Rome, Italy - Four seeded women, including No. Cheap Rockies Jerseys . 11 Ana Ivanovic and American Sloane Stephens, and former world No. 1 Venus Williams posted opening-round wins Monday at the $2.6 million Italian International tennis event, a clay court French Open tune-up at Foro Italico. The former world No. 1 and former French Open champion Ivanovic whipped Italian Karin Knapp 6-1, 6-1, while the 16th-seeded Stephens overcame capable Serb Bojana Jovanovski 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. The seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams moved on by vaulting past German Annika Beck 6-3, 6-1. In other action involving seeds, former U.S. Open champ and former Roland Garros runner-up Samantha Stosur took out No. 15 2013 Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-3 and former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone, of Italy, knocked out No. 17 Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-2. Meanwhile, former French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova got past fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-5, 6-0, Madison Keys erased fellow American Alison Riske 6-2, 6-2, and American Varvara Lepchenko pounded Chinese Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-0. Other winners were Argentine Paula Ormaechea, Czech Petra Cetkovska, Russian Elena Vesnina, Aussie Casey Dellacqua, Chinese Zhang Shuai, Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, and German Andrea Petkovic. Tyler Anderson Jersey . -- Manchester United thrilled a record crowd with a brilliant opening goal -- and even Cristiano Ronaldos unexpected entrance proved futile for Real Madrid. Chris Rusin Jersey . Gorges is believed to have suffered the injury while blocking a shot with a hand during Montreals win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Canadiens added to their defensive depth this week by acquiring veteran Mike Weaver from the Florida Panthers. http://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-trevor-story-jersey .com) - The Atlanta Hawks have stepped up to every challenge during their 14-game winning streak and will face another daunting task Friday with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town.SAO PAULO - Landon Donovan says the United States will head to the World Cup with its most experienced group of players, giving the Americans a "real chance" to do well at this years tournament. As the U.S. finishes a week-and-a-half training camp in the host country, Donovan said American players have enough confidence and experience to confront more traditional World Cup teams heading into a first round that includes matches against Germany, Portugal and Ghana. "I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and thats a nice feeling going into a World Cup." The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. The Americans will be playing in their seventh straight World Cup, and Donovan is heading to his fourth. "Theres never been competition for places like there is in our team now," the midfielder said during a news conference. "You can really make a case for probably 35 or 40 guys to be a part of a 23-man roster, and thats never been the case. Its really up for grabs in a lot of positions, and that in itself obviously creates competition, which makes the team better." Donovan, who turns 32 in MMarch, said the U. Tony Wolters Jersey. S. team is more respected by opponents. "The reason its the group of death is because we are in it," he said. "In the past, it would have been a relatively easier group for Germany or Ghana or Portugal because they had us in it. But now, because we are in it, it makes it one of the most difficult groups in the tournament." Donovan said the first goal remains to reach the knockout stage of the 32-nation tournament. "Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he said. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at." German coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought 26 players to this training camp get acclimated to the teams World Cup base in South Americas biggest city. The team, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, will play an exhibition against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif. "Weve been very lucky to have two weeks here in Sao Paulo," Donovan said. "Its been very nice to have a couple of weeks to adapt to what its going to be like this summer. When we come back we have a comfort level. We know the people, the club, the training facilities. It makes it a lot easier. You get a feeling for what its like here, and it helps a lot." Klinsmann is expected to visit the Arena da Amazonia on Friday in the jungle city of Manaus, where the U.S. will play Portugal. ' ' '