Gryficki Klub Fotograficzny

ruogu1234 · Dołączył: 23 Paź 2019 Posty: 331

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Serena Williams capitalized on a critical double-fault by Yaroslava Shvedova to survive a 69-minute first set and win her opening match at the Sony Open 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Thursday. "It was an incredibly tough first set," Williams said. "I just needed to relax and yet keep up the intensity." The top-ranked Williams seeks a record seventh Key Biscayne title, and her second in a row. No. 4-seeded Maria Sharapova, a five-time runner-up in the tournament, joined Williams in the third round by beating Kurumi Nara 6-3, 6-4. Seeded players had first-round byes. In mens play, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt became the third active man to win 600 matches when he rallied past Robin Haase of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Fellow Australian Bernard Tomic lasted only 28 minutes in the shortest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991, losing to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. Tomic, who won just 13 points, is mounting a comeback from surgery on both hips and was playing for the first time since January. "I did the best as I could," he said. "Hopefully in a little bit of time I can get back to 100 per cent." Williams, who owns a small share of the NFLs Miami Dolphins, wore a dress in the teams orange and turquoise colours -- which may explain her slow start. Or maybe it was because she hadnt played since Feb. 21. Williams had to erase a 5-3 deficit in the first set, and then fell behind 6-3 in the tiebreaker. Shvedova pushed a forehand into the net, then the Kazakh hit a nervous double-fault that allowed Williams to exhale. She won the next two points with aces, then closed out the set with a backhand winner, a fist pump and a scream of "Yes!" Her game steadied in the second set, when she had 18 winners and only 10 unforced errors -- bad news perhaps for opponents to come in the tournament Williams considers her hometown event. She lives an hour north in Palm Beach Gardens. "I love playing here," she told the crowd. The 33-year-old Hewitt also staged a comeback. With the victory, he joined Roger Federer (942 wins) and Rafael Nadal (675) in reaching the 600 match milestone. "Not many people get the opportunity to get close to that, so it means I have been around for an awfully long time," Hewitt said. "Im getting old. A few years ago when I had the last couple of surgeries, I probably would have doubted Id get to this stage. Im grateful Im out there and able to compete with the best guys." In other womens play, No. 5-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany won her opening match, beating Peng Shuai of China 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5). Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, matched her best showing at Key Biscayne by reaching the third round. Ana Ivanovic beat American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-1, and No. 8 Petra Kvitova defeated Argentinas Paula Ormaechea 6-3, 6-4. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 champion, lost to Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 7-5. Fridays stadium court schedule features the winners of 34 Grand Slam titles in five matches. The parade of champions will include Federer, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams, Andy Murray and Li Na playing their opening matches. Fake Jerseys Free Shipping . He is nigh unstoppable against the leagues worst. The 31-year-old dangerman set up two goals and scored two himself as Toronto FC rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the slumping Houston Dynamo 4-2 on Saturday night. Fake Adidas Jerseys . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66. http://www.fakejersey.com/fake-puma-jerseys/ . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Tampa Bay currently holds the last of the Atlantics three automatic bids to the playoffs, but the Maple Leafs are just one point behind. Fake NHL Jerseys . Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. Fake College Jerseys . The Union looked to have grabbed a big win in the 88th minute when Amobi Okugo finally put the hosts in front. But a terrible giveaway by Union goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi handed Earnshaw the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time, keeping the Union two points back of fifth-place Red Bull New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.MINSK, Belarus -- Three-thousand kilometres from where he grew up in Toronto, Geoff Platt couldnt have felt more at home. Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Not long after, fans were chanting his name. "Its an emotion that Im not sure Ive achieved ever in my career, just because of the atmosphere and the electricity in the building," Platt said. "It just runs through your veins and grabs a hold of you." Along with goaltender Kevin Lalande, Platt is one of two Canadian-born players representing host Belarus at the world hockey championship and playing major roles in what might be the best international showing in the countrys history. Led by Canadian-born coach Glen Hanlon, Belarus is in the quarter-finals for just the third time and the first since 2009. This is the biggest event Belarus has ever hosted, so Minsk has been partying for two weeks. And this team is giving locals another reason to celebrate. "You have to understand the magnitude (of) what this means to them," Hanlon said. "Its bigger than just a game. This is their chance to show everybody." By show everybody, Hanlon means the city, which is decked out in IIHF signs welcoming the world and reminding them in the form of giant bison mascots that hockey is happening here. Inside the 15,000-seat Minsk Arena, home of the KHLs Dynamo Minsk, good hockey has been happening for Belarus. Lalande, a native of Ottawa who plays for Dynamo and gained citizenship, has been stellar and Platt has added timely offence. But the Canadian imports want the credit to go to leading scorers Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn. "Players are playing for this symbol, and it means a lot more to them to represent their country than probably a National Hockey League team or any