NBey6's Blog

"To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have."

- G.W. Lyon -

Updated: July 19, 2010, 11:28 PM ET

Fish rolls, Becker ousted in Atlanta

Associated Press

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- Mardy Fish has spent countless practice hours trying to improve his serve. Seems his hard work is starting to pay off. 

"It's important to get free points on hardcourts," Fish said. "I feel like I'm an aggressive style player and for me to play my best tennis, I need free points on my serve."

Fish, the No. 6 seed, beat James Ward of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 Monday night in the first round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

He won 21 of his 25 potential points on first serve and broke even on 28 second-serve points.

After beating Ward, Fish now has won 80 percent of his first serves this year, second-best on the ATP tour, over 35 matches.

"I've tended over my career not to serve at a very high percentage," he said. "It's one of the things we've tried to work on this year. I seem to be pretty successful that I can get the first serve in."

Fish took off last week after earning his fourth career title -- and his first on grass -- July 10 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I. Winning the tournament moved Fish's world ranking up 30 spots to 49th.

"I want to keep the momentum going for sure," he said. "It's a new surface, and that's important even though I did have a successful grasscourt season for the most part. It's all hardcourts from here on. Confidence is a huge part of tennis. I feel extremely confident right now."

No. 8 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Michael Russell, who at 32 is the oldest American ranked in the ATP top 100 world rankings.

Atlanta is hosting its first ATP event since 2001 and the tour's first North American summer event on hardcourts as players prepare for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 30.

Top seed Andy Roddick, No. 2 seed John Isner, No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt and fourth seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina will play their first singles matches later in the week.

Fish has won six straight matches and 12 of his last 14. Those performances came on grass, however, so he practiced late last week on hardcourts.

The last U.S. event on hardcourts was March 23-April 4 in Miami, where Fish beat No. 3 seed Andy Murray in the second round before falling in the fourth. The victory over Murray was Fish's first over a world top 100 opponent since February 2009.

"It's nice to be on sure-footing surface," he said. "It's going to be a long summer. I'm slated to play almost every week. I'm looking forward to it."

In other singles matches, Rainer Schuettler of Germany beat Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Illya Marchenko of Ukraine defeated Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 7-6 (4), and Rajeev Ram held off Karol Beck of Slovaki 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Updated: July 20, 2010, 1:06 AM ET

Financial issues may slow Barnes deal

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

Veteran swingman Matt Barnes, one of the most coveted free agents left on the open market, announced Monday night that he is headed to the Toronto Raptors.

But the limited sign-and-trade options available to Orlando -- Barnes' last team -- could scuttle the deal, according to sources close to the situation.

 

Barnes

 

Under the impression that he would be receiving a two-year contract in the $10 million range, Barnes thanked Magic fans via his Twitter feed and said that he'll be "playing for the Toronto Raptors" next season.

Sources told ESPN.com that the teams will resume discussions Tuesday, as planned all along, with the intent of landing Barnes with the Raptors via sign-and-trade.

Yet no such deal could be assured as of midnight, raising the possibility that Barnes would have to accept new terms to sign with the Raptors or that other teams that have been chasing Barnes will get another shot at him if the deal collapses.

Since Toronto recently spent the bulk of its $5.8 million mid-level exception to sign Linas Kleiza, it doesn't have the available funds to sign Barnes outright to a deal that starts in the neighborhood of $4 million.

The Magic, though, are prevented by salary-cap rules from starting a sign-and-trade deal for Barnes at higher than $2 million, because Orlando doesn't have Barnes' full Bird rights after employing him for only one season. A sign-and-trade deal would also have to span at least three years, although only the first year is required to be guaranteed.

Barnes was initially believed to be on the verge of signing with a title contender late last week -- such as Miami, Boston or the Los Angeles Lakers -- when the Raptors made an aggressive late rush to join the bidding.

Barnes also gave serious consideration in recent days to the Cleveland Cavaliers before talks with Toronto got serious.

