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MONTREAL - A recharged Eugenie Bouchard, fresh off her stunning run to the Australian Opens final four, says shes ready to lead the Canadian team against Serbia at this weekends Federation Cup. Bouchard, who grabbed the tennis worlds attention at last months Grand Slam, will be joined in the best-of-five series by Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, Sharon Fichman of Toronto and Aleksandra Wozniak, of Blainville, Que. The 19-year-old rising tennis star said Wednesday she took time off after the Australian Open, and only worked a little bit on her serve and a few technical issues. "I was definitely physically and mentally tired," Bouchard told a news conference at Montreals Claude-Robillard Sports Complex, the site of Saturday and Sundays indoor World Group II first-round series womens tie. "Im happy with what I did, but never satisfied. I wanted to do better. At the end of the day I lost in the semifinals, so ... I hit the practice court and Im going to continue to work hard on court to try and do better." Bouchard, whose success in Melbourne moved her up to No. 19 in the world rankings, made her Fed Cup debut in 2011 and has a record of 7-2. Last year in Kyiv, Bouchard battled an injured ankle and won two matches, including the decisive doubles match alongside Fichman. That victory gave Canada a place in World Group II for the first time since 2010. Dabrowski, the countrys top-ranked female doubles player at No. 61 in the WTA computer, reached her first two WTA doubles finals in 2013 at Brussels and Linz in addition to winning two doubles titles of the ITF Challenger Circuit. The 26-year-old is 3-0 in Fed Cup play. The 23-year-old Fichman has a 22-7 career record at the Fed Cup, while Wozniak, 26, is 37-9. The Canadians will square off this weekend with a young, less-experienced Serbian team that will be missing two of its top players: Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, a former world No. 1. Bouchard, who upset Ivanovic in the quarterfinal at the Australian Open, said Wednesday her team would have liked to meet them in the Fed Cup. "I think were all disappointed not to have the two best, Ivanovic and Jankovic, here," said Bouchard. "But now we will take advantage, we will try to do our best and I think we have all the best players in Canada here. They might not have their best, so we will use that to our advantage." Serbian team captain Dejan Vranes said Ivanovic wont play this weekend due to injury and that Jankovic no longer competes in the event. The country will be represented by Nina Stojanovic, 17, Aleksandra Krunic, 20, Jovana Jaksic, 20, and Vesna Dolonc, 24, who at No. 117 is its top-ranked player. Vranes called the Canadians the favourites, particularly since they will be playing in front of a home crowd in a venue that holds some 4,000 fans. "We have a great challenge in front of us, but I believe in our team and I think we have a chance in every match," a confident Vranes told reporters. "Well be ready to fight." The Canadian women, however, are aiming to continue Canadas recent stretch of strong tennis performances. On the mens side, Milos Raonic climbed into the top 10 in the world last year, while Vasek Pospisil also rose in the rankings. Both reached the Rogers Cup semifinals in Montreal last summer and led the Davis Cup team to a first-ever semifinal appearance. Wozniak said she hopes the women can also deliver their own record-breaking finish. "Were looking forward to the challenge, and what the men did, its made history in Canada," Wozniak said. "So, I think for me, and for the team, its important. We would love to make a new history for Canada and win this tie." For Bouchard, who grew up in the Montreal Island community of Westmount, theres the bonus of playing a match in her hometown for the first time in a year and a half. "Its always fun to play in Montreal," said Bouchard, who was asked whether more people seem to recognize her in the city since the Australian Open. "Yeah, for sure, there are people who say, Good luck and that they are proud of me. Its special. Im happy to get compliments like that." Penguins Jerseys 2019 . According to the CFL Scouting Bureaus January rankings, four of the top five Canadian prospects line-up on the offensive side of the trenches, which is good news for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. With only one selection in the first two rounds — Walters sent his second-round pick to Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the 2013 trade deadline — the No. Pittsburgh Penguins Pro Shop . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. 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Blatter should arrive at the Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo to watch host Brazil play Croatia confident that this tournament -- his fifth as president -- wont be his last leading the worlds favourite sport. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost goes to the mound, the pitcher normally goes to the clubhouse to start icing his arm. Yost visited Jason Vargas on the mound in the ninth inning after Kyle Seagers two-out double, but opted to leave him in the game. Two batters later Dustin Ackley singled home Seager with the go-ahead run as the Seattle Mariners beat the Royals 2-1. "Vargas said, Im in great shape. I can get us through this inning, " Yost said. He could not. After Stefen Romeros infield bad hop single, which second baseman Pedro Ciriaco bobbled, Yost thought again of removing Vargas before facing Ackley, who entered in the seventh as a pinch runner. "It is lefty-on-lefty and Ackley hadnt swung the bat all day," Yost said. So he again stuck with Vargas. "If it works out, you are smart," Yost said. "If it doesnt, youre the dumbest guy in the stadium. I was the dumbest guy in the stadium." Ackleys single to right on a 2-2 count scored Seager. Ackley is 5 for 10 off Jason Vargas (7-3), who took the loss. "He (Yost) just asked me if I could get him, and I said, yeah, Vargas said. "There wasnt a whole lot more than that. I felt fine, I felt great in the ninth inning. Just a little bit of bad luck got us and I think we all know what happened after that." It was 91 degrees and humid for the first pitch, but Vargas did not use that as an excuse. "I mean, its hot," Vargas said. "I dont think theres any other way around it. I dont think you can feel sorry for yourself out there just because its hot. You know what you signed up for. You know what Kansas City summers are like." After retiring the first dozen Royals, Chris Young yielded a home run to Alex Gordon to leadoff the fifth to tie the score at 1. Young gave up back-to-back singles to Salvador Perez and Justin Maxwell after Gordons team-leading ninth home run. Perez, however, was out tryinng to stretch his into a double.dddddddddddd "Hes really tough to pick the ball up," said Eric Hosmer, who went 0-for-4. "Hes throwing 84-85 miles per hour, but he has such a long arm and his release point is so close to you thats it really hard to pick up. Hes been real consistent for those guys." The Mariners bunched three hits leading off the third with Cole Gillespies single to centre scoring Brad Miller, who began the inning with a bunt single and stopped at second on James Jones single. Young, a 35-year-old right-hander who has had three shoulder surgeries including one last June, did not did not sign with the Mariners until March 27 after the Washington Nationals released him in spring training. He was pulled after seven innings, allowing only the run on Gordons blast and three hits. Yoervis Medina (4-1) replaced Young and worked a flawless eighth, striking out two to pick up the victory. He has not allowed a run and only three hits in his past 10 outings, covering 101/3 innings. Fernando Rodney worked the ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities, getting Hosmer to ground into a game ending double play. Vargas gave up 10 hits and two runs in 82/3 innings, losing for the first time since May 19. Robinson Cano went 0-for-4 to snap his 21-game road hitting streak, the longest in the majors this season. NOTES: The Royals purchased the contract of OF Justin Maxwell from Triple-A Omaha and placed OF Nori Aoki on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin. The Royals transferred LHP Bruce Chen, who has a bulging disc, from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. ... Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Tekele Cotton, who helped Wichita State reach the NCAA Final Four in 2013 and to an undefeated regular season in 2013-14, took part of the ceremonial first pitch. ... The Mariners have won nine of their past 10 day games. ... The Royals have lost three straight after a 10-game winning streak ended Thursday. ' ' '