Canadian teen Shapovalov gets taste of US Open nightlife

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov got a little taste of late-night life at the U.S. Open along the way to knocking off No. 8-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

During the 69th-ranked Shapovalov's 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night that put him in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, the 18-year-old qualifier said he chatted a bit with some, um, overzealous spectators.

"I noticed a couple of guys had a little bit too much to drink. I mean, some of them were standing and, like, just talking to me as if we're buddies. I was up a break in one game, I think it was probably 40-15, I just miss a backhand. (One fan is) like, `Aaaaah. No!' I'm like, `Don't worry, man. I got this,'" Shapovalov recounted with a smile.

"I mean, I was just taking it all in," he continued.

"Like I said, it's a dream come true to play a night match over here on Arthur Ashe. So for me, it was fun. Obviously it's not easy to play under these conditions. But I managed to put a positive spin on it."

Shapovalov is almost exactly 14 years younger than Tsonga, a Frenchman who was the runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open.

This is part of quite a run for Shapovalov, who earlier this month beat Rafael Nadal on a hard court in Montreal while becoming the youngest semifinalist at a Masters tournament.

Shapovalov's first major tournament came last month at Wimbledon, where he lost in the first round. He was the junior champion at the All England Club a year ago.

The only near-slip for Shapovalov against Tsonga came in the third set, when the left-hander served for the match at 5-4 and got broken for the first time all match.

But Shapovalov steadied himself and came through in the tiebreaker, finishing with 28 winners to 19 unforced errors.

"I don't think I was always mentally solid as I am today. I've been working extremely hard on it. ... I think it's improved quite a bit," he said. "It also helps I've been in these situations constantly, playing these top guys. ... It's a little bit easier the second time around and third time around. You get used to these situations."

Next up for Shapovalov is a match against Kyle Edmund of Britain. When they faced each other in the Davis Cup in February, Shapovalov was defaulted and fined $7,000 for hitting a ball in anger that struck the chair umpire in the face and broke a bone under his left eye.

That episode, Shapovalov said, "definitely helped me mature."

Then he added: "But I don't think this match has anything to do with it. I've apologized constantly before, and I continue to apologize for my actions. It's something I have to live with. But for me it's in the past and I'm a different person and a different player now. So it's a completely new match."

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Sharapova wins again at Open; No. 4 Zverev, No. 8 Tsonga out

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — No one, not even Maria Sharapova herself, knew quite what to expect from her return to Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open.

It had been 19 months since she had entered a major tournament. She played only nine times anywhere since a 15-month doping suspension ended in April. Two three-set tussles into her stay at Flushing Meadows, it's clear that Sharapova's game might be patchy, but she is as capable as ever of coming up with big strokes in big moments - and maybe, just maybe, could stick around for a while in a depleted draw that's already missing four of the top seven seeded women.

Sharapova became the first woman into the third round at the U.S. Open by using 12 aces to help set aside a poor start and coming back to beat Timea Babos of Hungary 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"Look, I certainly have expectations, just because I know I've been in these stages before and I've been able to execute. There's a certain level of `I know I can do this. I've done it before. I want to have that feeling again,'" Sharapova said. "But there's also the realistic understanding of, `OK, you haven't been in this situation for a while. It's going to take a little time.' Of course, managing expectations is part of it, learning as you play the matches, which is something I haven't done for a long time."

Her victory was the highlight of a busy day that featured 87 singles matches on the schedule after rain washed out most play a day earlier. With so many matches going on, there were plenty of names to keep tabs on - and quite a few surprises. The most noteworthy second-round departures came at night: No. 4 Alexander Zverev and No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the men's bracket, and No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki in the women's.

Zverev, never past the fourth round at a major, was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) by fellow 20-year-old Borna Coric, and 2008 Australian Open finalist Tsonga put up little resistance while losing 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to 18-year-old Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov. Two-time U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki's 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1 exit against 40th-ranked Ekaterina Makarova followed first-round losses by No. 2 Simona Halep, No. 6 Angelique Kerber and No. 7 Johanna Konta.

"It's upsetting. Today was upsetting," Zverev said, perhaps summing up others' feelings, too. "The way I played was upsetting."

Past U.S. Open champions advancing included Venus Williams and Marin Cilic into the third round, and Juan Martin del Potro and Svetlana Kuznetsova - who saved three match points - into the second. No. 14 Nick Kyrgios, No. 22 Fabio Fognini, No. 26 Richard Gasquet and No. 27 Pablo Cuevas all lost their openers.

In the early going, it looked as if Sharapova might join them on the way out.

She made 19 unforced errors in the first set, which ended with her missing twice on forehands to give the 59th-ranked Babos the lead. But as the match went on, Sharapova looked more and more like someone who used to be ranked No. 1 and owns five major titles - including the 2006 U.S. Open - than someone who needed a wild-card invitation from the U.S. Tennis Association because she is now 146th, on account of her ban and lack of play.

