With the Rogers Cup set to take place in Montreal next week, Blainville, Quebecs Aleksandra Wozniak reflects on preparing for the event in her home province with her personal blog on RDS.ca and TSN.ca. I took a few days off after Wimbledon, but now Im back in training - seven hours a day, six days a week. Ive finished my preparation for the tournament at Stanford before returning to Quebec for the Rogers Cup. And Ive spent a lot of time on the field and in the gym. Im really happy to go play at Stanford, a place where Ive kept some precious memories. This is where, in 2008, I won my first title on the WTA Tour at age 20. This time, Im going through qualification before I get to see my name on the main board - an event that will feature top seed Serena Williams. It seems that when a tennis player returns to play in a tournament that he or she has already won, the organizers generally give some more attention to that former champion. Sometimes youre entitled to special treatment because theyre happy to know youre returning. There are certainly a lot of tournaments in a year and each player usually has an established route for the season. Sometimes the former champions dont return to where theyvewon. But as a former champion, I keep so many great memories and beautiful thoughts it feels good to go back. Not to mention that Stanford University is beautiful, with a great atmosphere and people who love tennis. Theyre true enthusiasts and its nice to play there. I was also very happy to learn that the organizers of the Rogers Cup gave me a pass for the tournament, which begins next week in Montreal. Ive supported Tennis Canada for several years and they believe in me, knowing all the efforts that I put in to heal my injured right shoulder. Tennis Canada knows that I work hard to improve my lot in the sport. I was 378th in the world but now Im up at 103rd. There was a time when I was one of the few Canadians on the professional tour, but I continued to get great support along with other new players. Going through the qualification stage doesnt bother me, but I am very pleased with this pass in Montreal. Upon my return to competition, the most important thing was playing as many events as possible just to get into shape. I hadnt played for a year and wanted to find my bearings and rebuild my confidence. Then when you start winning more regularly, its good to get to play in places like Montreal. And the Rogers Cup is my favorite tournament. When I was younger, my parents took me to this tournament so I could see my idol Monica Seles in action. Watching her in my hometown made me want to be like her. It made me dream. And its great for encouraging young people to play tennis. And of course, I get to play at home - where I reached the quarterfinal round two years ago and was the first Canadian in 20 years to get that far in the tournament. It will be very fun to play at home in front of family and sponsors, not to mention the fans who bring a beautiful energy. Ill try to play my best tennis for my supporters and go as far as possible against the best in the world. I would like to repeat what I did two years ago, taking one game at a time. And of course, Eugenie Bouchards success in the WTA is spilling over in courts across the country. With Eugenie and others making their mark, were demonstrating to the world that Canadians wont be easy prey and were very competitive. A few years ago, I was the only Canadian in the Top 50. Today, we have Eugenie and Sharon Fichman - not to mention the guys! All of these good performances are inspiring our youngest to play tennis. I am very pleased to see Eugenie succeed on the world stage. We all work very hard to climb to the top and we do it our own way. I reached 21st in the world a few years ago but unfortunately, injuries slowed my progress. But Im a very persistent and determined girl and will continue my journey by staying focused on my career. A heavy loss - Dr. Francis Jean Its with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Dr. Francis Jean, the founder of The Iris Visual Group. They were my first major sponsor, well before my win at Stanford. Francis believed in me and always encouraged me - even when things werent going so well. He sent me little words of encouragement and was very active in the tennis world. He was a true sports enthusiast and was loved by all. My deepest sympathies to his entire family. https://www.facebook.com/WozAlekshttp://...iak.com/Twitter @alekswoz Womens NEIGHBORHOOD x Adidas Gazelle Green/Mint/White Uk . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. Womens Adidas Superstar Bold W Platform Leather White Pink Uk . 