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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Virginia held Vanderbilt scoreless for all but one inning.

But boy, what an inning it was.

The Commodores capitalized on Virginia starter Nathan Kirby's sudden loss of control to score nine runs in the third, then held off the Cavaliers to win 9-8 in Game 1 of the College World Series finals Monday night.

"We're fortunate to win that game, for sure," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. "No one could have scripted that particular game, and if anyone said they could, they're lying. I don't think you could have called a nine-run inning."

The Commodores (50-20) can win their first national championship in a men's sport with a win Tuesday night.

"It's nice to be up 1-0, but that's not where our mindset is right now," second baseman Dansby Swanson said. "It's the same game regardless. You have to go out there, play, compete and just play the tournament like we always talk about. We're not going out there thinking we've only got one more."

Virginia (52-15) came back after going down by seven runs, scoring three in the third, two in the fifth and another in the eighth. Had it not been for Vanderbilt reliever John Kilichowski getting a cleat on the ball to slow down and redirect a comebacker, saving a run in the eighth, the Cavaliers would have tied it.

"We didn't really want to fall back and pack it in," Branden Cogswell said. "We hadn't done it all year. This is the championship series, and there is no reason to do it now."

Jared Miller (7-2) got the win for two innings of relief of Walker Buehler. Adam Ravenelle came on in the ninth and earned his second save of the CWS.

Tyler Campbell continued his improbable breakout for the Commodores, doubling twice in the third inning. Campbell, who took over for third baseman Xavier Turner on Friday after he was ruled ineligible for an NCAA rules violation, put Vanderbilt up 9-2 with his second double, which came with the bases loaded.

"I'm just still happy I got the opportunity and I've been able to come in and be a solid player for the team," Campbell said. "I'm happy we're here in the championship, so it's all good."

It was the highest-scoring CWS game at TD Ameritrade Park, which opened in 2011, and the most runs allowed by Virginia since an 11-6 loss to Mississippi State in super regionals last year.

The nine runs in the third, off three hits, five walks and a hit batsman , were the most in an inning in the CWS since Stanford scored 11 against Florida State in the ninth on June 14, 2008, at the old Rosenblatt Stadium.

"I just couldn't find my release point," Kirby said. "It hadn't happened all year, but it happened tonight. I thought we did a great job with the bats. If we carry that into tomorrow, I think we'll be fine."

Things went south for Kirby in a hurry after he struck out Chris Harvey to start the inning. He walked Jason Delay on four pitches, gave up Campbell's first double, and walked Dansby Swanson to load the bases.

Bryan Reynolds' infield single drove in a run, and then Kirby issued the first of three straight bases-loaded walks — all while Whit Mayberry was warming up in the bullpen. By the time Mayberry came on, after Rhett Wiseman reached on an error, Vandy led 5-2.

Of Kirby's last 50 pitches, 31 were balls. He walked five in the third inning after having never walked more than three in a game in his 18 previous career starts.

"Nathan Kirby has done the job all year long for this team, and I thought he was pretty sharp the first couple innings," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "The third inning, it just kind of unraveled."

Tim Duncan could have easily gone out on top, with his fifth NBA championship trophy under his arm and his health intact just a few months after his 38th birthday.

There's just no way. Duncan is having too much fun with his San Antonio Spurs coaches and teammates, and he's playing too well to call it quits now.

Duncan has decided to exercise the option on his contract for 2014-15 and will return next season, the team announced Monday. Since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 1997, Duncan leads all NBA players in wins and has won two MVP awards and three NBA Finals MVPs.

As the Spurs beat the two-time defending champion Miami Heat in the NBA Finals earlier this month, Duncan was asked several times about his future, as he has been for the last five or six years. He was noncommittal, saying he would take some time after the season ended to mull his decision.

But after Game 5, most of the Spurs said they expected the group to return and now Duncan has reached his decision, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. He will make about $10.3 million next season in the final year of a two-year agreement that was drawn up specifically to allow the Spurs the financial flexibility to surround Duncan with top-shelf talent.

"He feels a responsibility to his teammates," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the team won the championship. "He enjoys them. He wants to hang around as long as he can while he's useful and while he's having an impact on the game. He takes care of his body. He works out all summer long with a variety of different things, boxing, swimming. He's very careful about what he puts in his body, so he does everything he can to maintain a level of play.

"At some point," Popovich added, "that will stop."

But not this year.

When Duncan looked around at the Spurs, he saw every reason to come back and try to do just about the only thing the Spurs haven't done during his 17 years there — win back-to-back titles.

In Popovich he has perhaps the best coach in the game, one who has established a culture of teamwork, success and stability that is unparalleled in the league. In Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, he has two trusted teammates who have been by his side for years, have sacrificed money, fame and statistics right along with him to build the Spurs organization into the envy of the NBA.

And in Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Duncan has a young, fresh-faced star on the rise to carry more of the load as the Big Three get older.

"With the front office putting the teams together that we've had and us playing smaller roles and our roles changing over the years, and us happy to accept the roles that we're in, I feel we can do it until we feel we don't want to do it anymore," Duncan said two weeks ago.

Perhaps as important as anything, Duncan is still one of the best big men in the league. He was named first team All-NBA in 2012-13 as he helped the Spurs to the finals, where they lost to the Heat in a heart-breaking seven-game series.

This season, Duncan averaged 15.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in just 29.2 minutes per game, playing in a system expertly devised by Popovich to limit the wear and tear on his body. He shot almost 57 percent in the finals and dismantled Heat star Chris Bosh, who grew up with a Duncan poster on his bedroom wall.

"We've been on our last run for the last five or six years from how everyone wants to put it," Duncan said. "We show up every year, and we try to put together the best teams and the best runs possible because what people say doesn't matter to us.

"As I said, as long as we feel we're being effective, we're going to stay out here and we're going to play. We feel like we can be effective, and we have been."

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Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski

LONDON (AP) — Andy Murray arrived on Centre Court to a standing ovation and left to another.

After ending Britain's 77-year wait for a homegrown men's champion at Wimbledon last year, Murray got off to a strong start Monday in his bid to become the first to retain the title since Fred Perry in 1936.

In keeping with tradition, Murray had the honor of playing the opening match on Centre Court as the defending men's champion — and looked right at home in beating David Goffin 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.

Murray broke the 105th-ranked Belgian four times, saved the only two break points against him and sealed the contest with an ace, his eighth of the match. It was Murray's 450th tour-level match win.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who lost to Murray in last year's final, also put on a commanding performance in his opening round match on Centre Court. The Serbian player won the first 11 games and swept to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 win over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in less than 90 minutes.

Murray received a huge ovation when he strode onto the court where he beat Djokovic a year ago, soaking in the applause and giving a wave to the crowd — including those fans who queued up for tickets overnight for the rare chance to see a reigning British champion.

"It was nice," Murray said. "I was nervous this morning, nervous yesterday. Walking through brings back a lot of good memories."

Among those in the Royal Box for the occasion were Murray's father and grandparents and retired NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, dressed in suit and tie. Murray chatted briefly with the 7-foot-1 (2.16-meter) Shaq after the match.

"He's a big boy, that's for sure," Murray said. "He was huge."

Murray was on top of his game from the outset, sailing through the first set in 29 minutes, and closing out the second with an ace. Goffin, who stands 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters) with a slight build, was overpowered for the first two sets but raised his level in the third and pushed Murray hard.

"In the second and third sets I thought the standard was very high," Murray said. "He came up with some unbelievable passing shots. I was glad to finish it in three."

The pressure will now be on Murray's next opponent, Blaz Rola of Slovenia, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 win against Pablo Andujar of Spain. Asked about facing the champion on Wednesday on Centre Court, Rola said: "Hopefully, I don't poop my pants and don't play well."

Djokovic, meanwhile, never faced a break point in his dominant victory against the 56th-ranked Golubev, who fell to his 10th consecutive loss on grass. The score was 6-0, 5-0 before Golubev finally won a game. It was Djokovic's first grass-court match of the year.

"It was a great start, especially in the first two sets," Djokovic said. "I cannot be happier."

Among other men's winners was sixth-seeded and 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych, who beat Victor Hanescu 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. No. 7 David Ferrer, No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 12 Ernests Gulbis and No. 17 Mikhail Youzhny also advanced.

But 18th-seeded Fernando Verdasco fell to Australia's Marinko Matosevic, losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In women's play, second-seeded Li Na of China advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Paula Kania of Poland. Li, the 2011 French Open champion, rallied to win the last four games of the first set after being down a service break at 5-3.

Five-time champion Venus Williams won her first singles match at Wimbledon since 2011, posting a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain. Williams lost in the first round in 2012 and missed last year's tournament because of a back injury.

"I've come back so many times from injuries," said Williams, who served 11 aces. "I just feel like the more I keep playing, the better I get."

Rain came late in the day, forcing suspension of seven in-progress matches.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 14th-seeded Frenchman, was ready to serve for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set against Jurgen Meltzer when play was stopped for the day. Among the women, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska was up 4-2 in the first set against Andreea Mitu, and No. 16 Caroline Wozniacki led Shahar Peer 6-3, 2-0.

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Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for two friends of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects argued Monday that the friends have been unfairly targeted because of their relationships with the men accused of carrying out the deadly attack.

Azamat Tazhayakov, 20, a college friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Khairullozhon Matanov, a Quincy cab driver who was a friend of Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, were in court for separate hearings on charges of impeding the investigation into the 2013 bombing.

Tazhayakov is accused of removing items from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth days after the bombing, while Matanov is accused for deleting files from his computer and lying to investigators.

Neither man is accused of participating in the attack or knowing about the bombings in advance.

With Tazhayakov's trial set to begin next week, his lawyers said they were confident he will be acquitted. Attorney Matthew Meyers told reporters that prosecutors offered Tazhayakov a deal if he agreed to plead to reduced charges, but he rejected it.

"He's confident," Meyers said. "He knows he's not guilty."

Meyers would not disclose the terms of the plea offer. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz would not confirm that a plea deal was offered.

Meyers said Tazhayakov should not be punished because of his friendship with Tsarnaev.

"Even the average juror in Boston will be shocked by the lack of evidence," he said.

Nicholas Wooldridge, another lawyer representing Tazhayakov, said the defense is hopeful of finding an impartial jury, but he acknowledged it could be challenging because of the impact the bombing had in the Boston area.

"Even though this case is not the Boston Marathon bombing case, still people have a connection with that," he said.

Authorities say the Tsarnaev brothers planted two pressure cooker bombs at the marathon last year, killing three and wounding more than 260. Tamerlan died following a shootout with police several days later. Dzhokhar is awaiting trial and faces the possibility of the death penalty.

The other Tsarnaev friend in court Monday, Matanov, is accused of lying when questioned about his relationship with the brothers.

A judge rejected a plea from Matanov's lawyer, Edward Hayden, to release his client on bail as he awaits trial.

Hayden argued that Matanov, 23, who moved to the United States from Kyrgyzstan in 2010, went to police on his own the morning after the FBI released photos of the Tsarnaevs as suspects in the bombing. He identified the brothers and gave police their address and phone numbers.

Hayden, who initially did not make an argument for bail, said he has now found an apartment where Matanov can live, and is actively looking for a job for him. Matanov was fired from his job as a cab driver after he was indicted.

"This court has heard no evidence of how he obstructed this investigation or how he intended to obstruct this investigation," Hayden argued.

He said the FBI knows Matanov "is just a hard-working guy driving that cab for about 15 to 18 hours per day."

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Garland, in arguing against bail, said Matanov has sent money to friends and family around the world, making it possible that he could have a "soft landing" in another country if he decided to flee the United States.

"These are people who might want to take him in because they owe him some sort of a debt, even if it's just a debt of friendship," Garland said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler agreed with prosecutors that Matanov poses a flight risk and rejected his request to be released on bail.