked Ferrer lost his fourth Barcelona Open final to Nadal, who saved 12 of 15 break points for a 34th straight victory at Barcelona. Nadal skipped toward the net in celebration after hitting a backhand winner on match point. The six-time French Open champion displayed his normal resilience and steady play to overcome Ferrer in a match marked by grinding rallies and spectacular shot making more reminiscent of a major final. "This is the hardest match I had on clay court this season, David always takes you to the limit," Nadal told Spanish state TV. "A bit of it was lottery, luck fell on my side today." With a warm sun bearing down, the players exchanged early breaks before settling into a slugfest of powerful groundstrokes with long rallies often won by magnificently struck winners to the line. Neither player let a shot go unchallenged with the rhythm only disrupted in the fourth game when both players stopped as medical staff helped an unwell spectator out of the stands. Nadal saved seven of eight break points in the first set, including five which were set points for Ferrer in the 12th game. He fired an ace to save the last before holding for the tiebreaker, and Ferrers doublefault allowed Nadal to get ahead 4-1 as he took the first set in a grueling 93 minutes. Ferrer saved a triple-break point but then handed Nadal a 3-1 second set lead when his forehand sailed long. Nadal showed a dip in concentration on his next service game as he was forced to save a triple-break chance before netting on the fourth opportunity to let his opponent back in. Ferrer converted another break point when Nadal double-faulted to lead 5-4, but then hit wide on serve to be broken after Nadals incredible scramble had set up the break chance. After serving to love to lead 6-5, Nadals superb crosscourt forehand winner put him ahead as he broke Ferrer for the fourth time to pick up the C300,000 ($400,000) winners cheque in 2 hours, 41 minutes. "Like always, Rafa," said Ferrer, who has three wins already this season. "Ive lost four times but four times against a great." Only Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have beaten Nadal in a clay court final. RG3 Jersey .  TSN 1290s coverage begins with the pregame show at 11:00am Monday morning with Rick Ralph, colour analyst Bob Crawford joins Brian Munz in the broadcast booth for the play-by-play at noon. Authentic RG3 Jersey .  TSNs coverage of the 2012 IIHF World Under-18 Championship features at least four games, including Team Canadas final preliminary round match-up against the United States along with one quarter-final and one semifinal game, and the Gold Medal final. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/new.html . Brock Dykxhoorn of Goderich, Ont., provided 7 1-3 solid innings on the mound as Canada took first place in Group B with a 4-1 record and sets up a game with the United States late Wednesday in the first of three second-round games.PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have re-signed free agent reliever Jason Grilli to a two-year contract worth $6.75 million. The 36-year-old Grilli has enjoyed a career renaissance in Pittsburgh since originally signing with the Pirates in July 2011. He went 1-6 with a 2.91 ERA in 64 games in 2012 and struck out 13.8 batters per nine innings, fourth-best in the National League. The signing also gives tthe Pirates some flexibility in the bullpen next year in case it ever decides to part ways with closer Joel Hanrahan.dddddddddddd Grilli has spent the majority of his career as a middle reliever but has struggled staying healthy until arriving in Pittsburgh. He has been a mainstay in the seventh and eighth innings with the Pirates because of his ability to get strikeouts in key situations. ' ' '