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SYDNEY, Australia -- Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova reached her first WTA final by beating second-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Sydney International on Thursday. Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, was broken twice in the first set and four times in the second against Pironkova, who finished last season ranked No. 108. "First time into a WTA final -- its an amazing feeling," said the 26-year-old Pironkova. "Ive been waiting for this for a long time." Pironkova lost to Kvitova in the 2011 quarterfinals at Wimbledon after losing in the semis the year before at the All-England Club. With qualifiers and main draw, she has now won seven consecutive matches in Sydney and is aiming for No. 8 in the final, where shell meet fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber, who beat American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal Thursday. In the mens tournament, top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro beat Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a semifinal against Russias Dmitry Tursunov. Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion who finished last season ranked No. 5, relied on his strong serve, with 14 aces to three, and saved seven of 10 break points. Tursunov earned a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Defending champion Bernard Tomic beat Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3 in a night quarterfinal. John Isner reached the semifinals of the ATPs Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand after a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) win over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber in a match between former champions. The quarterfinal match between third-seeded Isner, the 2010 Auckland champion, and No. 22-ranked Kohlschreiber, the 2008 winner and beaten finalist last year, lasted 2 hours, 24 minutes and contained no breaks of serve. Playing on an injured ankle, Isner finally clinched the match with a vital point against serve in the third-set tiebreak. "I played against a gutsy opponent so I knew I had to give everything I had," Isner said. "It wasnt that pretty for either of us and a lot of times, when Im playing guys as good as him, the match comes down to a point here or there. I got a little bit lucky today." Isner served 18 aces, put 83 per cent of first serves in play and won 82 per cent of first serve points. Isner will next play Spains Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat American wildcard entry Jack Sock 6-1, 6-3 in a rain-interupted match. David Ferrer moved closer to his fifth singles title in Auckland when he beat Spanish compatriot Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in a night match. In the WTA event at Hobart, top-seeded Sam Stosur reached the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 34-ranked Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia. "Everythings moving in the right direction, thats for sure, but theres still room for improvement," Stosur said. The 2011 U.S. Open champion next faces seventh-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, who beat American Alison Riske 6-4, 7-5. In the exhibition tournament at Kooyong, the former Australian Open venue in Melbourne, No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Kei Nishikori of Japan. Berdych, who opened the tournament with a straight sets win over Fernando Verdasco, will next play the winner of Fridays all-French semifinal between Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon. No. 8-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka withdrew from the eight-man invitational tournament earlier Thursday citing fatigue following his title win at Chennai last week. He was replaced in the draw by Russias Mikhail Youznhy. No. 8-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka withdrew from the eight-man invitational tournament earlier Thursday citing fatigue following his title win at Chennai last week. He was replaced in the draw by Russias Mikhail Youznhy. In the exhibition tournament at Kooyong, the former Australian Open venue in Melbourne, No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Kei Nishikori of Japan. Berdych, who opened the tournament with a straight sets win over Fernando Verdasco, will next play the winner of Fridays all-French semifinal between Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon. Bryan Little Jersey .com) - New England Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will not play in Sundays AFC Championship against Indianapolis due to a knee injury the rookie sustained last week. Adam Lowry Jersey . Henry, who missed three games with a knee injury, was charged with a handball in the penalty area in the 82nd minute as he went to block a strike from Patrick Mullins. On the ensuing penalty kick, Lee Nguyen picked up his fourth goal of the season, giving the Revolution a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-patrik-laine-jets-jersey/ . A spokeswoman for the NLRB says its "a very incremental move" and does not necessarily indicate the board is close to a finding in the case. NFL owners filed an unfair labour charge against the players union in February, arguing that the union was not negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in good faith. Laurie Boschman Jets Jersey . The seventh-ranked Berdych wants to focus on the ATP Tour after helping the Czechs beat the Netherlands in the first round. Seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, the Czechs will rely again on veteran Radek Stepanek. Teemu Selanne Jets Jersey .DeMarco Murray got his 20th carry late in the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, not long after Dez Bryant made his final catch of the day.Sure enough, a 44-17 win over Washington didnt change Dallas post-season position.Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Rick Nash and Derek Stepan each scored twice as the New York Rangers downed the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2, on Sunday. Derick Brassard had a goal and an assist, while Chris Kreider and Martin St. Louis each had two helpers for the Rangers, who have won their past two games. Henrik Lundqvist allowed two goals on 34 shots. David Perron had a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby also scored for the Penguins, who have lost their past two games. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 17 shots and was pulled in the second period for Thomas Greiss, who stopped 13-of-14 shots the rest of the way. Final Score: Dallas 6, Chicago 3 Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Cody Eakinns first career two-goal contest plus 38 saves from Kari Lehtonen resulted in a 6-3 Dallas Stars victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night at United Center.ddddddddddddTyler Seguin, Vernon Fiddler, Erik Cole and Shawn Horcoff added one score each for the Stars, winners of two straight and three of four after losing four in a row. Jamie Benn added three assists and Alex Goligoski chipped in a pair of helpers as Dallas beat Chicago for the first time in four tries this season. Brandon Saad tallied twice and Patrick Kane once while Brent Seabrook assisted on two markers for the Blackhawks, who have lost three of their last four. Corey Crawford surrendered five goals on 33 shots in the setback. ' ' '