Sharapova last participated in a major tournament at the 2016 Australian Open, where she tested positive for the newly banned heart drug meldonium. She declined to answer a reporter's question about how frequently she's been drug-tested this year.

Babos said she thought it was "a little bit unfair for the other players" that Sharapova was let into the field, a sentiment echoed by No. 20 seed CoCo Vandeweghe of the U.S., who would have preferred that an American get that wild card.

But here Sharapova is, and she does not appear ready to be an easy out.

"Towards the end of the second set, I felt like I was the fresher player. Going into a third set, that's a good position or a good feeling to have," said the 30-year-old Russian, who wore a strip of black tape on the left forearm that bothered her earlier in the month.

She also had a sleeve on her right elbow, which she said was to keep that arm warm.

Sharapova cut down her miscues to 12 unforced errors in the second set, then just five in the third, and finished with a 39-13 advantage in winners, looking as strong as she did while eliminating No. 2 seed Simona Halep in a three-set thriller in Ashe on Monday.

"I definitely wanted to enjoy the quality of tennis that I played with the other night," Sharapova said, "but I also wanted to put my mind onto this one."

She already has spent nearly 5 hours on court, and so perhaps the yelling and fist-pumping she showed at the end against Babos were as much a reflection of a sense of relief as celebration.

If 14 return winners were a key to getting past Halep, it was Sharapova's serving that really made a difference down the stretch against Babos: She won 16 of the last 19 points she served.

"In key moments, she showed why, no matter what happened to her, why she is a big player and good player," Babos said, "because she came up with some very, very good shots and she didn't miss her opportunities."

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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No. 4 seed Zverev finds US Open loss rather, well, upsetting

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Seems fair to conclude that No. 4-seeded Alexander Zverev found his 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) upset loss to Borna Coric in the U.S. Open's second round Wednesday night rather, well, upsetting.

"It's upsetting. Today was upsetting," Zverev said. "The way I played was upsetting. The tournament so far is upsetting for me."

The 20-year-old German is the highest-ranked man to exit Flushing Meadows so far and what bothered him so much was not merely that he didn't play well but that there was a real opportunity for him to have a true Grand Slam breakthrough.

He was all too aware of that.

Because of the injury withdrawals by past champions Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, Zverev was the highest-seeded man on the bottom side of the U.S. Open bracket.

"It's upsetting because the draw is pretty open in the bottom part. I felt like I should have been the favored there," Zverev said. "You know, I just played a very, very bad match, so it's unfortunate. But that's how it is."

He is widely considered the Next Big Thing in the sport, by virtue of his success outside of the majors: He has won five titles in 2017, including a pair of Masters tournaments.

That includes a victory over Roger Federer in the final of a hard-court event at Montreal this month.

"I know that I could have done some big things here. I know that I could have done something that I haven't done before," Zverev said. "But I won't. It's just as simple as that."

His Grand Slam record is not as impressive as what he's shown at lesser tournaments. He has made it as far as the fourth round at one of the four most prestigious sites in tennis only once, losing at that stage at Wimbledon in July.

Not that long ago, the 61st-ranked Coric was being spoken of in the same expectation-filled tones as Zverev.

Coric is only about five months older, and he actually beat Zverev in two previous encounters - in the U.S. Open junior event when they were 16, and at a professional tour event when they were 18.

Zverev's analysis of what went wrong this time: "I just played very, very bad in the second and third set. I should have won the third. I definitely should have won the fourth."

Toward the end of his news conference, Zverev - whose older brother, No. 23 Mischa, did make it to the third round in New York by eliminating Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 7-5 - was asked what he would need to happen for him to consider the rest of this season a success.

That did not go so well.

"I just lost (in) the second round of a major where I shouldn't have lost," he replied, "so I'm not thinking about the rest of the year."

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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More AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Tennis

Coaching legend Massimino dies at 82

Rollie Massimino, who coached Villanova to an improbable national championship in 1985, has died at the age of 82.

Keiser, an NAIA school in West Palm Beach, Fla., announced Wednesday that Massimino had passed away at his home in Florida. He had served as the coach of the school's men's basketball team for the past 10 years.

Massimino had been in relatively good health before he battled lung cancer in recent years. He had surgery to remove a tumor in his lung in 2011, suffered a collapsed lung and had brain surgery in 2016.

Born Roland Vincent "Rollie" Massimino, the affable coach had won more than 800 games in his coaching career, but is best known for leading a then-eighth-seeded Wildcats team to a victory over Patrick Ewing and top-seeded Georgetown in the 1985 title game.

"He was a life coach, not just a basketball coach," former Villanova star Ed Pinckney said, per ESPN. "Coach was all about family. He was an unbelievable man -- and a great person."

