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TORONTO -- For the second straight tournament John Isner didnt get to play on centre court. And for the second straight tournament he bowed out in his first match. Isner, the 10th seed at the Rogers Cup, lost to Croatian Ivan Dodig, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 on the grandstand court Monday night at Rexall Centre. The match was originally scheduled for the afternoon in the stadium, but a lengthy rain delay wreaked havoc on the days schedule. "Obviously it was not easy," said Dodig, who was playing his first singles match in 10 weeks because of a broken rib. "It was long day for us, and of course changing the court its also a little bit like making you to think about it." Isner, who was not made available to speak to reporters, lost his opening match at last weeks Citi Open to Steve Johnson and told reporters in Washington that he didnt think he "deserved" to play on a secondary court. Storms in the Toronto area caused play to be delayed two hours, and Isner and Dodig didnt get the centre-court spotlight. That went to 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat fellow Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(3), 6-1. The nightcap on centre court featured Canadian wild card Peter Polansky beating 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz 7-6(5), 6-4. Polansky, who grew up in nearby Thornhill, Ont., last won a match in Toronto in 2010 when he upset Austrias Jurgen Melzer. He said this felt like a bit of deja vu -- notably because this was by the same score -- but this time the 26-year-old had to bounce back from a challenge on what he thought was match point. "There was a little bit of nerves trying to pull through and hold for the match," Polansky said. "When he hit that forehand wide, I was pretty excited." Polansky will face second-seeded Roger Federer in the second round Tuesday night. He said facing the 17-time Grand Slam champion will probably be one of the highlights of his career. Monday night represented another low light for Isner, who dominated with his big serve but couldnt handle Dodigs throughout the night. Dodig broke the six-foot-ten American in the third set and was able to finish things off from there. "Hes the guy who can beat everybody, and as well a great player for many years," Dodig said of Isner. "You could see that there was not so many breaks. Its tough for both of us, for me to return to him and for him as well. Hes going aggressive and he wasnt missing a lot today." In other night action, American qualifier Michael Russell beat Frances Nicholas Mahut 6-3, 6-3 and Spains Feliciano Lopez beat 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(7), 3-6. Earlier in the day, Frances Julien Benneteau had little trouble dusting off former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, 6-1, 6-2. Benneteau and Hewitt endured two rain delays, the second of which lasted two hours. "I tried to keep the same momentum and the same rhythm of the match," Benneteau said. "I just tried to stay focused to be able to play the same way." Benneteau was leading 4-1 in the first set when the first brief rain delay occurred. He was up 4-2 in the second when storms moving through the Toronto area halted his and every other match taking place. "The rain delay, its never easy but its for both players," he said. "I had two break points before, 15-40 and then a deuce. So its never easy." Benneteau also said its never easy facing Hewitt, even though the Aussie is 42nd now and 11 years removed from being atop the world rankings. "Hes a great fighter and to beat him you have to play solid," Benneteau said. "You have to do a good match. Its the kind of player that if your level is not good enough, you dont win." To open the tournament on centre court, 15th-seeded Marin Cilic got pushed to the limit before beating Denis Istomin, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. The Croatian said Istomin was dealing with a shoulder injury that led to some unpredictability. "He had some shots were coming off good, some not, and it was difficult to know what was going to come," Cilic said. "It got a bit complicated." In other early action, Frances Jeremy Chardy beat Argentinas Federico Delbonis, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, French qualifier Benoit Paire defeated Colombian Alejandro Falla, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, and American qualifier Tim Smyczek downed German qualifier Tobias Kamke, 6-3, 6-2. The Rogers Cup Hall of Fame induction ceremony was also postponed because of the weather. Stefan Edberg and former Rogers Cup Master of Ceremonies Don Goodwin will now be inducted Tuesday night. Cheap Adidas Golden Knights Jerseys .com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. 