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NEW YORK -- Latvian tennis player Anastasija Sevastova wore a Yankees cap to her news conference after she reached her first major quarterfinal.She bought it in Europe, not because shes a baseball fan, but simply because she likes the interlocking NY logo. Turns out, though, that New York is proving a very special place for an athlete who was retired at this time two years ago.In her second big upset of this U.S. Open, Sevastova beat 13th-seeded Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday to become the first Latvian woman to make the final eight at a Grand Slam since Larisa Savchenko in 1994.I still cannot believe it, she said. Mentally Im spent. Totally spent. But its amazing.Sevastovas previous best showing at a major was the round of 16 in the 2011 Australian Open. But after a series of injuries that drained the fun out of tennis, she retired in 2013.During her break of nearly two years, Sevastova took classes in Austria in leisure management -- studying accounting and marketing in hopes of perhaps going into sports management.When her health improved, she came out of retirement at the start of last season, never expecting shed be making a deep run at a Grand Slam so soon.Im playing better in my second career right now, she said. Im handling pressure sometimes better than before.Shes more mature, both mentally and physically, Sevastova said. And it also helped that I saw that there is life without tennis.As in her second-round upset of third-seeded Garbine Muguruza, Sevastova wobbled under the pressure at first, failing to serve out the match. But as in that victory over the French Open champ, she finally closed out the win with a service break.Sevastova broke Konta seven times in 11 service games.In the end I just stop thinking and I just try to play tennis, Sevastova said.In Kontas second-round match, the Australian Open semifinalist had collapsed to the court with trouble breathing, but she said there werent any significant lingering issues Sunday. Fatigue was a bigger factor -- shes played 18 matches since the end of Wimbledon.Sevastova, whos ranked 48th, was such an unknown coming into the U.S. Open that initially her picture wasnt included in the official tournament app. She said she wasnt upset because she didnt like the old photo that would have been used. The situation has now been remedied with an updated shot.She describes herself as a C- or D-list celebrity even back home in Latvia, saying Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis is the closest thing to an A-lister there. Perhaps a Knicks cap or one for the Mets -- the baseball team that plays across the street from the U.S. Open -- might have been a more obvious choice, but Sevastova is sticking with the navy and white of the Yankees.Shell next face two-time U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, on a resurgent run with two wins over top-10 players here after Sundays 6-3, 6-4 victory against eighth-seeded American Madison Keys.Wozniacki, her ranking down to 74th following a series of injuries, hadnt won four matches in a row since March 2015.I know it sounds bad, but honestly, at this point Im like, I really dont care what my ranking is, she said. Because if Im not in the top five, I feel like its not where I want to be, so at that point, whether Im 20 in the world or 100 in the world, it doesnt matter because Im going to play the same people anyway.The main thing is that when Im on court I have to believe in myself. Thats what I care about, that I know that I can do it. I know I can beat anyone. I think it just sucks for some of the other players who have to play me early.Another past U.S. Open finalist, Roberta Vinci, also moved on Sunday. The seventh-seeded Italian topped 99th-ranked Lesia Tsurenko 7-6 (5), 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the fourth time in five years.Shell face second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who beat two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-5. Kerber was content to run Kvitova around the court and wait for her to make mistakes. The Australian Open champ had only eight winners, but that was just fine in light of Kvitovas 43 unforced errors. She also had seven doubles-faults -- the last on match point. Cheap Kiko Casilla Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. 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LOS ANGELES -- Two struggling teams trying to find themselves meet Friday night at Staples Center.The Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns both looked like lost causes lately.The Lakers, who are on a four-game slide, were handed a humiliating 134-95 loss at Houston on Wednesday, the third time they lost by 30 or more points. The Rockets converted 28 Los Angeles turnovers into 42 points and blew the game open by outscoring their counterparts 39-22 in the third quarter.We just didnt compete, Lakers guard Lou Williams told the Los Angeles Times. Williams scored a team-high 24 points but committed six turnovers in the defeat. Simple game to me. Any time you ask me questions, Im not going to give you answers about numbers. Its a simple game. You play hard, play smart, you play together, you give yourself an opportunity to win. We didnt do any of those things.Injuries continue to hamper the Lakers (10-14). They remain without starting point guard DAngelo Russell (sore left knee), starting shooting guard Nick Young (calf strain, right leg), backup guard Jose Calderon (right hamstring strain) and reserve center/forward Tarik Black (right ankle sprain). None of the four is expected to be available against the Suns.Without them, Los Angeles bench, which started out as the most productive in the NBA, is severely depleted. Instead, Lakers coach Luke Walton has been forced to use eight different starting lineups in the past 11 games, including a stretch of five variations in five conseecutive contests.ddddddddddddbviously were missing key players, youre gonna lose games, Walton said, according to the Times, but if were just sitting around as a team saying, Hey, lets just wait for Nick and DAngelo and this guy and that guy to get back, what kind of mindset is that? You come out and you play hard.The Suns (6-16) are in the midst of a parallel slump. Phoenix dropped its past three games and five of its past six, a 109-94 setback at home to the Indiana Pacers being the latest debacle.The Suns are off to one of their worst starts in the past 20 years.We just didnt execute and they did, said Suns guard Devin Booker, who scored 13 points against the Pacers. That was the difference in the game. It comes down to stops. We didnt get those. We know were not the most talented team in the league, so we know every game has to be a dogfight for us. Thats what we have to do.As with the Lakers, defense is one of the problems for Phoenix. The Suns rank 29th in points allowed (113 per game) and are tied for 25th in opponents field-goal shooting (46.4 percent).Los Angeles are giving up an average of 110.3 points per game (27th), and they rank last in opposing teams shooting (48 percent).The Lakers are 26th in turnovers (16.4 per game), and the Suns are 25th (16.3).In their initial meeting on Nov. 6 at Staples, the Lakers defeated the Suns 119-108. 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