Basisphilosophie » 0 strikeouts and 16

Lille, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Roger Federer lost and Stan Wawrinka won, as visiting Switzerland and France are tied at 1-1 following the opening singles at the 2014 Davis Cup final. The Swiss drew first blood on Friday when Wawrinka handled Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, while the nightcap saw Gael Monfils douse the former world No. 1 Federer in straights, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, on some slow red clay in Lille. The acrobatic former top-10 star Monfils played near flawless tennis in taking advantage of the 33-year-old Federer, who failed to demonstrate his typical on-court prowess, perhaps due to a much-publicized back injury. Already ahead by two sets, a determined Monfils got his fourth break of the match to grab a 3-2 lead in the third, and he would keep Federer down from there. Monfils broke Federer once again to close out the rubber, which he did on his first match point with an easy backhand winner. The uneventful affair was over in 1 hour, 46 minutes, as Monfils notched one of the biggest wins of his career by popping 10 aces and tallying five breaks, while a stunned Federer failed to break his French counterpart on Day 1. Monfils struck 19 more winners than Federer (44-25), while the Swiss legend uncorked 11 more unforced errors (29-18). The 19th-ranked Monfils is now 10-2 in his career Davis Cup singles, while Federer fell to 37-8. The world No. 2 Federer is now 8-3 lifetime against Monfils, who pushed the Swiss icon mightily in their last meeting in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, where Federer had to save two match points before coming back to win in a five-set thriller. In the opener in Lille on Friday, the world No. 4 Australian Open champion Wawrinka bludgeoned the tennis ball in outgunning the former Aussie runner-up Tsonga on the Frenchmans home soil, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Wawrinka was spot on with a sensational one-handed backhand and prevailed in 2 hours, 24 minutes by breaking Tsongas serve five times. Tsonga had to settle for only one break in the setback. The 29-year-old Wawrinka is now 3-3 lifetime against the 12th-ranked Tsonga, including wins in their last two meetings. The Swiss slugger also topped Tsonga on some clay in Madrid last year. Wawrinka improved to 21-13 lifetime in his career Davis Cup singles, while Tsonga fell to 16-5. Saturdays doubles match has a French tandem of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau facing a Swiss duo of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer, but expect Federer and Wawrinka to team up for that one if the great Federer is fit enough to play. The Wimbledon runner-up pulled out of last weeks championship match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London because of his back, a problem that slowed the Swiss legend mightily in 2013. Sundays reverse singles will pit the 17-time Grand Slam king Federer against Tsonga and Wawrinka versus Monfils. The best-of-five tie is being staged on an indoor clay court at Stade Pierre Mauroy in front of a capacity crowd of more than 27,000, which sets a new record for an officially-sanctioned tennis match, overtaking the Spain- United States Davis Cup final at the Estadio Olympico de Sevilla in 2004. Switzerland is captained by Severin Luthi, while France is guided by former Aussie runner-up Arnaud Clement. The French are 10-2 all-time versus the Swiss in Davis Cup play. The two nations last met in a 2004 quarterfinal that was won by France. The nine-time champion French are seeking their first Davis Cup title in 13 years, while Switzerland and the iconic Federer have never hoisted the coveted 114-year-old chalice. The Swiss finished as runners-up in 1992. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys China . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. http://www.cheaphurricanesjerseys.com/ . The roster changes have been constant and continuous since late last year, but even with their 46-man roster set for the start of the season, the banged-up Bombers will be kicking off Week 1 with a handful of fresh faces and back-ups in the starting lineup. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . - Maynor Figueroa headed in a late goal to give Honduras a 1-1 draw with the United States in an international friendly Tuesday. Cheap Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate).CHICAGO - The Minnesota Wild entered this Western Conference second round battle as considerable underdogs to the Chicago Blackhawks, but they have a chance to grab a series lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions in tonights Game 5 showdown in the Windy City. You can watch all the action on TSN and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. Minnesota dropped the first two tests of this best-of-seven set at Chicagos United Center and was outscored by a combined 9-3 margin in those setbacks. However, the Wild righted themselves at home by taking Game 3 by a 4-0 count before knotting the series at two games apiece with Fridays 4-2 triumph at Xcel Energy Center. In order to grab their first lead of the series, however, the Wild will have to be the first team to beat Chicago on home ice in this postseason. The Blackhawks, winners of two Cup titles in the previous four years, are 5-0 at the United Center in the 2014 playoffs and boast a 16-2 record at home since the start of last springs postseason. Chicago will aim for a seventh consecutive home playoff victory on Sunday night. Minnesota is just 1-5 as the road team in the 2014 playoffs, with its lone away victory coming in Game 7 of the opening round against Colorado. The Wild are 2-15 over their past 17 road tilts in the postseason. On Friday, Matt Cooke provided an immediate spark in his return from a suspension to help the Wild remained undefeated at home in these playoffs. Cooke received a seven-game ban for kneeing Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie in Game 3 of the opening round, and he didnt take long to make his presence felt, helping give Minnesota an early lead. The antagonizing forward stole the puck from Chicago defenseman Michal Rozsival on the forecheck and dished to Justin Fontaine, who went top shelf to beat Crawford from the right circle 7:24 into the game. It was the first career playoff goal for Fontaine. "Its fun to contribute and its fun to chip in. Its just fun to be back out there again," Cooke said.dddddddddddd"I should have fresh legs. Ive got to go out there and lead the way and hopefully my energy is contagious." In addition to the assist, Cooke also registered two shots on goal and delivered five hits in nearly 16 minutes of ice time. Jason Pominville, Nino Niederreiter and Jared Spurgeon supplied the other goals for the Wild, who have outscored the opposition 16-5 while winning all five games at Xcel Energy Center. Ilya Bryzgalov made 18 saves to help the Wild even the series. Patrick Sharp and Michal Handzus each had goals for Chicago, while Corey Crawford stopped 27 shots in the setback. "They worked for everything they got and we got to do the same," said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. While Cooke returned from a suspension to make in impact in Game 4, the Blackhawks lost forward Brandon Bollig for two games due to a boarding incident in Fridays contest. The NHL handed Bollig a two-game suspension for his hit from behind on Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard late in the second period. Bollig was assessed with a minor penalty on the play, while Ballard was injured an did not return to the game. Ballard has endured a history of concussions, the latest of which cost him seven games early in the regular season. He had returned to the lineup in Game 3 after missing the final 14 games of the regular season and nine postseason tilts with a pulled groin muscle. Both Ballard and forward Matt Moulson, who sat out Gam