Wimbledon, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. 1s Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams posted first-round victories on opening day at The Championships, Wimbledon. The second-seeded Li bested Polands Paula Kania, making her WTA-level debut, 7-5, 6-2 on the famed Centre Court, while the sixth-seeded 2011 Wimbledon winner Kvitova cruised past fellow Czech Andrea Hlavackova 6-3, 6-0, and the eighth-seeded Azarenka handled 32-year-old Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court at the venerable All England Club. The 32-year-old Li has reached at least the semifinals at all of the majors except for Wimbledon, where shes a three-time quarterfinalist, including last year. Her second-round opponent will be Austrian Yvonne Meusburger. The left-handed Kvitova has reached at least the quarterfinals here four straight years and will meet German Mona Barthel on Wednesday. Azarenka fought to get past the 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist Lucic-Baroni, winning on her fifth match point. The Belarusian struggled with her serve, with eight double faults, but made the most of her opponents 29 unforced errors. The two-time Australian Open champion just returned to tour action last week after being sidelined with a foot injury for three months. Monday marked her first match win since the fourth round at the Aussie Open in January. Azarenka reached back-to-back Wimbledon semifinals before pulling out of her second-round match here a year ago because of an injury. Next up for the Belarusian star will be Serbian Bojana Jovanovski. The 30th-seeded Williams picked up her first Wimbledon win in three years with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Spaniard Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. The 34-year-old Williams owns seven major tiles, including five Wimbledon crowns, and shes now 72-11 lifetime at Wimbledon. Her second-round opponent will be Japans Kurumi Nara. Tenth-seeded Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova, of Slovakia, whipped Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-2 on Centre Court; 12th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta drubbed Slovak Jana Cepelova 6-2, 6-3; oft-injured former U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, who has been working with fellow Belgian and former world No. 1 star Kim Clijsters, dropped 17th-seeded former U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-4; and Russian Maria Kirilenko doused 18th-seeded American Sloane Stephens 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). Stosur struggles mightily on grass, having suffered six first-round exits in 12 trips to the All England Club and never advanced beyond the third round here. Stephens saved five match points against Kirilenko before play went to a second-set tiebreak. Stephens had reached at least the fourth round at the last six Grand Slam events, including a run into the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year. Stephens is still a solid 31-13 at the majors, but a pedestrian 55-54 everywhere else. In other action involving seeds, No. 22 Russian Ekaterina Makarova overcame 43-year-old Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm 3-6, 6-4, 7-5; No. 23 Czech Lucie Safarova edged out German Julia Goerges 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3); hot American Coco Vandeweghe converted on her 13th match point in taking out No. 27 Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; and No. 32 Russian Elena Vesnina took care of Austrias Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-0, 6-4. Vandeweghe corralled her first-ever WTA title, on grass, in The Netherlands just two days ago. Muguruza shocked Serena Williams in the second round at the French Open last month. Several other women advanced, including Meusburger, Jovanovski, Barthel, Nara, Aussie Casey Dellacqua, and American Lauren Davis. Rain forced the suspension of some action, as fourth-seeded 2012 Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska was leading Andreea Mitu 4-2; 14th-seeded former French Open runner-up Sara Errani was tied with Frances Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-7 (3-7); 16th-seeded former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was ahead of Israeli Shahar Peer 6-3, 2-0; and Portuguese Michelle Larcher de Brito was leading 28th-seeded two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-1 when rain started to fall just after 8 p.m. local time. The current world No. 1 Serena will open her fortnight Tuesday against Georgian Anna Tatishvili. The American great is a 17-time major champion, including five Wimbledon championships, just like her older sister, Venus. Meanwhile, third-seeded French Open runner-up Simona Halep will face Brazils Teliana Pereira and fifth-seeded Roland Garros champion Maria Sharapova will take on Brit Samantha Murray. Sharapova captured her lone Wimbledon title by upsetting Serena in the final here 10 years ago. Also on Tuesdays schedule will be seventh-seeded former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 11th-seeded former top-ranked star Ana Ivanovic, 13th-seeded two- time 2014 Grand Slam semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard, and 19th-seeded Sabine Lisicki, who was last years Wimbledon runner-up to since-retired Marion Bartoli. Brooklyn Nets Store . Its a blessing and a burden for nine sons of former NHL players who are all expected to be taken in the first four rounds of the draft this weekend. Brooklyn Nets Gear .C. United on Saturday night and boost the Unions playoff hopes. Nick DeLeon scored in the 36th minute for United (3-23-6), which had ample opportunities to build on its lead but went its 10th straight match without a victory. https://www.cheapnetsonline.com/. Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. 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With the Roughriders falling short of their goal to repeat as Grey Cup champions, the team is promising changes will be made this off-season. That means some of the players will see their time with the Roughriders end in disappointment. It sucks. I dont know how else to say it, said offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte. Even after last year you knew there were going to be changes. You knew you were seeing guys for the last time unless you end up playing against them in the future. And for some guys, this is the end of the road. It sucks to end it on this note, too. As was the case a year ago, the Riders face an off-season that is sure to be loaded with difficult decisions when it comes to coaching staff changes and player personnel. The Riders have 27 players eligible to file for free agency on Feb. 15, and several on that list are marquee talents, though a handful of those players are 30 years or older. I like the guys that we have on our team as far as age goes, head coach Corey Chamblin told the media. There are some pieces that will be retooled. Some guys will be let go in free agency and we wont sign because maybe they dont fit the plan going forward. Some of these guys have different mindsets from what they want for the 2015 season. There are some things that we cant give them, whether that would be money or a position or whatever they may want. Two of the Riders four starting defensive lineman — 32-year-old Ricky Foley and 31-year-old Tearrius George — are eligible for free agency. That duo combined for 24 sacks in 2014 in leading the Riders to a 10-8 record and a third-place West Division finish in the regular season. Also on that list are starting safety Tyron Brackenridge (30) and linebacker Brian Peters. Brackenridge had 11 tackles and an interception on Sunday and was a West Division all-star for the second straight year. Peters led the Riders in tackles this season with 78 and special teams tackles with 20. Cornerback Tristan Jackson, who also starred as a special teams returner, also is a free agent. He led the league in combined return yards with 1,531. On offence, the biggest name on the free agent list will be Weston Dressler, who will turn 30 during the off-seasoon.dddddddddddd. He signed a one-year deal with the Riders in August after he was cut from the NFLs Kansas City Chiefs. At the time, Dressler didnt rule out testing his luck down south in 2015. He confirmed those feelings again on Tuesday. Im not going to commit one way or the other, he said. I dont think the smartest thing to do right now would be to shut any doors. Ill take it day by day and see what kind of opportunities are out there for me. Elsewhere, the Riders playmakers arent getting any younger. Dressler, along with slotback Chris Getzlaf (31) and wideout Taj Smith (31) are all over 30 and dealt with injuries this past season. Forty-one year old quarterback Kerry Joseph, who was coaxed out of retirement in October, said after Sundays loss that his playing career is over. He threw five interceptions in the game against Edmonton. Starting quarterback Darian Durant is 32 and is still recovering from surgery on right elbow. He signed a contract extension in April that runs through 2016. Durant plans to rest and rehab in the near future and is dedicated to coming to training camp fully recovered. Theres no need for me to go out and push it and try to throw and do those different things, he said. I can just sit back and go through therapy and let (his elbow) heal so I can begin my regular lifting program. Its all about downtime and making sure my arm is 100 per cent as quickly as possible. The Riders raced out to an 8-2 start behind a healthy Durant. But the star quarterback tore a tendon in his right elbow on Sept. 7 in a game versus the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the team, especially the offence, never recovered. We sputtered too much too often, Dressler said. We didnt generate enough drives and give ourselves a lot of opportunities to make plays. We never got into the flow. After Darian went down, we never found that energy, that consistency throughout an entire game. We had spurts but it wasnt consistent. Chamblin plans to meet with general manager Brendan Taman to discuss potential free agents on the Riders roster and who might become available through free agency elsewhere in the league. Whether its rebuilding or restructuring, the Riders are prepared to undergo some retooling. I think we were really close this year, Dressler said. Maybe a couple of guys here and there with a little more experience and a little more of that veteran leadership may have made a difference. Its hard to say. You want to keep that continuity in the locker room but you also want to have the right guys in place. I dont get paid to make those decisions, so well see what happens. ' ' '