ASS News » She was joined by second-seeded Roberta Vinci

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark advanced to the semifinals of the Istanbul Cup on Friday after being taken to three sets by eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Wozniacki, who served six aces and saved four of five break points, won 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. She was joined by second-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy who beat sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-0, 6-2. Vinci next plays Croatian qualifier Ana Konjuh who, in her first WTA quarterfinal, defeated fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Kristina Mladenovic of France ousted Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to set up a semifinal against Wozniacki Hanley Ramirez Indians Jersey . "This isnt really the week you want to lose Chris Greaves," fellow lineman Glenn January said Wednesday after practice. Greaves is expected to miss several weeks after suffering a knee injury in last weeks 36-28 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. Bradley Zimmer Jersey . Specifically, thumbs up to the Canadian-based teams in the NHL, or at least most of them. http://www.indianssale.com/indians-trevor-bauer-jersey/ . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey. Carlos Baerga Indians Jersey . As their best player continued to orchestrate his dramatic exit from the club, the Whitecaps added size and creativity at Thursdays Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Hanley Ramirez Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. LONDON -- Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the battle of the superstar forwards to give Portugal the edge over Sweden in the World Cup playoffs, while Frances chances of qualifying took a big hit by losing 2-0 in Ukraine. Ronaldo transferred his prolific scoring form for Real Madrid to the international stage, diving to head home an 82nd-minute winner and give Portugal a 1-0 cushion to take to Stockholm for Tuesdays second leg. France faces missing a major tournament for the first time since 1994 after Roman Zozulya and Andriy Yarmolenko scored second-half goals for Ukraine in a feisty match that saw both teams finish with 10 men. Kostas Mitroglous double helped Greece claim a 3-1 win over Romania and tiny Iceland overcame a sending-off early in the second half to hold on for a 0-0 draw with Croatia, keeping alive its hopes of becoming the least populous nation to reach a World Cup. All four return matches take place on Tuesday, when the 13 qualifiers from Europe will be finalized. Italy drew 1-1 with Germany and an experimental England side slumped to a 2-0 home loss to Chile in headline friendly matches as the countdown to next years World Cup begins in earnest. One of the worlds top forwards will be absent in Brazil next summer -- and it looks more likely to be Ibrahimovic, not Ronaldo. The heavily billed showdown between two of the biggest stars -- and egos -- in football looked like falling flat in Lisbon, only for Ronaldo to take centre stage like he so often does for Madrid. He dived to glance in a left-wing cross for his 44th goal in 108 international appearances, and almost added another when he headed against the crossbar late on. Ibrahimovic was largely anonymous in Lisbon and, at the age of 32, could be set to miss out on what would likely be his final World Cup campaign. Another star of the world game, Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery, may alsso be absent in Brazil after France tumbled to defeat in Kyiv on a night that proved to be one to forget for Laurent Koscielny.dddddddddddd. The Arsenal defender conceded the penalty that Yarmolenko converted for 2-0 in the 83rd minute, and was then sent off in stoppage time. Zozulya opened the scoring in the 61st for Ukraine, who had Oleksandr Kucher dismissed soon after Koscielny had been shown the red card. Iceland, with a population of around 320,000, is seeking a place in a major tournament for the first time but the biggest football match in the Nordic countrys history turned sour when Olafur Skulason was sent off for a professional foul in the 51st. However, goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson and his packed defence stood firm to repel wave after wave of Croatia attacks in the second half. The 10,000 Iceland fans in the Laugardalsvollur national stadium greeted the final whistle as if their team had won. Romania appears likely to miss out on World Cup qualification for the fourth straight campaign after conceding twice in the opening 20 minutes before Mitroglou scored Greeces third in the 66th to give the 2004 European champions a strong advantage to take to Bucharest. Bogdan Stancu had equalized in the 19th for Romania, which had substitute Costin Lazar sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time. Italy maintained its proud record of not having lost to Germany since 1995 -- but needed a 28th-minute equalizer by Ignazio Abate to preserve that run. Germany took the lead in the eighth minute through Mats Hummels and twice hit the goal frame in Milan. In another match between two World Cup qualifiers, Chile ended Englands 10-game unbeaten run thanks to Alexis Sanchezs double at Wembley Stadium. The Barcelona forward scored in the seventh minute and again in second-half injury time to deliver a reality check for England, which gave three players debuts. ' ' '