Barnes started 58 games last year for Orlando in his only season with the Magic after a hard recruiting push from center Dwight Howard.

The 30-year-old averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in Orlando and had originally signed a two-year deal with the team. But Barnes exercised his option to become a free agent after playing for $1.6 million in 2009-10.

With salary-cap rules limiting the raise the Magic could offer unless it cut into its own mid-level exception, Magic general manager Otis Smith said last week that matching Chicago's offer sheet to sharpshooter J.J. Redick and signing Quentin Richardson were budget priorities.

If Toronto does not become Barnes' eighth stop in a career that began with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003, it will be the second high-profile deal to unravel unexpectedly at the Raptors' expense this offseason.

Earlier this month, Charlotte agreed to participate in a trade originally hatched by Toronto and the Phoenix Suns, which would have brought Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw to the Raptors. But the Bobcats pulled out and traded Chandler to Dallas one day later.

Updated: July 19, 2010, 11:49 PM ET

WTA Tour: Serena's status questionable

Associated Press

 

Serena Williams is questionable for the U.S. Open because of her recent foot injury, according to the WTA Tour.

Williams cut her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant shortly after winning Wimbledon. The tour said last week she needed surgery and would miss three tournaments leading up to the Open.

 

Williams

 

On Monday, tour spokesman Andrew Walker said Williams is questionable for the final Grand Slam of the year. Williams' return to the Open has been widely anticipated because of her tumultuous semifinal loss there last year, when she threw a tirade at a line judge at the end of a match against Kim Clijsters and was fined a record $82,500.

Because of the injury, Williams is missing the entire World Team Tennis season with the Washington Kastles. Her team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches.

"Hey guys I'm doing better," Williams tweeted Monday. "Thanks for all the love."

On Sunday night she tweeted: "can't wait to get out of bed & back on the courts & do what i do best!"

Ranked No. 1, Williams won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title July 3. The injury occurred shortly thereafter in Europe and at first was not believed to be serious.

After hurting her foot, Williams played in an exhibition in Brussels on July 8 against Clijsters before a world-record tennis crowd of 35,681.

Williams attended a WTT match the next night in Glen Falls, N.Y., and did not play but briefly discussed her injury with reporters. When asked how she was able to play against Clijsters, Williams said, "Those Belgian doctors and waffles."

Clijsters said she knew before the exhibition that Williams was hurt pretty seriously.

"I saw her before we started but she didn't go into how it happened," Clijsters said. "I told her how much I admired her for coming out there. A lot of players in her situation wouldn't have done it."

Williams subsequently withdrew from upcoming tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The last of those, at Montreal, begins Aug. 16, and the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.

"You want the best players to be out there, especially at the U.S. Open," Clijsters said. "It would be sad not to have Serena there."

After winning the Australian Open at the end of January, Williams was sidelined through April because of an injured left knee.

Midday 7-20-10 Evening

** until 7-23-10 **

0126 0135 0139 0148 0157 0189 0234 0238 0247 0256 0279 0346 0369 0378 0459 0468 0567 0589 0679 1237 1246 1269 1278 1345 1359 1368 1458 1467 1489 1579 1678 2349 2358 2367 2389 2457 2479 2569 2578 3456 3469 3478 3568 3789 4567 4689 5679 0013 0018 0027 0036 0045 0049 0058 0067 1102 1107 1125 1129 1134 1138 1147 1156 1179 2205 2209 2214 2218 2236 2245 2259 2268 3307 3312 3316 3325 3348 3357 3379 4401 4405 4419 4423 4428 4437 4459 4468 5503 5508 5512 5517 5526 5539 5548 5589 6601 6615 6619 6624 6628 6637 6678 7704 7708 7713 7726 7735 7749 7758 7789 8802 8806 8815 8824 8829 8847 8856 8869 9904 9913 9918 9927 9936 9945 9958 9967 0004 0009 1116 2223 2227 3330 3334 3339 4441 4446 5553 5557 6660 6664 6669 7771 7776 8883 8887 9990 9994 0022 0099 1188 2277 2299 3366 3388 4455 4477 5566 1111 9999