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That brought a smile to the face of Rangers coach Alain Vigneault.MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact hope lessons learned from two lopsided losses will help prevent a season sweep at the hands of Sporting Kansas City. The Impact were shutout twice by Sporting KC earlier this year — 4-0 on the road on Apr. 19, and 3-0 at home on May 10. The two teams meet for the third and final time this season at Saputo Stadium on Saturday. Catch the game on TSN as part of an MLS doubleheader starting at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. "Those were tough to digest," said striker Marco Di Vaio, who did not play in the 3-0 loss due to a hamstring injury. "We know that, unless we double our efforts, well lose again. We have to improve, and we have the capacity to do so. We need a full team effort to beat this team." At Sporting Park in April, the Impact (3-8-5) gave up three second-half goals, including two to KC striker Dom Dwyer, for their biggest defeat of the season. In May, Montreal was reduced to 10 men after just 17 minutes when midfielder Collen Warner, who has since been traded to Toronto FC, was shown a red card for handling the ball with his arm in the penalty box. Dwyer converted the ensuing spot kick, and added another goal in the second half. After that game, Impact President Joey Saputo took to Twitter to promise fans that changes were forthcoming. True to his word, Saputo shuffled the roster. In the last two months, the Impact traded Warner for midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran, acquired Mamadou Danso from the Portland Timbers, signed Spanish midfielder Gorka Larrea, sent Jeb Brovsky to expansion side New York City FC, released the injured Nelson Rivas, and added Polish left back Krzysztof Krol. Most recently, after confirming Hernan Bernardello was headed to Cruz Azul in Mexico, Montreal signed Argentine attacking midfielder Ignacio Piatti as a designated player. "We made some good moves and brought in some good quality players," said manager Frank Klopas. "Its taken some time for them to jell, but were a different team. We have to continue to show that on the field." While Danso, Krol and Piatti have yet to see action for the Impact, the positive results have started trickling in. Since that 3-0 home loss to Kansas City in May, Klopas men are 4-3-3 in all competitions, and went undefeated in their final three Amway Canadian Championship games en route to the Voyageurs Cup. "The team is much better now," said Di Vaio, who has yet to score against Sporting KC in six career matches. "Were working as a team, were more confident. We hadnt been working together. Now, were more team-oriented." "We changed our personnel, and we changed our attitude," added captain Patrice Bernier. "Its up to us to prove that our two first games against them, we were a different team, and we werent at our best. Were at home, and we have to remember the lastt time we played against them.dddddddddddd" Since returning from the two-week World Cup break, the Impact have strung together three solid performances. The team registered a scoreless draw against the Whitecaps in Vancouver before beating the Houston Dynamo 3-0 at home. Last week, despite a solid defensive showing, Montreal conceded four minutes into stoppage time for the 1-0 loss against Chivas USA to remain winless on the road this season. Prior to the goal, the Impact had gone 315 successive minutes without conceding, the third longest shutout streak in Major league Soccer this year. The stingy defending, however, hasnt been enough to heave the Impact off the bottom of the MLS standings, where they have been for most of the year. With just 14 points from 16 games, Montreal has the leagues worst record. "Paradoxically, considering the start of the season weve had, were not that far from a playoff spot," said defender Hassoun Camara, whose team is just six points off fifth place in the Eastern Conference. "It may not have been how we wanted to start the season, but now, even in losses like last weeks against Chivas, were really bringing it on the pitch. We have to overcome adversity." To keep second-place Kansas City (7-5-5) at bay, the Impact will have to contain Dwyer, something they couldnt do in the first two encounters this season. The 23-year-old leads the team with 12 goals and a league-high 63 shots. "Hes going to work hard, hes going to make good runs in the box, hes going to fight for everything, and hes going to close down," said Klopas. "Box defending has to be good, obviously. Hes a guy that you have to be aware of for 90 minutes, because the one moment you lose focus and concentration, he can hurt you. "He has a very god mentality right now and hes playing with a lot of confidence." Like the Impact, Kansas City has only conceded once in its last three MLS games. But clean sheets may be more difficult to come by for Sporting in the near future. The team will be without goalkeeper Eric Kronberg for eight weeks after he fractured a bone in his left hand during training on Wednesday. Kronberg, whos played all 17 games for Sporting KC this season, leads the league with seven clean sheets. Backup keeper Andy Gruenebaum will likely get the start against Montreal on Saturday. Notes: On Tuesday, Klopas announced the Impact were still interested in acquiring Canadian international Olivier Occean from Kaiserslautern in Germany. … Sporting have yet to lose when they score first (7-0-4). … Karl Ouimette will be suspended if he receives a yellow card on Saturday. … Centre back Matt Besler will likely make his first appearance for SKC since returning from the FIFA World Cup. … Kansas City has only lost once in its last six MLS matches. ' ' '