Off Topic » once again used a dominant serve to beat his opponent

TOKYO -- Canadas Milos Raonic advanced to the semifinals of the Japan Open with his 40th victory of the season Friday. Raonic, seeded third, cruised past Slovakias Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour. The 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., once again used a dominant serve to beat his opponent, with 11 aces to only two for Lacko. Raonic said taking the early lead was key following an overnight change in the weather. "I felt I started really well, right from the beginning which allowed me to get into the match and continue from there," said Raonic. The quarter-final was played under the closed roof of the Ariake Coliseum after to a cold front moved in bringing drizzle and chilly temperatures. "I felt like I dealt with the conditions well today," said Raonic. "Confidence is a big part of it and helps you in those adjustments to the difference in conditions. "Despite the weather changes from hot and humid to cold and not so humid the court has remained relatively the same -- fast," he added. "But I just felt that I was aggressive through the match and that paid early dividends." Raonic will next face Croatian Ivan Dodig, who defeated Finlands Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-6 (3). Dodig has won two of the pairs three matches, including a second-round victory over Raonic last June on grass at Eastbourne and a Barcelona win in 2011. A win over Dodig would mark a return for Raonic to the Tokyo final where he lost a year ago to Kei Nishikori. "It will be another tough match against Ivan," said Raonic. "Im focused on what I need to do for the next one." Raonic, ranked 11th in the world, is coming off a win at the Thailand Open on Sunday and improved his season record to 40-17. Hes trying to earn one of the last spots in the World Tour Finals in London next month. Raonic never faced a break point against the 81st-ranked Lacko. The loss to Raonic was Lackos 14th straight against a top-20 opponent. Raonic, who stands 5-0 in quarter-finals this year, has not lost a set this week. He took early control against Lacko with two breaks to earn the first set in 25 minutes. Raonic went up a quick break in the second for a 2-0 advantage, and later closed his match with a service winner. Meanwhile, top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro overcame Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. Del Potro broke Dolgopolov twice in the second set and again to go up 3-1 in the third set at Ariake Colosseum. He closed out the match with another break when Dolgopolovs return was long. The Argentine will face sixth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the semis on Saturday. Almagro beat local favourite and defending champion Kei Nishikori 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-3. Cheap Cleveland Browns Jerseys . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. Cheap New England Patriots Jerseys . -- The Minnesota Vikings have signed Jerome Simpson, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver recently convicted on a felony drug charge. http://www.cheapjerseysforsale.net/?tag=...raiders-jerseys. The Toronto Blue Jays star won his second consecutive Hank Aaron Award as the most outstanding offensive performer in the AL on Monday after votes by fans and a panel of Hall of Famers were tallied. Cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the New York Rangers winger skated with extras and goalies today.New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcus Mariota became the first Oregon player to win the Heisman Trophy. The Ducks quarterback was announced as the recipient of college footballs most prestigious individual honor during Saturdays ceremony in New York. The redshirt junior also won the Davey OBrien, Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards on Thursday night. Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper were also finalists for the Heisman Trophy, but the vote wasnt close. Mariota received 788 first-place votes and a total of 2,534 points. Gordon finished second with 37 first-place votes and 1,250 points and Cooper had 49 first-place votes, but came in third with 1,023 points. Mariota had the second-highest percentage of possible points (90.9) in Heisman history, behind only Ohio State quarterback Troy Smiths (91.6) victory for the 2006 season. The most prolific quarterback in Oregon history has led the Pac-12 champion Ducks (12-1) to 35 wins in his three seasons as the starter. He needs two more victories to cement his legacy at Oregon. The Ducks ended the season No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and will face Florida State in the national semifinals at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The other semifinal will pit Alabama against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day. The winners of those games will play for the national championship on Jan. 12. So far this season, Mariota has passed for 3,773 yards and 38 touchdowns with 669 yards rushing and another 14 scores. He completed 68.3 percent of his 372 passes with just two interceptions on the season and accounted for 346 yards and five touchdowns in a 51-13 win over Arizona in the Pac-12 title game. This award belongs to my teammates, Mariota said during his acceptance speech Saturday. The amount of hard work and sacrifice that each of them has made has not gone unnoticed. He has thrown for 10,115 yards and 101 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions in his college career with another 2,136 yards and 28 touchdowns rushing.dddddddddddd Mariota was emotional at times during his Heisman speech, especially when speaking about his accomplishment as the first Hawaii native to win the award. To the Polynesian community, I hope and pray this is only the beginning, he said. Young Poly athletes everywhere, you should take this as motivation and dream big and strive for greatness. Gordon rushed for a then-FBS record 408 yards against Nebraska last month and ended the season with an FBS-leading 2,336 yards rushing, the fourth-best total all-time. Cooper, a junior, had an SEC-record 115 catches for a national-best 1,656 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games this season. He had an Iron Bowl-record 224 yards receiving in Alabamas 55-44 win over rival Auburn on Nov. 29. Mariota was the third Ducks player to be named a finalist for the Heisman following quarterback Joey Harrington, who finished fourth in the voting in 2001, and running back LaMichael James, who placed third behind Cam Newton and Andrew Luck in 2010. A quarterback has won 13 of the past 15 Heisman Trophies, with the other two going to running backs Reggie Bush for the 2005 season and Mark Ingram in 2009. (Bushs Heisman was later vacated.) TCU QB Trevone Boykin received eight first-place votes and 218 points to finish fourth behind the finalists. Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett (78) and last years Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston (51) of Florida State, ended fifth and sixth. Winston got four first-place votes. Finishing 7-10 in the voting were Indiana running back Tevin Coleman, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III and Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty. Wright was the only one of that bunch not to get a first-place vote. ' ' '