NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic never likes to get eliminated early in a tournament. In this case, he is looking on the bright side.

The 39-year-old who holds the record with 24 Grand Slam titles goes into the U.S. Open fresh off losing his first match at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month. That was his first action since Wimbledon, but he is at peace with the outcome.

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“It gave me time to be preparing for U.S. Open in a most adequate way,” Djokovic said Saturday. “I had almost few weeks, actually two weeks, to really train and get my body and mind into the right state, prepared for what’s coming up.”

Seeded fourth, Djokovic begins his quest for a 25th Grand Slam championship — and fifth in Flushing Meadows — against 48th-ranked Mariano Navone on Sunday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Despite being a sizable favorite, he is not looking past Navone.

“Let’s see how it goes,” Djokovic said. “The opening matches are always for me, particularly in the last few years, quite challenging. So, hopefully I can overcome the first hurdle and build from there.”

Djokovic has played in just 16 tournaments this year, the fewest of anyone ranked in the top 95 on the ATP Tour. He reached the semifinals at Wimbledon before losing to Jannik Sinner, was out in the round of 32 at the French Open and made it to the Australian Open final, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.

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This will be Djokovic’s 20th appearance in the U.S. Open as he joins Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Feliciano Lopez as the only players to hit that milestone in men’s singles.

“I’m very proud of that,” Djokovic said. “Obviously, longevity was always one of the goals when I was younger: trying to have long career, trying to have more shots at Grand Slam and stay healthy long enough so that I can perform for as many years as possible.”

The only one he has missed since debuting in 2005 was 2017 because of a right elbow injury. He won it in 2011, ’15, ’18 and most recently in ’23.

Djokovic played his first U.S. Open match — a five-set marathon — against Gael Monfils, who is planning to retire but is also in the field at least one more time.

“Here we are 20 years later,” Djokovic said. “We’re both still grinding and representing the older generation.”

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Martin Demichelis could scarcely have asked for a better introduction to competitive football at the Red Bull Arena. The new RB Leipzig head coach celebrated his first Bundesliga match on home soil with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach.

For Demichelis, however, the occasion carried significance beyond the result. The former Bayern Munich defender has repeatedly spoken of what it means to him to return to Germany as the Bundesliga’s first Argentine head coach, and Saturday’s reception from the Leipzig supporters clearly left its mark.

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Demichelis thanked both the home crowd and those working around the team after the victory, while admitting that the experience had left him emotional. The 45-year-old nevertheless quickly turned his attention back toward the work ahead, stressing that one successful afternoon represented only the beginning of a much longer assignment.

Demichelis thanks Leipzig fans for an “unforgettable day”

“First of all, I just want to say that I’ll never forget this day,” Demichelis remarked in his opening statement. “I already noted in my first press conference that it’s an absolute dream for me to be a Bundesliga head coach. Thanks to the choreography from our fans in our stadium, I won’t forget this day. It was a great performance from our team. Three points. Three goals.”

“In the final analysis, everything went super,” Demichelis continued. “Accordingly, I’m very happy. A big compliment to the lads and the [club] staff. They’ve all done quite a lot in recent days. What else can I say other than ‘Thank you very much’!”

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“Simply awesome,” Demichelis answered in response to a later general question about his first competitive match in the Red Bull Arena. “Everything was just awesome. That’s why I said at the beginning [of the press conference] that I wouldn’t forget this [day]. I was very emotional at one point because, as I’ve noted before, it’s not easy being the first Argentine head coach in the Bundesliga.”

“I’m very happy and proud,” Demichelis continued. “But it will still be a difficult task to put together a good season. It’s my responsibility to do my best in the role every day. For me, the work remains a ‘one day at a time’ assignment.”

GGFN | Peter Weis

William Jewell announced that junior running back MicahJo Barnett has died. Barnett appeared to suffer a medical emergency on the sideline during the Cardinals’ home opener against Fort Lewis on Saturday.

“William Jewell College and the Liberty, Missouri community mourn the passing of Micah Jo Barnett,” the school wrote in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Micah Jo’s family, our students, the Cardinal Football family, and the rest of our community during this time of loss.”

Per the school, a vigil to honor Barnett will be held Saturday night.

Anthony Richardson hasn’t lived up to massive expectations he entered the NFL with. The 2023 NFL Draft’s No. 4 overall pick, Richardson has started only 15 games over three seasons, losing his starting job to Daniel Jones last year while dealing with injuries throughout his career.

While Richardson has a massive 6-foot-4, 244-pound frame to go along with elite speed and arm strength, it’s the simple skills he lacks. Richardson struggles with accuracy, holding onto the ball too long and failing to diversify the velocity of his passes. He makes both his offensive line and receivers’ jobs harder as a result.

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Another knock on Richardson coming out of Florida was a lack of experience, and he certainly hasn’t added much at the NFL level. With Jones entrenched as the Colts‘ starter, Richardson’s pathway to playtime going forward remains blocked.

