Allgemeines » the Sydney title

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Novak Djokovic opened the defence of his Dubai Championships title with a straight sets victory over Denis Istomin, while second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had to retire from his first-round match on Tuesday. Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. "I needed to work for my games. "Having not played for more than four, five weeks, an official match, obviously it takes its toll on the court." Djokovic saved all four break points he faced on serve and broke Istomin three times -- in the third and ninth games of the first set and in the second game of the second set. Del Potro was not so fortunate, being forced to retire against Somdev Devvarman of India after losing the first-set tiebreaker 7-6 (3). Since winning the Sydney title last month, Del Potro has been struggling with a left wrist injury that has conjured up memories of similar pain he experienced in his right wrist four years ago. In 2010, the year after he won the U.S. Open, he played only three tournaments before and after surgery on his right wrist. Del Potro was fighting back tears in Dubai when he came to talk to the media after his retirement. "I dont feel really well," he said. "My wrist is hurting a lot and everybody knows what happened to me four years ago with my other wrist. "It was really tough to play today. I tried everything. I cannot be the player I would like to be." Having felt the pain in his left wrist during the Australian Open, Del Potro went at the end of January to consult with Dr. Richard Berger, who performed his right wrist surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The doctor recommended a course of physical therapy. Asked if he would have kept playing if he won the first set, Del Potro said: "I dont think so, no. It was hurting too much." Devvarman, a wild card who won a challenger in New Delhi last week, hit a service winner on his third set point in the tiebreaker. That proved to be the final point of the match. "Its unfortunate, especially for a guy like him," Devvarman said. "I realized he wasnt comfortable hitting backhands and I tried to make him hit as many as I could, and he wasnt really hitting over it so I knew he wasnt happy." Third-seeded Tomas Berdych extended his winning streak to eight matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Romanian qualifier Marius Copil. Berdych, who reached the final in Dubai last year, won the Rotterdam title two weeks ago. Fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France secured a 6-2, 6-4 win over Victor Hanescu of Romania. Teddy Bridgewater Jersey . -- Without Carey Price, the run for a first Stanley Cup in 21 years got steeper and longer for the Montreal Canadiens. 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Trey Hendrickson Jersey . - Robert Griffin III has a sprained throwing shoulder that limited him in practice Wednesday as the Washington Redskins prepared for their season finale against the Dallas Cowboys.CLEVELAND - As Michael Brantley headed toward the clubhouse door and off-season carrying his belongings in a blue duffel bag, Clevelands All-Star outfielder didnt look up at a TV showing Detroits champagne-soaked celebration of another AL Central title.This wasnt the way Brantley or the Indians thought it would end a€” shy of October.Failing to build off their wild-card appearance in 2013, the Indians completed an unfulfilling season with a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.Cleveland was done in by too many errors, injuries, an inconsistent offence and sub-par years from Nick Swisher and Jason Kipnis, two highly paid players that were counted on.We came in with high expectations, outfielder David Murphy said. I joined a team that went to the playoffs last year. We had every expectation of doing that again and maybe win the division. Obviously, things didnt work out that way.Rookie Zach Walters and Carlos Santana each drove in two runs as the Indians finished 85-77, a seven-win drop from a year ago.For manager Terry Francona, the finality of his second season in Cleveland brought mixed emotions. There was disappointment tinged with some jealousy toward the teams moving on.You go 100 miles an hour, and youre with this group all day, every day, and then all of a sudden it comes to a crashing halt, and you go home, he said. I thought they did a really good job of playing right up until the end.Walters and Murphy hit solo second-inning homers off Alex Cobb (10-9) for the Indians, who failed to build on last season when they hosted Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card game.T.J. House (5-3), whose consistency gives Cleveland hope for the future, gave up Sean Rodriguezs leadoff homer in the second, but otherwise kept the ALs lowest-scoring team off the board. The Indians went 7-0 in his home starts.Despite their many issues, the Indians stayed alive in the playoff race until Friday. They may have fallen short of goals, but the Indians have posted consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2000-01 and with a core of young players and a pitching staff anchored by Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber, theres plenty of reason for optimism.We did about what we could do, Francona said.dddddddddddd All things considered, I think we said from the first day, you play the game the way you can and you look up at the end and you take where you are at. Thats probably where we deserve to be.Francona rested most of his starters, including Brantley, who made a late MVP push. Brantley is the first player in Cleveland history with 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 homers and 20 steals in a season, joining Jacoby Ellsbury as the only players to hit those plateaus in the past seven years.While Brantley emerged as one of the leagues rising stars, Kipnis flattened out.After signing a $52.5 million, six-year deal before the home opener, Kipnis batted just .240 with six homers and 41 RBIs. Its a shocking drop off for the 27-year-old, an All-Star last season when he hit .284 with 17 homers and 84 RBIs.Following the game, Kipnis gave away bats as souvenirs to fans sitting behind the Indians dugout.He wasnt nearly as giving with the media.Not from me, he said, waving off reporters afterward. Nope.Murphy and Walters connected in the second to make it 2-1 against Cobb, who was the winning pitcher against Cleveland in last years wild-card game.Rodriquez gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the second, crushing Houses first pitch for his 12th homer.TERRIFIC TWOSOMEWith Brantley getting 200 hits and Kluber striking out 269, the Indians are the first team to have a 200-hit player and pitcher with more than 250 strikeouts since Arizona (Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson) in 1999.EMPTY FEELINGThe Indians drew 1,437,393 fans, the second fewest since Progressive Field opened in 1994.LAST LICKS?Indians DH Jason Giambi hasnt decided whether to continue his playing career, which began with Oakland in 1995. The 43-year-old plans to go home and enjoy his family before making his next move. He said its strange to have an uncertain future.Who knows? he said. Maybe somebodys looking for