14. Villa were relegated to the Championship this season Re

MONACO -- Canadas Milos Raonic opened his clay-court season with a second-round victory over Taiwans Yen Lu-Hsun at the Monte Carlos Masters on Wednesday. The No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., rebounded nicely after dropping a first-set tiebreaker in the 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 victory. "I did a lot of things well today," Raonic said. "I had the discipline I needed when things were not going so well. "I played a clean match, on a lot of his service games I was creating opportunities for myself." Raonic, who had a first-round bye, fired 19 aces and completed the win in just under two hours in cool, windy conditions. He had three set point opportunities in the opening set but couldnt convert. "Even losing the first set, I still had chances in his service games," he said. "During the rest of the match on every game on his serve I was at least getting close. "I felt at ease despite the situation after the end of the first set." The Canadian rallied in the second set with an early break to lead for 2-0, eventually taking a 5-2 lead and serving it out to pull even. He ran away with the third set for the win. Raonic will next play No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain, who earned a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Julien Benneteau of France. "My goal is to do as well as I can this clay season and better than I did last year," said Raonic. "My main focus will be on the tournaments in Madrid and Paris." Also Wednesday, Roger Federer was happier than eight-time champion Rafael Nadal after their straight-sets wins to reach the third round. Federer took just 52 minutes to beat veteran Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2, while Nadal overcame a rusty start to put away Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-1. The top-seeded Nadal, who lost the title to Novak Djokovic last year, dropped his opening service game and trailed 3-1 in the first set. But from 4-4, the Spaniard reeled off six straight games, then the Russian qualifier broke his serve again. "I think I started little bit slow," Nadal said. "But he was playing very, very aggressive, hitting very strong, with no mistakes." Nadals body language suggested he was far from happy with his performance. At times he looked glum-faced, other times annoyed with his shots. His serve was vulnerable, too, as he conceded four break-point chances -- including in consecutive service games during the second set. He clinched victory with a crisp forehand winner. "I felt comfortable in the second set," Nadal said. "I think I was playing better. " Federer, returning to the tournament for the first time since 2011, was far more ruthless as he raced to 5-0 in 17 minutes. He improved his record against the 35-year-old Stepanek to 14-2. The Czech has not beaten Federer in six years. "A bit surprised how well it went. On clay, when you have the upper hand from the baseline, its kind of hard to get out of it," Federer said. "Thats kind of how it was for Radek. I had a good start to both sets, I was solid on my own service games. It was clearly a good match to start my clay-court campaign." The fourth-seeded Federer next plays another Czech, Lukas Rosol, who beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4, while Nadal plays Italian Andreas Seppi, who won 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 against Spaniard Pablo Andujar. Federer has never won Monte Carlo, losing in three straight finals to Nadal from 2006-08. They cant meet again until the final. Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded third, was slightly faster than Federer, needing only 46 minutes to thrash Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-0, 6-2. "I expected a more difficult first round against him. I felt good on the court," Wawrinka said. "I know that if I feel good physically, then I am able to put a lot of pressure on my opponent." No. 10 Fabio Fognini of Italy, No. 11 Tommy Robredo, No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and No. 15 Nicolas Almagro -- both Spanish -- also advanced to the third round. Raonic rallied to beat Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1; Fognini downed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4; Robredo won 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Julien Benneteau of France; Dimitrov downed Spaniard Albert Ramos 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Almagro beat Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Grand Prix Hassan II winner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat No. 17 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 7-5, and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta next faces defending champion Novak Djokovic after winning 6-3, 7-6 (6) against Gael Monfils. Fake College Football Jerseys . The Los Angeles Clippers showed them just how ugly that life could be. Jared Dudley scored a season-high 21 points, Chris Paul added 16 points and 17 assists, and the Clippers jumped all over the Bulls in Roses absence for a 121-82 victory Sunday. College Jerseys China . Gauteng High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled Tuesday that South African media houses will be allowed to install three remote controlled cameras in court for the Olympic athletes trial starting next week to capture images that likely will be seen by millions around the world. https://www.fakecollegejerseys.com/ .5 million contract with the right-handed reliever. Ziegler revealed the agreement via Twitter, saying hes "really excited to stay in Arizona for a couple more years, at least. Wholesale College Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cyber Monday College Jerseys . -- The Washington Redskins coaching staff distanced itself from other coaches Thursday by siding with ownership -- and not the players -- in the NFLs labour dispute.Randy Lerner has sold Aston Villa to the Recon Group, owned by Chinese businessman Dr Tony Jiantong Xia. The deal is for 100 per cent ownership and will go through subject to approval by the Premier League and Football League.It is understood that the new regime has spoken to Roberto Di Matteos representatives as their preferred choice as head coach. Sky sources report the former Chelsea manager, who has been out of work since resigning from Bundesliga side Schalke 12 months ago, is due to begin talks imminently over a three-year deal. Randy Lerner has sold Aston Villa to the Recon Group It is estimated that Dr Xia will pay between £60m and £70m for the club which New York-based investor Lerner bought 10 years ago and has been trying to sell since 2014. Villa were relegated to the Championship this season Recon Group is Dr Xias privately owned holding company that owns the controlling interest in five publicly-listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges and many otheer private companies employing 35,000 people in 75 countries.dddddddddddd Season review Stats, quotes and expert opinion on Villas 2015/16 campaign In a farewell statement on the Aston Villa website, Lerner said: Tonys excitement to develop Villa Park shone through. I remain convinced that this is a crucial part of the clubs future as it provides a critical, long-term second source of revenue and therefore sustainability for the club from which squad-funding can potentially come.It is with that that I want to say thank you, and to wish Tony every success going forward.Aston Villa were relegated to the Sky Bet Championship after finishing bottom of the Premier League this season. Villa supporters had previously protested about the running of the club Also See: What happened to...? Premier League season grades Bevington leaves Aston Villa Get a ￡10 free bet! ' ' '