Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Tennis
Federer overcomes slow start, late lapse to win at U.S. Open
By HOWARD FENDRICH
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Roger
Federer already has dropped
two more sets at the U.S.
Open than he did during his
entire two weeks en route to
the title at Wimbledon.
Worried about a recent
back problem that kept
him from getting ready the
way he usually does for a
Grand Slam tournament,
Federer had to overcome
an early deficit and a late
lapse Tuesday night to
edge 19-year-old American
Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-2,
6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in a compelling
first-round contest under the
Arthur Ashe Stadium roof.
“I didn’t have the prepa-
ration I was hoping to get,”
Federer said. “I always
knew I was going to come in
feeling rusty or not great.”
The No. 3-seeded Federer,
whose most recent of five
championships at Flushing
Meadows came in 2008, got
broken in the first game and
dropped the opening set of
the topsy-turvy match. He
then appeared to take control
by grabbing eight of nine
games to seize the second and
third sets. But he let that lead
slip away. There was more
trouble when Federer served
for the match leading 5-3 in
the fifth and got broken.
“I was quite up and
down,”
Federer
said,
acknowledging that he was
cautious with his footwork
and had some trouble seeing
the ball properly.
Tiafoe’s take: “He won by
the skin of his teeth.”
Federer’s initial match
point came at 5-3, 40-30,
but Tiafoe staved that off,
then broke. He produced a
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Roger Federer, of Switzerland, celebrates after defeat-
ing Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, at the U.S.
Open tennis tournament, Tuesday in New York.
cross-court forehand winner
at an unbelievable angle
to earn the chance, before
converting it with a terrific
forehand passing winner
down the line. Tiafoe roared
and pumped a fist and
sprinted to the sideline for
the changeover.
When he had to come
back out and serve, Tiafoe
was a bit flat. Federer wasted
his second match point with
a netted backhand. On the
third — with Federer’s wife,
Mirka, covering her eyes
in the stands — Tiafoe hit a
stumbling forehand into the
net.
“In these best-of-five-set
matches,” Federer said, “you
have a lot of lives some-
times.”
It was Federer’s 79th
career victory at the U.S.
Open, equaling Andre Agassi
for second-most. Only
Jimmy Connors has more,
with 98.
Federer played with the
roof shut at Ashe for the
first time. He missed last
year’s tournament, when
the retractable cover made
its debut, because he took
off the second half of 2016
to let his surgically repaired
left knee and a bad back fully
heal.
“It felt like people were
happy to see me again,”
Federer said.
In 2017, he is 36-3
with five titles, including
the Australian Open and
Wimbledon, where Federer
won every set he played
across seven matches while
collecting his record eighth
trophy at the All England
Club and 19th Grand Slam
championship overall.
For more than a half-hour
Tuesday, it appeared as if
Federer was still dealing with
the after-effects of having
tweaked his back during a
loss in the hard-court final
at Montreal this month. He
sat out the following week’s
tournament at Cincinnati.
At least, Federer said,
his back was not in pain
Tuesday.
“My hope and my belief
is that it’s only going to get
better from here,” Federer
said.
BUCKAROOS: Go up against Camp’s old
team, La Grande, in season-opener on Friday
Continued from 1B
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dylan Bundy
throws to the Seattle Mariners during the seventh
inning of Tuesday’s game in Baltimore.
MARINERS: Miranda
starts on Wednesday
Continued from 1B
big leagues, but he has a
great idea of what he needs
to do to the hitters out
there,” Castillo said. “He’s
really smart and has an idea
about how to get a hitter
out.”
Baltimore has outscored
its opponents 44-17 during
the winning streak. The
Orioles also moved 1 ½
games ahead of the Mari-
ners in the AL wild-card
race. Minnesota currently
holds the second wild-card
slot.
Schoop collected his
29th homer of the season
and 500th career hit with
a solo shot in the first off
Erasmo Ramirez (5-5).
Schoop’s blast moved
him ahead of Machado
for the team lead, but not
for long. Machado hit his
29th homer in the sixth and
reached 30 homers for the
third consecutive season
with his drive in the eighth
off Casey Lawrence.
Bundy, who threw 116
pitches, struck out Danny
Valencia for the fourth time
to finish off his first career
complete game.
“He was outstanding,
obviously,”
Orioles
manager Buck Showalter
said. “That was fun to
watch. Especially when
you think about everything
that was at stake for both
clubs.”
In his fifth start since
being acquired from Tampa
Bay on July 28, Ramirez
allowed two runs and five
hits over six innings.
Castillo led off the
seventh with a homer off
James Pazos.
“Bundy
was
outstanding,” said Seattle
manager Scott Servais,
whose team has lost four
straight. “He had good stuff
and executed his game plan
against us. He was all over
different quadrants with
the strike zone and we had
nothing going offensively.
We have talked often on
this road trip that we have
to hit and score runs and we
haven’t done that the last
three or four days, for the
most part.”
