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KITCHENER, Ont. -- John Morris Kelowna, B.C., rink and Renee Sonnenberg, of Grande Prairie, Alta., were the first two teams to advance to the Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials at the Road to the Roar pre-trials on Saturday. Morris, along with his squad of Jim Cotter, Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky, drew to the button in the 10th end to edge Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.s Brad Jacobs 5-4 to be the first of four teams -- two from the mens side and two from the womens -- to head to the Olympic trials in Winnipeg. The event runs from Dec. 1 to 8. Sonnenberg and her team of Lawnie MacDonald, Cary-Anne McTaggart and Rona Pasika, shook off an early defeat at the hands of Kelly Scott and beat the previously undefeated Kelowna foursome 12-4 in the womens A final to advance. Morris team went undefeated during the week, but the skip says they didnt play to their potential in the final. He says his foursome played a patient game and didnt want to be too aggressive. "This game wasnt our best and I dont think it was Jacobs best," Morris said. "It was a bit of cat and mouse. When the games that tight, no one really has to push the envelope too much. You just have to manage. "But we hung tough. Thats one of the first major championship big games weve really been in all year. Im proud of the guys for hanging tough and Jim made some key shots late that really picked us up." Both teams traded points starting in the second end, with each scratching back from one-point deficits before heading into the final end tied 4-4. Jacobs had two guards protecting his rock in the eight-foot ring, but Cotter, the fourth on Morris team, slid a shot gently between both rocks for the win. Jacobs didnt mince words about his teams performance with a chance at the Olympic trials on the line. "That was, quite frankly, terrible curling and quite embarrassing, some of the shot-making that we had in that last game," said Jacobs, the reigning Brier champion, who quickly stripped out of his curling jacket after the match and headed for the door. "No one was out there shooting the lights out like I thought we might be. No one went for the jugular. Everyone took their misses out there on both sides, thats why it was 4-4 game. Otherwise, if they would have been on, they probably would have clobbered us." Jacobs added: "Flat out, if were going to curl like that, were not going to come out of this thing. We need to bounce back and come back with a much better performance in our next one." Despite the loss, Jacobs gets another shot to make the finals tomorrow night when he faces the winner of the morning match between 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue and 2003 world junior champion Steve Laycock, of Saskatoon. "Us losing that game is very typical of our team ... and weve always bounced back," Jacobs said. "Im really hoping that tomorrow well show a lot of resilience and play a lot better." Morris will go up against former skip Kevin Martin. Despite winning a world championship in 2008 and Olympic gold in 2010 with Martin, Morris had a fiery relationship with his fourth, and left the team after gaining an automatic berth in Winnipeg. "Is he in that bonspiel?" Morris joked. "Im sure well have a great match against Kev. Well both be gunning for each other and that was a tough break at the end of last year, but it had to happen. Im sure were going to have a barnburner." Though the mens final had some drama to the last shot, Sonnenberg erased any chance of that in the sixth end with three of her rocks surrounding one of Scotts. She used the hammer to squeeze the stone out of the cluster to score four for a 7-3 lead. Despite Scott getting one back in the seventh end, Sonnenberg added three in the eighth and two in the ninth before Scott conceded. Sonnenberg acknowledged that the sixth end started the inevitable end of the match. "That made a huge difference for our team, but at that point we werent going to let up one inch. Weve seen a million comebacks this week," Sonnenberg said. She added that in her earlier loss to Scott she wasnt comfortable with the ice and never really got used to it how "swingy" it was. This time, the ice swung her way. "It may have been an advantage that we played the B final there. We knew what side was a little straighter and the other side swung a whole bunch. But the girls played great and we put our rocks in good position today." Scott on the other hand, admitted she was baffled by the sheet and her rocks, and was never comfortable during the game. "We did not enjoy that performance on our behalf," Scott said. "We had moments of looking at what we are doing out there, but there wasnt really one end where we put all eight shots together." Scott gets a second chance at an Olympic trial spot tomorrow afternoon against Edmontons Val Sweeting, who staved off elimination by beating 2010 Olympic silver medallist Cheryl Bernard 9-7 Saturday morning. "We know the Sweeting team is very good," Scott said. "They are a young and up and coming team and (we are) going to have to be sharp tomorrow. "We bounce (back) pretty good. We said that coming into our game, that regardless of the outcome of tonights game, lets not let it rattle us. Given the outcome of our performance, I think thats one we just want to park." Sonnenberg, on the other hand, cant wait to get back out west for the trials. "I just love curling in Winnipeg," she said. 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Larry Doby Jersey .C. - Steve Clifford isnt exactly singing his teams praises after the Bobcats won for the sixth time in seven games.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 tto withdraw from Madrid, defending champion Serena Williams cruised past fellow American Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 6-2.dddddddddddd 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. 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