Talk » I was ready to move on to the tiebreaker.Bester and

VIENNA, Austria -- Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has praised the bravery of Nico Rosberg after the newly-crowned world champion announced his retirement from Formula One on Friday.Just five days after sealing his first world title in Abu Dhabi last weekend, Rosberg made the surprise announcement at a press conference ahead of the FIA prize giving gala in Vienna. The news leaves Mercedes with a huge decision as it prepares to replace the 31-year-old over the winter, but despite the headache it creates, Wolff -- who found out on Tuesday -- said he could not help but be impressed by the Rosbergs decisiveness.This is a brave decision by Nico and testament to the strength of his character, Wolff said. Weve known each other for four years now and one thing I admire with Nico is his clarity of thinking. Its black and white.Although you could have argued after three days of celebrating you need to become sober in order to take a decision! But that is not with Nico, he knows exactly what hes doing, hes in control of his thinking, so from the first moment he told me there was no doubt that this is the decision.Rosberg admitted he did not want to tell Wolff the news face to face as they returned from a series of press briefings in Malaysia, so instead waited until they were apart and informed his boss over the phone.I knew there was something as we spent a long time on the plane having dinner and talking about a lot of things, Wolff said. The moment I left the lounge in the morning to jump on the plane to Stuggart, Nico was going to Weisbaden, he called me. I said Im coming back, he said dont come back!Wolff said there was no doubt Rosberg is bowing out as a deserving world champion.The result shows he won the world championship and he is the best driver in Formula One today. The points show that. The way I have perceived the last couple of races is that he was incredibly professional and did what was needed. That incredible winning streak at the beginning of the season built the foundations, and he just drove it home.The Mercedes boss said Rosberg leaves big shoes to fill on several levels.Hes left a huge legacy, first of all the way hes decided to leave Formula One is something thats unheard of, something that all of us admire in a certain way, to call it a day when youre at the top. Hes been part of the development since the early days and such a strong competitor. The team has performed because the balance is right between the drivers and the dynamics within the team, travelling to 20 grands prix a year, the energy is hugely important and Nico was a big contributor to that energy in the team. I could go on for ten minutes...Besides the know-how, his skill as a driver, setting up the car, giving us direction on the set-up and the development of the car, direction on how to put the car on the race track, the interaction with Lewis and the engineers.Chris Webber Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Mike Bibby Jersey . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. http://www.nbakingsonline.com/Authentic-DeMarcus-Cousins-Kings-Jersey/ . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. Mitch Richmond Jersey . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Oscar Robertson Jersey .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.TORONTO -- Gael Monfils of France defeated Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-3, 6-3 and fifth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic beat Croatias Borna Coric 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.Despite dropping his first set, Berdych said that he wasnt concerned because it was an early break.I mean it was by my mistakes and then it was just basically trying to get used to the conditions because they were quite different, the world No. 8 said.I was just really trying to be patient with myself. Trying also to look for the opportunities. And thats what paid off.Tournament No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland faced Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the late Tuesday match.Taiwans Yen-Hsun Lu admits hes a bit nervous about facing hometown star Milos Raonic on Wednesday, but hes banking on the fourth-seeded Canadian having a few butterflies too.Lu, who advanced to the second round on Tuesday with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Alexander Zverev of Germany, will have few backers among the expected capacity crowd at the 12,500-seat Aviva Centre.All the spectators against you is very tough, Lu said. But, I mean, this is what he should get because he comes from the country and hes one of the best players right now.Later Tuesday, Canadas Vasek Pospisil defeated Jeremy Chardy in first-round action after the Frenchman retired with a right foot injury.Chardy started to favor his foot after Pospisil went up 30-0 in the first game of the second set. Chardy called for the trainer and waited several minutes before deciding that he couldnt go on.Pospisil won the first set 7-6 (3). The Vancouver product will face Monfils in the second round.Raonic, who grew up in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, will be playing his first match since the Wimbledon mens final where he lost to Andy Murray.Lu says that in order to beat the Canadian, he will have to have a strong service game, but hes also hoping to exploit any nerves that Raonic may have as he returns home.If I can try to make more balls into the court to play, I have a little bit better chance, he said. I have to focus on my service game to stay with him and to maybe give him a little bitt of pressure and waiting for him maybe a little bit getting nervous from the tensions and give me a chance.ddddddddddddRaonic, who had a bye in the first round of the Rogers Cup, is 2-0 against the 32-year-old Lu, with his last victory coming in 2014 in Monte Carlo. Lu said hes noticed a lot of improvement in Raonics game recently.He getting more stable from the baseline, Lu said. He plays all different kind of game. He can come in, hes making (things) difficult.In mens doubles action, Vancouvers Philip Bester and Adil Shamasdin of Toronto got past world No. 1 singles player Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 7-5, 4-6, 10-2.Tied at 30-30 in the second set, Bester double-faulted to give the Serbs break point before double faulting again to give Djokovic and Zimonjic the set.I wanted to keep things interesting for the crowd, Bester joked. Thats just sport, thats tennis, that kind of stuff happens to me, it happens to everybody and as soon as we went to the change-over, the most important thing for me personally was to have a short memory about it and also to communicate with Adil that I was ready to move on to the tiebreaker.Bester and Shamasdin will next play South Africas Raven Klaasen and American Rajeev Ram.Lu, ranked 70th in the world, improved to 3-3 on the ATP World Tour circuit this season with his victory over Zverev. He made headlines at Wimbledon in 2010 when he beat American Andy Roddick in an epic five-set thriller.The Taiwanese player was ousted in the first round of the Rogers Cup last year by Pospisil.After right elbow surgery delayed the start of his season, hes gone on to lose to Djokovic in the first round of Roland Garros and Murray in the second round of Wimbledon.Lu says hell have to stop Raonics weapon -- his serve -- if hes going to be successful on center court against the world No. 7.Hes one of the best players right now, Lu said. For me, I really need to stay very strong in my serve and hope I can always catch him and give him some pressure. ' ' '