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BRISBANE, Australia -- After pulling out of the Brisbane International with injuries in recent seasons, Maria Sharapova is aiming to use the season-opening tournament this time as a springboard for her comeback and to see how her new support crew works in competition. Sharapova has only played one match since an early exit at Wimbledon due to a right shoulder injury and has spent months working with her new coach Sven Groeneveld. She arrived in Australia to prepare for the first major of the season with her boyfriend and fellow professional Grigor Dimitrov, who returns after losing the final here to Andy Murray last season. Serena Williams won the last Brisbane title and is back to defend it, hoping she hasnt lost any of the momentum from a stunning 2013 season when she won 11 titles including the French and U.S. Opens, had 78 wins from 82 matches -- including a 34-match winning streak -- and collected more than $12 million in prize money. Her brief off-season was not exactly business as usual -- although it was commercial. She trained in Florida with her father, Richard, so she could be close to home for the relaunch of one of her companies and to hire a CEO for it. "I was interviewing so many people. Corporate Serena was taking over," she told a news conference Sunday. "Im happy to be here right now." Corporate Serena conducted at least 10 interviews, and still has at least one more to do. She expects it to be a tough interview, like they all are. "I definitely am not easy ... Im a tough interviewer. For me, its all about business and removing a lot of emotion," she said. "I just want to get to the point." And that brings her back to tennis, where she can turn the corporate email account off for a while and concentrate on what she does best. "I took a couple weeks off, but I was already itching to get back on the court," she said. "I didnt want to lose any rhythm or anything. Didnt want to lose momentum." No. 3-seeded Sharapova is in Williams half of the draw, meaning they could meet in the semifinals. The Brisbane tournament will be Sharapovas only warmup for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 13, so she needs to find her rhythm quickly. She said shed been practicing hard, but also concentrating on relaxing when shes off the court. Traveling with Dimitrov has helped, she said, despite or because of their major common interest. "Of course we share a lot of the same things just because we have an elephant in the room thats called tennis," Sharapova said Sunday. "But there are so many other things to life that are besides tennis, and there are a lot more things to discuss than forehands and backhands and strings and rackets, which we share similar ideas and things of." Sharapova split with coach Thomas Hogstedt after her Wimbledon loss, and said she wasnt in the right frame of mind to work with Jimmy Connors long term -- that partnership lasted one match. "You have to realize that the decisions you make, you have to make them selfishly in this business to be better, to know whats right for you," she said. "From the first time we met I really liked what (Groeneveld) had to say. Hes a team player. He works with everyone on my team, something I was missing for a little bit of time." In first-round results at Brisbane: Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia; Andrea Petkovic of Germany beat American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 7-5; Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm won 6-3, 7-5 over Australias Olivia Rogowska; and Swiss player Stefanie Vogele beat American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-3. Former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki withdrew after hurting her right shoulder in practice but said she expected to be fit the Sydney International next week. While Serena Williams gets a first-round bye in Brisbane, her older sister Venus Williams will be in action from the first round at the WTA event in Auckland on Monday when she plays 134-ranked Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic. In Hopman Cup Group B action at Perth, Petra Kvitova and Radek Stepanek combined to give the Czech Republic a 3-0 win over Spain. Kvitova only lost one game en route to a comprehensive singles win over Anabel Medina Garrigues before Stepanek beat Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-2, 6-2. The Czech pair won the mixed doubles 6-3, 6-4. Ryan Flaherty Jersey . Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five. Joe Charboneau Jersey . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Tampa Bay currently holds the last of the Atlantics three automatic bids to the playoffs, but the Maple Leafs are just one point behind. https://www.cheapindiansonline.com/3398u...ey-indians.html. -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. Dennis Eckersley Jersey . The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league hasnt announced the award. Crawford was the Clippers third-leading scorer and the NBAs top-scoring reserve with 18. Christian Arroyo Jersey .Dawson also birdied two of the last four holes to reach 12-under 132 on TPC San Antonios AT&T Canyons Course. He won his only title in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 2002 in the Web.com Tours LaSalle Bank Open.Im not going to lose any sleep, believe me, Dawson said. I used to be a perfectionist, but my attitude now is to play like Im in the pro-am.DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzkis new pick-and-roll partner put on quite a show for the old one. Monta Ellis had 30 points and nine assists, Nowitzki was another of seven Dallas players in double figures with 11 points and the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-104 Tuesday night. Steve Nash, Nowitzkis buddy and old running mate, had an up-close view as Ellis did a little bit of everything, scoring on drives and pull-up jumpers while finding open teammates with nifty passing that has come as a pleasant surprise to the Mavericks. Ellis was 11 of 14 from the field, made all eight of his free throws and had just one of 12 Dallas turnovers against 34 assists. "The lane was wide open, so I just attacked, and when they came over, I passed the ball and thats what we wanted," said Ellis, who had at least 30 points and eight assists for the second time in his four games with Dallas. "Me being aggressive opened everything else up." Nash was scoreless until the second half and finished with five points. Nick Young led the Lakers with 21. "We obviously had a hard time containing Ellis," said Nash, who was Nowitzkis teammate in Dallas for the big Germans first six seasons. "He got into the guts of our defence all night, getting easy buckets, resting buckets for his teammates and just really spacing us out with his penetration." The Mavericks never trailed, led by 20 late in the first half and pushed the lead to 26 early in the second half after Ellis got them off to a quick start with a jumper and two assists, including one when Nowitzki took the pass and ducked under a defenders arm for the layup. "Monta Ellis was fantastic tonight, all aspects of the game," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "He defended, he made plays at the rim, he was under control, he hit midrange shots, he hit guys cutting to the basket." Jose Calderon had 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range, including one that put Dallas ahead 90-60 with 4:33 left in the third quarter. The Mavericks were 13 of 27 from long range. The Lakers tried to make it interesting with a 19-4 run, but DeJuan Blair stopped it by blocking a layup attempt by Chris Kaman, leading to a 3-pointer by rookie Gal Mekel after Nowitzki passed out of a double team. Mekel scored again on layup off a steal from Blair, who had 10 points -- all in the first half -- and eight rebounds.dddddddddddd Jae Crowder kept the Lakers from getting any closer by going 4 of 4 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, and getting a breakaway dunk on assist from Ellis. He finished with a career-high 18 points. The top three scorers came off the bench for the Lakers, who were blown out for the second time in two road games without Kobe Bryant. After Young, Jordan Farmar and Jodie Meeks had 11 apiece. "You cant get blown out and then think now we need to learn to win," Lakers coach Mike DAntoni said. "No, we need to learn how to play. Were not playing right now. We dont come out with the same grit and determination." Nowitzki didnt get his first points until he faked Pau Gasol and drove for a dunk to put the Mavericks up 59-39 with 3 minutes left in the first half. When Ellis wasnt running the offence in a first half that featured 21 Dallas assists against just two turnovers, Mekel kept it rolling with Blair, the backup centre. Mekel had nine points and six assists, with four of each coming before halftime. Ellis had two free throws to start an 11-2 Dallas run late in the first quarter, featuring mostly backups. Three straight buckets came on assists from Mekel -- a 3-pointer by Vince Carter and consecutive buckets from Blair. Carter hit a 3-pointer and a layup, and Shawn Marion hit a jumper in the lane to give Dallas its first 20-point lead at 57-37 with 3:39 left in the first half. Gasol was on the only Los Angeles starter in double figures with 10 points. Kaman had all 10 of his points before halftime in his first game against the Mavericks and spending last season in Dallas. NOTES: Kaman was critical of Carlisle on Tuesday after spending just one season under him. He characterized Carlisle as among "coaches who say one thing in one ear and then behind your back theyre saying something else." Carlisle said it "didnt work out well here with Chris and I take my share of the responsibility." Kaman had a good start with Dallas but barely played late in the season and skipped his exit interview because he figured he wasnt coming back. ... Ellis had three steals Saturday against Memphis to give him 900 for his career. ' ' '