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TORONTO -- Eugenie Bouchards best off-court memory in a season full of them was attending the 40-Love Party at Wimbledon. Reggie Wayne Elite Jersey . The party celebrated the 40th anniversary of the WTA, and 17 of the former No. 1-ranked female players -- from Chris Evert to Serena Williams and almost every top player in between -- were in attendance. It was one of those pinch-me moments for Bouchard, and said a lot about how far the rising Canadian tennis star had come. "Moments like that are really special to me, and obviously I was just happy to be invited there," Bouchard said in a conference call Thursday from her training base in Florida. A day earlier, the 19-year-old from Montreal was named WTAs newcomer of the year after reaching at least the quarter-finals five times in the 2013 season. Bouchard is ranked No. 32 in the world, tops among teenagers and Canadians. She reached her first WTA final in Osaka last month before losing to Samantha Stosur. Bouchard beat Stosur earlier in the year, her first victory over an opponent ranked in the top 10. She also beat No. 10 Jelena Jankovic as part of an impressive year. The young Canadian cant pinpoint any one thing that led to her swift rise through the ranks this past season. "I think its a bunch of factors, not something specific," she said. "Its really my first full year on the pro tour, I learned a lot. Playing week in and week out against great players, and even great champions, is really tough, and it makes you mentally though. I think that helped me improve, and gave me a lot of experience for the rest of the year, so those big matches helped me a lot." Bouchard earned US$415,742 in prize money in 2013 by going 39-24 in singles play and 6-8 in doubles. Bouchard was the first Canadian to win the award since Carling Bassett in 1983. "To be the second Canadian only is a cool thing I think, and obviously its a great award and its an honour to be named the Newcomer of the Year. So Im proud of that," said Bouchard. While she raced more than 100 spots up the rankings this season, she knows next season is going to be a crawl. The higher she goes, the more difficult it is to move. "And then each small move, each small jump is more significant," she said. "Strategy-wise, I have my coach (Nick Saviano) and Im just going to train really hard in this off-season and try to improve. I dont think theres a secret recipe, just a lot of hard work will definitely go into it on the practice court and then once Im in matches as well, really work hard and try to be the best I can be." While Bouchard has become more comfortable as shes gained experience on the tour, she said theres no sense of "been there, done that." "I think its hard to have that feeling . . . when you walk onto the grounds at the Australian Open or any Grand Slam or any tournament for that matter," Bouchard said. "Tennis is what I love doing, so Im never going to get bored of it, and Im never going to feel like Im tired of it. "Im saying that now, but maybe when Im ready to retire at 30, maybe Ill have that feeling. But for now, its what I love doing, I cant think of doing anything else, and Im just going to go into every tournament with the same energy and motivation that Ive always had and always will have." Coby Fleener Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Ahmad Bradshaw Elite Jersey . Heading into the final round with a two-stroke lead, Donald had seven birdies and two bogeys at the par-71 Phoenix Country Club to finish at 14-under 270 on the Japan Tour.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. The frontcourt tandem bullied and bruised the Warriors inside to power the Clippers ahead by 18 points in the third quarter. And they did just enough late to silence a rocking, gold-shirt wearing sellout crowd of 19,596 to regain home-court advantage. Klay Thompson scored 26 points, and Stephen Curry had 16 points and 15 assists to rally the Warriors back. But Curry forced a contested, step-back 3-pointer over Chris Paul in the final seconds to seal the Clippers victory. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Oakland. The Clippers held the Warriors to 6-of-31 shooting from 3-point range and 41.6 per cent shooting overall. Los Angeles also forced 17 turnovers. Golden States streaky backcourt duo still gave the Clippers quite a scare in the closing moments. Curry made his first 3-pointer, and Thompson made another from long range before hitting a turnaround jumper to bring the Warriors within 87-86 with 4:24 to play. Paul capped a quick 7-0 spurt for the Clippers with a deep 3-pointer. He pounded his chest and skipped down court after Warriors coach Mark Jackson called timeout. Thompson hit a jumper and Curry connected from beyond the arc to trim Los Angeles lead to 96-93 with 49 seconds left. But reserve Draymond Green fouled out when officials called him for a block against Griffin, who made 1 of 2 free throws. Curry hit another 3-pointer with 11 seconds left. Paul missed 1 of 2 free throws, giving Golden State the ball with 8.6 seconds remaining. Jordan intentionally fouled Curry off the inbound to make Golden State inbound the ball again. And the Warriors ran the same play to Curry, whose 3-pointer sailed short. Jordan grabbed the rebound, and tossed it out to Paul as time expired. The victory was another big step for the third-seeded Clippers after they lost homecourt advantage by losing Game 1 in Los Angeles. Hakeem Nicks Jersey. They regrouped to rout Golden State 138-98 in Game 2 in Los Angeles on Monday night. But they still had to win on the road and at Oracle Arena -- both of which had been tough obstacles to overcome. The Clippers had lost 15 of their previous 17 games in Oakland, including five in a row. Los Angeles also had lost five consecutive road playoff games. With the amped-up fans screaming at full throat, the teams returned to the fast and physical style that had been the theme in their regular-season meetings. Officials called a flagrant foul on Clippers forward Matt Barnes for shoving Andre Iguodala to the floor by the back of his head as the two jostled for position under the basket in the first quarter. A few possessions later, David Lee levelled Paul to the ground on a blind-side screen. All the while, Griffin and Jordan just dominated the paint against an undersized Warriors team playing without centre Andrew Bogut, who is out indefinitely with a fractured right rib. The Clippers also kept trapping and double-teaming Curry, forcing him to pass or attempt difficult shots on the perimeter. Tensions started to escalate again when Warriors reserve Green swung his arm and fouled Griffin under the basket, drawing a flagrant foul. Fans serenaded Griffin with chants of "Flopp-er! Flopp-er!" Green sparked a brief scoring surge with a driving dunk and a 3-pointer to bring the Warriors within eight. But Jamal Crawford quieted the crowd once more with three straight jumpers, sending the Clippers to the fourth quarter with a 75-64 lead -- providing just enough separation to hold off the Warriors final rally. NOTES: The Clippers had not won at Golden State since Dec. 25, 2011. ... The last time the Warriors won a playoff series when they lost a home game was in 1977 to Detroit. ... Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and Sacramento Mayor and former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson were among those in attendance cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
