Friday’s Sports In Brief – Yahoo Sports

TENNIS

NEW YORK (AP) — For quite a while, Novak Djokovic‘s opponent in the U.S. Open semifinals, Gael Monfils, looked as if he didn’t want to win – or even be there at all.

That premeditated ”great strategy” of hoping to lull the No. 1 seed and defending champion into complacency and mistakes did not prevent Monfils from falling into a two-set deficit. So he transformed back into his entertaining, athletic self and won the third set.

However, Djokovic regained the upper hand to reach his 21st Grand Slam final and seventh at the U.S. Open with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory.

Djokovic, vying for his third U.S. Open title and 13th major trophy, will face No. 3 Stan Wawrinka on Sunday Wawrinka advanced to his first final at Flushing Meadows with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 6 Kei Nishikori.

NFL

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Panthers coach Ron Rivera wants Cam Newton to receive the same protection on helmet-to-helmet hits as other quarterbacks get in the NFL.

Rivera said because of the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newton’s size and the Panthers’ style of play, Newton often doesn’t draw the flags on hard hits that smaller QBs do.

Newton was on the receiving end of four helmet-to-helmet hits in Thursday night’s physical 21-20 loss to Denver, but the Broncos were only penalized once.

Rivera even went as far as to say the league’s reigning MVP should receive some preferential treatment. The coach would like to see Newton, now in his sixth season, get some ”veteran favoritism” from the league’s officials.

Newton was tested four times for a concussion – after the game in the locker room, on the bus, on the flight home and Friday morning at the stadium – and all proved to be negative. He was never tested during the game.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss the New England Patriots’ opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night because of a hamstring injury.

The team confirmed Friday night that Gronkowski had been downgraded from questionable to out for the game. Also missing the game will be offensive linemen Jonathan Cooper and Nate Solder – and suspended quarterback Tom Brady.

The Providence Journal first reported that the players did not travel with the team to Phoenix. The team declined to comment about whether the players made the trip.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) – The rehabilitation of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater‘s left knee will require recovery from multiple ligament reconstruction.

The team issued a statement from director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman, revealing that the surgery the day before was performed in Dallas by Dr. Dan Cooper at the Carrell Clinic. The dislocation of Bridgewater’s knee during practice on Aug. 30 resulted in a complete tear of his anterior cruciate ligament, accompanied by other significant damage as initially announced by the Vikings.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) – Seantrel Henderson has decided to drop plans to appeal the NFL’s four-game suspension even though his agent said the Bills right tackle was using marijuana for medicinal purposes to relieve the effects of Crohn’s disease.

The Bills announced that Henderson was suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Henderson’s agent, Brian Fettner, told The Associated Press that his client tested positive for marijuana. Fettner added it was ”futile” to appeal the league’s ruling.

Henderson was diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel disease late last year and had two operations on his intestines this past offseason. Doctors removed a section of diseased tissue in January, and Henderson then had his intestines reattached in April.

BASKETBALL

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – When Shaquille O’Neal was 10 years old, his father made a prediction.

Friday night when his son became a Hall of Famer, it was realized.

Shaq and Allen Iverson headlined the 10-member Class of 2016 enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. One of the most star-packed classes in recent memory, it also featured international star Yao Ming, WNBA great Sheryl Swoopes, coach Tom Izzo, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf, an architect in the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls championship teams of the 1990s.

Posthumous honorees were: 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson; John McLendon, the first African-American coach in a professional league; Zelmo Beaty, the former NBA and ABA star who led Prairie View to an NAIA title in 1962; and Cumberland Posey, who is also a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.