TORONTO -- Rogers Cup fans got a glimpse of whats been touted as the next big thing in American tennis for some time. 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.
cheap jerseys china . First up, the Vancouver Canucks. The Vancouver Canucks, on paper, are by far Canadas top team and the best hope to contend for the Stanley Cup, but even coach Alain Vigneaults talented club has a long list of questions heading into training camp.
cheap nfl jerseys . -- Jerome Verrier scored once and set up two more as the Drummondville Voltigeurs downed the visiting Chicoutimi Sagueneens 5-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play.
http://www.cheapjerseyschina.cc/ . -- Minutes after wrapping her second straight LPGA Tour victory and third of the season, Yani Tseng was looking ahead to the first major championship of the season.
cheap jerseys from china . "But theyre not 20 points better than us," Jefferson said after Utahs 110-90 loss to the Blazers on Monday night.
cheap jerseys . In his first start since being called up, Atlantas winningest pitcher in 2011 allowed one run on three hits and shut down the hot-hitting Boston Red Sox, leading the Braves to a 4-1 win on Friday night.In todays NHL, special teams are so important, and as head coach Claude Noel said after the game, "our special teams continue to be a story." It was the difference in the hockey game against the Flyers. Over the past number of games, the Jets penalty killing has been a lot better, but a skilled Flyers power play built some momentum off a two-man advantage and they won the game because of it. For the third time on this five-game road trip and for the fifth time in the last seven games, the Jets scored first with Evander Kane potting his sixth, while extending his point streak to six. At one point in the first period, the Jets were outshooting the Flyers 12-1, but the second half of the first belonged to Philadelphia and the shots ended 17-12, so the last 16 shots of the period came from the Flyers, including a goal by Brayden Schenn to tie it. The Jets regrouped in the second period, with a goal from Olli Jokinen to take a 2-1 lead, killed off two penalties, got another goal from Alexander Burmistrov to take a 3-1 lead and all was good for the Jets. Those kills ran the PK to 100 per cent in their last 13 road shorthanded situations. Then disaster struck. Dustin Byfuglien was penalized for high sticking to put the Flyers back on the power play, and Jim Slater concealed the puck with his hand off the face-off, a new penalty in the NHL. As a result, the Jets were two men short for 1:58, the sixth time this season the Jets were down two men. Claude Giroux made it a one-goal game and thats the way the second period ended. The Jets were 4-0 when leading going into the third, the Flyers were 0-7 when trailing going into the third. The Jets struggling power play then played a part in the outcome as early in the third, the Jets did create some power play chances but failed to score to regain the two-goal lead.dddddddddddd A power play goal by Schenn tied the game, and under three minutes later, another power play goal by Wayne Simmonds gave the Flyers their first lead of the game. What led to the go-ahead goal was Kane mixing it up with two Flyers, yet when the dust settled, Kane had the extra minor. The Jets applied a lot of pressure and again had chances on a late power play but could not find the tying goal. Zach Rinaldo put the game away with an empty-net marker. The win snapped the Jets road winning streak at three and dropped them to 6-8-1 on the season and 4-4-1 on the road. Take away a couple of empty netters and the Jets have now had nine straight games decided by a goal. The road trip continues Sunday in New Jersey with puck drop at 5pm Eastern time. Ondrej Pavelec was again very good as the Flyers had 39 shots on goal. Zach Bogosian had seven shots on goal, Jokinen six. The goal by Jokinen was his first in 10 games, and as he came back to the bench, gave it the "monkey off the back" maneuver. "We played a hard game and if you take away special teams, which I know you can`t, the result is different," continued Noel. "We had made some strides on the penalty kill, so this was a disappointing game. The power play needs work, but we have no time to practice." Coach Noel was then asked about the explanation he received on a couple of questionable calls (a too many men call, and the other the call on Kane), "The explanation was not very good," added Noel. "Its difficult for players to know what the line is. What is and is not a penalty. I hope they look at the tape."
cheap nfl jerseys
wholesale jerseys ' ' '