EASTBOURNE, England - It wasnt quite the Wimbledon warmup Canadian Milos Raonic was hoping for. The top seed from Thornhill, Ont., dropped his second-round match Wednesday at the Eastbourne grass-court tournament, falling 6-2, 7-6 (7) decision to Croatian Ivan Dodig. The Eastbourne event also wasnt kind to Torontos Daniel Nestor, who earlier lost his first-round doubles event with Swedish partner Robert Lindstedt. Raonic will open Wimbledon next week as the mens 17th seed but heads to the All England Club badly lacking in grass confidence. "I couldnt have started in a worse way, I think I missed four backhands to start off the match," said Raonic. "I had break chances and then lost my serve easily again. "He was doing a lot of things well, but a lot of it comes down on me, things I didnt do. Even in the second set I think it was pretty poor play." Raonic lost his first-round match on grass last week an event in Halle, Germany and immediately applied for a wild-card entry into Eastbourne. He was installed as the top seed based upon his No. 15 ATP world ranking. "I cant play much worse, so its only going to get better," Raonic said. "I think I should be positive in that sense." Dodig registered more aces (12) than his hard-hitting 22-year-old Canadian opponent, who had nine in the match that lasted just under 90 minutes. Raonic has an 8-8 career record on grass but is 0-2 against Dodig, who beat him on Barcelona clay in 2011. Dodig took control of the opening set by breaking Raonics first serve. The 54th-ranked Dodig recorded a second break for a 5-2 lead when Raonic put a backhand into the net. A game later, the Dodig took the set with an overhead smash. The two stayed on serve in the second set to force the tiebreaker. Raonic went ahead 2-0 before Dodig rallied to tie it 5-5. Raonic saved one match point with an ace, then fired another to give himself a set point. However, it was Dodig who finally earned the upset win as Raonics return went out. "I was trying to get a little bit closer and I had my chance at the tiebreak," Raonic said. "But I dont think I should let situations where I let two double faults from my opponent pass by and not win a tiebreaker. "Thats pretty bad." The good news for Raonic is he believes his problems on grass can be fixed. "Its more me," he said. "Ive got to figure out my thing. "Its like Im just not executing the things I need to execute. Obviously the surface doesnt make it easy. I think its easier for me to figure out things on hard courts per se, but I think its all on my shoulders." Earlier, Marion Bartoli of France withdrew from the tournament with a viral infection, giving No. 2-seeded Li Na of China a walkover into the quarter-finals. 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Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Karen Lieu always knew she had a competitive streak, but as a girl, she never found an outlet for it. The sports she tried didnt work for her.I tried to see if I could do gymnastics and did a handstand against the wall. Well, I ended up breaking a few lamps, she said. My parents were furious, so that stopped. Tennis wasnt for me. Id hit the ball out of the court.During the summer of 1992, after graduating from high school, she found her sport. She was watching the Barcelona Olympics when the telecast turned to fencing. Shed seen swordplay in movies but had never seen the sport, with its masked athletes, fierce attacks and electronic scoring systems. She thought it was fascinating.That fall, when she enrolled at Pasadena City College, she found fencing in the class schedule. She signed up, and in the midst of her first class, she was smitten. Soon she was taking two classes at school as well as outside lessons. Within a year, she qualified for and competed in the AAU Junior Olympics.Lieu, 42, competed through college and now takes part in national adult tournaments. She also coaches children and adults, works clinics, organizes tournaments and serves as an official. Lieu, who works for the county of Los Angeles as an operations assistant auditing budgets for the use of Sheriffs officers at county courts, says fencing has been a force in her life since those 92 Games.At 5-foot-4, she can stand tall with a foil in her hand.With any other sport, you had to be a certain size or had to have a certain physical [characteristic], said Lieu, who lives in Rosemead, a suburb east of downtown Los Angeles. For a gymnast, you had to be really flexible and maybe petite in proportion. Volleyball or basketball, you had to be really tall. But in fencing ... if I worked at it, I was able to become good. I worked really hard, and I was able to excel quickly. It was exciting.Fencing round the clockToday, Lieu coaches after school, in the evenings and on weekends at the Beverly Hills Fencers Club in Culver City. Her schedule conforms to her work hours. She trains at night and on weekends -- when she also competes -- and puts in time at the gym on her lunch break.Fencing has taught me to have really good time management, she said with a laugh.In the gym, she works with weights on isolated muscle groups, especially in a surgically repaired knee, to gain strength and quickness and on cardio machines to gain endurance. But she doesnt run.I could lunge as much as I wanted and not get tired, but if you ask me to run a few miles, youd get me really winded, she said. Youre using different muscles in fencing -- for powerful, explosive moves.Since she turned 40, she has competed in the veterans division. Her first year, she was ranked nationally and placed among the top 16 in the nation. Last year, she didnt compete as much because her knee injury flared up. Now fit aggain, she is learning new techniques and hopes to place higher at nationals.ddddddddddddI like to watch a lot of videos, she said, noting that recent Olympic matches from Rio de Janeiro are on YouTube. Fencers from each nation have different styles and tactics she can study and emulate.Nobodys foilLieus weapon of choice is the foil. She has tried the sports other two styles -- saber and epee -- but foil suits her best. The foil is a long, light, thin blade just over 35 inches in length. Matches are as long as three minutes but can end within seconds. Points are scored only with the tip of the blade. The target area is the torso only.Lieu disliked the slashing, more physical attacks in saber (I didnt really like getting hit in the head a lot, she said) and wasnt comfortable with epee, in which the entire body can be targeted.Perhaps what she loves most about fencing is the mental duel. She must be quick, have good technique and be able to physically execute her footwork and blade action with precision. But the chess-match nature of the sport is its most compelling aspect, she said.Whats your move, and whats the other persons move, and your counter move? she said. You have to outwit them.She appreciates the culture of fencing and that its a lifetime sport. In fact, she plans to compete into her 70s. The fencing community is small enough, too, that she has made friends everywhere. One time, she recognized a former Olympian, but that Olympian knew of her because of her years as a coach and competitor.Im like, Wow, you know me! she recalled.The sports impactYears ago, after Lieu injured her knee and had surgery, she went home to her two-story condo and dragged her mattress downstairs so she could sleep on the ground floor while recovering. It was then that her mother finally understood her daughters passion for fencing. Until then, her mom had questioned why she wanted to do a boys sport. She couldnt understand why her daughter put so much time and energy into it.I camped out for two weeks, so I wouldnt have to go up the stairs, Lieu said. And my moms like, Look what this is doing to you! I cried and cried and said, Im not quitting. After that day, she never questioned my love of fencing.Lieu cant imagine what her life would be like if she hadnt come across Olympic fencing on TV back in 1992. The sport has given her so much. When she was little, she says she was an introvert, and fencing helped her grow.In fencing, you have to take the initiative to attack the person, so it gave you courage, so to speak, so Im less introverted, she said. I think that is good to teach kids and adults to deal with obstacles. [You think], Oh, that person I cant beat. OK, Im going to try a different tactic and learn how to overcome. ' ' '