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RIO DE JANEIRO -- What was shaping up as a very long day of Olympic tennis for Rafael Nadal began shortly after 11 a.m., when he played the first point of what would become a victory that put him in the singles quarterfinals.Then, after a break of less than 2 hours, Nadal went back out on court for a mens doubles semifinal Thursday and won that, too, assuring himself of leaving the Rio de Janeiro Games with at least one medal for Spain.Apparently, though, that was enough for the 14-time Grand Slam champion, who pulled out of mixed doubles shortly before he was scheduled to pick up his racket yet again in the evening for a first-round match in that event.Nadal, the gold medalist in singles eight years ago, missed the 2012 London Olympics with a knee injury and spoke about making up for that in Brazil.The last-minute decision not to remain in all three draws he was eligible for this time might create questions about how hes feeling at the moment. But when hes been on court, Nadal has shown zero lingering effects of an injured left wrist that kept him off tour for 2+ months and forced him to withdraw from the French Open before the third round and skip Wimbledon altogether.Its not been an easy season for me, Nadal said. Two weeks ago, I really didnt know if I will have the chance to be here and compete in this Olympic Games, because the practice (time) was almost zero for two months.After Wednesdays entire tennis schedule was washed out because of rain, giving Nadal and everyone else a chance to rest, he resumed his pursuit of some hardware by beating 15th-seeded Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (5), 6-3 in singles. That match lasted 2 hours, 2 minutes in the main stadium, and was contested in shifting wind that made it tricky to calibrate shots and repeatedly knocked over courtside signage.In the end, hes still the same, Simon said. He never had three, four bad points in a row.Nadals next opponent will get plenty of home crowd support: Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, who advanced by eliminating David Goffin of Belgium 7-6 (10), 6-4.The other mens quarterfinals: Andy Murray of Britain vs. Steve Johnson of the United States; Kei Nishikori of Japan vs. Gael Monfils of France; and Robert Bautista Agut of Spain vs. Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.The womens semifinals are Angelique Kerber of Germany against Madison Keys of the U.S., and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic against Monica Puig of Puerto Rico. The winners will meet for gold; the losers will meet for bronze.Its obviously a little bit different playing for an Olympic medal, versus a Grand Slam, said Keys, an Australian Open semifinalist in 2015. But theyre both big stages. Theyre both big moments.A little past 3:30 p.m., Nadal was at Court 3 alongside his good friend Marc Lopez for doubles, and after playing for a minute more than 2 hours, they were lying on top of each other at the baseline, celebrating a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) victory over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil of Canada.When Nadal sat on the sideline bench, he planted a kiss atop Lopezs head. Then Nadal appeared to begin crying, and Lopez threw an arm around his shoulders.High emotions on court, Nadal said, and a lot of nerves.They will wind up with either gold or silver, depending on the outcome of their final against Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania.Nadal is trying to become the first player to win gold in singles twice. Also attempting to achieve that: Murray, the defending Olympic champion.For a stretch of Thursdays 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win against the combustible Fabio Fognini of Italy, though, Murray appeared to be headed out of the tournament.The two-time Wimbledon champion dropped eight consecutive games to lose the second set and trail 3-0 in the third.Sometimes your opponent can be playing great. Sometimes youre playing terrible. Sometimes the conditions dont allow for you to play really well, and the conditions didnt allow that today, Murray said. Shadow on the court was making it very hard to pick up the ball and the wind was swirling everywhere.The 40th-ranked Fognini, who recently married 2015 U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta, acknowledged he got distracted by what he thought was a bad line call while one point from leading 4-1 in the final set.I was playing better than him for 1+ sets, Fognini said. And then, unfortunately, there was that call.Later, Murray suddenly found himself doing double duty, entering the mixed doubles field with Heather Watson and playing Thursday night after a late withdrawal by another team. Murray and Watson reached the second round, beating Carla Suarez Navarro and David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichClearance Sports Jerseys . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Sports Jerseys From China . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Sports Jerseys Sale . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Fake Sports Jerseys . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League.MIAMI -- Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda figures to be a rested and dangerous pitcher on Sunday against the Miami Marlins.Maeda will be pitching on six days rest, which was pretty much his schedule in his native Japan.The 28-year-old is 14-8 this season with a 3.29 ERA. But in starts where he pitches on at least five days rest, he is even better (3.14 ERA in 89 innings).With the extra day, Kenta has performed, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. But whatever situation we put him in, he is going to perform.Indeed, if not for Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, Maeda would likely be the National League Rookie of the Year. Seager is hitting .318 with 39 doubles, three triples and 66 RBI.It has been 20 years since the Dodgers have had one of their players win the NL Rookie of the Year award.Consider that two-decade drought over. It will be Seager.Perhaps it is fitting that Seager and Maeda are considered the NLs top two rookies this year because the Dodgers have prided themselves on their minor-league system for decades.Starting in 1992, the Dodgers organization burst with pride, producing five straight Rookie of the Year winners. That fab five consisted of first baseman Eric Karros in 92 followed by catcher and eventual Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, outfielder Raul Mondesi, pitcher Hideo Nomo and outfielder Todd Hollandsworth.Since the NL started honoring its top rookies in 1949, no other organization has ever won that award more than two years in a row.In fact, the Dodgers had streaks of more than two in a row twwice -- 92-96 and also 79-82.dddddddddddd That latter streak included pitchers Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Howe and Fernando Valenzuela as well as second baseman Steve Sax.Seager and Maeda fit in just fine with all those names. And Maeda has fit seamlessly into the rotation of the Dodgers, who have gone 17-10 in games he has started.Another win could be coming Sunday as the Dodgers face Marlins rookie right-hander Jose Urena, who is 3-6 with a 5.54 ERA.Urena lost his most recent outing 4-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.It seemed like Jose was up in the zone more than we had seen in his previous couple of outings, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. He had more unfavorable counts, more off-speed up in the zone -- stuff like that.If stuff like that continues Sunday, that could be another loss for the Marlins (70-72), who already have been projected to have less than a two percent chance of making this years playoffs. Miami has lost 11 of its past 15 games.Meanwhile, the Dodgers (80-61) have a comfortable lead in the NL West, and they just got outfielder Andre Ethier (broken leg) off the disabled list for the first time all year.Its possible that the left-handed-hitting Ethier could make his first start of the year against Urena.The return of Ethier is a boost to the Dodgers, who have placed 28 different players on the disabled list this year, the most in the majors since at least 1987. ' ' '