ROME - Canadas Milos Raonic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals. Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., won five of the last six points in the first-set tiebreaker. He picked up a break in the second set en route to his first career victory over the 11th-seeded Frenchman. Tsonga outlasted Raonic in a marathon match at the London Olympics in 2012 and beat him again last year at Indian Wells. Raonic hit seven aces and saved five break point chances on the red clay courts at the Foro Italico. Hell make his fourth Masters 1000 Series quarterfinal appearance of the season Friday against Jeremy Chardy of France. Chardy, who upset Roger Federer of Switzerland in the second round, advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Croatias Ivan Dodig. Raonic has yet to reach a semifinal this year. Also Thursday, Rafael Nadal was pushed to three sets for the second consecutive match before ultimately prevailing to set up a quarterfinal against Andy Murray. The top-ranked Nadal dropped behind a set and a break against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, then won 11 of the final 12 games to win 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 on another windy day at the Foro Italico. "Get used to (it)," Nadal said of his recent struggles. "With the years thats the normal thing. Everybody suffers. Thats part of the sport." At 27, Nadal believed his best days were probably behind him. "At this age, (Bjorn) Borg was doing other things," said Nadal, a 13-time Grand Slam winner. "Its not possible to win for 10 years with easy scores and easy matches. At the same time, Im sure I can do much better than I am doing." Nadal was looking forward to facing Murray for the first time in more than two years. "I play against one of the top players in the world after two tough days," Nadal said. "If I play well Im going to have my chances, if not Im going to spend the weekend (at home) in Mallorca." Murray eliminated Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-6 (1), 6-4 to celebrate his 27th birthday. In an upset, the seemingly ageless Tommy Haas beat third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. On the womens side, Maria Sharapovas 12-match winning streak — which included titles in Stuttgart and Madrid — ended with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Ana Ivanovic. Showing no signs of trouble from the left thigh injury that forced her to withdraw from Madrid, defending champion Serena Williams cruised past fellow American Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 6-2. Pushed for three hours by Gilles Simon to nearly midnight a day earlier, Nadal didnt generate the usual depth with his groundstrokes, and began to take control only when Youzhny started committing more unforced errors. "The conditions were very impossible," said Nadal, a seven-time Rome champion. "You always have to find the positive thing. I was able to play with the right motivation even if the feeling was not perfect." Nadal consistently ran around his backhand, a shot that also caused him concern in recent losses to David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, respectively. Of Nadals 29 winners, only two of them came with his backhand. Haas, the oldest player in the draw at 36, used his expertise to give Wawrinka trouble with heavy topspin. Haas last beat a top-10 player more than a year ago in Miami, where he took out then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic. "These things dont happen too often anymore, so when I take them Im really proud of them," the German said. He has been winning this week in Rome for the first time since he lost the 2002 final to Andre Agassi. Wawrinka cited a back injury that occurred in colder conditions during his opening win. "I couldnt move too well," he said. "Its really nothing serious. Its just painful and I need some rest — maybe a few days." Wawrinka has made a great start by winning the Australian Open and the Monte Carlo Masters but another early exit in last weeks Madrid Open leaves his form in question with the French Open starting in 10 days. Haas quarterfinal opponent will be Grigor Dimitrov, who at 22 is the youngest player in the top 20. Dimitrov rallied past sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2. Fifth-seeded David Ferrer beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-3 and will meet either Novak Djokovic or Philipp Kohlschreiber, who were playing late. In womens play, second-seeded Li Na defeated Sam Stosur 6-3, 6-1 and will next meet Sara Errani of Italy, who kept the crowd content by beating Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 7-6 (3). Also, third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska eliminated Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-1, and will play 2007 and 2008 Rome champion Jelena Jankovic, who got by Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3. NFL Jerseys From China . 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Cheap Jerseys Review .Y. - Alex Rodriguez paid $305,000 for evidence that could be used in the case involving the Biogenesis of America drug clinic, the Daily News reported Saturday.Reigning World T20 champions Sri Lanka coped with the absence of injured Lasith Malinga as Tillakaratne Dilshan inspired the side to a six-wicket win over qualifiers Afghanistan in Kolkata. Rangana Herath (2-24) took up the mantle with the ball after Malinga, afflicted by a knee strain in recent months, missed out on selection, with Afghanistan posting 153-7 thanks largely to captain Asghar Stanikzais career-best 62 off 47 balls.Dilshan (83no from 56) then collected his 13th fifty in T20I cricket - a record he shares with Chris Gayle (West Indies), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) and Virat Kohli (India) - and mowed three sixes as Sri Lanka eased home with seven balls to spare following the openers pull for four.Afghanistans innings hinged on Stanikzai after beefy opener Mohammad Shahzad, fresh from totals of 61, 41, and 40 in the qualification stage, holed out for eight and Mohammad Nabi, who hit 52 last time out against Zimbabwe, went lbw for three to leave the score on 51-4.Stanikzai clobbered back-to-back sixes off slow left-armer Milinda Siriwardana in the 13th over and four maximums in total, the 29-year-old sharing a stand of 61 from 31 balls with Samiullah Shenwari (31 from 14) for the fifth wicket while amassing his highest score in T20I cricket. Asghar Stanikzai hit four sixes in his career-best 62 Stanikzai perished attempting a ramp shot - becoming one of Thisara Pereras (3-33) scalps - but helped his side biff 104 runs from the final 10 overs, with Najibullah Zadran (12no from three) adding gloss at the death with a monstrous six over cover and a meaty four through the same region. Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal (18) , though, unleashed some lavish strokes of their own - the former nailing a six over fine leg with his famed Dil-scoop - as Sri Lanka put on 41 for the first wicket before Nabi had Chandimal pouched at midwicket from his second delivery.dddddddddddd.Sri Lanka teased a wobble when Lahiru Thirimanne (six) dragged teenage spinner Rashid Khan on, wicketkeeper Shahzad ran out Perera (12) and Nabi ousted Chamara Kapugedera (10) off his own bowling by flicking Dilshans straight drive onto the non-strikers wicket.But skipper Mathews backed up his economical work with the ball (1-17) by supporting Dilshan with an enterprising late cameo with the blade (21no from 10), although Afghanistan - in the Super 10s for the first time in their history - were left to rue some sloppy ground fielding during an otherwise valiant display. Sri Lanka celebrate the wicket of Mohammad Shahzad Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews: It was a much-needed victory for us as we havent played well in the recent past. Our bowlers did well except for two big overs and we were positive from the word go with the bat. We are not looking too far ahead but if we click we can do wonders as a team. Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai: I thought we were 10 or 15 runs short with our total, although Dilshan played very well for Sri Lanka and showed a lot of responsibility. We also made mistakes with our fielding, so hopefully we can improve that in our next game.Sky pundit and England seamer James Anderson: I thought Afghanistan got a lesson in how to chase down a total from Dilshan - he showed all his experience and skill by taking on low risk shots all the way through a chanceless innings. It was great to watch.Sri Lanka and Afghanistan return to World T20 action on Sunday, with the former tackling Englands conqerors West Indies in Bangalore (1.30pm, Sky Sports 2) after Afghanistan battle South Africa in Mumbai (9am, Sky Sports 2). You can watch both games for £6.99 with a NOW TV Day Pass. ' ' '