04-09-2019, 12:47 AM
Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork. Cheap Air Max 97 Sale .com) - Staring match point in the face, Maria Sharapova let lose a thunderous forehand and showed challenger Alexandra Panova why shes ranked No. 2 in the world. Sharapova trailed 4-1 in the third set, staved off a pair of match points and survived for one of her most memorable comeback victories in an improbably entertaining second-round match at the Australian Open on Wednesday. The match lasted 2 1/2 hours, the third set alone taking 68 minutes despite Panova jumping out to a commanding lead with a pair of breaks of Sharapovas serve. Sharapova earned one back but trailed 5-4 and faced two match points. On the first, the five-time Grand Slam winner let loose a powerful winning forehand on a second serve that hugged the line. The second was a longer point also won by Sharapova with a forehand, and from there Panova wilted. Sharapova won the game, held at love and quickly earned two match points of her own. She only needed one, as Panova was long at the end of a lengthy rally to secure Sharapovas 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory. The 25-year-old Panova entered the seasons first major as a qualifier and came in ranked 150th in the world. She lost all five of her previous Grand Slam matches before cruising past Sorana Cirstea on Monday. Sharapova, who committed 51 unforced errors and six double faults, won this major tournament in 2008 and was twice a runner-up. The former World No. 1 exited in the fourth round last year. Her next opponent No. 31 Zarina Diyas, who took out Anna Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-2, 8-6. Other seeded winners were No. 10 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 21 Peng Shuai and No. 22 Karolina Pliskova. American Christina McHale lost in straight sets to Carina Witthoeft, who advanced to set up a match against Irina-Camelia Begu. Other second-round winners on Day 3 were: Lucie Hradecka, Julia Goerges, Yanina Wickmayer, Yaroslava Shvedova and Caroline Garcia. Third-seeded French Open finalist Simona Halep and seventh-seeded Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard will also be in action on Wednesday. Air Max 97 Outlet Store . After a tight first half, the Croatians took command in Reykjavik after Skulason was dismissed for a professional foul in the 51st minute, but couldnt find a way past Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson and his packed defence. Eduardo had a weak shot cleared away from near the goalline after barely a minute for Croatia, whose substitute Ivica Olic forced a fine reaction save from Halldorsson in the 55th. Air Max 97 Outlet . With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. http://www.airmax97outlet.com/ . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends.Ottawa Senators fans have been a nervous bunch over the past 18 months. They watched two captains walk out the door in consecutive summers, leaving many with the distinct impression that Ottawa was not the preferred destination for star players. And if you trace the line back beyond Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza - and connect the dots to Dany Heatley, Zdeno Chara and Alexei Yashin -- you could certainly understand why Senators fans may have an inferiority complex. So when the Bobby Ryan contract negotiations seemed to cool off last month, it was met with a collective, Uh-oh -- here we go again, by Senators fans. And in the absence of any tangible news, the rumours started to churn about how another star player was orchestrating his exit out of town. Ryan doesnt like it in Ottawa. He doesnt like the head coach. He wants to kill penalties. He wants to play in Philadelphia. Eugene Melnyk wont open his wallet. Everybody had a theory as to why Ryan wanted to take a wait-and-see approach to his commitment to Ottawa. And suddenly on Thursday morning, all of that changed with word that Ryan had agreed to a seven-year contract extension worth $50.75 million. He is truly the type of player we want to build our team around, Melnyk said in front of a packed news conference. The negotiations for a contract of this magnitude are never simple and the owner acknowledged that at the podium. If there was any hesitation from Ryan, it was never about the city and its fanbase. Calling the decision to stay in Ottawa a no-brainer, Ryan was quick to point out that the city has embraced him and his fiancee, Danielle from the moment his trade to Ottawa happened last July. We feel like we have found the place we can start a family and call home, Ryan said on Thursday morning - as if he was directly addressing those fragile fans in Ottawa who felt like their city wasnt a preferred destination for stars. Air Max 97 Outlet Sale. General manager Bryan Murray is well aware of the reputation that stars dont want to stay in Ottawa and he says the organization has made a concerted effort to dispel that notion with their moves over the past couple of months. For the fans as well, we want to indicate to them that players want to be in Ottawa, Murray said on Thursday. All along, thats been our intent. With Turris, MacArthur and now Bobby Ryan and were trying to get something done with Marc Methot to show that this is a secure team and we just have to add to it going forward. And hopefully that happens fairly quickly for everybodys sake. Murray confirmed that another contract offer has been made to Methots camp, but they are waiting to hear back. Moments after announcing the Ryan extension, Melnyk stepped back up to the podium to announce that Erik Karlsson was named as the ninth captain in franchise history. This move seems to cement Karlssons status in Ottawa. The club could have easily chosen Chris Phillips as the captain, which would have been warmly received in this market. Instead, they opted to make Karlsson the face of the franchise moving forward. Theyve handed him the keys and in turn, hes promising to deliver. Its an incredible opportunity and its a task that is pretty rare, said Karlsson, who admitted that he had a 40-minute phone conversation with former captain Daniel Alfredsson on Thursday. Im excited about the next chapter and moving forward and taking responsibility for what is to come. Im really looking forward to the upcoming season and beyond that, so Im just really thrilled right now. On one day, the Senators made two superstars happy - but more importantly, they gave a single fanbase the ability to take a collective sigh of relief. ' ' '