MELBOURNE, Australia -- Venus Williams was moving freely in her first-round match at the Australian Open, breezing through the f

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Venus Williams was moving freely in her first-round match at the Australian Open, breezing through the first set and getting a look at another break in the second against a player who upset her sister here two years ago. Vontae Davis Jersey . Thats when things started to go wrong for her Monday, the first day of the season-opening major. The seven-time Grand Slam champion missed the break-point chance in the sixth game and then, after getting to 40-30 on serve in the ninth, inexplicably firing three consecutive double-faults to surrender a break and just about the set to No. 22-seeded Ekaterina Makarova. After a quick break and a change of her self-designed zebra print dress, she took a 3-0 lead in the third before her unforced error toll climbed to 56 and Makarova won six of the next seven games for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. The 33-year-old Williams, the second-oldest player in the tournament, has struggled with injuries and illness in recent seasons but reached the final of the WTA event at Auckland to start 2014 and came to Melbourne saying she was feeling better than she had in years. "The last 12 months I have had issues," she said. "But this year I definitely am looking forward to having a good run and feeling well." That didnt happen Monday. "My level was a little bit too up and down. Obviously my error count was a little high," said Williams, the 2003 finalist who was playing in her 14th Australian Open. "I have to give her a lot of credit, though, she was very determined ... played hard." Makarova said because it was the first match of the tournament, it was probably more difficult to beat Venus than it was to upset Serena Williams in the fourth round here in 2012. Shell meet another American in the second round after qualifier Irina Falconi beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-1. Two highly-ranked Italians lost in the first round, with 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani, seeded 7th, beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Julia Gorges of Germany and No. 12 Roberta Vinci losing 6-4, 6-3 to Zheng Jie of China. Montreal native Eugenie Bouchard, who is seeded 30th, reached the second round with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Chen Tang Hao of China. Bouchard led the opening set 3-1, only to fall behind 5-3. Bouchard saved set points in the ensuing game on Tang errors before finally earning a 7-5 win on a break. The 19-year-old Bouchard was more in control in the second set and dominated to win the set 6-1. Vasek Pospisil, a 23-year-old Vancouver resident who grew up in Vernon, B.C., also won his opening match early Monday. The 28th seed, playing in a grand slam for the first time, defeated unseeded Sam Groth of Australia 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Two-time finalist Li Na beat Ana Konjuh of Croatia -- the youngest player in the tournament -- 6-2, 6-0 in 61 minutes to set up a meeting with another 16-year-old in the next round after Belinda Bencic of Switzerland accounted for 43-year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in three sets. Date-Krumm was 27 years older than Bencic, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon junior champion. The 2011 French Open champion is in the same half of the draw as No. 1-ranked Serena Williams, who was scheduled to play a night match against Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty. Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens was the first woman into the second round when she beat Britains Laura Robson 6-3, 6-0. No. 9 Angelique Kerber, 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, No. 14 Ana Ivanovic, No. 26 Lucie Safarova, No. 28 Flavia Pennetta, No. 30 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and No. 31 Daniela Hantuchova also went through. American Madison Keys wasted five match points in the second set and another in the third before finally beating Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria 6-2, 6-7 (8), 9-7. Eighth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, who won the recent Chennai Open in India, was the first man into the next round, advancing after just 15 games when Andrey Golubev retired with an injured left leg. Wawrinka, who lost 12-10 in the fifth set to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round here last year in the longest Grand Slam match of 2013, was leading 6-4, 6-1 when his Kazakhstan rival quit. Two other players retired due to shoulder injuries, with Alex Bogomolov Jr., quitting after losing two sets to No. 15 Fabio Fognini and No. 12-seeded Tommy Haas pulling out when he was down a set and a break against Guilllermo Garcia-Lopez. Third-ranked David Ferrer opened with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Colombias Alejandro Gonzalez on Rod Laver Arena and No. 7 Tomas Berdych beat Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Other men advancing included No. 9 Richard Gasquet, No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 19 Kevin Anderson, No. 23 Ernests Gulbis, No. 29 Jeremy Chardy, No. 32 Ivan Dodig, who beat fellow Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (8), 6-3, 7-6 (4), and American Sam Querrey, who defeated Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3). Star Lotulelei Jersey . Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. Matt Milano Jersey . -- Tiago Splitter tipped in a rebound with 2. http://www.cheapbillsjerseyssale.com/ . GQ Lundqvist quite well.Three rounds, and nearly two months later, will the Kings have the strength to reach the summit of the Empire State to claim the cup?Truer words have never been spoken. HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points and help the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-98 on Wednesday night to avoid elimination. The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Portland. A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about three minutes left. The shot brought the crowd, which was clad almost completely in red shirts emblazoned with the words "Clutch City" on them, to its feet. That started an 8-0 Houston run to close it out. Harden finished with 17 points and seven assists. Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points, after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Lillard added 26. Lin got extended minutes on Wednesday night with Pat Beverley dealing with an illness. Beverley had five points in 21 minutes. The Rockets led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Portland cut it to one point three times in the fourth quarter, but never went back on top. Terrence Jones added a basket for Houston after the big 3 by Harden before Howard got after Aldridge on the other end. He blocked his short jump shot, sending it out of bounds. Portland got the ball back and Aldridge got the ball again, but he badly missed a shot with Howard in his face as the shot clock expired, leaving Aldridge yelling for a foul. The Rockets were up by nine early in the fourth quarter after four quick points from Lin before Portland used an 8-0 run, with the first four points from Nicolas Batum, to cut the lead to 91-90 with 7:39 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Matthews cut Houstons lead to 62-58 early in the third quarter. He added 12 more points in the period to finish with 18 of Portlands 29 points. Howard and Lin carried the Rockets in the thirdd, combining for 18 points. Cheap Football Bills Jerseys. . Howard had 10 and Lin scored the rest, including a long two as the shot clock expired with Lillard right in his face. Matthews, who was 4 for 5 from long range in the third, made two 3-pointers within 20 seconds late in the quarter to cut Houstons lead to two points. But Lin finished off the quarter with a three-point play to make it 82-77 entering the fourth. Robin Lopez received a flagrant-1 foul when he fouled Howard in the air while fighting for a rebound and pulled him to the ground by the shoulders on the way down. Howard made one of two free throws to stretch Houstons lead to 74-68 with three minutes left in the quarter. Houston led by three after one and used an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and go up 41-27. Jones scored the first four points in that span and rookie Troy Daniels capped it with a 3-pointer. The Trail Blazers had six turnovers while the Rockets built the lead and didnt score until a pair of free throws by Aldridge with about nine minutes left until halftime. Howard picked up his third foul soon after that and went to the bench. Portland scored the next five points to get within seven but the Rockets used a 10-0 spurt to push the lead to 51-34. Lin had a reverse layup and a 3-pointer during that run. The Trail Blazers ended the first half with a 14-5 run, with eight points from Lillard, to cut the lead to 56-48 at halftime. Aldridge had just six points at halftime after sitting out about half of the first quarter after getting his second foul. NOTES: The Trail Blazers wore patches on their jerseys to honour Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died on Monday at 89. Ramsay coached the team to an NBA title in 1977. The plaid patch has the words "Dr. Jack" and a "77" to honour the championship team. The Blazers will wear the patch for the remainder of the post-season. ... Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon watched from a courtside seat. ... Chandler Parsons added 20 points for Houston. 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