a season opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Aston

LONDON -- After two days filled with rain, the sun actually made an appearance at Wimbledon on Thursday, allowing for plenty of play all around the grounds, a chance to finally conclude the first round -- and several surprises, the biggest of which was French Open champion Garbine Muguruzas exit.No. 2 Muguruza, who reached her first Grand Slam final at the All England Club a year ago and won her first Grand Slam title less than a month ago, was one of 18 seeded players who lost on Day 4, including 11 women.Admittedly lethargic, and displaying none of the verve or confident shotmaking shes known for, Muguruza lasted less than an hour in the second round Thursday, beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Slovakias Jana Cepelova, a qualifier ranked 124th.My energy was not really there, Muguruza said. I was trying, but (it) didnt work at all.That same sentiment might have been expressed by some of the other players who joined her on the way out of the tournament, including No. 31 Kristina Mladenovic in a weather-delayed first-round match, and No. 7 Belinda Bencic, No. 14 Sam Stosur, No. 15 Karolina Pliskova, No. 16 Johanna Konta, No. 17 Elina Svitolina, No. 20 Sara Errani, No. 22 Jelena Jankovic, No. 30 Caroline Garcia and No. 32 Andrea Petkovic, all in second-round matches.That group includes a Grand Slam champion (Stosur), major finalists (Errani, Jankovic), the first seeded British woman at Wimbledon since 1984 (Konta, eliminated by 2014 runner-up Eugenie Bouchard) and a top-10 player considered a possible future star of the sport (Bencic, who retired because of a left wrist injury while trailing American qualifier Julia Boserup).There was nearly another big name gone. But No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, saved three match points, then took advantage when her opponent, 18-year-old Ana Konjuh of Croatia, twisted her right ankle by accidentally stepping on a tennis ball during a point. That happened at 7-all in the third set and, although Konjuh continued to play after a medical timeout, Radwanska was able to finish off a 6-2, 4-6, 9-7 victory.The seven seeded men who lost, all in the second round, were No. 8 Dominic Thiem, No. 13 David Ferrer, No. 16 Gilles Simon, No. 23 Ivo Karlovic, No. 25 Viktor Troicki -- who launched an epic tirade at the chair umpire because of a call two points from the end of his five-set defeat -- No. 26 Benoit Paire and No. 30 Alexandr Dolgopolov.Muguruza was never able to get going, making 22 unforced errors and managing to produce only nine winners.She said she felt tired and on the verge of an illness.She also wished she had taken more time to rest after the grueling two weeks at Roland Garros that culminated with a victory over Serena Williams in the final.Asked whether coming into Wimbledon as the owner of a major trophy made her feel a weight on her shoulders, Muguruza replied: No, not pressure. I think, for sure, more expectations from other people.Honestly, for me, I just had very clear it was going to be a rough tournament for me after winning a Grand Slam and coming here, she continued. Everybody, you know, like, looking at me.Cepelova equaled her best showing at a major by reaching the third round, but this was not her first significant result. She beat Simona Halep in the first round at Wimbledon a year ago, also on No. 1 Court, and defeated Serena Williams at a tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2014.Yeah, Cepelova said, I like to play on the big courts.As the owner of seven Grand Slam singles titles, including five at Wimbledon, Venus Williams is accustomed to being -- and succeeding -- on those stages. But on Thursday, she found herself on Court 18, with its seating capacity of 782 -- a far cry from the nearly 15,000 at Centre Court.Williams, seeded eighth, had some trouble and needed 2 1/2 hours, but wound up getting past 20-year-old qualifier Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 -- one of 10 singles victories for Americans on Thursday.Afterward, Williams did not complain about her placement at that venue. But she did offer some thoughts on the topic.Its not the ideal schedule for the women. Wed like to see equal amount of matches. We dont want more, just the same amount, thats all, said Williams, who was a leading voice in the push to get Wimbledon to offer equal prize money to men and women.Asked whether she could imagine a five-time mens champ being on a smaller court, Williams replied: I havent seen that in the scheduling yet.