PATTAYA, Thailand -- Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic reached her first WTA semifinal in almost a year after she came back from two match points down to beat third-seeded Sorana Cirstea 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0 in the Pattaya Open on Friday. Cleveland Cavaliers Gear . Pliskova came up with good serves when she needed them at 4-5, 15-40 in the second set to hold that game, and went on to dominate the tiebreak and third set thanks also to a barrage of unforced errors from Cirstea. "I didnt expect to win," Pliskova said. "She was playing amazing in the first set and I didnt have any chance to play my game. She was playing fast and she was killing all my second serves. In the second set I was just trying to hold my serves and hoped that in the tiebreak anything could happen." Pliskovas last appearance in a semifinal was in Kuala Lumpur last February, when she also went on to claim her first and only singles title. She faces Julia Georges of Germany, who beat fifth-seeded Elena Vesina of Russia 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. "Im happy that Ive won hard matches here," Pliskova said. "I played my last semifinal in Kuala Lumpur which is almost a year. So Im happy that Im not going to lose (ranking) points." In another quarterfinal, Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic upset eighth-seeded Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 7-5. Hlavackova, a doubles specialist who has two Grand Slam doubles titles, will have to go through fourth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia or Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm to reach her second singles final. Custom Cleveland Cavaliers Jerseys . And follow TSN.ca right through Wednesdays 3pm et trade deadline for all the updates. Blue line help for Red Wings? In addition to what he reported in Insider Trading, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wrote on ESPN. Cavaliers Jerseys 2021 . The Blueshirts hope to stay alive once again when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sundays Game 6 battle at Madison Square Garden.TORONTO -- Cory Rasmus needed time to appreciate the significance of his first appearance at Rogers Centre. A rookie reliever with the Atlanta Braves last May, Rasmus left the mound angry after giving up a home run to Edwin Encarnacion and a double to his older brother, Blue Jays centre fielder Colby Rasmus, in an eventual 9-3 interleague loss for Atlanta. Now with the Los Angeles Angels, Cory is back in Toronto for a four-game set against Colbys Blue Jays. And one year later, the younger Rasmus (by 15 months) feels a lot different about his last outing at Rogers Centre. "To be honest with you, I didnt really get to enjoy the moment like I wish I would have, but to have an opportunity to come up here and maybe face him again is awesome," Cory Rasmus said hours before first pitch Friday. "Hopefully I can embrace it a little more and I wont be so uptight about everything, because looking back on it, it was awesome. Brothers dont get to face each other too often in the big leagues." Rasmus made his major league debut a week before the Toronto outing last year, and was traded to the Angels the following month. He finished the 2013 season with a 5.40 ERA through 21 2/3 innings. Since being called up by the Angels a week ago, the 26-year-old, whos endured three shoulder surgeries over the last seven years, has pitched two scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one. With Colby Rasmus on a hott streak as well -- batting . Stitched Cavaliers Jerseys. 391 with a .417 on-base percentage and .913 slugging percentage over the last seven days -- both brothers say theyre looking forward a possible rematch of last years at-bat. The two had breakfast together Friday morning, and younger brother Cyle, whos just finished his college career at Columbus State University, will be in the Rogers Centre stands taking in the action this weekend. Colby Rasmus says the playing field between him and Cory is a bit more even these days. "I didnt really like (facing him) a whole lot last year." he said. "Ive had the good fortune of hanging around the big leagues a bit longer and he was having struggles with his shoulder. Hed just been in the minor leagues, it wasnt really a fun time." Cory and Colby were always teammates throughout their childhood, playing together in the Little League World Series in 1999, and winning a State Championship with Russell County High School in Seale, Ala., in 2005. With that kind of history, Colby Rasmus admits its strange having Cory on the other side of the diamond. But hes glad to see his younger brother getting his shot in the big leagues. "Id love nothing more than to have him do well," he said. "Through everything weve been through, all the work we put in when we were younger ... for us to both be on the same big league field and have a chance to do this, its very special." ' ' '
