TENNISNEW YORK -- For quite a while, Novak Djokovics opponent in the U.S. Open semifinals, Gael Monfils, looked as if he didnt want to win -- or even be there at all.That premeditated great strategy of hoping to lull the No. 1 seed and defending champion into complacency and mistakes did not prevent Monfils from falling into a two-set deficit. So he transformed back into his entertaining, athletic self and won the third set.However, Djokovic regained the upper hand to reach his 21st Grand Slam final and seventh at the U.S. Open with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory.Djokovic, vying for his third U.S. Open title and 13th major trophy, will face No. 3 Stan Wawrinka on Sunday Wawrinka advanced to his first final at Flushing Meadows with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 6 Kei Nishikori.NFLCHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers coach Ron Rivera wants Cam Newton to receive the same protection on helmet-to-helmet hits as other quarterbacks get in the NFL.Rivera said because of the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newtons size and the Panthers style of play, Newton often doesnt draw the flags on hard hits that smaller QBs do.Newton was on the receiving end of four helmet-to-helmet hits in Thursday nights physical 21-20 loss to Denver, but the Broncos were only penalized once.Rivera even went as far as to say the leagues reigning MVP should receive some preferential treatment. The coach would like to see Newton, now in his sixth season, get some veteran favoritism from the leagues officials.Newton was tested four times for a concussion -- after the game in the locker room, on the bus, on the flight home and Friday morning at the stadium -- and all proved to be negative. He was never tested during the game.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss the New England Patriots opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night because of a hamstring injury.The team confirmed Friday night that Gronkowski had been downgraded from questionable to out for the game. Also missing the game will be offensive linemen Jonathan Cooper and Nate Solder -- and suspended quarterback Tom Brady.The Providence Journal first reported that the players did not travel with the team to Phoenix. The team declined to comment about whether the players made the trip.EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The rehabilitation of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewaters left knee will require recovery from multiple ligament reconstruction.The team issued a statement from director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman, revealing that the surgery the day before was performed in Dallas by Dr. Dan Cooper at the Carrell Clinic. The dislocation of Bridgewaters knee during practice on Aug. 30 resulted in a complete tear of his anterior cruciate ligament, accompanied by other significant damage as initially announced by the Vikings.ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Seantrel Henderson has decided to drop plans to appeal the NFLs four-game suspension even though his agent said the Bills right tackle was using marijuana for medicinal purposes to relieve the effects of Crohns disease.The Bills announced that Henderson was suspended for violating the leagues substance abuse policy.Hendersons agent, Brian Fettner, told The Associated Press that his client tested positive for marijuana. Fettner added it was futile to appeal the leagues ruling.Henderson was diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel disease late last year and had two operations on his intestines this past offseason. Doctors removed a section of diseased tissue in January, and Henderson then had his intestines reattached in April.BASKETBALLSPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- When Shaquille ONeal was 10 years old, his father made a prediction.Friday night when his son became a Hall of Famer, it was realized.Shaq and Allen Iverson headlined the 10-member Class of 2016 enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. One of the most star-packed classes in recent memory, it also featured international star Yao Ming, WNBA great Sheryl Swoopes, coach Tom Izzo, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf, an architect in the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls championship teams of the 1990s.Posthumous honorees were: 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson; John McLendon, the first African-American coach in a professional league; Zelmo Beaty, the former NBA and ABA star who led Prairie View to an NAIA title in 1962; and Cumberland Posey, who is also a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.BASEBALLATLANTA -- Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is defending the teams deal with Tim Tebow, saying the decision is about baseball and not any opportunity to sell merchandise.The 29-year-old Tebow agreed Thursday to a minor league contract that includes a $100,000 signing bonus. He is attempting to launch a baseball career four years after the end of his time as an NFL quarterback.Alderson said Friday it wouldnt be practical to make such a big commitment to Tebow only as an attempt to market Tebows name.Tebow will report Sept. 18 to the Instructional League in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He will test his skills against younger players for three weeks before the Mets determine his next destination.GOLFCARMEL, Ind. -- U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson made two eagles in a span of seven holes, shot 31 on the back nine and set the course record at Crooked Stick with a 9-under 63 that gave him a share of the lead with Roberto Castro in the BMW Championship.Johnson didnt even know he set the course record until Tony Pancake, the golf director at Crooked Stick, congratulated him on the way to the clubhouse.Castro was the first player to reach 14-under 130 on the rain-softened course. He is at No. 53 in the FedEx Cup and only the top 30 make it to the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake and a shot at the $10 million bonus.Paul Casey had a 66 and was three shots behind. Air Max Cheap China . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Cheap Air Max China Free Shipping . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. http://www.cheapairmaxchina.com/ . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Cheap Wholesale Air Max Shoes . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Air Max Shoes China .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. May 12, 2007 was the last time Mashrafe Mortaza scored 40 runs in an ODI. It had also been exactly eight years to the day since his last ODI four-wicket haul. He chose the right time to bring up both landmarks once again to lift a Bangladesh team to a much-needed win over England.After the shock of the first ODI in which Bangladesh collapsed spectacularly, Mashrafe could see that his teammates were feeling very disappointed. On the night after that game, they were in his room till the early hours, chatting away and trying to make sense of the batting collapse.We were up till 3am that night, sitting and talking in my room, Mashrafe said. We tried to forget about the game and talk about other stuff. But it was tough not to. We talked about how we made a mistake in the end again. The last match was easier to win compared to the India defeat in the World T20. It was nice to see the comeback.Team comes first for me. Anyone could have been the player of the match today. I am happy that we won today. We were shocked and disappointed with the last game. We were feeling down till the warm-up session today. But we believed that a moment can change everything.And that moment came when he lifted the team with the bat from a dire position, and then took three wickets in his first spell that detached England from the 239-run chase.On the previous occasion that he took an ODI four-for, his bowling had inspired Bangladesh to their first-ever win over New Zealand. The win had also come just weeks after several Bangladesh players had defected to the rebel Indian Cricket League, which nearly decimated Bangladesh cricket. There was talk at the time that New Zealand were facing a below-standard home side but Mashrafe and later Junaid Siddique and Mohammad Ashraful brought the much-needed victory.The four-for in Mirpur on Sunday came in a much different era. This is the greatest time in Bangladesh cricket ever since they became a Test-playing nation. They have won six home bilateral ODI series in a row. There is experience in the ranks while young guns are firing almost regularly. The only danger this time was breaking that sequence of successive series wins.Struggling at 169 for 7, Bangladesh looked down the barrel, and were certainly just steps away from conceding the series to a rampant England side who quickly grabbed the whole idea of battling the humidity, using the sluggish pitch and using their fast bowlers physical strength to conjure bounce to attack the Bangladesh batsmen.Mashrafes delightful 44 off 29 balls changed the course of the game.dddddddddddd He started off with two sixes against Moeen Ali, before a swat off David Willey landed just beyond the long-on fielder. One of the fours was a hilarious swat that he tried to move away from, but ended up middling to the midwicket fence. He said that after some poor innings against Afghanistan and in the first ODI against England, he decided he would revert back to his old ways of swinging from the hip.I think this is the right approach for my batting, Mashrafe said. It is best to go on the offensive with the bat, not get bogged down by pressure. I thought that I should play shots today.But it was with the ball that he made more impact. He cut one away from James Vince who scooped the catch to point in the fourth over, before cutting another slightly back into Jason Roy who was trapped leg-before. To Ben Stokes, he bowled a full seam-up delivery that moved back in. It is heard that Mashrafe was shown this delivery, where the seam wobbles only slightly, from the new bowling coach Courtney Walsh.Mashrafe said that getting the new ball again was a challenge but he used all of his experience to eke out the first three wickets, before he finished off the dangerous 45-run last wicket stand with his fourth scalp.In 2015, I couldnt bowl with the new ball, Mashrafe said. Now that Mustafiz isnt here, I am having to do it. Mustafiz took most of the wickets so without him it becomes challenging. I am trying to do a good job with the ball.Fitness obviously makes a difference [to how well I bowl]. Last year, I bowled after 15 overs in most matches. I didnt get swing with my seam-up bowling with that ball, so I bowled my variation. I bowled more seam-up deliveries but got two wickets with cutters.Regardless of Mashrafes own contributions, the Bangladesh captain said that Taskin Ahmeds second spell, that also drew three crucial wickets including that of Jos Buttler, was what changed the game for Bangladesh.I asked Shakib and Mushfiq to think what we can do, Mashrafe said. We had options between Mosaddek, Taskin and Sabbir. But then I kept faith in Taskin. He is my main bowler, and has pace. He bowled extraordinarily, and took three wickets. The game came back to us through his performance.Taskin bowled very fast at his best rhythm. If he didnt take those wickets, we wouldnt have won the game. His spell was outstanding. 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