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Air Max 720 Canada . 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Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. STANFORD, Calif. -- Even in November, Tara VanDerveer prepares her team for March by scheduling tough games and treating them like NCAA Tournament matchups.Crisp ball movement and balance carried Stanford.Brittany McPhee scored a career-high 28 points, Erica McCall added 17 points and six blocked shots, and No. 11 Stanford avenged a home loss against Texas from two years ago by beating the eighth-ranked Longhorns 71-59 on Monday night.McPhee shot 11 for 15 and had seven rebounds, while McCall had five boards and blocked five of her shots in the first half as Stanford (2-0) shot 54.9 percent to overcome 20 turnovers and spoil Texas season opener.Our team really focused. This was like an NCAA Tournament week. It was awesome, VanDerveer said. Im really proud of how people worked and Im really excited for the good things that we did and well go right back to work and get ready for Gonzaga and clean up some of those rebounds, some of those turnovers.VanDerveer, the Hall of Fame coach beginning her 31st season at the school and 38th as a college coach, moved 18 victories away from joining the late Pat Summitt as the only womens coaches to reach 1,000 career wins.After the Longhorns cut Stanfords lead to 52-47 on Joyner Holmes layin with 3:10 left in the third quarter, McCall quickly answered on the other end and Alanna Smith scored the next time down as the Cardinal capitalized on Atkins turnover.Smith, a sophomore from Australia, had her family in the stands visiting. Her father, Darren, was asked during one timeout what insight he had for the team -- and his response was a good one.Get Brittany McPhee the ball, he said, smiling.Brooke McCarty, the leading returning scorer for Texas after she averaged 11.8 points last season, had 20 points and Ariel Atkins had 14.It was an eye opener today, McCarty said. We kind of have to take that and roll with it. We just got outplayed and we got beat.A junior guard with 11 career starts over her first two college seasons, McPhee is taking on a bigger role for VanDerveers young team. And Texas, which beat Stanford the past two seasons, didnt have an answer for her accuracy.The Longhorns ended the Cardinals 28-game home winning streak with an 87-81 overtime win at Maples Pavilion on Nov.dddddddddddd 20, 2014, when Stanford was ranked sixth and Texas No. 10 -- the programs first win over a top-10 team in almost six years. It marked the first meeting when both teams were in the top-10.That year, Stanford couldnt make it two in a row after beating No. 1 Connecticut 88-86 in overtime three nights earlier to snap the Huskies 47-game winning streak.Then Texas won again last season in Austin, 77-69.Stanford was too much this time.When you get beat sometimes all you do is talk about what your team wasnt good at but I would say that midway through the second quarter they really broke our defense down, Texas coach Karen Aston said. Were young and a little bit immature and I thought that we started panicking a little bit. We missed some free throws and our confidence got rattled a little bit at the end of the first half and we werent able to recover from that.BIG PICTURETexas: The Longhorns held a 38-32 rebounding edge but were just 6 for 14 at the free throw line. They lost a season opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Aston (4-1). ... Aston coached her 300th career game. She is now 190-110 starting her 10th season as a college coach and 89-47 in her fifth season leading the Longhorns. ... Texas started the season on the road for only the second time in the past 13 years.Stanford: McCall was one off her career high in blocks. She had three blocks in a season-opening win against Cal Poly on Friday and now has nine through two games. I love blocked shots, she said. ... The Cardinal are 15-4 at home against top-10 teams over the last 10-plus seasons and 139-7 at Maples since 2007-08.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns host Houston Baptist on Wednesday morning in their home opener, an 11 a.m. local time tipoff for the programs annual 40 Acres Field Trip game for middle-school students from around Texas and a day that includes educational activities.Stanford: The Cardinal have another tough opponent Friday at home against West Coast Conference power Gonzaga, winner of 11 of the last 12 WCC regular-season titles and picked to do so again. ' ' '