Kritik und Anregungen » City tied it up when

It was 4-all in the fourth set of the decisive fifth match. Jack Sock was about to serve. With his eyes half-closed, his opponent, Borna Coric, tapped his index finger against his left temple a few times. Then he made a fist and banged it lightly a few times against his forehead.Focus. Focus. Focus.Thats exactly what Coric displayed in the tense moments of this Davis Cup battle. He reeled off the last seven points to end the match -- and the tie -- in exactly three hours, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, giving Croatia a stunning win against the United States on Sunday.Croatia had started the weekend in Portland, Oregon, down 2-0 after Fridays singles matches. A done deal, right? The U.S. had been 157-3 when it won its first two matches, while Croatia had never recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win. But suddenly, after Mike?and Bob Bryan fell Saturday and John Isner lost his reverse singles rubber earlier Sunday, it came down to Sock and Coric.Coric is just 19. But he knew the match would go to whoever was mentally stronger. Earlier in the year, he had clinched the first-round tie against Belgium in a similar situation. Sock, while 23, had been flung in the deep end. This was his first Davis Cup tie on home soil. Both men felt the pressure, only one mastered it.I was fighting with myself. But these guys, they were all the time here for me, Coric told the crowd after he clinched for the visitors, gesturing to the Croatian bench.Coric took up tennis at age 8 after watching Croatia clinch its sole Davis Cup title in 2005.That year, Croatias march to the title began with a comparable shocker: an upset of a strong U.S. team led by Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. Somehow, it probably wont be much consolation to U.S. captain Jim Courier, Sock & Co.This was a devastating blow to the Americans, whose male players had left Wimbledon with a lot to feel good about. The two singles players, No. 16 Isner and No. 26 Sock, made the third round before losing to higher-ranked players. Sock had never gone the distance in a best-of-five match until this year, when he won two of three going into this tie.Then on Friday, Sock made it three of four by digging himself out of a very deep hole. He lost the first two sets to Marin Cilic but surged back to win. It was the second time in eight days that Cilic lost after leading by two sets. (Roger Federer pulled the other comeback in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.) Isner crushed Coric in the second match, giving up just 11 games. It was an impressive display of American grit and firepower.After his humiliating loss to Sock, Cilic declared he would be playing doubles, even though it wasnt part of the game plan. He teamed with Ivan Dodig to hammer the Bryan brothers, inflicting just the fifth loss in 29 matches for the U.S. doubles specialists. The tie turned on that upset.Fired up, Cilic met Isner in the fourth match. Isner played a great first set, but Cilic outdueled him in the tiebreaker and went on to win in straight sets.In my first match, I didnt show how much spirit we have, said Cilic, the elder statesman of the Croatian squad. I didnt show my emotion. I wanted it to be different today to show how motivated we are.The win set the stage for Corics heroics. The only other time he had played Sock came on the slow red clay of the 2015 French Open, with the American rolling in straight sets.This one was different. While Sock seemed to handle the occasion well, he was haunted by the same inconsistency that hampers him on tour. Hes a wonderful athlete who hasnt quite harnessed all of his energy, so it is often scattered in every direction instead of being modulated and channeled into a single productive one.You could say he sometimes lacks focus.That doesnt appear to be Corics problem. Padres Jerseys 2020 . From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/ . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. San Diego Padres Pro Shop . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Fake Padres Jerseys . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals finished this season a long way from where they finished last season.In time, location and record.Instead of capping a World Series championship on a crisp November night in New York, the Royals ended their year with a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on a mild Sunday afternoon in early October.It left them 81-81, their first non-winning season in four years.We were just one win away from having a winning season, Royals manager Ned Yost said. We had four cracks at it at the end of the year and just couldnt get it. Offensively, we just couldnt do it.The Tigers loss to the Braves coupled with the Red Soxs loss to the Blue Jays gave Cleveland (94-67) homefield advantage in the divisional round. The newly minted AL Central champions open against Boston (93-69) on Thursday at Progressive field with Trevor Bauer slated to take the hill.You get to the last weekend of the year, you see a lot of guys kind of tailing off, said Francona, who has yet to win a postseason game in Cleveland. Our guys never did that.Not even in their regular-season finale.Josh Tomlin (13-9) dueled with the Royals Ian Kennedy (11-11) into the eighth before finally pulling ahead. Carlos Santana drew a walk off Kennedy to start the inning, Jason Kipnis followed with a double and Francisco Lindor hit a fly ball deep enough to right field for the lead.Tomlin got the first batter in the eighth before Andrew Miller finished it up, and Cody Allen handled the ninth to earn his 32nd save and give the Indians a nice boost heading into the playoffs.Ive never really experienced the postseason, said Tomlin, the expected Game 3 starter, so I know Ill be ready when that time comes. We knew we put ourselves in good position.It was a frustrating finale to an injury plagued season for the Royals, who had been to the past two World Series and were coming off their first championship since 1985. A dismal July nearly buried them, an inspired August got them back into contention, and a stumbling finish left them at .500.Meanwhile, there were so many playoff permutations riding on the final day of the regular season that Fraancona was still trying to sort everything out 3 hours before first pitch.ddddddddddddThe only thing he knew was his club was playing Boston on Thursday -- somewhere.So, the Indians chose to focus solely on a club theyve dominated this season.They fell into a 1-0 hole when Jarrod Dyson and Whit Merrifield opened the game with doubles off Tomlin, the expected Game 3 starter in the divisional series, but the lead didnt even last the two innings.The Indians answered in the third when Tyler Naquin was plunked by a pitch from Kennedy, and Yan Gomes went deep to left field on the first big league pitch hed seen since July 17.Kansas City tied it up when Cheslor Cuthbert homered leading off the fifth inning.Tomlin wound up allowing two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings, retiring the final 10 he faced. Kennedy retired 13 in a row during a similar stretch, giving up three runs on four hits in 7 2/3 innings.One mistake, I gave up a home run and it kind of cost me, Kennedy said. Overall, I was really happy how the outing went. At least, I gave our team a real solid chance.TRAINERS ROOMIndians: Gomes, activated from the 60-day DL on Friday, started for the first time since breaking his right hand in a rehab game Sept. 14. Its been a long way back, Gomes said. They said I cant hurt it any more. Youll just have to play through it, play through the pain.Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer missed the finale with a wrist issue hes been battling for weeks. C Sal Perez was the DH to protect an ailing hamstring. ... RHP Dillon Gee is scheduled to have another procedure Oct. 11 for blood clots in his shoulder and lung. The issue popped up during a start in Detroit.UP NEXTIndians: The chase begins for their first playoff victory since 2007, when they lost to the Red Sox -- managed by Francona -- in a seven-game AL championship series.Royals: Time to think about next season. General manager Dayton Moore has some roster decisions to make, including whether to exercise team options on SS Alcides Escobar and RHP Wade Davis. ' ' '