ERST LESEN! » the last game. Del Potro thinks Harrison

The New Zealand Rugby Union has formed a new collective agreement with its Players Association which will see an additional NZ$70m (￡39.9m) allocated to its player payment pool over the next three years.The deal means the NZRU has increased financial muscle to keep its best talent in New Zealand and reports suggest it could see top All Blacks for the first time earning in excess of NZ$1m a year on salary alone.The increase in funds -- the pool is up from NZ$121m (￡69m) to $NZ191m (￡109m)-- is partly down to the revenue set to be generated by the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.Were delighted to have concluded this important piece of work, NZRU CEO Steve Tew said. We believe that our partnership with players continues to be a critical factor in the success of New Zealand Rugby at all levels of the game.And we recognise that that close relationship is part of our competitive advantage.In a highly competitive global market, we cant compete purely on money. For us, the difference has to be in the environment we offer and the strength of our support for players to have the lifestyle they want.This new deal further enhances that while the overall increased and expanded investment across a number of areas, means that our packages are increasingly competitive.This agreement has been developed on the back of some very hard work. I personally want to thank the players, our provincial union partners and the collective negotiation team for their work and commitment to ensuring rugby can continue to inspire and unify New Zealand communities.All Blacks stars Ben Smith, Israel Dagg and Aaron Cruden all have contracts with the NZRU which expire in 2017. They are attracting plenty of attention from Europe but the increase in funds could tempt them to stay in New Zealand. Wholesale Old Skool Canada . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Cheap Vans Shoes Canada . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. http://www.oldskoolsalecanada.com/ . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Old Skool Canada Outlet . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Cheap Old Skool Canada Fast Shipping . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.WASHINGTON -- Even before Ryan Harrison broke his racket by spiking it on the Citi Open court or screamed "Oh, my God!" in exasperation, top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro was feeling pretty good about the way things were going Thursday. And they kept improving for the 2009 U.S. Open champion. Back in action after nearly a month off, del Potro won twice in a span of about 7 1/2 hours to reach the Citi Open quarterfinals. Del Potro started by winning a rain-postponed match against 107th-ranked American Harrison 6-1, 7-5, then returned to the court under the lights at night to defeat 14th-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-3, 6-3. Each lasted about 70 minutes. "Really good day," del Potro said, smiling as he leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs. "The match against Tomic was a little better than the first one." Del Potro, who received a first-round bye, is 11-1 at the hard-court tournament in Washington, where he won titles in 2008 and 2009. The Argentine, No. 7 in the ATP rankings, hadnt competed since July 5, when he was eliminated in five sets by No. 1 Novak Djokovic in 4 hours, 43 minutes, the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history. "I was training hard before coming here," said del Potro, who will face No. 7-seeded Kevin Anderson, also a winner twice Thursday. Anderson eliminated James Duckworth 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, then beat Mardy Fish of the United States 7-6 (2), 6-1. Before that match finished, Fishs withdrawal from next weeks tournament in Montreal was announced; the event said he pulled out for personal reasons. "Its hard for me, right now, to come out and just play every single week," said Fish, who has missed time the past two seasons while dealing with a heart condition. "I still know I have a long ways to go to get back to where Id like to be and where I was, maybe, 12 months ago," he added. The other mens quarterfinals are No. 8 John Isner against No. 16 Marcos Baghdatis, No. 3 Tommy Haas against No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov, and Marinko Matosevic against Dmitry Tursunov. Matosevic beat No. 4 Milos Raonic of Canada 7-5, 7-6 (7); Baghdatis surprised No. 2 Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-1, 6-2; the 35-year-old Haas finished off a second-round match suspended overnight in the third set, then also won Thursdays last match, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 against No. 13 Ivan Dodig, wrapping it up after midnight. Del Potro said his left knee felt fine; he wasnt wearing any sort of wrap the way he did at the All England Club afterr hyperextending it on a fall during a match.dddddddddddd "You never know" how the knee will hold up, said del Potros coach, Franco Davin. "For now, its OK." Harrison was ranked inside the top 50 last season and is widely seen as the next top American male player. "He has good potential. He serves well. He plays well on hard courts. But sometimes he looks young," said del Potro, who was a couple of weeks shy of his 21st birthday when he won the U.S. Open. "Hes still 21. He needs to learn a few things to become a better player in the future." Harrison trailed 4-0 after only 11 minutes. Both men hit serves at the considerable speed of 130 mph, but the difference was that once the ball was in play, del Potros groundstrokes were far more consistent. "Sometimes you go out there and for whatever reason, its not feeling as well as you want it to," said Harrison, 0-18 against top-10 players. "The best guys, whenever they see someones off, they just press you, and they just make you feel like youre under duress all the time." After pushing a forehand long to get broken at 3-0, Harrison smashed his equipment, earning a warning from the chair umpire for racket abuse. During a particularly rough stretch from late in the first set to early in the second, Harrison dropped 13 consecutive points, a drought that ended right after he dumped a backhand in the net, looked to the sky and yelled. From there, he played evenly against del Potro, until getting broken in the last game. Del Potro thinks Harrisons histrionics help foes. "Its easier for us, because we ... (see) our opponent really, really low," del Potro said. Three other American men joined Harrison on the way out: No. 6-seeded Sam Querrey, Jack Sock and Tim Smyczek. In womens action, the only seeded player to lose was No. 8 Madison Keys of the United States, who failed to convert two match points and bowed out against Monica Niculescu 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (6). The womens quarterfinals are No. 1-seeded Angelique Kerber vs. No. 7 Magdalena Rybarikova, No. 3 Ekaterina Makarova vs. Niculescu, No. 4 Alize Cornet vs. Sorana Cirstea, and Andrea Petkovic vs. Paula Ormaechea. The most unusual ending to a match Thursday came when Olga Puchkova of Russia was defaulted by the WTA supervisor after hitting a line judge in the knee with a ball between points. Trailing Ormaechea 3-6, 6-3, 4-1, Puchkova was forced to forfeit even though she said it was an accident. ' ' '