Massimino coached the Wildcats for 19 seasons and compiled a 355-241 record before leaving for UNLV in 1992 to replace Jerry Tarkanian. He spent two years with the Runnin' Rebels and also coached at Cleveland State from 1996-2003.

Massimino joined Chuck Daly's staff at Penn before becoming the head coach at Villanova in 1973. The Wildcats went to 11 NCAA Tournaments -- including three Sweet 16s, one Elite Eight and its first national championship under Massimino's watch.

Including nearly 300 wins while at Northwood/Keiser, Massimino's career record is 816-462 in 41 seasons.

"As our campus community deeply mourns the loss of Coach Massimino, we extend our warmest thoughts and condolences to his wife Mary Jane and the entire Massimino family," Keiser University chancellor Arthur Keiser said in a statement. "We are so truly honored to have shared this time with him and take some degree of comfort in knowing the positive impact he has had on college students for the last four decades remains immeasurable."

Home sweet new home for CSU

By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press

Photo by David Zalubowski

The Colorado State campus was bustling before a football game _ a rare sight for the last five decades.

That's because the Rams played down the road at Hughes Stadium.

But on a sun-splashed Saturday, the Rams opened the doors to their shiny new $220 million stadium that's located back on campus. The kids played in a fan zone before the game. One of the hot spots inside the stadium was New Belgium's beer garden.

A look at Colorado State's new stadium on inside and out. @CSUFootball pic.twitter.com/QMt869CcvI

— Patrick Graham (@pgraham34) August 26, 2017

Some things to know about the new stadium:
_ The school held a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept 12, 205.
_ It holds 41,000 with seating for 36,500.

An on-field panoramic view of csu stadium. @CSUFootball pic.twitter.com/38sIHcjLkJ

— Patrick Graham (@pgraham34) August 26, 2017

_ The video board is the size of a basketball court.
_ There's a 150-seat theater-style meeting room for the players.
_ A space has been carved out for the cannon, which booms when the Rams score.
_ The field is named after legendary CSU coach Sonny Lubick, but the venue doesn't have an official name yet.
_ The first special event was a wedding on July 3.
_ Listed along the concourse are the 53 "Fourteeners" around the state _ a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet.

First things first

By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press

Oregon State won the coin flip _ the first in Colorado State's new stadium. It's that sort of day in Fort Collins _ a day of firsts.
Here's a look at some other firsts in the first quarter as the Rams christened their $220-million on-campus stadium Saturday against Oregon State:
_ Touchdown in the new stadium: Oregon State receiver Timmy Hernandez hauled in a 39-yard strike from Jake Lutton.

HERE IT IS.

The first touchdown of the 2017 CFB season goes to @BeaverFootball! pic.twitter.com/U6W9URJ33h

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) August 26, 2017

_ Interception: OSU defensive back Kyle White when he picked off Colorado State QB Nick Stevens.
_ Near blocked field goal: Colorado State's Anthony Hawkins as he flew in and got a hand on a 45-yard attempt. Only, he was offsides.
_ Field goal: OSU kicker Jordan Choukair connected on a 40-yarder after Hawkins' penalty.
_ 50 minutes: Approximately how long that first quarter took to complete.

End of Quarter #1. pic.twitter.com/UpNKT9sGC4

— CSU Rams Football (@CSUFootball) August 26, 2017

Alabama opens season No. 1 in coaches poll

TSX / STATS

The Alabama Crimson Tide begin the college football season atop the Top 25 coaches poll for the second straight year.

The Crimson Tide were picked first by 49 of the 65 coaches on this year's panel for the poll, which was released on Thursday.

No. 2 Ohio State received five first-place votes while No. 3 Florida State garnered four. USC was ranked fourth, one spot ahead of defending champion Clemson, which received seven first-place votes.

The Crimson Tide will be put to the test out of the chute when they open the season against the Seminoles in a blockbuster on Sept. 2.

Coach Nick Saban is no stranger to seeing Alabama atop the coaches poll. Thursday's designation marks the fourth time the Crimson Tide has opened as the favorite, although they have failed to win the national title on their three previous occasions -- including last year's loss to the Tigers in the championship game.

The last preseason No. 1 in the coaches poll to win the national championship was USC in 2004.

Big Ten clubs Penn State (No. 6), Michigan (No. 9) and Wisconsin (No. 10) are joined by No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Oklahoma in the top 10.

The Southeastern Conference led the power leagues by placing six teams in the top 25, with LSU (12), Auburn (13), Georgia (15), Florida (16) and Tennessee (24) joining Alabama. It's the first time the conference has placed only one team in the top 10 of the preseason coaches poll since 1991.

The Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference each placed five teams in the poll. The Pac-12 joined the Big Ten with four while No. 22 South Florida of the American Athletic Conference is the lone ranked representative of the Group of Five leagues.