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DOHA, Qatar -- Ninth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced to the second round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday after Slovakias Daniela Hantuchova retired from their match with a right knee injury. Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. But Ivanovic won the next four games to secure the set, winning the ninth game at love with her final three serves being aces. "She started really well, and I managed to get back into the set and break her back," Ivanovic said. "I played some really good tennis towards the end of that first set and then in the second." Wildcard entrant Alisa Kleybanova of Russia also advanced after her opponent retired. At 5-5 in the first set, 10th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovak Republic, the recent Australian Open finalist, retired from the match with a gastrointestinal illness. "I was really looking forward to playing this week in Doha," said Cibulkova, who was making her first tournament appearance since becoming the first Slovakian to reach a Grand Slam final. "Unfortunately I became very sick today and suddenly did not feel well. I wanted to give it a try today and I did everything I could to try to play, but I could not continue." Karin Knapp, who led Italy to a 3-1 Fed Cup victory over the United States in Cleveland at the weekend, was told she had to be in Doha to play a first round match on Tuesday. Knapp started her journey early Monday morning and after going from Cleveland to Washington DC, and then to Dubai, she landed in Doha on Tuesday in time to play her afternoon match. Knapp played impressive tennis to defeat Caroline Garcia of France 6-4, 6-1 straight off the plane. Four players who chose to skip playing the Fed Cup tie between the U.S. and Italy in order to get to Doha early -- Sloane Stephens, Francesca Schiavone, Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta -- have all lost their first round matches. Elsewhere, American Bethanie Mattek-Sands upset 15th-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, a recent Australian Open semifinalist, 7-5, 6-1. Tarik Cohen Bears Jersey . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. Akiem Hicks Jersey . The question all fans want to know heading into this light heavyweight affair is will Rua display his true potential. Working with UFC welterweight fighter Demian Maias team in Sao Paulo Brazil and having training partners such as fellow UFC stand outs Fabio Maldonado and Daniel Sarafian, the 32-year old feels very well prepared for Friday nights encounter. http://www.chicagobearfootballauthentic....r-bears-jersey/. Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap. Dick Butkus Bears Jersey . James Jones got his turn Sunday. And the lift he brought, combined with the expected playoff showings from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, have the Heat off and running in these playoffs. Mike Singletary Womens 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.The St. Louis Blues brought in the premier unrestricted free agent centre, and did it without breaking the bank. Numbers Game looks at the Blues signing of Paul Stastny. The Blues Get: C Paul Stastny. Stastny, 28, has been a strong two-way centre, capable of putting up points and, more recently, taking on tougher assignments while remaining productive. Since arriving in the league in 2006-2007, Stastny has 458 points in 538 games, which ranks 34th. While his possession stats havent been dominant, it needs to be considered that they have been accrued in Colorado, where theyve been strong in relative terms, and hes among a select group of forwards to face quality opposition and start more of his shifts in the defensive zone, yet still have strong relative possession stats. Joining St. Louis is a terrific situation for Stastny too. The Blues had a contending team last season that could have used an offensive boost and Stastny ought to provide that and with last years top line -- Alex Steen, David Backes and T.J. Oshie -- capable of handling a lot of heavy lifting (tough matchups, defensive zone starts), Stastny should be freed up for more of an offensive role than the all-around responsibility he had with Colorado. Also working in Stastnys favour is that by moving to a team with much better puck possession stats, there will be more opportunity for Stastny to play in the offensive zone and if he ends up with rising young wingers Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko (or fellow U.S. Olympian T.J. Oshie), it would be easy enough to forecast that line being very productive. Theres also some shuffling to do among Blues forwards, as they have signed C Jori Lehtera and that could mean Patrik Berglund and David Backes shifting to wings, leaving Vladimir Sobotka and Maxim Lapierre in the third and fourth-line spots.dddddddddddd The team that Stastny is leaving, the Colorado Avalanche, will have their hands full trying to match their 2013-2014 regular season success, but the team does at least have options down the middle, with Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon more than suitable on the top two lines, and they have Ryan OReilly (who shifted to wing last season) available if needed. Losing Stastny means tougher minutes for those guys, but the Avalanche at least have the personnel to withstand a loss at centre. The ideal part of this deal for St. Louis is that they didnt have to get into an outrageous deal in order to acquire the player who was clearly the best free agent centre on the market. Stastny wanted to go to St. Louis and was willing to take a shorter term than he might have made elsewhere. Signed for four years and $28-million, Stastny gets a raise on what he was making in Colorado, joins the team with which his father, Peter, finished his career and its not an unreasonable price for what Paul Stastny provides. If Stastny can thrive in an offensive role, hell give the Blues a legitimate chance to get into the discussion with the best teams in the Western Conference and thats all that can be asked from a contending team when they dip into the free agent pool. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '