TENNIS
Nadal dominates
Rafael Nadal made a dominant return to tennis after a two-month injury layoff, beating Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-0 in 78 minutes at the China Open in Beijing on Tuesday. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also advanced to the second round in vastly different fashion. The top-ranked Djokovic improved to 20-0 at the China Open with a routine 6-2, 6-1 win over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, while Murray battled for 2½ hours to put away Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-2. Nadal hadn't played a match since his surprising fourth-round exit at Wimbledon to Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios. The 14-time major winner withdrew from the U.S. Open, citing a right wrist injury. Nadal never looked in trouble against Gasquet, a semifinalist at the 2013 U.S. Open who has slumped to 22nd in the rankings this year.
• It was a fitting goodbye for China's biggest tennis star, complete with hugs from her former competitors, cheers from Chinese fans, and a bouquet of flowers from Rafael Nadal. There were also plenty of tears. Li Na received a touching send-off at the China Open on Tuesday, more than a week after she announced her retirement from the sport, citing recurring knee injuries. Wearing a black pantsuit and her hair pulled back in a low bun, the two-time major winner fought back tears as she walked onto center court to a rapturous applause and a giant red banner proclaiming in English, "Yes, This is Li Na's Motherland--China." With some 40 women's players standing behind her, she then watched as highlights of her biggest tennis moments played on the stadium's giant screens, and listened to tributes from tennis officials and one of her closest friends on tour, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
BASEBALL
Japanese tour set
Houston's Jose Altuve and Colorado's Justin Morneau, the two league batting champions, will be on the roster for the Major League Baseball all-star postseason tour of Japan. Washington's Bryce Harper also was added Tuesday for the trip, which includes a five-game series against Japan's national team from Nov. 12-18 that will be preceded and followed by exhibition games. Boston's John Farrell will manage the MLB all-stars. Seattle's Robinson Cano, Baltimore's Adam Jones, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols have previously been announced for the roster.
• Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran has undergone elbow surgery to remove a bone spur and loose pieces that limited his throwing ability for most of the 2014 season. The Yankees said team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad operated on Beltran's right elbow on Tuesday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The team said Beltran can start throwing and hitting in about six weeks and can play baseball in approximately 12 weeks. The 37-year-old Beltran was limited to 32 outfield appearances this year because of the elbow. An eight-time All-Star, he signed a $45 million, three-year contract with New York during the offseason and hit a career-low .233 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI in 449 plate appearances.
• Milwaukee Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin says the dust needs to settle on the disappointing end to the ballclub's season before any decisions are made on the team's manager or coaching staff. Speaking on WTMJ radio Tuesday, Melvin says he'll take a step back before any future plans are made following the Brewers late season collapse. Milwaukee fell from first place in the National League Central and out of any postseason play. Melvin plans to travel to Colorado Springs this week to meet with the Brewers' new Class AAA affiliate. He also plans to go to Phoenix to monitor the team's instructional camp. Melvin will travel to Los Angeles next week to meet with principal owner Mark Attanasio on the team's future direction.
• Los Angeles Angels slugger Josh Hamilton says he's feeling better and is ready for the playoffs this week. The former AL MVP has missed 21 of the Angels' last 22 games because of shoulder and other upper-body injuries. Hamilton worked out Tuesday, and said he's set for Friday when the Angels host the wild-card winner in the opener of the AL Division Series. Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker also said he's feeling fine. He hasn't been in a game since Sept. 15 because of a mild oblique strain on his left side. Shoemaker threw during a bullpen session Tuesday and later seemed confident there would be no setbacks.
• After narrowly missing the postseason, the Seattle Mariners say they will raise payroll in 2015 and aggressively pursue offense during the offseason. General manager Jack Zduriencik and manager Lloyd McClendon spoke Tuesday, two days after Seattle concluded an 87-75 season. The Mariners finished one game behind Oakland in the AL wild card standings. McClendon said he would like to add two hitters and have a more formidable lineup in the Nos. 3-6 spots of his batting order. Two of those spots will be filled by All-Stars Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager. Zduriencik said the most likely positions where offense would be added are the corner outfield spots, designated hitter and first base. McClendon and Zduriencik said being in the playoff hunt was important but that no one is satisfied with missing the postseason.
BASKETBALL
Quarters start Friday
The United States, Australia, Spain and Turkey all have won their groups at the women's world championship at Istanbul and earned byes to the quarterfinals, which begin Friday. The four teams all went unbeaten in pool play and await the winners of the qualifying round games that take place today. Belarus plays China with Spain getting the winner; Serbia faces Cuba with the host nation waiting in the next round. France will play Brazil with the victor playing Australia; Canada will meet the Czech Republic with the U.S. awaiting in the quarters. Japan, Angola, Mozambique and Korea were all eliminated after going winless in pool play. No African nation has ever won a preliminary round game.
SWIMMING
Phelps hit with DUI
Police arrested Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps on a DUI charge early Tuesday, and officials say he was speeding and failed field sobriety tests when officers pulled him over. Phelps, 29, was charged with driving under the influence, excessive speed and crossing double lane lines in the Fort McHenry Tunnel on Interstate 95 in Baltimore, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority. A Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer was using radar about 1:40 a.m. when Phelps' white 2014 Land Rover came through at 84 mph in a 45-mph zone, the transportation authority said in a statement. The officer stopped Phelps just beyond the tunnel's toll plaza. "Mr. Phelps was identified as the driver by his driver's license and appeared to be under the influence," the statement said. "He was unable to perform satisfactorily a series of standard field sobriety tests." The statement said Phelps was cooperative throughout the process. Phelps was arrested and taken to a transportation authority station, from which he was later released. This is Phelps' second DUI charge in Maryland. The first charge was in 2004 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and he received 18 months' probation and a $250 fine. Phelps, a native of Baltimore County, is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 Olympic medals.
NFL
FCC eliminates sports blackout rule
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to eliminate its sports blackout rule, which for nearly 40 years has prevented cable and satellite systems from televising some NFL games.
The move is unlikely to eliminate the league’s attempts to black out games, which it can do on local broadcast networks when tickets to a game are not sold out. Because of the sport’s soaring popularity, however, only two NFL games were blacked out locally last season.
The NFL strongly opposed the FCC action, but Commissioner Ajit Pai, a Republican, said it isn’t the place of the federal government to intervene in the private marketplace and help sports leagues enforce their blackout policies.
“It is the commission’s job to serve the public interest, not the private interests of team owners,” Ajit said.
While the NFL and its supporters argued that eliminating the blackout rule would endanger the availability of games on free over-the-air television, members of the FCC staff and commissioners said they believed that was unlikely, in part because the current NFL broadcast contract extends through 2022.
“I hope the NFL will seize on this opportunity to repudiate blackouts,” said Tom Wheeler, the agency’s chairman.
Ticket sales were a much bigger part of an NFL team’s overall income decades ago. The league instituted its blackout rule because it wanted to encourage people to pay for a ticket instead of watching it free on television. In some markets, games were regularly blacked out on TV.
Now, television rights contribute a majority of teams’ revenue.
The NFL, under its agreement with broadcast networks, will still be able to black out a game on broadcast TV. But because of the FCC vote, a cable provider could show a blacked out game in a market where the broadcast version is blocked.
The rule will officially be repealed 30 days after a notice of the FCC’s action is published in the Federal Register, which generally takes about two weeks. So it will probably be about six weeks before the blackout rule is voided.
-- The New York Times
Sports on 10/01/2014