Lustiges und Witziges! » ow on more than one occa

TORONTO -- Milos Raonic wasnt at his best but was relieved to stay alive at the Rogers Cup. Despite a serve that was intimidating but not perfect and some erratic play, Raonic won two tiebreaks to beat American Jack Sock 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) on centre court Wednesday night at Rexall Centre. "All the difficulties getting through that match, facing break points two of my service games consecutively, doing a poor job in converting the chances I had," Raonic said. "All those things that maybe if it doesnt go your way you wouldve said, I wish I did this differently, and this and this in these situations, all that, lets say weight that might be on your shoulders, its the relief of that just sort of getting off." Amid chants of "Lets Go Milos," Raonic kept Canadian hope alive in the tournament. On Tuesday, all four men who played singles were eliminated, and Eugenie Bouchard bowed out in Montreal. Raonic cranked his serve up past 200 kilometres per hour, finishing with 15 aces that helped offset some struggles against Sock, who played some of his best tennis even in defeat. Raonic won 79 per cent of his first-serve points, below his stellar average, and failing to be perfect cost him the first set. The 23-year-old held serve in the second set before blowing Sock out in the tiebreak. Raonic needed another tiebreak -- this one tenser -- to finish off the match. "When you play him, usually when you get down a break, it usually means the sets over," Sock said. "Thats why he kind of is where he is though, he kind of comes up big in those moments." Raonic is something of a tiebreak specialist, and this match was no different. "I feel good in those situations," he said. "Especially if things are not going throughout the set the way I wouldve liked, Im not converting opportunities or giving away too many opportunities, I know that if I can get it to a tiebreak I can sort of tip the things in my favour." One thing that tipped the scales in Raonics favour was the crowd. Sock loved the "electric" and "fun" atmosphere but not everything he heard. "A couple of them were a little more rude than I thought," Sock said. "I thought he got treated pretty well last week in the States, and there were some pretty inappropriate comments tonight." Sock blamed himself for missed opportunities, adding that "the fans saying anything didnt change whether I missed those forehands by two inches or not." For his part, Raonic said he has "listened to much worse playing in other countries." Julien Benneteau of France awaits Raonic in the third round Thursday night. Benneteau upset 11th-seeded Ernests Gulbis Wednesday after beating former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the first round. Raonic said he didnt expect his first match at the Rogers Cup to be perfect. Moving forward, he hopes for improvement. "I expect to play a little bit better tomorrow, but I dont know what that is," Raonic said. By edging Sock, Raonic can keep his recent momentum going. He won last weeks Citi Open in Washington by beating Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil in the first-ever all-Canadian final a month after becoming the first Canadian to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. Raonic came into the week tied for his career high in the rankings at No. 6 and now has a chance to keep climbing the ladder. The man atop those rankings, Novak Djokovic, got pushed to the limit earlier in the day before beating Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) in an emotional match. Monfils pulled out all the stops by hitting a between-the-legs shot and throwing his racket to hit the ball, and each player tried to ignite the crowd to get louder. "Hes probably the only guy in the world, tennis player, that I would pay a ticket to watch the match," Djokovic said of Monfils. "He loves jumping around, sliding, hes very unpredictable. You dont know what his next move is, so thats why hes so interesting." Monfils didnt endear himself to fans by arguing with chair umpire Gerry Armstrong after receiving a time violation, even as they were captivated by his dazzling play on the court. As a result, Djokovic had support behind him as he came back from a three games to one deficit in the third set. After finishing off two-hour, 40-minute classic in a lopsided tiebreak, Djokovic fist-pumped and yelled with excitement. Except for when he chided Armstrong for giving him a warning "for nothing" when he switched his racket, Monfils looked to be enjoying himself for most of the match. The most memorable part of the match was when Monfils threw his racket and kept running without it -- for "fun." Monfils made Djokovic had to earn this victory. "Hes simply the best at the moment," Monfils said of Djokovic. "At some stage of the match, you knew that you could not ace him or have any free points with your serve. This is tough. And then his timing is great, hes always on time, run good, different attacks. I think hes just the No. 1 for a reason." By avoiding what wouldve been the biggest upset of the tournament thus far, Djokovic kept alive the possibility of facing eighth-seeded Andy Murray in the quarter-finals. Murray had little trouble winning his opening match in Toronto, as he beat 19-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-2, 6-2 in the first match of the day on centre court. Murray could have a major challenge in the near future in the form of Djokovic. "Its a tough draw, but its also good to play against someone like a Novak if you get that opportunity in the buildup to the U.S. Open," said Murray, who gets 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet in the next round. "You really see where your game is at." In other action, Gasquet beat hard-serving Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, fifth-seeded David Ferrer beat American qualifier Michael Russell 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, seventh-seeded Grigr Dimitrov beat Donald Young 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 15th-seeded Marin Cilic beat Malek Jaziri 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (4), 17th-seeded Tommy Robredo beat Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-4, Kevin Anderson beat 16th-seeded Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-2, Ivan Dodig beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) and Feliciano Lopez beat Tim Smyczek 7-5, 6-4. In doubles, Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic beat Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4. Discount Custom Basketball Jerseys . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said. Cheap Custom T-shirts .Chanathip Songkrasin opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Kroekrit found the target twice in the 57th and four minutes from fulltime.Vietnam and Malaysia play their second leg on Thursday. Vietnam won the first leg 2-1. http://www.basketballcustomjerseys.com/. The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Wholesale Custom Basketball Jerseys Store . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012. Custom Basketball Jerseys China . Six years of waiting are finally over for the Dallas defenceman. Daley had a goal and an assist, Kari Lehtonen recorded his fifth shutout of the season, and the Stars clinched their first playoff berth since 2008 with a 3-0 victory against the St.While Max Pacioretty was celebrated for having scored the game-winning goal of the series, the Montreal Canadiens can actually attribute the work of their third and fourth lines as the key contributors for their first round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning. There is no argument that the line of Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Thomas Vanek was one of the hottest in the NHL leading into the post-season, and they did combine for three goals and seven points, but it was the depth of all four lines that helped propel Montreal. It started in Game 1, where the fourth line took control, led by playoff veteran Daniel Briere, and capped off with the overtime winner by Dale Weise. Along with Michael Bournival, the trio tallied two goals and five points in the series with a plus-4 rating. Solid numbers for a fourth line that features a centreman who now has 51 career playoff goals and 111 points in 112 games. Briere showed this series why his off-season signing to help bring playoff experience can be very beneficial to the Canadiens. The checking line of Brandon Prust, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher added their share of offence with the energetic Gallagher leading the Habs in playoff scoring with three goals and five points. His line had five goals and nine points. Despite the balanced attack, the big story of the series was the resurgence of Rene Bourque and Lars Eller, two players who found themselves in chateau bow-wow on more than one occasion this season, and their lack of production earnedd them some time in the press box as healthy scratches.dddddddddddd. Yet Bourque found the style of game that Michel Therrien has wanted from him all season long, and after finding success, built his confidence as the series wore on. Last season, Eller was the Canadiens best forward heading into the playoffs with Ottawa, before he was knocked out of the series. This time around, Eller had started to pick up his play over his final few games of the regular season, prior to missing a pair of games with the flu. He and Bourque have both used the post-season as a chance to hit the reset button on their seasons, and so far so good. That line which includes captain Brian Gionta, who added a critical shorthanded goal in the series, led the Habs with six goals, 11 points and a plus-11 rating, showing they were responsible on both sides of the puck. So often, playoff success is based on a balanced attack and the chance for a different hero each night. While this series saw big saves from Carey Price, some excellent plays and big minutes from PK Subban, a solid defensive job on Steven Stamkos done by the Habs blue line, especially Josh Gorges, the series win can really be attributed to depth. Now the Canadiens will have a week or so off before facing either Boston or Detroit in the second round. Again, Michel Therrien will have a balancing act to work on; the balance between rest and preparation for your next opponent, while ensuring the Canadiens stay game sharp and not lose the momentum built from the first round. 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