KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Maria Sharapova needed nine match points before she finally closed out a win Saturday in the third round of the Sony Open, beating Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2. No. 1-ranked Serena Williams won a marathon, too, taking 2 1/2 hours to eliminate Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Mens No. 1 Rafael Nadal began a bid for his first Key Biscayne title by beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3. Sharapova had two match points in the tiebreaker, and seven more in the final game. The No. 26-seeded Safarova stayed alive with a succession of vital winners. "She kept hitting unbelievable shots," Sharapova said. "One more. One more. I said, How many chances are you going to get?" With the capacity crowd in a frenzy, a long exchange on the final point ended with Safarova pushing a weary forehand into the net. She then shared a hug with Sharapova. The match took three hours and ended at 10 p.m. to conclude an 11-hour day session on the stadium court, with two night-session matches yet to come. "After a match like that, its tough to have only one winner," Sharapova said, "because both players give a lot and both want to win so much." Williams match was a thriller, too. A succession of long rallies left her grunting, stumbling, lunging, squealing, flailing her arms and scolding herself. Despite all the drama and trauma, she moved one round closer to a record seventh Key Biscayne title. Williams is playing in her first tournament after a monthlong layoff, and rustiness might explain her 41 unforced errors, including seven double-faults. And the 20-year-old Garcia kept Williams on her heels with deep groundstrokes and serves that topped out at 117 mph. "I can play a hundred times better," Williams said. "I really gave myself a tremendous amount of trouble out there. Granted she played great, but I made so many errors ... 40-something errors. Its not the way to play professional tennis. Maybe amateur." Three-time champion Novak Djokovic was off Saturday but advanced to the fourth round anyway when his next scheduled opponent, Florian Mayer, withdrew because of a groin injury. Djokovics next match will be Tuesday. Stanislas Wawrinka bounced back from his first loss of the year by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. No. 7 Tomas Berdych joined Wawrinka in the third round by beating Stephane Robert 7-6 (5), 6-1. No. 10-seeded John Isner rallied to win an all-American matchup against Donald Young, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Isner is back in the top 10 this week for the first time in 18 months. Sam Querrey, Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock lost second-round matches. That left Isner as the lone remaining American in the mens draw, reflecting the state of U.S. tennis. Williams and Garcia engaged in a succession of side-to-side baseline exchanges that had the stadium crowd roaring. But she finished in a hurry, serving out the final game at love with the help of consecutive aces. Reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has predicted that Garcia will someday climb to No. 1, but the Frenchwoman is now 0-3 against Williams. "Its always nice to play against a big player," Garcia said. "You are working and practicing to play this match, because its in this kind of match you can learn more. But next time I prefer to win." Williams is playing for the 14th time at Key Biscayne, an hour from her home in Palm Beach Gardens. She won the event for the first time in 2002 and tied Andre Agassis record of six titles last year. Luke Kuechly Jersey . Horford is out 3-to-4 months with a torn pectoral muscle for the Hawks, who have won two straight and five of six games. Atlanta improved to 2-0 on the residency with Saturdays 93-91 triumph over Minnesota, as Ivan Johnson scored his teams final four points, including the game-winning free throw with 4. Luke Kuechly Youth Jersey .Do you have to be that close? Federer snapped at a TV cameraman hovering nearby as he received medical advice after losing a set on Wednesday.For Nadal and Sharapova, the nuisance was coming from the lowly-ranked qualifiers across the net. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panther...e-jersey/." The tournament was set to be held Sept. 15-21 and would have been the first ATP tournament held in Israel since 1996. But amid Israels military campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, ATP President Chris Kermode said "we do not feel we can proceed as planned given the situation in the region. Jordan Scarlett Womens Jersey . - Chris Davis hit a two-run double, scoring Nelson Cruz in his Orioles debut in Baltimores 9-7 win over to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. Curtis Samuel Womens Jersey . Granada goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez saved Morenos first two headers from corner kicks taken by Sergio Garcia, but the defender beat him on his third try after Garcia found Moreno unmarked at the near post in the 78th minute.St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Loui Eriksson scored the game-winning goal 1:30 into overtime to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Zdeno Chara flung the puck around the boards off a faceoff win, Carl Soderberg tracked it down and Eriksson deposited Soderbergs cross-crease pass into a wide-open net for the deciding marker. Soderberg finished with a goal and an assist, Patrice Bergeron also lit the lamp and Niklas Svedberg made 35 saves for the Bruins, who ended a three-game skid. It was nice to see our team in overtime there take charge and find a way to win a hockey game with some real good determination, said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. Bruins forward David Krejci made his return to the lineup after missing 11 straight games and 17 of the last 19 with a groin injury. He registered one shot in 18:22 of ice time. Glad I got through. Safely I can say Ill play the next game, so thats the good news, and a good step forward, Krejci said. Kyle Brodziak and Jason Pominville both supplied offense for the Wild, who have lost consecutive games for the first time in over a month. Niklas Backstrom stopped 22 pucks in defeat. Two players playing in their 700th career game combined on the game-tying goal for the Wild. Svedberg fought off Ryan Suters shot from the left point, but Suter followed the rebound and his shot went off Pominvilles skate in front for a 2-2 contest with 8:21 remaining. Just have to shake my head again. Their goalie was standing up and had no idea what was going on. Neither really did many of us, said Pominville about yeet another of his season-long fluky scores.dddddddddddd The Bruins went on the power play with 2:28 to play after Brett Sutter leveled Craig Cunningham away from the play for an interference minor, but the Wild killed it off and the game went to overtime. Boston needed just 5:06 to start the scoring as Soderbergs strong effort in front beat Backstrom. Just 27 seconds later, Brodziak emerged from the left boards, slipped the puck through Gregory Campbells skates and ripped a wrister over the shoulder of Svedberg from the circle for a tied game. Bergeron was tightly marked by a defender along the right boards, but released a knuckler that fooled Svedberg for a 2-1 lead with 2:05 remaining in the opening stanza. In the second, Minnesota embarked on a 5-on-3 power play for over a minute after Kevan Miller tripped Zach Parise 48 seconds after a Bergeron hooking call, but the Bruins defense stood tall as they killed off both infractions to maintain the lead. Both teams had quality chances in the middle stages of the third. Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeons blast rang off the crossbar with 11:07 left and the Bruins jammed the puck past Backstrom less than a minute later, but it was ruled no goal because Backstrom had it covered and was pushed over the goal line. Game Notes The Bruins won the second game of back-to-back contests for the first time this season. They were 0-5-0 in those instances prior to the win ... It was Bostons third straight game decided beyond regulation ... Wild forward Justin Fontaine recorded a game-high six shots on goal. ' ' '