INDIAN WELLS, Calif. cheap jerseys from china . -- For the first time in four years, Novak Djokovic is without a big title to start the year. Or any title. The Serb is used to arriving at the BNP Paribas Open with the Australian Open in his back pocket, having won the seasons first Grand Slam three straight years. He lost in the quarter-finals in Melbourne in January, and then lost in the semifinals at Dubai last month. "That is a different feel from previous years," he said. So Djokovic is especially eager to hoist the trophy at Indian Wells, where hes a two-time champion. He took a step toward that goal with a 6-1, 6-3 quarterfinal victory against Frenchman Julien Benneteau in just over an hour on Friday. "Im on the right path and playing semifinals, which is always of course a challenge and a good result," he said, "but I want to try to go as far as I can." On the womens side, Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta handed top seed Li Na just her second loss of the year, winning their semifinal 7-6 (5), 6-3. The women combined for eight straight service breaks in the first set, which Li lost with her eighth double-fault. Pennetta then broke the No. 2-ranked Li two more times in the second set and closed out the win with a backhand down the line. Li, the reigning Australian Open champion, fell to 17-2 on the year. She was the top seed for the first time at one of the top-level WTA events. "It was pretty high-level match," said the Chinese star, who made more than 50 unforced errors. "I lose the match, a little bit sad, but I still can see a lot positive. At least, I like the way I hit the ball." Pennetta will play No. 2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in Sundays final. Radwanska beat sixth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first final in eight appearances at the tournament. "Ive been here so many times and finally I did it," Radwanska said. Halep had Radwanska on the run most of the match, but the Polish player was up to the challenge, continually chasing down balls and making well-placed returns. "What I was trying to do was playing aggressive from the beginning of the match and just trying to go for my shots," Radwanska said. "Pretty much all the games, doesnt matter who was serving, it was really tight games. I was better just a few points each set." Halep is projected to move up two spots to a career-best No. 5 in the world in Mondays WTA rankings, the highest ever by a Romanian woman. Djokovic never faced a break point on his serve against Benneteau, the only unseeded player left in the mens draw. The Serb held break points on Benneteaus serve in seven of eight games, and broke him four times during the match. It was Djokovics easiest match so far. He needed three sets to get by Marin Cilic and Alejandro Gonzalez, and had to win a tiebreaker against Victor Hanescu in his opening match. "I felt like I was very focused on the court from the start, and its what I was looking for. First few matches I played good tennis but I had some ups and downs," Djokovic said. "He made a lot of unforced errors, and obviously I just needed to make him play an extra shot and serve well." Djokovic will next play 12th-seeded John Isner, the lone remaining American, in Saturdays semifinals. Isner beat Djokovic at the same stage in 2012 before losing to Roger Federer in the final. Federer, a four-time winner here, will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the other semifinal. Isner fired 13 aces to beat 20th-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) in Fridays other quarterfinal. Isner dropped serve twice to fall behind 4-2 in the second set, but broke back to level the score at 5-all and then dominated the tiebreaker. "I had all my energy going for me," he said. "I know I have those serves in my arsenal. Its just a matter of me pulling them out and I went for them." The American is projected to return to the top 10 in Mondays ATP rankings, the first time he has been there since September 2012. "Its hard to stay there," he said. "I fell back, but I have been knocking on the door for quite some time. It feels good to get back in there." jerseys from china . Hell be hard-pressed to match an unbeaten streak like this, though. Tanaka had his unbeaten regular-season run snapped at 42 starts, allowing a career-high four runs in six innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Yankees 6-1 on Tuesday night. wholesale nfl jerseys . The London club made the announcement in a statement, naming the German as its new manager on an 18-month contract. While Fulhams statement failed to mention Meulensteens fate, the Dutchman later told BBC Radio 5 that he had been relieved of his duties at Fulham.SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After struggling to score any goals for four games, the San Jose Sharks had plenty of moves left for a shootout. Joe Thornton capped San Joses perfect shootout with a nifty toe-drag past Corey Crawford that helped the Sharks snap a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. "What a move," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "Really nice to watch. That must have been in his bag for a long time because Ive been here for six years and I hadnt seen that. Its nice that it came out." Joe Pavelski scored a short-handed goal in regulation and opened the shootout with a goal, and Patrick Marleau also scored in the tiebreaker for the Sharks, who have won six straight shootouts. Antti Niemi made 29 saves and stopped Patrick Sharp in the second round of the shootout. After Pavelski and Marleau scored in the first two rounds of the shootout, Thornton ended it when he dragged the puck around Crawford and knocked it in the empty net. Thornton has scored on all three shootout attempts this season after not even attempting one the previous three seasons. "I was just lucky enough that it went in," Thornton said. "Usually he likes putting me fourth but with so many guys out, I got moved up a slot, which is nice on the ego." "Not making a save in the shootout was the only thing that bothered me," Crawford said. "We played well and we had our chances to win, a couple of chances late. Our guys were doing a great job of not allowing many second chances." The teams traded goals early in the third during a Chicago power play with Brad Stuart off for hooking Patrick Kane. Pavelski got the scoring started with a short-handed goal after a bad breakout pass from Sharp. Scott Hannan quickly sent the puck back to Pavelski, who knocked the pass down, skated past Duncan Keith and beat Crawford high for his 29th goal. "We get a little tip on it and it turns into a fluttering puck," Pavelski said. "Next tthing you know, you see it laying there, and if you can win the race, youve got a chance. cheap jerseys. I was able to get just enough of an opening to make a shot." Just over a minute later, Saad answered late in the power play after Justin Braun failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone. Kris Versteeg fed Saad, who beat Niemi for his 18th goal. That was Chicagos third power-play goal in two games after having just one the previous seven. Crawford kept the game tied when he made a pad save at the goal line on a one-timer by Stuart, and the Blackhawks killed a late penalty to force overtime. San Jose is 0-for-16 on the power play the past six games. The game was scoreless after two periods despite both teams getting quality scoring chances but were unable to get past either Niemi or Crawford. Kane hit a post early in the first period for Chicago, and Dan Boyle got robbed by the crossbar later in the first for San Jose. Niemi made a strong pad save to rob Ben Smith in the first period and withstood a couple of frantic flurries near his net in the second. Niemi also was helped when Marian Hossa missed the net off a nice setup by Saad during a power play late in the second period. The Sharks put 22 shots on net against Crawford in the first two periods, generating heavy pressure during a second period power play for too many men on the ice. But Crawford was up to the task. San Jose was attacking at the end of the second, and Marleau had a prime chance when he batted a puck from midair in the slot toward the net in the closing seconds. "It was a playoff type atmosphere," Versteeg said. "Time and space were virtually non-existent and thats when you need to play smart." NOTES: Jason Demers, who leads San Jose defenceman with 24 points, was scratched with a lower-body injury. ... Chicago F Michal Handzus returned to San Jose for the first time since being dealt to the Blackhawks last March. ... The Sharks reassigned F John McCarthy to Worcester of the AHL after he cleared waivers. cheap jerseys ' ' '