Midday 7-20-10 Evening

** until 7-23-10 **

0124 0128 0137 0146 0169 0178 0236 0245 0259 0268 0349 0358 0367 0389 0457 0479 0569 0578 1235 1249 1258 1267 1289 1348 1357 1379 1456 1469 1478 1568 1789 2347 2356 2369 2378 2459 2468 2567 2689 3458 3467 3589 3679 4579 4678 5789 0016 0025 0029 0034 0038 0047 0056 0079 1105 1109 1123 1127 1136 1145 1159 1168 2203 2207 2216 2234 2239 2248 2257 2279 3301 3305 3314 3319 3328 3346 3359 3368 4403 4408 4412 4417 4426 4435 4439 4457 4489 5501 5506 5519 5524 5528 5537 5546 5569 5578 6604 6608 6613 6617 6635 6649 6658 6689 7702 7706 7715 7724 7729 7738 7756 7769 8804 8809 8813 8827 8836 8845 8849 8867 9902 9907 9916 9925 9934 9938 9947 9956 0002 0007 1114 1118 2221 2225 3332 3337 4448 5551 6662 6667 7774 7778 8881 8885 9992 9997 0011 0088 1177 1199 2266 2288 3355 3377 4466 8899 4444 5555

TIW 7-19-10 DE Evening

Winning Numbers: 487 & 0805

 

184, 078, 301, 382, 347, 420, 569, 712
3946, 2395, 4182, 5619, 5702, 6230, 6540
7134, 7835, 7826, 7249, 1380, 9840, 0197

 

078, 189, 290, 301, 412, 523, 634, 745, 856, 967

7830, 7831, 7832, 7833, 7834, 7835, 7836, 7837, 7838, 7839

0835, 1835, 2835, 3835, 4835, 5835, 6835, 7835, 8835, 9835

 

23 and/or 78 pairs

TIW 7-19-10 KY Evening

Winning Numbers: 869 & 6340

 

285, 378, 432, 481, 457, 513, 096, 721
7591, 8750, 9238, 0125, 0648, 1874, 1094
6279, 6370, 6381, 6895, 2734, 5394, 4256

 

378, 489, 590, 601, 712, 823, 934, 045, 156, 267

8750, 8751, 8752, 8753, 8754, 8755, 8756, 8757, 8758, 8759

0750, 1750, 2750, 3750, 4750, 5750, 6750, 7750, 8750, 9750

 

23 and/or 78 pairs

TIW 7-19-10 GA Evening

Winning Numbers: 198 & 2589

 

492, 509, 654, 693, 620, 235, 781, 043
2814, 5283, 1075, 3408, 3695, 4529, 4319
6021, 6723, 6754, 6518, 0279, 8719, 9086 
 

620, 731, 842, 953, 064, 175, 286, 397, 408, 519

0270, 0271, 0272, 0273, 0274, 0275, 0276, 0277, 0278, 0279

0279, 1279, 2279, 3279, 4279, 5279, 6279, 7279, 8279, 9279

 

75 and/or 20 pairs

TIW 7-19-10 CA Evening

Winning Numbers: 958 & 9572

 

295, 189, 412, 493, 458, 531, 076, 823
2814, 0283, 1960, 3498, 3570, 4027, 4317
5921, 5623, 5604, 5018, 9267, 8617, 7985
 

295, 306, 417, 528, 639, 740, 851, 962, 073, 184

5920, 5921, 5922, 5923, 5924, 5925, 5926, 5927, 5928, 5929

0921, 1921, 2921, 3921, 4921, 5921, 6921, 7921, 8921, 9921

 

74, 70, 40, 29, 25 and/or 95 pairs

TIW 7-19-10 SC Evening

Winning Numbers: 456 & 4820

 

