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SINGAPORE -- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in practice for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday, while teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg and defending champion Sebastian Vettel both had setbacks. Hamiltons best time of 1 minute, 47.490 seconds at the Marina Bay circuit was a tenth of a second faster than Ferraris Fernando Alonso, who was fastest in the morning session. "Pole here has always been very important," Hamilton said. "Being up at the front will be crucial and thats obviously my target for qualifying tomorrow. "Nico looks very quick, as do the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, but Im feeling good this weekend and Im focused on the job." Rosbergs hopes of surpassing his teammate were ruined when his lap on fresh super-soft tires had to be aborted due to a red flag caused by Pastor Maldonados heavy collision with a barrier. Rosberg was only 13th fastest. "Although I didnt get the second part of that lap, though, in the first part the car felt great," Rosberg said. "Its generally a great challenge driving here. This is one of the most difficult tracks out there but to fight through all the curves and bumps ... is a great feeling." Vettel came out for only the last eight minutes of the second session after an engine failure in his Red Bull at the end of the first. The German, who has won the past three Singapore races, still had enough time to vault up to fifth on the timesheets. "I was not able to get the best out of the tires straight away," Vettel said. "But overall I am pretty happy and I am sure we can improve the car. We should be in a good place tomorrow." While the Renault engine that failed was one that was earmarked for Friday practice sessions rather than in qualifying and the race, it did reduce the teams options to juggle its power-plants over the final races of the season. Having already used up his allowed five race engines this season, Vettels next change will trigger a 10-place grid penalty. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who is the only realistic challenger to the Mercedes pair for the drivers championship, was third fastest. The Australian has won two of the past three races and has 166 points compared to 238 for Rosberg and 216 for Hamilton. "Ive got a feeling Mercedes probably have a bit more in the bag," Ricciardo said. "We do too, but probably not enough to get on par with them yet, but hopefully a good night of homework will pay off tomorrow." Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest. Neither Ferrari driver has qualified better than fourth this season. While the Italian teams pattern in 2014 has been a decline from Friday practice performance to that in qualifying on Saturday and race on Sunday, the early showing in Singapore indicated they could challenge Red Bull as best of the rest behind Mercedes in Singapore. It was also a boost after a dire performance in their home race at Monza in the previous grand prix, which precipitated the exit of long-time Ferrari company chief Luca di Montezemolo. While Ferrari was surprisingly strong, Williams would be disappointed with its lap times, with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas down in 17th and 18th, as they struggled on the twisty circuit which negates their straight-line speed. McLarens Jenson Button was seventh fastest ahead of the Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg while Toro Rossos Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten. Zalando Puma Scarpe . But last years runner-up Jarkko Nieminen crashed out despite winning the first set against Denis Istomin. Istomin fired 10 aces and won 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to even his career record against Nieminen at 3-3. Scarpe Puma Uomo Scontate . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. http://www.pumascontate.it/ . Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became much clearer. Puma Scarpe Sito Ufficiale . The New York State Supreme Court only partially dismissed the lawsuit, meaning the case could be headed for trial. The tour announced a year ago that Singh would be suspended for saying in a Sports Illustrated story that he took deer antler spray, which was believed to contain the banned substance IGF-1. Zalando Scarpe Puma Scontate . -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. HOUSTON -- Washington outfielder Bryce Harper had surgery on his injured left thumb on Tuesday and will be out for an extended period of time. Manager Matt Williams would not commit to a time frame, but said "that time frame is out there" after reports Monday that he would be out until at least July. "The doctor reported that everything went fine, and we got a little message from Bryce about getting back and taking BP post-surgery," Williams joked. "It went fine, well have to see how long it takes ... we expect him to heal fast. Given his history, he has healed pretty fast. We are optimistic about it, but were not really sure how long it is going to take." The two-time All-Star was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday with what was then called a sprained left thumb. Williams talked about what Harpers absence will mean for his team. "It hurts a lot. Hes a fantastic player," Williams said.dddddddddddd "Well certainly miss him, but were going to have to step up." He was injured on Friday night against San Diego on a headfirst slide into third base on a triple. He remained in the game until after the next inning. Despite the injury, Williams is not opposed to headfirst slides. "Bryce had another collision sliding feet first earlier in the year, and he hurt himself last year sliding feet first," Williams said. "Its something that you cant control. The play that he hurt himself on, he was trying to get to third base the quickest he could, and I dont know if he is safe if he slides feet first. He was safe sliding head first, but he got the thumb in the wrong position." The 21-year-old Harper is batting .289 with one home run and nine RBIs this season. Harper was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2012 after hitting .270 with 22 homers and 59 RBIs. ' ' '