Stars und Sternchen! » cant beat it," she said

The day before the biggest match of her life, Genie Bouchard went through a tense practice, which saw her and coach Nick Saviano engage in several heated discussions. "Im telling you my opinion," Bouchard was heard to say to Saviano. "So basically, Im not allowed to tell you my opinion?" "No," responded Saviano. The workout ended with the 20-year-old Bouchard hitting the ball into a nearby food court and walking off. Bouchard and Saviano have worked together since she was just 12-years-old. Its a strong relationship. Both have fiery personalities and arent afraid to show it. Saviano was not available for comment after practice while Bouchard, as is custom with tennis players, did not meet with the media on a non-match day. Several veteran journalists said that while this was an unusual exchange between player and trainer, especially considering the timing, but there is no way of knowing what impact, if any, this will have on Bouchards psyche. But if there is one thing Bouchard has shown in her still young professional career, its that she seems to show tremendous poise under fire. "She just finds a way to get herself back into sets and get herself back into matches," said ESPN analyst Darren Cahill. "And then when she gets there, shes not scared of the finish line and I think thats what her greatest quality is." "Experience-wise its a huge gap. Maria was a finalist last year, she won here the year before, shes playing better than anyone on clay than anyone right now, Shes won every Slam once and Genie hasnt even been to a final yet," added Tom Perrotta, tennis reporter for the Wall Street Journal. "Of course the odds are with Maria Sharapova. Shes been in this position many times before but Eugenie has nothing to lose so she can play with youthful abandon, go for broke and see what happens," said Martina Navratilova, who won 18 Grand Slam titles over her career. "Shes been playing well, very smart tennis. It will interesting to see if shes playing just well enough to beat Maria. We know one day she will be playing well enough to beat anybody but is that day here now?" Abraham Almonte Jersey . After Andrew Romine served up two monster home runs in the inning, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he thought Romine was one of the bright spots on the night, showing just how bad the series opener against the last-place Minnesota Twins went for the Tigers. Alex Gordon Jersey . The Calgary Stampeders running back received the West Division nomination for the CFLs top individual award Thursday in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada and leagues eight head coaches. http://www.royalsteamproshop.com/Royals-Paulo-Orlando-Kids-Jersey/ . Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. Ryan Goins Jersey . - A retired Indiana school principal who was NASCAR star Jeff Gordons drivers education teacher was killed with his wife in a Tennessee crash while returning from watching Gordon race. Salvador Perez Jersey . On July 27 cyclings best-known race will host "La Course by Le Tour de France" -- a one-day womens competition staged hours before Tour riders race on the same circuit to finish the three-week event on Paris Champs-Elysees.TORONTO -- Former star striker Kara Lang played at the Under-20 Womens World Cup on two occasions before devoting her full attention to the Canadian womens senior team. She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. "Nothing can compare to that -- the level of intensity, the crowd support that you get," Lang said in a recent interview. "I was 15 at the time, the rest of the team was 16, 17, 18-year-olds and to be playing in front of crowds of 50,000 people cheering for you, its unlike anything else. "Thats what this team is going to experience as well." Langs appearance at the inaugural tournament in Edmonton -- at that time it was a U-19 event -- came shortly after she made her debut with the senior team. There are several Canadian players who will be in a similar position for the 2014 tournament, which will be played Aug. 5-24 in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto. Midfielder Jessie Fleming has suited up for the senior team before and also played at the U-17 competition. "Its perfect because weve experienced a big tournament and we know what its like dealing with not a lot of recovery time and intense matches," she said. "I think that will help." Canada held a camp in mid-July in Mexico and will open the tournament Tuesday at BMO Field with a Group A game against Ghana. Canada will play Finland on Friday in Toronto before heading to Montreal for an Aug. 12 game against North Korea. Centre backs Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn, fullback Sura Yekka, midfielder Ashley Lawrence and forward Nichelle Prince are the other Canadian players with senior team experience. Defender Kinley McNicoll will serve as captain and Kailen Sheridan is the No. 1 goalie. Canada went 1-2-0 at the 2012 tournament and failed to advance out of the group stage. Andrew Olivieri is back as coach and senior team coach John Herdman is serving as high-performance director. The Canadian program has an eye on the big picture for all youth competitions and this one is no different. Olivieri wants his players to move closer to taking that next step to the senior team and hopefully achieve success along the way. "Six games at the international level is the most we can get out of this tournament," Olivieri said. "So thats going to take winning a quarter-final and thats going to remain our objective: is win a quarter-final, get into a semi and whether its a semi, a final, a third-place game, thats just what the system needs riight now.dddddddddddd" Group B includes the U.S., Germany, China and Brazil. Group C is made up of England, Mexico, Nigeria and South Korea while Group D consists of Costa Rica, France, New Zealand and Paraguay. Germany and the defending champion Americans have combined to win five of the six previous U-20 tournaments while North Korea won in 2006. All three teams are expected to be strong again this year. The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarter-finals, which will be shared by the four host cities. Moncton and Montreal will host the semifinals and Montreal will stage the final and third-place match. The tournament comes a year before Canada hosts the 2015 Womens World Cup. "For a lot of these players, its kind of a warmup for them because a number of them will be playing in 2015 next summer with the full womens team," Lang said. "Next summer wont be such a shock to them if theyve gone through something like this. "It can be a bit of a shock when you walk out onto the field ... as the tournament grows, the support grows. By the time we walked out to crowds of 10 and 20,000 people (in 2002), we were floored and then it just grew as the tournament went on. In a number of ways its great preparation." Olivieri said his squad will be the youngest U-20 team Canada has ever fielded in the tournament. "Well be talented but we will be young," he said. "Its hard to tell how well stack up against other teams." Buchanan, one of the anchors of the Canadian defence, isnt lacking for confidence. "Our team is capable of dominating the opposition," she said. "Playing in their half and just getting (shots) on net." Fleming echoed those thoughts. "I think were capable of going all the way," she said. "I think its going to be tough. Its going to be tough for any team to win the tournament. We just have to take it game by game." Lang said there are always a few surprise results because it can be challenging to track the development of other national youth programs. She expects Olivieri and Herdman will have the players ready and prepared. "They have really implemented a system and a philosophy of mental toughness," she said. "It really is just based on individual players knowing their roles and focusing on that." Langs other U-20 appearance came in Thailand in 2004. She played in two World Cups -- in 2003 and 2007 -- as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her eyes still light up when she talks about that magical ride to the final in 2002. "Playing in an international tournament at home in front of Canadian fans -- you cant beat it," she said. ' ' '