Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Tomas Berdych picked a good time to end his lengthy losing streak to Rafael Nadal, while Andy Murray continued his run toward another Australian Open final. Tuesdays first mens quarterfinal was never close and the second wasnt much more competitive. Berdych became the first player to stamp his ticket into the semifinals following a shocking 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) win over the second-seeded former world No. 1 Nadal at the years first Grand Slam event. Murray, a three-time Aussie Open runner-up, then dispatched 19-year-old Aussie crowd favorite Nick Kyrgios, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The third-seeded Nadal was able to fend off a pair of match points in his final service game of the third set, but was unable to overcome a 2-5 deficit in the tiebreak. With the No. 7 seed Berdych up 6-5, Nadal sent the backhand of Berdychs serve into the net and the Czech officially put his straight-set triumph into the books. Berdych had dropped 17 consecutive matches to last years Aussie Open finalist Nadal, a streak that dated back to 2007. He also reached his second straight Aussie semi. The big-hitting Berdych had been 3-18 lifetime against Nadal, including a loss in the 2010 Wimbledon final. Nadal owns 14 major titles, including a lone Aussie championship in 2009. Hes also a two-time runner-up at Melbourne Park, including last year against Stan Wawrinka. It just was not my day, said Nadal. I didnt play with the right intensity, with the right rhythm, and the opponent played better than me. You have to play well to win against a player like Tomas. I didnt play my best today. He played better than me and thats it. Thats sport. Sometimes, almost every time, it is simple: the player who plays better, the player who is able to maintain the better rhythm, the better concentration, play with less mistakes, is the player who has more success. And today this player has been Tomas. Meanwhile, Murray was in command throughout against Kyrgios and didnt face a break point against his serve until the seventh game of the third set. He advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time in the last six years, bouncing back from a quarterfinal loss to Roger Federer last year. The sixth-seeded Scot broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set and won a tight tiebreak in the second before breaking serve for another 4-2 lead in the third. Kyrgios finally answered with a break, but Murray responded with one of his own for a 5-3 advantage and held serve to finish the match in just over two hours. Im happy. Its nice to be in the latter stages of a slam again, said Murray. Im happy with that. Obviously we want to do the best possible, but all you can do is prepare as best you can, which I certainly did over the past few weeks and months, and have given myself an opportunity. Maybe I wont play well in a couple of days; maybe I play great. I dont know. But Ive given myself a good opportunity again, and hopefully I can use it to my advantage. The two-time Grand Slam champion Murray will meet Berdych in the semis. Mens quarterfinal play will continue Wednesday. The fourth-seeded defending Melbourne champion Wawrinka will face fifth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori and the evening match will feature four-time Aussie winner Novak Djokovic against eighth-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic. Djokovic is a perfect 4-0 versus Raonic, while Wawrinka is 2-1 lifetime against Nishikori, although the Japanese star captured their last meeting in the U.S. Open quarterfinals back in September. The world No. 1 Djokovic is the reigning Wimbledon champion who is seeking an eighth Grand Slam title. He captured three straight Aussie crowns from 2011-13. Nike Roshe One Br Uomo . The Canadian skier also learned how to surf last spring and took on the waves along the Kananaskis River. 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Nike Roshe One Br 2015 . - After reserve Marreese Speights finished a one-handed dunk over Travis Outlaw in the fourth quarter, teammates Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry jumped off the Golden State Warriors bench and ran onto the floor in celebration.OTTAWA -- Eugene Melnyk expects to make the playoffs every year, and when his team misses out he plans to make sure it doesnt happen again. The Ottawa Senators owner voiced his disappointment over the teams performance this season in a conference call with media Tuesday, and said changes could be coming. Melnyk said he and general manager Bryan Murray are "in the process of evaluating everything, our players, our prospects and our coaching staff." "Definitely not a wholesale change, we just need to show up more often," Melnyk added. "I think we need leadership. I think we need accountability from top to bottom and thats more of a mindset and it could also reflect the maturity of the team and as they mature, dont kid yourself, because I did some exit interviews and these are not happy campers." While there had been speculation that head coach Paul MacLean could be relieved of his duties, that doesnt appear to be the case. "I think its pretty certain, well I can assure you Pauls our coach," said Melnyk. "And hes going to be our coach going into next year, but were evaluating everything within the hockey operations, but as far as the leadership is concerned thats staying put." Thats not to say management was overly impressed with MacLeans performance this past season. "They should have done better," said Murray of the coaching staff. "Unless you win a championship I think you can say that about everybody. I think there were some stages in the year where maybe a different decision could have been made." On Monday MacLean admitted that he went into the season with the belief that he needed to be more demanding of his players, and Murray said it probably wasnt the wisest strategy. "My note to him today was the players like the old Paul," Murray said. "They like the guy that sat and talked to them, treated them in a more easy-going fashion, that taught, not confronted. "There were some mistakes made obviously. You dont go to some of your better players and confront them early in the year and expect change. The change is usually in the negative form. I think what Paul did two years leading up to this was a real strong indication of the type of coach he is. I think as you go through your career you learn lots of things and I think its a stage that hell be much better because of it." Murrays biggest decision in the off-season could be whether or not to move captain Jason Spezza. Spezza has one more year remaining on a contract that has a cap hit of US$7 million, but a salary of $4 million. Speculation of Spezza being traded surfaced at the trade deadline and one has to wonder if the Senators feel now is the time to make a significant change. "I think Jason understands what his role was and is," said Melnyk. "Hes a professional. He understands youre here today, could be gone tomorrow. "Its very dependent on what other pieces we have to put together and I think at the end of the day hes just one of 20 plus players that participated this year and we just didnt get it done. " Murray said Spezza was one of five players going into the final year of a contract and that all five, in addition to this years three unrestricted free agents, would be evaluated.dddddddddddd "Im not sure why Jason is the single guy here being evaluated," Murray said. "Number one I guess maybe he wore the C and thats part of it, but we, I believe, have five guys going into their last year and decisions have to be made and they will be made at the right time." The Senators actually have six players entering the final year of their contract including Spezza. Bobby Ryan, Clarke MacArthur, Erik Condra, Marc Methot and Craig Anderson will all be looking for new contracts next season. At this point it seems Ryan could be the first to re-sign as both parties seem eager to come to terms on a new agreement. Milan Michalek, Ales Hemsky and Matt Kassian are all unrestricted free agents this season and it appears Michalek could be the only one returning. Murray said Kassian isnt in his plans and he didnt believe the Senators were in Kassians plans. As for Hemsky, it doesnt appear he will return. Michalek has expressed an interest in returning and its likely term and money will play a factor. The Senators have a number of young players who will be pushing for playing time and they want to ensure theres room. Murray said Mark Stone, who played 19 games this season and had eight points (4 goals, 4 assists), now looks like an NHL player and was impressed with Jean-Gabriel Pageaus play late in the season. He also mentioned that Curtis Lazar looks to be NHL ready and will be pushing for a roster spot as well as a few others who are currently playing in Binghamton. In addition, Murray said the Senators would like to find a tougher forward. The Senators have three restricted free agents, Mike Hoffman, Eric Gryba and Robin Lehner, that Murray will need to make decisions on. Lehner, 22, will likely be the priority, considering Anderson will be heading into the final year of his contract. "I still think to be a good team in the league you need two goaltenders," Murray said. "You need both that can win games for you. I think Robins very close (to being a number one goalie). I think if we gave him the stick and said go in the net and play every night I think he could win a lot of hockey games for us." Financially the Senators are in good shape, but they dont anticipate significantly increasing their salary structure. "Its very, very easy to increase payroll, any idiot can do it and a lot of idiots do and they overspend and they go to the cap and Ive done it twice and both times it didnt make an impact," Melnyk said. The Senators owner says he prefers to spend money on various resources that can be used in the development of players on the roster and in the minors. Notes: Much was made last Saturday when Kassian didnt dress for the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Murray said a decision had been made earlier in the day when a call between he and Toronto GM Dave Nonis took place. Nonis wanted to call up a young player, but was concerned that if Kassian was in the lineup things could get physical and so Murray assured Nonis he wouldnt play Kassian. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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