Michael Dechy brought his ninth athlete to participate in The American Legion’s Junior 3-Position Air Rifle Championship in Colorado Springs The Legionnaire and retired Marine master sergeant is an instructor for the Freeport (Ill.) High School NJROTC and has been teaching air rifle for 16 years A few of his athletes have placed in the Legion’s Junior 3-Position Air Rifle Championship – Emma Thompson was the 2016 sporter winner and Gabriel Palmero was the 2015 runner-up in sporter the kids (about 105 cadets) practice a couple times a week.” The American Legion spoke with Dechy about his why to teaching youth marksmanship and his continuous participation in The American Legion program The American Legion: What does air rifle teach young athletes that you like Dechy: (Air rifle) teaches them a little bit of hardship – they have to work to get anything They have to apply the five fundamentals of marksmanship (aiming have personal discipline and personal self-control Those are the three words I have on a banner in our range Accuracy because everything in life requires accuracy we make sure they’re controlling their sugar intake Question: Why do you continue to have your athletes participate in The American Legion’s air rifle program Dechy: We like The American Legion program because first off it gives the kids another opportunity to compete and because we’ve gotten so many kids into this the kids look forward to competing because they really want to get in The kids (who participate) go back and say ‘hey Some of these kids have never traveled before One year I brought three kids and of the three kids They get to come here and see a five-star event And what I like about The American Legion is that everybody affiliated with The American Legion is a polished mature individual that sets a great example for the kids It also validates everything that we’re teaching them; they get to see it not just from me The opportunity for the kids to actually get this far they go back and tell everyone what it’s all about ‘I’m going to go next year and do everything I can.’ So it helps them to focus (Thompson graduated from the Universisty of Illinois and is now attending flight school in Pensacola He used his money from (The American Legion Junior 3-Position Air Rifle Championships) to get an aviation certificate at Rockford College and he does all the GreenStar satellite communication with the tractors  Participating in The American Legion program The American Legion provides a pathway for these kids to see a sophisticated system that is full of checks and balances and accuracy and making sure that everyone is fair and playing by the rules The American Legion National Headquarters:  Subscribe to The American Legion's e-newsletters to receive important updates and special offers tailored for veterans and their families FREEPORT — More than 100 cadets in the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) participated in the fall award ceremony where many freshmen received their pins for the first time “Our first award ceremony is very important to our new cadets who receive team awards and their first ribbons and for our returning cadets this is a time when they add to their accomplishments,” said Deja Pickett and Drill Teams during an awards ceremony Wednesday in the cafeteria at Freeport High School Commander and Commanding Officer Araceli Matamoros began the ceremony by leading her officers into the room Young cadets followed as their parents and other members of the community stood “NJROTC is about leadership and is a student-led program,” Matamoros said “This is a special night for all of us and what we are all about is becoming good leaders.” Matamoros said that since the beginning of the school year cadets have been busy with community projects service competitions and other team events The freshman pins are earned through competitions and community service 13 of the students were promoted to cadet,” Dechy said and for many of the freshmen it is special to get ranked up.” Radick had no idea she was to receive the award and stood at attention as it was presented to her “I feel proud,” Radick said after receiving the distinction “It feels like all my hard work and dedication paid off Jane Lethlean; jlethlean1210@gmail.com; @DOGWMN2 countrywoman Ana Ivanovic narrowly avoided the same fate after tenaciously clawing her way back from two match points down against Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy was pushed to the brink by the 97th-ranked Dechy before prevailing 6-7 The key moment of a fraught encounter on No1 Court came at 4-5 in the second set when Ivanovic struck a forehand long to bring up two match points for Dechy Ivanovic saved the first with a bold forehand winner but it took a stroke of outrageous fortune on the second to keep her in the hunt a forehand approach striking the net tape and hovering interminably in the air before plopping on to Dechy's side of the court "My heart skipped a beat because the ball was in the air for a while and I didn't know where it was going to bounce," said Ivanovic "Once it went on her side I couldn't believe it It was really lucky and from that point on I thought of the match as my second chance." It was to prove a decisive reprieve for Ivanovic but not before her opponent had extended a match of innumerable twists and turns to a thrilling finale A denouement peppered with incident saw Dechy fight back to level from 5-3 down only to be forced to replay a point after losing her cap mid-volley hit in the head by a ferociusly-struck drive a ball girl mirrored the combatants by hardly flinching If there is a debate about equal prize money 24-minute epic surely settled it once and for all It was a brilliantly courageous performance from Dechy and with three grand slam doubles titles in the locker The Frenchwoman knows her way around a singles court having reached a career high of 11th in the world in January 2006 twelve months after coming within two points of the Australian Open final which makes her performance against the newly-crowned No1 all the more remarkable was frequently compelled to stretch strength and sinew to breaking point merely to stay in the rallies at all But despite falling 5-2 behind in the first set and for all Ivanovic's ferocity off the ground the experienced Frenchwoman refused to be overwhelmed by either the occasion or her more celebrated opponent which she won on a tie-break with minimal fuss It was perhaps inevitable that she would suffer some form of let-down and it coincided with a brief resurgence from Ivanovic that carried the Serb to a 3-1 second-set lead Dechy fighting back to reach double match point before Ivanovic retrieved the situation eventually sealing the tie-break with a service winner The curtain finally fell on an afternoon of high drama when Dechy serving to stay in the match in the 18th game of a titanic final set was unable to reach a stinging forehand from Ivanovic who promptly kissed the net in recognition of its role in what she later called "an amazing match." Results: Elena Dementieva (5) beat Maria Camerin 6-3 6-7(7) 6-3 Casey Dellacqua beat Pauline Parmentier 1-6 6-2 6-3 Nicole Vaidisova (18) beat Samantha Stosur 6-2 0-6 6-4 Ana Ivanovic (1) beat Nathalie Dechy 6-7(2) 7-6(3) 10-8 Svetlana Kuznetsova (4) beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 6-3 Marion Bartoli (11) beat Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2 7-5 Serena Williams (6) beat Urszula Radwanska 6-4 6-4 Anabel Medina Garrigues beat Francesca Schiavone (20) 3-6 7-5 9-7 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Li Na 6-2 6-4 Amelie Mauresmo (29) beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6 6-1 6-1 Anna Chakvetadze (8) beat Edina Gallovits 6-4 6-2 Bethanie Mattek beat Vera Dushevina 7-6 6-4 Agnes Szavay (15) beat Monica Niculescu 5-7 7-5 6-2 Ai Sugiyama and Shinobu Asagoe continued their success in the first week at Wimbledon demonstrating the growing strength of female Japanese players on the professional circuit Sugiyama avenged her defeat by Nathalie Dechy of France at Eastbourne last week 6-4 on Friday to claim a place in the fourth round of Wimbledon The result equaled her best showing at the All England Club Fellow Japanese Shinobu Asagoe also won her third-round match on Friday defeating Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-5 It's her first time through to the fourth round 8 seed Jennifer Capriati on Saturday in her third-round match 13 seeded Sugiyama had to battle for her victory After exchanging breaks of serve in the opening two games each struggled to gain an edge in the 50-minute first set Sugiyama had the best opportunity at 2-2 when she led 40-0 on Dechy's serve and then earned a fourth break point before the Frenchwoman held Sugiyama broke to lead 5-4 when Dechy hit a crosscourt backhand wide but even then she had to fight off two break points as she served out for the set Part-owner of a company called Belly Button Sugiyama then fought hard to earn a 1-0 lead in the second set She took the game on her fifth break point And although she immediately surrendered her own serve in the next game The next two games also went against serve before Sugiyama held to lead 4-2 who won her first career title on Australia's Gold Coast in January and enjoys wine and chocolate in her free time continued to keep Sugiyama under pressure with some solid groundstrokes But she was unable to recover the final break of serve and Sugiyama went on to serve out to love and claim her fifth victory over Dechy in six meetings England — They're still counting casualties back home and so when Zheng Jie completed the biggest victory of her career Friday at Wimbledon she resisted any temptation to leap or squeal or pump her fist or collapse to the grass in glee friends and fans in China could do the same It was the latest in a series of first-week upsets and one easy to applaud because Zheng is a native of Chengdu the capital of earthquake-stricken Sichuan province "Of course I hope to make people happy with my win," Zheng said meant the earliest exit by a top-ranked woman at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis lost in the first round in 2001 Ivanovic nearly departed in the second round Zheng was watching on TV when the Serb won a reprieve Wednesday by skipping a forehand off the net cord to save match point Depending on results in the second week of the tournament the 20-year-old Ivanovic could lose the No 1 ranking she earned for the first time by winning the French Open three weeks ago She was gracious in defeat and said she's still learning how to play on grass "Sometimes you need a punch to realize what you have to work on," she said "You have to accept that not every shot you're going to hit is going to be perfect There are going to be quite a few bad bounces That's something I found a little bit hard to deal with." Capricious hops mean unpredictable results and Ivanovic followed to the sideline fellow Serb Novak Djokovic two-time runner-up Andy Roddick and second-ranked Maria Sharapova the upset trend didn't apply to top-ranked Roger Federer who won his 37th consecutive match at Wimbledon by beating Marc Gicquel 6-3 seeking his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title the only other former champion to enter the men's draw the last player to beat Federer at Wimbledon the worst showing by Americans at Wimbledon since 1926 "Obviously it's discouraging," Reynolds said That's not something we like to tip our hats to." The situation was less gloomy for Americans on the women's side who has never previously won more than one match at a Grand Slam event advanced to the fourth round by beating 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli 6-4 "This is a pretty amazing feeling," Mattek said "It was pretty cool being able to beat the finalist last year." Mattek will next play two-time champion Serena Williams who defeated 2006 champ Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 (5) Four-time champion Venus Williams is scheduled to play her third-round match Saturday Also advancing was fourth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova who can overtake Ivanovic in the rankings by reaching the final 2 Jelena Jankovic can do so by reaching the semifinals The first rain delay of the tournament only postponed Ivanovic's departure She struggled to put her service returns in play and found herself fooled repeatedly by bounces on the grass which forced her to hit shots from awkward stances Two days after her great escape against Dechy Ivanovic found herself again one point from defeat standing on the same court on the same side of the same net — the one she kissed to celebrate her reprieve took a big swing — and shanked the ball into the stands Ivanovic conceded her new role as the world's top player has been an education "It was all new situations," Ivanovic said "Everyone's going to be so pumped against you." mounting a career comeback after she missed much of last year with an ankle injury but she has been at the forefront of her nation's emergence in tennis Zheng reached the round of 16 at the French Open the best showing by a Chinese woman in a major event she and doubles teammate Yan Zi became the first Chinese players to win a Grand Slam title They also won the doubles title at Wimbledon in 2006 when Zheng climbed as high as 27th in the singles rankings Zheng played at the Olympics in 2004 and will play singles and doubles for the home country at Beijing in August The Olympic tournament will be on hard-court even though she said there's no lawn tennis in China and she had the 6-foot-1 Ivanovic bending low for balls She said her family and friends were able to watch despite the devastation resulting from the May 12 earthquake which killed almost 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless where she reached the third round and sent her prize money home "After Wimbledon I want to go back to do some more to support them in my city," she said Not that Zheng needs more motivation to win Wimbledon but the women's champion receives $1.5 million Associated Press Writer Rob Harris contributed to this report Hingis on collision course (Staff) Updated: 2006-02-03 10:07 China's oil consumption, imports decreased in 2005 Pentagon seeks to curb China's military might Gas blast in Shanxi mine kills at least 23 Villagers test negative for H5N1 virus Yao edges Kobe as top All-Star votegetter Post-festival rush jams railway stations You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Australia - Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the Australian Open women's doubles title on Friday in their first tournament together as a partnership Not only had Mattek-Sands and Safarova never played together before the first Grand Slam of the year we didn't even really know which side we were going to play," Mattek-Sands said It marked the first time a new pairing had won a Grand Slam title since Nathalie Dechy of France and Russia's Dinara Safina captured the 2007 U.S a 29-year-old from Wisconsin known for her adventurous tennis outfits and multi-hued hair was out for six months last year while recovering from hip surgery and wasn't sure she would play doubles at Melbourne Park 'Let's play Australian Open.' I know some teams