Rogers defeats Bouchard in opening round of Brisbane Open

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Shelby Rogers earned a big victory to begin the new year. Her powerful strength and finish to the first round of the Brisbane International gave her the 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win over Eugenie Bouchard at Pat Rafter Arena Sunday afternoon. It was her third win in a row over the Canadian and a good start to advance to the round of 16

This was the first time in three years that the American and Canadian faced each other. Rogers carried a two-match winning streak against Bouchard but like new year’s, they bring something positive for both players. Bouchard wanted one after ending 2016 with a three-match losing streak that took her out of the tournament in Quebec. In her northern Australia debut, the 22-year-old had every opportunity to make her first match of 2017 a good one.

She got into a tick battle for control to start the opening game of the match. Rogers who was on the serve defended her end forcing deuce with the Canadian. After five long breaks, the American managed to hold on, creating key momentum that carried on. It was then that she took a 4-0 rout of Bouchard beating her opponent on the breaks. A final chance arrived for Bouchard who broke Rogers in the fifth to get into the set but still had plenty of work ahead of her.

During the break, the 22-year-old took a talk from new coach Thomas Högstedt on how to go about counteracting the movements on Rogers. She served up in the sixth game ending it with a strong hold of serve cutting the American’s lead in half. Rogers made good on her serve in the seventh handling the returns on the rallies to frustrate Bouchard. The Canadian served to stay in the set but shot the ball too hard at times. She was down 0-30 before Rogers did the same to get her on the board. It wasn’t enough to help her out as the American pounced on set point locking down the lead in 38 minutes.

The second began on an even keel as both ladies held their service of the ball with Bouchard receiving high praise from the fans after winning game point in the second. She took control of the set taking a 3-1 hold with the ball back Rogers’ hands. She gained an important hold in the fifth fighting off Bouchard from breaking to force deuce. After three breaks, Rogers smashed a shot that gave her a second win in the set gaining back the momentum.

Bouchard put a stop to it in the sixth with a quick service hold as her mission to level the match was top priority. She had her eye on in the seventh breaking with expertise that now had Rogers fighting to stay alive in the set. Bouchard had to earn her set point playing on deuce but after couple breaks, she got the job done completing the second set in 37 minutes sending the match to its distance. Improvements to the Canadians first serve were clear as was her second service scoring more shots in the court. Rogers received the same new from her coach who came to keep her at a good level urging her to play strong going into the final set.

The heat rule came into effect allowing the players time off court in order to rehydrate themselves before continuing. When they returned, Bouchard took point opening the score to begin the set but couldn’t hang on to lead. After three games, it was Rogers who had a 2-1 hold hoping to break the Canadian on serve in the fourth. They went to deuce where Rogers took advantage of a mistake on play to open the gap further.

The margin became too much for Bouchard who suddenly found herself down 5-1 with Rogers on the ball to serve the match. She nearly had a lock on the key point but watched her shot go long to play deuce. After quickly gaining the advantage she fired a winner on court that completed the victory over the fifth seed ending the match in 1 hour and 54 minutes.

While her rush to victory ended in success, the downfall for Bouchard was the numerous unforced errors and long balls that cost her the match. While she’ll attempt to prepare for the next tournament, Rogers will take certain steps when she’ll face the winner between Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig from Puerto Rico and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Red Wings edge Toronto in Centennial alumni game

A late third period goal from Detroit’s Kris Draper allowed the Red Wings to win a fourth straight match at the Centennial Classic alumni game. Their 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs alums at BMO Field Saturday gave them three straight wins against their old division rivals.

For the second time in two years, the Red Wings and Maple Leafs legends got back to it with many names joining the squads for the rematch. Detroit took both games back in 2014 hoping to keep the streak alive playing a single game in Toronto. Despite the Red Wings not having Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov there was still plenty of power on their end. Toronto’s first chance of having an outdoor game on their home turf gave them pride to add many names to their roster which included Doug Gilmour, Lanny McDonald, Curtis Joseph and Tie Domi.

McDonalds went for the first big play of the day going in alone on Detroit netminder Chris Osgood but his shot was blocked on the leg pad. Tomas Holmstrom went for a breakaway on Toronto starting goalie Mike Palmateer sending him down who later had trouble getting up. Felix Potvin came into replace him keeping the game scoreless through ten minutes.

Goaltending remained strong on both sides of the ice with Kevin Hodson getting time in net for Detroit. Borje Salming got Toronto a third penalty shot in the period but his opportunity was knocked down in what was the final play of the period.

 Manny Legace began the second period handling the scoring chances from the Maple Leafs. The Red Wings fought for possession and did it with tremendous fight. They recovered the puck on a shot where the puck was delivered to Nicklas Lidstrom firing a centering shot that beat Joseph. Detroit made it 2-0 with Igor Larionov going in all alone on Joseph to beat him on the glove side.

Detroit was on a runaway carrying the momentum heavily. A pass from Martin Lapointe to Brendan Shanahan allowed the veteran forward to launch a high shot for his first of the game. Toronto knew that something had to be done to prevent the skunk. It was taken care of by Maple Leafs captain Wendell Clark who got well ahead of the Detroit defense taking two shots before the last one got into the net.

