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NEW YORK -- It was on a US Open practice court where, if you were especially intuitive, there were signs last year that Serena Williams was headed for an unhappy ending to her quest of completing the seventh calendar-year Grand Slam in the history of the game.It wasnt necessarily what she did that day, tossing and serving for well over an hour -- first from the deuce court, then from the ad and over to a different court for more of the same.It was more of what drove her there and the purposefulness with which she marched over directly after her match. Williams would later admit to being nervous during her eventual second-round victory against the 110th-ranked player in the world, a match in which she would squeak out a first-set tiebreaker 7-5, after committing eight double faults and 26 unforced errors in the opening set.She would close the match out 6-3 in the second; the match point was not accompanied by anything close to the shrieks heard that afternoon but rather utter silence, a disgusted look and an eye roll. She later characterized it as not one of my happiest moments.At that point, Williams was already tired of the questions and seemingly tired of the grind. Tired of being tired. She even all but demanded that any inquiries with the words Grand Slam in them cease. And when she lost in a semifinal shocker to Roberta Vinci, the 43rd-ranked player in the world playing her first career Slam semi, Serena blew through a four-minute news conference and left the grounds.You could hardly blame her. But back in the second round here Thursday against 27-year-old American Vania King, Williams mood was decidedly different.I think Im more relaxed, for sure, Williams said this earlier this week.While not exactly operating under the proverbial radar, Serena is trying to win just her second Slam in a row after prevailing at Wimbledon and only trying to surpass Steffi Grafs record of 22 career majors.And while King is an 87th-ranked wildcard who succumbed to Serena in their only previous meeting, 6-1, 6-0 in 56 minutes in the 2014 US Open, you suspect Williams opponent, as always, has very little to do with the outcome.While Serena is still dealing with a shoulder issue that had her going for placement rather than speed on her serves in her 6-3, 6-3 first-round win over Ekaterina Makarova, there is considerably less emotional weight on both shoulders this year.In 2015, Williams played 17 three-setters going into the Open in 10 tournaments, plus two rounds of Fed Cup; she won 16 of those three-set matches. This year, there have been five three-setters in seven tournaments, including the Olympics. She lost that third-round encounter to 20th-ranked Elina Svitolina in straight sets on Aug. 9, her last match before New York.Even with the shoulder concerns, Williams was asked, is this US Open already a more pleasant experience?I was going for something that no one has done in a really long time, she said of last year. Yeah, it didnt end wonderful for me or the way I wanted it to end. But it was all I could do. Thats all I could do.While the three-set victories were a testament to her competitive toughness, the off-court battle turned out to be a considerably tougher one. After the 2015 Open, she cited a broken heart from her loss to Vinci in addition to other injuries and subsequently announced she was withdrawing from three tournaments, including the WTA Finals.Williams coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said the motivation just wasnt there, and it was the only sensible decision. And this year, while Serena, who is weeks short of her 35th birthday, said she would have preferred to play more coming into the final Grand Slam of the year, she is trying to be optimistic.There is nothing we can do about it, she said. You just have to make the best of every single opportunity. Thats all I can do now.Usually, thats more than enough. Cheap Custom Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. 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India women 133 for 4 (Krishnamurthy 52*, Raj 46*, Selman 2-11) beat West Indies women 131 (Aguilleira 42, Gayakwad 4-21, Bisht 3-14) by six wickets Scorecard West Indies women will have to wait till the second ODI on Sunday to give themselves a shot at securing the one win they need to earn a direct entry to the 2017 Womens World Cup, after a forgettable first outing against India in Vijayawada. They slumped to 131 all out before Indias captain Mithali Raj and middle-order batsman Veda Krishnamurthy steered the hosts to a six-wicket win.The pair put on an unbroken stand of 97 as India - who had slumped to 36 for 4 in the 17th over - chased down the target with 65 balls to spare. Raj faced 91 balls and hit six fours in her 46 not out, while Krishnamurthy brought up her fourth ODI fifty and was unbeaten on 52. The win was Indias seventh in 16 ICC Womens World Championships matches and put them two points behind fifth-placed South Africa.Four of West Indies top seven, including Deandra Dottin - one of their most experienced batsmen - were out for single-digit scores after they had elected to bat. Hayley Matthews (24) and captain Stafanie Taylor (19) put on 37 for the second wicket - the highest partnership of the innings - before left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht removeed both of them and Kycia Knight, to leave West Indies precariously placed at 63 for 4.dddddddddddd Merissa Aguilleira, the wicketkeeper, top-scored with 42 not out as she carried the batting almost single-handedly, with no batsmen after her getting into double figures thanks to a four-wicket haul by Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Indias other left-arm spinner.West Indies lost their last four wickets for 16, three of those to Gayakwad, who finished with career-best figures of 4 for 21. Bisht, who bowled three maidens in her eight overs, finished with 3 for 14, while allrounder Shikha Pandey took the only other wicket that wasnt a run-out, with her medium-pace.India, experimenting with the new opening combination of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, were rattled early. The opening pair put on 15, and No. 3 Mona Meshram - playing her first ODI in over three years - made 2 off 14, before falling to medium-pacer Shakera Selman (2-11). Harmanpreet Kaurs dismissal for 1 shortly after reduced India to 36 for 4, giving West Indies a glimmer of hope. However the experience of Raj prevailed in the end as she saw the side home in Krishnamurthys company. 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