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Hernandez on Target as Columbus Down Monterrey in Champions Cup Semi

Columbus forward Cucho Hernandez dribbles past Monterrey's Jesus Gallardo in their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final. Jason Mowry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Columbus forward Cucho Hernandez dribbles past Monterrey's Jesus Gallardo in their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final. Jason Mowry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Hernandez on Target as Columbus Down Monterrey in Champions Cup Semi

Columbus forward Cucho Hernandez dribbles past Monterrey's Jesus Gallardo in their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final. Jason Mowry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Columbus forward Cucho Hernandez dribbles past Monterrey's Jesus Gallardo in their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final. Jason Mowry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Cucho Hernandez was on target as Columbus Crew defeated Mexico's Monterrey 2-1 in their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final first leg clash in Ohio on Wednesday.
Colombian forward Hernandez delivered a sparkling performance capped with a well-taken first-half goal to help Columbus take a slender advantage into next week's return in Mexico, said AFP.
Jacen Russell-Rowe headed home the winner for Columbus from a corner on 72 minutes after Maximiliano Meza had leveled for Monterrey just after half-time.
The Major League Soccer champions -- who produced a stunning upset of Mexican side Tigres in the quarter-finals -- once again proved to be more than a match for Liga-MX opposition.
Monterrey started brightly and could have taken the lead through US international forward Brandon Vazquez, whose snap shot from six yards out was well-saved by Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte after six minutes.
But after that early scare, Columbus dominated for long periods, with Hernandez at the heart of most of their attacks at Lower Field.
The Colombian almost set up an opener for Diego Rossi on 17 minutes, but the Uruguayan directed his attempted finish just wide of the post.
Moments later Hernandez saw a vicious shot well-saved by Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada.
Columbus's pressure paid off after 26 minutes though, with Hernandez working a one-two with Russell-Rowe on the edge of the area and finishing crisply past Andrada for 1-0.
Hernandez almost doubled the Crew lead on the stroke of half-time, but was once again denied by Andrada as the besieged Monterrey goalkeeper beat away a superb shot.
Columbus were rocked on 58 minutes though when Monterrey equalized. Jesus Gallardo ghosted past Sean Zawadzki far too easily down the left and crossed for Meza who jabbed in the finish.
But Zawadzki made amends on 72 minutes, delivering the corner which picked out Russell-Rowe at the far post whose header bounced up and into the net past Andrada.
The second leg takes place in Monterrey next Wednesday.

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Djokovic Shocked at US Open, Eliminated One Night after Alcaraz

Serbia's Novak Djokovic (L) greets Australia's Alexei Popyrin after his defeat during their men's singles third round match on day five of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 30, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic (L) greets Australia's Alexei Popyrin after his defeat during their men's singles third round match on day five of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 30, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
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Djokovic Shocked at US Open, Eliminated One Night after Alcaraz

Serbia's Novak Djokovic (L) greets Australia's Alexei Popyrin after his defeat during their men's singles third round match on day five of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 30, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic (L) greets Australia's Alexei Popyrin after his defeat during their men's singles third round match on day five of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 30, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Novak Djokovic was shocked at the US Open one night after Carlos Alcaraz was, bowing out in the third round with a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia on Friday night.
“Just an awful match for me,” Djokovic said. “Tournaments like this happen.”
Not often for him, though. The No. 2-seeded Djokovic was trying to become the first player in tennis history with 25 Grand Slam singles titles. Instead, after knee surgery in June, he finishes a year without claiming at least one major championship for the first time since 2017. Before that, it hadn't happened since 2010, The Associated Press reported.
Also of note: 2024 now becomes the first season since 2002 in which none of the Big Three of men's tennis — Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — earned a Slam trophy.
The third-round exit equals Djokovic’s worst showing at Flushing Meadows; the only other occasions he was beaten that early at the US Open came in 2005 and 2006. The man who defeated Djokovic 18 years ago, International Tennis Hall of Fame member Lleyton Hewitt, is now Australia’s Davis Cup captain and was sitting in Popyrin’s guest box in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic, who is 37, has reached the final in Ashe 10 times, leaving with the title in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
On Friday, though, he double-faulted 14 times and looked physically sluggish and emotionally flat, perhaps residual fatigue after collecting his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia by beating Alcaraz in the final at the Paris Games earlier in August.
“Obviously, it had an effect,” Djokovic said.
The No. 3-seeded Alcaraz entered the US Open as the tournament favorite having won the French Open and Wimbledon, and acknowledged his energy was lower than he realized after getting eliminated in New York by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night.
Djokovic then replaced Alcaraz as the money-line pick to take the men’s title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, but that status didn’t last long at all.
For the 25-year-old Popyrin, this represented a real breakthrough: He had been 0-3 against Djokovic and 0-6 in third-round matches at majors.
But the strong-serving Popyrin is playing as well as ever, coming off the biggest title of his career less than three weeks ago at a hard-court tournament in Montreal, where he picked up five wins against opponents ranked in the top 20.
Everything was working against Djokovic, who was not up to his usual high standards.
Popyrin was terrific at the net, going 10 for 10 on serve-and-volley approaches and 25 for 36 overall on points when he pushed forward. Djokovic, in contrast, only won the point on 19 of his 40 trips to the net, in part because Popyrin kept flipping passing shots by him.
Popyrin took big cuts with his powerful forehand, accumulating 22 of his 50 total winners with that shot.
And he broke Djokovic five times, including for a lead of 3-2 in the fourth. That game felt titanic, lasting more than 10 minutes and including four break chances for Popyrin, who converted the last with an inside-out forehand to close a 22-stroke exchange, then rocked back on his heels, clenched both fists and let out a roar. He took Djokovic’s next service game, too, to make it 5-2.
The first time Popyrin served for the match, he faltered, allowing Djokovic to break. The second time, Popyrin finished the deal, holding at love when Djokovic sent a forehand long.
Now Popyrin will try to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by getting past No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, who advanced Friday with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 13 Ben Shelton in a matchup between two Americans.