The start of the game
was delayed 32 minutes
because of rain.
NICE CATCH, DAD
Machado’s homer to
left-center in the sixth was
corralled by a fan with a
smiling baby strapped to
his chest. The man danced,
raised the ball above his
head and was greeted with
high-fives.
ROSTER MOVE
Bundy was reinstated
from the bereavement list
following the death of his
grandmother and LHP
Donnie Hart was optioned
to Triple-A Norfolk.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: OF Jarrod
Dyson (groin) could not do
any pregame work because
of rain. He still could come
off the DL over the next few
days.
Orioles: J.J. Hardy
(wrist) homered Monday in
his seventh rehab appear-
ance for Triple-A Norfolk.
He is batting .263 with
three RBIs. The Tides were
rained out Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Ariel Miranda
(8-6, 4.62 ERA) will make
his team-leading 27th start.
The left-handed Cuban
pitched one game out of the
bullpen for Baltimore last
season before being traded
for Wade Miley.
Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez
(5-9, 6.57 ERA) has lost his
past two starts, allowing 11
runs and 17 hits. Jimenez
is 2-4 with a 6.50 ERA in
eight career starts against
Seattle.
feels very comfortable in the
Buckaroos’ scheme.
“I really like linebacker
because I’m closer to the
football,” he said. “I don’t
have to wait on a pass first
like back at safety, I can be
up there in run support and
stuff.”
His exact role on the
offense, though, is still
trying to be figured out by
Davis and the coaching staff.
Camp is currently battling
with junior Trent Sorey for
the backup quarterback job
behind senior Nick Bower,
but Davis hinted Tuesday
that Camp could be used as
a pass catcher as well.
“You may see him at
receiver or a little bit of
tight end, too, you just
never know,” Davis said.
“(Camp’s) a versatile athlete
that needs to be on the foot-
ball field somewhere.”
Camp says that while
he would surely love to be
the one spinning passes all
over the field this season,
he knows that Bower is the
guy at QB and just wants to
contribute what ever he can
to help Pendleton win.
“I just want to help our
team,” he said. “I know
it’s been a little while since
we’ve made the playoffs, so
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Pendleton junior Willie Camp (center) wraps up a Buckaroo ball carrier during Tues-
day’s practice in Pendleton. Camp transferred to Pendleton from La Grande this
summer, and will start as an outside linebacker Week 1.
I just want to help us make
the playoffs and win some
games and see how far
we can take this because I
think we have a real special
team.”
And as luck would
have it, Camp’s first game
wearing the green-and-gold
will be against his old team,
the La Grande Tigers, on
Friday night. He admitted
that there has been plenty
of talk between his old
teammates over the past few
weeks, but hopes to treat it
like any other game.
“I’m just trying every
week to help us get a win,”
he said. “It doesn’t matter
who we’re playing, we’re
just trying to work harder
than the other team and get
a win at the end of the day.”
————
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0839.
Follow him on Twitter
@ByEricSinger.
PAC-12: Stanford played opener vs. Rice in Australia
Continued from 1B
they’ll host No. 14 Stanford
and No. 23 Texas.
“We learned from last year
how important it is to start
fast. You can do all you want
in October and November,
and we’ve been really good,
but if you don’t start fast, it’s
hard to get where you want
to be. It’s going to be critical
for us to open up those three
ballgames and be hitting on
all three cylinders,” coach
Clay Helton said.
WEEK ZERO: Oregon
State’s game against Colo-
rado State last weekend was
originally scheduled for Sept
23. But it was moved up to
Week Zero to accommodate
Colorado State, which wanted
to open the season in the
team’s new stadium.
It was the earliest start in
Oregon State history and it
was not kind to the Beavers,
who fell 58-27 to the Rams.
Coach Gary Andersen said
he thinks the schedule overall
works out in Oregon State’s
favor because the Beavers
will get a bye before facing
No. 8 Washington and USC
in consecutive weeks.
“For this team, where the
byes lie for us, I think it’s a
positive. It makes it a week
longer season, but hopefully
that week will help us,”
Andersen said.
Oregon State will face
another team this weekend
that got off to an early start,
the Portland State Vikings,
who are coming off a 20-6
loss at BYU.
THIS WEEK IN THE
PAC-12 AGAINST COLO-
RADO STATE: It’s Colo-
rado’s turn . The Buffs open
the season with the Rocky
Mountain Showdown against
their in-state rivals at the
home of the NFL’s Denver
Broncos. It’s also one of those
Friday night games.
“There’s not a lot of games
on that night. That makes it
special for our players. Playing
in Broncos stadium, the kids
love playing in the pro stadium.
It’s a unique atmosphere. I
think there were almost 70,000
last year (69,850). I think there
should be over 70,000 this
year. So it will be loud and
exciting,” Buffs coach Mike
MacIntyre said.
