- If Rafael Nadal needed any reminding of how long it has been since he won the Australian Open, he only needed to look at the 09 on the back of his left shoe.

MELBOURNE, Australia - If Rafael Nadal needed any reminding of how long it has been since he won the Australian Open, he only needed to look at the 09 on the back of his left shoe. Cheap Twins Jerseys China .After spending most of the last six months on the sidelines in an extended injury layoff, and after a first-round loss in a warm-up tournament, the 14-time Grand Slam winner said he was low on confidence coming into the first major of the year.The Spaniard remedied that, for a while at least, with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny on day one of the Australian Open, where he won the title in 2009 and lost in the finals in 2012 and last year. Nadal hit 37 winners, and got his skipping, double fist-pumping celebration going during the third set.Very positive result for me. I think very good start, he said. Always before the first match you always have the doubts, especially in this situation Im arriving here. Never easy, but it was an important match for me ... a comfortable victory that give me some confidence.The Australian Open is the only major Nadal hasnt won at least twice, and he has long wanted another triumph in Melbourne to complete a second full career Grand Slam. He has come close, losing to Novak Djokovic in a 5-hour, 53-minute epic final in 2012 and to Stan Wawrinka last year.A right wrist injury and an appendix operation that limited Nadal to seven matches after Wimbledon have taught him the benefits of patience.And a Jan. 5 loss to Michael Berrer in Doha helps keep him grounded.When that happens after a tough period of injuries you arrive here with doubts, he said. This first match was tough mentally for me.Today is very hard to speak about having (title) chances. I have one match. Thats better than two days ago, but I need more to feel that I am ready for something very important here. Its the moment to really give to this victory the right value.Roger Federer began his quest for an 18th major title, and his first in Australia since 2010, by beating Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in a night match, and three-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray opened his bid for an elusive Aussie title with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri.On a day when eight of the seeded players tumbled out of the womens draw, wins by three of the stronger contenders stood out.Second-ranked Maria Sharapova followed up her recent title at the Brisbane International with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Petra Martic, No. 3 Simona Halep opened play on Rod Laver Arena with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Karin Knapp and No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard, who reached the semifinals or better at three majors last year, beat Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 6-4.No. 10 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 14 Sara Errani, No. 21 Peng Shuai and No. 22 Karolina Pliskova also advanced.Sharapova, the 2008 Australian Open champion, collected her fifth Grand Slam title by winning at the French Open last year and is determined to add more majors.It was definitely great to get a title in last week. I dont think Ive done that in my career, winning a title to begin the year, she said. That was nice. When you come here everything is new and fresh. Of course, its a nice feeling to have that victory, but you have to start from scratch.No. 5 Ana Ivanovic, who lost the Brisbane final to Sharapova on Jan. 10, was the highest-ranked of the first-round losers, serving 10 double-faults in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka. No. 9 Angelique Kerber, No. 16 Lucie Safarova, No. 17 Carla Suarez Navarro and No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time major winner, were also among the seeded players who stumbled on day one.American Christina McHale was sick on court and saved a match point as she rallied to beat Stephanie Foretz 6-4, 1-6, 12-10.Only two of the mens seeded players went out. No. 11 Ernests Gulbis wasted four match points before losing in five sets to Thanasi Kokkinakis, an 18-year-old Australian who went around the court high-fiving fans to celebrate. No. 15 Tommy Robredo retired with a groin injury after five games.No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov, and No. 14 Kevin Anderson were among the men who advanced.Top-ranked Djokovic, a four-time Australian Open champion, was due to open Tuesday against Aljaz Bedene. Womens No. 1 Serena Williams, who has won five titles at Melbourne Park, had a Tuesday night start against Alison Van Uytvanck. Phil Hughes Jersey . The weekend at Oriole Park has been less kind, with three players suffering varying degrees of injury. The worst ailment of the three, at least optically, is the deep bone bruise suffered by Adam Lind when he fouled a pitch off the top of his right foot in the sixth inning of Saturdays game. Harmon Killebrew Jersey . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. http://www.cheaptwinsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-justin-morneau-jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson.ALAMEDA, Calif. - Oakland Raiders cornerback Keith McGills struggled to get on track his rookie season because of injuries and the time it takes to adjust to the NFL.McGill played just 18 defensive snaps over the first 14 games as he was relegated mostly to special teams duty when he was healthy. With starting cornerbacks Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers on injured reserve and backup Chimdi Chekwa injured last week, McGill finally got an opportunity to show what he can do.McGill fared well against the Buffalo Bills but now is in for the ultimate test in the regular-season finale when he must match up with Peyton Manning and his deep group of receivers on the Denver Broncos.I think every week weve gone against a pretty explosive receiver, McGill said. Obviously, this week going against Peyton Manning, it just adds a quarterback element in that picture, so whenever youre going to play against him, I think youre going to raise your game up. So with him and the receivers around him, I think were going to be ready for it.McGill, a fourth-round pick out of Utah, was expected to contribute as a rookie but was slowed by a groin injury that sidelined him for four games in the middle of the season.It took until the second-to-last game of the season for McGill to make a big contribution. He played 50 defensive snaps last week and allowed only one catch despite being matched up for part of the game with talented rookie Sammy Watkins.When you put a young guy in a game like that, they dont get the reps, they dont see the pictures, youre wondering how they are mentally, interim coach Tony Sparano said. It tells you that theyre paying attention in the meetings, it tells you that their coaches are doing a good job with them that way, but I was impressed with what Keith did that way.McGill said he spent the time on the sideline trying to learn from the veterans on the fieeld and did his best to keep up in the meeting rooms. Joe Mauer Jersey. He acknowledged being a little winded during the game last week, but kept at it and hopes a performance like that will help prepare him for next season when he hopes to play much more.Its always going to be nice to get game reps and you just have to build off of whatever kind of foundation you have, he said. Mine is kind of late in the season, but those last two games, theyre going to be important and I just have to go in there and try to do my job as best as possible.McGill is one of three young cornerbacks the Raiders will look to build their defence around this off-season. Fellow rookie TJ Carrie, a seventh-round pick, has gotten ample playing time both outside and in the slot and has allowed just one touchdown pass against all season, according to Pro Football Focus.DJ Hayden, the teams first-round pick in 2013, has shown promise after the start of his career was derailed by injuries that limited him to eight games last year and forced him to miss the first six this season.As much as youd love to have Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown and those guys out there, it gives you a chance to see the younger players and to see the guys that you drafted and to see some of those things happen and I think that the more that these kids are playing, the more comfortable they are out there, Sparano said. Ive been impressed with that group.NOTES: Pending free agent C Stefen Wisniewski said the Raiders made a few contract offers this season but did not meet his price so Sundays game could be his final with team. ... Carrie (ankle), LB Khalil Mack (hamstring) and RT Menelik Watson (foot, ankle) are questionable for Sunday. ... WR Vincent Brown (groin), WR Denarius Moore (knee, ankle) and Chekwa (hamstring) have been ruled out.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap Steelers Jerseys Cheap Patriots Jerseys Cheap Bills Jerseys Cheap Jets Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys Cheap Redskins Jerseys Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Eagles Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Raiders Jerseys Cheap Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Lions Jerseys Cheap Browns Jerseys ' ' '