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Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Former champion Maria Sharapova and third seed Simona Halep notched wins, while former runner-up Ana Ivanovic was a stunning opening-round loser on Day 1 at the Australian Open. The second-seeded former world No. 1 Sharapova eased past Croat Petra Martic 6-4, 6-1. The reigning French Open champion titled here in 2008 and was an Aussie runner-up in 2007 and 2012. Sharapova opened her 2015 season with a title in Brisbane two weeks ago. Her second-round opponent on Wednesday will be fellow Russian Alexandra Panova. Last years French Open runner-up to Sharapova, Halep, handled Italian Karin Knapp 6-3, 6-2 at Melbourne Park. Halep opened her latest season with her ninth career title in Shenzhen, China, two weeks ago. Shell meet Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova on Day 3 this week. Meanwhile, Czech Lucie Hradecka sent shockwaves by ousting fifth-seeded Ivanovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena. The Serbian Ivanovic, who was the Aussie runner-up to Sharapova in 2008, suffered her earliest exit at a Grand Slam event since the French Open in 2011. She was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne last year. I think the whole match I didnt really feel like myself out there, Ivanovic said. It was really tough for me to find a rhythm a little bit. In the third set, I really felt like she raised her level. Hradecka, playing her first Grand Slam main draw since last years Aussie Open, lost in qualifying at the other three majors in 2014. The doubles specialist entered the week ranked 142nd in singles play. She has 18 doubles titles, but none in singles. In the first set I was so nervous, Hradecka said. I couldnt hit any balls in the court. When I went outside, I started to serve in the second set, I thought, Okay, it cannot be the worst. Lets play every point and lets see what will happen. Its the earliest exit by a top-5 seed since 2003, when then No. 3 Jennifer Capriati was ousted by Marlene Weingartner. Seventh-seeded Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard doused German Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 6-4, while another upset saw Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania beat No. 9 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany, 6-4, 0-6, 6-1. Bouchard was the only woman to appear in three Grand Slam semifinals last year. Bouchards second-round opponent will be Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens. In other action involving top-16 seeds, No. 10 Russian Ekaterina Makarova whipped Belgian An-Sophie Mestach 6-2, 6-2, No. 14 former Roland Garros runner-up Sara Errani drilled American Grace Min 6-1, 6-0 and Kazakhstans Yaroslava Shvedova upended No. 16 Czech Lucie Safarova 6-4, 2-6, 8-6. In other play involving seeds, German Carina Witthoeft took out No. 17 Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-1; No. 21 Peng Shuai of China beat Germanys Tatjana Maria 6-4, 7-5; No. 22 Czech Karolina Pliskova defeated Russian Evgeniya Rodina 7-5, 6-1; Belgiums Yanina Wickmayer downed No. 23 Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Frances Caroline Garcia upset No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 6-2; Frances Kristina Mladenovic doused No. 28 Sabine Lisicki of Germany 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; No. 31 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan overcame Pole Urszula Radwanska 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; and Germanys Julia Goerges vanquished No. 32 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-1. Several other women moved on, including Americans Christina McHale and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Puerto Rican Monica Puig and Italian veteran Roberta Vinci. On Tuesday, top seed Serena Williams will meet Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck and fourth-seeded Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova will face Dutchwoman Richel Hogenkamp. The reigning U.S. Open champion Williams owns 18 career Grand Slam titles, including a whopping five Aussie crowns. Also slated for opening-round action on Day 2 are sixth-seeded former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, eighth-seeded former No. 1 and 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, 11th-seeded 2014 Aussie Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova, 18th-seeded former top-ranked star and former Aussie finalist Venus Williams, and unseeded two-time Aussie champ Victoria Azarenka, who will battle American Sloane Stephens. Fake MLB Jerseys . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Fake Jerseys Outlet . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. Mingo, who was hospitalized with a bruised lung he sustained in an Aug. http://www.fakejersey.com/fake-soccer-jerseys/. Al Horford said all he had to do was make the catch near the basket and then shoot a soft jumper. Fake Hockey Jerseys . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Fake NBA Jerseys .Y. - The New York Rangers have reached a one-year contract extension with goalie Cam Talbot, keeping Henrik Lundqvists backup away from unrestricted free agency.New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - So much for the Trail Blazers being sluggish following Fridays triple-overtime victory over the Spurs. There was no hangover for Portland, as LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 114-88 wire-to-wire drubbing of the Pelicans on Saturday. Damian Lillard, fresh off his 43-point performance against San Antonio, scored 17 points, and the Blazers led by as many as 34 by shooting 57.1 percent from the field over the first three quarters. Chris Kaman chipped in with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting for Portland, which rolled to a fifth straight win heading into another tough road matchup against Houston on Monday. New Orleans had won three of four coming in, but the usually productive triumvirate of Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday combined to shoot 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) for a total of 19 points. Austin Rivers netted a team-high 21 points and Ryan Anderson added 16. The dismantling sttarted early, as the Blazers scored on five straight possessions and jumped out to a 14-4 lead.dddddddddddd The margin reached 19 at one point in the opening frame and grew to 44-23 early in the second on the third of Wesley Matthews three 3-pointers. New Orleans night was summed up by Evans having a routine finger-roll rim out in the closing seconds of the half. The Pelicans trailed 62-44 at the break, and the intermission did not cool the Blazers off. Lillard hit a corner 3 on the first possession of the third quarter and made two more from outside in the opening six minutes. The third pushed the difference to 80-51, and both teams emptied their bench from there. Game Notes Nicolas Batum, who sat out Fridays win over the Spurs, scored 11 points for the Blazers ... The Blazers have won four straight meetings ... Lillard posted a game-high seven assists ... The Pelicans shot 35.3 percent from the field. ' ' '