Freischaltung » Ajanaku, whose 15 kills and nine blocks in a 3-1 victo

WIMBLEDON, London --?Gilles Simon?threatened to sue the umpire during his defeat to Grigor Dimitrov?as the weather continued to prove a talking point at Wimbledon.Trailing 40-30 in the second game of the second set, Simon exchanged words with umpire John Blom after walking to his chair.I dont want to play, when its raining, on grass. Thats it, he was heard saying, before adding: If I play and get injured, I will sue you and you will pay.A large number of matches scheduled for days two and three of The Championships were delayed by rain, though better conditions allowed for a prompt start to play on Thursday morning.But Simon -- who went on to lose 6-3, 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 to Dimitrov -- was unhappy with having to play on when drizzle passed over the All England Club just after 1.30pm.He later told a press conference: I hate to play when its raining. I never understood when they are forcing us to go on the court when the court is slippery. I understand. Its just not acceptable for me.I feel the day Im going to get injured on slippery grass, Im going to sue everyone in the stadium. We try to understand what is happening in both parties, like tournaments and players, but in one point yesterday it was just ridiculous.The supervisor told me, Its raining but the water is not going to the ground. Its really light rain and its there and it stays in the air and its flying away. So the grass is not wet. And I have to answer that. So in the match you just see me on TV, Im pissed because I want to destroy him.Simon said he will discuss the issue with ATP Player Council, of which he is a member, and also criticised the players treatment during the Australian Open.Its happening in basically every slam, so its not just here, he added. Here its always about the grass that is wet. But in Australia they force us to play when its 44 degrees and the doctor says, Yeah, its fine. ?The tournament just got lucky nothing really serious happen once on the court for a player, like someone breaking his leg on slippery court or someone feeling really bad in Australia when its 44.They just try to push. They want us to play. We are just human, or maybe they are just really confident that we are that strong that we can play anywhere. But on my side, I play, its slippery. We all have a bad feeling, we want to stop.Its always on the tournament side. They always force you to play and you cannot say anything. You discuss. You say, Come on, the grass is wet. And then you have the famous water that is not touching the grass reason that force you to play. Its complicated.We are going to have more and more discussion about it [on the ATP Player Council]. We really understand when its a terrible day for the tournament and there is no showing for the public, they stay long and they want to see the match. But its just not possible.I think unfortunately we should stop. It looks pretty simple, like you see the rain on grass, you say, OK, we stop. Thats basic. But it doesnt sound basic on the other side.Dimitrov was more diplomatic afterwards. He said Simon is a cool guy and that they have mutual respect.Everyone has their own way. I understand his frustration, the Bulgarian told a press conference. But its the same for me. We have all the officials out there. We had the umpire coming down, the supervisor, so all these guys are taking unbelievable care of us, to protect us and to take the right decisionsI know when there is a little mist in the air, the grass is a little slippery. Thats logistics, yes. And you just try not to push too much, so you dont want to slide. You have to be a bit more cautious. You cant fight the weather.In other second-round matches Thursday, David Goffin?beat?Edouard Roger-Vasselin?in three sets while Britains Dan Evans saw off?Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-1.Sam Querrey also eased past Thomaz Bellucci for the loss of nine games, while Roberto Bautista Agut got a walkover when Mikhail Kukushkin withdrew with an injury.Bautista Agut is now the highest-ranked Spaniard in the draw after David Ferrer was knocked out. The 13th seed was a surprise casualty, losing in straight sets to Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.Several first-round games, which had been delayed due to the rain, were also finished Thursday. Among them, Donald Young beat Florian Mayer, Lucas Pouille saw off Marius Copil and Australian qualifier Matthew Barton won a deciding set with Albano Olivetti 14-12.John Isner also won his first-round match 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-3 against Marcos Baghdatis, while sixth seed Milos Raonic, who reached the final at Queens,?progressed to the last 32 with a 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Andreas Seppi.American Steve Johnson, winner of the Nottingham Open, is through to the third round after beating Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 7-6(6), 6-3, while compatriot Jack Sock was a four-set winner over Robin Haase.Croatian Ivo Karlovic, the 23rd seed, hit 34 aces but was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 by Slovakian qualifier?Lukas Lacko, the Slovakian qualifier. Elsewhere, Denis Istomin secured a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Nicolas Almagro.Joao Sousa beat Dennis Novikov in four sets while John Millman made it to the third round of Wimbledon for the first time by seeing off 26th-ranked Benoit Paire and will face Andy Murray.Bernard Tomic later saw off the challenge of Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot in four sets.In the final singles game of the day, the eighth seed Dominic Thiem fell at the second hurdle, losing in straight sets to Jiri Vesely.PA Sport contributed to this report Authentic Custom Warriors Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Tim Hardaway Jersey Large .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. http://www.customwarriorsjersey.com/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Custom Tim Hardaway Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Custom Warriors Jersey China . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For all the talk about Stanford volleyballs young guns being goofballs, heres a little secret from freshman Kathryn Plummer:The silliest kid on the Cardinal is fifth-year senior Inky Ajanaku, whose 15 kills and nine blocks in a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Minnesota lifted No. 9 Stanford (26-7) into Saturdays national championship game for the 15th time in program history.Theyll play Texas, which shocked No. 1 Nebraska with a three-set sweep in the Thursday nightcap at Nationwide Arena.Shes the pot stirrer; shes a little kid at heart, said Plummer, one of four freshman starters for the Cardinal. Only when it comes to volleyball, you can tell shes the oldest person on the court.And at the ancient age of 22, Ajanaku doesnt have time to hang around while the Cardinal kids mature -- not that they need to. (Unless, of course, youre talking about the three Instagram accounts they all have or their DMs [direct messages]. I mean, are people still doing that? Ajanaku asks with a playful roll of the eye.)All of us want to win it for her, Plummer said. One of the things Inky always says is next point. That brings a sense of urgency to our game. When we were not doing as well earlier this season, we were focusing on what we did wrong. The second half of the season, weve done better just moving along to the next point.Ajanaku had a sense of a special season right from the go. Preseason, when we had our first practice, we saw what the freshmen could do. We were blown away by the talent.Leading the talent pool is the 6-foot-6 Plummer, whose imposing presence against the Gophers was reminiscent of a WNBA center. You want to duck when she gets the last word. The national freshman of the year finished with 15 kills and 11 digs against the methodical Gophers.Then theres another frosh, setter Jenna Gray, whose two dumps in the fourth set proved critical for a Stanford team that needed to keep its edge in the national semifinal after the Gophers gritted out the third set 25-22.Libero Morgan Hentz?Its really easy to be a great blocker when you only have to take up a certain part of the court, Ajanaku said. And Morgan allows that for us.And then theres 6-6 Audriana Fitzmorris, who had 10 kills -- her last one on match point -- and eight blocks against the Gophers.Ajanaku said Wednesday that she hasnt had much time to reflect on a season that hasnt exactly played out according to plan.dddddddddddd. Six games in, it became clear that All-American Hayley Hodson, last years AVCA freshman of the year, would not be a go the rest of the way for health reasons. Another injury to Michaela Keefe led coach John Dunning to abandon his 6-2 offense in favor of a 5-1, and even Ajanaku missed time due to an ankle sprain.Weve been through so much and that matures you, Ajanaku said. A lot of people might not think the freshmen could handle the situation, but they handled it. They keep proving to people that they can handle it and can play at a really high level when there are high stakes.This is a team that trailed Wisconsin last weekend only to rally in five, a stunning defeat for the Big Ten powerhouse in its own building.We were playing decent volleyball, but the environment got to us, Ajanaku said. After that locker room talk, we decided nobodys going to fault us for taking the big swings. We said, Lets just cover each other and lets just go for it. Thats what we did.Those are the moments when Ajanku lives up to the Grandma nickname her teammates cajole her with. Most of the time shes the one singing Mr. Brightside or dancing to Caroline (by Amine, by the way, not Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond).But Dunning said when hes needed Ajanku to become the leader, shes become that calming voice in the huddle. Previously, he said, she led by example. But he told her before the season that while shes done a lot, he knew she was capable of more.To have somebody on your team, a player step up and talk to their team and have everybody be glued to it, thats really, really big, he said.Ajanaku embraces that role and is cognizant that this could have all worked out completely different. After all, she really isnt supposed to be here, sweating out her cellular immunology exam while her teammates weather English composition. A torn ACL last season led to the redshirt year and a head start on a masters in biology for the wannabe orthopedic surgeon.Dont think she doesnt know it.My volleyball career didnt go as I expected, but thats life, she said. You go with the opportunities you have.Thanks to her, Stanford has another on Saturday night. ' ' '