Mason, OH (Sports Network) - Nicolas Almagro and Jerzy Janowicz were among a Mondays first-round upset victims at the $3 million Western & Southern Open. Rising Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov sent the 13th-seeded Almagro packing in 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 fashion on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Janowicz, seeded 16th, was handled in straight sets by James Blake, with the 33-year-old American and 2007 Cincinnati Masters runner-up coming through with an impressive 6-1, 7-5 victory. Another upset came when 34-year-old Czech veteran Radek Stepanek doused 14th- seeded Italian Fabio Fognini, 6-2, 6-4. Fognini is a two-time ATP titlist this season. Meanwhile, German Philipp Kohlschreiber took care of on-the-mend American Mardy Fish, 7-5, 6-2. Fish, who recently returned to the tour after battling injuries and a heart condition, is a two-time Cincy Masters runner-up (2003, 2010). Kohlschreiber will meet reigning champion Roger Federer in the round of 32. Oft-injured American Brian Baker, a wild card playing his first tennis since the Australian Open in January, returned a winner by tackling Uzbekistans Denis Istomin, 7-5, 6-3, while former top-10 Serb Janko Tipsarevic came back to bounce American Sam Querrey, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4. Also on Day 1, Jeremy Chardy beat qualifier fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3, Spaniard Marcel Granollers overcame Czech Lukas Rosol 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov overcame Slovak Martin Klizan, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, Argentine Juan Monaco whipped Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2 and Belgian David Goffin posted a 6-1, 6-1 decision over fellow qualifier Mackenzie McDonald. Monaco is rewarded with a second-round match against world No. 1 superstar Novak Djokovic. Last year, Federer defeated the four-time runner-up Djokovic in the finale to become the first player in the Open Era to win five Cincinnati titles. The only other multiple Cincinnati titlist in this years field is two-time winner Andy Murray. The 2013 Cincinnati champ will collect $583,800. This is the last Masters 1000 event before the U.S. Open, which will commence August 26 in New York. William Perry Bears Jersey . Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. Mike Singletary Jersey . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. https://www.bearssportsgoods.com/Womens-...nverted-Jersey/. Rodriguez, who has steadfastly denied using banned substances while with the New York Yankees, made the decision nearly four weeks after arbitrator Fredric Horowitz largely upheld the discipline issued last summer by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. "I think its a good move for him," former Commissioner Fay Vincent said. Richard Dent Youth Jersey . Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. Akiem Hicks Bears Jersey . They wanna make t-shirts about it and sell them at our next hockey game..DB: Wow, they want to make t-shirts? That sounds pretty amazing.MS: Yeah, I was also on the Top 10, I was number 1 today, so that was pretty cool.Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck was sensational in fantasy leagues this year — the top scorer in standard formats and the most consistent passer. Just dont point that out to fantasy players who used him in the title game last week and watched him put up zero points.Still stings, doesnt it?Its one of the roughest truths about fantasy football, that the regular season and playoffs are two very different formats.And as much as you study and make good lineup decisions, you need more to win a title.Theres an element of luck, said John Paulsen, senior editor of 4for4 Fantasy Football (www.4for4.com ). Obviously, if you have a season-long roster and youre hit by injuries or bad performances ... youre going to have a tough time winning your league.Rankings aggregator FantasyPros ranks Paulsen as the most accurate fantasy expert of 2014, with the best advice on weekly rankings among 125 experts. Paulsen got a 60.7 per cent accuracy score — remarkable high because the calculation only includes rankings where experts give differing advice.Even if you are only getting a 10 per cent edge from a 50-50 type of prospect you still have that edge over people in your league, Paulsen said.Paulsen stayed away from top fantasy quarterbacks this year because he saw much more value in Russell Wilson, who delivered a knockout performance last week against Arizona, putting up 35 points to help Paulsen win two leagues.Luck meanwhile, had little to play for with a playoff spot locked up, prompting his coach to pull him from the game in the second half.Skill can put you in the position to win but then you need some luck, Paulsen said.And the ability to be OK if that luck doesnt come.Paulsen thinks this years finish among quarterbacks will prompt fantasy owners in 2015 to wait even longer to draft a passer.Here are some other lessons from the 2014 fantasy season:___WIDE(OUT) EXPECTATIONSIts difficult to overstate the value of Odell Beckham Jr. in fantasy circles, even though he was snubbed for the Pro Bowl, lacking the star power of Calvin Johnson or A.J. Green despite clearly better numbers.According to league data from CBS Sports, Beckham was on 30 per cent of teams that won championships last week — faar and away the most title teams for any player.dddddddddddd LeVeon Bell was on 18 per cent of title teams, while Antonio Brown was on 15 per cent of championship rosters (Joseph Randle was a reserve on 24 per cent of title teams — some manoeuvring there on the DeMarco Murray injury).But Paulsen says the success of Beckham and other rookies like Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks will change expectations of rookie receivers heading into next years draft.I think some of the rookies that come in are going to be expected to do that immediately and people will criticize them when they dont, Paulsen said. Most seasons that wouldnt work very well for you.___HEADS-UP WINSBeckham might be on the most championship teams, but four players topped him in terms of helping teams win the most games this season, according to CBS data.Teams with Bell, Antonio Brown and Luck each won 58.2 per cent of their games, while DeMarco Murray teams won 57.8 per cent of matchups, the data said.___QB CONSISTENCYOne more thing on Luck — he was the only quarterback to post a top-12 score 13 times this season, meaning he was worthy of starting in a standard league that starts one quarterback. Only four other quarterbacks cracked the top 12 in at least 10 games: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Wilson.___WEEK 17?If youre still playing this weekend, sorry about the drop-off on advice. But might want to convince your commissioner that itd be better to settle your fantasy championship in Week 16. Even if its a two-week playoff, jostling for playoff position puts teams in wacky situations.Know whether Tom Brady or Rob Gronkowski will play for the Patriots, who have a top seed locked up? Or how much Luck might play given that the Colts, given the AFC South title already locked in? Or how much other guaranteed playoff teams will jockey for things like division titles and first-round byes?Tough propositions that will directly affect some of your top fantasy starters. Good luck — hope you make the right choices.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.organd AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia ' ' '