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PARIS - Roger Federer was at the top of his game in London last week, sweeping past opponents as if his age were not an issue. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . A back injury over the weekend changed everything, casting serious doubts over his chances of winning the Davis Cup, or even playing against France in the final.The 17-time Grand Slam champion picked up the injury in a hard-fought win over Swiss teammate Stan Wawrinka at the ATP Finals, forcing him to retire ahead of the title match against Novak Djokovic.One statistic speaks volumes about the seriousness of the 33-year-old Federers injury: His walkover at the season finale marked only the third time in his career that he withdrew before a match, each time due to back problems.As if Federers injury concerns were not enough, the Swiss are also worried about Wawrinkas morale as the country bids for its first Davis Cup victory. After wasting four match points against Federer in London, the Australian Open champion said he can either be destroyed or bounce back from such a tough loss.Following the match, two men are also said to have been involved in a heated spat after Wawrinka complained about noise coming from Federers box in between serves toward the end of the third set. Federer defused the tensions by posting a picture on Twitter of a united Switzerland team, with Wawrinka making bunny ears behind his teammate, and both players insisted on their friendship on Tuesday.We had a conversation after the match. Everythings totally relaxed about the situation. Were old enough, Federer said. I just wanted to see if there were any hard feelings because it was probably one of the loudest moments of the match. Clearly a lot of noise. Like I said, there is no hard feeling whatsoever. Were having a good time here. We are friends, not enemies.Federer travelled to the northern French city of Lille by private jet on Monday, hoping to recover in time before the best-of-five series beginning Friday with two singles matches, followed by doubles on Saturday and reverse singles on Sunday.It was definitely not good enough to practice yesterday, Federer told reporters Tuesday. I wish progress would be faster, but were trying hard. Were heading in that direction. I feel its definitely a little bit better than it was on Saturday night and Sunday and also Monday. Baby steps, I guess. Im hopeful.Federer had been in tremendous form this season, playing a more offensive game and bagging five titles while staying injury-free after back problems damaged his 2013 campaign.Chasing the only major title still eluding him, Federer also showed his commitment to the Davis Cup this year, joining the Swiss team immediately after his loss in the U.S. Open semifinals to take part to their semifinal against Italy in September.For years, Federer did not regard the Davis Cup as a main priority. The emergence of Wawrinka as a top player changed the equation and convinced him they had a good chance of winning the event. But without Federer, the Swiss have won just one of the 10 ties they have played in the World Group since his debut in the competition in 1999.If Federer cant play, Swiss captain Severin Luthi will have to do either with the 212th-ranked Marco Chiudinelli or No. 508 Michael Lammer.For the time being, we are not thinking that Roger Federer will not play on Friday, France captain Arnaud Clement said. We have been preparing for 10 days, and we are prepared to play the Swiss team with Federer and Wawrinka. But what we are going to play is not Federers team, it is the Swiss team. They have good players.Unlike its opponents, France is at full strength with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet having travelled to Lille after a training camp in Bordeaux. Clement also summoned Gilles Simon as a reserve player.Both Tsonga and Gasquet, who won their singles matches and teamed up in doubles in the victory over the Czech Republic in the semifinals, said they are not getting distracted by the Swiss teams struggles.France is looking to win the trophy for the 10th time.I think for this weekend, the important thing for us is to stay focused on ourselves, on our team, Tsonga said. What we need is to have a perfect performance. What we can do is just play tennis. Anything else is not really our business. Cheap Jerseys . And though his comeback night didnt quite go to script, Bryant couldnt help reflecting on the work necessary to get back on that court -- and all the months of steady labour ahead to reclaim his game. Bryant had nine points and eight rebounds in his season debut, but Amir Johnson scored a career-high 32 points in the trade-depleted Toronto Raptors 106-94 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday night.Wholesale Jerseys .For the past two nights, the Lakers have shown he might be right.Bryant had 29 points, Wesley Johnson made key free