Subject :OEIRAS, Portugal -- Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont. Steven Gerrard Liverpool Jersey ., is through to
OEIRAS, Portugal -- Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont. Steven Gerrard Liverpool Jersey ., is through to the quarter-finals of the Portugal Open after posting a 6-3, 6-2 win over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay on Thursday. It will be the fourth consecutive quarter-final appearance of the season for Raonic, who is looking for his first ATP Tour win on clay. Raonic, the world No. 9 and second seed at the tournament, will face Argentine Carlos Berlocq on Friday. Raonic lost just 11 points on serve in his 67 minute victory over Cuevas, five of which came on double faults. In womens action, Montreals Eugenie Bouchard was defeated 6-4, 6-1 in the quarter-finals by two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Bouchard, ranked 18th in the world, took a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but went on to lose 11 of the final 12 games. In other matches, mens top seed Tomas Berdych strolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Somdev Devvarman of India. Other mens winners included Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, Gastao Elias of Portugal and Victor Hanescu of Romania. Top-seeded woman Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. Custom Liverpool Jersey . -- The Chicago Bears say they have agreed to a one-year contract with centre Roberto Garza. Mamadou Sakho Liverpool Jersey . - Titans quarterback Jake Locker will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, leaving Tennessee trying to rally with Ryan Fitzpatrick.TORONTO - Wisely, the Raptors downplayed the importance of an early-season litmus test ahead of Thursdays nationally televised contest with the new and improved Chicago Bulls. I would say yes, admitted Dwane Casey, asked if the Bulls would be their best opponent so far, following morning shoot-around. I would say they are. Just because Derrick Rose is an all-star, Pau Gasol is an all-star, just the amount of talent they have accumulated. Weve got to come out and play our game for 48 minutes. This game doesnt make or break your season, win or lose [but] weve got to come out and establish the way we are going to play. They did for 24 minutes. Barely a second more. Thats one game in the marathon, Casey continued to stress moments after the buzzer sounded on Torontos 100-93 loss. If we had won it, it wouldnt have made [our season]. We lost it and it doesnt break our season. So we learn from it [and] we move on. Theres a lot to learn out of this game, the type of game that you have to play to play at that level. In the end, it turned out to be more of a lesson than a test. To compete with the big boys, the elite teams in the NBA - to which Chicago is among - they cant live like this. You cant lose focus for even a few minutes, let alone an entire quarter. Leading by seven at intermission, and with the US spotlight focused on them, the Raptors looked like a team out of Chicagos league in the third quarter. Going into the game they had not scored fewer than 20 points in any single quarter this season. On Thursday, the Bulls bested them 35-14 in the third, effectively ending the game 12 minutes before it became official. We withstood their punches in the first half but in the third quarter they got us on our heels and we stayed on our heels, Casey said. You know thats the kind of game youre going to have against them. Its a hard game to officiate and its a hard game to play but youve got to make a muscle and fight through the physicality, the bumps, the grind. And we didnt meet that challenge in the third quarter. Its a four-quarter game and that third quarter did us in. The Raptors offence - crisp in the second frame when they shot 55 per cent - went dormant in the third. Chicagos trademark physicality forced Toronto out of its comfort zone. They shot just 29 per cent while the Bulls, led by the veteran savvy of Gasol, hit 12 of their 18 attempts from the field. I think we just didnt play our game from start to finish, said Kyle Lowry, who had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, pacing Toronto in all three categories. We played our game in spurts tonight. Not surprisingly, Lowry put thee team on his shoulders in the fourth, scoring eight points and cutting the deficit - once 18 - to five in the closing minutes. Simon Mignolet Jersey. But it was too late. The Bulls got 20 or more from three starters. Gasol was unstoppable in a throw-back performance, pouring in 27 points on 19 shots to go along with 11 rebounds. Jimmy Butler scored 21 and held DeMar DeRozan to 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting, another frustrating evening for the Raptors guard. And Rose looked like his old self, primarily in the second half, where he scored 13 of his 20 points before exiting late in the game with a hamstring injury. With the game airing on TNT - the first time theyve hosted a Thursday contest on the network since 2002 - the Raptors were over-matched. They suffered their first home loss of the campaign and were knocked out of first place in the Eastern Conference by a Bulls team that now shares their record at 7-2. Thats a good experience for us, said Jonas Valanciunas, who played less than five minutes in the second half, struggling defensively against Gasol, after getting off to a strong start. Were coming off the win streak so thats good. Like a cold shower for us. They made a lot of tough shots. They played good tonight and we werent ready. DeRozan continues to climb Raps scoring list. It was a moment DeRozan had been looking forward to, mostly because he was tired of hearing about it. After narrowly missing the milestone in a frustrating outing against the Magic Tuesday, he wasted little time on Thursday. Fittingly, DeRozan knocked down a mid-range jumper - his bread and butter - over college teammate Taj Gibson nine minutes into the game to pass maligned forward Andrea Bargnani for third on the teams all-time scoring list, having appeared in 41 fewer games with Toronto. DeRozan had already passed Morris Peterson earlier this month in Boston. Now, hes one step closer to cementing his Raptors legacy. Only Chris Bosh and Vince Carter, first and second respectively, have scored more points in a Raptors uniform. Even at his current pace, DeRozan is still at least a couple seasons away from catching Carter and Bosh, his former teammate. Milestone aside, it was another evening to forget for the Raptors All-Star guard. He has made just seven of his last 32 shots over Torontos last two games. I mean, its fine, he said after Thursdays loss. Im not worried about it at all. These games, I understand that theyre going to happen. Ive just got to learn from it. If this was two years ago Id think it was the end of the world, but were only [nine] games in. Id rather have them games now than later on. 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 ' ' '
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