News » imbledon runner-up pulled out of last weeks

The Washington Nationals remain the top team in the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals -- a surge from the National League. With a 19-9 record in the past 28 games, the Nationals are riding their strong starting pitching to a comfortable lead in the National League East. The Dodgers, getting healthier as a team and benefitting from big production out of Matt Kemp, have surged into second spot, their highest ranking of the season after ranking third in the preseason. The top-ranked team in the preseason, the Cardinals, have battled through their own share of injuries, but with Yadier Molina returning behind the plate and Michael Wacha back in the rotation, the Cardinals are up from 10 to three in the rankings. Staying in the National League Central, the Pittsburgh Pirates are up from 14 to nine with Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen returning to the lineup and an 11-6 record in the past 17 games keeps the Pirates in a playoff spot. Heading the other way, the Oakland Athletics fall from two to five, and could fall further if not for the substantial good (statistical) will that they build up before their recent swoon, going 8-19 in the past 27 games. Could be worse, though. The Milwaukee Brewers have three wins in the past 18 games, which has knocked them out of playoff position and the Chicago White Sox, who are 10-23 in the past 33 games, slide from 20 to 23. The Toronto Blue Jays continue to hang around the middle, down from 15 to 16. Theyre competitive, but still sitting outside the playoff teams. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Wholesale New Balance Shoes . And yet as they left TD Garden amid the slush and snow of a winter storm on Thursday evening, there was a sense among the Leafs that they had finally stood toe to toe with their long-time bully, only to fall just short. New Balance Shoes Clearance Sales . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. http://www.newbalancediscount.com/. Bring on Freddy Garcia. The well-travelled 36-year-old right-hander earned his second NL victory since 2007, and his first since he joined the Atlanta Braves last month, pitching six innings to help beat Miami 6-1 Thursday. New Balance Sneakers Discount . He is nigh unstoppable against the leagues worst. The 31-year-old dangerman set up two goals and scored two himself as Toronto FC rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the slumping Houston Dynamo 4-2 on Saturday night. New Balance Running Shoes Discount . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves.Lille, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Roger Federer lost and Stan Wawrinka won, as visiting Switzerland and France are tied at 1-1 following the opening singles at the 2014 Davis Cup final. The Swiss drew first blood on Friday when Wawrinka handled Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, while the nightcap saw Gael Monfils douse the former world No. 1 Federer in straights, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, on some slow red clay in Lille. The acrobatic former top-10 star Monfils played near flawless tennis in taking advantage of the 33-year-old Federer, who failed to demonstrate his typical on-court prowess, perhaps due to a much-publicized back injury. Already ahead by two sets, a determined Monfils got his fourth break of the match to grab a 3-2 lead in the third, and he would keep Federer down from there. Monfils broke Federer once again to close out the rubber, which he did on his first match point with an easy backhand winner. The uneventful affair was over in 1 hour, 46 minutes, as Monfils popped 10 aces and tallied five breaks, while a stunned Federer failed to break his French counterpart on Day 1. Monfils struck 19 more winners than Federer (44-25), while the Swiss legend uncorked 11 more unforced errors (29-18). The 19th-ranked Monfils is now 10-2 in his career Davis Cup singles, while Federer fell to 37-8. The world No. 2 Federer is now 8-3 lifetime against Monfils, who pushed the Swiss icon mightily in their last meeting in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, where Federer had to save two match points before coming back to win in a five-set thriller. In the opener in Lille on Friday, the world No. 4 Australian Open champion Wawrinka bludgeoned the tennis ball in outgunning the former Aussie runner-up Tsonga on the Frenchmans home soil, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6--2.dddddddddddd Wawrinka was spot on with a sensational one-handed backhand and prevailed in 2 hours, 24 minutes by breaking Tsongas serve five times. Tsonga had to settle for only one break in the setback. The 29-year-old Wawrinka is now 3-3 lifetime against the 12th-ranked Tsonga, including wins in their last two meetings. The Swiss slugger also topped Tsonga on some clay in Madrid last year. Wawrinka improved to 21-13 lifetime in his career Davis Cup singles, while Tsonga fell to 16-5. Saturdays doubles match has a French tandem of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau facing a Swiss duo of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer, but expect Federer and Wawrinka to team up for that one if the great Federer is fit enough to play. The Wimbledon runner-up pulled out of last weeks championship match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London because of his back, a problem that slowed the Swiss legend mightily in 2013. Sundays reverse singles will pit the 17-time Grand Slam king Federer against Tsonga and Wawrinka versus Monfils. The best-of-five tie is being staged on an indoor clay court in front of a capacity crowd of 27,000 at Stade Pierre Mauroy. Thats the largest-ever crowd to watch a professional tennis match. Switzerland is captained by Severin Luthi, while France is guided by former Aussie runner-up Arnaud Clement. The French are 10-2 all-time versus the Swiss in Davis Cup play. The two nations last met in a 2004 quarterfinal that was won by France. The nine-time champion French are seeking their first Davis Cup title in 13 years, while Switzerland and the iconic Federer have never hoisted the coveted 114-year-old chalice. The Swiss finished as runners-up in 1992. ' ' '