LONDON -- Canadas Eugenie Bouchard stumbled in her first two Grand Slam semifinal appearances this year. DeShawn Shead Lions Jersey . 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. Levine Toilolo Lions Jersey . He learned about pressure and expectations at the 2010 Games in his hometown of Vancouver. His next mission is to build on that experience at his next Olympic appearance in Sochi, where he plans to ride the momentum from the teams strong start to the season. Sylvester Williams Lions Jersey . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. http://www.lionsfootballpro.com/Lions-Tracy-Walker-Jersey/ . Rodgers was ruled out on Friday by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Matt Flynn will make his second consecutive start for the Packers.Despite a stronger start for the Maple Leafs against the Vancouver Canucks – building a 7-1 lead at one point on the shot clock – things didnt look too good until the final 20 minutes. Struggling to generate much offence in the second half of the first period and into the middle frame, the Leafs found their legs in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to split their season series with the Canucks at a win apiece with a 3-1 victory. “We were pleading, begging, crying, all those things to change the way we were playing and it just seemed that we didnt have our sharpness in terms of making tape-to-tape passes,” said Carlyle. “Then we tried to make plays as individuals in the second period and they just sat back with their 1-4 (formation) and trapped.” But with a chance to head into the Olympic break on a high and post an impressive 11-2-1 record in their last fourteen games, Carlyle asked his team during the second intermission to find twenty inspired minutes. “The idea is that it was a one-goal hockey game, here we have an opportunity to pull a game out of the fire by scoring one goal to give ourselves a chance,” explained Carlyle. “We had a break coming. Wouldnt it be nice for everybody to feel a lot better about ourselves with a win here versus a loss?” Tied with Montreal at 70 points in the Atlantic, the Leafs run has positioned them well for the final 22 games of the regular season, sitting seven points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Wild Card spot. “We talked about wanting to go into the break I think probably six games ago,” said Dion Phaneuf. “Our focus really focused in on playing well going into the break. We feel weve done that, we got some big wins and we wanted to get as many points as we possibly could going into the break and we did that.” Five Points 1) Burrows Pokes The Bear Alex Burrows drew the ire of Phil Kessel late in the second period, cross checking him near the chin before giving him a glove on punch. Kessel responded with a few shots of his own and was noticeably agitated as he left the ice. But the Leaf sniper responded in the third period with what held up as the game-winning goal along with an assist on James Van Riemsdyks insurance marker. “I dont know, its just a hockey game,” said Kessel, after the game. “I wasnt too happy, but its part of the game." It wasnt the first time, though, this season that Burrows had gone after Kessel. In the previous meeting on Nov. 2, the two players fought in what was only Kessels second career NHL fight. On Saturday, both players received just two minutes for roughing with an extra two minutes going to Burrows for high sticking. “I think Burrows has kind of a mandate to disrupt Phil so its always nice when you come out on the right end of a big game like that and Phil scored a big goal for us,” added Carlyle. 2) Kulemins New-Found Talent Nikolai Kulelmin surprised many by how well he performed playing centre between Mason Raymond and Troy Bodie on Thursday in Tampa. But he showed it was no fluke with another solid outing on that same line against Vancouver. Assisting on Mason Raymonds goal that tied the game 1-1 early in the third period, Kulemin also improved in the faceoff circle going 7-for-16. “There has been kind of an unveiling of Kulemin at centre,” said Carlyle. “Its been a big surprise for everybody.” With Kulemin heading towards unrestricted free agency this summer, it will be interesting to see if his new-found versatility will affect how the Leafs approach the decision they will have to make. Additionally, Carlyle also indicated that David Bolland should be available once the Leafs resume their schedule on February 27th against the Islanders, giving the Leafs a wealth of strength down the middle with Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Nik Kulemin, Dave Bolland and Jay McClement. 