Unsere Mitglieder » aid it didnt matter if all five attackin

ROME - Canadas Milos Raonic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals. Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., won five of the last six points in the first-set tiebreaker. He picked up a break in the second set en route to his first career victory over the 11th-seeded Frenchman. Tsonga outlasted Raonic in a marathon match at the London Olympics in 2012 and beat him again last year at Indian Wells. Raonic hit seven aces and saved five break point chances on the red clay courts at the Foro Italico. Hell make his fourth Masters 1000 Series quarterfinal appearance of the season Friday against Jeremy Chardy of France. Chardy, who upset Roger Federer of Switzerland in the second round, advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Croatias Ivan Dodig. Raonic has yet to reach a semifinal this year. Also Thursday, Rafael Nadal was pushed to three sets for the second consecutive match before ultimately prevailing to set up a quarterfinal against Andy Murray. The top-ranked Nadal dropped behind a set and a break against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, then won 11 of the final 12 games to win 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 on another windy day at the Foro Italico. "Get used to (it)," Nadal said of his recent struggles. "With the years thats the normal thing. Everybody suffers. Thats part of the sport." At 27, Nadal believed his best days were probably behind him. "At this age, (Bjorn) Borg was doing other things," said Nadal, a 13-time Grand Slam winner. "Its not possible to win for 10 years with easy scores and easy matches. At the same time, Im sure I can do much better than I am doing." Nadal was looking forward to facing Murray for the first time in more than two years. "I play against one of the top players in the world after two tough days," Nadal said. "If I play well Im going to have my chances, if not Im going to spend the weekend (at home) in Mallorca." Murray eliminated Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-6 (1), 6-4 to celebrate his 27th birthday. In an upset, the seemingly ageless Tommy Haas beat third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. On the womens side, Maria Sharapovas 12-match winning streak — which included titles in Stuttgart and Madrid — ended with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Ana Ivanovic. Showing no signs of trouble from the left thigh injury that forced her to withdraw from Madrid, defending champion Serena Williams cruised past fellow American Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 6-2. Pushed for three hours by Gilles Simon to nearly midnight a day earlier, Nadal didnt generate the usual depth with his groundstrokes, and began to take control only when Youzhny started committing more unforced errors. "The conditions were very impossible," said Nadal, a seven-time Rome champion. "You always have to find the positive thing. I was able to play with the right motivation even if the feeling was not perfect." Nadal consistently ran around his backhand, a shot that also caused him concern in recent losses to David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, respectively. Of Nadals 29 winners, only two of them came with his backhand. Haas, the oldest player in the draw at 36, used his expertise to give Wawrinka trouble with heavy topspin. Haas last beat a top-10 player more than a year ago in Miami, where he took out then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic. "These things dont happen too often anymore, so when I take them Im really proud of them," the German said. He has been winning this week in Rome for the first time since he lost the 2002 final to Andre Agassi. Wawrinka cited a back injury that occurred in colder conditions during his opening win. "I couldnt move too well," he said. "Its really nothing serious. Its just painful and I need some rest — maybe a few days." Wawrinka has made a great start by winning the Australian Open and the Monte Carlo Masters but another early exit in last weeks Madrid Open leaves his form in question with the French Open starting in 10 days. Haas quarterfinal opponent will be Grigor Dimitrov, who at 22 is the youngest player in the top 20. Dimitrov rallied past sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2. Fifth-seeded David Ferrer beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-3 and will meet either Novak Djokovic or Philipp Kohlschreiber, who were playing late. In womens play, second-seeded Li Na defeated Sam Stosur 6-3, 6-1 and will next meet Sara Errani of Italy, who kept the crowd content by beating Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 7-6 (3). Also, third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska eliminated Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-1, and will play 2007 and 2008 Rome champion Jelena Jankovic, who got by Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3. Michael Roberts Jersey . JOHNS, N. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Matt-Prater-Draft-Jersey/ . It was a move of some time in the making. “He hasnt thrown well, clearly some guys are being used more than him right now and the only way to get out of this funk is to pitch,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Z...r-Draft-Jersey/. 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Jarrad-Davis-Draft-Jersey/ . After losing Brett Cecil to groin tightness on Friday, the Blue Jays watched as R. Glover Quin Jersey .com) - The Toronto Raptors set their sights on a second straight victory with the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Air Canada Centre tonight riding a two game streak of their own.