WINSTON-SALEM, N. Solomon Thomas Super Bowl Jersey .C. -- Former top-10 players Gael Monfils and Jurgen Melzer beat higher-ranked players Friday to advance to the Winston-Salem Open final. Monfils, the Frenchman ranked No. 43 in the world, overcame early struggles to beat 38th-ranked Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine 7-6 (11), 6-3 in the first semifinal at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. "Its very good for my confidence," said Monfils, who will play in his third tournament final of the season and his first since Nice, France, in mid-May. "Im not so happy with the way I played. I could have played better. I have to play better and be more sure of things." The 32nd-ranked Melzer, from Austria, then pulled off the biggest upset in the night match, beating American Sam Querrey -- at No. 29, the highest ranked player in the semifinals, and the crowd favourite -- 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. "Ive been serving well, and my ground strokes have been getting better from match to match," said Melzer, who also is playing in his third tournament final this season and his first since winning an ATP Challenger Tour event in Dallas in March. "After losing in the first round of my last two tournaments, if somebody would have told me I could be in the finals, I wouldve signed it." Monfils and Melzer each have four ATP tournament titles. Monfils holds a 4-0 lifetime record against Melzer, including a first-round victory in Munich in early May. "Every title means a lot," Melzer said. "Ive lost all the previous matches to him, so it will be a nice matchup tomorrow. Hopefully, I can pull it off, which would also be very good leading into the U.S. Open." Monfils -- ranked No. 7 in 2011 -- lost serve twice early and went down 4-0 in the first set to Dolgopolov. The Frenchman even received treatment on his left abdominal muscles and hip during the side exchange after the third game of the set. "I had a little pain before the match, and even during the match," said Monfils, who missed a month of action dealing with ankle and biceps injuries before playing in the final hard-court tournament before next weeks U.S. Open. "It was a bit better (after the trainer) worked on it, but I still felt it during the first set," he said. "Its not a tear, but its very tight. I just have to take care of it, and I should be fine." After the injury break, Monfils broke Dolgopolovs serve twice to force the tiebreaker and win the first set. He then added two more service breaks in the second set. "It wasnt my best finish," said Dolgopolov, a Ukrainian who was playing in his first semifinal this season. "I was in the game, but every game I didnt finish out those important points. Game by game, he came back. "I was angry at myself -- I had too many chances. When you have that in your mind, after having played three matches (in the tournament), its tough to make yourself go out and forget about it." Melzer -- ranked as high as No. 8 in 2011 -- broke Querreys serve five times, and kept him off-balance for most of the match with his ground strokes and net game. Still, Querrey fought back after losing the first set, getting a pair of service breaks en route to winning the second set. He then held serve to open the third set and grab the early advantage. "I felt like I played really well for 1 1/2 sets," said Melzer, who lost two previous matches against Querrey. "Then I kind of lost it a little bit, got a little too passive on my side and forgot about the game plan. I was lucky in the beginning of the third (set) to not get broken again. But after that, I started playing well again." Querrey nearly pulled off another service break to open the third set, putting Melzer down 15-40 in the second game. But Melzer fought back to hold serve, then broke Querreys serve the next game to take the advantage. "I didnt feel my greatest out there," Querrey said, who lost in the semifinals for the second straight year. "I played a little sloppy in the first set, then that break in the second (set) helped me regain all the momentum. If I couldve stuck that other break in the third set, maybe it couldve been different." Robbie Gould Super Bowl Jersey . -- Jake Peavy arrived at Bostons spring training complex on Monday with a large white bandage covering his left index finger, the result of a weekend accident. Jimmie Ward Super Bowl Jersey . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Ya-Tittle-49ers-Jersey/ . -- The Sacramento Kings have signed first-round pick Nik Stauskas to his rookie contract.LOS ANGELES - As practice wrapped up at the Lakers facility in L.A. on Thursday, Terrence Ross hung around to work on his aerial acrobatics with the assistance of teammate DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan threw the Raptors sophomore and reigning NBA Slam Dunk champion lobs off the side of the backboard, he tossed bounce passes and threw alley-oops. Ross experimented with a variation of finishes. As it turns out, they could both use the practice. The Raptors duo will take part in State Farm All-Star Saturday Night - taking place in New Orleans on Feb. 15 - as Ross returns to defend his title in the Sprite Slam Dunk competition and DeRozan will make an unexpected appearance in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. After edging out Jeremy Evans to win last years contest in Houston, Ross will have his work cut out for him this time around. For the first time since 1988, three all-stars - Pacers forward Paul George, Wizards guard John Wall and Blazers guard Damian Lillard - will compete in the event. Rounding out the field is Warriors forward Harrison Barnes and Kings rookie guard Ben McLemore. "Everybodys kind of a threat," Ross said of this years competition. "Its going to be fun, everybody wants to win." What will Ross do for an encore? The 23-year-old says hes still searching for ideas, scouring YouTube, Twitter and even using video games to brainstorm. "Everybodys done everything," he continued. "I dont know, its like how many times can you do the same dunk before people get tired of it? So its hard to find new dunks but at the same time you always find something a little different." The one thing he could say with certainty is he will not be using props. While Ross has expected to defend his crown since last season, DeRozans debut in the Skills Challenge comes as a surprise, even to him. "I kind of got peer pressure into doing it," said the first-time all-star, who will also be assisting Ross in the dunk-off. DeRozan initially declined the invitation but his agent twisted his arm and eventually he came around. "I changed my mind. I said Ill try it, why not." "I thought it would be fun," he said of the event, which is usually exclusive for point guardss but DeRozan hopes to start a new era of shooting guards entering and conquering the ball handling/passing obstacle course. Raheem Mostert Super Bowl Jersey. "Everybody doesnt get a chance to be a part of All-Star Weekend and the big thing for me is to go out there and have fun. I think it will be cool to go out there and represent my team as much as I can and you never know, I might mess around and win it." Along with DeRozan, the participants will consists of Lillard, Goran Dragic, Reggie Jackson and rookies Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Carter-Williams, Victor Oladipo and Trey Burke. DeRozan, who has previously competed in the Slam Dunk contest on two separate occasions, will be the first Raptor to appear in the Skills Challenge. Although he wouldnt tip his hand, his strategy centres on speed over precision. "I look at it like, a lot of players go out there and try to do it cool," said the fifth-year guard. "I always used to say, you can go a little faster. So Ive got my whole mindset to try and win it." The format in both events will be tweaked this season. The Skills Challenge will feature four teams of two players each competing in a two-round timed relay-style course. The fastest team from each conference will advance to the second and final round, where the winning pair will be crowned. The Dunk Contest participants will also compete in teams, divided by conference. The competition will tip off with a "freestyle round" where the dunkers for each the East and the West will have 90 seconds to showcase as many dunks as they choose. At the conclusion of the opening round, the panel of judges will vote for a winning conference. The winning conference will decide whether its competitors will dunk first or second in the following round, a head-to-head "battle round". In the battle round dunkers from opposing conferences will face off against each other, with the judges choosing a winner in each battle. The first team to win three battles will win the competition. Fans will then vote on the "Dunker of the Night" from the winning team. Ross is the fifth Raptor to participate in the event, joining DeRozan, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Jamario Moon. ' ' '