kind of plan for the year a little bit," she said I want to get a chance to see how my hip felt The two came together in the off-season because Safarova's coach is friends with Mattek-Sands' husband "I had some partners where it took really a long time to find a good combination and to play well but I think we pretty much (clicked) right away a Czech player who has had more success in singles reaching the Wimbledon semifinals last year Even though they didn't know each other's playing styles they bonded in the locker room over tea each morning "We would get our Earl Grey," Mattek-Sands said It's the first Grand Slam trophy for the Czech player Mattek-Sands previously won the 2012 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Romanian Horia Tecau Asked whether she and Safarova had made plans to play again "We actually haven't even talked about it yet." responded: "Would you like to play with me?" 1 Marat Safin sent third seed Novak Djokovic crashing out of Wimbledon on Wednesday while Serbian compatriot Ana Ivanovic narrowly escaped the same All England Club black hole a US Open and Australian Open champion during his glory days before a slump sent his career into freefall had to save two match points in extraordinary circumstances to see off France’s experienced Nathalie Dechy 6-7 (2/7) There were no such dramas for five-time men’s champion Roger Federer 1’s seventh win in seven meetings with the 23-year-old Swede and the comfortable manner of his victory would have been aided by having seen dangerman Djokovic removed from his side of the draw Federer will next meet France’s Marc Gicquel for a place in the fourth round who had reached the third round at least in his last nine Grand Slam appearances sent down 10 double faults and 28 unforced errors Safin goes on to face Italian 29th seed Andreas Seppi for a place in the last 16 Djokovic was almost joined on the scrapheap by world No who saw off 29-year-old Dechy in a three-and-a-half-hour thriller and will now face China’s Zheng Jie for a place in the fourth round Ivanovic admitted that she was fortunate to escape after a lucky netcord on the second match point in the 10th game of the second set saw the ball flop onto Dechy’s side of the net When I saw the ball roll over the net on the second match point I thought that was my second chance,” Ivanovic said “My heart missed a beat when it went on the other side.” it will be her lucky day,” the 29-year-old Frenchwoman said Former double champion Serena Williams moved on with a 6-4 6-4 win over Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska and will next face 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo of France Mauresmo defeated Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 4-6 Australia’s 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt saw off Spain’s Albert Montanes 7-6 (7/4) who put out Chilean 15th seed Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (10/8) Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer defeated Russia’s Igor Andreev 3-6 Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and US player Mashona Washington were beaten 6-1 6-2 by Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung lost 4-6 6-4 to Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and Darya Kustova of Belarus Former Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport was forced to withdraw yesterday because of a knee injury Davenport had been due to face Argentina’s Gisela Dulko in the second round Dulko receives a walkover into the last 16 where she will play either Russia’s Elena Dementieva or Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland FREEPORT — The Freeport High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps' air rifle marksmanship team is not just one of the best in a conference The team took fifth place in the JROTC all-service championship last weekend in Ohio the team in February finished second in the Navy competition “It’s kind of surreal because you never grow up thinking I’m going to be second in the nation on an air rifle team,'” senior Makiyah Stacy said “It’s just something that never crosses our mind.” A high national rank is nothing new for the team which is the current Illinois High School Rifle League champion and has won two major competitions at Camp Perry The team has ranked as one of the top 10 in the country for the last six years “I love to see the kids excel,” Dechy said “I like to see when we go to these competitions and other teams go The team’s sustained success can be attributed to an understanding of the fundamentals Older students pass down their knowledge to underclassmen “We have pointers that we can get from these higher-ups,” she said “We’re definitely a tight-knit family here.” Individual team members have had plenty of success Dechy estimated that team members have combined to win more than 50 individual competitions over the last few years One of the team’s most successful shooters is senior Emma Thompson who has won major 14 competitions since her sophomore year She is the currently the individual score record holder and JROTC all-service national champion “I never go in expecting to win,” Thompson said “I know that it’s going to take all the work I put into it and I’m going to have to shoot a good score to win But I go in trying to do the best that I possibly can.” The air rifle season starts in August and does not finish until July The team still has four more major tournaments on the horizon There are about 20 NJROTC cadets on the team and it costs about $15,000 each year to operate the team Funding comes mostly from team member fees and fundraising while students have to pay for their own airfare to competitions that sometimes take them as far as Arizona The team does not receive funding from the school district Derrick Mason: 815-232-0133; derrick.mason@journalstandard.com; @derrickhmason Send checks to Freeport High School NJROTC air rifle team bring a cadet from an orienteering team along for the ride Four cadets on the Freeport High School NJROTC orienteering team competed in the first Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps National Orienteering Championships in Rutledge Freeport was one of six schools invited to compete Orienteering is a sport that tests land navigation skills by using a topographical map and compass Senior Jamie Colvin is on the orienteering team “I went to basic leadership training two summers ago and that’s what we did (orienteering).” I was interested and came to practice and got more people to join.” Sergeant Major Michael Dechy accompanied the group to the Georgia competition “We stagger the start times — every two minutes we send somebody out They look at a map and they choose the best route to use that takes them through the least amount of underbrush,” he said The four cadets competed against more than 250 people Colvin finished 32 and sophomore Natasha Sargent finished in the top 100 “Orienteering is a confidence skill (and) it’s a leadership skill,” Dechy said The sport is a combination of mental and physical endurance Courses contain geographical features such as hilltops There are a number of points competitors have to find Each point was located within a 100 meter (328 feet) radius Cadets are given topographical clues to find these points All four said they joined because they like the outdoors they added that getting muddy was another incentive Cadets do not walk at a leisurely pace — they jog “It’s very physical you run the whole course it’s like a cross country course with a map and you take your map and you go point to point,” Dechy said Freeport High School Orienteering cadets literally know the lay of the land like the back of their hand Dechy and the cadets explain different geographical features by pointing to features of the hand such as the knuckles to represent a “ridge line” or series of hilltops Cadets point to the dips between the knuckles to represent a “saddle” or terrain between two hilltops they space out their fingers to represent terrain leading away from a hilltop running stairs and trekking through different courses set up in places like Krape Park or on school grounds Dechy has even set up courses on his farm to keep cadets on their toes in unfamiliar territory Because competitions are far and wide the team tries to make at least five competitions a year “It’s a lot of traveling that’s another reason it’s tough to do A confident Ana Ivanovic scored an upset victory over third seeded Vera Zvonareva on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the J&S Cup Unseeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne also struggled in heavy conditions following early morning rain but overcame Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-3 who has leapt from 705 in the rankings at the beginning of the 2004 season to 37 took advantage of an opponent who has now lost in the opening round in four of her eight tournaments this year Following her first career title in Australia in January and recent upset of US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in Miami the Serb played far more consistently than Zvonareva I adapted pretty well," said Ivanovic of the chill and heavy court to attack her and get a little bit into court and get her on the move Henin-Hardenne acknowledged a loss of concentration as she battled to avoid being taken to a third set by the resourceful Vento-Kabchi and found some sharp angles to force her opponent wide Six of the first seven games of the second set went against serve before Henin-Hardenne broke for 6-5 by forcing a backhand error But she still needed to defend three break points before closing out the match with a service winner "I lost my concentration for sure in the second set but I just kept a good attitude," Henin-Hardenne said "I kept fighting and finally I came through with very good serves at the end of the match." When I woke up this morning I knew it was going to be hard because it was very difficult to hit the ball hard and be aggressive It was very slow and was raining just a little bit and it's not easy to play in these conditions Henin-Hardenne will next play fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder after the Swiss resisted a second-set fightback from Ukrainian qualifier Julia Vakulenko Rain drove the players from the court at 5-2 in the first set When they returned to an almost empty stadium but took a 2-0 lead in the second before Schnyder rallied to win 6-2 Ivanovic will face sixth-seeded Nathalie Dechy of France Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko was knocked out of the tournament top-seeded David Nalbandian advanced to the quarterfinals Second-seeded Davydenko of Russia was upset by Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 6-1 and Croatia's Ancic was surprised by Finland's Jarkko Nieminen Wayne Arthurs of Australia ousted Andreev of Russia 6-4 and Juan Monaco of Argentina overcame Paradorn of Thailand 7-6 (12) Monaco's victory lined him up against Nalbandian who cruised past Australian qualifier Peter Luczak 6-2 Fourth-seeded Tommy Haas defeated Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-3 and the lone German to make it past the first round will play Arthurs in the quarterfinals "I had to use my best shots," Haas said after beating Lee Haas was feeling the pressure to become the first German champion since Michael Stich 11 years ago "It's a special tournament for me because my family and many friends live here," said Haas Qualifier Michal Mertinak of Slovakia defeated Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-3 6-0 to set up a quarterfinal against Nieminen while Sluiter will face fifth-seeded Andrei Pavel of Romania who beat Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands 6-1 Top-seeded Carlos Moya beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5 In a tense match lasting almost three hours between the two former French Open champions Moya clinched the first set when his return shot struck the top of the net and bounced out of Ferrero's reach Ferrero broke Moya's serve twice in the second set and took a 4-2 lead before Moya broke back and pulled level at 4-4 Ferrero went on to save three match points and The final set was level until Moya broke Ferrero's serve in the ninth game and then served for the match "I was expecting a match like this," Moya said fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo struggled to get the upper hand over unseeded Santiago Ventura Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu also advanced with a 6-1 Italy rallied form a set down to defeat Spain's Albert Costa 5-7 second-seeded Dinara Safina took less than an hour to beat Ukraine's Katerina Bondarenko 6-2 Michaella Krajicek was one set ahead and 5-3 up in the second set before Lucie Safarova began her fightback to win 3-6 Mariana Diaz-Oliva of Argentina ousted Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-2 and American Jill Craybas defeated Slovakia's Ludmila Cervanova 6-4 FREEPORT — Athletes are always in pursuit of records they usually take a little time to bask in their accomplishments Whether it’s a victory lap or a simple fist-pump set the new national record for air rifle marksmanship in the sporter class with a score of 575 in July she didn’t even know what she had accomplished “I didn’t know until I was done and someone congratulated me in the bathroom,” Thompson said Thompson, a member of the Freeport High School Navy Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps rifle marksmanship team She didn’t just set the national record for juniors There are about 250,000 juniors and another 100,000 adults who compete in air rifle Aside from setting the American Legion national record for sporter class and winning the national championship in July Thompson was also the 2016 Civilian Marksmanship Program national air rifle champion She holds four national records at the junior level and has won $5,000 in scholarship money so far Lindsey Strohacker and Elizabeth Woitynek were the 2016 Junior Olympic national champions Thompson is remaining focused on her teammates  “I’m just staying dedicated to my team and seeing how far we can go as an air rifle team instead of just one person competing for goals,” she said Thompson said she is considering joining the military She said one of the biggest misconceptions about NJROTC programs are that they are similar to boot camp and that participants have to join the military Dechy said the rifle programs start in August each year and run for 11 months The team practices twice a week and competes once or twice a month The team, which has 24 members, doesn't receive any financial support from the district. They use a combination of fundraising, grants from the NRA donations from veterans groups and the support of Whitetails Unlimited Morse Electric and Winter Construction Group for funding Derrick Mason: 815-232-0133; derrick.mason@journalstandard.com; @derrickhmason FREEPORT — Amia Demuth said she joined NJROTC at Freeport High School after she watched her older brother Evan Demuth excel gaining leadership skills and self-discipline as he rose through the ranks Amia Demuth has it and she credits NJROTC and its activities for helping her succeed.  In February, Demuth was named a national champion at the Navy National Air Rifle Championships, becoming the 10th national champion in school history Related: Freeport High School senior earns U.S. Air Force Academy appointment The national championship was held in Aniston She will move on to compete in the ROTC Air Rifle Championship March 17-19 at Camp Perry in Clinton Demuth will compete against all other branches of service for ROTC “I am proud of my accomplishments by being part of NJROTC at my school,” Demuth said “Being the national champion for the Navy ROTC is something I aspired to do when I was a freshman.” Demuth said she had dedicated her life to her unit at the school She said she is proud to be a “dedicated citizen,” which has her involved in community service to help others at her school and community she will begin basic training with the National Guard She is currently participating in weekend drills each month hoping to gain more when she becomes a fully active member of the National Guard She plans to attend Eastern Illinois University she plans to enlist in the Army with an aspiration to become an Army helicopter pilot Demuth said one of the biggest challenges was controlling her breathing when the pressure was on “It was me against myself,” she said one of the instructors for NJROTC at Freeport High School Amia’s accomplishments speak for themselves and she sets an extraordinary example for her team," Dechy said "She sets a high bar for all members of our air rifle team.” Dechy said there are 24 shooters on the team Also competing for NJROTC at the All-Service competition in Ohio is Abigail Manson who came in 13th at the Navy nationals “Competing in the air rifle category is all about mental preparedness and breath control,” Manson said “I am excited to see what I can do at the All-Service ROTC Competition Jane Lethlean is a freelance correspondent PARIS — Imagine this: The third tour-level match of your professional tennis career is against Rafael Nadal in a 9,950-seat stadium at the French Open You know all about his recently snapped 81-match winning streak on clay The two consecutive titles at Roland Garros the qualifier from Italy who lived the above scenario Thursday "I had seen him on TV," the 227th-ranked Cipolla said "But playing him really makes an impression." Nadal built his current reaching the French Open's third round by beating the wide-eyed Cipolla 6-2 6-4 on a day that the often surprise-filled Grand Slam tournament played to form That's not to say there weren't some tough moments fell behind 3-0 in the second set before beating Milagros Sequera of Venezuela 6-0 7-6 (3) in a match pushed back a day because of darkness who counts the 2002 French Open among her eight Grand Slam titles "I didn't feel like I played my best tennis throughout the whole match I was kind of struggling out there to get the rhythm — maybe because I had too many days off." Sharapova didn't get much time to rest her problematic shoulder but her only complaint after beating Jill Craybas of the United States 6-2 6-1 was that she sometimes feels like "a cow on ice" while on clay Craybas held three break points at love-40 won the next 11 points en route to taking 10 games in a row Craybas finally won another game — a development that drew wild cheers from the crowd which she acknowledged by raising her arms and smiling meekly "I don't think she was hitting her serve 100 percent," Craybas said "Pretty much doing second serves all the time." who acknowledges she feels more pressure playing at home needed three sets to get past another Frenchwoman then credited a nearly two-hour rain delay with allowing her to compose herself Kuznetsova fell behind 5-0 against Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States dropping the first two sets against 2004 French Open champion Gaston Gaudio But Hewitt's 20 aces and Gaudio's 13 double faults helped change the match's complexion and the 14th-seeded Australian put together a 4-6 I was just trying to get that third set under my belt I wasn't even thinking about the fourth or the fifth," Hewitt said "It was the same in the fourth set — just thinking about that set." He made 25 unforced errors in the first two sets then only 19 the rest of the way in his fourth career comeback from a 2-0 deficit The French Open is the only major at which Hewitt's never reached a final If he's even going to get that far this time he'll probably need to beat Nadal in the fourth round "Some people think that Hewitt could compete with Nadal." Very few people have been able to truly compete with — much less beat — Nadal on red clay He went more than two years without losing on the surface until Roger Federer won their Hamburg Masters final in May That result "gave Federer and everybody else something to believe," said Djokovic a quarterfinalist in Paris last year who beat the 312th-ranked Laurent Recouderc of France 6-3 "You believe more that we can beat this guy on this surface." The only man ranked lower than Recouderc left in the draw was Cipolla and he didn't necessarily sound afterward as if he believed he had much of a shot against Nadal Cipolla is accustomed to playing in front of crowds in the hundreds at minor league events and the only victory on his official tour record came Wednesday at Roland Garros when his opponent quit with an injury So who could blame the 23-year-old for looking around and smiling as he walked onto Court Suzanne Lenglen the ball bounced into the stands about 12 feet above the court and smacked a spectator in the head (the man was ushered away then returned to his seat a few games later) While Cipolla heads home to Italy for a local tournament Nadal will try to keep adding to his new streak on clay "I'm playing better and better every day," Nadal said Roddick in cruise controlThe Associated PressMELBOURNE Australia - His place in the Australian Open semifinals secured Andy Roddick was off to the air-conditioned comfort of the casino and hoping for luck at the blackjack table 4-1 when Nikolay Davydenko retired from their quarterfinal after just 1 hour 35 minutes Wednesday because he was having trouble breathing That was less time than Roddick's semifinal opponent needed for the fifth set alone before getting past Argentina's David Nalbandian 6-3 ''I don't have many miles on me so far in this tournament,'' Roddick said Hewitt has spent more than 14¶ hours playing through five matches But Roddick knows what Hewitt's been through He reached the Australian Open semifinals in 2003 losing to Rainer Schuettler after he had ended a quarterfinal victory over Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui with the longest fifth set (in games) in Grand Slam history at 21-19 ''The only other time I got to this stage at the Australian Open I felt like I was going to fall over walking out for my semifinal match,'' Roddick said didn't expect to be falling over against anyone Asked if he doubted himself against Nalbandian whom he beat in a lopsided 2002 Wimbledon final One spectator responded in a genuine Aussie twang: ''You're a legend Hewitt's marathon win ensured the top four seeded men made the semifinals at the Australian Open for the first time since 1988 and at any Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Wimbledon in 1995 4 Marat Safin met in the Australian final last year and face off again in the semifinals Thursday night The women's semifinals on Thursday match top-ranked Lindsay Davenport against France's Nathalie Dechy in a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final Davenport looked frustrated at times as she committed 40 unforced errors before overcoming Australia's Olympic bronze medalist Alicia Molik 7-5 to gain her first Grand Slam semifinal ''There were a lot of ups and downs out here,'' Davenport said ''I felt I was really lucky - after failing to finish it off at 5-4 She had a lot of momentum and I'm not sure exactly how I was able to get it back.'' While both women's quarterfinals lasted exactly the same time - 2:33 - Davenport then headed back out to advance to the doubles final with Corina Morariu in a three-set semifinal victory ''It's my partner's birthday,'' said Davenport bidding for her first major singles title since winning here in 2000 Hewitt lived up to his ''Aussie battler'' tag fourth-round win over Spain's Rafael Nadal had Hewitt limping again after the second set against Nalbandian He compensated so much that he needed treatment on his left thigh during a medical timeout after the fourth set ''I gave everything I had out there,'' Hewitt said ''Yet again I was able to come through in the clutch situations.'' While Roddick has had low mileage at Melbourne Park Hewitt still thinks he has enough left to win their semifinal He's 4-1 against Roddick and hasn't lost to him on a hard court ''He's got an advantage: He's in bed already tonight,'' Hewitt said Roddick has spent his down time at the casino and figures he's won more than $4,000 so far He planned to watch Hewitt's match later Wednesday on a television set next to the blackjack table Hewitt opened a 2-0 lead with a break in the first and two more in the second set against Nalbandian But as fireworks cracked loudly over Rod Laver Arena from Australia Day celebrations at the nearby Federation Square Hewitt lost four consecutive service games and Nalbandian rallied to tie at two sets apiece Hewitt dug in and didn't face a break point in the deciding set before finally breaking Nalbandian's serve in the 17th game rifling a forehand winner down the line at 11:53 p.m - seven minutes before the end of the national holiday Hewitt and Nalbandian stared in disbelief and argued with umpire Mohamed Lahyani over an unusually high number of overrules Nalbandian seemed to be irritated by Hewitt's cries of ''Come on!'' and when Hewitt brushed shoulders with him during the crossover at 3-2 in the second set ''He brought it on himself a little bit,'' said Hewitt ''He sort of propped and waited for a bit of a shoulder Freeport High School NJROTC rifle marksmanship team at Freeport High School has reached a milestone this season The team of 14 students has moved up from the bottom five percent two years ago to the top ten percent of all Navy Marksmanship Programs in the nation is nationally ranked in the top five percent In January the team took third place at an invitational at East Aurora High School Freeport junior Ray Colon won an individual high shooter medal at the invitational Micheal Dechy is very proud of the team’s achievements Dechy is a former Marine rifle expert and this is his first year coaching the Freeport team “One of the main things we try to teach is self discipline,” he said “What they’re learning is the five fundamentals of marksmanship.” Shooters rely on training and practicing body position breath control and aligning their sight with the rifle to shoot at small targets a freshman on the team said he enjoys having a chance to compete in shooting “You see pretty much all black except for a small circle and the small black dot which is your target and that’s about it,” Smith said The team was at the Lincoln Mall shooting range to compete Brunswick High School NJROTC Invitational Tuesday After the team completed shooting in three positions — prone (on the floor) standing and kneeling Dechy will submit the targets through mail Each air rifle target sheet contains ten targets with two middle targets reserved for practice Competitors can score a possible 100 points would not be possible without grants from the National Rifle Association and team fundraising efforts He said participating in a high school team gives them an advantage to go onto college rifle teams Dechy said Senior Helen Reed said she hopes to join a rifle team in college Reed said she had no previous expereince with rifle shooting before joining the air rifle team I just have a blast with the program that’s what kept me in all four years,” Reed said “In addition to the air rifle team I’m on the drill team orienteering team and I’m one of their team commanders — the academic team Russia will meet defending champion France in the Fed Cup final after they both achieved 5-0 sweeps of Austria and Spain France routed Spain without dropping a set and Russia's top-ranked Anastasia Myskina was unexpectedly delayed by Yvonne Meusburger of Austria before winning 3-6 6-1 and advancing the home side into the weekend final at Krylatskoye Ice Palace "If we don't succeed in playing our best tennis we have no chance to win at all," France captain Guy Forget said "And if we do manage to play our best tennis from the first point to the last -- which is not easy -- maybe we have a small chance." US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova crushed Austria's Fed Cup debutant Daniela Kix 6-1 then she and Elena Likhovtseva won the doubles 6-2 Nathalie Dechy secured an insurmountable 3-0 lead for France when she dispatched Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 A backhand winner down the line brought up match point which she claimed with a smash for her fifth consecutive Fed Cup win Tatiana Golovin then downed Marta Marrero 6-3 and the French duo of Marion Bartoli and Emilie Loit beat Marrero and world No 1 doubles player Virginia Ruano Pascual 7-5 "It's the best result we could imagine," Dechy said "We won all the matches in straight sets and didn't spent much time on the court French Open champion Myskina didn't drop a game the day before in her singles victory and wasn't expected to be troubled by Meusburger who only took two games off Kuznetsova on Wednesday Myskina dropped six straight games and the first set "She surprised me by playing very slowly and I couldn't catch her rhythm," Myskina said 6-0 victory and started rushing things and made a lot of mistakes." Myskina finally calmed down in the second set and regained control to help Russia reach its fifth final which beat Russia in the semifinals last year it means you are better then all the others," Forget said "But I don't think we are that far behind [the Russians]." Two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce was available to return from a sore shoulder injury but Dechy believed 16-year-old Golovin was playing well for France after rising almost 300 places in the world rankings this year to 27th Moscow-born Golovin won seven consecutive games against Marrero to win the first set and take a 4-0 lead in the second in the dead fourth rubber "I think it's very good for her to play these matches," Dechy said of Golovin "These two starting semifinals are easier then a start straight away in the final So I think she will be even better on the weekend." France looked forward to meeting Russia in the final on Saturday and Sunday they [Russia] are much stronger on paper then we are "They have everything behind them -- they are playing on their stadium Golovin added: "I think I have the game for it it's how confident you are when you get on the court But that's a kind of a goal -- to be out there and beat the top players." Spain - Marat Safin of Russia beat second-seeded Gaston Gaudio to advance to the semifinals of the Valencia Open Safin came from 0-40 down at 3-3 to break serve He lost only one point on his next two service games to close out the match Safin will play Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro 6-1 over sixth-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri in 1 hour It will be Almagro's second semifinal of the year seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco rallied after losing the first set to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7 (2) who defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (2) 7-6 (4) to reach his first semifinal of the year defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne kept her perfect record in the tournament The top-seeded Henin-Hardenne won her 14th consecutive match in the event and meets Patty Schnyder another situation and another good opponent," Henin-Hardenne said 6-0 victory over Catalina Castano and advanced to face doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany Groenefeld had a tougher time beating Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 7-6 (4) to reach the semifinals of a top-tier tournament for the first time Henin-Hardenne said she felt more comfortable on the green clay as her match went on Henin-Hardenne settled in and won the next two games to feel more comfortable on the surface," Henin-Hardenne said has now made it to the tournament semifinals three years in a row but everything worked out and I'm extremely happy I could make it again to the semis," Schnyder said The second-seeded Petrova is looking for her third WTA victory this year and second in a row after winning last week at Amelia Island This order is relative to the game they play, for example, of course Roddick's serve is better than Stosur, but Stosur's serve is so big in the Women's game that it out ranks Andy's serve in the Men's game. Sadly, now that Andy's older, it isn't what it used to be. Although, his serve is still one of the best, it's not as consistent as it once was and people have seen it for so long, it is easier to return. Don't feel too bad for Mr. Roddick, because it is still a top 10 weapon and he has Brooklyn Decker to go home to. Chris McGrath/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07: Samantha Stosur of Australia serves against Kim Clijsters of Belgium during day nine of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 7, 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borougThis weapon has taken Sam a long ways. She made it to the French Open final, basically just using her serve. The rest of her game might not be there fully yet her serve might be the best in the women's game, although Serena might argue differently. There is no debating however, that any other woman would love to have Stosur's serve as one of their main weapons. Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 08: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark celebrates after defeating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during her women's single quarterfinal match during day ten of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on SeptOn the surface, nothing looks spectacular about Ms. Wozniacki's game. When you take a closer look however, you see that she is like a human backboard. She can out rally anyone on the tour, and has the speed plus the strength to make it very affective, unlike some of the other women who just go out and rally. She is the closest player in the women's game to Rafa but she needs to add a few more weapons herself. The most surprising event that happened in the 2010 US Open was her going off the grid in the semis and making so many unforced errors John Isner Serve4 of 10Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 03: John Isner of the Untied States serves against Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland during his men's singles match on day five of the 2010 U.S Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 3 2010 in the FlusJohn Isner is a tennis player with limited mobility and play-making ability but has done a very good job at climbing the rankings Isner's serve might have past Roddick for best serve on the tour It is almost impossible for anyone to break his serve when he is hitting it consistently where he held his serve 69 times in a row during the 5th set and constantly hitting bomb aces while doing it Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 13: Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a shot against Rafael Nadal of Spain during his men's singles final match on day fifteen of the 2010 U.S Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 13 2010 in the FlusOne man that can handle the big servers just mentioned is Djokovic The Djoker can handle pretty much anyone's serve There is a reason why is a top 3 rated player in the world despite having such an average serve himself The announcers at the US Open made a big deal about how Nole was the only man in the top 50 to average more double faults than aces What they failed to point out is that Novak might be the best return man on the tour I acknowledge that some people think Andy Murray is a better return man Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Kim Clijsters of Belguim returns a shot against Vera Zvonareva of Russia during her women's singles final on day thirteen of the 2010 U.S Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 11 2010 in the FlusThere is a reason why Kim Clijsters has won the last 3 US Opens that she has entered it is her court coverage that is her best weapon but she has mastered the art where she can actually go from defense to offense while pulling off that move She might not have the speed of some of the other women but on a fast surface like at the US Open it is hard getting the ball past her and that is why she remains the Queen of New York AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 24: Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina plays a forehand in his fourth round match against Marin Cilic of Croatia during day seven of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 24 (We haven't seen Del Po in awhile because of his wrist injury but he is back and that means the most powerful forehand in tennis is back The power he generates on his backhand but especially his forehand is the reason why he can beat anyone in the world just see last year's US Open when he destroyed Rafa 6-2 6-2 6-2 It might be the most devastating one shot in tennis ENGLAND - JULY 03: Serena Williams of USA serves during the Ladies Singles Final Match against Vera Zvonareva of Russia on Day Twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 3 2010 in LoNo one woman should have all that power The difference between Serena and the rest of the women's game is her unbelievable power coupled with her mental toughness but her forehand and backhand might be as well She might not be as fast as she used to be but she is still definitely as powerful as she has ever been but in actuality it is one of the best weapons in tennis Nick Laham/Getty ImagesNEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during his men's singles semifinal match on day thirteen of the 2010 U.S 2010While this might sound kind of lame as the number 2 weapon in tennis it is in fact Federer's best attribute since he and Rafa have so many but his footwork is what make Federer great His footwork almost looks like he is hovering around the court He is always in position which allows him to strike the ball with great force and at the same time placing it any corner his footwork was similar to a forbidden dance Phil Cole/Getty ImagesLONDON - JUNE 23: Rafael Nadal of Spain dives for the ball against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg during the fourth day of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship on June 23 2005 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London (Photo by Phil ColWhen you add up everyone's weapon and put it into one cyborg It was almost impossible picking what his best weapon was you think he literally will never miss a shot He has the best defense tennis has ever seen and it frustrates his opponents so much that he breaks them down mentally as well as physically Stay up-to-date on all things Canadian tennis courtesy of exclusive interviews Search by subject and explore the latest news in multiple formats including articles Bianca Andreescu won her first title at any level in over five years beating Leylah Annie Fernandez in the doubles.. Gabriel Diallo saw the best run of his career so far at a Masters 1000 event end in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on.. Tennis Canada today announced the 2024 recipients of the High Performance Recognition Program Gabriel Diallo saved three match points to upset world No 16 Grigor Dimitrov and reach his first Masters 1000.. With $100,000 awarded to the program this year a total of nearly $300,000 has now been invested in the initiative that.. The Quebec university tennis league held its championships at the end of March Gabriel Diallo is into the round of sixteen at a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career at the Madrid Open.. Gabriel Diallo took advantage another his third lucky loser at a Masters 1000 event in 2025 to reach the third round of.. Denis Shapovalov cruised over Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-4 and Gabriel Diallo defeated Kamil Majchrzak 7-5 Félix Auger-Aliassime and Bianca Andreescu both lost their second-round matches at the Madrid Open on Friday in.. Gabriel Diallo took advantage of his lucky loser spot to win his first-round match in Madrid LONDON -- China's Zheng Jie pulled off one of the biggest upset at the All England Club on Friday when she beat top-seeded Ana Ivanovic in straight sets in the third round of the Wimbledon Open 1 ranking after winning the  French Open earlier this month 6-4 loss to the wild-card entry and doubles specialist who saved two match points before overcoming Nathalie Dechy in three sets on Wednesday "It's a surprise for me," said the 24-year-old Zheng who won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2006 I just tried my best and had to keep going It was the earliest exit by a women's top-seeded player at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis lost in the first round to Jelena Dokic in 2001 Ivanovic exited a day after 2004 champion and third-seeded  Maria Sharapova was ousted by 154th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva and two-time men's runner-up Andy Roddick was ousted by Janko Tipsarevic Australian Open champion and No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic fell to Marat Safin converted only one of seven break-point chances and lost serve four times The match ended with Zheng's serve hitting the service line and Ivanovic shanking her forehand return into the Court 1 stands "She played really well today and it was a tough match for me," Ivanovic said "I'm disappointed with my loss but I still look at it as a learning experience.   "It was a very emotional last couple of weeks for me and it took a bit of a toll," she added including the 2006  Wimbledon and Australian Open championships with Yan Zi She has captured three career singles titles in relatively small events at Hobart in 2005 and Estoril and Stockholm in 2006 Zheng reached the round of 16 at the French Open to become the first Chinese woman to make the fourth round of a Grand Slam She reached a career high singles ranking of No Zheng will play singles and doubles for China at the Beijing Olympics in August "I felt today the match gave me more belief for the Olympics," she said Roger Federer continued his march toward a sixth straight Wimbledon title by beating Marc Gicquel in straight sets setting up a fourth-round matchup with the last man to win the championship before his run began After the first rain delay of the tournament Federer overwhelmed the 53rd-ranked Frenchman 6-3 6-1 on Centre Court for his 62nd consecutive win on grass and 37th straight at the All England Club who won Wimbledon in 2002 the year before the Swiss star won the first of his five straight titles Fifth-seeded David Ferrer was ousted by Croatia's Mario Ancic 6-4 7-6 (3) in a match that ended on Centre Court in near darkness around 9:15 p.m Ancic is the last player to have defeated Federer at Wimbledon - he did it as a qualifier in the first round in 2002 Ferrer's exit means six of the top 10 seeded players in the men's draw have gone out so far in the first three rounds In a match which ended even later on Court 1 A dazed Novak Djokovic was jettisoned from Wimbledon yesterday and his fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic was lucky not to suffer the same fate on a day of high drama at the All England Club Third seed Djokovic became the biggest name to tumble out of the grasscourt championships when he was dumped in the second round by Marat Safin The Russian dismantled Djokovic for a 6-4 7-6 6-2 victory on a surface he claims to hate Nathalie Dechy could have completed a bad day for the Serbs when she came within a whisker of knocking out world number one Ivanovic in a nerve-jangling contest on Court One allowed Ivanovic to stage a great escape and she shrieked in delight after completing a pulsating 6-7 7-6 10-8 win over the unfortunate Dechy I was so lucky," Ivanovic said after surviving the three hour 24 minute thriller Former champions Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo will be cursing their luck after the duo headed for a third-round collision Sixth seed Williams steered past Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4 6-4 and Mauresmo languishing as 29th seed after an indifferent season eked out a 4-6 6-1 6-1 win over Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual Roger Federer's pursuit of a sixth consecutive title gathered momentum when he outsted Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-3 6-4 7-6 with the minimum of fuss The Australian Open champion had been expected to roll over the former world number one who had stepped on to Centre Court low on confidence and out of form the unpredictable Russian rolled back the years to produce some magical tennis As Safin whipped winner after winner past Djokovic the Serb lost the will to fight and bowed out with two successive double faults "It was certainly a very bad day for me I didn't do anything I was supposed to do," said the 21-year-old who reached at least the semi-finals in his last five grand slams It was certainly not the kind of performance one would have expected from the man tipped to reach the final by Bjorn Borg Safin made a mockery of his world ranking of 75 and was keen to keep his run going "I didn't play great for a long time and I don't remember how it feels I hope I can go as far as I can and take advantage of the confidence that I got from this match," Safin said after winning back-to-back matches for only the third time in 2008 While the Serbs provided all the action on day three of the grasscourt championships who like Williams was demoted to Wimbledon's infamous Court Two avoided getting distracted by some unruly fans in the stands and walloped clay-loving Spaniard Albert Montanes 7-6 6-0 6-2 Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and France's Marion Bartoli also emerged unscathed and 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova survived a second-set collapse to beat Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2 0-6 6-4 please register for free or log in to your account.