Regeln » ith 4:35 left that gave the Rams a 56-49 lead.ddddddd

WASHINGTON -- Things were looking bleak for Gael Monfils, a man with a long history of losing tournament finals.Monfils opponent in the Citi Open title match, Ivo Karlovic, was about to serve for the championship and had not been broken all week.Down but not quite out, Monfils came through, breaking Karlovic twice in a span of four service games and erasing a match point while coming back for a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory Sunday at the Citi Open to earn his first trophy in 2 1/2 years.To be honest, Monfils said, today was pure luck.Well, maybe, but he deserves credit for figuring out a way to do enough to neutralize the big serve of the 6-foot-11 Karlovic, who was trying to become, at age 37, the oldest man since 1973 to win ATP singles tournaments in consecutive weeks.Normally I should have (won). I was better in the first two sets, and I didnt use my opportunity, Karlovic said. And then after that, I was dead. I couldnt move anymore.In the womens final, No. 7-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium won her fifth WTA singles title, beating 122nd-ranked Lauren Davis of the U.S. 6-4, 6-2. Wickmayer became the third woman to win the singles and doubles championships at the same event in 2016.Monfils, a Frenchman seeded No. 2, had lost 19 of 24 career finals, and 8 of his last 9. But this time he earned $348,200 in prize money for his first title since February 2014 at Montpellier, France, and the most important of his career -- his first at an ATP 500 tournament, which refers to the ranking points the champion collects.He noted that he was proud to join Arthur Ashe and Yannick Noah as winners in the U.S. capital whose names are etched on the blue awnings around the main stadium.Theyve been an inspiration for me, Monfils said. I grew up with those names. Definitely to have my name next to them, its priceless.Didnt look as if hed get that honor.Up until 5-4 in the second set, when Karlovic served for the victory, the 13th-seeded Croatian had won all 53 service games in the hard-court tournament.I still had this little hope. ... `Maybe he will get tight a little bit. And obviously, he got tight a little bit, Monfils said.He converted his seventh break point of the match when Karlovic pushed a forehand volley long. Karlovic put his hands on his hips, knowing hed come so close to ending things right then and there.Karlovic then was a single point from victory at 6-5 in the ensuing tiebreaker, but a 116 mph serve by Monfils produced a backhand return that sailed long. A couple of points later, Monfils owned that set, and he broke again to lead 2-1 in the third.Soon enough, Monfils ended Karlovics eight-match winning streak, which included a title last week on grass at Newport, Rhode Island.Not since 43 years ago, when Ken Rosewall won back-to-back events a month shy of his 39th birthday, has a man older than Karlovic won two ATP titles in a row.Karlovics intimidating serve can take over a match. With the temperature nearing 100 degrees Sunday, it made for even tougher conditions for Monfils to try to deal with those high-bouncing serves.Monfils, who is 29, tried a bit of everything.At the outset, he stood way back to return, to no avail, dropping 18 of the first 19 points Karlovic served (the lone exception was a double-fault).Occasionally, Monfils would shuffle back and forth behind the baseline while awaiting serves.And later, he moved much closer to the baseline while receiving, a tactic that seemed to help.But the real secret to Monfils success might simply have been that Karlovic wore himself out with his net-rushing tactics.At the end, Monfils said, I knew a little bit that its tough to serve-and-volley for 2 hours in the heat.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichDiscount Air Max . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Cheap Air Max 1 Mens . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/ . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Wholesale Air Max Tn . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Cheap Air Max 95 Womens . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif.BOULDER, Colo. -- With the clock winding down and visiting Colorado State comfortably in front of Colorado, the Rams Devocio Butler glanced up at the stands and noticed the Buffaloes fans quietly streaming out of the arena.Thats the best feeling, especially here at CU, Butler said.Emmanuel Omogbo scored 15 points, Nico Carvacho had 14 points, and Colorado State beat Colorado 72-58 on Wednesday night to win their fourth straight game.Butler added 13 points for Colorado State (6-1), which picked up its first road win of the season while handing its heavily favored intrastate rival its first home loss of the year.Every time everyone thought they were going to go by us, they werent (because) we had a base to stop them, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy said. We base it off our defending, and we held them to 23 percent in the second half. Its the best young defensive team Ive ever had.Derrick White scored 17 points to lead Colorado (5-2), which shot 32.2 percent from the field. The Buffaloes made only three of 19 3-pointers while the Rams were 6 of 15 from beyond the arc.Senior forward Wesley Gordon, who chipped in 11 points for Colorado, suggested the Buffaloes may have taken the Rams lightly.I think we underestimated guys and they came out and handed it to us, Gordon said. We lost to a team that we should have beat. If we dont come out to play, thats whats going to happen every game.Colorado was held to a season-low in points, well off their 78.7 scoring average coming into the game.They came in here and were tougher than us and outplayed us, Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. They deserved the win and we didnt.Building on a three-point halftime lead, the Rams got 3-pointers from Omogbo and Carvacho to help them pull out to a 40-31 lead.Colorado managed to narrow the gap but Coloorado State kept hitting their free throws, including a pair by Che Bob with 4:35 left that gave the Rams a 56-49 lead.ddddddddddddMoments later, J.D. Paige connected on a 3-pointer as part of a 7-0 spurt that pushed Colorado States lead to 63-51 with 2:22 remaining and the Buffaloes did not threaten after that.The Rams led 30-27 at halftime, using an 11-2 burst late in the period to surge in front after trailing for most of the opening half. Omogbo fueled the surge, hitting a pair of free throws and making a dunk and a 3-pointer.BIG PICTUREColorado State: The Rams, who lost four of five starters from last seasons team, got a confidence-boosting victory with a rare win over Colorado at the Coors Events Center. It was the 126th meeting between the schools and Colorado holds an 89-37 edge in the series. It was Colorado States ninth win at Colorado in 62 games in Boulder.Colorado: It was a tough outing for the Buffaloes, who never seemed to find their offensive rhythm. It remains to be seen whether it was an aberration after a solid start to the season.TURNING POINTAfter the Buffaloes pulled to within six points with just under four minutes left, the Rams answered with a 3-pointer by J.D. Paige to start a 7-0 burst that effectively put the game out of reach for Colorado. That was the nail, Eustachy said of Paiges 3-pointer. I think the guys were feeling really good then.UP NEXTColorado State: Comes off the road to begin a three-game home stand on Saturday against Wichita State.Colorado: Will try to rebound on the road, traveling to Portland University for a Saturday night game against the Pilots, who are coming off a win against Cal State Northridge. ' ' '