they might have easily beaten earlier in the season. After t

BASEL, Switzerland -- Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil lost a bid for the first ATP final of his career on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors as he stretched Roger Federer to the limit in a 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-5 loss. Andy Messersmith Braves Jersey . The 40th-ranked Pospisil, who played his quarter-final a day earlier after treatment for a stiff neck, suffered his second career loss against Federer. He lost to Federer at Montreal in 2011. "Its not easy to play someone you basically worshipped growing up," said Pospisil. "You want to win but you have a great amount of respect. "Its tough to compete if you give too much respect. I was battling with myself a bit." Pospisil put up a huge fight on Saturday, breaking the home hero as Federer served for the win leading a set and 5-3 in the second. Federer sent a forehand long to make it 5-4, with Pospisil then winning a tiebreaker for a set each. It took a ten minute game in the third set, with Posipisil saving three break points, before Federer could move into position to close out the match. "I calmed down a bit in the second set and started playing better," said Pospisil. "Physically I was very tired but there were no new injuries. "Roger is a champion and he came up with some really good shots when he needed them, That made the difference. he played great on the big points." Pospisil still takes away huge confidence heading to Paris and the final event of the ATP regular season starting Monday. He is trying to lift his ranking into the top 32 to insure a seeding at Januarys Australian Open. With a victory in Sundays final, the sixth-ranked Federer will also secure his place at the ATP Finals in London in just over a week, closing his most difficult season beset by back injuries and shocking defeats to lower-ranked opponents. Federer improved his season record to 40-13, his fewest wins since he posted a 49-21 mark in 2001, the year he turned 20. Pospisil was playing his third career semifinal and could not have asked for a more demanding challenge as Federer is a five-time Swiss Indoors champion. Pospisil has a 17-17 record this season. Earlier, defending champion Juan Martin del Potro also let the second set slip away against an unseeded opponent before beating Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Federer seeks to reclaim the title taken by the fifth-ranked del Potro last year. "Its always a pleasure for me," del Potro said about the prospect of playing Federer. "I know all the people are waiting for that final and it would be like a rematch for him." Del Potro has a 4-13 career record against Federer, though he has won their past two meetings, both on indoor hard courts at Basel and London a year ago. He also clinched his only Grand Slam title, the 2009 U.S. Open, against the Swiss star. Asked about Federers comments this week that he needed to improve, del Potro suggested: "It doesnt matter what he says -- its Roger Federer and he is playing in his hometown." David Justice Jersey . Bookies were offering odds of 13/1 before kickoff that the home team Houston Dynamo would prevail by three goals to nil. Nick Markakis Jersey . Head coach Corey Chamblin announced on Monday that Avon Cobourne had been hired as the defending Grey Cup champions new running backs coach. https://www.cheapbraves.com/2013o-john-smoltz-jersey-braves.html . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home.INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers played just well enough to beat an inferior opponent, which has been the way most of their five-game win streak has gone. David West scored 25 points, Paul George added 22, and the Pacers beat the Utah Jazz 94-91 on Sunday night. Indianapolis native Gordon Hayward had 21 points and Derrick Favors scored 17 for the Jazz, nine of them in the first eight minutes as Utah opened a 14-4 lead. A dunk from Favors cut the Pacers lead to 89-86 with a minute left to play, and West missed a jumper to give Utah a chance to tie with 35 seconds remaining. Hayward cut the Indiana lead to one, but Lance Stephenson sank two free throws to seal the win. "This was a mental toughness win," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I thought we played with extraordinary effort for four quarters." The Jazz made things interesting in the games fourth period thanks to Hayward, who had 10 of his 21 points in the final 15 minutes. His final five points came in the final minutes. Ian Mahinmi came off the bench to score nine points for the Pacers and provide key minutes, as Roy Hibbert struggled to contain Favors. Utah came out of halftime to score eight unanswered points and force Indiana to call an early timeout. The Pacers retook the lead when Mahinmi was fouled on a layup. Mahinmi made the free throw to put Indiana up 60-58. "Ive pretty solid on defence all season long," Mahinmi said. "My shot blocking has been up. My timing is good." CJ Watson, starting for the injured George Hill, scored 13 points for the Pacers. Hill sat out his second straight game with a bruised shoulder. After coming off the bench to score 17 in a win over Boston a night earlier, Evan Turner struggled in his reserve role. Gene Garber Jersey. Turner, acquired from Philadelphia on Feb. 20, scored eight points and shot 2 of 9 in 20 minutes. But the Pacers got a boost from Mahinmi and Watson to pull out another win against an opponent they might have easily beaten earlier in the season. After two close tilts against Milwaukee and a come-from-behind victory in Boston on Saturday night, Indiana survived a scare against one of the Wests worst teams. But all night long, Utah buckled under pressure from one of the NBAs best defensive teams. The Jazz finished with 18 turnovers, which led to 24 points for Indiana. George went down hard after being fouled on a drive to the basket late in the third quarter. George slammed to the floor and appeared to hit his head, but remained in the game to sink both free throws. Hayward rebounded from a slow start to put together one of his best games since January. In his fourth time playing in his native city, he shot 8 of 15 from the field after being held scoreless until the beginning of the second period. He scored seven straight points in the third quarter, keeping the Jazz in the game while the rest of the offence sputtered. "I thought I was quiet in the first half, but I was proud of the way we came back and fought against a team with a real good record, especially here at home," Hayward said. Hayward, who led Butler to an NCAA championship game appearance in 2010, averaged 12.2 points on 34.1 shooting in 12 games in February. He came into the game having scored only 21 points in four games in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. ' ' '