MONACO -- Canadas Milos Raonic opened his clay-court season with a second-round victory over Taiwans Yen Lu-Hsun at the Monte Carlos Masters on Wednesday. The No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., rebounded nicely after dropping a first-set tiebreaker in the 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 victory. "I did a lot of things well today," Raonic said. "I had the discipline I needed when things were not going so well. "I played a clean match, on a lot of his service games I was creating opportunities for myself." Raonic, who had a first-round bye, fired 19 aces and completed the win in just under two hours in cool, windy conditions. He had three set point opportunities in the opening set but couldnt convert. "Even losing the first set, I still had chances in his service games," he said. "During the rest of the match on every game on his serve I was at least getting close. "I felt at ease despite the situation after the end of the first set." The Canadian rallied in the second set with an early break to lead for 2-0, eventually taking a 5-2 lead and serving it out to pull even. He ran away with the third set for the win. Raonic will next play No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain, who earned a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Julien Benneteau of France. "My goal is to do as well as I can this clay season and better than I did last year," said Raonic. "My main focus will be on the tournaments in Madrid and Paris." Also Wednesday, Roger Federer was happier than eight-time champion Rafael Nadal after their straight-sets wins to reach the third round. Federer took just 52 minutes to beat veteran Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2, while Nadal overcame a rusty start to put away Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-1. The top-seeded Nadal, who lost the title to Novak Djokovic last year, dropped his opening service game and trailed 3-1 in the first set. But from 4-4, the Spaniard reeled off six straight games, then the Russian qualifier broke his serve again. "I think I started little bit slow," Nadal said. "But he was playing very, very aggressive, hitting very strong, with no mistakes." Nadals body language suggested he was far from happy with his performance. At times he looked glum-faced, other times annoyed with his shots. His serve was vulnerable, too, as he conceded four break-point chances -- including in consecutive service games during the second set. He clinched victory with a crisp forehand winner. "I felt comfortable in the second set," Nadal said. "I think I was playing better. " Federer, returning to the tournament for the first time since 2011, was far more ruthless as he raced to 5-0 in 17 minutes. He improved his record against the 35-year-old Stepanek to 14-2. The Czech has not beaten Federer in six years. "A bit surprised how well it went. On clay, when you have the upper hand from the baseline, its kind of hard to get out of it," Federer said. "Thats kind of how it was for Radek. I had a good start to both sets, I was solid on my own service games. It was clearly a good match to start my clay-court campaign." The fourth-seeded Federer next plays another Czech, Lukas Rosol, who beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4, while Nadal plays Italian Andreas Seppi, who won 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 against Spaniard Pablo Andujar. Federer has never won Monte Carlo, losing in three straight finals to Nadal from 2006-08. They cant meet again until the final. Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded third, was slightly faster than Federer, needing only 46 minutes to thrash Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-0, 6-2. "I expected a more difficult first round against him. I felt good on the court," Wawrinka said. "I know that if I feel good physically, then I am able to put a lot of pressure on my opponent." No. 10 Fabio Fognini of Italy, No. 11 Tommy Robredo, No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and No. 15 Nicolas Almagro -- both Spanish -- also advanced to the third round. Raonic rallied to beat Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1; Fognini downed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4; Robredo won 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Julien Benneteau of France; Dimitrov downed Spaniard Albert Ramos 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Almagro beat Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Grand Prix Hassan II winner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat No. 17 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 7-5, and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta next faces defending champion Novak Djokovic after winning 6-3, 7-6 (6) against Gael Monfils. NCAA Jerseys China . Strasburg (1-1) got 14 consecutive outs in one stretch and allowed only three hits, including Marcell Ozunas homer in the seventh. The right-handers lone walk was to the last batter he faced. Washingtons starter Wednesday, Jordan Zimmermann, left after a career-low 1 2-3 innings, leaving the bullpen "taxed," as manager Matt Williams put it. Fake NCAA Jerseys .C. - Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek says guard Goran Dragic will return to the starting lineup against the Charlotte Hornets after missing the last two games with a strained back. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/. Messier, who had been a special assistant to Rangers general manager Glen Sather, announced Thursday in a statement that he is resigning in order to "expand the game of hockey in the New York area by developing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . -- The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon as a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement.SAITAMA, Japan -- Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje captured silver in ice dance at the world figure skating championships Saturday, missing the gold by a mere 0.02 points. "Im just feeling ecstatic right now," Poje said. "This one moment is because of the combination of all the hard work that weve had, especially over these past couple of years, and showing by our grit and determination that we wanted to be up near the top. I feel that we deserve to be up here now, and its an amazing feeling and we want to have more of it." The dancers from Waterloo, Ont., scored 175.45 to finish second behind European champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France were third with 175.37. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont finished eighth with 153.86 points, while Alexandra Paul of Midhurst, Ont., and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont,. were 10th with 148.76 points. Mao Asada of Japan topped the free skate in womens singles to capture her third world title. Asada, who held a slim 1.42-point lead after the short program, under-rotated three jumps but finished with 216.69 points, 9.19 ahead 15-year-old Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia. Italys Carolina Kostner, the 2012 world champion, took the bronze with 203.83 points. Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L., was 11th, while Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was 13th. "It wasnt the performance I wanted to have," Osmond said. "I love this program, I have loved skating it and I really wanted to show it off tonight." Weaver and Poje have skated in the shadow of Canadian world and Olympic champpions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir for several years.dddddddddddd But Virtue and Moir, and Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, gold medallists last month at the Sochi Games, are expected to announce their retirement soon. Neither of the teams competed at the world championships, leaving two spots on the podium up for grabs. "Its an incredible feeling. Im without words," Weaver said. "I cant believe that we performed the free dance today the best we have all year under the pressure of the circumstances of the top teams being so close. Im just so proud of Andrew and I and the work we have done this year and that we just havent given up in our careers and that is what has brought us to this moment." The silver sends the Canadian team home with two medals. Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., won bronze in pairs earlier in the week. Asada, who finished sixth at the Sochi Olympics, also won the world championships in 2008 and 2010 and became the first Japanese three-time champion. Skating to Sergei Rachmaninovs "Piano Concerto No. 2," Asada opened with her trademark triple Axel but under-rotated that one as well as a triple flip and double loop, but she earned high style points after impressing the judges. "I was able to control myself and I have done what I had to do," Asada said. "I was much more nervous than I was for the short program but the cheering from the fans was with me and made me relax." Yuna Kim, the defending champion, has retired and Olympic gold medallist Adelina Sotnikova of Russia wasnt competing at the worlds. ' ' '