MASON, Ohio -- Venus Williams left her winning touch in Canada. Cheap Shoes For Sale . Williams knocked off sister Serena while reaching the finals in Montreal on Sunday, finishing runner-up. She lost to Lucie Safarova 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 in the first round Tuesday. "I wish I could have felt today like I did in Montreal, just to make it more competitive," Williams said. The tournament lost its other defending champion when Victoria Azarenka withdrew because of an injured right knee. Williams had an energizing week in Canada and hoped to keep their momentum going in Cincinnati, using it as a springboard to the U.S. Open. But her successful week came with a cost. Williams arrived Sunday night and opened Tuesday morning, leaving little time to recover from her deep tournament run. "Yeah, it was definitely a quick turnaround," she said. "Maybe it would have been a little better to play a little later in the day. But I think she just played so well. No matter what shot I hit, she hit a winner." Safarova led 5-2 in the third set and appeared to have won a match point, but Williams challenged and the call was overturned. Williams rallied to win the set and then another. "Thats a terrible feeling," Safarova said. "You think youve won and you have those emotions, and suddenly, youre back in the match against a great player. Then she broke me, and I thought, Uh, oh. Ive lost matches on challenges before. I told myself, Im not losing this one." Azarenkas withdrawal is the latest setback in a season full of injuries. Shes been sidelined for much of the year with an ailing left foot. She aggravated an injury to her right knee at Montreal, where she lost in the quarter-finals, and hoped a few days of rest would take care of it. She decided to withdraw after practising Tuesday morning. "I started to feel a little bit better and did everything I could, but its just not enough time for me to feel good to play a full match," she said. "Im going to get more treatment and get more work done and should be good for the U.S. Open." Fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova broke Madison Keys to go up 3-0 in the final set and held on for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win that was gratifying. She was coming off a loss in the third round at Montreal. "I didnt have a great week last week," she said. "No matter who is across the net, its never easy going out in the first round because you want to change that result around. You want to change your attitude and your performance and obviously the result." ------ Freelance writer Mark Schmetzer contributed to this report. Cheap Shoes . Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves. Cheap Shoes Discount . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. https://www.cheapshoesdiscount.com/ .J. -- Tom Coughlin doesnt have many options at halfback for the winless New York Giants.ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks cancelled a scheduled meeting between their CEO and city civil rights leaders Wednesday, prompting one of the groups leaders to say his community was greatly offended. The Rev. Markel Hutchins said the meeting with CEO Steve Koonin was called off at the last minute. He later said he received a call from Hawks spokesman Garin Narain on Tuesday night asking the appointment be postponed. Hutchins said he needed to hear that request from Koonin, and because Koonin didnt personally cancel the meeting, the group of 12 civil rights leaders showed up as planned. When they entered Philips Arena and were told there would be no meeting, Hutchins and the other leaders said they were insulted. The entire civil rights community, locally and nationally, have been offended, the likes of which we have not seen in this community in decades, Hutchins said. The group asked for the meeting to discuss what Hutchins said was the Hawks disrespect for people of colour. The request followed racially charged comments by Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry. In a statement Wednesday, the Hawks asked for patience from the community and said they want to reschedule the meeting. Koonin postponed todays meeting last night, the Hawks statement said. This conversation is a priority for us. We are committed to having this meeting and will work with community leaders to reschedule as soon as possible. We ask our community to work with us, be patient with us, and help us heal. The Hawks did not say why the meeting was cancelled. Levenson said Sunday he will sell his majority share of the team. Koonin said Tuesday Ferry has been punished but wont be fired. Hutchins said when he arranged the meeting with Koonin on Monday night, he made it clear the group wanted Ferry to lose his job. Perhaps one of the reasons why they cancelled the meeting is we made it very clear we were going to demand in our conversations that Danny Ferry be fired or resign, Hutchins said. There is no way that a man who uses the kind of language and holds the kind of senttiments that he does should be the general manager of the basketball team in the home of Dr. Cheap Shoes 2020. Martin Luther King Jr. and the cradle of the civil rights movement. Others also have called for Ferry to be fired. Former NBA great Magic Johnson said late Tuesday on his Twitter feed Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry should step down after making racist statements about NBA player Luol Deng. Deng and Ferry are former Duke players under Mike Krzyzewski, who is coaching the U.S. team at the World Cup. Krzyzewski said he couldnt comment on the controversy involving his former players because he hasnt followed the news. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, serving as an assistant on the U.S. team, defended Deng on Wednesday. Ive never been around a better person, Thibodeau said. Hes not only a great basketball player, hes an even better person. Ill stand by Luol any day. Hes good. Hes done a lot of great things in the community. Hes a great human being. Hes a very humble guy. He has a lot of integrity. I cant say enough good things about him. ... It was a privilege for me to be his coach. Thibodeau said he cant imagine why Ferry made the statements. Ferry made inflammatory comments about Deng in a conference call with the Hawks ownership group in June when the team pursued Deng as a free agent. Ferry described Deng as someone who has a little African in him. Deng, who was born in what is now South Sudan, now plays for the Miami Heat. He responded to Ferrys comment on Tuesday by saying, Im proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just a little. A letter from co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to Levenson recommended that Ferry resign or be fired. Gearon said Ferry made that description of Deng to the teams ownership group. Gearons June 12 letter to Levenson said Ferry went on to say, Not in a bad way, but hes like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back. Added Gearon: Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat. ' ' '