3) Bodie Plays Into Carlyles Good Books Bodie continued to be featured regularly by Randy Carlyle against the Vancouver Canucks, playing 14:13 on a line with Raymond and Kulemin. On Thursday in Tampa, Carlyle suggested that Bodies play has been so strong of late that he felt he owed the Portage Le Prarie native more ice time. “Its a nice vote of confidence,” said Bodie before Saturdays game, regarding Carlyles comment. “Being up and down from the minors, its not the easiest thing to do but to get in the line-up and get some oppportunity and to play well with it, its nice. Kerryon Johnson Jersey. To hear it from him (Carlyle) is good too.” Bodie rewarded his coach, assisting on Mason Raymonds tying goal, and tied for the team lead with six hits. “I think just being strong on pucks, getting into fore-checks and being hard on fore-checks,” said Bodie, on what has allowed him to play into Carlyles good books. “Thats really my game, getting in there and just getting pucks back for the skill guys on the line.” 4) JVR and Kessel Excited For Their Olympic Experience Van Riemsdyk and Kessel played a big part in the Leafs come-from-behind 3-1 win but next week, they will be hoping to display that same prowess for Team USA at the Olympics. The two players along with Kulemin will head to Newark on Sunday and then on to Sochi. “Im excited,” said Kessel. “Obviously whenever you get the chance to play for your country its a big honour and Im looking forward to it.” “Its a huge thrill on this stage,” added van Riemsdyk. “One of the highest levels of sport you can play at is the Olympics and to be with a guy I play with day in, day out, it should be fun.” It would stand to reason that JVR and Kessel would play on the same line with Team USA but both indicated they have not been told as of yet who they will be playing with. One thing is for sure though. If they do play together, theyll have to find a new centre to mesh with. “Im excited to watch them play; I think theyre going to do great,” said Tyler Bozak, who said hell be watching his teammates from the Bahamas over the Olympic break. “Its nice that theyre coming into the Olympics really hot. Im Canadian so if Canada and the U.S. play each other, its going to be tough. I dont know who Im going to cheer for yet.” 5) Olympic Break Concerns The Olympic break couldnt come at a better time for the Vancouver Canucks, having lost seven straight. But for the Maple Leafs, the concern for Randy Carlyle is that the break will interrupt the hot streak the Leafs have found themselves on. “It gives us an opportunity to get our team back together and not to drop what weve done now, its to maintain some level of consistency and push for the last 22 games to get ourselves in the best possible position to qualify for the playoffs,” said Carlyle. With four sets of back-to-back games remaining and a five-game road trip that will take them to Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington and Detroit, the schedule will be a grind. “We know that the games are going to get tougher, were going to go out west, play some Western Conference teams, its not going to be an easy schedule that weve got coming,” Carlyle cautioned. “There are no easy ones in the NHL and theyre just going to get tougher when we come back, thats for sure.” He also opted to leave his players with a message he hopes they heed over the break. “The message was ‘the break is here for you to rest and relax but youd be well advised to make sure that you have some form of exercise taking place a few times during the break because when we come back, were going to go to work,” said Carlyle. Injury Update: Jay McClement left in the second period after tangling with Dan Hamhuis, falling awkwardly into the corner boards. He did not return to the game, playing just 5:22. Randy Carlyle confirmed after the game that McClement had a gash over his eye and went to the quiet room. Stats Pack: 11-2-1: Leafs record in final 14 games 100: Career assists for Tyler Bozak; earned it on Phil Kessels goal 14:13: Troy Bodies ice time; second highest among this season 60%: Tyler Bozaks night in the faceoff circle going 12/20 57%: Nazem Kadris night in the faceoff circle going 12/21 7: Losses in a row for the Vancouver Canucks 19: Games since Daniel Sedin last scored a goal 28: Games Alexander Burrows has gone without a goal Quote of the night: “I dont think anyones happy when stuff like that happens, he kind of went after (Phil). I mean its a scrum, theres going to be tons in hockey but I think Phil kind of likes that stuff secretly. It kind of fired him up. They say dont poke the bear and I think they kind of did there. Phil showed it in the third period.” – Tyler Bozak on Phil Kessels skirmish with Alexander Burrows. Up Next: The New York Islanders to kick off the final 22 games of the regular season in New York on February 27th. Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Jerseys From China Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '