Nadal crushes Garcia-Lopez in Barcelona opener

World number two Rafa Nadal swept into the third round of the Barcelona Open when he thrashed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-2 as he began his quest for a seventh Conde de Godo trophy in eight years on Wednesday.

Fresh from a record eighth straight win at last week's Monte Carlo Masters, Nadal dispatched his 78th-ranked Spanish compatriot in a little over one hour and 20 minutes and will play another Spaniard, Pablo Andujar, or Colombian Robert Farah for a place in Friday's quarter-finals.

Top seed Nadal, whose victory was his 30th in a row at the clay event in the Catalan capital, told reporters he had felt a slight twinge of pain in his left knee, an injury that forced his withdrawal from last month's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, but said it was nothing to worry about.

"It went better than I thought, I played a good match," the Mallorca native added.

"I made few errors, I felt good on my backhand for virtually the whole time and I was solid across the board."

Third seed David Ferrer of Spain eased into the third round when he thumped Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-0 6-3 to set up a clash with compatriot Albert Montanes, a 6-0 5-7 7-5 victor over Australia's Bernard Tomic.

Britain's Andy Murray, the second seed who went through on Tuesday, takes on Santiago Giraldo for a place in the last eight on Thursday after the Colombian beat Robin Haase of Netherlands 6-4 6-3.

(Writing by Iain Rogers in Madrid, editing by Alison Wildey)

Ex-football star Deion Sanders charged in altercation with wife

Former NFL player Deion Sanders answers a question after being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Dallas, Texas, February 5, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

By Marice Richter

DALLAS | Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:28pm EDT

DALLAS (Reuters) - Former football star Deion Sanders has been charged with simple assault in his altercation with his estranged wife that got her arrested and jailed earlier in the week on a similar charge.

Sanders, 44, had claimed Pilar Sanders, 38, and her friend Dianna Boswell attacked him on Monday afternoon in his bedroom at the suburban Dallas mansion the divorcing couple still share.

After he tweeted about the incident, police in Prosper, Texas, arrested her and she spent the night in jail on a charge of misdemeanor family assault.

Further investigation led to Deion Sanders and Boswell being charged with simple assault as well, a statement from Prosper police said. The crime is a misdemeanor that can result from "offensive touching" which carries a maximum $500 fine, Collin County, Texas, authorities said.

Pilar Sanders emerged on Tuesday from a night in jail declaring her innocence. Her attorney said she was the only one injured in the altercation, having suffered a broken thumb, a split lip and a torn fingernail.

Deion Sanders is a TV analyst for the NFL Network. He was a Hall of Fame cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys and other football teams and a former Major League outfielder for several teams, including the New York Yankees.

He was granted an order of protection against his estranged wife that bars her from their home and from harassing him, according to the Collin County Sheriff's office.

The couple married in 1999 and starred in a reality show, "Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love," that aired on the Oxygen network. Deion Sanders filed for divorce in December.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Stern. Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Philip Barbara)

Nestle man lined up for F1 chair

 Peter Brabeck, the chairman of Swiss food group Nestle, has been lined up to chair Formula One motor racing should it go ahead with a planned flotation in Singapore, a source close to the matter said.

Brabeck, an Austrian, already sits on the board of the Formula One holding company, Jersey-based Delta Topco Limited. He would become chairman if the expected $2 billion initial public offering proceeds.

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which owns 63.4 percent of Formula One, is looking to list part of the motor racing business but would retain a stake in it.

Formula One has lined up six banks to work on a flotation that could value the business at as much as $10 billion and could take place in the first half of this year.

A stock market listing in Asia would allow Formula One to tap into regional interest in international sporting brands.

Bernie Ecclestone, the 81-year-old commercial chief of Formula One, is expected to stay on in his role after any flotation.

Brabeck, 67, started work as a salesman for Nestle in Austria, working his way up to the chief executive's role.

Both CVC and Nestle declined to comment.

(Reporting by Keith Weir; Editing by Jane Barrett and Elaine Hardcastle)

Draft suspense unfolds after top two picks

1 of 7. NFL football draft prospect Robert Griffin III waves during a photoshoot at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, April 25, 2012. The 2012 NFL Draft will be held on April 26 at Radio City Music HallThe 2012 NFL draft will likely be remembered for its leading men, with quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III the certain top two picks as players who will always be measured against one another.

But after the Indianapolis Colts name Stanford's Luck with the first pick and the Washington Redskins follow by claiming Baylor's Griffin (nicknamed RG3) as the second overall choice, the next 30 first-round selections are a guessing game.

"One and two is a foregone conclusion but I think from there on there's gonna be a lot of 'Boy, that's a shock,'" former longtime Dallas Cowboys player personnel chief and current NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt told Reuters on Wednesday. "This is a draft where there's a lot of players that look a lot alike."

The annual draft of elite U.S. college football players is the lifeblood of the National Football League (NFL), where teams replenish their rosters and address weaknesses in a rite of spring that gives all clubs reason to hope for improvement.

The first round of the draft takes place Thursday at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, with rounds two and three to be held Friday and the last four rounds coming on Saturday.

Third choice in the opening round is held by the Minnesota Vikings, who are entertaining offers from other clubs keen to move up in order to ensure getting their preferred player.

Following Minnesota are the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cleveland Browns (No. 4 and 22), Cincinnati Bengals (17, 21) and New England Patriots (27, 31), all possess two picks in the first round.

Other highly regarded prospects pegged to go early include offensive tackle Matt Kalil (University of Southern California), running back Trent Richardson (Alabama), cornerback Morris Claiborne (Louisiana State University) and wide receiver Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State University).

The next quarterback likely to be taken after Luck and RG3 is Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M), who played wide receiver his first two years in college.

Tannehill, who had only 19 starts at quarterback, has shown a strong arm and a natural aptitude for the position.

"I learned a lot about the game and a lot about playing quarterback by playing receiver," Tannehill told reporters. "In my 19 games I felt I proved myself and got a lot better each game. And I feel like I'm going to continue to get better."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who along with the prospective draftees was attending a charity event promoting physical education for school children, said he met with the 26 players who had come to New York for the draft.

"I met with them in three separate groups," Goodell said. "It was an open discussion. It was more about how to enjoy the next couple of days. You know, this is a dream of theirs."

Asked if there was any mention of the controversy over the New Orleans Saints' bounty program that paid players for knocking opponents out of games, Goodell said he spoke to them in more general terms.

"In my office I have an NFL shield up (on the wall). I pointed to that and I said, 'Everything we do has to reflect well on the integrity of the league and that shield.

"And everything that you do, everything that I do and everything our clubs and coaches do has to reflect well on that. It's our responsibility to improve the integrity of the league and make it better than when we came into the league.'"

(Reporting By Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Saints player penalties in final stages: Goodell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The NFL is close to determining punishment for players who were involved in the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal but a ruling is unlikely to come this week, Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Wednesday.

Goodell said National Football League (NFL) officials would probably be too busy with the three-day player draft starting on Thursday night in New York to wrap up a decision on punishment for players who were rewarded for injuring opponents.

"We're in the final stages of working on the discipline involving the player and we hope to be done very soon to get that behind us," Goodell told reporters at an NFL draft event.

"We want to complete the work that we've started to make sure we're thorough and fair. I would think that with all we have to do on the draft for the next couple of days, it's not likely."

The NFL is still doing interviews regarding a program used by the Saints from 2009 to 2011 that has already led to heavy punishment for the franchise, including a season-long suspension for head coach Sean Payton, eight games for general manger Mickey Loomis and six games for assistant Joey Vitt.

"Once we're done, we'll issue it."

According to Goodell, the NFL is also following a federal investigation into whether Loomis had his home team's stadium wired so that he could listen in on opposing team's coaches. The Saints have denied the allegations.

"As I understand it, it's been given to federal authorities," Goodell said about the latest controversy to hit the Saints, which was first reported by an ESPN investigative program.

"They are doing their work. We are waiting and we'll see if there's any credible information that comes from that and at that point in time, we'll take whatever steps are necessary, if necessary."

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Djokovic pulls out of Serbia Open defense

World number one Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Serbia Open tennis following the death of his grandfather during the Monte Carlo Masters event last week, the Serbian said on Wednesday.

"I've made a decision not to take part in the tournament this year," Djokovic, the title holder at the Belgrade claycourt event, said on his website (www.novakdjokovic.com).

"This is certainly one of the toughest decisions in my career but it is impossible for me to play in the next few days and to think about tennis when there are some other things in my head."

The world number one said he had "no emotional energy left" after being thrashed by Rafael Nadal in the Monte Carlo final on Sunday, and would be back in action at the Madrid Masters, which starts on May 6.

The April 30-May 6 Serbia Open is organized by Djokovic's uncle Goran.

(Writing by Gregory Blachier; Editing by Clare Fallon)

Rangers' Lundqvist earns fourth Vezina nomination

Henrik Lundqvist earned a fourth Vezina Trophy nomination for top goalie after the Swedish netminder backstopped the New York Rangers to the Eastern Conference's best record, the National Hockey League (NHL) said on Wednesday.

Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators were the other finalists for the Vezina, which will be presented on June 20 at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Lundqvist was the anchor of a Rangers club that posted its best regular-season record since the Stanley Cup season of 1993-94. He also set a career high in wins and placed near the top in all major goaltending categories.

Quick, a first-time Vezina finalist, carried a Kings team that ranked 29th overall in offense to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and led all NHL goalies with a franchise-record 10 shutouts.

Rinne faced the most shots out of any goalie but topped all of them in wins and was tough to beat with a lead as Nashville posted the NHL's second-best points percentage when scoring first.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto)