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CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Venus Williams advanced in the tournament where her top-ranked sister could not, battling from behind at the Family Circle Cup to defeat Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 7-5 on Wednesday. It was another long day for Williams, ranked No. 28 in the world, who needed 1 hour, 50 minutes to finish the straight-set victory over the South African. Williams fell behind 3-1 in the first set and trailed 4-1 in the second. "She was playing so well, but the good thing is that when I get behind, I give even more effort and get even more focused. And Ive been playing well from behind lately, which is something you really have to be able to do to win big matches," Williams said. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has battled injuries and Sjogrens syndrome, a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease, during the past two years. She was on the green clay in Charleston for 2 hours, 15 minutes on Tuesday in a three-set victory and said she has been ill this week. "Im still dealing with the bug, but my goal is just to hang in there until it hopefully goes away and then I can just continue to play my way into the tournament and play stronger," she said. "But its definitely a challenge." On Tuesday night her sister, top-ranked Serena Williams, was stunned 6-4, 6-4 by Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, ranked No. 78 in the world, in the second round. Serena Williams said later she was tired and needed time off to regroup. "I definitely can see where she is tired and her body is taxed," Venus Williams said of her sister. "She gave an amazing effort yesterday, and shes going to get some well-deserved time off from winning." Venus Williams, who won the Family Circle a decade ago, now faces No. 20 Eugenie Bouchard. No. 8 Jelena Jankovic, the tournaments No. 2 seed, later scored a 6-0, 6-3 victory over American Lauren Davis. Jankovic won the Family Circle back in 2007 and was runner-up last year to Serena Williams. Earlier Wednesday, American Sloane Stephens was upset 6-4, 6-4 by 19-year-old Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine, who has a career-high No. 35 ranking. It was her fourth career victory over a top 20 player, the third coming last week at the Sony Open. "She played pretty well, and its just unfortunate that I lost, but I mean, you can just learn from the mistakes and things like that and build on it," Stephens said. "I started to believe more in myself that I can compete with players like this, top level, top 20 and top 10," said Svitolina, who is making her first appearance on the green clay in Charleston. "I think this is the key. That I believe more in myself and I play more solid from the baseline and trying to go forward to finish the point earlier." In other matches, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia defeated American qualifier Grace Min 6-2, 6-3 while Elena Vesnina of Russia stopped Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Italian Sara Errani, ranked No. 11 in the world and seeded third, advanced as well. She won the first set 6-3 when qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands retired. Fourth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany was extended to three sets before defeating American Vania King 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Andrea Petkovic of Germany, the 14th seed, defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-0, 6-0 while Shuai Peng of China eliminated 15th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States 6-1, 6-7 (3) and 7-6 (4). Qualifier Belinda Bencic of Switzerland defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 6-1. Gerald Green Jersey . The move is retroactive to Aug. 1. Hosmer was originally hit on the hand in the first inning of a July 20 loss to Boston. He has played most of the time since, but missed a few contests due to the injury, then departed Thursdays win over the Twins and had tests that revealed the fracture. Tracy McGrady Jersey . Boston is making its first appearance in the ALCS since 2008. For Detroit, its a third straight trip to the ALCS and its fourth in eight years. http://www.therocketsofficial.com/Authen...Rockets-Jersey/. -- Jacksonvilles offensive makeover is just getting starting. Eric Gordon Jersey . Not to be outdone, Atletico Madrid bettered its title rivals by demolishing 10-man Getafe 7-0 with Diego Costa returning from injury to score with a brilliant bicycle kick. "It was an almost perfect night," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. Custom Houston Rockets Jerseys . Sources tell TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger that the team is quietly gauging interest on the Senators captain, though Spezza has a limited no-trade clause and carries a large contract.The good news is that, heading into Canada Day, the Toronto Blue Jays are still in first place in the American League East. The bad news is that with 78 games left to play, they have removed almost all of their margin for error. After winning their first five games in June, injuries and a cooling offence caught up with them. They only won seven of their next 22 and finished the month at 12-15, exactly their record in April. In other words, thats two losing months out of three so far this season. Two things are saving them, the general mediocrity of the entire AL East and that brilliant month of May that saw go 21-9. If you go back to 2002, only twice have the Jays headed into July with a better record than the one they have now. In 2006, they were 45-34 and, in 2003, they were 46-37. In the latter, they tailed off to 42-41 the rest of the way and finished at 87-75, while in the former, they went 42-39 down the stretch and finished at 86-76. Both were in the era before the extra Wild Card and, in 2003, they wound up in third place in the division, 15 games back of the Yankees in the East and seven-and-half games out of the Wild Card spot taken by the Boston Red Sox. They didnt fare much better in 2006, finishing three games back of the Chicago White Sox for the Wild Card. Even if there had been a second Wild Card, they would have missed it by a game to the Angels. The Blue Jays will have to go 45-33 the rest of the way to finish with 90 victories, which figures to be around the number they will need to put themselves in the conversation for a post-season berth, division title or a Wild Card. The AL East will probably be won within the division. The Baltimore Orioles have the best record within the East at 22-16, while the Jays and Yankees are both 17-15. The trouble part for the Blue Jays is they are only 3-6 against the Yanks this season and havent won in New York so far this season or in all of last year. Seven of the Jays remaining 10 games against the Yankees are in the Bronx. On the plus side, theyve split with Baltimore thus far in 2014 and six of their remaining nine against the Os are at Rogers Centre. Boston, though still a long shot, is slowly entering the equation again, as well. The BoSox are six out in the East and six out in the Wild Card race. The Blue Jays still have 13 left with Boston, seven at home and six at Fenway. Tampa Bay is pretty much an also-ran now. The Jays still have 12 left with them, including six in September, but Joe Maddons teams arent know for packing it in in the final month. So the Jays will play 44 of their final 78 games in the East, 22 at home and 22 away. Going 26-1) over than span just might be enough to put them in the playoffs if they hold their own in their other 34 games. To break it down even further though, the Blue Jays and T-Bay have the fewest number of home games left of the teams in the East with 37 apiece. The Yankees have the most with 43 and Baltimore has 41. Although the latter two have stumbled a bit in their own parks this season, being at home and travelling less and playing meaningfuul games in their own facilities could be a sizeable edge in a close race.dddddddddddd Boston, too, has a favourable home/road split at 42-38. Then there is the matter of strength of schedule down the stretch. The Blue Jays play 40 of their 78 against teams that currently sport winning records and 38 against teams with losing records. The Yankees, on the other hand at my count, play only 38 against teams above .500 and 44 games against teams below .500. Again, that gives them an edge. The Orioles, though, play 48 games against teams with winning records and only 33 against teams with losing marks. So, the Blue Jays and the Yankees get the edge there. For the Blue Jays, the next five weeks could ultimately tell the tale. In July, they play only nine of their 17 games at home, broken up in the middle by the All-Star Game. After the next two games at home to the Milwaukee Brewers, they hit the road for 10 in 11 days including four at the Oakland Athletics, three at the Los Angeles Angels and, after an off-day, three at Tampa Bay. Then, after a seven-game homestand, they go on another 10-game journey over 10 days that includes three in New York versus the Yankees,three at Fenway against the Red Sox, culminating with four at Houston against the Astros. If they are still in it at that point, the Blue Jays will at least have a shot. Somewhere near the end of that span, Brett Lawrie should be back, as well. - With Milwaukee hitting town, its interesting to compare the numbers of the two guys who were disgraced by PED suspensions that, this year, have been key factors in getting their teams into first place in their respective divisions. The Brewers Ryan Braun, coming off his 50-game suspension of last season, is batting .290 for the N.L Central leaders with 11 homers, 46 RBI, an .849 OPS and 18 walks versus 52 strikeouts. Braun also helped the Brewers cause by agreeing to move to right field this season. Melky Cabrera is having a stand-out season in his own right and has put up almost identical numbers, hitting .299 with 11 homers and 42 RBI, an .809 OPS and 23 walks to 46 strikeouts. Cabrera is playing some strong left field, as well. Both have a decent shot at being at the All-Star game two weeks from Tuesday at Minnesota. - Speaking of the All-Star game, isnt the Home Run Derby starting to feel like the NBA Slam Dunk Contest? Every year it seems many of the bigger stars opt out. This year, American League captain Jose Bautista has to deal with the fact his own teammate Edwin Encarnacion doesnt want to compete and neither does Orioles slugger, Nelson Cruz. Then, White Sox rookie Jose Abreu, who slugged two dingers at Rogers Centre Friday night against the Jays and is one of baseballs emerging stars, isnt inclined to take part either, though, he apparently hasnt entirely closed the door. Good on Jose Bautista for agreeing to be part of this again. But if most of the other sluggers the fans really want to see dont want to be part of it all, then whats the point? Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys discount uswnt jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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