ess is somewhat related to the sickle cell trait.Unfortunately, I had to deal with some of those symptoms, Montgomery s

PARIS -- For one full set, Maria Sharapova was about as bad as can be. The French Opens defending champion could not direct the ball where she wanted at the start of her quarterfinal against Serbias Jelena Jankovic. Point after point ended with a mistake by Sharapova -- long, wide, into the net, 20 unforced errors in all. It added up to only the sixth time in 626 career matches that Sharapova dropped a first set at love. She lost all of those others, never even forcing a third set. Sharapova did not go quietly Wednesday, though, turning up the level of her shot-making and the volume of her "Come on!" shouts on the way to beating the 18th-seeded Jankovic 0-6, 6-4, 6-3. "I wanted to put that chapter behind me," the second-seeded Sharapova said. "No matter how many errors I made or how disappointed I was with the way I started the match, I knew that I still could try to create chances out there; obviously taking them is another question. But I knew that I was capable of doing much better." Jankovic didnt so much earn her early lead as accept it: Of the 27 points she won in that first set, only two came via her winners. Down the stretch, Jankovic faded, losing the final four games. She was wearing beige strips of tape on her right shoulder and both thighs and said playing singles, womens doubles and mixed doubles these two weeks caught up with her. "I needed a bit more gas in my tank to finish this match off," she acknowledged. In Thursdays semifinals, Sharapova will face No. 3 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the two-time Australian Open champion, who eliminated her friend and former doubles partner, No. 12 Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to reach the semifinals at the fourth major tournament in a row. Azarenka, who is 7-5 against Sharapova, summed up their latest matchup of power-based games this way: "Definitely going to be exciting and interesting." The other womens semifinal is No. 1 Serena Williams, a 15-time Grand Slam champion, against No. 5 Sara Errani of Italy. They won their quarterfinals Tuesday. Its the first French Open semifinal for Williams since 2003, the year after she won her only title in Paris. Errani, who is 0-5 against Williams, was the runner-up to Sharapova 12 months ago. "I never expected to get to the semifinals this year after making last years final. There was a lot of pressure this year and Im happy that I was able to handle it," Errani said. "Well see how the semifinal goes." Sharapovas 2012 French Open title completed a career Grand Slam, adding to championships at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. For someone who used to mock her own inability to move well on red clay, Sharapova sure is taking to the slow surface nowadays: Shes won 12 consecutive matches at Roland Garros, where her 42-9 career record leads active women. Azarenka has never been as successful on clay as faster grass or hard courts, and Thursdays match will be her first French Open semifinal. But shes getting more and more comfortable on what some players call "dirt." Asked by a reporter to describe her "relationship" with clay, Azarenka joked: "I still dont have any ring on my finger. But I feel like, you know, we made a step forward. We are moving in together." Against 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic, Sharapova needed 35 minutes to win a single game. In the meantime, nearly every point Jankovic claimed was raucously celebrated by a group of four fans sitting behind her brother (who is also her coach). At a changeover, Jankovic looked up at them with a wide smile as they sang her first name and waved a Serbian flag. But eventually, Jankovic began missing more -- and Sharapova began finding the range. A forehand winner helped set up a break point for Sharapova in the second sets first game, and Jankovic handed it over with a double-fault. That was part of a run in which Sharapova won seven of eight points to go ahead 2-0. "Really important. You know, at least give her something to think about," Sharapova said. "She was a bit in cruise control for a long period of time." At 3-all in the third, a pair of Jankovic backhands into the net and one perfect forehand passing shot by Sharapova led to the sets first break point. Sharapova capitalized with a well-timed return of a 107 mph serve, forcing yet another backhand error. The match was nearly two hours old, and Sharapova finally grabbed her first lead. "It was certainly nice to change things around," Sharapova said, "because I wasnt doing much in the first six games."Cheap Vapormax For Sale .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Air Max Plus Outlet . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. http://www.nikeshoesoutletwholesale.com/adidas-ultra-boost-sale.html . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Shoes Outlet Cheap . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Air Max 270 Factory Outlet . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg.ATLANTA -- Aaron Rodgers found new ways to move a Green Bay offense missing many of its top playmakers.Rodgers creativity -- and his four touchdown passes and career-high 60 yards rushing -- kept the Packers close in Sundays 33-32 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Even Rodgers do-it-all best wasnt enough to overcome the loss of six starters, including linebacker Clay Matthews and wide receiver Randall Cobb, who were held out with hamstring injuries.First of all, there are no excuses, Rodgers said. Were all professionals out here and are expected to play well, and to that accord Im proud of our guys and the way they battled.The offense also was without starting tight end Jared Cook, who has an ankle injury, and wide receiver/running back Ty Montgomery, who was limited all week by an illness. If healthy, Montgomery was expected to see significant time at running back , as the Packers continue to adjust to the loss of Eddie Lacy to injured reserve with an ankle injury.Rodgers improvised by finding new targets.Receivers Geronimo Allison, Trevor Davis and Jeff Janis caught their first career touchdowns.Thats our job, to go out and make plays, regardless of whos in there, said Allison, just promoted from the practice squad. Allisons 4-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was his first career reception.Fullback Aaron Ripkowski, who had six carries for the season before Sunday, matched that with six carries for 34 yards. He had four carries for 13 yards on the Packers 13-play, 86-yard touchdown drive for a 32-26 lead with 4:04 remaining.Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Rodgers was outstanding in the game, and he said the Packers have overcome injuries beefore.ddddddddddddWe have played like this before, McCarthy said. We have taken advantage with the people we have.Rodgers said Green Bays game plan was ever changing with late medical updates on Cobb and Montgomery.We felt good about the packages we had, but we knew we needed backup plans in case things went a certain way out there.The Packers began the game rotating running backs Don Jackson and Knile Davis, who combined to run for 14 yards on seven carries.I got away from that because I wasnt comfortable with it after the second quarter, and I thought our players responded very well, McCarthy said, adding he went to more of a spread game.McCarthy said medical updates will help determine the direction of the offense.We will see what the medical report looks like tomorrow and we will go from there, he said.Montgomery said after the game doctors believe his illness is somewhat related to the sickle cell trait.Unfortunately, I had to deal with some of those symptoms, Montgomery said. Were taking it day by day. We were monitoring the situation with the hope Id be able to play today.James Starks, Lacys backup, was out with a knee injury.Rodgers completed 28 of 38 passes for 246 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Davante Adams started for Cobb and had a game-high 12 catches for 74 yards.Julius Peppers started for Matthews and had a sack.Green Bays long list of inactive players also included starting cornerbacks Quinten Rollins and Damarious Randall.---AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '