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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Defending champion Novak Djokovic needed less than an hour to advance at the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, while Roger Federer faced a struggle to seal his place in the quarterfinals. Terrelle Pryor Jerseys . Top-seeded Djokovic swept to a 6-1, 6-3 win over 51st-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in just 57 minutes, but fourth-seeded Federer had to see off a serious challenge from 48th-ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before coming through 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3. "I have done really well today from the first to the last point," Djokovic said. "There was no major ups and downs, especially with the serve that helped me to win comfortably my service games, a lot of free points." In the first set, Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead before Bautista Agut held serve to win his only game in the set. The only hiccup Djokovic had in the second set was when serving for the match at 5-2. He dropped his serve in that game but broke serve in the next to close out the match. Djokovic will play sixth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, who beat British wildcard recipient James Ward 6-1, 7-6 (3). Federer came into his two hour, eight minute match with a 12-2 winning record over Stepanek. Hes now won their last nine meetings dating back to the 2008 Rome quarterfinals. "I got broken four times which is difficult, but its good to win those type of matches," said Federer, who faced eight break points against his serve. "Im happy to get through. "It didnt look good there for a while, but I got it done." Federer handled the first set with confidence, but started to falter as Stepanek became more aggressive in the second set. Federer managed to rebound from 4-2 down in the second set to force a tiebreaker -- where Stepanek raced into a 6-2 and a first set point when Federer double faulted. Stepanek won the set on his third set point when Federer netted a forehand. Stepanek also took an early 2-0 lead in the third set, but Federer rebounded to go ahead 5-2 to serve for the match. Federers serve was broken when he double faulted in the eighth game. Stepanek, however, surrendered his serve in the next game to allow Federer to move into the quarterfinals. Hell now face another Czech player in Lukas Rosol, who upset eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (4). "Today was quite frustrating," Federer said. "I had momentum on my side at the beginning, but it was tough to keep it going. "After the first set I was under pressure the entire match." Like Djokovic, third-seeded Tomas Berdych had an easy path to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. Berdych, who will face fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, has won his last eight matches. Despite Berdych having trouble with his first serve -- his percentage was a ghastly 37 per cent -- he controlled the match. He lost his serve once, and won 12 of the last 14 points. "I was working a little more on my return stats than on my service stats," Berdych said. "The main focus really for the next days is to get my percentage of the first serve back and really find a nice and sweet rhythm for my serve." Tsonga won his second-round match by walkover when his opponent, Nikolay Davydenko, withdrew with a rib injury. Seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Andrea Seppi of Italy. Kohlschreiber will play Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri, who beat Somdev Devvarman of India 6-3, 7-5.Zach Miller . -- As expected, coach John Fox has officially ruled out Wes Welker for Denvers game against San Diego on Thursday night because of a concussion. Jon Ryan Jerseys . Ray gave up one run in his major league debut and got plenty of run support, especially from Miguel Cabrera, to help Detroit rout the Houston Astros 11-4 on Tuesday night for its season-high seventh straight win.MINNEAPOLIS - Even with a 51-point game and a Slam Dunk Contest title on his resume - two dunk titles, depending on whether or not you took this years contest seriously - Terrence Ross is still taking people by surprise, even his own teammates. The Raptors second-year forward has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the early-season trade, breaking out and becoming a vital part of his teams success on both ends of the floor. Around the league, teams are starting to take notice and feature Ross more predominately in their pre-game scouting reports but its not just the opposition that hes impressing. After missing his first game of the season with an ankle sprain last week, Ross returned to action on Friday, knocking down six of eight attempts from three-point range while scoring 18 points in 26 minutes. Following the win over Sacramento, Patrick Patterson - acquired in that deal with the Kings in December - was asked who has surprised him the most since coming to