STANFORD, Calif. Avery Williamson Jersey Black Friday . -- Serena Williams smashed one final serve, dropped her racket, clenched her hands together and raised her arms in triumph. At long last, a champion again. After blood clots in her lugs and two foot operations threatened her career for nearly a year, Williams captured her first tournament title since returning with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Marion Bartoli in the Bank of the West Classic final Sunday. "Coming back and hearing the claps when I walk out there are moments that I truly missed," Williams said. "Its so awesome to be back and to be a part of those moments. Not everyone can be a sports, I dont know if star sounds full of myself, but Ive worked hard for that title. "So, yes, I say it and I take pride in it." The 13-time major champion overcame two breaks in the first set to rally for a dominating finish. She went ahead 5-0 in the second and left no doubt. The victory was even sweeter because the ninth-ranked Bartoli beat the former world No. 1 in straight sets in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year. The finals appearance was the first for Williams since winning at the All England Club in 2010 and her best showing this year. Williams also became the first American woman to win on home soil since she won the 2008 U.S. Open. While she entered the tournament unseeded and ranked 169th, the victory will vault Williams into the top 80. "I hated those triple digits," she said, chuckling. "Now Ive got to get to single digits." Shes well on her way after this week. Williams handled the competition with relative ease, including a 6-1, 6-3 thumping of Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals. She capped it off with a vintage performance against a well-rested Bartoli, who advanced when Slovakias Dominika Cibulkova withdrew in the other semifinal because of a strained abdominal muscle. Bartoli was bothered by a bruise in the centre of her right hand that began to swell in the middle of the opening set. She said the injury loosened her grip but didnt cost her the match. Williams was too good for that. "Serena, she already can improve from one day to the other," Bartoli said. "So you can imagine from one match to the other. I knew before the match started it was different than Wimbledon." Sporting a long-sleeve green shirt and black skirt, Williams conservative outfit -- by her sister Venus standards, anyway -- was matched only by her strategy. She was calm and cool behind Bartolis go-for-broke shots -- including a second serve topping 100 m.p.h. -- but a harder time with the elements. Williams struggled serving into the sun on a crisp and clear day at Stanford, even hitting a few serves with a shortened toss and awkward delivery. She was broken in the third game of the match and went down 4-2. Williams saved two break points and moved back to 4-4 with a break, pumping her fist in celebration. Bartoli broke back and served for the set at 5-4, first requesting a trainer to deal with the bruise. After a long rally on set point for Williams, somebody in the crowd yelled "out" while Bartoli returned a ball near the baseline. The French woman kept playing before Williams unleashed a forehand winner for the set. Bartoli argued unsuccessfully with the chair umpire to replay the point, and she requested a trainer between sets. In the end, she said, none of it mattered against her opponent. "Im sure shes going to tell you that she can play even better," Bartoli said. "And Im sure that she will." Such a small victory for Williams might never have meant so much. After winning Wimbledon in July 2010, she was out for nearly a year recovering from various health scares. The worst were two foot operations and blood clots in her lungs that left her depressed and "on my deathbed," as she put it, much less wondering if she could ever play again. Now Williams is not only back but ready to make more runs on the hard-court series this summer and at the U.S. Open beginning in late August. She said her stamina is back and her game is getting sharper by the day, a scary thought for opponents heading into Flushing Meadows. Even if shes not ready to tab herself the favourite. "I havent thought about (the U.S. Open). Right now, I just put myself right at the bottom," Williams said. "I feel like I just want to start and go in. My confidence is better, which is what I was planning for. I dont even think like that. When I get there, Im going to have the same chance as everybody else." Brett Kern Jersey Black Friday . McLeod, who was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding and Kronwall was taken from the ice on a stretcher. After the game, the Red Wings told the media that Kronwall had sustained a concussion. By having an in-person hearing, the league can suspend McLeod for more than five-games as per the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Steve McNair Jersey Black Friday . Numerous reports say the 2007 World Cup-winning lock, who has played 110 tests for South Africa, will end his two-year retirement to again represent the Pretoria-based Bulls in Super Rugby from next month.Tiger Woods is back in action this week at his Hero World Challenge, a 16-player event that moved to Floridas Isleworth G&CC for one year before taking up residence in the Bahamas starting in 2015 for three years. A day before teeing off, he met with the media for a conference that started with the official announcement of his new sponsor, Hero Motor Corp., of India and quickly moved into his status after a year of injuries and poor play. This marks the first time since he missed the cut at the PGA Championship in August that the 14-time major champion will be teeing it up. If you remember, the PGA marked Woods first event post-microdiscectomy event and it didnt end well. Woods hurt his back and then missed the cut. But now, after a much-needed rehab period, the 14-time major champion, looking relaxed and slimmed down, declared himself healthy and ready to go, albeit with a bit of competitive rust. It feels fantastic, Woods said of his back. Ive done the proper rehab. Ive gotten stronger. Ive gotten more explosive. Ive gotten faster. I just now need to hit more balls, but the body is good. Its nice to have - I dont have the sharp pain like I used to at the beginning of the year. I dont have that anymore. I still have some aches and pains, just like anybody else who is my age and older. Aside from those day-to-day aches and pains, this will mark the first time in a long while that well see Woods on the golf course without some sort of ailment. No sore back. No busted knee. No tender Achilles. No aching elbows. For much of the past decade, hes been a walking wreck and yet hes still managed to play better than just about anyone else. While last year was a write-off, his worst as a pro, just two years ago he won five times. This week, hell debut the work hes been doing with new swing consultant (dont call him a coach) Chris Como. Its designed to be a bit of back too the future, drawing on his greatest hits of the past.Custom Tennessee Titans Jersey Black Friday. It is new, but its old, Woods said. When I say that because I havent done it in a very long time. We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior, in junior and amateur golf, way before - even when I came out there and had some really nice years where I hit the ball really well. We went back to some of those old videos and really looked at it. The toughest part of the new swing may have actually been trying to find a VHS player to view some of the old tapes. Thankfully, Woods mother, Tida, was still a generation or two behind in her electronics. While he was obviously excited with his new work, Woods also addressed the relationship with his last coach, Sean Foley, which ended not long after Tigers season did. After four years and a slew of wins - although no majors - Woods used his down time to reflect on his Canadian coach. I think that physically, I just wasnt able to do some of the things that we wanted to do in the golf swing, admitted Woods, who turns 39 on Dec. 30. Thats one of the neat things about our transition out of a working relationship is that we are still very good friends and we still needle each other quite a bit on texting. So that part has been fantastic but on a professional level, I think I needed to go a different direction. Thats far different than Woods previous coach, Hank Haney whose relationship disintegrated in no small part due to the tell-all book the teacher penned. Its unlikely well get a good read on just where Woods is with his game in this limited-field event. Win or lose, this is more hit-and-giggle than grind-it-out. Hell play with a new bag of Nike clubs and a new Nike ball as well, adding to the difficulty in getting a solid read with just four rounds. But Tiger has returned and with that comes a lot of attention on just what hell do next. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
