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first restored Pittsburghs two-goal edge, it only s
in Board News 29.08.2019 04:49von miaowang123 • 241 Beiträge
MONTREAL -- Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is back from injury and looking forward to getting on the court at this years Rogers Cup in Montreal. Forced to deal with a hamstring injury that has bothered her for months, Kvitova is on the mend and excited to play in the weeklong Canadian Open, a tournament she won in 2012. Her first match, which will likely take place on Tuesday, will be her first competitive tennis match since beating Canadas Eugenie Bouchard in the Wimbledon final on July 5. Last week, Kvitova withdrew from the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., due to the injury. The tournament in Montreal will also be Kvitovas first of the year on a hard court. "It took some time to be at 100 per cent, to be ready for these matches," said Kvitova, who was on hand at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal on Friday for the official tournament draw. "Thats why I withdrew from Stanford, and its much better now and Im ready. Im really looking forward to my first match." Kvitova (ranked No. 3 in the Womens Tennis Association) earned a bye for the first round for being a top-8 seeded player. She wont know her second-round opponent until Monday night, and will face the winner of a first-round match between the Australian Casey Dellacqua (No. 31) and Belgiums Kirsten Flipkens (No. 47). "Its a tough draw," said Kvitova. "Its a big tournament, and everyone is playing. I really dont see an easy opponent." But the 24 year old could easily sneak her way into the quarter-final unchallenged. Kvitova will not have to face another top-10 player for at least the first three rounds. Whats more, Kvitova will avoid the half of the draw featuring top-seed Serena Williams, sixth-ranked Maria Sharapova, and seventh-ranked Bouchard. Montreals Bouchard, who also received a first-round bye, will face the winner of a first-round match between the Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic (No. 55) and a qualifier player yet to be named. Bouchards bracket is slightly less favourable than Kvitovas. The 20 year old could meet 11th-ranked Caroline Wozniacki as early as the third round of the $2.4 million tournament. A victory there would likely mean a quarter-final showdown between Bouchard and Williams. Two other Canadians were also handed difficult assignments ahead of the first round. Aleksandra Wozniak (No. 103), from Blainville, Que., will face 22nd-ranked Sloane Stephens in a match that is expected to take place on Monday. Teenager Francoise Abanda (No. 214), from Montreal, a wild card entry, will take on the 12th-ranked Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. The winner will face seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic. "Not easy for Abanda and Wozniak," said Eugene Lapierre, tournament director for the Rogers Cup. "We might have wanted to see (Abanda) play against lower-ranked opposition, but in a tournament of this calibre, all the players are very strong. For a young 17-year-old, it will be a great experience." The Rogers Cup, as part of the seven-week North American summer tennis season, officially gets underway on Monday with the first-round matches. The final goes Sunday, Aug. 10. Last year, Williams defeated the Romanian Sorana Cirstea in straight sets in the final. The year before, Kvitova took Canadas top tennis prize. "I love Canada -- Montreal and Toronto. I always have good memories in these two cities," said Kvitova. "I have beautiful memories from two years ago when I won here. I always play well here, so Im hoping it will be the same. "The people are great, the crowd is always supporting us. Theyre always cheering for us. Its nice to see people interested in tennis." Notes: Li Na (No. 2) and Simona Halep (No. 3) will not be attending the tournament. à Tennis Canadas Lapierre said the tournament would likely beat attendance records. à Kvitova defeated Bouchard in the second round of last years Rogers Cup. Doug Kotar Womens Jersey .J. 