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MADRID, Spain -- Second-ranked Li Na started her Madrid Open campaign by overcoming a stubborn opponent just as third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska did to reach the second round on Monday. Lis clay debut began with an encouraging 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over Belgiums Kirsten Flipkens before Radwanska also advanced thanks to a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard. Li, the Australian Open champion, survived two set points by Flipkens, and eventually took the tiebreaker to avoid another surprise first-round exit like last year. Li goes up against fellow Chinese player Zheng Jie next. Bouchard came out on the losing end of a tough match against third-ranked Radwanska, as the Polish player earned her 25th match win of the season. "The tiebreak was the biggest key," said Radwanska, who goes on to play Svetlana Kuznetsova. "I did a couple of good shots in the tiebreak and managed to win that, and that gave me more confidence in the second set." Kuznetsova held off Alize Cornet of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 as the Russian continued her good run, including reaching the final in Portugal on Saturday. Also, Caroline Wozniacki was a 6-2, 6-2 victor over Ekaterina Makarova while Spanish player Carla Suarez Navarro followed up from winning her first career title in Portugal with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over Yvonne Meusburger of Austria. Ninth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia was bounced 6-4, 6-0 by Samantha Stosur of Australia. A minutes silence was scheduled to be held at the Magic Boxs Manolo Santana centre court before the evening match in remembrance of Elena Baltacha, a former top-50 British womens player who died of liver cancer on Sunday. In mens first-round play, ninth-seeded John Isner beat Russian qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 ( Cool

, 6-4, with the American securing the only break in a match heavy on baseline groundstrokes. Kei Nishikori followed up his Barcelona Open triumph with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Ivan Dodig of Croatia. Nishikori said working with former French Open champion Michael Chang boosted his confidence on this surface as he won his first career clay title in Barcelona. "I did well last week in Barcelona and Im getting better on clay, so hopefully I can go further this week," the 12th-ranked Japanese player said. "There was just one bad game, on my serve at 3-2 in the second set. Otherwise, it was an almost perfect match." Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, while Gilles Simon emerged from another all-French matchup, after Benoit Paire retired, to play Roger Federer next. Stanislas Wawrinka, who is looking to follow-up his Monte Carlos Masters triumph, opens in the Spanish capital against Dominic Thiem after the Austrian beat Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 6-2. Other winners were Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, and Spanish players Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez. Stitched NHL Jerseys . Tortorella told The Vancouver Province hell be cheering for Team Sweden to win gold when they take on the defending Olympic champions on Sunday morning. "I hope Sweden wins, cause I dont think Hammer (Dan Hamhuis) is going to play, judging by whats happened. NHL Jerseys From China . -- Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias says he has stress fractures in both legs and isnt sure when hell be able to play again, leaving the Tigers two weeks to fill his spot for opening day and perhaps a lot longer. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . Bozak and Clarkson suffered the injuries in pre-training camp workouts, according to Carlyle, who said they made "small amounts of improvement" from Friday to Saturday. After the players were deemed less than 100 per cent by doctors after Thursdays medical testing, the Leafs held them out of on-ice testing and are being cautious. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic . The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. Fake NHL Jerseys . -- The Sacramento Kings have claimed forward Travis Outlaw off waivers under the NBAs new amnesty provision, filling out the frontcourt with another veteran.WASHINGTON - On a night that the Washington Wizards scored their fewest points of the season, Marcin Gortat made sure his points counted. Gortat had a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds in the Wizards 83-80 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.Washington had lost its last two games, and Gortat scored 12 points in each half.While the Wizards won despite scoring their season low, the Pelicans were also held to their fewest points — and have their first three-game losing streak of the season.Washington coach Randy Wittman was appreciative of Gortat.That was big for us, considering we didnt have a lot going on offensively, Wittman said. He had a complete game for us.The Wizards trailed only once — when Anthony Davis, who led New Orleans with 30 points, dunked with 3:48 remaining to give the Pelicans a 78-77 lead.Gortat guarded Davis most of the night, and felt he did a good job despite the 30 points.He can score in so many different ways. We have to make sure we have to stop him inside and outside, Gortat said.Its fun when youre scoring and scoring against one of the best defenders in the league. Its a lot of fun. I believe I should do this every day.Paul Pierce hit a layup and a 3-pointer, and Washington led 81-77 with 2:13 to play.Tyreke Evans missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the score with 1.7 seconds to play. Evans, who is New Orleans second leading scorer, missed 13 of his 15 field goal attempts.Gortat was 5 for 7 from the field in the third quarter, as the Wizards, who never trailed, built a 65-57 lead after three.Davis had 13 rebounds, but the NBA blocked shot leader, had none for the first time in 15 games this seeason.ddddddddddddWere definitely frustrated. We gave away a couple of games we could have won. We have to find a way to get up out of it. Were playing our hearts out, Davis said.The Pelicans had a season-low 12 assists and lost on consecutive nights. In their first three back-to-backs this season they had lost the first and won the second game.TIP-INS:Pelicans: G Eric Gordon missed his third game with a left shoulder injury. . G Austin Rivers, who was 0 for 8 in his first start of the season on Friday, missed his first three field goals before finally hitting one with 1:32 left in the third quarter. . Rivers won the hearts of the Verizon Center crowd by missing two fourth quarter free throws, earning the fans free chicken sandwiches.Wizards: F Nene missed his third game with plantar fasciitis. Nenes a big part of our team. Theres no question about that, coach Randy Wittman said. Wittman said that adding front court depth in the off season helps make up for Nenes loss. Opportunities presented themselves with the guys we brought in.UP NEXT:Pelicans: Host Thunder on TuesdayWizards: Host Heat on MondayPEEVED PELICANS:Besides Davis, New Orleans scored just 50 points.Theyre frustrated. They just lost a tough game. Anyone would be frustrated, Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. The thing that bothers me is that we lost because we hurt ourselves.DEPEND ON PIERCE:Wittman finds Pierces presence a comfort. The 16-year NBA veteran, who declined to address the media, had those key five late points.He doesnt get excited in times when they came back, Wittman said. Thats what Paul kind of gives us, a little calming influence in those situations. ' ' 'ith Fridays 97-95 edging of the lowly New York Knicks, as Randy Foye finished with 17 points and defended Carmelo Anthonys 14-foot turnaround jumper with 2.1 seconds left. "Much respect to Carmelo, but at the end of the game, I realize were fighting for our lives," Foye told NBA.com. "Im just saying to myself, Im going to make him take a tough shot, no matter what. If he makes it over me with a hand up, I can live with it. But I cant live with giving him an easy shot, just because hes Carmelo." Ty Lawson led Denver with 22 points, Nate Robinson netted 16 off the bench and both Wilson Chandler and J.J. Hickson scored 13 points. Hickson also grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who shot 43.7 percent, but struggled from 3-point range (9-of-24). Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried left the game in the third quarter with a contusion of his quadriceps and had four points and six rebounds. The Nuggets hope Faried will be able to make the trip and he is questionable Sunday. Lawson has scored 10 or more points in all 15 of his games for the Nuggets, who are 9-3 since an 0-3 start. A six-game winning streak at home has helped. Denver has won back-to-back road games and will also visit Brooklyn, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington on the trek. Denver is 3-4 outside the Rockies this season. ' ' 'more playing time, although, Ive softened on that. There is a reasonable argument to be made that a player like an Alex Len of the Suns improved enough to crack the rotation. But, Im going with a player who didnt receive a bump in minutes. That wouldve been next to impossible considering Jimmy Butler shared the league lead in minutes per game last season. Hes first again this season. In literally ONE MORE MINUTE of playing time per game this campaign than last, here is the tale of Jimmy Butler: 2013-14 2014-15 Points per game: 13.1 20.9 Assists per game: 2.6 3.4 Rebounds per game: 4.9 6.2 3-point percentage: 28.3 34.2 field goal percentage: 39.7 46.4 free throw percentage: 76.9 83.0 Thats with ONE MORE MINUTE a game. Theres not a better example of improvement in the league. ' ' '