ACAPULCO, Mexico -- David Ferrer and Andy Murray, the top two seeded players in the Mexican Open, advanced to the second round on Tuesday while American and third-seeded John Isner became the first major casualty of the tournament, losing 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) to Croatias Ivo Karlovic.
[b]Don Chaney Jersey[/b] . Ferrer, the favourite in Acapulco, had a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin while Murray overcame a sluggish start and claimed a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Pablo Andujar, from Spain. "I had a difficult start, it was 10 minutes in the match and I was down 5-0, but I started to play more aggressively to get the win and hopefully I can have a good week here", Murray said. "The first set was extremely challenging, he was dictating the points, but later on he was getting tired and put the pressure on him". Murray, who played for the first time ever in Latin America, lost his first three service games and fell into a 5-0 hole, but came back strongly to set up a match against Joao Sousa of Portugal. "I played Joao once in Australia, he was new on the tour then and he has improved. Hes playing good tennis, hes good on clay and on hard courts", added Murray. "He plays similar to Pablo, hopefully I can play aggressively from the start." In the round-of-16, Ferrer, who is trying to win on Mexican soil for the fourth time in his career, will play Spanish compatriot Feliciano Lopez. "I..m not thinking about the final, Im only in the second round", Ferrer said. "Now Im only thinking about playing my best tennis against Feliciano Lopez, he..s a good player I need to give my best to beat him". Ferrer, who now has a 4-0 record against Kukushkin, is coming off an impressive run in the past two weeks of the ATP tour, winning the Buenos Aires tournament and reaching the semifinals in Rio de Janeiro last week. "Playing in Buenos Aires was not in my plans", said Ferrer who replaced his countryman Rafael Nadal in Argentina. "Im tired, but I will not be making any excuses, I need to take a rest now and get well for the rest of the tournament". Earlier, Karlovic served 15 aces to Isner fired eight in a match between two of the games biggest servers. "Im very disappointed," a visibly upset Isner said after the match. "I wanted to do well in here, is a good surface for me, but I played against a guy who played well against me". The 2.11-meter (6-foot-11) Karlovic now has a 3-2 career record against the 2.08-meter (6-foot-10) Isner, whos ranked 13th in the world. Sousa of Portugal came back to defeat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. South Africas Kevin Anderson downed Stephane Robert of France 6-2, 7-6 (7) and will next play Americas Sam Querrey. Also, Alexandr Dolgopolov, from the Ukraine, beat Canadas Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-2 and seventh-seeded Ernests Gulbis had a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Taiwans Yen-Hsun Lu. Latvias Gulbis won his fifth career title last week in Marsella. On the womens side of the combined ATP-WTA tournament, top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Urszula Radwanska, from Poland, Eugenie Bouchard eliminated Shahar Peer from Israel 6-2, 6-2, American Victoria Duval had a 6-2, 6-4 win over Czech Iveta Melzer and Estonian Kai Kanepi prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 against Jana Cepelova, from Slovakia.
[b]Tyson Chandler Jersey[/b] . The time off didnt slow them down. Tyler Zeller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, Kyrie Irving added 14 points and the Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to five games Tuesday night with a 114-85 victory over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers.
[b]Stu Lantz Jersey[/b] . Im very excited about the playoffs, particularly in the Western Conference with amazing match-ups, as well as the wonderful local story in the Toronto Raptors. It should be a blast. Here are my predictions, but based upon my lousy prognostications during the NCAA Tournament, you might be better off going the other way on some of mine - particularly with the Raptors, who I hope and pray are able to win an incredibly difficult match-up. DALLAS -- Former Dallas Cowboys player Josh Brent was sentenced Friday to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation for a drunken car crash that killed his friend and teammate, Jerry Brown. Brent was convicted Wednesday of intoxication manslaughter for the December 2012 crash on a suburban Dallas highway that killed Brown, who was a passenger in Brents car. Brent could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Brent, a Cowboys defensive tackle, and Brown, a linebacker on the practice squad, also played together at the University of Illinois and were close friends. They were headed home from a night of partying with Dallas teammates when Brent lost control of his Mercedes and crashed. Officers who arrived on scene saw Brent trying to pull Browns body from the wreckage. Blood tests pegged Brents blood alcohol content at 0.18 per cent, which is more than twice the states legal limit to drive of 0.08 per cent. Prosecutors told jurors that the burly, 320-pound lineman had as many as 17 drinks on the night of the crash. One of Brents lawyers, George Milner, argued that Brent wasnt drunk and was only "guilty of being stupid behind the wheel of a car." He contended that Brent couldnt have had nearly as much to drink as prosecutors said he had, and that the police blood tests were flawed. Brents lawyers pushed their case for probation Thursday, calling a Dallas County official who testified that the county currently has 34 intoxicatioon manslaughter cases that resulted in probation.
[b]Charles Barkley Jersey[/b]. . Kevin Brooks, one of Brents lawyers, said the one-time defensive tackle would be easy to monitor because of "who he is and who he was." Brent retired from football last year. Browns mother, Stacey Jackson, has also publicly forgiven Brent. When asked Thursday if she holds Brent responsible for her sons death, she said: "Hes still responsible, but you cant go on in life holding a grudge. We all make mistakes." Prosecutors pushed for prison time for Brent, who went to trial only weeks after another Texas intoxication manslaughter case sparked widespread public outrage. In that case, a defence expert argued that the defendant, a 17-year-old boy who caused a drunken crash that killed four people, deserved leniency because his parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility -- a condition the expert termed "affluenza." The teen wasnt given prison time. On Thursday, prosecutor Rebecca Dodds emphasized Brents 2009 drunken driving arrest in Illinois to press the states argument that he deserves prison time. In that case, he served 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to a misdemeanour charge. "Probation doesnt work for Josh Brent," prosecutor Rebecca Dodds told the jury during closing statements in the punishment phase. Brent played in all 12 games for the Cowboys in 2012 before the crash. Brown made the practice squad that season. ' ' '
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