Toronto. "Terrence," he responded immediately. "Terrence by far. I had no idea he could shoot like that. I always knew about his athleticism, I watched him in college. I knew about his scoring ability, his ability to attack the rim. Hes a solid defender as well. Hes got some good hands on him as well, but for him to be able to knock down that three at such a consistent rate, come off screen and rolls and hit that midrange jump shot, I had no idea he was such a great shooter." "Terrence is definitely the guy that has caught my eye since being here." A year ago, Ross - a 22-year-old rookie out of Washington - showed flashes of what he could become. His athleticism stood out, more than anything else, but he lacked consistency and, at times, confidence and focus. Selected with the eighth-overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Ross was an unknown commodity. If you ask other players, coaches, front office execs or people around the league what they knew about him at that time, most would admit they were aware of one, maybe two facets of his game. Maybe they knew he could shoot or how athletic he was. Few realized how diverse his game could become. Now, with 132 NBA games under his belt and an opportunity to start and log consistent minutes in coach Dwane Caseys rotation, hes looking like a completely different player. Hes looking like a two-way player. Ross has connected on 17 of his last 27 three-point tries, scoring in double-figures in five straight games, matching a career-high he set back in January. "At times it seems effortless to him," Patterson added. "When hes on the perimeter, just one or two dribbles and he just shoots it with great confidence, such great arc, perfect follow-through and it goes in, nothing but net." Like Patterson, John Salmons has also been pleasantly surprised with Rosss arsenal since exchanging Kings purple for Raptors red. "Man, were sitting on the bench, when he shoots, we think its good," said the veteran Salmons, 11 years Rosss senior. "Hes auttomatic. Justin Britt Jersey Seattle Seahawks. Every time he shoots, we think its good. You dont think that about too many people." Those that have been around Ross long enough, working with him from day one - namely DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry - say they could see this coming, raving about what theyve seen from the 23-year-old in practice. For everyone else, its taken a bit longer. Ross had his coming-out party at All-Star Weekend in Houston last year when he won the Slam Dunk Contest. He began to turn heads again after exploding for 51 points in a loss to the Clippers on Jan. 25. "I think the whole league was surprised [after that game]," said former teammate Rudy Gay. "Hes one of those guys that when hes making shots, there aint no one in the whole league that can stop him. He has so much potential. Now that people are starting to see it, hes getting more attention. Its nothing we didnt know." After Gay was traded Ross seized his spot in the Raptors starting lineup. Since, hes playing just under 30 minutes a night - up from 18 - taking twice as many shots (10.6) and averaging double the points (12.7). Since the trade, he ranks eighth in the NBA in three-pointers made - just above teammate Lowry - shooting the long-ball at a 43 per cent clip, up from 33 per cent in his rookie year. Hes been especially proficient from the corners, where hes drained 39 of his treys since Dec. 8, tied for second-most in the league behind Atlantas Kyle Korver. However, its been his defence thats kept him on the floor long enough to knock down all those threes. Ross has earned Caseys trust with his effort, focus and natural ability on the defensive end, routinely tasked with guarding the oppositions best perimeter player. "Hes grown into that role," Casey said. "Hes earned it, he enjoys it, he does a good job with it with his speed and quickness. Hes not totally there yet. I dont want to anoint him as a defensive stopper but hes growing into that role, doing a good job with it, learning each and every [game]." Ross has raised the bar for himself, now the expectations - even internally - have increased. At this point, on this team, Casey is happy with Ross harnessing his efforts on defence and spotting up for open looks but knows hes capable of growing into a more well rounded player. "We want him to be more of a pick-and-roll guy, thats his next step of growth," said Casey. "Making plays for other people will help him a lot. Thats probably where he needs to grow most." How good can he be? Salmons joked that even Ross, himself, is unaware of his full potential. "He dont know," Salmons said with a laugh. "He dont realize how athletic he is." “I hope he [knows how good he is]," Patterson said. "The sky is the limit for Terrence. Hes getting better every single game. His confidence is getting higher and higher and hes believing in himself more. I hope he realizes how good he is right now and how great he can be." cheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
