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25.02.2019 04:00
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Eugenie Bouchard - a star is born :) - Martina Navratilovas tweet on Tuesday morning (@Martina) Yes, the endorsement of one of the legends of womens tennis must mean that Eugenie Bouchard has truly arrived. The 19-year-olds trajectory from junior champion to WTA regular to seeded Grand Slam player to Australian Open semifinalist has been nothing short of amazing. And in making her run to the final four of the first major event of the 2014 season, the native of Westmount, Quebec is practically writing history with each victory. "You cant teach that, youre born with it," added ESPN analyst and tennis great Chris Evert. "The way she held herself together, the way she played in the clutch, nothing fazed her and thats a gift she has." When it comes to womens singles, Canadas two best performances have both come at the U.S. Open - and both more than two decades ago. Patricia Hy-Boulais advanced to the quarterfinals in 1992, while Carling Bassett made it to the semifinals there in 1984. In fact, Bassett still has the record of holding Canadas highest-ever singles ranking. She was No. 8 in the world early in 1985 after making four Grand Slam quarterfinals in the two years prior. With Bouchards victory over Ana Ivanovic on Monday, the Canadian is projected to rise from No. 31 into the worlds Top 20 in the first rankings after the Australian Open. Milos Raonic, who peaked at No. 10 last year, is already the highest-ranked mens player in Canadian history. Bouchards rapid rise, coupled with that of Raonic and Vasek Pospisil on the mens side, marks a new era of Canadian singles tennis that has never been seen before. Which isnt to ignore the career success of Torontos Daniel Nestor. Long ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles until recently, Nestor has won eight Grand Slam titles (including the career Slam) and an Olympic gold medal. But the glamour of singles has always kept Nestors achievements a step removed from the mainstream. Bouchards advancement to the last four in Melbourne is stunning mostly for how fast it happened. One year ago, she was playing qualifying matches in Melbourne and did not make the main draw. The summer before that, she was still a junior and captured both singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon. She made her Grand Slam debut at the 2013 French Open and has now made a semifinal is just her fourth major appearance - and her very first at the Australian Open. Bouchards rapid rise has brought new interest to a sport that has until recently, offered Canadians few opportunities to root on homegrown players at the highest levels of the game. A star is born, indeed. Asics Baratas Chinas . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Comprar Asics Baratas . But history aside, theyre still happy to participate in the Par 3 contest, traditionally held on the day prior to the first round of the Masters. http://www.baratasasics.es/. The Sioux Falls Canaries scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to come back from a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes 5-3 in front of 6,769 at Shaw Park on Sunday afternoon. Zapatillas Asics España . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up. Zapatillas Asics Baratas .7 million, one-year contract.The deal, announced Friday, includes a $50,000 performance bonus if the left-hander appears in 60 games. MIAMI -- A year ago at this time, the Miami Heat couldnt lose. These days, they cant win. And what at first looked like a mere rough stretch is now concerning to the Heat, who watched the Denver Nuggets come into their building and outscore them by 30 points over one stretch Friday night. Kenneth Faried scored 24 points, Darrell Arthur led a big effort by Denvers bench with 18, and the Nuggets beat the reeling Heat 111-107, sending the two-time defending NBA champions to their fifth loss in six games. "We always have one defining moment," Heat forward LeBron James said. "And this is it right here for us." The loss sent Miami three games behind Indiana in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Evan Fournier scored 14, Ty Lawson had 13 and JJ Hickson added 11 for the Nuggets, who got 57 points from their bench and turned a 14-point deficit into a 16-point lead at one point before hanging on late. "We were able to withstand their runs, especially coming down the stretch," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said after his team won for only the fifth time in its last 18 games. "We made the plays that we needed to make. Im proud of them. It was a complete team effort." Ray Allen scored 22 points for Miami. James scored 21 points, Dwyane Wade added 19, Mario Chalmers had 16 and Chris Andersen scored 14 for the Heat, who turned the ball over 20 times and shot 7 for 24 from 3-point range. "Obviously well be able to get out of it," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team was on what became a 27-game winning streak at this time last season. "When? We dont know." Down by 16 early in the fourth, and still down by 12 after a four-point play by Denvers Wilson Chandler with 3:47 left, the Heat made it more than a little interesting down the stretch. Chalmers and Allen each hit 3-pointers in what became a 9-0 run, and Chalmers set up Bosh for an easy score that drew Miami within 104-101. But Denver held on, despite not getting another field goal after that four-point play. James missed a 3-pointer that would have gotten Miami within one with about 25 seconds remaining, Denver controlled the rebound, and fans started departing en masse at that point. James thought he forced aa turnover with 16.dddddddddddd.7 seconds left, was called for a foul instead, and two free throws from Randy Foye sealed the outcome. "This is just something we have to deal with," Wade said. Faried called it the best win of Denvers season. "To come in here in Miami ... for all of us to come out and have fun and play hard and do what we need to do and take care of business, thats No. 1," Faried said. The Heat struggled from the 3-point line again, missing their first eight attempts. Chris Bosh was 2 for 10 through the first three quarters, James and Wade both had six field goals in the opening quarter and then combined for four the rest of the way, and some of Miamis turnovers could only be described as mindless. A third-quarter sequence went like this: Bosh tried throwing an ill-advised lob to James, then had the ball batted back to him on a deflection. Instead of grabbing it, Bosh tried to swat it toward Wade on the wing, the ball going out of bounds. Lawson made a short jumper on the ensuing Denver possession to stretch the Nuggets lead to 70-56, matching their biggest of the night to that point. Denvers lead was still 14 entering the fourth. "It was good for us to keep our rhythm going," Lawson said. Denver had only one starter finish the first half with more than four points. Nonetheless, the Nuggets were up 58-53 at the break, despite being down by as many as 12 in the opening quarter and facing a 38-24 deficit after James scored with 8:54 left in the half. From there, the half ended with Denver on a 34-15 run. The Nuggets bench played virtually the entire period and combined to score 36 points. Thats more than opposing reserves had scored against the Heat in the entirety of 38 games this season. NOTES: James filmed a public service announcement encouraging people to sign up for the new health care plan championed by President Barack Obama, who personally called to enlist the MVPs help. "Pretty cool," James said. ... Miami entered Friday 32-2 in games which it led by at least 14 points this season. ... James received the trophy commemorating his Eastern Conference player of the month award for February in a brief halftime ceremony. ... It was the 11th time Denvers bench topped the 50-point mark this season. ' ' ' |
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