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, Undoubtedly you will receive a lot of emails regarding this game. I have a question regarding the position of the linesman on the missed offside call that led to the Avs tying the game late in the third period against the Wild on Friday. Why is the linesman positioned outside the blue line? Shouldnt he be inside the line so that his body or skates arent inadvertently the cause of an offside for the attacking team? If he were in position inside the line, he surely wouldnt have to lean away from the line as he does in the photograph all over the media. I would like to know your thoughts. Thanks. DJ Waldron DJ, I want to establish first and foremost that Pierre Racicot is universally accepted as one of the top linesman in the NHL. Racicots high level of skill and competency has been recognized with seven consecutive selections to work the Stanley Cup Final. I worked many games with Pierre and can tell you firsthand that he has earned much deserved respect from players and coaches throughout the League. No matter how good a player or official is, mistakes are sometimes made. The great officials minimize their mistakes and Racicot clearly falls into that category. This is one of the very few times that this linesman got the call wrong. Let me explain why that happened. As you point out DJ, linesman Racicots initial decision to set up outside the blue line created an obstructed view of the inside edge of the line once Nathan MacKinnon carried the puck a mere couple of feet in front of the linesman. From this less than perfect position, and with Paul Stastny in full stride and about to cross the line to the right of MacKinnon, Racicot made the quick, but unfortunate, decision to alter his upper body posture away from the line. This move, made in a millisecond of time, was initiated by the linesman in an effort to gain an angle that might allow him to see both the puck and Stastny crossing the inside edge of the blue line. What this new angle created for the linesman, however, was a sightline toward the middle of the ice that became obstructed by the body of MacKinnon. Offside resulted in the blink of an eye as Stastnys lead skate (and with his back skate in the air not in contact with the line or outside the attacking zone) crossed inches ahead of the puck and resultedd in a rare missed call by Racicot.dddddddddddd I had the opportunity to work with some incredibly talented linesmen during the course of my career; Pierre Racicot included. As I was writing this column I spoke with HHOF member and former colleague Ray Scapinello to provide us with some technical insight on a play of this nature. Scamp said that he learned from fellow Hall-of-Fame members John DAmico and Matt Pavelich that, as a rule of thumb, it was imperative for the linesman to be set inside the blue line prior to players and the puck crossing the line. Im sure it might have happened through unavoidable circumstance but I cant ever remember Scapinello making a decision on an off-side from the neutral zone. On the contrary, I have vivid memories of Scamp positioned inside the zone, down on one knee and looking along the inside edge of the blue line to render his accurate decision on a close call. Once the play was deemed on-side, the little fellow jumped up and quickly moved his skates outside the blue line to avoid being hit with the puck and preventing it from exiting the zone. Ray stressed the importance of the linesmen seeing the attack develop, moving quickly to set up inside the blue line and waiting to make the call as the puck and players cross the line. Scamp said this, especially with the red line no longer in play for the off-side pass rule and the linesmen must be dialed in for potential stretch passes. When set up inside the blue line, Ray said it didnt matter if all five attacking players crossed the line at the same time because his view would not be obstructed. The rare missed offside call by Racicot was an anomaly for this highly skilled professional linesman. He will learn from this experience and gain an unobstructed sightline from a position inside the blue line whenever possible. If, in the future, there is a need to alter his upper body posture/sightline along the line, my guess is Pierre will lean toward the inside edge instead of away from it. This play not only demonstrates the speed of the game but also that human error can and will occur, no matter good the player or official is. This play aside, the NHL Officiating Department could certainly use Hockey Hall of Fame legendary linesman Ray Scapinello to lead and coach the current crop of NHL linesmen, no matter how proficient they might be. Scamp learned from the very best in his day; the present group of linesman should be afforded the same privilege. Wholesale Orioles Jerseys Red Sox Jerseys China Cheap Stitched Yankees Jerseys Cheap Stitched Rays Jerseys Wholesale Blue Jays Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Wholesale Tigers Jerseys Royals Jerseys China Cheap Stitched Twins Jerseys Cheap Stitched Astros Jerseys Wholesale Angels Jerseys Athletics Jerseys China Wholesale Mariners Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Rangers Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Braves Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys Wholesale Mets Jerseys Cheap Stitched Phillies Jerseys Wholesale Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Online Wholesale Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Online Cheap Pirates Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Authentic Cheap Rockies Jerseys Authentic Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Authentic Cheap Padres Jerseys Online Wholesale Giants Jerseys ' ' '