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ROME -- Six-time champion Rafael Nadal overcame one of the worst opening sets of his career to edge Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday and reach the Italian Open quarterfinals. Nadals performance, and sometimes sluggish movement on the court, raised questions about whether he will be able to successfully defend his title at the French Open. The years second Grand Slam starts in 10 days. Nadal will next face fourth-seeded David Ferrer, who advanced when Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany withdrew because of dizziness. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic had a far easier time than Nadal, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-4 to improve his clay-court record this season to 8-1. Also, second-seeded Roger Federer breezed by Gilles Simon of France 6-1, 6-2. In womens action, Serena Williams routed 14th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 6-1 for her 21st consecutive win, matching the best streak of her career. In the other half of the draw, second-seeded Maria Sharapova swept aside No. 16 Sloane Stephens -- the American who reached the Australian Open semifinals -- 6-2, 6-1. Nadal, however, was far from his best, especially in the first set, in which Gulbis took a 5-0 lead and even had a point to close out the set at love. But Nadal, who has reached the final in all seven tournaments he has played since returning to the circuit in February from a seven-month break because of a left knee injury, eventually began to win the longer points while the carefree Gulbis started to commit more errors. Nadal won last weeks Madrid Open but his run of eight consecutive titles in the Monte Carlo Masters ended last month with a straight-set loss to Djokovic in the final. Nadal said this week he now trains for about 50 minutes a day compared with two hours a year ago. "I really dont want to talk about my knee. Im fine. I (fought) a lot to be where I am today," Nadal said. "These matches like today where youre in trouble all the time but you keep fighting for every ball, this victory means a lot. To have another one like this is very special." Gulbis had given Nadal trouble before, also taking a set off the Spaniard in four of their previous five meetings, all of which Nadal won. For the first half of this match, Gulbis dominated with his big serve and forehand while Nadal made a series of forehand errors. At one point late in the first set, Nadal didnt even move when Gulbis returned his serve within reach. Gulbis held serve in all 17 games of his first two main-draw matches and Nadal didnt break him until he took a 5-3 lead in the second set. At times, Nadal was returning so far behind the baseline that Gulbis was able to step into the court and push Nadal to the corners. "I thought I was the better player in the match," Gulbis said. "But he is the champion and, well, I lost against him in Indian Wells when I also thought I played better than him. He is solid and he didnt do anything special and I made mistakes and so he won." Nadal didnt agree with Gulbis assessment. "Normally -- I dont say always, but normally -- the best player wins," Nadal said. "If the best player was the one who tried to find solutions against a player that tried to hit every ball very hard. ... I (kept) fighting and concentrating every moment. ... If thats something then probably the best player won." Gulbis has had success in Rome before, upsetting Roger Federer in the second round in 2010 and reaching the semifinals, where he lost a close three-set match to Nadal. Gulbis won his third career title in Delray Beach, Florida, in March as a qualifier and his ranking is up to No. 46 this week after finishing last year at No. 135. "Gulbis is a fantastic player. He sometimes needs to pace himself," Nadal said, criticizing Gulbis for asking the chair umpire to come down and check several ball marks. "He needs to be a little bit more calm. And if he is, he has a great chance to be in the top positions because his game is great." It was the third time in 303 clay matches that Nadal lost the opening set 6-1, according to the ATP. The others he also came back to win -- in the 2011 Davis Cup against Juan Martin del Potro and in the 2006 French Open against Roger Federer. Earlier, Djokovic again showed no signs of the right ankle injury that slowed him during last weeks Madrid Open, when the Serb lost in the second round to Grigor Dimitrov. "I havent felt any pain or discomfort on court for a week already so thats great news," Djokovic said. Djokovic has reached the Rome final four of the five past years, winning the title in 2008 and 11. Hell next face sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, who defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-5, 6-2. Two mens seeds lost, as No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro was beaten by 36th-ranked Benoit Paire of France 6-4, 7-6 (3); and No. 9 Richard Gasquet fell to rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. With local hope Sara Errani of Italy playing in the main stadium, Williams was forced to play on an outer court. She didnt make the appearance last too long, winning in 61 minutes. Williams has twice before won 21 consecutive matches, although both of those streaks came more than a decade ago, in 2002 and 2003. The 15-time Grand Slam singles winner has won her previous three tournaments. Elsewhere at the Foro Italico, two-time champion Jelena Jankovic edged fifth-seeded Li Na of China, 7-6 (2), 7-5 and will next face Romanian qualifier Simona Halep, who beat 13th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-2. The last remaining Italian in the tournament is Errani, who advanced when 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia retired while trailing 6-3, 2-0 with a left knee injury. Errani will next face Sharapova. Custom College Jerseys Outlet . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Cheap Custom Jerseys . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. http://www.collegejerseyscustom.com/custom-duke-blue-devils-jerseys-cheap-79l . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Cheap Custom Jerseys Free Shipping .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Discount Custom Jerseys . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. PITTSBURGH -- Kris Bryant wouldnt let another win slip away.After Chicago squandered two leads, Bryants RBI single in the eighth inning lifted the Cubs to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.Pinch-hitter Matt Szczur doubled to left field with one out against Pirates reliever Tony Watson (1-3). Bryant, who had three hits and reached base four times, followed with his tiebreaking hit to put the Cubs back ahead.I just go out and try to make something happen, Szczur said. I was able to get a good pitch to drive and (Bryant) did the rest. . Weve been grinding, were a bunch of grinders, so that was a good way to end the first half. We feel good about ourselves.Chicago avoided a series sweep ended its five game losing streak. Pittsburgh lost for just the second time in 11 games heading to the All-Star break.With the win, the Cubs carry a seven-game lead over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals into the break.We need a break, Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. We need to get guys rested. The combination of the schedule and, more specifically, the last week with the way games were scheduled, it put us in a fatigue situation.Cubs reliever Pedro Strop (2-2) gave up Andrew McCutchens tying sacrifice fly in the seventh, Carl Edwards pitched a hitless eight and Hector Rondon got the last three outs for his 14th save.The Pirates tied the score at 5-5 after the Cubs failed to turn a double play off a dribbler from Starling Marte in the seventh. With rookie Josh Bell at second base and John Jaso at first, Marte grounded to shortstop Addison Russell with Bell running back to second.Russell didnt tag Bell and instead handed off to second baseman Ben Zobrist, whose relay throw to first failed to beat Marte. First baseman Anthony Rizzo threw back across the diamond to third, where Bell avoided a tag from Javier Baez.With runners on the corners and one out, McCutchen drove in Bell with a fly to deep right field. Strop ended the inning by getting David Freese on a fly ball.Strop had come in for starter John Lackey, who had another inconsistent outing. After allowing four runs in his first three innings, which included McCutchens 14th home run of the season and his second in two days, Lackey rebounded by shutting down the Pirates through the following three innings.Lackey lost his control again when he walked Bell and allowed Jaso to follow with a single to start the seventh inning.ddddddddddddPirates starter Jonathan Niese fared worse, giving up five earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. He was pulled in favor of Arquimedes Caminero in the fourth inning after surrendering a two-run home run to Albert Almora Jr., retiring the following two batters and allowing back-to-back hits to Bryant and Rizzo in top of the fourth inning.When hes been good, theres downhill angle, hes had good command down in the zone, getting the ball in the glove side, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. There were too many pitches elevated again today. Thats really been the one common theme, is location. With better location down, hes been much more efficient.Niese has lost five of his past six starts and is 7-7 after beginning the season 6-2.Im really done worrying about my mechanics, Niese said. As long as Im executing pitches, thats all that matters. So, this All-Star break is going to be good. Its a good reset button. Im going to go home, enjoy the family and come back in the second half and give it all I got. Just start executing pitches.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: OF Dexter Fowler will miss the All-Star Game on Tuesday and likely some time following the break. Fowler, who is recovering form a right hamstring strain, played in his first minor-league rehab game for Class A South Bend on Friday. He will travel to San Diego to take part in the All-Star festivities.Pirates: OF Gregory Polanco did not play for a second consecutive game due to left hamstring tightness. ... 2B Josh Harrison also was absent. He exited Pittsburghs game Saturday in the third inning after fouling a fastball off his left foot. ... RHP Gerrit Cole made his second rehab start with Class Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday. He is expected to rejoin Pittsburgh following the break.UP NEXTCubs: Chicago wont play again until Friday, when it will come out of the All-Star break to face the surging Texas Rangers, who limped into the break.Pirates: The Washington Nationals will welcome Pittsburgh to Nationals Park following the break for the first game of a three-game weekend set starting Friday. ' ' '