Toronto got within a goal to start the third period with Tucker slapping away at the puck in front of Legace. Lidstrom and the Red Wings tried to stop the play but Darcy Tucker’s lift gave him the contributing factor that put the Maple Leafs down by one. Domi tied things up with 12 minutes left where three times were taken on the shift. He took the rebound shot finding enough space behind Legace to level the score at three all with ten minutes to go.

A fight nearly broke out between Draper and Gary Roberts as the two collided near the boards. Draper tried his best to begin a throw down on the ice but referees and other players prevented an incident from occurring despite pleas from the fans. With no time stoppages, the clocked freely moved towards the end with both teams looking to change the score. With two minutes to go, the Red Wings made it happen with Dino Ciccarelli taking a slap shot that went off the pads of Joseph to rebound over to Draper. It was there that his one timer went into the net that gave them the 4-3 winners.

Red Wings start road trip by defeating Senators in OT

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Anthony Mantha’s OT goal puts a damper on the night for the Ottawa Senators. His game winning goal allowed the Red Wings edged out their Atlantic Division rivals 3-2 at Canadian Tire Centre Thursday night. Detroit began the road trip with a solid win to capture the second point and begin a positive pace on Daniel Alfredsson jersey retirement night.

Detroit hoped to play spoiler during the retirement jersey night of one of their former players. Their loss Monday to the Buffalo Sabres left them in a state of concern starting a long road trip from Joe Louis Arena. Taking on the Ottawa Senators became huge for Coreau who used to idolize the team as a child. The Perth, Ontario native wanted another win to go with the one he got against the Florida Panthers winning in a shootout. The need for a winning streak on the road would determine on the timing of the Red Wings and their energy to take point right from the start.

The Red Wings got to a good start after four minutes with Brendan Smith driving the puck from the far end. His shot went into traffic with the puck deflecting off of Tomas Vanek for his seventh of the season. A power play came to them later on but their 30^th ranked success on the ice didn’t help them to produce more goals.

Plays got dicey in front of the net for Coreau and Senators goaltender Mike Condon. A loose puck nearly caught the Red Wings netminder off guard but the 25-year-old made the pad save to clear the puck out of danger. The same went for Condon who watched Mantha come in for a shot lifting the puck high. Condon got a piece of his glove high enough to deflected the shot from falling over his shoulder and into the net.

The competition remained close with one another as the Senators hunted down the chance to level the game. In the final minute of the period, Ottawa got possession with Mark Stone stealing one away from Detroit behind the net. A pass play to Derrick Brassard allowed the center man to fire a shot giving him his eighth of the season. The late surge pushed the Senators over Detroit with a 14-12 shots on goal lead.

The surge continued on for the Senators who had the Red Wings down on their luck while hoping to increase the margin on the scoreboard. They trailed Detroit on shots but a push into the Red Wings end with Mark Stone getting the best of them. His shot from the boards zipped into the net giving him 11 on the year and the lead for his team.

Detroit showed signs of bouncing back and creating offense to level the game. After four minutes of offensive push, the veterans on the Red Wings got the game back to leveling pegging with Tomas Tatar firing a shot behind Condon for his eighth. The remainder of the period saw times where the teams were even till the pace took a turn in favor of Ottawa.

The Senators received a huge advantage gaining a two-man advantage over the Red Wings. They began their attack by charging the puck into the Detroit end firing shots at Coreau. All their attempts were close, but not enough to take the lead back. They led 9-7 against the Red Wings with the third period becoming most critical for both.

The third was a slow run for Detroit and Ottawa as the teams took their shots on goal but little opportunities were produced. Time elapsed from the clock with neither team having an edge on the other. For the remainder of the period, it was a neck and neck fight for control for puck possession but the edge never arrived leading Detroit and Ottawa to attempt to settle the score in overtime.

The victory for the Red Wings didn’t take long for them to seal the win over the Senators. Niklas Kronwall made a good skate into a solid spot in the Ottawa zone where he found Mantha not far back. The 22-year-old fired off a wrister scoring the winning goal that ended things after 67 seconds of play.

The victory for Detroit gives the team plenty of rest in order to prepare for Sunday’s Centennial Classic at BMO Field in Toronto.

Ana Ivanovic announces retirement.

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Former world number one tennis star Ana Ivanovic announced her retirement on Wednesday. The 29-year-old who won the French Open in 2008 shared the news on her Facebook page with a live video expressing her intent to retire from the sport. “It has been a difficult decision but there is so much to celebrate,” said Ivanovic.  

Ivanovic played tennis for 12 seasons winning 15 WTA singles titles as well as playing in the finals at the Australian and French Opens. Though being at the top spot was short-lived, Ivanovic became a widely popular player that increased the love of tennis in her home country of Serbia.

“I began dreaming about tennis since I was five watching Monica Seles play on TV,” she said during her live broadcast on Facebook. She played on several Fed Cup teams since 2006 and made the Olympic tennis team at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

2016 was a tough year for the top-ranked Serb who dealt with injuries throughout the season. With that and her recent marriage to German soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ivanovic came to the conclusion to move towards the next step of her life.

“I will become an Ambassador of sport and healthy life as well as pursue my endeavors of business, fashion and philanthropic activities that include my work with UNICEF.”

While many fans of the tennis star grieve over her retirement, Ivanovic had words of comfort for them in her message. “Don’t be sad, be optimistic alongside me.” “My love and my greatest thank you for all of you who helped me live the greatest life so far.”