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sports Diamars 14 september 2021

Serbia cries with Djokovic over lost chance to make history

(AP) — Serbia awoke to disap- SK Sporklub portal.
pointment on Monday after No- Djokovic’s rabid fanbase was split on
vak Djokovic failed in his attempt what he should do next.
to make tennis history by becom-
ing the first man in more than Some fans on social media in Serbia
50 years to win a calendar-year called on Djokovic to retire while still
Grand Slam. at the top of the rankings, while oth-
ers believe he will rebound and be
Instead of the usual fireworks, car considered the greatest tennis player
horns blaring and dancing in the of all time.
streets after previous major finals in-
volving Djokovic, there was an eerie “Nole, You’re the Greatest Even
silence in the Serbian capital. The Without the Calendar Grand Slam,”
top-ranked Djokovic lost to Russian the Blic daily wrote in a headline.
opponent Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4,
6-4 on Sunday in the U.S. Open fi- “Djokovic Misses a Historic Chance,“
nal. N1 portal wrote, while the Kurir tab-
loid noted ”Even a Rock Would Cry.”
A victory would have made the but still had the chance to make his- Djokovic said as he broke down in
34-year-old Djokovic the first man Following the match, Djokovic cut tory in New York with the traditional tears.
to win the Australian Open, French short his news conference with Ser- Grand Slam.
Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in bian media after breaking down in Djokovic also showed some rare emo-
the same year since Rod Laver did it tears. Djokovic didn’t say what he would tion on the court. As his Grand Slam
in 1969. do next or where he would play. bid was ending late in the match, he
“I feel disappointment and sadness covered his face with a towel, hiding
He also would have won a record because a great chance was lost,” “To be honest, I don’t have any plan. his tears during a changeover.
21st Grand Slam singles title, break- Djokovic said. “It is not easy to suffer Absolutely nothing,” he said. “I don’t
ing a tie with both Roger Federer and such a defeat.” know if I’ll play anything, anywhere. Tennis great Boris Becker, Djokovic’s
Rafael Nadal. Currently, I’m here in New York with former coach, said the pressure of
Djokovic had a rare chance for a my thoughts. making history was too much.
“It was now or never for the calendar Golden Slam this year because of the
Slam, but the 21st Slam is very much postponement of the Tokyo Olym- “Of course, my life is now com- “He was mentally not prepared,”
within the sight,” Serbian tennis pics. He lost to Alexander Zverev in pletely different ... I would like to Becker said, “to control his emo-
journalist Sasa Ozmo wrote on the the semifinals of that tournament, spend more time with my children,” tions.”

K-State feeling deja vu after QB Thompson’s knee injury

(AP) — Just hours after ern Illinois, too, helping the ling if hard-luck college ca- man Will Howard into a man Cooper Bebee said. “It
Chris Klieman took a knee Wildcats march for a quick reer — and they never re- starting role. The biggest dif- just took us as an offensive
with his head in his hands, touchdown Saturday and ally abated as Thompson was ference: Howard now has an line, us as a team, rallying
watching the Kansas State then to the brink of another helped to the medical tent on entire season of experience around Will, kind of calming
medical staff prod and one. the sideline. behind him. him down. And then from
pull on quarterback Sky- there we were fine.”
lar Thompson’s knee, the That’s when Thompson, On Monday, Klieman said Not that it showed Saturday.
Wildcats’ coach said what rolling to his right ahead of the injury may not be as se- Howard and the Wildcats
just about everyone was running back Deuce Vaughn, vere as initially thought but Howard appeared to be over- will need to be better than
thinking. suddenly pulled up and that Thompson is out indefi- whelmed by the moment, go- just fine the rest of the way.
crumpled to the turf. He im- nitely. ing 8 of 17 for 76 yards against
“Had some deja vu kind of mediately rolled over and the Wildcats’ opponent from They wrap up nonconference
going through my mind,” gripped his facemask, which “It was gut wrenching,” the Football Champion- play Saturday against Nevada,
Klieman said. “I’m sick for served to hide his sudden fear Vaughn said. “I saw him go ship Subdivision. He lost a which beat California on the
the kid.” and frustration. down kind of in my periph- fumble and the only TD pass road before last week’s win
eral vision, but I didn’t know he threw went to the other over Idaho State, then be-
Indeed, Thompson was fly- Kansas State’s staff quickly what happened, and when I team when P.J. Jules took an gin league play at Oklahoma
ing high after a season-open- ran onto the field and im- turned around and I saw him interception 41 yards to give State. Home games against
ing win over Stanford, his mediately began looking at on his back kind of squirm- Southern Illinois a 23-21 lead No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 14
first time on the field since his knee, which seemed to ing in agony, it was pretty late in the third quarter. Iowa State follow.
a shoulder injury early last buckle in the open field. The tough.”
season led him to return for immediate fear was obvious Taiten Winkel’s field goal That doesn’t give Howard
a sixth season. And he was off — torn ligaments that would Thompson eventually walked gave Kansas State the lead a whole lot of time to find a
to a good start against South- likely end Thompson’s ster- slowly to the locker room back midway through the groove again.
Saturday, providing the brief- fourth, and Howard finally
est bit of hope that he might found a little bit of rhythm “Obviously heartbroken for
return at some point this sea- in the final minutes to set Skylar. Me and him have
son, even though Klieman up Vaughn’s clinching third developed a really close rela-
reined in the optimism in his touchdown run of the game. tionship over the past year or
postgame news conference. so and hope for the best for
Still, it wasn’t exactly a confi- him,” Howard said. “But you
“I can’t say right now,” dence-boosting performance have to come in and do my
Klieman said. “We’ll pray for under the Bill Snyder Family role as a backup. I’m happy
the best and see what hap- Stadium lights. to come in and be ready at all
pens.” times. We won the game, so
“It was pretty tough but I we’re always happy that we
It’s a strikingly similar situ- mean, we were at the same won, but there were a lot of
ation to last year, when point last year, so we’ve kind things that we and I need to
Thompson’s shoulder injury of been through that already,” clean up. I know that more
immediately pushed fresh- Kansas State offensive line- than anybody.”