058, 165, 210, 259, 286, 891, 347, 609
5078, 6504, 7396, 4830, 4126, 8652, 8472
1357, 1954, 1968, 1670, 3592, 0972, 2301

 

165, 276, 387, 498, 509, 610, 721, 832, 943, 054

6500, 6501, 6502, 6503, 6504, 6505, 6506, 6507, 6508, 6509

0504, 1504, 2504, 3504, 4504, 5504, 6504, 7504, 8504, 9504

 

10 and/or 65 pairs

TIW 7-19-10 SC Midday

Winning Numbers: 988 & 5504

 

281, 398, 532, 584, 519, 143, 670, 924
8429, 1847, 2361, 7934, 7051, 9185, 9725
0382, 0687, 0619, 0124, 3865, 4625, 5340 

 

281, 392, 403, 514, 625, 736, 847, 958, 069, 170

532, 643, 754, 865, 976, 087, 198, 209, 310, 421

519, 620, 731, 842, 953, 064, 175, 286, 397, 408

0382, 1382, 2382, 3382, 4382, 5382, 6382, 7382, 8382, 9382

0380, 0381, 0382, 0383, 0384, 0385, 0386, 0387, 0388, 0389

2360, 2361, 2362, 2363, 2364, 2365, 2366, 2367, 2368, 2369

0361, 1361, 2361, 3361, 4361, 5361, 6361, 7361, 8361, 9361

0051, 1051, 2051, 3051, 4051, 5051, 6051, 7051, 8051, 9051

7050, 7051, 7052, 7053, 7054, 7055, 7056, 7057, 7058, 7059

 

73, 87, 06, 28, 32 and/or 51 pairs

7-19-10 NC Midday 397 { Post too late for this one, but more will come }

Monday, July 19, 2010
Wade sorry for 'World Trade' comment

---

Associated Press

MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade issued an apology Monday to those who may have been offended by his use of the phrase "World Trade" while answering a question about the upcoming Miami Heat season.

 

The All-Star guard made the remark Sunday before the annual charity basketball game he co-hosts with Alonzo Mourning.

 

 

Wade

 

Standing at his locker before a group of reporters, Wade said:

 

"There's going to be times when we might lose one, two games in a row, maybe two games, three games in a row, you never know. It's going to seem like the world is crashed down. You all are going to make it seem like the World Trade has just went down again. But it's not going to be nothing but a couple basketball games lost and we'll have to get back on track."

 

On Monday, before leaving on a flight to Los Angeles for some television appearances -- he was previously booked to talk with Jay Leno -- Wade issued an apology through the Heat.

 

In the statement, Wade said: "In an interview yesterday, I attempted to explain how some people may view the Miami Heat losing a few basketball games in a row during the upcoming season. It appears that my reference to the World Trade Center has been either inaccurately reported or taken completely out of context. I was simply trying to say that losing a few basketball games should not be compared to a real catastrophe.

 

"While it was certainly not my intention, I sincerely apologize to anyone who found my reference to the World Trade Center to be insensitive or offensive."

 

AOL Fanhouse initially reported the guard saying: "If we lose a couple in a row this season, it will be like the World Trade [Center] is coming down again."

 

Hours later, AOL Fanhouse published a different version of the quote, citing a transcription error and an editor's note saying, "we deeply regret the error."

TIW 7-19-10 KY Midday

Winning Numbers: 956 & 4909

 
269, 156, 012, 063, 095, 931, 478, 523
6037, 2605, 3182, 5710, 5492, 7269, 7539
4163, 4865, 4827, 4230, 1689, 0839, 9104
 
 

931, 042, 153, 264, 375, 486, 597, 608, 719, 820

0839, 1839, 2839, 3839, 4839, 5839, 6839, 7839, 8839, 9839

0830, 0831, 0832, 0833, 0834, 0835, 0836, 0837, 0838, 0839

 

48 and/or 93 pairs

"In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes."

- John Ruskin -