TORONTO -- Rogers Cup fans got a glimpse of whats been touted as the next big thing in American tennis for some time. Cheap Adidas Originals Trainers Sale . Sloane Stephens debuted at the womens tournament Monday with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Frances Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round. The world No. 17-ranked Stephens has been labelled the natural successor to Serena and Venus Williams in the American womens game. This year shes proving why, with a semifinal showing at the Australian Open and quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon. Stephens insists she doesnt let the hype affect her game. "Obviously most of the attention I get is pretty positive," said Stephens. "Its because people want to see me do well and Im American and thats awesome, but I mean theres a little downfall of that too. There is a lot of pressure ... and things like that. "You just have to deal with it and play hard and imagine what (Andy) Murray deals with in England and what Serena has dealt with for so many years. Its definitely tough but people have done it before." The 20-year-old Stephens battled back from down 5-3 in the second set to win the match in 90 minutes, 40 seconds. She looked strong from the first game as she broke Mladenovic twice to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The No. 39-ranked Frenchwoman tried to play aggressive by attacking the net, but Stephens blew a forehand by her to make it 4-0. "She comes in a lot and volleys really well," said Stephens. "I knew probably she was going to press a little and make me play more balls. But I tried to stay with it and hit a lot of angles and move her and it seemed to work." Mladenovic had a chance to break and make it 4-2 but returned the ball long, then wide before Stephens reversed momentum to win the game and pull ahead 5-1. Mladenovic appeared en route to forcing a third set with a 5-3 lead in the second, but Stephens won three straight games before closing out the match in a tiebreak. "She upped her game a lot in the second set," said Stephens. "Some nights its going to be up and down, but I thought I stayed pretty solid and got through it." Stephens will next face Germanys Mona Barthel, who advanced with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(1) win over Chinas Jie Zheng. Carol Zhao, meanwhile, became the first Canadian ousted from the tournaments main draw. The 18-year-old qualifier from nearby Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-1, 6-3 to Russias Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Zhao, making her first appearance in the Rogers Cup main draw, looked overpowered by the Russian in the first set but fought back for a 3-0 lead in the second. "I think I just tried to simplify my game plan (in the second set), and I think it rattled her a little bit," said Zhao. "I think the next step for me is trying to maintain that level of play for a longer period of time." Pavlyuchenkova rallied back to make it 4-3 before winning the match on serve. Shell meet four-seed Li Na of China in the second round. Zhao says the experience of playing her first Rogers Cup will be a lasting memory. "I think there is nothing really like coming to play the Rogers Cup. This is a tournament I grew up watching," said Zhao. "Getting an opportunity to play in the main draw is a dream come true." Most of the pre-tournament buzz has been around her fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard who lost in doubles on Monday with partner Kirsten Flipkens of Germany. The duo fell to Oksana Kalashnikova and Alicja Rosolska 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. Bouchard, a Westmount, Que., native who is the main draw on a wild card, will play her first singles match on Tuesday night against Russias Alisa Kleybanova. Bouchard turned heads at Wimbledon this year when she advanced to the third round with victory over former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Flavia Pennetta and Yanina Wickmayer were among the early winners in Mondays opening round. Pennetta of Italy became the first player through to the second round after she eliminated Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Belgiums Wickmayer ousted American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Mattek-Sands was called upon shortly before the match after Britains Laura Robson pulled out with a right wrist injury. Known for her eye-catching fashion sense, Mattek-Sands sported black socks and wrist bands with a streak of green in her blonde hair. The world No. 32-ranked Robson -- set to make her Rogers Cup debut -- joins a list of injured players who withdrew from the tournament, including top-5 seeds Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. Robson was coming off a strong performance at Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round -- the first British woman to do it since 1998. In other early results Monday, Dominika Cibulkova knocked off fellow Slovakian Jana Cepelova 7-5, 6-4; Romanias Sorana Cirstea moved on with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ukrainian qualifier Olga Savchuk; 10-seed Roberta Vinci of Italy beat Germanys Julia Goerges 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands defeated American Alison Riske 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Varvara Lepchenko of the U.S. won 6-3, 6-1 over Ayumi Morita of Japan; and Klara Zakopalova was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 winner over fellow Czech Lucie Safarova. Adidas Zx 700 Sale Uk .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Adidas Ultra Boost 3.0 . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. http://www.aptemic.biz/adidas-running-trainers-sale-uk/adidas-ultra-boost-yeezy.html . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Joseph Schooling was working on a school essay one morning in 2008 when Michael Phelps showed up to train at his club in Singapore ahead of the Beijing Olympics.While other kids rushed at Phelps wanting photos, Schooling was frozen. He couldnt believe his swimming idol was in front of him. Eventually, the 13-year-old mustered the courage to get a picture, too.I couldnt really smile, Schooling said. I just opened my mouth.Their long-ago chance meeting made the rounds of social media Friday night after Schooling upset Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly to win his island nations first Olympic gold, with the American losing the last individual race of his career. Phelps finished in a three-way tie for silver with longtime rivals Chad le Clos of South Africa and Lazslo Cseh of Hungary.A lot of this is because of Michael, Schooling said. Hes the reason why I want to be a better swimmer.The youthful looking Schooling might be unknown to the rest of the world, but in swimming circles he has solid credentials. He earned bronze in the 100 fly at last years world championships in Russia, and he owns a slew of medals from the Asian, Commonwealth and Southeast Asian Games.The 21-year-old Schooling competes for the University of Texas, where hell be a junior this fall. He swept the 100 and 200 butterfly at this years NCAA championships and swam on all three winning relays for the Longhorns. He has the schools mascot and the words `Come and take it tattooed on his left shoulder blade.Did he ever.Schooling created a stir in the preliminaries, beating Phelps by 0.19 seconds in their shared heat. They swam in different semifinal heats, with Schooling winning his and Phelps getting beat by Cseh in the other.Schooling was just getting warmed up.He won gold in an Olympic-record 50.39 seconds, leaving Phelps, Le Clos and Cseh in hiis wake. Adidas Ultra Boost Uncaged Uk. The winning margin of 0.75 seconds was the largest since American Mark Spitz won gold at the 1972 Munich Games and the time was faster than Phelps winning time four years ago in London.I dont think Im anywhere close to these three guys next to me, Schooling said. A real roller coaster ride and a real fun one, too.Phelps steered Schooling in the proper direction during the medalists parade around the deck, the veteran of dozens of such walks showing the newest champion the way.I was like, `Dude, this is crazy, Schooling told Phelps. He looked at me, he smiled and its just, `I know.At the medalists news conference, Phelps urged reporters to ask Schooling some questions.Im proud of Joe, Phelps said. Ive been able to watch him grow and turn into the swimmer that he is.By winning his countrys first Olympic gold, Schooling earned a bonus of $1 million Singapore dollars or nearly $750,000 US. Hell have to give back $150,000 US to the National Sports Association for future training and development.I hope this paves a new road for sports in Singapore, Schooling said. I hope it shows that people from the smallest countries in the world can do extraordinary things. Hopefully, it changes all of sporting culture in Singapore.Schoolings grand-uncle Lloyd Valberg was Singapores first Olympian at the 1948 London Games. Hearing about him as a child, Schooling told his father he wanted to compete in the Olympics.This race means more to my family and my friends and those people who supported me. I did this for them, Schooling said. When you race for people bigger than yourself, I think it means a lot to accomplish what you wanted to.---AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth contributed to this report. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' ' 

The Wall

No comments
You need to sign in to comment

Post

Added May 27 '17, 04:48PM

Rate

Your rate:
Total: (0 rates)