BRISBANE, Australia - Roger Federer has a chance to go into the Australian Open with 1,000 career match wins to his credit after beating fourth-seeded Grigor
Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
Cheap Phil Kessel Jersey .The 17-time Grand Slam champion came into the 2015 season with 996 wins and has had three more on the way to Sundays final, where
hell meet third-seeded Milos Raonic. He has a 7-1 win-loss record against the
24-year-old Canadian, from Thornhill, Ont. who served 34 aces to grind out a 6-7
(4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) win over second-seeded Kei Nishikori in the other
semifinal.Its a goal for the season, so I still have time to get to a thousand,
Federer said, smiling. I mean, its a really big number, no doubt about it. Love
to get it tomorrow, especially in the finals in an ATP event where most of my
wins have come.If not tomorrow, I hope it happens at the Australian Open. It
would definitely be an incredible milestone to reach.Only Jimmy Connors and Ivan
Lendl have won more than 1,000 matches.They were very consistent for a long
time, very match tough, and definitely players and athletes you could look up to
because their longevity was incredible, the 33-year-old Federer said. It would
mean a lot to get to a thousand, but theyre still ahead of me.Maria Sharapova
was scheduled to play Ana Ivanovic in the Saturday night womens final.The
third-seeded Raonic appeared to grow in confidence as the match progressed
against U.S. Open finalist Nishikori, earning three match points with an ace in
the third tiebreaker and then clinching it after 2 1/2 hours with a stunning
forehand service return.Raonic said hell be relying again on his serve, hoping
to emulate the form that earned a win over Federer in Paris last year.Thats
always been a key. Last few matches I started poorly. I would get broken right
in my first service game, which is not the way to really go about things,
especially against a top player and especially against Roger, he said. So Ive
got to keep that pressure on him and then sort of step up when I can create my
opportunities.Raonics win over U.S. Open finalist Nishikori was only his second
in six head-to-heads between the pair.I felt I served really well. Thats held me
around, especially in the beginning, because I felt he was getting more and more
on top of me at the beginning from the baseline, Raonic said. That sort of kept
me in it and sort of gave me a chance.Neither player dropped serve in the match,
meaning Nishikori exited the tournament without being broken in a service
game.Eventually, though, the quick points Raonic was able to pick up on his
booming serve made the difference.Each set turned on one error at the same stage
of the tiebreakers.Nishikori forced an error with a powerful service return in
the first for a 5-4 lead. He served a double-fault in the second to give Raonic
the 5-4 advantage with two serves to close.The last tiebreaker was on serve
until Nishikori missed a forehand with the court wide open, and Raonic took over
from there.Venus Williams won her first title of the year when she recovered
from a set and a break down for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over top-seeded Carolina
Wozniacki in the final of the ASB Classic at Auckland, New Zealand.Her sister,
Serena Williams, was aiming for a third Hopman Cup title when she partnered John
Isner in the U.S. team against Poland in the final later Saturday in Perth,
Australia.
Cheap Penguins Jerseys China . Monta Ellis had 30 points and nine assists, Nowitzki was another of seven Dallas players in
double figures with 11 points and the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers
123-104 Tuesday night.
Penguins Jerseys China . Yet heading to New York, the Habs remain positive as it all comes down to the one main ingredient
that the organization has built its team on - character.PRETORIA, South Africa
-- The first witness in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial testified Monday to
hearing a womans "blood-curdling" screams before the sound of four gunshots on
the night the double-amputee Olympian killed his girlfriend. Michell Burger, a
woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her
husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year,
when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in
his bathroom. Pistorius says he killed Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was a
dangerous intruder in his house, but prosecutors believe the world-famous
athlete shot his girlfriend after a fight and immediately tried to paint a
picture at the trial of a loud argument before the fatal shots. Burgers
testimony contradicts Pistorius version of events, because he said he thought
Steenkamp was in bed and he did not describe any woman screaming. "It was very
traumatic," Burger said, speaking in Afrikaans through an interpreter and in
answer to questions from lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel. "You could hear it was
blood-curdling screams. You cant translate it into words. The anxiousness in her
voice, and fear. It leaves you cold." Burger said: "She screamed terribly and
she yelled for help" and testified that she also heard a man shout for help
before the shots were fired. Pistorius lawyer, Barry Roux, opened his
cross-examination by asking Burger if she thought Pistorius was a liar. She
didnt directly answer that with a yes or no, but repeated her recollection of
the nights events. "I can only tell the court what I heard that evening," Burger
said. "I cannot understand how I could clearly hear a woman scream but Mr.
Pistorius could not hear it." But Roux argued she had changed her testimony from
the written statement she gave to police soon after the shooting, only adding
"blood-curdling" as a description of the screams in court. Pistorius earlier
pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial to charges of murder and three
other counts relating to shooting guns in public and illegal possession of
ammunition. Wearing a dark grey suit and black tie, he spent the first 30
minutes of the first day of the trial at the high court in the South African
capital standing before his defence lawyer, Barry Roux, asked the judge for
permission for Pistorius to sit. The Olympians murder trial was being broadcast
live on TV in South Africa and across the world. The first witness, Burger, was
called before even an hour had passed as the prosecution went straight into
testimony. The trial itself started 90 minutes late after an earlier delay
because of an interpreter problem. When he entered court, Pistorius walked past
the victims mother who says she came to court so she can "really look him in the
eyes." Defence lawyer Kenny Oldwadge laid out Pistorius legal strategy, reading
a statement from Pistorius in which he says the killing was an accident and that
there were inconsistencies in the states case, as well as an attempt to
introduce inadmissible character evidence to discredit him. In the statement,
Pistorius said he brought two fans in ffrom the balcony on the night of the
killing, after speaking to his girlfriend who was in bed beside him.
Cheap Penguins Jerseys. He said Steenkamp must have gone into the bathroom while he was fetching the fans. Pistorius said he did not notice that she had gone and
heard the bathroom window open. "I approached the bathroom, armed with my
firearm, so as to defend Reeva and I," Pistorius said in the statement. He said
he then heard a noise in the toilet, and was in a "fearful state" because he was
unable to run away or defend himself physically since he was not wearing his
prosthetic legs. "The state has embarked on a strategy to rely on
unsubstantiated allegations," he said, citing a neighbours testimony that an
argument had been heard in his home. According to Pistorius statement, other
neighbours living nearby said they had not heard any argument. He also cited
evidence provided by police detective Hilton Botha as "false in material
respects." In the courtroom, Pistorius was seated near Steenkamps mother, June.
She was quoted in the Pretoria News, which published an interview she gave to a
British newspaper, saying that she wants to see Pistorius. "I want to look at
Oscar, really look him in the eyes, and see for myself the truth about what he
did to Reeva," said June Steenkamp, 67. "Whatever the court decides at the end
of his trial, I will be ready to forgive him ... But first I want to force him
to look at me, Reevas mother, and see the pain and anguish he has inflicted on
me. I feel I need that." Reeva Steenkamp was a glamorous model and budding
reality TV show star when she was cut down at age 29. Earlier, a drone carrying
cameras flew over the entrance to the courthouse in grey, drizzly skies. Several
broadcasters massed live broadcast satellite trucks around the courthouse. A
24-hour cable channel devoted to covering the trial was launched in South Africa
on Sunday. If convicted on the murder charge, Pistorius could be sent to prison
for at least 25 years before the chance of parole, the minimum time someone must
serve if given a life sentence in South Africa. South Africa does not have the
death penalty. A lesser sentence is possible if Pistorius is found guilty of
murder but without premeditation. He also could be convicted of culpable
homicide, South Africas version of manslaughter in which someone is killed
through negligence. The additional firearms charges relate to him allegedly
shooting out of the sunroof of a car in one incident and another when he
allegedly fired a gun inside a restaurant, apparently by mistake. Ammunition
also was found at his house after the shooting that he allegedly did not have
proper licensing for. Judge Thokozile Masipa, hearing the biggest trial of her
career, will ultimately pronounce the champion runner innocent or guilty and
will decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Parts of the
trial will be broadcast on live television, both in South Africa and across the
world. A South African cable channel has been launched which will provide
24-hour coverage of the Pistorius trial, using commentators and prepared feature
stories when the court is not in session.
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