at Cookes actions were intentional

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Roberta Vinci will face a fellow Italian in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second straight year. In a testament to the depth among Italys womens tennis players, the 10th-seeded Vinci will also be taking on a countrywoman for the third straight round at this years tournament. She and Flavia Pennetta both won Monday to set up a matchup of 30-somethings who have known each other since they were 8. Vinci beat Camila Giorgi 6-4, 6-2 in 67 minutes. Moments later, rain started pouring down, stopping all matches at Flushing Meadows for 4 1/2 hours. The delay couldnt have come at a better time for Pennetta, who came back to the court to seize momentum and clinch a 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory over 21st-seeded Simona Halep. American wild card Alison Riske forced a third set against Daniela Hantuchova, but the veteran pulled away for a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory. Halep had set point on her serve, trying to send the match to the third, when the skies opened up. Once they resumed, the 83rd-ranked Pennetta won three straight points to even the second set at 5-5. Halep promptly broke again, but she couldnt serve out the set this time, either. Then the 31-year-old Pennetta dominated the tiebreaker for her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since 2011. Vinci had never made a Grand Slam quarterfinal before this tournament a year ago, when she was 29. Now Vinci has done it in consecutive U.S. Open trips. She lost to another countrywoman, doubles partner Sara Errani, in the quarters in 2012. "Its obvious that Im not young. Im 30. But it can be a strength, because I have a lot of experience," Vinci said. "Against a player like Camila, who is very young, it can be an advantage for me — and I think it was on the court today." Errani, the top-ranked Italian woman, was upset by Pennetta in the second round this year while seeded fourth. No matter, the country will still have a representative in the womens semifinals for the second straight time. Before last year, that hadnt happened once in the Open era, which began in 1968. Giorgi, a 136th-ranked qualifier, was trying to reach her first major quarterfinal at age 21. In her third-round upset of sixth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, she crushed the ball on point after point, with 46 winners and 45 unforced errors. She jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first set Monday, but Vinci stayed poised and patient. Vinci, who had never faced the younger Italian before, started attacking her forehand, and Giorgis mistakes mounted. She finished with 35 unforced errors to 20 winners. "The problem wasnt the opponent," Giorgi said. "The problem is that I wasnt myself on court today." Vinci is one of only two players seeded in the top 10 left in her half of the draw, along with No. 2 Victoria Azarenka. The 23-year-old Riske was 0-5 in Grand Slam matches heading into this summer. Then she made the third round at Wimbledon and the fourth at the U.S. Open. Down a set and a break Monday, she couldnt get anything going against Hantuchovas serve. Riske finally figured it out in the 17th game, breaking back to 4-4 in the second set. The rain came a point later, but it didnt cost Riske any momentum. She held at love after they resumed, then broke Hantuchovas serve at love at 6-5 to even the match. The 30-year-old Hantuchova never gave her an opening in the third set, though. Now shes back in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Hantuchova will face Azarenka or 13th-seeded Ana Ivanovic, whose match was postponed until Tuesday morning because of the rain. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were each playing later Monday, though there was more rain in the forecast. Arthur Ashe Stadium is finally getting a roof, the U.S. Tennis Association announced last month. But that wont happen until 2016 at the earliest. For now, rain delays are the reality at Flushing Meadows. If Nadal and Federer win their fourth-round matches — whenever theyre actually completed — theyd meet in a quarterfinal of 29 combined Grand Slam titles. The great rivals have met 10 times at major tournaments, but never before the semis. The potential matchup in the quarters is a byproduct of Federer falling to a seeding of No. 7. His match with 19th-seeded Tommy Robredo was moved to Louis Armstrong Stadium. It was the first time since the fourth round in 2006 — also because of rain — that Federer played on the Opens No. 2 court. Fans immediately lined up outside Armstrong to attempt to land a seat. The second-seeded Nadal is still scheduled to face No. 22-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber on Ashe to start the night session. Henrik Lundqvist Jersey . LeBron James believes hes a major reason for their early failures. Mika Zibanejad Jersey .9 million deal Thursday. 