to go and Im hoping for a strong result again." Danie

Brisbane, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Former world No. 1s Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic will do battle in Saturdays final at the season- opening $1 million Brisbane International tennis event. The final berths were secured when the top-seeded Sharapova defeated rising Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3 and the second-seeded Ivanovic held off game American Varvara Lepchenko 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 at this Australian Open tune-up on the hardcourts at Queensland Tennis Centre. Sharapova dropped just nine games in her three matches to get to the final and was ruthless against Svitolina, the 2010 junior French Open titlist. I expected her to play well. I think I did a lot of things good to try to take away her game, Sharapova said. In the end, it became a little bit more difficult. She became more free, went for her shots a little bit, a few unforced errors from my end, but overall Im happy I stuck with it and finished the last point. When the reigning French Open champion Sharapova and Ivanovic meet on Saturday, it will mark their 14th encounter on the WTA, with the Russian leading the lifetime series 9-4. They split four meetings last season. Sharapova is 33-22 in her career finals, including a perfect 4-0 mark last year. Her fellow 27-year-old Ivanovic is 15-7 in her career title tilts, including 4-2 last year. Sharapova beat Ivanovic in the 2008 Aussie Open final. St. Louis Cardinals Pro Shop .Y. -- Nothing seems to phase No. Lane Thomas Jersey . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/164t-jose-martinez-jersey-cardinals.html .C. -- The shot that would have beaten No. Roger Maris Jersey . Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Michael Brantley also homered and the Indians beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 9-4 Thursday for their first three-game winning streak this season. Gussie Busch Jersey . At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down.ARE, Sweden - Olympic champion Marielle Thompsons pursuit of a second skicross World Cup title will go down to the wire. Thompson, of Whistler, B.C., was fourth in Sundays race while rival Fanny Smith of Switzerland finished first, cutting Thompsons lead in the overall standings to just five points with only next weekends World Cup finals in France left to go. Ophelie David of France was second while Vancouvers Georgia Simmerling was third. "The overall is pretty exciting — for both the women and the men," said Thompson, who has 655 points compared to Smiths 650. "In the final, I was leading into the first turn and then Ophelie passed me and I got pushed into the powder and lost all my speed. Thats how she goes sometimes." Simmerling won her first heat Sunday and was second in her quarter- and semifinals to advance to the big final. "It was good today. I had to fight hard and it all came together," Simmerling said. "I messed up my timing on one of the features at the end of the start and I was fourth. Then Marielle (fell back) and the three of us just ended up 1-2-3. "Ive had a pretty consistent year, I would ssay.dddddddddddd Theres one more race to go and Im hoping for a strong result again." Danie Sundquist, of Calgary was third in her first heat and finished 20th overall. Olympic silver medallist Kelsey Serwa, of Kelowna, B.C., did not participate as she took the post-Olympic season off. On the mens side, Austrias Thomas Zangerl finished first while teammate Andreas Matt was second. Armin Niederer of Switzerland picked up the bronze. Mathieu Leduc of Comox, B.C., was the top Canadian, finishing eighth. "It was definitely nice to see I can compete with the top guys," Leduc said. "Im just hoping to establish myself on the World Cup and put my name in there. "Im learning from my mistakes and trying to bank all my experiences and put them to good use." Calgarys Brady Leman and Montreals Chris Del Bosco did not advance past their first heats. Louis-Pierre Helie, of Berthierville, Que., did not finish his qualification run, while Tristan Tafel, of Canmore, Alta., did not qualify for the round of 32 heats. Canada sits second (1,898) behind Switzerland (2,124) in the ski cross Nations Cup standings with one race to go. ' ' '