ayed in the game. Parra (ankle) came off the 15-ayed in the game. Parra (ankle) came off the 15- | Forum

RIO DE JANEIRO -- After struggling for much of his Olympic singles quarterfinal against a Brazilian opponent backed by a raucous home crowd, Rafael Nadal finally seized control by using a big backhand to set up an easy putaway at the net for a third-set service break. Nike Air Max 270 React Bauhaus Cheap .Perhaps wary of drawing the ire of all of those flag-waving fans, Nadal offered a rather muted reaction -- none of the leaps or uppercuts or yells of Vamos! hed displayed earlier at the Rio de Janeiro Games.Nadal moved into the semifinals as he bids to add a second singles gold to the one he earned for Spain in 2008, handling a hostile environment and coming back to beat 54th-ranked Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Friday. And then he went back out on court and teamed with Marc Lopez to win the mens doubles title, edging Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in that final.I dont even know how things are going so well, said Nadal, who missed the past 2+ months with an injured left wrist, because I didnt do any preparation for the tournament.Andy Murray, the defending champion from Britain, also is trying to become the first tennis player with a pair of Olympic singles titles. He found himself in an even tenser, tighter match, before emerging to edge Steve Johnson of the United States 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (2).Close to going out, Murray said after winning despite trailing by a break in the third set for the second match in a row. Sometimes that can work in your favor as the tournament goes on. You start to feel a little bit better. You loosen up a little bit.On Saturday, Nadal will play 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, while Murray faces Kei Nishikori of Japan.Del Potro, who knocked out No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round, beat Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 7-6 (4). Nishikori got past Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6).The womens final is also Saturday, when Monica Puig attempts to win Puerto Ricos first gold medal in any sport in Olympic history. She beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, and will face Angelique Kerber of Germany, the Australian Open champion who defeated Madison Keys of the U.S. 6-3, 7-5. Kvitova meets Keys for the bronze.This Olympics isnt about me, the 34th-ranked Puig said. Its about Puerto Rico, and I know how bad they want this.No matter what happens in his singles semifinal, Nadal will get to leave Rio with a medal from doubles. Not bad for a guy who missed the London Games four years ago because of a knee injury, then came to Brazil with a wrist he says is not fully healed.Maybe hes not (enjoying) the best time of his career, Bellucci said, but hes playing really well.Nadal is a former No. 1 and owns 14 Grand Slam titles. Bellucci, who lives in Sao Paulo, is also a lefty, but thats pretty much where the similarities end.He reached a career-best ranking of 21st in 2010, not long after making his only trip to the fourth round of a major tournament. He arrived at his home Olympics with an 11-18 record in 2016 -- and a career losing mark, too.It was Nadal who started shakily, though, committing 10 unforced errors and generating only two winners in the opening set. He was broken twice and never earned so much as a single break chance.Nadal cleaned things up in the second, though, and while he did get broken again while serving for it at 5-3, he broke right back with a running cross-court forehand passing winner to force a third.Following a shanked forehand early in the final set, Nadal kicked his foot against the court. At the time, it appeared to be a sign of frustration. But at the ensuing changeover, Nadal removed his left shoe so a trainer could tape up the little toe on that foot.Right after that lengthy break, Nadal broke at love to go ahead 3-1, and that was pretty much that.Still, Bellucci enjoyed the atmosphere. Fans cheered for Nadals miscues -- even faults, generally considered a no-no in tennis -- and roared for Belluccis best shots as if victory and defeat hung in the balance with each point.When their guy would grab a game, they would sing, soccer-style, Ole, ole, ole, ole! Tho-maz! Tho-maz!They reprised that chorus even after he lost.It was, Bellucci said, amazing for me.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Nike Air Max 270 Womens Clearance . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Air Max 270 Flyknit Triple Black . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. http:///...ntom-at6174-002.html . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. DENVER -- Rougned Odor and Jurickson Profar had discussed double steals before. So when both reached base in the ninth inning, they pulled one off exactly as planned.Elvis Andrus brought them home with a two-run single, Mitch Moreland delivered a tiebreaking double and the Texas Rangers scored three times in the ninth to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Monday night.We made eye contact and went, Odor said.With two runners in scoring position, Andrus single tied it 3-all. Moreland then sent Andrus home with a double before he was thrown out stretching at third.We look for opportunities like that, Rangers manager Jeff Banister. Weve been aggressive with baserunners all year long.Texas, which has won three straight and eight of 11, improved to 4-3 on its eight-game road trip. The teams conclude a two-game series in Colorado on Tuesday before heading to Texas to begin another two-game set Wednesday.Tyler Anderson allowed two hits in seven innings for Colorado, but Carlos Estevez (2-7) was handed his fifth blown save in the ninth.Tyler was great once again, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. Always tough when you lose games late, no question.Nolan Arenado homered for the third time in two days and drove in two runs for the Rockies. David Dahl had a pinch-hit single in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez exited in the second with left ankle inflammation. Gonzalez sat out two games last week after spraining his ankle on a groundout in Wednesdays 12-2 win over the Dodgers.During the warmup I started feeling a little tight, Gonzalez said. When I was running down the line I felt really bad.Colorado has lost four of five.Cole Hamels yielded two runs in six innings for Texas. He avoided losingg back-to-back starts for the first time since 2014 thanks to the Rangers late rally. Nike Air Max 270 Discount. The left-hander struck out six and walked one.Anderson gave up one hit through six scoreless innings before Adrian Beltre homered to center field on his first pitch of the seventh, cutting Colorados lead to 2-1. Anderson retired the next three batters, and Adam Ottavino stranded runners at the corners with a strikeout of Jonathan Lucroy in the eighth to extend his scoreless streak to 26 1/3 innings.Charlie Blackmon had an RBI single in the third. Arenado, who leads the National League in home runs (30) and RBI (89), homered in the fourth and hit an RBI single in the eighth off winner Keone Kela (3-1).Moreland provided the decisive hit off the right-field wall in the ninth.My mindset is were always in the game, he said.NEXT UP FOR 3,000?After Ichiro Suzuki became the 30th member of the 3,000-hit club on Sunday at Coors Field, the 37-year-old Beltre is next on the active list with 2,880 and counting.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: DH/OF Carlos Beltran was out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive day with a bruised left quadriceps. The 39-year-old slugger walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.Rockies: OF Gerardo Parra pinch-hit for Gonzalez in the second and stayed in the game. Parra (ankle) came off the 15-day disabled list Sunday.UP NEXTRangers: RHP A.J. Griffin (5-1, 4.05 ERA) is 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA in his last three starts. The Rangers are 10-4 in his 14 starts.Rockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood has gone 2-1 over his last three starts, allowing five runs in 18 innings. Hes also walked 15 batters, though. ' ' '