For the last couple of days, the Indian tennis team has been slugging it out on the practice courts at Rio under the watchful eye of non-playing captain Zeeshan Ali. Curiously, while Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Prarthana Thombare have been putting in the hard yards, Leander Paes is yet to arrive in the city.Paes will partner Bopanna in the mens doubles and the competition is scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 6, leaving the pairing with precious little time to practice and prepare. Ali, who also serves as the coach of the Davis Cup team, says he is in the dark about Paes whereabouts and has had no contact with him of late, leaving him with no choice but to simply wait and watch.?Paes is now expected to arrive in Rio later on Thursday.Yes definitely it is not the ideal preparation, Ali told ESPN. For the AITA and me being a selector too, with the Davis cup in Chandigarh two weeks back, the whole idea was to get both the players (Paes & Bopanna) to try and get as much practice as they can. So arriving on the 4th for a match that may be on the 6th is definitely not enough time.As captain obviously I would have wanted all the players to have been here to get used to the conditions and to get used to the courts. It is a tough situation right now with Rohan having to find people to practice with. Weve got players from the other countries who are all practicing together and unfortunately Rohan is having to find people to practice with and thats not exactly the way we would have liked to prepare for the tournament.ESPN understands that at a meeting between the players, AITA officials and coaches on the sidelines of the Davis cup tie in Chandigarh last month, Paes had agreed to arrive in Rio along with the rest of the players by August 1. However, he has chosen instead to play in the ongoing World Team Tennis in New York. Although his Twitter feed contains several recent references about competing in his seventh Olympics, by delaying his arrival into Rio, Paes has given himself very little opportunity to be well prepared to contend for a medal.Bopanna, who had in fact asked to be partnered with Saketh Myneni and not Paes for these Games, is staying upbeat despite his partner missing in action. Besides practicing with Mirza, with whom he will partner in the mixed doubles, Bopanna has found fellow pros from other countries to get some preparation time in. On Wednesday, he spent the first bit of his training schedule playing alongside Serbias Nenad Zimonjic before changing courts to link up with Mirza. With Paes unavailable, Ali joined forces with Thombare, who is at her first Olympics and will play the womens doubles with Mirza, to give Bopanna and Mirza a hit out as they look to find some rhythm as a mixed doubles combination.I think you should ask the captain, the captain is the one who tells me when hes here or not, Bopanna told ESPN when asked to comment on Paes absence. I have come here a few days earlier to get used to the conditions, practice as much as I can and work it from there. So theres nothing really to be affected or not affected by it. This is an individual sport, everyone chooses when to come and when not to come. It is not in my hands to do anything about it. I can only be prepared once my partner is here. Right now Sania is here, I am practicing as much as I can with her and take it from there.In the eyes of most observers, given Paes extended run of patchy form that has seen him slip below 50 in the world rankings, a mens doubles medal is highly unlikely. Now, with very little acclimatisation as a combination, the unseeded pairing will perhaps need a minor miracle to make a run at Rio. Paes and Bopanna have been drawn against Polish team of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot in the mens doubles first round. Paul Molitor Jersey . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Kevin Pillar Jersey . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-roberto-alomar-jersey/ . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Jesse Barfield Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. George Bell Jersey . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. ATLANTA -- Matt Kemp has been an adventure in left field at times since being acquired by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres, but the high-priced veteran definitely has been a boost to the offense.Atlanta is averaging 4.8 runs per game since Kemp joined the lineup on Aug. 2, a sizable rise from the 3.4 the team recorded prior to the deal. As a result, the Braves are a more respectable 11-15 because of the offensive improvement.Kemp will play for the first time against his old team on Tuesday when the Braves (48-83) begin a three-game series against the Padres (55-75) at Turner Field. Julio Teheran (3-9, 3.15 ERA) will pitch for Atlanta against Edwin Jackson (3-4, 5.71 ERA).Kemp has three homers and 16 RBI in his 26 games since joining the Braves, but his biggest contribution has been providing a right-handed bat in the cleanup spot between left-handed hitters Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis.Freeman and Markakis both have been on tears since Kemp joined the team.Markakis has been killing it just as much as Freddie has been killing it, Kemp said. Were trying to protect each other.Kemp had 23 homers before the trade, but the Padres were determined to get out from under the remaining years of his hefty contract. Likewise, the Braves wanted no part of Hector Olivera, who was coming off a suspension for domestic abuse.The Padres released Olivera, but the Braves hope to get a return on the $18 million they will have to pay Kemp the next three seasons even if he doesnt quite return to the player he once was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Kemp welcomed the trade to the Braves. The key, though, will be staying healthy and getting in better shape.Braves general manager John Coppolella was blunt in a recent interview on MLB Network Radio.We see Matt Kemp as a player with a big upside, the GM said. Hes 31 years old. He is not in shape and thats something we need to work on with him. Hes been told about it. We are going to talk to him more. Its the kind of thing where, for him,, you cant really do that during the season.dddddddddddd Its not like you can drop 30 pounds during the season and keep playing.The Padres werent convinced that Kemp would get in better shape and regain his former productivity. Plus he was perceived as a detriment in the clubhouse.San Diego is 11-16 since Kemp was dealt and opened its road trip by taking two of three games over the weekend in Miami.The Padres won a three-game series with the Braves in San Diego during early June, but the Braves are 44-25 against them at Turner Field.Teheran pitched the one victory for the Braves at San Diego, allowing five hits over eight innings on June 8 in the 4-2 victory.The National League All-Star hasnt won since June 19, though, and the right-hander is winless at home this season.Teheran is also coming off his first outing of the year, giving up 11 hits and six runs at Arizona on Wednesday in a no-decision during the teams 3-4 road trip. The two homers he allowed pushed his season total to 18 and he has surrendered nine runs on 17 hits over 11 innings in his two starts since a DL stint for a lat strain.Jackson, who finished last season pitching out of the Atlanta bullpen, has also struggled in his past two starts, allowing 13 earned runs over nine innings while losing both.The veteran right-hander gave up three homers in a loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, but pitched much better than he had in his previous outing at Tampa Bay.The hits came on the balls that werent well-located, he said afterward. Youve just got to do a better job of getting ahead in the count.He was on the cusp of a very respectable outing against a really good offense, manager Andy Green said. I dont necessarily think hes that far off.Jackson, though, has had difficulty against both Kemp and Freeman. Kemp has two homers in eight at-bats against him and Freeman has two in 17 at-bats. ' ' '