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Mark Messier Jersey . -- Max Gilbert captured his first pro victory at the Tour Championship of Canada.The Ottawa Senators are having a bit of an attendance issue in the early part of this season and Tuesday nights result in Philadelphia certainly wont help put more people in the seats. However, there will be a 2-for-1 promotion for Wednesdays home game against the Minnesota Wild. No, there wont be a discount on tickets for this game, but fans will get a chance to boo two villains for the price of one. And considering how ornery and agitated Sens fans are these days, this could be a perfect outlet to vent their frustrations. Dany Heatley and Matt Cooke roll into town as members of the Wild, meaning they would only need Alexei Yashin to centre their line to make it the most hated visiting trio in Sens franchise history. Based on recent history, Heatley and Cooke could very well be Villains 1 and 1A for the Sens fan base. So which player will receive the louder boos tonight? Lets analyze the case for both Heatley and Cooke. Dany Heatley The Dany Heatley saga is well-documented in this town, after the sniper demanded a trade in the summer of 2009. He cited a "diminished role" under head coach Cory Clouston as the catalyst for his departure. When Heatley made his first return to Ottawa on December 2, 2010, he was clearly public enemy No. 1 in this city. The Ottawa Sun ran a headline that screamed Suck It Up Princess and was accompanied by a large photo of Heatley with a super-imposed baby pacifier in his mouth. The sub-headline elegantly stated Heatley still loved by children…….in Africa. Roy MacGregor had the following passage in his Globe and Mail story that day, which perfectly captured the sentiment of the city towards their former hero. "Dany Heatley screwed up the federal by-elections. Dany Heatley is causing area house prices to drop. Dany Heatley is behind this week-long spit that passes for weather around here…Welcome to Ottawa on Dany Heatley Day in the nations capital, the day the San Jose Sharks leading scorer gets blamed for, as the Bible might put it, every little sparrow that falls." That night, fans showed up with old No. 15 jerseys that had the Heatley name plate altered to just spell "H-A-T-E". At one point during the game, a handful of fans came down and threw Heatley jerseys onto the ice in a staged protest. Urinals had Heatley action figures in them, giving a new meaning to the term number-one winger. Ottawa has never had an evening quite like that and unfortunately for the home team, Heatley and his Sharks skated away with a 4-0 win. But since leaving Ottawa, its not like Heatley has made Ottawa fans wish he stayed. His goal production has diminished in each of the last five years, going from 39 to 26 to 24 to 11. And last night at the Bell Centre, he scored a meaningless goal with only two seconds left in regulation time – only his third marker of the season. And for a player who once complained about his role on a team, its interesting to note that Heatley is playing only 14 minutes a night this season under Mike Yeo, marking the lowest ice time of his NHL career. Heatley is no longer a front-line pplayer in the NHL and, with his contract expiring at the end of this season, it will be interesting to see how many offers he receives as a free agent.dddddddddddd Ironically, this is the final year of the six-year deal he signed with the Sens in the fall of 2007. The terms of that contract called for him to receive a $4 million bonus on July 1, 2009, which the Senators grudgingly paid, even after Heatley had demanded a trade and refused to accept one to Edmonton. Owner Eugene Melynk was so incensed with that turn of events that he filed a grievance against Heatley and that case was only resolved in the past couple of weeks, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. So the book on Heatley is virtually closed for Sens fans. It seems like the pitchforks and torches have been put away and the hatred towards Heatley has been replaced with some level of indifference. Matt Cooke Matt Cooke could receive the lions share of boos tonight because the wound he caused is still fresh in the minds of Sens fans. It was only nine months ago that Cookes skate blade sliced the achilles tendon of Erik Karlsson in a game at Pittsburgh. At the time, Karlsson was arguably the most dynamic player in the game and since coming back from the injury, he has only shown flashes of his former brilliance. This will actually be Cookes fourth visit to Ottawa since the incident occurred and when he returned for his first visit in April, there were Wanted posters that were circulating with his name and face on it. Sens fans wanted Cooke to pay for his recklessness, with some suggesting he deliberately caused the injury. Even Eugene Melnyk went on the record to say he would consider launching an independent investigation into the matter to prove that Cookes actions were intentional. To Cookes credit, he faced the media and answered all of the questions about the incident and adamantly denied he purposely tried to slice Karlssons leg. And to Karlssons credit, he completely downplayed the situation when the two faced off in their second-round playoff series last spring. The Sens defenceman likely holds some deep-rooted anger towards Cooke, but he has done a very good job of masking it and trying to defuse the situation. Still, Sens fans and management cant help but wonder how good Karlsson would be if that incident hadnt occurred. And if Karlsson never regains his Norris Trophy form, Cookes ranking on the villain list will stay firmly at the top. Conclusion If I had to place my bet, I would think that Heatley would receive more boos than Cooke – if only because the fan base still hates the fact that he demanded a trade and had five years left on his contract. And in the case of Cooke, you can make the argument that what he did was an accident; whereas Heatleys decision was calculated and intentional. Both players had a negative impact on the Sens franchise, but only one of them was on the teams payroll when he chose his course of action. But while the Heatley vs. Cooke argument is debatable, we can probably agree on one thing: If the Sens dont play well tonight, they will be the ones getting the loudest boos from the hometown crowd. 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