Kritik und Lob » d a way to be better, he said.Scherzer is th

Three years ago, Karen Khachanov made a terrific first impression in Moscow, beating No. 27-ranked Janko Tipsarevic to advance to his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal. The 17-year-old lost there to Ivo Karlovic and, soon thereafter, began to lose himself.In 2014, I had to start again from the beginning, Khachanov told ESPN.com this week from Chengdu, China. After that result, I had so much noise around me -- friends, players, journalists. I thought it was going to be easy, but the next year showed me it was not.How times have changed. Last week, Khachanov (pronounced Hach-a-nov) played his third career quarterfinal match. This time, the promising Russian, now 20, advanced from that stage for the first time.He took down the still-formidable No. 4 seed, Feliciano Lopez, then No. 6 Viktor Troicki in the semifinals and No. 5 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a dramatic, come-from-behind final. In the breathtaking span of a week, he beat five players ranked among the top 62.Khachanov, the unlikely Chengdu Open champion, moved 46 spots in the ATP rankings, to No. 55 from 101. He readily conceded he wasnt ready for success at 17.After three years I am now more mature and have improved a lot, Khachanov said. I am a completely different player at this level.Hes the ninth first-time winner on tour this year, the biggest pool of victorious neophytes in five years. Moreover, Khachanov is the third member of the ATPs #NextGen to enter the winners circle, joining Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev. There are only two younger players ranked ahead of Khachanov, No. 24 Zverev and No. 42 Borna Coric, who are both 19.Khachanov showed remarkable resilience in his 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 win against Ramos-Vinolas. The match ran 2 hours, 39 minutes, and the Russian finished with a narrow point margin of 111-109 and 14 aces.According to Ramos-Vinolas, the difference was Khachanovs serving.He was serving so well and so fast, Ramos-Vinolas told the press afterward. Thats why I didnt return so well.At 6-foot-6, 194 pounds, the aggressive Khachanov has a thumping serve and a forehand to match -- like his idol, two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin. He said both weapons have to get bigger and more consistent, although his favorite shot is the down-the-line backhand.Afterward, Khachanov said he couldnt believe he had won his first title.I have been working hard, he said, and I am happy to achieve my first goal.This was the kind of performance Khachanov and his coaches have envisioned for several years.At the age of 15, he left Russia to train with Vedran Martic, Goran Ivanisevics former coach, in Croatia. Since then, Khachanov has been based in Barcelona for the past three years, learning the nuances of the game under Galo Blanco, who was Milos Raonics early tutor.Khachanov is a lithe, natural athlete who first picked up a racket at the age of 3. He played basketball in Russia at the national level as a high-schooler. His hobbies include reading and chess, and hes working toward an online degree in physical education from the University of Moscow.He had planned to travel to Tokyo this week to try to qualify, but the run at Chengdu changed those plans and sent him a few days early to Shanghai (which starts next week), where hell try to qualify his way into the main draw of the seasons final Masters 1000 event. It will be his 27th tournament of the season.Mastering the many components of professional tennis takes time. Novak Djokovic won the 2008 Australian Open at the age of 20, but waited three years for his second major title. Kei Nishikori broke through with his first title, at Delray Beach, at the age of 18. It was more than four years before he won again.In becoming the first Russian man to win a title since Mikhail Youzhny three years ago, Khachanov will face some of the same raised expectations experienced by Zverev, Coric and Kyrgios.Now, Khachanov said, hes ready.Ive been working hard, and Ive improved a lot, for sure, the mental and psychological aspect.He declined to reveal any personal goals.I will continue to practice, listen to coach and play the tournaments, Khachanov said. The main thing is to focus on the game and see how it goes.If he does that, in time he could blossom into the top-10 player that some tennis observers are predicting. Cheap Nike Shox Retro . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Cheap Nike Shox Outlet . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. http://www.nikeshoxwholesale.com/ . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Nike Shox Wholesale .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Nike Shox Outlet Clearance . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. NEW YORK -- Max Scherzer celebrated aboard a boat off the British Virgin Islands, doused by college pals on a floating party.Rick Porcello enjoyed the moment at his parents home in New Jersey, surrounded by family, friends and a few bottles of wine.As for Justin Verlander, well, fuming supermodel Kate Upton brought the heat for her fiance.Rotation mates for five seasons in Detroit, the three right-handers topped the Cy Young Award talk Wednesday: Scherzer easily won the NL prize, Porcello edged out Verlander for the AL honor.Thats just the weird thing about these, said Scherzer, who ruled the majors with 284 strikeouts and topped the NL with 20 wins for Washington. Its the voting.Porcello led baseball with 22 wins for Boston, and had a 3.15 ERA.Porcello won despite getting just eight of the 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America -- this was the first time the AL Cy winner didnt get the most firsts.Verlander went 16-9 with a 2.40 ERA while leading the AL in strikeouts and other categories. He got 14 first-place votes, but didnt draw as much support across the board -- he was left off two ballots, too.Overall, Porcello won 137-132 in the second-closest vote since 1970 (Verlander lost by four points to David Price in 2012).Voters list their five picks in order. A first-place vote is worth seven points, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Verlander needed to pick up five more points to match Porcello.Upton fired off three tweets, one of them rather saucy, telling Porcello you didnt win.Asked whether he was bothered by the brouhaha, Porcello simply said, No, I honestly dont care.Im not the one who made the decision, he said on a conference call.Porcello got a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy. Verlander, who won the 2011 award, wouldve gotten $500,000 for this win.Porcello bouunced back from going 9-15 in his first season with the Red Sox, finishing 22-4 for the AL East champs.ddddddddddddHe shared this last win of 2016 with those who never wavered in their support, admitting, It was hard not to start balling and crying.Clevelands Corey Kluber was third and got three first-place votes. Baltimore reliever Zach Britton, who went 47 for 47 on save chances with a 0.54 ERA, had five first-place votes and was fourth.Scherzer breezed, drawing 25 first-place votes to beat out Chicago Cubs teammates Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks.Scherzer became the sixth pitcher to earn the Cy Young in both leagues. After earning the AL honor in 2013 with the Tigers, Scherzer joined Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Gaylord Perry and Roy Halladay as winners in both leagues.This award, Scherzer said, meant even more than the first one.It just verifies everything I try to achieve, he said.Scherzer posted a record-tying 20-strikeout performance for the NL East champion Nationals, a year after he threw two no-hitters in his first season with Washington.I want to find a way to be better, he said.Scherzer is the first pitcher from a Washington franchise to win a Cy Young. The award was first presented in 1956.Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw got three first-place votes and finished fifth. Jose Fernandez, the Miami star killed in a boating accident in September, was seventh.The final major postseason awards will be presented Thursday when the MVP honors are announced.Cubs slugger Kris Bryant, Washingtons Daniel Murphy and newly presented Rookie of the Year Corey Seager of the Dodgers are up for the NL award. Mike Trout of the Angels, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox and Jose Altuve of the Astros are the AL contestants. ' ' '