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Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka and former titlist Maria Sharapova were first-round victors in Tuesdays action at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year. On a sweltering Day 2 at Melbourne Park, the former world No. 1 Azarenka, seeded second, defeated Swede Johanna Larsson 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, while the third-seeded former top-ranked star Sharapova handled American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-4. Azarenka, who lost to the great Serena Williams in a final in Sydney two weeks ago, was tested at Rod Laver Arena. "Yeah it was a tough set first. The match was going to be tricky ... the weather was not helping," Azarenka said. "I had to play a little bit and find my rhythm." Azarenka hasnt lost at this event since 2011, as she defeated two-time runner-up Li Na in last years final and Maria Sharapova in the 2012 championship match. Her second-round opponent on Thursday will be Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, while up next for the career Grand Slam winner Sharapova will be Italian Karin Knapp. Sharapova reached the semifinals the last two years in Melbourne, titled here in 2008, and is a two-time Aussie runner-up. Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska had her hands full with Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, but eventually posted a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory, and eighth-seeded former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia whipped Japans Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-2. The former Wimbledon runner-up Radwanskas second-round opponent will be Belarusian Olga Govortsova. Tenth-seeded former top-ranked star Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark drilled Spains Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-2, while 11th-seeded rising Romanian Simona Halep also had little trouble in a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Polands Katarzyna Piter, and 13th-seeded American Sloane Stephens erased Kazakhstans Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. Stephens shocked Williams in a quarterfinal bout here a year ago. Playing her first Grand Slam match since her New Years Eve engagement to golfer Rory McIlroy, Wozniacki did everything she could to keep cool on Tuesday. "Every time in the changeovers, ice bags, ice towels, everything; and then in the second set I could feel they were starting to heat up even more," Wozniacki said. "I put the bottle down on the court and it started melting a little bit underneath, the plastic, so you knew it was warm." Sixteenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain moved on with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Vania King, while Ukrainian Elina Svitolina swept past 19th-seeded two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-3, and 20th-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova subdued former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4. In other action involving seeds, New Zealands Marina Erakovic doused No. 21 Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Spains Garbine Muguruza, fresh off her first career WTA title in Hobart last week, took out No. 24 Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 2-6, 6-2; No. 25 Frenchwoman Alize Cornet was leading Slovenian Polona Hercog 1-0 in the opening set when Hercog retired; No. 29 Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bested Brazilian Teliana Pereira 7-6 (9-7), 6-4; No. 32 Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova got past former top-10 German Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-3; and No. 33 Serb Bojana Jovanovski overcame Slovak Jana Cepelova 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 6-3. Several other women reached the second round, including Americans Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko, Italian Camila Giorgi, and Japans Ayumi Morita and Kurumi Nara. The second round will commence Wednesday, as the current world No. 1 Williams will take on Serb Vesna Dolonc. Williams is a 17-time major singles champ, including an Open Era-record five Aussie Open crowns, with her last one coming in 2010. In other action involving top-10 seeds, a No. 4 Li will encounter Swiss Belinda Bencic and No. 9 German Angelique Kerber will battle Russian Alla Kudryavtseva. Also on Day 3, 14th-seeded former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic will face German Annika Beck and 15th-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki of Germany will tangle with Romanian Monica Niculescu. Nike Air Max Thea Schweiz . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Herren Nike Air Max 1 schwarz blau Schuhe . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. http://www.schuheonline-ch.com/nike-herren-air-max...leste.h tml . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Nike Free Run 3 Running Schuhe Damen grau/rosa . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Air Jordan 6 Retro schwarz/Infrarot 23-schwarz 201...dchen) . JOHNS, N. CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks lost No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford to a lower-body injury three weeks ago, forcing the Stanley Cup champions to hand the net over to an untested rookie from Finland. The Blackhawks had no idea what they had in Antti Raanta. They hoped for the best, and they got it. Raanta made 26 saves in his first NHL shutout, Brandon Saad scored in the first period, and Chicago beat Los Angeles 1-0 on Monday night, sending the Kings to their first three-game losing streak in nearly a year. "There was only one goal for us, so I knew if we wanted to win the game, I had to stop all the pucks," Raanta said. "I thought about it maybe the last two or three minutes." With Crawford nearing a return, Raanta improved to 10-1-3 while bouncing back from one of his worst performances. He allowed two late goals in Chicagos 6-5 shootout loss at St. Louis on Saturday. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was non-committal when asked about the teams goalies after Crawford returns. But it is hard to imagine Raanta returning to the minors after the impressive start to this NHL career. "Its a nice situation," Quenneville said. "He really, really helped solidify something that looked a little bit concerning at that time." Saad scored his sixth goal in his last 11 games. Chicago, which leads the NHL with 158 goals, played its lowest-scoring game since a 2-1 shootout win at Dallas on Nov. 29. Los Angeles Martin Jones made 29 saves in his second straight loss after beginning his career with eight consecutive wins, tying the NHL record. The Kings, who have yielded a league-low 80 goals, played a tough, physical game after losses to Dallas and Nashville. But they are on their first three-game slide since dropping the opening three games of last season in January. "We had our chances. They had some chances," Kings centre Mike Richards said. "We just didnt capitalize on our looks at the net." Chicago forward Patrick Kane had a career-best point streak snapped at 14 games. He had eight goals and 17 assists in the surge. Last seasons Western Conference finalists faced off for the second time this season.dddddddddddd The Blackhawks scored three first-period goals, and Raanta made 21 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Kings on Dec. 15. Raanta lost his shutout chance in that one when Kings defenceman Alec Martinez scored with 3:54 remaining. This time, he finished the job. Raanta faced his biggest test in the second period when Dustin Brown made a strong charge to the net. The 24-year-old Finn turned away the rush by the Kings captain, and then stopped him again when he was awarded a penalty shot. "Its nice to have a great 60 minutes," Raanta said. "Last game in St. Louis, it wasnt so great the last three minutes, so its nice to bounce back like this." Anze Kopitar also had a chance in front of Chicagos net with 2 minutes to go, but Raanta was there when the centre tried to stuff the puck into the net. The Kings had a couple of chances to stop the Blackhawks scoring chance that produced the only goal. Bryan Bickells pass to Saad went off the stick of Los Angeles defenceman Matt Greene, and Richards had an opportunity to knock away the puck before Saad flipped it in at 7:05 for his 14th goal. "It was just a broken play, and their guy was able to pick up the loose puck," Jones said. "I mean thats the difference in the hockey game right there, a broken play like that. The little things make a big difference." The Blackhawks appeared to have a second goal in the third, but Andrew Shaws tip-in was waved off because his stick was above his shoulders. NOTES: Browns penalty shot was Los Angeles first this season and the sixth against the Blackhawks. ... Crawford participated in the morning skate, but didnt play. He has missed 10 games. ... Kane is the only NHL player with multiple point streaks of at least 10 games. ... The Kings scratched Martinez and forwards Daniel Carcillo and Matt Frattin. ... The Blackhawks also scratched defencemen Michael Kostka and Sheldon Brookbank. ... The teams will meet once more on Feb. 3 in Los Angeles. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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