Venus keeps her wits about her to down Greek qualifier

LONDON (Reuters) - A time violation warning, a few spots of rain and the thunderous groundstrokes of her rival could not throw Venus Williams off her long-limbed stride as she reached the Wimbledon third round with a 7-5 4-6 6-3 win over Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari on Thursday.

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Nishikori survives scare to overpower Benneteau

LONDON (Reuters) - Japan's Kei Nishikori survived an early scare before he dispatched buccaneering Frenchman Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 in the Wimbledon second round on Thursday.

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13th seed Ferrer bundled out by Mahut

LONDON (Reuters) - David Ferrer became the highest-ranked casualty so far in the Wimbledon men's singles when French serve and volleyer Nicolas Mahut overpowered him 6-1 6-4 6-3 on Thursday.

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Brazil lends $895 million to Rio to guarantee safety at Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's government disbursed 2.9 billion reais ($895 million) to cover Olympic security spending by the state of Rio de Janeiro, which declared a state of fiscal emergency just weeks ahead of the global sporting event.

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Mejia, Balentien, Eldred receive players’ vote to appear in All-Star Series

Nippon Professional Baseball’s players have spoken, and they want to see power at this year’s All-Star Series. Three foreign sluggers, who were not selected to the Central and Pacific leagues’ All-Star teams by the fans, were added through the players’ vote, NPB announced Thursday. The additions were Ernesto Mejia of the PL’s Seibu Lions, single-season […]

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Puel named Southampton manager

Southampton has appointed former Nice and Lyon boss Claude Puel as its new manager on a three-year contract, the Premier League club said on Thursday. The 54-year-old, who arrived at Nice in July 2012 on an initial three-year deal, led it to a fourth-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season. Puel, who guided Olympique Lyon […]

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Russian pole vaulter Isinbayeva applies to participate in Rio Olympics

The All-Russia Athletic Federation said that two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva has applied to the IAAF for permission to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Games. The IAAF this month upheld its overall ban on the Russia team — imposed in November because of widespread doping — but allowed an exemption for athletes […]

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