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MASON, Ohio -- Fresh off their inspired performances at the Rogers Cup, Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil are into the second round of the Western & Southern Open. Raonic, who dropped Sundays final in Montreal to Rafael Nadal, defeated Jack Sock 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night to advance at the tournament just outside Cincinnati. "Mentally I felt good, it was a bit about getting used to the conditions and the environment," Raonic said of his slow start against the American. "I stuck through it and in the second set I stayed positive and started to play a bit more aggressive. The 12th seed from Thornhill, Ont., Raonic lost to Sock in Memphis in February after winning in San Jose the previous week for the third year running. Raonic, now ranked a career-high 10th on the ATP Tour after beating Pospisil in the Rogers Cup semifinals, disposed of Sock in just under two hours. He will meet Serbias Janko Tipsarevic in the next round. "Tipsarevic will be a tough opponent," said Raonic. "Ive got to keep doing what Ive been doing, clean up my service games a bit and get better at closing it out." Pospisil, now also ranked a career-best at No. 40, advanced when Frances Gilles Simon retired with an injury. Simon was trailing 6-3, 1-1 when he ended the match. "It was a strange match," Pospisil said. "I started out well but I noticed that something was going on with him, I think it might have been the hip. "It was difficult to play from that point. It was fortunate for me and unfortunate for him." The Vernon, B.C., native needed just 36 minutes to sweep the opening set against Simon, who lost his fifth match in a row and hasnt won since mid-June. Pospisil faces Belgiums David Goffin in the next round. "The match will be tough and I dont see a clear favourite," Pospisil said. "Hes a dangerous player, very talented, and has beaten some top players. Well have to see." Meanwhile, defending mens champion and fifth-seeded Roger Federer advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over 29th-ranked Philipp Kohlschreiber. "It was just really important to play somewhat of a clean match," said Federer, who already has won a record five W&S championships and improved to 7-0 in his career against Kohlschreiber. "Straight sets is always a good match. Its a good win for me." John Isner defeated Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, and Grigor Dimitrov defeated Brian Baker 6-3, 6-2. Third-seeded David Ferrer edged Ryan Harrison 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4. On the womens side, Maria Sharapovas return to WTA tournament play after more than a month away was short-lived following an upset loss to 17th-ranked American Sloane Stephens 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. In a match that lasted two hours 22 minutes, Stephens overcame double faults on two match points to pick up her first victory over Sharapova in four meetings. "It definitely started out rough," Stephens said. "A set and 0-2, she was killing it. Im glad I was able to turn it around and start playing good tennis." Sharapova, the 2011 W&S champion and a 2010 finalist, showed no traces of the hip injury that had kept her sidelined since a second-round loss at Wimbledon. "I thought I started the match off pretty well, but when you put yourself in a really good position, you cant let it go," Sharapova said. "Thats what I did tonight. I didnt continue what I was doing well for the first set and a half, and that hurt me. "You know, I stopped being patient. I started making a lot more errors, especially off the first ball -- just errors that I shouldnt make. Obviously I havent played in a long time, but I cant make that excuse for myself because Ive got to be ready from the first match. So its obviously disappointing, but thats the way it goes in this game." Jimmy Connors, who won the tournament 41 years ago, watched from the stands in his first match as Sharapovas coach. She hired Connors, the 1972 champion and a 1986 finalist, in mid-July. Fourteenth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, the 2009 champion and 2011 runner-up, advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2 win over Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisiski. In earlier action, second-seeded Victoria Azarenka held off an upset bid by qualifier Vania King to pull out a 6-1, 7-6 (6) win and advance to the third round. Azarenka rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second set to force the tiebreaker against the 140th-ranked American. Azarenka, who has been bothered by a lower back injury, won her first match since losing to Samantha Stosur in the finals of the Southern California Open two weeks ago. "I think the beginning of the second set wasnt very good for me," Azarenka said. "There were quite a few unforced errors and just really fast mistakes, which didnt happen in the first set." Varvara Lepchenko advanced with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta, and Jamie Hampton needed three sets to overcome Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Alize Cornet rallied past Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4. Sorana Cirstea, the 21st-ranked Romanian who lost to No. 1 Serena Williams in the finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday, withdrew from her first-round match against Yanina Wickmayer. Cirstea was replaced by No. 43 Monica Niculescu, who lost in this past weekends qualifying but stayed around in case a spot opened up in the singles main draw and to play doubles. The Romanian capitalized on her second chance with a 6-1, 6-2 win over the 58th-ranked Wickmayer. No. 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki easily advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Shuai Peng. Nike Shoes Australia Online .Y. - Sven Andrighetto scored once and set up two more as the Hamilton Bulldogs hung on to defeat the host Adirondack Flames 5-3 on Tuesday in American Hockey League action. Cheap Nike Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . The Canadians led for much of the game before Argentina forced overtime in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Canada weathered the storm after squandering a lead with a series of made shots. "Its a fantastic win for our country with 11 first-time Canadian national team members," said head coach Roy Rana. http://www.nikeshoesaustraliacheap.com/ . Patton was placed on the restricted list testing positive for a banned amphetamine. Patton took Adderall, a drug commonly used to combat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, late in the 2013 season and then was given a random drug test. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia . Early in the first period, Stuart pinched in from the blue line, hit Nash and was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing. Nash remained in the game for the rest of the first period, but did not return for the second. Nike Shoes Australia Sale . - Because they didnt go into Beast Mode, the Seattle Seahawks found themselves in Spin Mode.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Red Wings hope to return to the win column when they host the struggling Dallas Stars in Thursdays battle at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won its season-high fourth straight game on Sunday, beating Vancouver to open its current four-game homestand. The Red Wings, however, lost for just the second time in eight games when it dropped a 4-3 regulation decision Tuesday against Florida. The Red Wings grabbed an early lead on Tomas Tatars power-play tally less than seven minutes into the first period, but the Panthers answered with four straight goals to take control of the game. Florida pushed its lead to 4-1 just 27 seconds into the third period. The Red Wings cut the deficit to one after goals from Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist, but were unable to draw even. Hockey is an honest and fair game and you have to be honest with your work preparation, said Detroit head coach Mike Babcock. As a coaching staff we have to do a better job of getting the guys prepared. Datsyuk posted a goal and an assist, giving him five points (5 goals, 1 assist) in the last four games. The Russian star has 17 points on 10 goals and seven assists in 14 games this season. Jimmy Howard allowed four goals on 31 shots in the loss. He is expected to sttart tonight and owns a 7-5-2 record and 2.dddddddddddd0 goals against average in his career against Dallas. Detroit has won three of four and seven of the past nine meetings with the Stars, but Dallas has claimed two of three in the Motor City. The Stars hope to halt a three-game slide tonight after dropping the first two tests of a three-game road trip. Dallas lost 5-2 at Colorado on Saturday before losing 5-3 in Tuesdays tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs jumped out to a 3-0 lead Tuesday and held on for the victory. Jason Spezza, Ryan Garbutt and Ales Hemsky each lit the lamp for the Stars, while Kari Lehtonen made 35 stops in defeat. Thats disappointing, Lehtonen said. I cant let five goals in every night. Lehtonen is 5-6-0 with a 3.19 GAA in his career against Detroit. Alex Goligoski recorded two assists in the loss, while Tyler Seguin had a four-game point streak snapped despite firing six shots on goal. Seguin is leading the NHL with 18 goals and is third in the league with 31 points. Dallas has lost three straight in regulation as the guest and is 5-6-0 on the road this season. After completing their swing tonight, the Stars will play three straight at home, beginning with Saturdays test against Montreal. ' ' '