Neues » Ive had some tough

PARIS – Novak Djokovic was just a few points away from losing to Milos Raonic a couple weeks ago in Rome, so it was no surprise that the No. 2 seed at the French Open lavished praise on the eighth-seeded Canadian on Sunday night after both men won their fourth-round matches easily to setup a quarterfinal showdown. "Milos is playing the tennis of his life," said Djokovic. "Hes top-10 now, an established top-10 player. He has one of the best serves in the world. Very powerful, very precise." Raonic had 17 aces when the two hooked up at the Masters 1000 event in Italy on May 17. Only American John Isner (82) has more aces than Raonic (72) at Roland Garros this year. "When he serves that well, there is not much you can do, really," said Djokovic, who entered Mondays matches as the tournament leader in break points won (29). "He puts a lot of pressure on his opponent and he has improved a lot from the baseline now. With his backhand, hes hitting down the line, hes very aggressive, which he should be, of course, for somebody of his height and his build. You know, hes powerful and he uses that serve. Forehand is also very good from back of the court. So there is an evident improvement in his game and he feels more confident on the court. You can feel that. The recent match we had in Rome, as you mentioned, was very close." Djokovic lost the first set in a tiebreaker at the Internazionali BNL dItalia before edging Raonic in a second-set tiebreaker and winning the third and deciding set 6-3. After the three-hour battle of wills, Djokovic said he could not remember the last time he felt as helpless in the return game. "I dont expect anything different now," he said after a straight-set victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Sunday. "You know, I know that Im going to have to face somebody that is going to serve over 200 kilometers per hour in average throughout the whole match. But Im ready for that." Raonic, meanwhile, is also feeling confident after becoming the first Canadian man to ever reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles competition (in the Open era). Raonic admitted he would not have thought his breakthrough would come on the red clay in Paris, but noted he has made some subtle adjustments this year to improve his game on the slower surface. "The biggest difference I have made this year is not really making too much of a difference when I have come to the clay," the 23-year-old explained. "Just more of an approach, knowing more balls will come back, but trying to stay close, not going too far back, and all these kind of things. I have tried to sort of keep that, I was doing it on hard courts, and its been working out well for me." But Raonic is well aware of the challenge that now lays before him. Djokovic badly wants to win the title here in order to complete the career slam. "I think its more so just a mental aspect of keeping up a certain level for that long and not allowing yourself to drift away," Raonic said when asked what the key is when facing such a strong opponent in a best-of-five format. "But he also makes that demanding of you in two out of three sets. Its just about doing it a little bit longer and bringing your best tennis. Obviously, thats important." Raonic and Djokovic have had a congenial relationship on tour due in part to their shared Serbian heritage. Born in Podgorica, Montenegro in 1990, Raonic and his family relocated to Toronto in 1994. "We have a good relationship. Very friendly. Same type of cultural upbringing and background, so we understand each other a lot, especially because of the language, as well," Raonic said. "So we get along well." Basket Air Max 270 Pas Cher Femme . The Brewers finalized a US$36 million, three-year contract with free agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez on Wednesday, adding a much-needed bat to their lineup. Air Max Pas Cher Destockage . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted on Monday that Hemsky will be going to market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. http://www.outletairmaxpascher.fr/fausse...x-90-homme.html. PETERSBURG, Florida – Heading into Thursday nights action, Dioner Navarro had caught 14 innings combined from starters Drew Hutchison and Mark Buehrle. Fausse Air Max 97 Off White . Lack replaced an injured Roberto Luongo late in the first period then watched defenceman Chris Tanev score the winning goal midway through the third as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 2-1 in a tight NHL game. Nike Tn Pas Cher Site Fiable . Scrivens stopped 48 shots and captain Andrew Ference scored in overtime as the Oilers pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.WINNIPEG -- Captain Andrew Ladd was the first to criticize himself after a 6-3 loss to Columbus on Saturday that had fans booing the Winnipeg Jets off the ice. "Ill take full responsibility for my play. I was awful tonight," Ladd said. "For a team struggling, probably looking for leaders, I wasnt very good so I need to be a lot better and I will be going forward." The loss put the Jets (19-23-5) on a season-high five-game losing streak after the Blue Jackets capitalized on Winnipeg mistakes and breakdowns -- some head coach Claude Noel said hed never seen this season. "Its not easy right now. I mean, its tough to stay positive," said Jets centre Bryan Little, who had a goal and assist. "Its kind of hurting everyones confidence right now. You know, the fans get on you. I mean, its not easy. Its a difficult time that were trying to get through." Boone Jenner and Mark Letestu each scored twice as the Blue Jackets had four straight goals in the first nine minutes of the second period. Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno also scored, while Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves as Columbus (21-20-4) won its third straight game. "We believe in ourselves in here and we know when we play the way that we can, things will go our way and weve just got to keep focused on that," Jenner said. James Wisniewski and Derek MacKenzie each had a pair of assists for Columbus. Ondrej Pavelec faced 26 shots for Winnipeg, which also got goals from Eric ODell, his first NHL goal, and Toby Enstrom. "Right now, adversity is really the enemy and were not dealing with it very well, and were trying to deal with it," Noel said. "Theres going to be no easy way to get out of it." The second period was especially puzzling. "The game certainly unravelled in the second period on mistakes that were stuff that Ive never seen before," Noel said. Columbus head coach Todd Richards said he talked to his players after the disappointing opening 20 minutes. "Once we talked about things after the first period, obviously our focus and our attitude changed and we came out and started skating, pursuing pucks," Richards said. "We were willing to do the work, we werent waiting for our teammate to do the work. I think each guy took it upon themselves, that this is what I nneed to do.dddddddddddd. I need to skate and work." The Blue Jackets second-period barrage began with Letestus short-handed goal. Just nine seconds after Blue Jackets centre Brandon Dubinsky was called for holding 27 seconds into the period, MacKenzie and Letestu went on a 2-on-1 and Letestu deked and put a backhand shot past Pavelec. On that play, Noel noted there was an offensive-zone faceoff, his players decided to forecheck, didnt lock the centre and gave up a 2-on-1. "Weve never done that before. Weve never talked about that before. What is that? I dont know," Noel said. "Its not because they dont care. Lets make sure that thats clear. Theyre frustrated, too." When told of Ladds self-criticism, Noel said the captain places a lot of burden on himself, like leaders do, and hes got to try to help him. ODell scored at 4:32 of the first period during a goal-mouth scramble when he banged in the puck with a backhand while McElhinney was out near the edge of the crease. Recalled from the AHLs St. Johns IceCaps on Dec. 17, ODell was replacing Evander Kane (hand injury) on the Jets second line with centre Mark Scheifele and right-winger Michael Frolik. It was one of a number of roster changes for Winnipeg. Noel had big defenceman Dustin Byfuglien playing right-wing for the first time this season on the top line with Little and Ladd. That moved Blake Wheeler to the third line with centre Olli Jokinen and left-winger Devin Setoguchi. Noel said Byfuglien, who had an assist, played OK, and he liked that the fans cheered Byfuglien when he touched the puck early. Little said it was tough for the new line combinations to click because penalties shuffled players around, too. While hes faced adversity in his career, it was different in Atlanta than in Winnipeg. "Its definitely magnified when youre in Winnipeg," Little said. "Ive had some tough times in Atlanta where no one seems to care. No ones asking you questions, its not in the papers and people arent in the room after games. "So its definitely more pressure right now to get out of this." Notes -- The last time the Jets lost at least four in a row was late last season from March 28 to April 4, when they went 0-5-0 over that stretch a Letestus short-handed goal was the sixth one allowed by the Jets this season. ' ' '