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

Radswanka ousts Venus in first round

From Staff And Wire Reports

Tennis: With inflamation in her lower back limiting her to to two matches in the last 1 1/2 months, seven-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, Venus Williams was knocked out of the opening round of the French Open for the first time since 2001.

Williams seeded 30th at Paris’ Roland Garros, felt hampered by a bad back, had problems with her serve – all sorts of strokes, actually – and lost 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 Sunday to 40th-ranked Urszula Radwanska of Poland.

The only other seeded player to lose on Day 1 was No. 11 Nadia Petrova of Russia, who was defeated by Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. In an exciting match full of momentum swings, No. 15 Gilles Simon of France overcame a two-set deficit to edge Lleyton Hewitt 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.

Italian Nabali holds on for Giro title

Cycling: Vincenzo Nibali, an Italian rider with the Astana team, coasted to the Giro d’Italia title in the final stage of the three-week classic, while Mark Cavendish won the 21st leg in a sprint finish that concluded in Brescia, Italy, for his fifth victory in this year’s race.

Nibali took the overall leader’s pink jersey after the seventh stage, never gave it up, and padded his lead by winning the final two mountain stages in dominating fashion.

Rigoberto Uran of Colombia finished second overall and Cadel Evans of Australiawas third, 4:43 and 5:52 behind Nibali, respectively.

Beckham watches career end on bench

Soccer: David Beckham watched from the sidelines as his soccer career came to an end with Paris Saint-Germain’s last match of the season in Lorient, France.

Having played for the last time as a professional last weekend, Beckham traveled with PSG but was not included on manager Carlo Ancelotti’s roster.