|
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. Paul Molitor Brewers Jersey . -- Canadas Milos Raonic defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France on Saturday to advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. The No. 10 ranked Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., had 33 aces to edge Roger-Vasselin 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (2). Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka -- who were all playing their opening matches of the tournament -- also won on Saturday. Federer, the four-time champion seeded seventh, beat French qualifier Pail-Henri Mathieu. The Swiss star was coming off his 78th career title last week in Dubai. "Its important to win," he said. "Its a lot different from Dubai. You have to force a bit more, but Im satisfied." In a late match, the top-seeded Nadal rallied to beat Radek Stepanek 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. "He is not the right player to play against in the first round," Nadal said. "Hes not the right player because what you want to find in the first round is rhythm and against him every point is different. He goes quick to the net. They dont give you that few games to find your rhythm, to find a way that you want to play." Nadal is 41-6 in his 10 appearances here and has made it to the semifinals or better for the past eight years. But he said worries about his back affected his serve during the 2-hour, 24-minute contest. "With my serve I was doing nothing. When that happens, the opponent is able to play more aggressive, play more confident and in the end, eight double faults, I give him an opportunity to win a lot of free points," Nadal said. "I was a little bit scared for the back. I am not feeling 100 per cent confident with my serve. But probably that match is going to help me understand that I can start to serve normal again." The fifth-seeded Murray topped Lukas Rosol 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and the third-seeded Wawrinka, playing for the first time since winning the Australian Open, beat Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-5. Kevin Anderson and Tommy Haas also moved into the third round. Anderson spoiled two-time tournament champion Lleyton Hewitts bid for his 600th career match win, topping the Australian 7-6 (5), 6-4. Haas, who will be 36 on April 3, rolled to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jeremy Chardy. In womens play, top-seeded Na beat Chinese compatriot Zheng Jie 6-1, 7-5, and fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova opened her title defence with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Julia Goerges. Fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber dropped out, falling 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. Aleksandra Wozniack of Blainville, Que., also beat No. 15 Sabine Lisicki 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (5). Murray reached the final in 2009, but has mostly struggled in the event. "I think its important sometimes to think about it, because when youre not expecting it to happen and then it does, thats when it can kind of take you by surprise and you might panic a little bit or worry," Murray said. "But I dont feel like (that happened) today. I was a set and a break down. I got broken three times in a row the end of the first set, beginning of the second. I just kind of kept going and found a way to win, which is always the most important thing." Mikhail Youzhny, seeded 14th, withdrew because of a back injury and the American mens contingent was trimmed from its initial 14 members to one after losses by Michael Russell, Sam Querrey, Tim Smyczek and Ryan Harrison. The only U.S. player remaining is 12th seed John Isner, who will face Nikolay Davydenko on Sunday. Li is playing her second event since winning the Australian Open. "This is the first match after Doha, two weeks, and of course for I cannot be 100 per cent for the first match," Li said. "But I was happy. At least I can learn something from todays match." Li will face Karolina Pliskova, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over No. 28 Klara Zakopalova. Eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova, No. 11 Ana Ivanovic and No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova also won early matches. In first-round doubles action, Raonic and Latvian partner Ernests Gulbis edged Serbian pair Novak Djokovic and Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 6-1. Torontos Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia beat Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina and Marin Cilic of Croatia 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. Matt Garza Authentic Jersey . The agreement Thursday was for $5,000 above the midpoint between the $2.4 million he had asked for and the $1.6 million the Indians had offered when the sides exchanged arbitration figures last month. Milwaukee Brewers Jersey . -- Henrik Zetterberg didnt wait long to make an impact in his first game back from injury.With the NHL Draft coming up on June 27 and free agency opening on July 1, discussions between NHL general managers are already heating up towards a busy off-season. Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. This And That From TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Wednesday: The Los Angeles Kings have already reached out to Marian Gaboriks camp to try to get something done to keep the pending UFA in the fold. Pending UFA defenceman Andrei Markov of the Montreal Canadiens remains unsigned as the clock ticks toward July 1. "No news. I dont expect anything to happen any time soon," Markovs agent, former NHLer Sergei Berezin, told LeBrun via text Wednesday morning. "But you never know." Agent Steve Bartlett remains in talks with the Tampa Bay Lightning about pending UFA Ryan Callahan: "Good-faith talks with Tampa continue, hard to handicap at this point," Bartlett said via email Wednesday morning. Avalanche of issues As per TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger on TSN Radio 1050 on Wednesday, the Colorado Avalanche will have some difficult decisions to make surrounding Ryan OReilly and Paul Stastny. One of these situations will definitely get messy and one wonders if Stastny will take a "home town discount." Bolland Banter While speculation continues to surround the Toronto Maple Leafs and pending UFA Dave Bolland, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger told TSN Radio 1050 on Wednesday that as significant as Bolland is to the Leafs, there is a contract number in mind that the team is not comfortable going over. Singing The Blues? As per Andy Strickland of St. Louiss Big 550 KTRS, the Blues are Jason Spezzas top choice as a possible trade destination. Strickland adds that Spezza believess hes headed to either the Blues or the Anaheim Ducks. Jonathan Lucroy Brewers Jersey. Not So Fast Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving denied a report over the weekend that suggesting he would offer Jiri Hudler, Mikael Backlund, "possibly" Dennis Wideman and and a draft pick for Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza. "Its categorically false," he told Eric Francis of The Calgary Sun. "I havent made any such offers. Thats 100 per cent Fantasy Island. I saw it early Sunday online and had to read it a couple times and had to remind myself oh ya Im the Flames GM. Interesting." Treliving added that while he and soon-to-be-free agent Michael Cammalleri are in talks regarding a possible contract, there was nothing to a report that both sides had agreed to his price but were not in agreement on term. "The only things were unable to agree on are term and price - other than that we have a deal," he told The Sun. Pause Button On Kane? TSN Radio 1260s Gary Lawless wrote in The Winnipeg Free Press on Wednesday that Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff wont deal Evander Kane just for the sake of trading him, as team management believes Kane has yet to reach his full potential and they wouldnt want to see him score 40-plus goals in a different uniform. Lawless adds that the Jets arent going to be offered a roster player of equal value and that teams will try to offer picks and prospects. Market for R.J. Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch writes that R.J. Umberger has given the Blue Jackets a list of 10 teams to which he would not approve a trade. He adds that the Blue Jackets first choice would be to trade Umberger for a player or a draft pick, but they will likely have to keep some of Umbergers salary to make it happen. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
