LONDON – The numbers dont look promising for Milos Raonic when it comes to his semi-final showdown against Roger Federer at Wimbledon. Consider the following: * Federer has won 17 grand slam titles, including seven at the All England Club. Raonic, meanwhile, is playing in his first ever slam semifinal. * Raonic has lost seven straight matches against top-four players dating back to 2012. Federer is currently ranked No. 4. * Raonic has never beaten Federer in four tries and the most recent match, at the 2013 Australian Open, ended in straight sets. That was their only previous encounter at a slam. * Federer is the most successful active player on grass with a 130-18 career record and 14 titles. Before this tournament, Raonic had never made it past the second round at Wimbledon and had a sub-.500 record on grass. * Federer has never lost a Wimbledon semifinal in eight previous appearances. Did we mention Raonic has never played in any slam semifinal? So, it seems pretty bleak for the 23-year-old, right? Not so according to Raonic, who is aiming to become the first Canadian man to ever make a major final. Heres what he had to say when asked about facing Federer on a court where hes had the most success in his career - a career that may go down as the best ever. "Im going to step out there and Im not playing the seven-time Wimbledon champion. Im not playing a 32-year-old man. Im not playing the father of two sets of twins, which is a very low possibility bet to do. Im not playing the guy thats won whatever hes won, which I could probably list quite vividly. Im playing a guy that is standing in my way of what I want to achieve, and Ive got to focus on everything thats there, on the situation, how best to deal with it to give myself the best possibilities to achieve what I want." Raonic understands how big a win could be for him on Friday. It could be a career-defining moment. "It can be if I get the job done. I focus on what I need to do. Everything else is a ripple effect. Everything else is a reason. I have to create the cause for it by playing good tennis and giving myself the possibility to win." As for those four previous losses to Federer? "Hes gotten the better of me all four times, but I havent played him in more than a year, a year and a bit, so I think Im a different player," Raonic said. "Ive got in close with him in the past. Ive found a lot of those things [that will help me] sort of pull away. That gives me a lot of belief that I can do this. "So theres no point to talk about it. Ive got to step up and do it." Darius Leonard Jersey .The Canadiens will visit the Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on New Years Day 2016, taking hockeys oldest rivalry outside.It was special in 2010 just to be there with the history behind Fenway Park and all that, Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron said. Nyheim Hines Jersey . 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Ryan Grant Colts Jersey . -- Justin Verlander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight decision, leading Detroit over the Kansas City Royals 9-4 Sunday and extending the Tigers winning streak to a season-high five games.DALY CITY, Calif. -- Karine Icher and her caddie husband, Fred, evaluated the conditions and course at challenging Lake Merced and decided on a Day 1 strategy: stay short of the pin and putt uphill. The move worked beautifully, and Icher delivered the most consistent performance on a day there werent many in the debut of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. "I think its the key on this course," Icher said. "Its a tough golf course, especially with the wind and temperature. It gets so cold. You try to stay warm and try to catch the right wind and go with it and make some putts." The Frenchwoman birdied four of her first seven holes and finished with a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take the lead, two strokes ahead of Lydia Ko and several others. Afterward, Icher was off to pick up 2-year-old daughter, Lola, from the tours childrens care and head to dinner. The start was delayed two hours because of fog and play was suspended because of darkness with 24 players still on the course. Icher had a bogey-free round and hit all but one green in regulation. Many struggled off the tee or with their putters on speedy, tricky greens on a cool day with plenty of wind and hovering fog not far off the Pacific Ocean. The gallery sang "Happy Birthday" to Ko on her 17th birthday as she started from the first tee, and Ko came through with a 68 on a day she was also named among TIME magazines 100 most influential people. Kos group barely beat the horn for darkness. "I wanted to finish today," she said, acknowledging the birthday song was "kind of embarrassing" but much-appreciated. Morgan Pressel birdied four of her first eight holes and was among the players sitting three strokes back at 69. Mo Martin also shot a 69 after warming up four times before finally hitting her first tee shot following the fog delay. Pressel, whose round began on the back nine, went to 4 under at the turn. Top-ranked Inbee Park opened with a 73 in the $1.8 million event, while second-ranked Suzann Pettersen had a 70 in her first tournament since missing three events with a back injury. On the par-4 11th, a frustrated Pettersen made an 8-foot putt for triple-bogey to fall from 3 under to even par before bouncing back.dddddddddddd Michelle Wie, coming off her first win in nearly four years last week in her home state of Hawaii, finished at even-par 72. Those who were still on the course will play resume their rounds Friday morning, so many will have a quick turnaround after a short break. Tee times remained the same. Pressel also had a sizzling first round in Phoenix last month, going 9 under through her first 11 holes in the JTBC Founders Cup and chasing a 59. But Pressel bogeyed two straight holes and wound up with a 7-under 65. On Thursday, she recovered for par on holes 16 and 18 after both tee shots missed the fairway. On the forgiving par-5, 532-yard 18th, Pressels drive ricocheted off a tree and landed in a more favourable lie to the right of the fairway. She nearly put her third shot onto the green but the ball kicked back a couple of feet shy. "It was actually a bit of a struggle out there. My short game kept me in it. I stayed patient," Pressel said. "I stayed tough. Its a tough golf course. I knew nobody was going to go out there and blitz it." Martin played through more fog, and even wondered whether there might be a second delay. The LPGA is back in the Bay Area for the first time since 2010, and San Francisco provided exactly the kind of day that so perfectly represents this region and its unpredictable weather patterns. Martin sported an "L" charm necklace in memory of her grandfather, Lincoln Martin, who died last month at age 102. One of her biggest supporters since they reconnected 10 years ago, he last travelled to a tournament in Rochester, N.Y., last year. He ate vanilla ice cream on his chocolate crisped rice cereal -- with half and half to boot -- for breakfast every morning. He also had several U.S. patents. "It would be really hard to do him justice in a couple sentences, but greatest person Ive ever met," she said. "Changed my life when I got to know him in the last 10 years. Most peaceful person Ive ever met. ... Everybody out here loved him. He followed womens golf and was a fan of everyone." Angela Stanford and Se Ri Pak withdrew Thursday, and neither provided a reason to tournament officials. Cheap Jerseys Store China Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Stitched Jerseys China NFL Gear ' ' '