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BRISBANE, Australia - Third-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic fired 17 aces and didnt face a break point as he advanced to the Brisbane International quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Thursday in his opening match of the year. Finished last year and we definitely thought I could do a lot better with my serve, so we spent a lot of time this off season on that and Im happy that its going well, Raonic said. The 24-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., said hes coming off his best off-season ever, and is ready to make his breakthrough at the Grand Slam events. Thats the biggest goal Ive set for myself, is to do much better in specifically one major, said Raonic, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals and French Open quarter-finals last year. Ive been in a semifinal now, but I can do much better. His Canadian compatriots had another win at the Hopman Cup in Perth, where Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., beat Italys Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4 and Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil beat Fabio Fognini 6-0, 6-3. Canada dropped the doubles match against the Italians, however, then were denied a spot in the final when the United States won all three games against the Czech Republic. Maria Sharapova moved into the Brisbane semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Carla Suarez Navarro, weathering a challenging opening few games before taking the momentum away from her Spanish rival. Top-seeded Sharapova dropped her opening service game and then needed eight breakpoints before converting for a 2-1 lead. From there, it was straight-forward progress. I lost to her last year. We went back and forth with our victories in 2014, so Im always a little bit aware of girls that I lose to, Sharapova said. Maybe made a little bit too many unforced errors in the beginning, but then got a good rhythm and finished strong. No. 2-ranked Sharapova has dropped just five games across her opening two matches of the season and next faces Ukraines Elina Svitolina, who came from a set and a break down to beat third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. At the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki overcame occasional frustration with her own game as she beat Germanys Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals. No. 8-ranked Wozniacki showed anger when she failed to put away crucial points, and gave up early service breaks in both sets before beating the 75th-ranked Goerges in 1 hour, 27 minutes. She has always been a tricky opponent for me, Wozniacki said. She serves really big, she has big shots. I tried to run every ball down ... at times I didnt feel very comfortable, I just fought to the end. Wozniacks semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Barbora Zhalavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over seventh-seeded Coco Vandeweghe of the United States. Meanwhile, Roger Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam held his cool to recover from a set and a break down and beat Australian wild-card entry John Millman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The weather was reasonably mild for subtropical Brisbane, where Federer lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final last year. It was the hot reception from the No. 153-ranked Millman that troubled him for a while. Im sweating like crazy, Federer said. Under a lot of pressure. I think I got quite lucky in the second set. He was playing great tennis. It was slow start for the 33-year-old Swiss star, who had a first-round bye. He wasted four break-point chances in an opening game that lasted seven minutes before Millman held. Federer was broken in the 10th game, saving three set points before hitting a swinging forehand volley too long to surrender the first set to Millman, who was getting raucous support from a parochial, hometown crowd. The top-seeded Federer dropped serve to give Millman a 3-1 lead. But he broke back immediately, setting it up with classic one-handed backhand down the line, and saved three break points in the next game to keep it on serve. Thats when things started to go his way. First match of the season, you never know quite what to expect, said Federer, who walked on court with 996 career match wins on the ATP tour — 993 more than Millman. Credit to him for pushing it. Federer will face another Australian wild-card entry in the next round, after James Duckworth beat Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Duke Dawson Jersey . UCI President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations "that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past -- allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport. Chris Hogan Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson has a sixth NASCAR championship in hand and two legends within reach. http://www.patriotsauthenticshop.com/Pat...a-Draft-Jersey/. Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. Adrian Clayborn Jersey . "Its not done, but its a huge step," Hannover general manager Dirk Dufner said. Poor defending allowed the visitors to score in the second minute, when Leon Andreasens header from Christian Panders cross sent the ball inside the far post. Duron Harmon Jersey . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win.PHOENIX - Patrick Beverley sank the go-ahead 3-pointer with 34.3 seconds to play and the Houston Rockets escaped with 115-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night. Dwight Howard scored 25, James Harden 23 and Beverley 20 for the Rockets, who trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter. Goran Dragic scored a career-high 35 for the Suns, but missed what would have been the game-tying 3 at the buzzer. Gerald Green added 23, 18 in the third quarter, and Markieff Morris 21 for Phoenix. Beverley, who scored 12 in the fourth, made two free throws that boosted Houstons lead to 113-110 with 20 seconds to go before Dragic scored on a layup to cut it to 113-112 with 14.7 seconds to play. Donatas Motiejunas sank two free throws with 14.1 seconds left to put Houston up 115-112. Phoenixs last lead was 110-108 on Morris driving layup with 47.3 seconds remaining. The Rockets scored four points in one possession when Marcus Morris was called for a questionable clear-path foul against Chandler Parsons with 6:16 to play. Parsons made both free throws, then Harden sank a 19-footer to cut the Suns lead to 98-96 with 5:54 to play. Houston tied the game three times before Beverleys big shot put Houston up for good. The Rockets dominated inside with a 64-42 advantage in points in the paint. Dragic made 10 shots in a row, half of them 3s, from the first quarter until he missed a long 3 midway through the third. He had 19 points on 7-for-7 shooting in the second quarter to help Phoenix erase Houstons 17-point lead, but Howard returned to the game and the Rockets were up 60-56 at the breeak.dddddddddddd Phoenix used a 12-1 run to go up 77-70 on P.J. Tuckers steal and breakaway dunk with 5:16 left in the third quarter. Chandler Parsons rebound basket cut it to 88-83 with 35 seconds left in the quarter, but Miles Plumlee scored on a rebound, then Green banked in a 28-footer just before the buzzer to put the Suns up 93-83 entering the fourth. Early on, it was all Rockets. Omer Asiks three-point play gave Houston its biggest lead 37-19 with 9:55 left in the half. The Suns outscored the Rockets 26-8 over the next six minutes, consecutive 3s by Dragic giving Phoenix a 48-45 lead with 3:32 left in the half. But Howard came back from a brief rest and scored the first five in an 11-0 spurt that put the Rockets up 56-48 with 1:57 to play in the half. Dragic, though, sank two more 3s to help cut the lead to six at halftime. Dragic scored 25 in the first half on 10-of-12 shooting. He missed his first 3-pointer, then made the other five in the first half. Howard had 18 points and seven rebounds in the half. NOTES: Dragic has seven games of at least 30 points this season. ... Howard had 34 points and 14 rebounds in the Rockets 122-108 win over Phoenix on Feb. 5. ... Phoenixs 40 points was the most for a Rockets opponent in the second quarter this season and matched the most by the Suns. ... Houston won the season series 2-1. ... The Suns were without Leandro Barbosa for the second game in a row with a sprained toe. ... Ex-Sun and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson appeared at halftime to commemorate his baseline dunk over Houstons Hakeem Olajuwon 20 years ago. Blackhawks Jerseys Store Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Penguins Jerseys Store Capitals Jerseys For Sale Blues Jerseys Store Cheap Kings Jerseys Adidas Lightning Jerseys Stars Jerseys For Sale Cheap Predators Jerseys Ducks Store Sharks Jerseys For Sale Cheap Sabres Jerseys Rangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '