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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rain-delayed Open stresses competitors

Rafael Nadal will be affected by Tuesday’s rain delay. (Associated Press)

Tennis: The U.S. Open already configures its schedule differently than the other three major tournaments, without a full day off between the final matches. The women play semifinals on Friday and the final on Saturday night. The men play semifinals on Saturday with a Sunday final. And now the schedule leading up to those matches could get even more crowded.

The U.S. Open canceled its entire schedule Tuesday because of rain, and the forecast through Friday isn’t good – a 70 percent chance of rain Wednesday and Thursday and possibly part of Hurricane Katia arriving Friday.

Rafael Nadal, who wasn’t scheduled Tuesday, is now up first at 8 a.m. Pacific today.

The men in Nadal’s part of the draw will be most severely affected by Tuesday’s cancellations.

Nadal, fourth-seeded Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and 28th-seeded John Isner – whom fellow American Mardy Fish tabbed as a title contender based on his play into the fourth round – may need to play four matches in five days. And that’s if they get to play today.

The women are all into the quarterfinals, and for someone such as ninth-seeded Samantha Stosur, who already played a record-setting 3-hour, 16-minute match in the fourth round, or for top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who needed almost that long Monday night to survive Svetlana Kuznetsova, extra rest now helps.

Next NBA meeting set for today

NBA: NBA players and owners will resume talks today, two people with knowledge of the plans said. This comes a week after the sides vowed to meet more frequently in hopes of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

The session will be just the third between top negotiators since the lockout started July 1. But with the opening of training camps less than a month away, both sides said they recognized the urgency to pick up the pace.

No new proposals were exchanged last week during a meeting that lasted about six hours. Neither side shared many details, saying they preferred to keep the nature of the talks private.

Commissioner David Stern said afterward there was still enough time to make a deal that would allow the regular season to open as scheduled on Nov. 1. However, a gap remains between the financial changes owners are seeking and what players have been willing to accept.

Haedo wins Vuelta stage; Cobo leads

Cycling: In Haro, Spain, Juan Jose Haedo took advantage of a chaotic finish to win the 16th stage of the Spanish Vuelta and Juanjo Cobo increased his overall lead going into the final week of racing.

Daniele Bennati was leading the sprint finish but mistakenly went right at a roundabout just before the end, taking the leading riders with him and allowing Haedo to move to the left and dash in alone over the finish line.

• RadioShack, Leopard teams merge for 2012 season: The RadioShack cycling team is merging with the Leopard-Trek outfit led by Andy and Frank Schleck for the 2012 season.

Ohno to run Chicago Half Marathon

Miscellany: Speed-skater Apolo Anton Ohno has decided to run in the Chicago Half Marathon and Karhu 5K as part of his training for the New York City Marathon in November.

Ohno decided to run the marathon at the urging of Subway spokesman Jared Fogle.

About 20,000 runners are expected to join Ohno in the Chicago Half Marathon and Karhu 5K on the morning of Sept. 11. The course takes the runners along Lake Shore Drive for 13.1 miles.

• Football players save toddler from hot car: Two Missouri Western football players, Jake Long and Shane Simpson, have made a family fans for life after pulling a toddler out of a locked car on a day when temperatures reached 95 degrees.

Teresa Gall accidentally locked her 17-month-old grandson, Liam, in the car – with the keys.

Simpson broke the window with one swing and Liam was rescued from the car. He was dehydrated, but otherwise fine.

• Wales fan dies after assault reported at Wembley: A Wales fan died after an assault was reported outside Wembley Stadium before Tuesday’s match between Wales and England in the Euro 2012 qualifying, authorities said.

The London Ambulance Service said the 44-year-old man suffered a heart attack before kickoff outside the north London stadium and police confirmed that he later died in a hospital.

• McRae at fault for fatal helicopter crash: An inquiry has ruled that former world rally champion Colin McRae was engaging in irresponsible low-level helicopter flying without a valid license when he was killed in a crash along with his 5-year-old son and two others in Scotland.

• Appeals court acquits pair of sprinters in doping case: In a case that dragged on for nearly seven years, two Greek sprinters were acquitted by an appeals court of faking a motorcycle crash after missing a doping test on the eve of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

A panel of three judges ruled unanimously one day after a prosecutor highly recommended that Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou be acquitted on grounds of reasonable doubt.