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again today. Happ has won five

  • November 28, 2019 2:23 AM EST

    HALLE, Germany -- Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the second round of the grass-court Gerry Weber Open on Thursday, losing 6-4, 6-1 to German wild card Dustin Brown. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . "I didnt play," Nadal said. "That can happen when you play an opponent like this. But I dont want to talk about the opponent." Brown, the world No. 85, broke Nadals serve at the fifth attempt to win the first set, and he pulled off two audacious lobs in succession to break the Spaniard again early in the second. Nothing Nadal tried seemed to work in his first match since winning his ninth French Open title. He had a first-round bye at Halle, where he was the top seed. "The only way I could have tried to do more was resisting with my serve, something I hadnt practiced a lot these days," said Nadal, who was unnerved by Browns unpredictability. "For the first four games he didnt put any returns on the court and then suddenly he was playing winners from the return, so its difficult to analyze these kinds of matches. The only thing I can do is keep working the way that I did the last three days, because I came here, I tried hard, I tried my best." Brown became the lowest ranked player to beat a world No. 1 since 2008, when No. 98 Mardy Fish beat Roger Federer at Indian Wells. "I never played against a world No. 1 before, never played him before, so this is just crazy for me," the player with the distinctive dreadlocks said. Brown said it was too soon to consider he will face compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals. "I havent thought about that at all yet. Im going to enjoy this," Brown said. Federer began his preparations for Wimbledon by coming from behind to beat Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2. Sousa saved all five break points he faced before taking the first set in a tiebreaker, but the second-seeded Federer raised his level in the next two sets to win the second-round match and move into the quarterfinals. "It was important to stay calm, and actually it gives me more confidence winning this way than maybe just 6-4, 6-4 and you dont quite know what is going on," said Federer, who acknowledged he was worried after losing the first set. It was the seven-time Wimbledon winners first match since losing in the fourth round at the French Open to Ernests Gulbis. He also had a first-round bye in Halle, where he is a six-time champion. He will next play Taiwans Lu Yen-hsun, who defeated Croatias Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3). Steve Johnson is through to the quarterfinals after Teymuraz Gabashvili pulled out of their second-round match with a right knee injury. The American lined up fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori on Friday. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .com) - Generally you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend. Cheap NFL Jerseys . In Englands first game since its worst-ever World Cup showing, Roy Hodgsons side rarely looked like scoring against unambitious opposition and the breakthrough in the friendly only came when Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area.CINCINNATI - The Toronto Blue Jays have quite the act to follow. The American League East leaders take aim at a second straight victory on Saturday afternoon in the middle contest of a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds. The Blue Jays seemed well on their way to an eighth loss in 10 games in Fridays opener, falling behind 8-0 after the second inning. However, they began to chip away, starting with Edwin Encarnacions three-run homer in the third frame, and trailed 9-3 after the fifth inning before catching fire and battling back for a 14-9 win. Toronto tied the contest in the eighth inning on Dioner Navarros RBI double and Encarnacion highlighted a five-run ninth frame with another three-run homer, his MLB-leading 23rd longball of the year. Juan Francisco had a two-run homer and Brett Lawrie added a solo shot as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak. "What a ballgame. Those things are some kind of rare," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said on his teams website. "Were down 8-0, youre scrambling, and basically all youre thinking is, How are we going to get through this game with the pitching? Then of course Edwin got us on the board, we had some other action, we kind of held them in check and then we just kind of exploded." Devin Mesoraco and Jay Bruce hit two-run homers in the big second inning for the Reds, and Mesoraco added a run-scoring groundout in the fifth inning, but Cincinnati ended uup losing its second straight game after winning six of seven. Cheap MLB Jerseys. "Fortunately, tonights loss counts as one loss. Unfortunately, it was an ugly loss," Reds manager Bryan Price said on his teams official website. "And that is one of the types of losses that affects everybody." Despite the epic comeback, the Blue Jays hope that starter J.A. Happ can prevent the club from falling behind big again today. Happ has won five of his last seven starts and is coming off a 5-2 victory in Baltimore on Sunday. The left-hander had one of his better outings of the year, allowing one run on seven hits over six innings while striking out six without a walk. Happ, 31, improved to 6-3 with a 4.05 earned run average on the year and is 1-2 lifetime versus the Reds with a 5.64 ERA in five meetings. Looking to right the Reds ship will be Mike Leake, but he will need to put his June struggles behind him to do so. Leake has pitched to an 8.22 ERA in three outings this month, losing the first two before getting plenty of support in a 13-4 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday. The 26-year-old righty needed the help as he allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks in five innings of work. Leake is 4-6 with a 3.80 ERA on the season and lost his only previous start against the Blue Jays on June 17, 2011, though he allowed just three runs over seven innings. Toronto is 9-4 versus Cincinnati dating back to the 2003 campaign. ' ' '