KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. Jason Taylor Jersey . - Maria Sharapova was happy to play an 11 a.m. match Monday, especially when her work day was already done by the time a mid-afternoon shower interrupted play. "Its nice to see all the players coming back in the locker room, and Im like, Ill see you later," she said. Sharapova started early but didnt start well. She won only five points in the first four games before settling down to reach the quarterfinals at the Sony Open by beating Kirsten Flipkens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The worlds top-ranked players had an easier time. Serena Williams eliminated fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-1. Rafael Nadal received a warning for slow play and still won in 59 minutes against Denis Istomin, 6-1, 6-0. Venus Williams lost her serve eight times and was beaten by No. 10 Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. Sharapova, meanwhile, endured her second successive ragged three-setter and found herself trailing 4-0 after only 15 minutes. "I usually like playing the first match, but I didnt start off the way I wanted to," she said. "Nothing was working." Seeded No. 4, Sharapova seemed thrown off by the lack of pace from Flipkens, a tour veteran who hits floating backhands and sometimes slices her forehand as well. "Shes a different type of opponent," Sharapova said. "There are not too many girls that hit a slice backhand 90 per cent of the time in the rallies. But I know what to expect from her game. It shouldnt be that much of a surprise." Sharapova finished with 36 unforced errors and only 13 winners. She also double-faulted 10 times. But she won — and was ready to leave Crandon Park before most matches had even begun. With the rest of the day free, what was on the schedule for one of the worlds most celebrated athletes? "Not much, actually," Sharapova said. "I like to have my afternoon tea around 5. Its like a Russian tradition. Ill see my dog, spend some time with him, then get treatment, dinner, and then the day is over." At the top of her to-do list for the rest of the week is winning her first Key Biscayne title. Sharapova has been the runner-up five times, including each of the past three years, but she downplays any frustration regarding her many near-misses. "Of course you want to be able to hold the winners trophy," she said. "But you also remember the matches that you got through to get in the position to get to the final stage. Its not like I didnt have my opportunities in those finals; I just didnt take them. Thats why you come back and hope for another chance." Williams seems to be gaining momentum as the tournament unfolds, as usual. She overcame sloppy patches in her first two matches and committed only one unforced error in the second set against Vandeweghe. But Williams was impressed with the 22-year-old American, and told her so when they met at the net after the match. "She said, Listen, you played so well. Weve got to play doubles. Wed do so well," Vandeweghe said. Williams next plays No. 5-seeded Angelique Kerber, who beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. No. 8 Petra Kvitova rallied past No. 12 Ana Ivanovic, who double-faulted nine times in the final two sets and lost 3-6, 6-0, 6-0. In mens third-round play, No. 10 seed John Isner, the only American to reach the mens third round, hit 17 aces and beat Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3. No. 22-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov rallied from a break down in the final set to beat Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5). Dolgopolov has gone 6-1 this month despite his worries about unrest in his native Ukraine, where his mother and other relatives still live. "For me it was important it has calmed down and no people are dying," said Dolgopolov, who was born in Kyiv. "But theres a little bit of chaos still going on, and no one knows who is the ruling party and who is controlling the country. Its a mess." Derrick Shelby Womens Jersey Elite . The Oilers have the third selection in Friday nights first round, a year after taking Darnell Nurse seventh and two years removed from a streak of three consecutive No. Youth Dan Marino Elite Orange Jersey . The Formula One circus has arrived in town and on this Thursday afternoon the teams crew members are setting up their equipment in the pit lane ahead of the three day race weekend.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks were struggling. Nikolai Khabibulin was yanked in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators looked ready to put away a big road win. Then Corey Crawford came in, and Jonathan Toews took off. Toews had three goals and an assist, Crawford made 14 saves in relief of an ineffective Khabibulin and the Blackhawks rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Senators on Tuesday night. "The last couple times weve been down in the third period, or down a goal a two later on in the game, weve found a way to finish better than if weve had the lead," Toews said. "We have that confidence that we can come back if were down a goal, or whatever." Andrew Shaw scored twice and Marian Hossa had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who trailed 4-2 with 8:46 left in the second period. It was Hossas 100th goal with Chicago and No. 439 for his career. The Senators scored three times in a span of four shots in the second, but were unable to hold off the suddenly high-scoring Blackhawks. Kyle Turris and Milan Michalek each had a goal and an assist in Ottawas fourth loss in five games. "The things we did to get the lead at 4-2, whether their goalie was good or bad or indifferent, we did a lot of good things to make the score 4-2 and then we stopped doing them," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said. Toews sparked Chicagos rally when he tested Craig Anderson with 5 1/2 minutes left in the second, and his first attempt popped over the goal. The captain then skated to the back of the net and slammed in a wraparound for his fifth goal of the season. The Blackhawks kept coming in the third period, and Toews tied it at 4 when he finished off a perfect pass from defenceman Johnny Oduya at 1:20. Toews completed his third career hat trick when he pushed a rebound into an empty net midway through the period for a 5-4 Chicago lead. "Jonny had a special game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "If youre a fan and you watched him play tonight, youre going to go Wow, that was a special performance." Shaw and Ottawas Zack Smith exchanged goals down the stretch, and the Blackhawks held on for their second victory in as many nights. The defending Stanley Cup champions beat Minnesota 5-1 on Monday. Clarke MacArthur had two assistss for the Senators, and Anderson finished with 34 saves. Ryan Tannehill Womens Jersey Elite. MacArthur missed Ottawas previous game with what the team called a minor injury. "We scored five goals, we should win the game," Anderson said. "We need to take a little bit more pride and keep the puck out of our net and play a little tougher in front of our net." Ottawa appeared to be in control after one dizzying stretch in the second. MacArthur sparked the scoring spree when he charged toward the net from the right side, setting up Turris power-play score from in-close that gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 6:51. Hossa responded 50 seconds later, converting a nice pass from Toews, but Senators were just getting started against the slumping Khabibulin. Joe Corvos long slap shot whistled by teammate Bobby Ryan and into the net for his first goal of the season. Then Mika Zibanejad skated past sliding Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith and beat Khabibulin to make it 4-2 at 11:14. That was enough for Quenneville, who replaced Khabibulin with regular starter Crawford. Khabibulin made 18 saves and has allowed 10 goals while facing 47 shots in his past two games. "No, I cant really say," Quenneville said when asked if he can pinpoint why Khabibulin is struggling so much. "It was just one of those nights. Well look at it and try to get better." Crawfords entry prompted a big cheer from the crowd, and the Blackhawks seemed to feed off the switch. Sharp had two assists and Toews extended his points streak to five games. Toews has five goals and four assists during the stretch. "I dont know if its anything special going on," Toews said. "Sometimes you go through ups and downs when youre scoring and things are going in, and other nights, maybe not so much." NOTES: C Michal Handzus (upper-body injury) was among the Blackhawks scratches, and Quenneville said he probably would remain out through this weekend. The 36-year-old Handzus hasnt played since a 6-5 overtime loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday. ... The Blackhawks will visit President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday to celebrate their second Stanley Cup title in four seasons. ... Chicago has one power-play goal in each of the past six games. ... Toews also had a hat trick in the 2010 playoffs against Vancouver. wholesale jerseys ' ' '
