Engel-Ecke » a hit at the worst possible time.

MASON, Ohio -- Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil was the sole Canadian in action at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati although he played twice. Pospisil defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4) in the mens singles tournament. Pospisil and American partner Jack Sock also won, dispatching the team of Indias Rohan Bopanna and Pakistans Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-5, 6-2. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic came back to beat Gilles Simon 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in his opening match. The Cincinnati tournament is the only Masters series event Djokovic has never won, finishing as the runner-up four times. If he wins this week, hell become the first with titles at all nine ATP Masters events. First, he had to get past Simon. He had trouble putting away the Frenchman, whom he has now beaten eight straight times. The opening game of the third set went 20 points and 15 minutes, with Simon surviving six break points. Djokovic finally broke through for a 4-3 lead and served out the 2-hour, 9-minute match. The last set alone took 59 minutes. Djokovic had 36 unforced errors in the breezy evening conditions. "Lets be honest: I dont enjoy playing bad," Djokovic said. "I dont enjoy missing a lot of balls from the baseline. That was frustrating for me. "Im not playing at a level that I need to be, and its obvious. I keep pushing myself." Jo-Wilfried Tsonga followed his week of big upsets with an early exit Tuesday, losing his opening match at the Western & Southern Open. Two days after he won his second Masters title by beating Roger Federer in Toronto, he fell to Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-4. "I dont have the energy to compete," Tsonga said after the 68-minute match. "I just gave everything last week. Before the match, I believed I was able to play at a good level. But on court, I realized that was going to be impossible. And it was." Tsonga beat Djokovic, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and Federer to win in Toronto, the first time in 12 years a player beat four straight top 10 opponents at a Masters tournament. He arrived Monday and couldnt practice because of rain. He plans to rest for a few days. "I didnt have enough today to compete at a good level," he said. ------ Freelance writer Mark Schmetzer contributed to this report. Saucony Clearance Outlet . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. Buy Sacony Shoes Online . Ben Street scored twice for the Heat (17-5-1), who won their fourth game in a row and 13th in their last 14 outings. Brett Bulmer scored the lone goal for the Wild (6-11-0), who dropped their sixth straight contest. http://www.discountsaucony.com/ .ca. Hi Kerry, Welcome back! Im sure you heard Peter Forsbergs comments last week regarding Canadian referees in the gold medal game. Seems to me that he was questioning the integrity and impartiality. Saucony Outlet Online . For Bergevin, the best pick is the 30th — which traditionally goes to the Stanley Cup winner. "Thats our goal. Cheap Saucony Shoes . -- Canadian Erik Bedard pitched into the fifth inning in his bid to win a spot in Tampa Bays rotation, helping the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Saturday.As much as we love baseballs post-season, thoughts are already starting to drift to the off-season, the trades and the free agent signings and seing how teams will revamp or reload or rebuilt for a run next season. With rightfielder Hunter Pence resigning with the Giants for five years and $90 million, one can only imagine what someone like Yankees star second baseman Robby Cano could get on the free agent market. It was floated by someone in Canos camp that he wants $305 million over 10 years. It seems like an outrageous amount for a soon-to-be 31-year-old middle infielder. Still, Canos timing couldnt be better with Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte retiring, Derek Jeter in injury limbo, and Alex Rodriguez possibly to be suspended for all of next season. Personally, I believe the Yankees will find a way to sign Cano and keep him a career Yankee but its not hard to see a few other well-heeled teams getting in on the bidding. The Dodgers, whove been spending money hand over fist, could sign Cano and give themselves the best offensive double play combination in the Majors along with their shortstop Hanley Ramirez. It would also solidify their hold on the L.A.-Anaheim market. The Giants have already shown they will spend money with the Pence contract. On top of that, they could use some more star power in their line-up after dropping from 94 wins a year ago and their second World Series title in three years to just 76 wins this year and a fourth place finish in the NL West. In the American League, another potential suitor is the Rangers. Theyre still looking for that elusive first World Series title after losing in agonizing style in 2010 and 2011. Signing Cano would keep their "window of opportunity" which appeared to be closing, open for a few more seasons. The most intriguing possibility would be if Cano simply moved from the Bronx to Queens and signed with the Mets. That move could turn New York into a Mets town for at least a couple of seasons until the Yankees retool. That last option isnt likely to happen, even though Mets GM Sandy Alderson has said his club is hoping to make a big splash on the free agent market in the off-season. Its almost as though there is a gentlemmans agreement between the two franchises not to steal each others players, especially the stars.dddddddddddd The most famous Yankee to leave the pinstripes to play for the Mets is a bit of a trick question. Yogi Berra did indeed play four games with the Mets at the tail end of his career, but then became their manager. Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and David Cone all started with the Mets and went on to play with the Yankees. However, all three took circuitous routes and played with other organizations first. If Cano somehow choses to leave the Yankees, my bet is he lands with Texas. He would stay in a familiar league and would be in a weaker division with a greater chance of adding to his World Series victory total. One caution flag for would-be Cano suitors. In 11 career post-season series, hes just a .222 hitter with eight homers and 33 runs batted in. Crunching The Numbers The Blue Jays finished this season with just 74 victories, albeit one more than a year ago. To just reach the level of Tampa Bay and Texas, the two teams involved in the play-in game, the Blue Jays would have needed 17 more victories to reach the total of 91. Then consider this, from last season to this, only two teams in the Majors upped their victory total by that amount or more. Boston rose from 69 wins a year ago to 97 this year, a gain of 28 wins while Cleveland climbed from 68 to 92, or plus 24. In the National League, Pittsburgh was the only team with a double digit increase in victories from 2012 to 2013 at 15. Im not saying the Blue Jays cant turn it around next season, only that it will not be easy. The Dodgers National League pennant hopes have taken a bit of a hit at the worst possible time. Matt Kemp is done for the year with a swollen ankle and their other top option in centre field, Andre Ethier is out indefinitely as well with an ankle injury of his own. Ethier likely wont know until next week if there is any hope of him playing in the playoffs at all. It looks as though utilityman Skip Schumaker will be force-fed into centre for Don Mattinglys crew. My picks are Texas and Pittsburgh to emerge from the play-in and Wild Cards frays over the next couple of days. 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