MORE WEEK ZERO,
FROM FAR, FAR AWAY:
Stanford started the season in
a dramatic way, traveling all
the way to Australia to play
Rice and coming home with
a 62-7 victory. Last season it
was Cal that got the goodwill
trip to Sydney, where they
beat Hawaii.
It was Stanford’s second
game outside the United
States: in 1986 the Cardinal
beat Arizona in Tokyo.
Coach David Shaw said
the players had a blast on the
trip — despite the long flight.
“I think it would be
great for this tradition to
continue, whether it’s just our
conference or maybe other
conferences, but hopefully
more teams are open for it,”
Shaw said.
The Cardinal now get a bye
before visiting USC on Sept. 9.
HOME
GAMES
GALORE: The Washington
State Cougars have five
straight home games to open
the season, then only two
more the rest of the way.
The Cougars will face
Montana State, Boise State,
Oregon State, Nevada and
USC in succession at Martin
Stadium. The two other home
games will be Oct. 21 against
Colorado and Nov. 4 against
Stanford.
“I think it’s great for the
folks out here, you know,
to really get in the habit of
getting to games, so we’re
excited about that,” coach
Mike Leach said when asked
about the schedule. “I’ll know
more about what I think about
it at the end of the season.”
COLLEGE SUNDAY?
The UCLA Bruins will kick
off their season Sunday at
the Rose Bowl against Texas
A&M.
PREPS: Heppner, Weston-McEwen volleyball teams each earn two sweeps
Continued from 1B
GIRLS SOCCER
UMATILLA 3, MAC-HI
3 (tie)
UMATILLA — Celeste
Rodriguez scored two goals
and Devina Monreal added
one more as their Umatilla
Vikings drew a 3-3 tie with
the Mac-Hi Pioneers on
Tuesday afternoon.
“It was a fun match,”
Umatilla coach Tim Lee
said. “Our fitness level is
still on the upswing ... we
got tired early and Mac-Hi
battled back, but we still saw
some good things.”
Rodriguez and Monreal
traded goals as the Vikings
(0-1-1) took a 2-0 lead early,
but Mac-Hi (0-1-1) scored
two to tie the game up before
the half. The Pioneers scored
a go-head goal out of the
break, but the Vikings tied
the game on Rodriguez’s
second of the game. Lee
said the Vikings had a few
opportunities to take a lead,
but couldn’t finish the kicks.
“We’ll look at what we
did well,” Lee said. “It was
a step in the right direction.”
Umatilla stays home for
its next game when it hosts
Pendleton on Saturday at
Noon, and Mac-Hi will
travel to Walla Walla (WA)
on Friday at 4 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
HEPPNER SWEEPS
TWICE
DUFUR — The Heppner
Mustangs picked up a pair of
victories on Tuesday after-
noon, sweeping both the
Dufur Rangers and Vernonia
Loggers 3-0 in Dufur.
Against the home Dufur
team, Heppner (3-2) won
25-12, 25-18, 25-12 and
then beat Vernonia 25-23,
25-16, 25-16. Stats were
not available for the Dufur
match, but against Vernonia
it was Nicole Propheter that
led the Mustangs with eight
kills and Jacee Currin had
five, while Sydney Wilson
led with 16 digs.
As a team, Heppner was
a stellar 94 percent on its
serves and Madison Combe
led the team with seven aces.
“Everything seemed to
fall into place today for
these girls,” Heppner coach
Mindy Wilson said. “They
continue to work on the little
things and are improving
daily.”
The Mustangs next host
the Heppner Tournament on
Saturday morning.
WESTON-MCEWEN
WINS TWO
HELIX — After a tough
weekend in John Day, the
Weston-McEwen TigerScots
got back on the winning side
of things with a pair of wins
over Helix and Enterprise on
Tuesday.
First up against Enter-
prise, the TigerScots (4-1)
worked quickly and won
25-17, 25-9 and 25-13 and
then came back against
Helix (3-1) to win 25-22,
25-14 and 25-9.
“I thought these were
our best matches to date,”
Weston-McEwen
coach
Shawn White said. “We had
a lot of improvement from
the last time we played from
execution. Still some areas
to work on, obviously, but
I thought we played much
better.”
Bryce Thul had a standout
night for the TigerScots
picking up a team-high 33
assists while adding 13 digs,
11 aces, seven kills and four
blocks. Alyssa Finifrock led
the team with 23 kills and 12
aces, while Hailey Weaver
had 13 kills and Maddi
Muilenburg had nine.
Emma Olson also had a
solid night with 12 digs and
was 23-26 from the serving
stripe with two aces.
For Helix, the Grizzlies
rebounded to beat Enterprise
3-0 as well, winning 25-19,
25-22 and 25-22.
Weston-McEwen next
plays at home against Union
on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Helix will host Stanfield
on Thursday at 4 p.m. and
Mac-Hi at 5:30 p.m. for
another tri-match.