throws down the stretch and the Lakers took advantage of Dwight Howards absence Wednesday in a 98-92 victory over the Houston Rockets.MIAMI -- For the Miami Heat, the third quarter was pretty much the whole story. Chris Bosh tumbled over some courtside seats on one end, and LeBron James apologized to a few fans during one particularly frustrating moment on the other. In between, Mario Chalmers gave the Heat all the boost they needed. Chalmers went on a personal 9-0 run in a 39-second span of the period, Bosh led all scorers with 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting, and the Heat went on to beat the Atlanta Hawks 104-88 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory. "We just try to get out in transition, let our defence be our offence most of the time and keep working from there," Chalmers said. Ray Allen scored 17 in his first game back from a bout with the flu. Chalmers had 12 of his 14 in the third quarter for the Heat, who were without Dwyane Wade for the second time this season. James finished with a season-low 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Heat (8-3), and no starter played in the final 12 minutes while backups put away the game. "Were very confident in our lineup we got, man," James said. "Those guys continue to play well. They continue to work together and its great to have a Hall of Famer in that lineup with Ray coming back." Mike Scott scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which got 12 points apiece from Al Horford and Pero Antic. Kyle Korver made three 3-pointers for the Hawks, extending his streak to 84 consecutive games with at least one make from beyond the arc, five shy of matching Dana Barros NBA record. "Its a constant battle," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of playing the Heat. "They take away something. Hopefully you can find something else. At times we did and at times we didnt." Miamis lead was 56-54 in the third quarter when Chalmers got hot -- in a hurry. James Jones, who started in place of Wade, actually started what became a 15-2 run with a 3-pointer, and then Chalmers got going. He cut across the lane for a reverse layup while getting fouled, then made a 3-pointer from the left wing after an Atlanta turnover. Jeff Teague missed a layup on the next Atlanta possession, James wound up throwing a chest pass from about 50 feet to Chalmers, who pulled up on the catch and connected on another 3-pointer from the same spot. Justt like that, 56-54 became 68-54.Cheap NFL Jerseys. And Bosh provided one of the nights highlights by giving the crowd a rather comical thumbs-up after his dive into the expensive seats, plus was thrilled to learn afterward that the photo quickly made its rounds on social media. "You dont get to go in the stands much," Bosh said. Atlanta carved the deficit to 10 entering the fourth, but the Heat -- with five reserves on the court -- then showed off their depth. Allen scored Miamis first 12 points of the final quarter, Michael Beasley added the next four, and the Heat lead grew 94-78 with 5 minutes remaining, ensuring that the two-time defending NBA champions would keep their starters on the bench for the entirety of the final period. Norris Cole finished with eight points, nine assists and five rebounds for Miami. "Our starters are rooting them on," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They understand the importance of that group." Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, one where the Hawks held James scoreless for the first 16 minutes. James never really got on a sustained roll offensively, though Miami didnt need him to get there, either. James scored 10 points in the second quarter, and only three in the rest of the game. Even without Wade, and on a night Miami used its sixth starting lineup in 11 games, that didnt matter. "Theyre a great defensive team," Korver said. "They were able to really trap the ball. With LeBron in the back, theyre able to cover every passing angle - it seems like that. Nothing really feels open." Atlanta was without forward Paul Millsap, out with right elbow tendinitis. Gustavo Ayon started in his place. NOTES: Heat F Udonis Haslem had a fairly odd stat line: seven points and six fouls in eight minutes, the fastest anyone has fouled out of an NBA game since Feb. 16, 2011. Haslem had missed Miamis last four games with back spasms. ... James is now two free throws away from the 5,000th make from the line in his career. ... Spoelstra improved his winning percentage to .6617. If Miami wins at Orlando on Wednesday, he would pass legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach (.6619) on the NBAs career list, among coaches with more than 400 games. ... Atlanta finished with 22 assists, and the Hawks have had at least 20 in every game this season. cheap jerseyswholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
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