rolt, the CEO and president of the U.S. Ski and Snowboa

PARIS - Seventh-seeded Milos Raonic advanced to the final of the Paris Masters for the first time with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over former champion Tomas Berdych on Saturday.The Canadian, who produced one of the biggest wins of his career in the previous round by defeating Roger Federer, will face top-ranked Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori in the final.After a tense fight between the two big servers, Raonic came out on top when Berdych, who won in Paris in 2005, lost his composure in the final game.Serving to stay in the match, the fifth-seeded Czech made four consecutive unforced errors, including two double-faults, to hand his opponent the win. Berdych smashed his racket in anger before leaving the indoor court.I just totally messed it up with the last game, Berdych said. It was definitely the worst game I ever played here on this tournament this year.Until his final game meltdown, Berdych had played consistently, returning well to neutralize Raonics booming serve and levelling the tie at one set apiece after securing an early break in the second set.You have days like this when things are going well and then, just at the last moment, everything is gone, Berdych said.Although he did not come close to his 21 aces against Federer, Raonic added 12 to increase his tally since the beginning of the week to 75 aces.The 23-year-old Raonic, who qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time with his victory over Federer, will be playing in his second Masters 1000 final after losing in Montreal to Rafael Nadal last year.Raonic has been enjoying the best year of his career, winning his sixth career title in Washington and making it to the semifinals at Wimbledon. 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Duck Calling With several marquee centres available via trade and expected to be available via free agency, the Anaheim Ducks could be primed to be big players in the coming days. Gianluigi Buffon Jersey . Off-Season Game Plan looks at a Wild team that has a nice mix of proven veterans along with young, inexpensive talent on the rise. When the Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, making a big splash in the summer of 2012, it set the franchise on a path to being more competitive, but a big reason that they have been so competitive is the contributions of young players who still have more to give.Less than two weeks after reconstructive right knee surgery in February 2013, Lindsey Vonn already was sounding a positive note, saying she was "really looking forward to Sochi" and defending her Olympic downhill gold medal. Along the way to the next Winter Games, though, Vonn began facing more setbacks. As shed move past one, another would surface. In the end, it was too much, even for Vonn, the most accomplished U.S. ski racer in history. Expected to be one of the biggest stars at the upcoming Games, Vonn announced Tuesday -- exactly one month before the opening ceremony -- she wont be able to race in Russia. In a Facebook posting, Vonn said she is "devastated" to miss the Olympics, "but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level." Her personal publicist, Lewis Kay, said in a statement the 29-year-old from Vail, Colo., will have knee surgery again "shortly." Like many in her risk-filled sport, Vonn has dealt with injuries often, particularly at major events. She withdrew midway through the 2011 world championships because of a concussion. She raced with a severely bruised shin at the last Olympics. She skipped a race at the 2009 worlds after slicing her thumb open on a champagne bottle. She hurt her knee in training and missed a pair of races at the 2007 worlds. She took a scary fall during training at the 2006 Olympics, then left the hospital to compete. "Shes come back. Shell be back," Vonns father, Alan Kildow, said in a telephone interview. "Youll see a lot of Lindsey Vonn in the future." Vonn left the 2010 Vancouver Games with two medals: the first Olympic downhill gold for an American woman, and a bronze in the super-G. She is also a four-time overall World Cup champion, by far the most recognized name in Alpine skiing at the moment -- and, as it happens, the girlfriend of Tiger Woods. Add it all up, and she would have been the focus of plenty of media coverage in Sochi, certainly a main character in NBCs coverage for a U.S. audience. "Lindsey gives you great promotional value, and shes an amazing athlete and an amazing story," said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics. "But there are amazing athletes that are going to be in Sochi, many of which we know, some of which we havent identified yet." To those in the world of skiing, theres no doubt about the sports most important athlete of late. "Without Lindsey Vonn, the races are just not the same," Canadian womens Alpine coach Hugues Ansermoz said last month. "She just attracts so much interest. When Lindsey Vonn is here, there are more people coming to watch the race, there is more interest on TV, more journalists are interested. And her relationship with Tiger Woods makes even more people interested." But Vonn has rarely been present on the elite skiing circuit the past 12 months. She tore two ligaments in her right knee and broke a bone in that leg during a high-speed crash at the world championships last February. As Vonn neared a return, she re-tore her surgically repaired ACL in a crash during training in November. After finishing 40th, 11th and fifth in a trio of World Cup races at Lake Louise, Alberta, in early December, Vonn sprained her MCL during a downhill at Val dIsere, France, two weeks later.dddddddddddd "I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL," Vonn said Tuesday via Facebook. "Im having surgery soon so that I can be ready for the World Championships at home in Vail next February," she wrote. "On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold." Mikaela Shiffrin, the reigning world champion in slalom, and Julia Mancuso, a three-time Olympic medallist , will now draw extra attention as American women trying to reach the Alpine skiing podium in Sochi. Top skiers from other countries who will be favoured for medals include Germanys Maria Hoefl-Riesch, Switzerlands Lara Gut, Slovenias Tina Maze and Liechtensteins Tina Weirather. Shiffrin, the U.S. teenager labeled the "next Vonn" by some, wrote on Twitter that its "hard to swallow" that Vonn wont be competing in Sochi. Another American racer, Stacey Cook, posted on Facebook: "Our team is not the same without you. You leave big shoes to fill." After skiing in two downhills and a super-G at Lake Louise last month, Vonn sounded optimistic, declaring she would be in Sochi, "fighting for my medal." But shortly thereafter in France -- with Woods watching in the finish area -- Vonn lost her balance. Her left ski lifted, forcing weight onto her right knee. She grimaced, then clutched that leg. Kay said Tuesday an MRI "showed an MCL sprain, which coupled with the torn ACL, has made it impossible to stabilize her knee and be ready to safely ski again next month." Now Vonn will turn her attention to the 2015 world championships in Colorado. Theres also this: She needs three wins to match the World Cup record of 62 race victories set by Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria. "I have every ounce of confidence that Lindsey will be in the starting gate next World Cup season, ready to compete," said Bill Marolt, the CEO and president of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. "She knows the hard work it takes to get to the top and still has significant goals to achieve in what has been an incredible career." U.S. racers captured eight Alpine medals four years ago, their highest total at any Olympics and twice as many as any other country at Vancouver. That figure may be tough to reach with Vonn sidelined and Bode Miller, who won three medals in 2010, trying to return to form at age 36 after left knee surgery. Whats more, Mancuso has been struggling this season. Off to a poor start in pre-Olympic races, Mancuso recently headed home for a short break. "We have a strong team that is well prepared. ... Now is the time for those athletes to step up," Marolt said. Vonn, meanwhile, will go through another operation, another rehab, another road back. "You need to look at the long run. The problem with the knee is there is not an insignificant risk that youre going to do more long-term damage that cant be repaired," said Kildow, her father. "So have it repaired now. So you can compete in future years. So you can ski and enjoy yourself after you get done competing." ' ' '