club team around the world," Platt said, pointing to the Belarusian coat of arms on his chest. "Youre seeing that with Sergei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski just really taking their game to a level Im sure theyve almost never played at." Grabovski beamed with pride when talking about what this tournament means to him. Hes showing that to Hanlon, who first coached him as a 21-year-old at the world championships in Vienna in 2005. The Grabovski at this tournament is an other-worldly player. "I dont even look at Mikhail anymore because I know hes going to play great," Hanlon said. "I never get tired of saying, Good game, Mikhail." Hanlon is limited in what he can say to some of his players because of the language barrier. He understands Russian and Belarusian and is trying to learn to speak both languages, even though he doesnt have to. The former Washington Capitals coach and longtime NHL goaltender, whos in his second stint as coach of the Belarusian national team, has someone with him at almost all times who speaks English. At his news conferences with local media, the Brandon, Man., native answers in English, occasionally splicing in Belarusian words and pausing to let the interpreter next to him do his work. "Ive taken lessons, Ive done all of it," Hanlon said. "I have a better handle on it. Ive gone home here after every friendly tournament, so I take all my books, put them in my backpack like the college student on spring break and I end up dealing with my 12-year-old son and my wife and I sort of break away from it for a couple weeks." Hanlons wife and son still live in Vancouver, and because shes a teacher and hes a skier and hockey player they dont accompany him to Europe. "Hed rather play his own hockey than watch me coach," Hanlon said. Everyone in Belarus is watching Hanlon coach with keen interest. In Minsk, televisions all over the city have tournament games on, whether Belarus is playing or not. Inside Minsk Arena, one section is full of fans jumping up and down and doing chants normally reserved for soccer matches. Others whistle and fill the building with the kind of noise Lalande and Platt have no comparison for and Hanlon can only relate to the old Chicago Stadium. "When you go into somewhere like Beell Centre or Madison Square Garden, its pretty loud but it dies off after a while," Hanlon said.dddddddddddd "Here its sustained for the whole 2 1/2 hours of the game. Im not kidding: You cant hear a word down there. Im screaming and Im yelling at my players whos up and everything. "From before the game starts till after its over, its like a festival." Its a festival thats special to the Belarusian players, whether theyre from Novopolotsk in the north like Dmitry Korobov, or Ontario like Lalande and Platt. How they got here wasnt a matter of having Belarusian ancestry. Anyone who plays for Dynamo Minsk for two seasons is eligible for citizenship. "I got to keep my Canadian citizenship, so there wasnt really any downside," said Lalande, who began the tournament as a backup but has played too well for Hanlon not to start him. "At first it just made the travelling a lot easier in Russia, I didnt need a visa and saved a couple pages in my Canadian passport. But when Glen was named the head coach, we had a couple conversations together. He made it clear from the start that he wanted me to be a part of this." "Whether Id play or not he didnt know, but hes been very supportive. I owe everything to him for this chance." Lalande and Platt each praised the local players for accepting them while also noting theres a comfort level in having each other and an English-speaking coach around for this run. But Hanlon, who previously coached the Slovak national team, learned from his season with Jokerit in Finland that having Canadians on his team isnt easy. "Being an import coach you want to go out of your way so that the Canadians are respected," he said. "The last thing you want to do is look like youre favouring them." "So you want them to work for everything that they get, and I try to keep my space from them. I dont want to give anybody any reason to think that these players are going to get special treatment from me." No special treatment, but this experience has been special for Platt and Lalande, even though theyre not playing for their home country. Platt, who played 46 NHL games for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks, won a gold medal for Canada at the under-18 world championships in 2003. Platt hasnt represented Canada since and has moved on. "Not putting on the Canadian jersey now is just a chapter that sits in the past in my career," the 28-year-old said. "I was very fortunate to wear the Canadian jersey and win a gold medal at the under-18 level, and now this is a realistic goal to be playing with Belarus and to be competing at this level. Its really fun when were successful." Belarus was plenty successful in the preliminary round, going 4-3 to finish third in its group, ahead of Finland, Switzerland and Latvia and set up a quarter-final game against Sweden on Thursday night. Even if Sweden ends Belaruss run, the host teams performance wont be forgotten any time soon. When a victory over Latvia clinched a spot in the quarter-finals, Platt called it a "very rare opportunity for Belarusian ice hockey" that his teammates capitalized on. Lalande couldnt come up with words to describe his emotions. "We did it for ourselves because we believed," Lalande said, crediting fans who made a real impact on the team. "I think all of the Minsk and the whole countrys behind us right now. ... Were playing for us and were playing for them and its a tremendous feeling to be able to win in this fashion for them." Thats Hanlons priority, too. More than six years after being fired by the Capitals on U.S. Thanksgiving Day, he has no plans to return to coaching in the NHL and has invested a lot of time and energy on European hockey. Hanlon still keeps track of whats going on in North America and watches games because hes interested, but now the 57-year-old also checks on scores from leagues around Europe. Hes still a Canadian citizen, but the prospect of playing his native country doesnt mean anything to him anymore. "Whats special for me is winning for Belarus," Hanlon said. "Thats whats special." ' ' '