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Canada's Auger-Aliassime, Pospisil ousted in 4th round of U.S. Open – CBC.ca

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Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime saw his run at the U.S. Open end with a tough loss in straight sets Monday, but he hopes his performance on one of tennis’ biggest stages can help inspire other young Canadians.

The 20 year old battled No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria to a tiebreak in the first set of the round of 16 match on Monday. But he struggled in the second and third sets, committing 51 unforced errors in the 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-1 loss.

“I was able to come back well in the first, gave myself a chance to maybe win the first and then, you know, I missed at the important moments,” Auger-Aliassime told reporters after the match.

Thiem broke Auger-Aliassime five times in three sets.

“I feel like that really gave him confidence and hurt me more than it did anything,” the Canadian said. “Then from that, it was just tough. He was playing good, heavy, and I was just playing worse and worse.”

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime falls in straight sets to No. 2 seed 

Austria’s Dominic Thiem wasted no time in his 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1 victory over Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. 1:45

Auger-Aliassime came into the tournament as the No. 15 seed and is the first player born in the 2000s to make the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

He beat three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray in the second round.

There are a lot of positives to take from the first three matches, Auger-Aliassime said.

“I will try to see what I can learn and see what I can improve from this loss in particular, and I think I’ll focus on the good things that also happened this week and go from there,” he said.

Canadians have performed well at this year’s U.S. Open. Auger-Aliassime was one of a record three Canadian men to reach the round of 16.

“I hope it inspires kids from our country, from our respective provinces and cities, you know, just to show them that it’s possible,” he said. “We were showing that we’re a country that can be dominant in this sport. We have already shown with the finals last year in Davis Cup, but I think now we show that we can go deep in these tournaments.”

Pospisil falls in straight sets 

Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil also made the round of 16 before he was beaten in straight sets by No. 21 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia on Monday.

Pospisil, ranked 94th, said he was battling quadricep and abdominal strains when he failed to convert on four set points in the first set en route to a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 loss.

“I just tried to manage it but it impacted my serve the most out of all my strokes, so that was not ideal,” he told reporters after the match. “But it is what it is … It’s a Grand Slam so it’s very physical and at some point your body’s going to take a beating and I think it definitely affected me a little bit today.”

WATCH | Pospisil eliminated in 4th round at U.S. Open:

Australia’s Alex de Minaur defeated Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 in their fourth round match at the U.S. Open. 1:39

De Minaur broke Pospisil twice in the second set and rolled to victory, sending the 21 year old to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

De Minaur’s speed is difficult to keep up with, Pospisil said.

“What’s most impressive is that he never breaths,” he said with a laugh. “He runs side to side and he’s never out of breath. He defies the laws of biology, I guess. It’s pretty impressive but he’s definitely a freak of nature.”

Pospisil upset No. 25 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and No. 8 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain before his surprise run came to an end against de Minaur.

Shapovalov in action Tuesday 

No. 12 seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., remains in the tournament. He beat No. 7 seed David Goffin in four sets on Sunday night to set up a quarterfinal match against No. 20 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain on Tuesday.

Carreno Busta advanced when the top-ranked Novak Djokovic was kicked out of their match for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a tennis ball after dropping a game.

WATCH | Shapovalov, Bopanna ousted in U.S. Open doubles draw: 

Serena Williams came from behind to defeat Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. 1:18

Shapovalov is the first Canadian man in history to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Previously, Canadian men were 0-12 in the round of 16.

Earlier on Monday, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and American partner Alison Riske lost 6-4, 6-2 to Americans Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend in a women’s doubles quarterfinal on Monday.

In men’s doubles quartefinal action, Shapovalov and partner Rohan Bopanna of India lost 7-5, 7-5 to Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania on Monday.

Serena Williams advances to quarters

Serena Williams is into the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open for a 12th consecutive appearance.

It wasn’t easy, though.

Williams needed to come from behind in the third set before taking another step closer to Grand Slam title No. 24 by edging Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.

WATCH | Serena Williams tops Sakkari in rematch:

Novak Djokovic’s U.S. Open was cut short after he hit a line judge with a discarded tennis ball during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta. 4:17

This was a rematch from less than two weeks ago at the Western & Southern Open. That one was won by Sakkari, also in three sets, when Williams dealt with leg cramps and faded down the stretch.

This time, Williams was two points from victory at 6-all in the tiebreaker but dropped the next two points and the set. Then she trailed 2-0 in the third before turning things around.

Williams, who turns 39 in less than three weeks, will face unseeded opponent Tsvetana Pironkova — for a semifinal berth.

The American has won six of her 23 major singles championships at the U.S. Open.

Djokovic fined after hitting line judge with ball 

Novak Djokovic has been fined $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct at the U.S. Open, where he was defaulted for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball after losing a game.

That amount is half the $20,000 that a player can be docked for violating the unsportsmanlike conduct clause of the Grand Slam rule book.

Djokovic has also been docked an additional $7,500 for skipping the mandatory post-match news conference after being defaulted. 

The $10,000 is in addition to the $250,000 in prize money the U.S. Tennis Association said Djokovic would forfeit after being disqualified in the first set of his fourth-round match Sunday.

WATCH | Novak Djokovic drills line judge with ball:

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

___

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

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PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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