neral partner Hal Steinbrenner said obtaining Tanaka

LONDON -- Canadas Eugenie Bouchard stumbled in her first two Grand Slam semifinal appearances this year. The third time proved to be the charm Thursday at the All England Club. Bouchard defeated Romanias Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 to become the first Canadian to advance to the womens singles final at Wimbledon. It was the latest achievement in what has already been a historic run for Bouchard at the sports most prestigious event. "After doing well in the past few (Grand) Slams, Ive been believing since the beginning of the tournament that I can do really well," she said. "Im just trying to take it one match at a time. Its really important not to get ahead of ourselves. "I totally feel like I belong, and Im just so excited for the next match." The 20-year-old from Westmount, Que., has yet to lose a set in her six matches so far at Wimbledon. No Canadian had ever reached the womens singles quarter-finals here in the Open era -- never mind the final -- before Bouchard. There could be a Canadian in the mens singles final as well. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., will take on Switzerlands Roger Federer on Friday with a berth in Sundays championship on the line. This is uncharted territory for Canadian tennis. Before this tournament, no Canadian had ever reached a mens or womens Grand Slam singles final, according to Tennis Canada. The last Canadian to reach a singles semifinal at a major was Robert Powell at Wimbledon in 1908, the organization said. Montreal native Greg Rusedski reached the U.S. Open final in 1997 but he was representing Great Britain at that time. The 13th-seeded Bouchard, who converted her sixth match point to complete the 94-minute victory, will next face sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova on Saturday. "To get to my first Grand Slam final, its very exciting. Its what Ive worked so long for, you know," Bouchard said. "So Im just proud of myself for todays effort." Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, beat fellow Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the early semifinal. Bouchard lost in the semifinals at the years two previous majors, the Australian Open and French Open. Shes projected to rise to No. 7 -- the highest ranking for a Canadian woman -- by reaching the final and would go to No. 6 by winning the championship. Bouchard would also be the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won the 2006 U.S. Open at age 19. "Ive put in a lot of hard work and its been kind of years in the making to me," Bouchard said. "So I believe in myself and I expect good results. Ive had a good start to the season, but I expect myself to do even better than that." In a semifinal that was delayed twice in the first set -- first by a left ankle injury to Halep, and then when a woman spectator fell ill during the tiebreaker -- Halep double-faulted on break point in the second set and then was broken again by Bouchard to give the Canadian a 4-1 lead. The third-seeded Halep, who saved three match points in the seventh game and two more in the final game, appeared to be increasingly affected by her ankle injury and looked down at her feet several times after hitting shots. "It was difficult to continue ... I felt a big pain in the moment, but then was better with the tape," Halep said. "But still, I couldnt push anymore with my leg. My first serve was really bad after that." On Bouchards first match point, Halep hit an ace, but Bouchard did not appear ready to receive, and she went to speak with chair umpire Kader Nouni. But the point stood and Bouchard failed to clinch the match. "When Simona tossed I heard someone scream in the crowd," Bouchard said. "It had happened a few times already. This time I didnt feel prepared to return, so I put my hand up. I felt like we should have replayed the point, but he said, no, it was her point. Just happy I kept my focus and didnt get distracted." The tiebreaker was delayed briefly when the female spectator became ill. With Halep leading 3-2, Nouni jumped from his chair to alert security officials to the womans illness and told both players to go to their sideline chairs. Temperatures on Centre Court were 25 degrees Celsius under sunny skies. Following a delay of about five minutes and after the woman was escorted from the seating area by medical staff, the tiebreaker resumed. The woman returned to her seat later in the match after treatment. Halep had never been past the third round at a Grand Slam until last year, when she made it to the fourth round at the U.S. Open. Then she reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January, and got to the final at the French Open last month, losing to Sharapova. In the first semifinal, Kvitova -- the only womens player born in the 1990s to have won a major title -- improved her record to 25-5 on the Wimbledon grass. The 24-year-old has made at least the quarter-finals for five years in a row. "I know how (it feels) when you hold the trophy so I really want to win my second title here and I will do everything I can," Kvitova said. She saved her best for last: Up to 6-all in the tiebreaker, Safarova had won more total points, 40-39. From there, though, Kvitova won 31 of the last 48 points in the match. Kvitova beat Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 in their only previous meeting, a second-round match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last August. "I find her as a very solid and talented player," Kvitova said. "She is confident in her game right now. Shes moving very well ... shes playing aggressively." After sealing the victory, Bouchard appeared pleased with her performance but kept the jubilation to a minimum. "Its not like a surprise to me -- I expect good results like this," she said. "So for me, I was like, OK good. Its a step in the right direction. I get to play in the final and I still have another match so its not a full celebration yet." Bouchard is the only woman to have advanced to all three Grand Slam semifinals this year. The 2012 Wimbledon junior champion said shes proud to be the first Canadian to make it this far in the tournament. "Its always exciting and special when I can make history," she said. "My job is not done, I want to go another step further. So Im going to stay focused and enjoy it after." Also Thursday, Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver and American Jack Sock upset the second-seeded duo of Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil in mens doubles quarter-final play. The third-seeded team of Torontos Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia dropped a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 decision to fifth seeds Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will play Grigor Dimitrov in the other mens semifinal Friday. The final is scheduled for Sunday. Marshon Lattimore Jersey . We wonder if the price of a Roberts rookie card has at least gone up a few cents? Tribute Tweets #Padres Tony Gwynn had 287 career plate appearances against #Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, & Smoltz, he hit . Ted Ginn Jr Saints Jersey .