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PARIS -- About the only thing getting between Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard and a berth in the second round of the French Open was the weather. Davante Adams Black Jersey . Bouchard overcame a rain interruption of nearly 90 minutes before finishing off a decisive 6-0, 6-2 win over Israels Shahar Peer on Monday. The tournaments 18th seed beat Peer for the second time this season and fourth in her career over 58 minutes of actual playing time. Montreals Bouchard, the 20-year-old former junior Wimbledon champion, arrived to Roland Garros with her highest career WTA ranking. She moved up to 16th after winning her first WTA title on Saturday, beating Karolina Pliskova in the final of the Nuremberg clay court tournament. "Today the court was actually a bit slower because of the conditions," said Bouchard. "I find the courts here are generally like fast clay courts, so I like them. Its fine for me. "Im confident, but Im usually always confident and believe in myself, and know whenever I walk on the court I always believe I can win the match. But Im just trying to take it one week at a time. Last week is last week. I have another tournament this week. Thats all Im focused on." Bouchard had a 3-1 lead in the second set when the weather turned wet. She won the first seven games of the match against Peer, reaching 4-0 in 13 minutes and polishing off the opener in a brisk 27 minutes. Peer finally won the third game of the second set but was never a threat. When the pair returned, Bouchard extended her second-set lead to 4-1 and saved a break point for a 5-2 lead before breaking Peer in the final game to advance on a second match point. Bouchard next plays the winner of a match between Germanys Julia Goerges and Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal. Later Monday, Toronto native Sharon Fichmans match against sixth seed Jelena Jankovic was suspended due to darkness. The match will resume Tuesday with Fichman leading 7-5, 1-5. Fichmans match against Jankovic can be seen to its conclusion live on TSN GO, Tuesday at 6:30am et/3:30am pt. Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil was defeated in his opening match, beaten by 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 by Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili to remain winless at Roland Garros. The 31st-ranked Canadian, whose season has been compromised by back problems, broke in the third set as his opponent served for the match. But Pospisil lost his own serve a game later and went down on a fourth match point from a backhand wide. Pospisil ended with six aces and 27 winners but also committed 55 unforced errors as he lost in the Paris first round for a third straight year. He admitted that he was struggling physically but did not want to go into detail. He said that his problem is "fixable" and that he has plans to play Wimbledon. "Today was not what I wanted. I dont want to talk about the back," he said. "The back is much better now but there are still some demons I have to face. "I wasnt able to focus on the competition today, It a combination of a lot of things -- I didnt recognise myself on the court today, thats the disappoinbting part." Officials began cancelling last matches in late afternoon, with qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., having to wait until Tuesday to play Romanian Sorana Cirstea. TSNs coverage of the French Open continues on Tuesday at 5am et/2am pt on TSN2 and at 10am et/7am pt on TSN. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix Grey Jersey . Devane made headlines in the pre-season when he broke Buffalo Sabres forward Corey Tropps jaw in a fight. A full line brawl occurred after the next faceoff, when Sabres enforcer John Scott went after Leafs forward Phil Kessel. Richard Rodgers Youth Jersey . - Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma will not throw for four to six weeks because of an injury to the middle finger of his right hand.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- DeMarcus Cousins did something Sunday hes not usually known for: lots of smiling. The often-scowling Cousins had 32 points and 12 rebounds, and Isaiah Thomas had 30 points and eight assists in the Kings 124-107 victory that sent the Milwaukee Bucks to their seventh straight loss. Cousins has shown increasing maturity over the last 13 games since he was called for technical fouls Nos. 14 and 15 of the season and ejected in a Feb. 25 loss at home to Houston. That left Cousins one technical from a mandatory one-game suspension. But the emotional Cousins has put a halt to complaining to referees and hasnt drawn another technical. Against the Bucks, he was clearly enjoying a big margin of victory, a rarity this season for the Kings. "Its always fun to win," said Cousins, who dodged a question about any new-found approach to the game. "My focus is going out and winning." Different approach or not, Cousins clearly had his way with the Bucks. Scoring in a variety of ways, he had 14 points in the first quarter and 21 by halftime. The Bucks were never able to contain the talented Kings centre. Cousins made 14 of 19 shots, four of six free throws and added four assists and two steals. "Now I see where he is bringing it more (upcourt) on the dribble after the rebound," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. "I was mad at my guys for not getting in his way, but you can see he looks comfortable doing it. Its just the matter of him being under control and it looks like he is and making the right plays out of it." The Kings demonstrated early they would not be overlooking the struggling Bucks. Sacramento led by 23 points after one quarter, took a 70-44 lead into halftime, and were ahead by 34 points after three quarters. "We cant go out there and lay down. Im not saying we did that tonight," Drew said. "This is one of the few games we came out and laid an egg at the very beginning. Weve actually been playing some pretty good basketball." Rudy Gay had 24 points and eight rebounds and Ben McLemore scored 15 points for the Kings, who had dropped four of their past five home games against the Bucks. http://www.packersstore.us.com/94-nike-elite-khyri-thornton-womens-jersey-nfl-green-bay-packers-home-green.html. O.J. Mayo scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter for Milwaukee. Mayo consistently connected from the outside and the Bucks shot 75 per cent in the fourth quarter in outscoring the Kings 37-20. "I told our guys that any win in the NBA is something to be happy about, but I just didnt like how we played in the second half," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "We gave up 63 points, they shot 64 per cent from the field in the second half. We had no discipline." Ersan Ilyasova had 14 points and Jeff Adrien and Ramon Sessions each added 13 for Milwaukee. Brandon Knight came in averaging 20.1 points in March, but the Milwaukee guard missed his first seven shots and finished 2-of-12 and had six points and seven assists. Milwaukee (13-57) has dropped 10 of 11 games overall. The Bucks have won only eight home games and have lost eight straight and 18 of 19 on the road, dating to Jan. 2. Their lone road win in that stretch was Feb. 24 against Philadelphia, another struggling team. Milwaukee will need to reverse the losing trend quickly if it hopes to avoid a franchise-worst season. The 1993-94 Bucks had a 20-62 record. Thomas scored 14 points and Cousins had 11 in the third quarter. Sacramento went over the 100-point mark on Thomas 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark and was in front 104-70 after three quarters. The Kings came out a little sluggish in the third quarter, but seemed to get inspired after Cousins grabbed a rebound and dribbled the length of the court and finished with a resounding dunk. The basket ignited a 16-3 run that put the Kings ahead 90-57. NOTES: Bucks rookie guard Nate Wolters fractured his left hand Thursday against Golden State and will miss the final 13 games. ... Royce White played his second straight game for the Kings, getting in for the final 48 seconds. ... The Bucks shot 27 per cent in the opening quarter and 35 per cent in the first half. ... Mayo had not played in the previous six games. ' ' ' |