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Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle.PITTSBURGH -- Matt Calverts first career playoff goal gave the Columbus Blue Jackets a badly needed boost. His second ended 4,493 days of futility for a franchise that is quickly morphing from laughingstock to something considerably more potent. Calvert banged his own rebound past Marc-Andre Fleury 1:10 into the second overtime and the Columbus Blue Jackets earned their first Stanley Cup playoff win with a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Fleury stuffed the initial shot by Cam Atkinson but Calvert stood all alone at the left post. His first shot went into the goaltenders right pad. He roofed his second into the top of the net to even the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at one game each. Game 3 is Monday in Columbus. "You always dream about being the hero in overtime," Calvert said. "We battled for it and it didnt come easy. We were down a couple goals at different times. The penalty kill was great when it had to be and its just a great feeling right now." The Blue Jackets trailed 3-1 after the first period, but Calverts short-handed goal 7:31 into the second changed the game completely. "It gave hope to our guys," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "It was 3-1 at the time and we scored to make it 3-2. You could feel it on the bench. After that I felt we played a very strong game." Looked like it. Jack Johnson eventually tied it with 6:01 left in regulation. Ryan Johansen also scored the first playoff goal of his career for Columbus. Sergei Bobrovsky overcame a shaky start to finish with 39 saves. Brian Gibbons scored twice and Matt Niskanen added his second goal of the playoffs, but Pittsburgh was outplayed for much of the final three-plus periods. Fleury made 41 stops but was helpless on the game-winner. "We have to be better," said Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby, who had two assists but was held without a goal for the second straight game. "Thats really, I think, the bottom line. Right on through, whether its special teams or 5-on-5 we have to be better." The Penguins have dropped four straight home overtime playoff games and blew a chance to take a 2-0 series lead when they failed to bury the Blue Jackets early on. Pittsburgh, the best power play team in the NHL during the regular season, went just 1 for 8 with the man advantage, including 0 for 2 in overtime. Even worse, Columbus has two short-handed goals in as many games. Both teams traded quality chances in the first overtime. Bobrovsky made an excellent blocker save on Crosby racing ddown the right wing and got a piece of Lee Stempniaks rebound.dddddddddddd. Fleury stuffed R.J. Umberger from point-blank range earlier in the period. There was no back-and-forth in the second extra session. Brandon Dubinsky started the winning play by finding Atkinson in front and Pittsburghs defence offered little resistance until the puck was on Calverts stick for the winner. "We stuck with it and we just kept playing and kept going and we got a split in Pittsburgh and thats what we wanted," Calvert said. The Penguins knew they couldnt afford a repeat of the first 21 minutes of Game 1, when the Blue Jackets knocked them around while streaking to a two-goal lead before Pittsburgh rallied to escape. This time, the start wasnt the problem for the Penguins. It was everything else. Gibbons scored the first two playoff goals of his career 54 seconds apart -- including a nifty short-handed breakaway in which he undressed Bobrovsky -- to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead before the game was 5 minutes old. The giddiness didnt last long, for the Penguins or Gibbons. Johansen scored before the power play expired and Gibbons, elevated to Pittsburghs top line midway through Game 1, did not return after colliding with Johansen midway through the first period. While a Niskanen shot from the point with 2:08 left in the first restored Pittsburghs two-goal edge, it only seemed to galvanize the Blue Jackets. The Penguins earned back-to-back power plays early in the second period and somehow lost momentum. Some lethargic Pittsburgh passing set up a 3-on-1 short-handed breakaway for the Blue Jackets, with Calvert beating Fleury to bring Columbus within one. The disjointed effort by the Penguins deflated the bench and the building. The wave carried over into the third, with Columbus eventually drawing even on Johnsons power-play goal with 6 minutes to go before Calverts winner gave Columbus a taste of playoff success after 13-plus years of waiting. "Its a big step for us as a group and an organization," Calvert said. "It felt great, and Im sure were going to enjoy it tonight, but its a long series." NOTES: The Blue Jackets scratched forward Nick Foligno once again with a lower body injury but Foligno is optimistic hell be able to return for Game 3. ... Crosbys two assists moved him into third on the teams career post-season scoring list. He now has 108 post-season points, trailing Jaromir Jagr (147) and Mario Lemieux (172). ... Columbus D Fedor Tyutin missed the third period and overtime due to an undisclosed injury. ' ' '

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