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2. http://www.authenticsaintssportsonline.c...old-jersey/.com) - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were among the third-round winners Friday at the French Open. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Saints Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Thomas Morstead Youth Jersey .com) - Jenny Boucek is the new head coach of the Seattle Storm.NEW YORK -- The latest high-priced addition to the New York Yankees stood on the dais in front of a large news conference, put on his pinstriped jersey with No. 19 and smiled. "Hello. My name is Masahiro Tanaka," he said slowly in English. "Im very happy to be a Yankee." After chartering a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for his trip from Tokyo to New York, the 25-year-old right-hander with the $155 million, seven-year contract was presented Tuesday not in the news conference room downstairs at Yankee Stadium, but in the Legends Suite Club, where the high rollers congregate on game days. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo concluded the teams latest Pacific overture drew New Yorks most-attended news conference since Hideki Matsui was introduced in January 2003. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said obtaining Tanaka was worth the economic pain of exceeding the $189 million luxury tax threshold New York had hoped to stay under. "We needed another starter, and when we do things, we try to do them right," Steinbrenner said. "And this guy, hes tough. Hes got tremendous ability. We all know that. And hes going to be very exciting to watch. And hes going to be great for the team, a great teammate. And $189 (million) or not, we wanted a good quality starter, and we got it." Tanaka charted a Japan Airlines plane, which seats about 200, for the trans-Pacific trip to New York, reportedly costing about $200,000. There were just five passengers on the plane, including his pop star wife Mai Satoda, plus their poodle Haru. The flight, originally scheduled to depart at noon, was delayed many hours by a snowstorm. "There wasnt many choices of planes," he said through a translator when asked about the big jet. And a lengthy commercial trip could have been uncomfortable. "I thought about my conditioning, just wanted to get here in the best condition possible," he said. For his first meal in New York, he ventured outside his room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park. "I ate a sushi," he said, "which I bought at a grocery store nearby." New York, which also added Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran during the off-season, figures to have a big following in Japan this year. Tanaka joins pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki on the roster, and reliever Yoshinori Tateyama will be at spring training with a minor league contract. "This would make the Boss proud," general manager Brian Cashman said in a reference to late owner George Steinbrenner. "The Yankeees obviously are about always trying to acquire the best talent and a collection of talent that can compete for a championship, but he also liked a lot of attention, and this certainly represents a lot of attention.dddddddddddd So this is Yankee big. This is Steinbrenner big." Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year, leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title. That left him with a 99-35 record and a 2.30 ERA in Japan, where he had 53 complete games in 172 starts. New York had one of the most successful Japanese players in the major leagues with outfielder Hideki Matsui, the 2009 World Series MVP. And the Yankees experienced costly flops with pitchers Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa. Manager Joe Girardi was behind the plate for Irabus debut in 1997. "They feel a little bit more weight of representing their country than maybe players that are here on an everyday basis, because they kind of pave the way for the next guy and then the next guy," he said. Girardis advice: "Dont feel like you have to live up to the contract." On a tour of the U.S. with a Japanese high school all-star team in 2006, Tanaka met Matsui when one of the young pitchers games was rained out. During the off-season, he spoke briefly by telephone with Matsui about his pending decision. New York appealed to Tanakas desire to pitch on the biggest stage. "This is where you need to be. A great star. The biggest franchise. The biggest brand. The biggest city," Yankees President Randy Levine remembered saying during the teams pitch session with the player on Jan. 8 in Beverly Hills, Calif. "He said some other teams he had met with wanted him to transition in, and he didnt like that. He wanted to take the ball on Day One, and that told us a lot about him." Tanaka sounded prepared for the Yankees win-or-else mentality. "Ive heard that this place is -- it could be very harsh to you at times," he said. "Just wanted to put myself, though, in this environment and try to see where I can get to with my ability." Cashman is trying to lower expectations, saying Tanaka will slot in as No. 3 in the rotation behind CC Sabathia and Kuroda. "We could be getting more than a three. Maybe its a two. Maybe its even a one at some point," Cashman said. "I think that the adjustments are real, and as excited as we are to have and as much as we need a player of his capabilities, I want to make sure that people understand how difficult this game is over here and that there should be expectations of growing pains." ' ' '