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Correia pitched six innings of one-run ball, Eduardo Escobar homered, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away late to beat the Colorado Rockies 9-3 on Saturday.DOHA, Qatar - Leaders of Qatar seem to have a simple formula for their plans over the next decade: money + sports = global fame.Never in sporting history has a country invested so massively, quickly, broadly, internationally and ostentatiously as the small oil-and-gas rich Gulf emirate that is using the worlds thirst for energy and for sporting entertainment to realize its giant look at me! ambitions.With a spending spree of staggering reach and proportions, the thumb of desert with a native population of just 282,750 — that would be 14th in a list of London boroughs and tied with Toledo, Ohio, for 66th among U.S. cities — has used sports to make itself a household name in Europe. The rest of the world is next.Lionel Messi and his teammates wear QATAR AIRWAYS on the front of their Barcelona shirts for $40 million a year, which Qatar was earning in just three hours from hydrocarbon exports before the recent plunge in oil prices.Hundreds of millions more bought Paris Saint-Germain, Frances most glamorous football team, and made it champion again.Further vast spending has greased Qatars passage in sports corridors of power, made it the new favoured venue for major events, acquired another team in Belgium, enabled Qatars sports broadcaster to muscle aside international competitors, sponsored Europes richest horse race, and built a world-class sports hospital and a state-of-the art training academy in Doha that makes hardened sports pros giddy with awe.And thats just the start. The projected cost of readying Qatar to host footballs World Cup in 2022: an otherworldly $160 billion dollars.Small wonder that when Qatars sports minister walks into a room, some see a walking cash machine.Speaking to The Associated Press in a rare and exclusive interview, Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali recalled that as a student in the United States, people used to ask him: Where is Qatar?Now they ask: How about investing in our sport, our team?Most of the meetings with officials are like this, he said. We in Qatar, we look for good opportunities. I meet a lot of them and they do presentations from buying clubs, to new clubs, to all kinds of sports, and introducing new sports in Qatar. And a lot of opportunities. We are open. We listen.Qatars grab on sport isnt only for prestige, recognition, vanity and to drill new wells of revenue for when oil and gas run dry. It also sees sport as a way of motivating Qataris who, thanks to the riches underground, are the worlds second-wealthiest people per capita but, in obesity and diabetes, have the health problems of comfortable living.You want to create a challenge for them, al-Ali said. Some countries they create, really, political challenges — you know? — to make a focus for the people (or they) create another enemy.At the turn of the 20th century, this former British protectorate smaller than Puerto RRico first tasted prosperity when it became the hub of the pearl industry.dddddddddddd Then Japan farmed pearls, took over the global market and the bottom fell out for Qatar.Today, that collapse is still cited as an example of why Qatar must think long-term, prepare for a post-hydrocarbon future and build an economy based instead on a well-educated population and revenues from its growing portfolio of global investments — Barclays Bank, Londons iconic Harrods department store, its stock exchange, and 2012 Olympic Village, to name just some.You always think, OK, what can I do to survive in difficult circumstances? I think one of them is to have a good relationship with big countries, al-Ali said. You need to be known, you need to be heard.So sports fans find themselves tuning into beIN Sports — an offshoot of Qatars Al Jazeera network — that is gobbling up broadcasting rights not only in the Middle East but also the Americas, Australasia and France. That operation is one the most visible vehicles of Qatar, whose acquisition-hungry sovereign wealth funds are estimated to be worth more than $100 billion.At Paris Saint-Germain, fans now celebrate again after Qatars 2011 takeover and star recruits — David Beckham finished his career there — ended the clubs 19-year title drought in Ligue 1.When the Middle Easts first World Cup kicks off in 2022, Qatar will already have hosted world championships in track, swimming, handball, volleyball and possibly also basketball, since it is bidding to stage that sports World Cup in 2019 or 2023. In the process, Qatar will also have trained sports-management administrators and workers who could challenge Western firms in the big business of organizing and marketing sports.Any event that we deliver now in the Middle East is entirely delivered by organizations or by firms coming from either the West or North America and South America, said Mushtaq al-Waeli, executive director of a Qatari institute, Josoor, that is training people from the Middle East and North Africa ahead of the World Cup.They take the experience and they go back and do it somewhere else, he said in an AP interview. So there is no legacy really left in our region.Still, Qatar hungers for more.Failed bids for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics could serve as dry-runs for another try. And there are plenty more sports, teams and events for Qatar to buy into. The sports minister said he personally would like to own an English Premier League club one day.We have a special team for the investment, he said. They are good business people. They are learning. They are getting better and better... They are investigating all opportunities, I think in America, in England and everywhere.I dont think we are going to stop.___Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and John Leicester at www.twitter.com/JohnLeicester ' ' '