MELBOURNE, Australia -- Torontos Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic were beaten by American Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen of South Africa 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
DeSean Jackson Youth Jersey . The defeat leaves the 41-year-old Nestor to concentrate on the mixed-doubles event after winning 12 straight matches and winning Australian titles in Brisbane and Sydney with two different partners. "This was a little bit of a let down, but all credit to them," said Nestor. "They came out firing an showed why they were in the semifinals. They were going for their shots and making them. "They played really well, very aggressive. We started slow and that probably gave them confidence." The match lasted just 64 minutes, with Zimonjic losing serve twice in the opening sat. Nestor, holder of a record 83 career doubles titles, was unable to carry the entire load as he and Zimonjic re-united this season after a few seasons with other partners. Nestors team lost to an unseeded team which has knocked out Australian Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt plus the world No. 1 Bryan brothers from the United States. "We didnt assert ourselves and thats what the top teams should do," said Nestor. "On paper we were the best team remaining in the semifinals. "This was a chance lost to possibly win a Grand Slam -- and who knows when we might get that chance again." Nestor won his only Australian mens trophy in 1998 with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, the first of his four finals at the event. Nestor and Zimonjic finished with 19 winners but never earned a break point and were broken three times. Montreals Eugenie Bouchard was preparing to play for a place in the womens singles final as the Canadian teenager faces fourth seed Li Na in the semifinal.
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Chuck Bednarik Womens Jersey . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Bruins will begin another month without captain Zdeno Chara, as they kick off a four-game road trip in Mondays clash against the Anaheim Ducks. Chara has been sidelined since suffering a torn ligament in his left knee on Oct. 23 against the New York Islanders. The star defenseman has resumed skating, but wont join the team for the road trip, which also features stops in Los Angeles, San Jose and Arizona. So far, Boston has fared well during Charas absence, going 10-4-1 in 15 games without their leader. The Bruins are 4-1-1 over their past six games and halted a modest two-game slide by earning Fridays 2-1 win over Winnipeg. Dougie Hamilton scored 3:39 into overtime to help Boston down the visiting Jets and Tuukka Rask made 35 saves for the victory. Late in OT, the Bruins skated in on a 3-on-2 rush with Carl Soderberg leading the charge. He slid a pass to Hamilton trailing the play, and the former first round pick beat Michael Hutchinson high stick-side. I dont know if Ive ever scored an OT goal before, so a pretty good feeling to get the win after the start that we had, Hamilton said. Hamilton also assisted on Milan Lucics fifth goal of the season early in the third period. Soderberg recorded an assist on both markers. In addition to dealing with Charas absence, the Bruins have played four straight and 10 of the past 12 games without top centerman David Krejci, who is sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Krejci also isnt making the trip out West for the Bruins, who are 5-4-0 as the road team this season. With Boston also playing tomorrow against the Kings, backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg could get his seventh startt of the season over the next two days.
Clayton Thorson Youth Jersey. Rask is 1-2-0 with a 3.59 goals against average against the Ducks in his career and 1-1-0 with a 2.20 GAA versus L.A. Svedberg has never faced either team. Anaheim is hoping to get back on track tonight after losing two straight on the heels of a three-game winning streak. The Ducks have yielded 10 goals over the two setbacks, dropping Fridays 4-1 home decision against Chicago before losing the following night in San Jose by a 6-4 score. The Sharks jumped all over the Ducks on Saturday, outshooting Anaheim by a 14-5 margin in the opening period while taking a 3-1 lead. San Jose extended that cushion to 5-1 early in the second before the Ducks began to pick away at the lead. Unfortunately for Anaheim, the bad start doomed the club to a loss as the Ducks were only able to cut the deficit to 5-4 before Matt Nieto sealed San Joses win with an empty-net goal in the final minute of play. We tried to do things right, but we had some bad breaks, Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau said. Then we got mad and showed how we can play. Corey Perry posted two goals and an assist in the loss, while Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and two assists. Matt Beleskey also scored for the Ducks. Frederik Andersen allowed five goals on 19 shots before being pulled over six minutes into the second period. Jason LaBarbera turned aside all 15 shots the rest of the way. Andersen has never faced the Bruins, while LaBarbera suffered an overtime loss in his only career start against Boston. Anaheim owns a 4-1-1 record in the last six meetings with the Bruins. Boston has lost in three of its last four trips to Orange County. ' ' '