Richardson requested a trade this offseason in the hopes of getting a fresh start. In the Colts’ preseason finale against the Detroit Lions on Saturday, he proved why he may be worthy of one. Richardson completed 7 of his 10 passes for 80 yards while taking only one sack. He found Keenan Allen on this beautiful 24-yard touch pass early in the first quarter.

Roberto De Zerbi has apologised for Tottenham’s dire start to the new Premier League season but insists the club will not panic after back-to-back losses.

Spurs succumbed to another bruising defeat on Saturday as Newcastle came away from north London with a 2-0 win, with reborn stars Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga on the scoresheet.

It comes after the disastrous opening loss to Brentford, with Spurs now sitting rock bottom in the table despite spending £320m in the summer.

De Zerbi has stressed that after only just avoiding relegation last term, Tottenham cannot expect to flip their fortunes around in the space of one transfer window and is not dwelling on the early bad results.

“We will not panic,” he told Sky Sports. “I know very well where we are going, what the plan is and what difficult problems we could find in our way.

“I am sorry for the fans and sorry for the players for the result but we have to improve and to change two seasons like the last two is impossible in 10 days and with people in the transfer market.

“ We have to work hard on the pitch and find the connection with the players because last season before the end of the season we were in the Championship and we stayed up together.

“Now we have to keep clam and focus on improvement. We have a great squad and great players, we can’t use all the players we brought but if we work in this way and believe in ourselves I think we will change the last two seasons.

“If the rush is more important than the journey we can’t find the solutions to the last two seasons.”

With Tottenham’s terrible home record bleeding into a new season, De Zerbi told fans to “forget the result” and believed his side were the better team for much of the game.

“Disappointed for the result because until the first goal we conceded I think we played better than Newcastle,” he told BBC Sport.

“We lost ball possession in the first half because we didn’t defend in the right way, the distance between the defenders and attackers was too big.

“We can improve in the defensive phases but today was an unfair result.”

For Dungannon Swifts, the most obvious improvement has been the manner in which they have recovered from their opening day defeat.

Rodney McAree’s side began the campaign with a 3-1 home loss against Coleraine, but have responded with victories over Portadown, Bangor and Cliftonville.

That represents a significant improvement on last season when the Swifts made a really concerning start to the campaign and lost their opening five league fixtures.

Dungannon have secured a top six finish for the past two seasons and manager Rodney McAree will want to repeat the feat this term.

Midfielder Sean McAllister has already stood out, scoring three goals so far and has been heavily involved when the Swifts push into the final third.

New signings such as Kris Lowe have also impressed with former Portadown boss Niall Currie saying the Swifts side is the “strongest” it has ever been, as they aim to seal another chance at European football.

“I look at Rodney McAree’s squad now and, to me, this is the strongest Dungannon squad there has been,” Currie said on Sportsound.

“Rodney has gone out and got strength and depth. Some of the players who are not even making the squad at the minute for the Swifts are a lot of players who would certainly have started a few years ago.”

WWE legend Brock Lesnar officially retired from professional wrestling, but The Beast Incarnate’s legacy in the industry is hard to replicate. A rising star recently recalled he was nervous before taking an F5.

Earlier this year, Je’Von Evans moved to WWE’s main roster and joined Monday Night RAW under Triple H’s creative leadership. The Young OG soon crossed paths with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, when they competed in the gimmick match.

While neither won the match, Evans experienced The Beast Incarnate’s F5 for the first time in his career. Speaking on Rosenberg Wrestling’s Cheap Heat, the 22-year-old WWE star opened up about his time in the ring with Brock Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

Peter Rosenberg asked Evans about the F5, and The Young OG stated it wasn’t good. The 22-year-old WWE star shared a funny incident, revealing the former three-time Universal Champion’s brute strength as wrestlers were instructed not to jump when Lesnar attempted to suplex them.

“I did. It wasn’t good… Funny story, he [Brock Lesnar] comes in the ring suplexing everybody… I was confident, but at the same time, I was nervous too because I never took the F5 before. I remember somebody was talking about it before the show, like, ‘If Brock comes in the ring and he gives you a suplex, he’s going to toss you. Do not jump.’ I was just eavesdropping… I get up, and I’m like, ‘Let’s see if I can do something.’ Right when I try to swing, he snatches behind me. I’m like, ‘Oh no.’ But I’m telling you, if I would’ve jumped, I probably would’ve d*ed. Oh yeah. For sure. I was in the air,” Evans said.

Luckily, Je’Von Evans doesn’t have to take the move again, as Brock Lesnar officially retired from in-ring competition.

WWE Hall of Famer defended Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar‘s glorious career as an in-ring performer ended at SummerSlam in Minnesota when he lost a Hell in a Cell match to Oba Femi. The Beast Incarnate can finally spend quality time with his family, and the multi-time WWE World Champion has closed an important chapter of his life.

Speaking on Six Feet Under with The Undertaker, The Phenom praised Brock Lesnar’s work in the industry and defended him against those who criticized the three-time Universal Champion’s work or schedule in the company.

If you use quotes from the article, please credit Rosenberg Wrestling and provide an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.