LONDON -- Novak Djokovic edged a bit closer to the year-end No. 1 ranking.The second-ranked Serb beat Milos Raonic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) Tuesday to qualify for the semifinals of the ATP finals and improve his record against the Canadian to 8-0.Djokovic is 2-0 at the season-ending tournament, and will retake the top ranking from Andy Murray if he does better this week. Murray is 1-0 so far, and plays his second match on Wednesday against Kei Nishikori.Djokovic never looked at ease in his second match at the O2 Arena, but he was able to hang on through two tough tiebreakers to earn the victory.It really could have gone either way, said Djokovic, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open this year. I was down very early in both tiebreaks tonight. But I just managed to stay committed and put pressure on his second serves.To get to the tiebreakers, Djokovic saved three break points in the first set. He then managed to go up a break twice in the second set, but Raonic responded each time.Raonic, who reached the Wimbledon final this year, took the lead in both tiebreakers as Djokovic struggled for consistency, but he couldnt hold on.I gave myself some chances there. He played well in most of those chances, said Raonic, who can still advance to the semifinals by beating Dominic Thiem on Thursday. Sometimes us tennis players, we struggle to forget. But thats the number one thing Ive got to do right now.Djokovic earned only 11 winners in the match, compared to Raonics 42, but it was still enough to advance and keep him on track to win a record-tying sixth title at the year-end championship.All in all, two tiebreaks against a big server is a great win and great confidence boost, Djokovic said.In the early match, Thiem went through another second-set letdown before putting things right to give himself a chance to advance.The eighth-seeded Austrian, who is making his debut at the season-ending tournament, held on to beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, making him 1-1 in the round robin.In his opening match on Sunday, Thiem lost to Djokovic after winning the first set. In the second set of that match, he was blanked 6-0.I tried to avoid the mistake I did in the first match, to drop a little bit. Didnt really happen that good, Thiem said. But I was trying to stay tough in the third set.He got some help this time, though.Although Monfils improved in the second set, winning all three of his break points to force a decider, his service game never really got going. In the final game of the match, the Frenchman gave it away with three of his five double-faults.It was a tough one, said Monfils, who is still recovering from a rib injury that forced him out of the Paris Masters at the end of last month. I think I didnt play a great match, but I gave everything I had.Because of his injury, Monfils said he may pull out of his final match against Djokovic.Asics Noosa Tri 8 Mujer Baratas . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Zapatillas Asics Mujer Running . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. http://www.asicsnimbus17.es/ . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Zapatillas Asics Gt 2000 Mujer . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Asics Onitsuka Tiger España . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick.BOSTON -- The trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to San Antonio was already a success for the Spurs, even before throw-in Davis Bertans began contributing.The Latvian rookie set a career high in scoring for the second straight game, pitching in 15 of the Spurs 56 bench points on Friday to help San Antonio beat the Boston Celtics 109-103 for their eighth straight victory.Our first group was still in bed, Spurs coach Greg Popovich said after watching his team fall behind 14 points in the first quarter in the matinee start. Thats why I took them off the court. It was hard to watch.Leonard had 25 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, but thats not surprising from an All-Star who was second in NBA MVP voting last season. Less expected was the contribution from Bertans, who was selected 27 picks later in the 2011 draft and then dealt to San Antonio with Leonard in the trade that sent George Hill to Indiana.Bertans was amazing, Popovich said. Kawhi is Kawhi, but we start to take him for granted. I think overall the bench was the key.Patty Mills scored 19 off the bench, sinking a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left after the Celtics made it a one-possession game. David Lee had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Spurs reserves outscored their starters 56-53.The Spurs fell behind by 14 points in the first quarter but scored 12 in a row -- seven from Leonard -- in the second to get back in the game and improve to 9-0 on the road this season.You know what youre getting from Kawhi, and he played great, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. But I thought those guys really changed the complexion of the game.Isaiah Thomas finished with 24 points with eight assists and Avery Bradley had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics. Al Horford had 12 points and 10 rebounds in his second home game since signing a four-year, $113-million contract with Boston this summer.Jae Crowder scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter. The Celtics had won three in a row, but they lost to San Antonio for the 10th straight time.Home, road, 20 years, whaatever its been: they finish, Stevens said.ddddddddddddOOKING BACKA 6-foot-10 forward, Bertans spent much of the last five years playing in Europe and recovering from ACL injuries. He signed with San Antonio this summer and has played in 13 of 16 games so far this season.Leonard, who was the No. 15 overall pick by the Pacers in the 2011 draft, said he had no memory of Bertans name from that night.I was just thinking of myself, he said.RUNSBoston used an 18-2 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 24-10 lead. But the Spurs were just as impressive in the second, when they scored 12 straight points to make it a one-point game.We gave up the whole first quarter, and after that we knuckled down and played pretty good, Popovich said. And the starters came back in and played better after that too.The Celtics led 74-69 with 25 seconds left in the third quarter before Bertans hit a 3-pointer and Mills made a 34-foot 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Spurs the lead. Bertans also hit a 3 to start the fourth.TIP-INSSpurs: Improved to 5-0 vs. Eastern Conference teams. ... Bertans, who set his career-high with 11 against Charlotte on Wednesday, broke it in the first three quarters against Boston. ... Tyler Zeller and Danny Green were teammates on the North Carolina team that won the 2009 NCAA title.Celtics: Horford, the Celtics biggest free-agent acquisition of the summer, played just his second home game this season -- his first since the opener. He missed nine games with a concussion and returned for the last three games -- all on the road. ... Crowder scored his 2,500th career point.UP NEXTSpurs: Visit the Wizards on Saturday to end a three-game road trip.Celtics: Visit the Heat on Monday night. Boston swept the 2015-16 series 3-0 against Miami. The Heat are 4-10 and could be headed for a second year without a playoff appearance in three seasons since LeBron James returned to Cleveland. ' ' '