Paris. Up next for Nadal will be

[xsw96]

SEPANG, Malaysia -- Mercedes confirmed it was the team to beat at the Malaysian Grand Prix by setting the fastest times in both of Fridays practice sessions, although its Formula One rivals were closer than expected. Nico Rosberg, coming off his win at the season-opening race in Australia, was fastest in the second session and overall with a time of 1 minute, 39.909 seconds around the Sepang International Circuit, exceeding Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen by three-hundredths of a second. Raikkonen, who struggled in Melbourne, was also second fastest in the morning session behind Rosbergs Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Although Mercedes was expected to dominate the early races of the season, and did so in Australia, the top six cars on Friday afternoon were separated by just two-tenths of a second, indicating a competitive race on Sunday. "We are still having some small issues and therefore we were not able to maximize everything today," Rosberg said. "The quickest teams seem to be closer together than in Australia, so we still have work to do overnight to improve our level of performance." Defending four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel overcame some technical issues that restricted his running in the morning session and was an impressive third fastest in the afternoon, while his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo was seventh. The bad news for Vettel was that he needed to change his computer power supply unit, which alternates the power source between the engine, the turbo and battery-stored energy. That means he is onto his third of the season, with a limit of five all year before penalties kick in. "Friday timings are not the most important in the world, but to be out there in the range with the other guys was a decent day," Vettel said. "It was not a completely smooth day for both of us; for myself, still some things to solve on the software side, programming the car, which sounds wrong but that is the way it is." Hamilton was fourth in the second session, ahead of Ferraris Fernando Alonso and Williams Felipe Massa. Hamilton is using the same engine that caused his early retirement from the Australian GP, with the team having fixed the misfire and preserved an engine which is also subject to the same five-per-season limit. McLarens Jenson Button was eighth quickest, ahead of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg. On a typically hot but dry day at Sepang, all drivers endured technical issues of some kind, ranging from the lack of downforce which caused several off-track excursions, high tire-wear from the consequent sliding, and fuel consumption issues with the new V6 turbo hybrid engines and the introduction of fuel usage limits. As in Melbourne, Lotus and Caterham were the teams to suffer most. Neither Lotus car completed a lap in the morning as the team continued to play catchup on its engine development after a strife-torn off-season. Pastor Maldonado sat out the afternoon too, and while Romain Grosjean made several trips out on track, he suffered repeated breakdowns. Caterhams Kamui Kobayashi had yet more problems with his energy-storage system, necessitating another replacement after two in Melbourne, meaning he is already closing in on the season limit. Jason Kidd Jersey . The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Dan Majerle Jersey . The All-Pro left tackle agreed to a five-year contract with the Eagles on Wednesday. Peters was signed for 2014, and his new deal adds four years through 2018. http://www.sunsofficialshop.us/tj-warren-suns-jersey/. - A pitch clock will be used this season during minor league games at Triple-A and Double-A, but it has been ruled out for the major leagues this year. Shaquille ONeal Jersey . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. Tyson Chandler Jersey . LUCIE, Fla.Paris, France - Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal and former runner-up Novak Djokovic were a pair of easy first-round winners, while third-seeded Stan Wawrinka was a stunning loser Monday at the French Open. The world No. 1 Nadal improved to an incredible 60-1 at Roland Garros by cruising past American journeyman Robby Ginepri 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 on Court Lenglen. The reigning French and U.S. Open champion has won four straight and eight of the last nine French Open titles. He beat David Ferrer in last years all- Spanish finale in Paris. Up next for Nadal will be rising Austrian Dominic Thiem. The 2012 finalist Djokovic smacked 40 winners in blowing past Portuguese Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on Court Chatrier. The struggling Sousa has now lost his last eight matches on tour. The players were forced to stop and start because of wet conditions in Paris on Monday. Djokovic was leading 4-1 when rain halted play, but the match resumed about an hour later. The former No. 1 and six-time Grand Slam champ Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final two years ago and succumbed to the mighty Spaniard in an epic semifinal here last year, including a dramatic 9-7 fifth set. Up next for Djokovic will be Frances Jeremy Chardy. Lanky Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez shocked the Swiss Australian Open champion Wawrinka in 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 fashion. It marked the first time in seven years that a third seed exited the French draw in the opening round since American Andy Roddick did so in 2007. The last man to win the Aussie Open and lose in the first round of the French Open was Petr Korda in 1998. Also on Monday, Slovak and recent Munich clay court titlist Martin Klizan ousted ninth-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-2. The recent Madrid runner-up to Nadal, Nishikori, had been nursing a back injury in recent weeks. Nishikori is the highest-ranked Japanese man in history, at No. 10 in the world, one spot lowwer than his career high.dddddddddddd. Fourteenth-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini eased past German Andreas Beck 6-4, 6-4, 6-1, while 17th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo, of Spain, came back to overcome Brit James Ward 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and 18th-seeded Ernests Gulbis fought back to best Pole Lukasz Kubot 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1. Gulbis is fresh off his clay title in Nice, his second title on French soil this season. Meanwhile, 25th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic topped Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); 26th-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez defeated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3; 27th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut doused Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 7-5, 6-2; 29th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon whipped Croat Ante Pavic 6-1, 6-1, 6-3; and Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili knocked out 30th-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. The first marathon of the fortnight saw Argentine Facundo Bagnis outlast Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 3-6, 18-16, including a 2-hour, 23- minute final set. Total match time was 4 hours, 26 minutes. Several other men reached the second round, including Thiem, American Donald Young, Frenchmen Kenny De Schepper, Benoit Paire and Adrian Mannarino, Spaniard Marcel Granollers, Austrian Jurgen Melzer, and Dutchman Robin Haase, who rolled past former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. Thiem dismissed Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, while the left- handed Young edged out Israeli veteran Dudi Sela 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. The first round is scheduled to conclude Tuesday, including matches for a fifth-seeded Ferrer, seventh-seeded Andy Murray and 11th-seeded rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov. Ferrer will take on Dutchman Igor Sijsling, while the Wimbledon champion Murray will meet Kazakhstans Andrey Golubev and Dimitrov will tangle with 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic, who was a runner-up in Duesseldorf last week. Cheap Jerseys 2018 China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys China China NFL Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '