RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Rafael Nadal showed no signs of a tender back Tuesday, defeating fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Rio Open. Adidas Neo Trainers Womens . It was No. 1-ranked Nadals first match since losing three weeks ago in the Australia Open final against Stanislas Wawrinka, a match the Spaniard was a heavy favourite to win. Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the final in Australia, bringing up questions again about his health to start a season. A year ago he was coming back from a left knee injury, which he overcame to win the French and US Open. "Daniel is a specialist on clay, so for me it was a great match after so much time off after the final in Australia because of the back problems," Nadal said. "I practiced very little. So I was happy to get back, and get back with a victory." Nadal looked fine on the outdoor red clay and seems headed for a possible final Sunday against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Ferrer defeated Jeremy Chardy in his first-round match 6-2, 6-3. Nadal broke Gimeno-Traver in the sixth game en route to taking the first set. The two were even in the second set until Nadal broke in the 11th game and then served out to win. Nadal has the best clay-court record in the Open Era, 294-21. "For Rio, for the Brazilian people, for everybody its nice because hes No. 1 in the world," third-seeded Fabio Fognini said of Nadal. "For the tournament, especially because its the first year, I think it will help." Other seeded players advancing on Tuesday included: No. 3 Fognini, No. 4 Tommy Robredo, No. 7 Juan Monaco and 8 Pablo Andujar. Ousted were No. 5 Nicolas Almagro and No. 6 Marcel Granollers. In the combined WTA event, top-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic won her first-round match, beating Colombias Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-4. Second-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy was eliminated in a 6-4, 6-4 to Spains Lourdes Dominguez Lino. Unseeded Teliana Pereira defeated No. 4 Alexandra Cadantu 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Brazilian woman ranked in the top 100 in 23 years. The last was Andrea Vieira. Brazils most famous womens player is Maria Bueno, who won seven Grand Slams, the last at the US Open in 1966. Cyber Monday Michael Kors Bags . -- Terrell Suggs has signed a four-year extension with Baltimore that saves the Ravens salary cap room and puts the linebacker in position to finish his career in Baltimore. Adidas Zx 700 g96513 .Bayern also had a Dutchman to thank, with Arjen Robbens 27th-minute strike enough for the defending champions to go provisionally 10 points clear after 13 games.Huntelaars brilliant chip in the ninth was followed by an easier finish in the 25th when he was left free.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Charlotte Hornets failed in an attempt to keep their winning streak intact, so theyll try to start a new one Saturday versus the Indiana Pacers at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Hornets were riding a five-game winning streak until they opened a four- game homestand with Wednesdays 98-93 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Manu Ginobili led the visitors with 27 points off the bench and Kemba Walker countered with 28 for the Hornets. Walker, the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Jan. 5-11, has scored 28 points or more in six straight games, posting an average of 29.8 ppg in that time. Bismack Biyombo recorded 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to go with five blocks for Charlotte, which made only 38.4 percent of its shot and fell to 8-13 at home this season. Against a team like that, you cant have a stretch of five minutes with no defense, said Hornets coach Steve Clifford. Youre not going to win. Lance Stephenson returned from a 14-game absence with a pelvic injury and scored five points. On Saturday, hell face the team he played with the first four seasons of his career with before bolting this summer via free agency. The Hornets have held the last seven opponents under 100 points and will also host the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat on the homestand. Adidas Zx Flux All Black. Hornets guards Gerald Henderson (illness) and Gary Neal (hamstring) are questionable. The Pacers are slumping, losing three straight and all to teams with sub-.500 records. The last two came at home, but Indiana hits the road, starting Saturday. On Friday, the Pacers fell to the red-hot Detroit Pistons, 98-96. Andre Drummond turned defense into offense for the Pistons. He took a charge from Roy Hibbert with 23.9 seconds left and then tipped in the winning shot with 0.3 seconds remaining. It was definitely a difficult game. It was in our favor. We just have to learn to put games away, Indiana forward Solomon Hill said. Hibbert had 14 points, while David West and Damjan Rudez each scored 13 for the Pacers. Ian Mahinmi finished with 12, followed by 11 from Donald Sloan and 10 out of Hill. After their stop in Charlotte, the Pacers will also visit the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic on this sojourn through the southern part of America. The Pacers edged the Hornets, 88-86, on Nov. 19, as Hills putback as time expired sealed the win for Indiana. Al Jefferson posted 28 points in that one for Charlotte, which has lost 16 of the last 19 games in this series. Indiana and Charlotte will meet again Feb. 8 and April 3. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
