Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal Suffers Shock Defeat by Steve Darcis

In one of Wimbledon's greatest upsets, an ailing Rafael Nadal was knocked out in straight sets Monday by a player ranked 135th — the Spaniard's first loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam event. Steve Darcis of Belgium stunned the two-time champion 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4. He ended Nadal's 22-match winning streak and eliminated one of the Big Four of men's tennis on the very first day of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Nadal was sidelined for seven months with a left knee injury after losing in the second round of Wimbledon last year. He seemed to be struggling physically. He was unable to turn on the speed or use his legs to spring into his groundstrokes, limping and failing to run for some shots. Darcis was as surprised as everyone else with the result.

"Rafa Nadal didn't play his best tennis today,'' the 29-year-old Belgian said. "The first match on grass is always difficult. It's his first one. Of course, it's a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could, not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today.''

Nadal was coming off his eighth championship at the French Open last month but, on this day, he never looked like the player who has won 12 Grand Slam titles and established himself as one of the greatest players of his generation. It's the second straight early Wimbledon exit for Nadal, who was ousted in the second round last year by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.

Champions Trophy: BCCI Announces Cash Prize of Rs.1 Crore Each to Players

The BCCI on Monday announced monetary incentives for the members of the Indian cricket team including the support staff for winning the ICC Champions Trophy.

Each player in the team will be awarded a cash prize of Rs.one crore while the each member of the support staff will be richer by Rs.30 lakh, according to a BCCI media release.

India clinched the ICC Champions Trophy, in its last edition, with a nerve-wracking five-run victory over hosts England in a rain-hit final, giving their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni the unique record of being the first captain to win three world titles.

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After frustrating showers reduced the contest to a T20 affair, India first scored 129 for seven and then restricted England to 124 for eight in a topsy-turvy game that went down to the wire. Ravindra Jadeja (33 no and 2/24) made another all-round contribution which proved to be telling in the context of the match.

Confederations Cup: Spain Top Group With 3-0 Win Over Nigeria

Two excellent goals from defender Jordi Alba, one of eight Barcelona players in the starting lineup, and a fifth of the tournament from Fernando Torres gave Spain a third successive win and top spot in Group B.

 World and European champions Spain stayed on course for the title they have never won when they beat African champions Nigeria 3-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

Two excellent goals from defender Jordi Alba, one of eight Barcelona players in the starting lineup, and a fifth of the tournament from Fernando Torres gave Spain a third successive win and top spot in Group B.

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They stretched their unbeaten run in competitive games to 28, going back to their 1-0 defeat to Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup, and have not lost at all since England beat them in a friendly in November 2011.

They will face Italy, who they beat 4-0 to win the European title in Kiev a year ago, at Fortaleza's Castelao in Thursday's semi-final. A young and largely experimental Nigeria team, after beating Tahiti 6-1, finished third after defeats to Uruguay and Spain and must now concentrate of qualifying for the World Cup. They need a draw against Malawi in September to top their African qualifying group and will then have to play off over two legs with another group winner to earn a return trip to Brazil next year.