Former Ryder Cup venue Real Club Valderrama has been named to stage this year’s Open de Espana, with the tournament hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation. The tournament, which has featured every season since the European Tours launch in 1972, will take place at the Andalusian course for the first time from April 14-17.Valderrama, famous for being Europes first continental Ryder Cup venue in 1997, has also previously been home to the WGC-American Express Championship and was the regular venue for the one-time season-ending Volvo Masters. Valderrama was the first venue in mainland Europe to stage the Ryder Cup back in 1997 The tournament will be the first this year to be played on European soil and has the full backing of Garcia, who will act as tournament host through the foundation launched under his name. This is a whole new way of working together with The European Tour and I am very proud to be a part of it, Garcia said. Part of that pride stems from the fact that the tournament is going to be played at Valderrama which is, without doubt, one of the best courses not just in Europe, but in the entire world, and one which has a rich history within the game.I personally have great memories of the golf course, having won the Andalucía Valderrama Masters there in 2011 and I am sure that all the players who tee up in April will enjoy testing their game against the fantastic layout. Sergio Garcia won the 2011 EPGA Andalucia golf Masters at the venue Garcia becomes the fifth player to have a direct role in an event on this seasons European Tour, joining Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy, Paul Lawrie and Luke Donald as tournament hosts. I am delighted that we will see the Open de España, one of the most prestigious tournament titles on The European Tour, staged at Valderrama for the first time this year, Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said.In my many discussions with our players over the past six months, their desire to play on the best courses possible has consistently shone through, and in Valderrama we most certainly have one of the best in the world. James Morrison will be the tournaments defending champion after a four-shot win last time around Sergio is not only one of the greatest players Spain has ever produced, he has also been very helpful to me in my first six months in the role of CEO of The European Tour and his vision and commitment in seeing this tournament come to fruition is very much appreciated.Last years tournament saw James Morrison claim victory at Real Club de Golf El Prat, ending a five-year wait for a European Tour win by finishing four shots clear of the group including Miguel Angel Jimenez. Watch the European Tour throughout the season live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf Also See: 2015 recap: Morrison coasts to win Keith Pelley on Tours future EuropeanTour Schedule Golf live on Sky Sports 4 Wholesale Basketball Jerseys . 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Cheap NBA Jerseys China .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers.ROME -- Venus Williams lost in the first round of the Italian Open to Laura Robson. Now sister Serena will get a chance to even the score. Robson, a quickly improving 19-year-old British player, beat Venus Williams 6-3, 6-2 on Monday to set up a second-round match with top-ranked Serena. Robson won the Wimbledon junior title at 14 and at last weeks Madrid Open, she upset fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska before losing in the third round to 16th-seeded Ana Ivanovic in a third-set tiebreaker. "I just like it on big courts against these huge players because I just go out there with nothing to lose," the 39th-ranked Robson said. "I can remember seeing (Venus) play at Wimbledon when I was about 10 and I was kind of blown away with the speed that she hit the ball. "Today when she hit it in the centre of the racket it was basically point over, so I just had to take my chances." Both players struggled with the wind at the Foro Italico, with Robson hitting eight double-faults and Williams six. However, Williams errors came at more inopportune times, with two double-faults in the final game. "Its always hard to play high quality tennis in that wind," Robson said. "I wish it could have been a higher standard but Im happy to have won." Serena, who won the Madrid title Sunday, watched the match from the stands. "(Robson) has a great game," the younger Williams sister said. "Shes really young, still. Shes just so free and she looks great on the court and shes so smooth and shes a lefty, so that just adds a notch to her whole level. "Ive never played her before. Ive always wanted to. So I have a tough second-round match." Serenas only title at this clay-court tournament came in 2002 but if she continues playing the way she did in Madrid -- and in her previous two tournaments, which she also won -- shell be difficult to beat. &"She is playing probably her best tennis," Robson said.dddddddddddd"So its going to be insanely tough but Im just going to go out there and do my best." This tournament is the last major warm-up for the French Open, the years second Grand Slam, which starts May 26. The top 32 players get seeded for Grand Slams. "Ive said since the start of the year that I wanted to be seeded for Wimbledon and it would be great if I were to be seeded for Roland Garros as well," Robson said. The top-eight seeded players in Rome have first-round byes. In other matches, ninth-seeded Samantha Stosur cruised past Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan 6-2, 6-3; two-time champion Jelena Jankovic overpowered Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-0; Sabine Lisicki of Germany eliminated American qualifier Mallory Burdette 6-1, 6-2; and Italian wild-card entry Nastassja Burnett defeated 2008 finalist Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-2. In a night match that was suspended briefly due to a lights outage, 59th-ranked Kiki Bertens of Netherlands beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (5), 6-1. In mens action, 11th-seeded Marin Cilic beat Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2 and Italian wild card Potito Starace rallied past Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to set up a match against second-seeded Roger Federer. In a late match, 16th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan dispatched Italian wild card Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-4. Nishikori, who upset Roger Federer in Madrid last week, called for a trainer while leading 4-3 in the second set to tend to his right thigh but did not appear slowed while closing the match out. Meanwhile, 10th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic withdrew from the tournament with bronchitis and Lukas Rosol took his place in the draw. Also, sixth-seeded Angelique Kerber withdrew with an abdominal injury and was replaced by Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain. ' ' '