It was 4-all in the fourth set of the decisive fifth match. Jack Sock was about to serve. With his eyes half-closed, his opponent, Borna Coric, tapped his index finger against his left temple a few times. Then he made a fist and banged it lightly a few times against his forehead.Focus. Focus. Focus.Thats exactly what Coric displayed in the tense moments of this Davis Cup battle. He reeled off the last seven points to end the match -- and the tie -- in exactly three hours, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, giving Croatia a stunning win against the United States on Sunday.Croatia had started the weekend in Portland, Oregon, down 2-0 after Fridays singles matches. A done deal, right? The U.S. had been 157-3 when it won its first two matches, while Croatia had never recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win. But suddenly, after Mike?and Bob Bryan fell Saturday and John Isner lost his reverse singles rubber earlier Sunday, it came down to Sock and Coric.Coric is just 19. But he knew the match would go to whoever was mentally stronger. Earlier in the year, he had clinched the first-round tie against Belgium in a similar situation. Sock, while 23, had been flung in the deep end. This was his first Davis Cup tie on home soil. Both men felt the pressure, only one mastered it.I was fighting with myself. But these guys, they were all the time here for me, Coric told the crowd after he clinched for the visitors, gesturing to the Croatian bench.Coric took up tennis at age 8 after watching Croatia clinch its sole Davis Cup title in 2005.That year, Croatias march to the title began with a comparable shocker: an upset of a strong U.S. team led by Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. Somehow, it probably wont be much consolation to U.S. captain Jim Courier, Sock & Co.This was a devastating blow to the Americans, whose male players had left Wimbledon with a lot to feel good about. The two singles players, No. 16 Isner and No. 26 Sock, made the third round before losing to higher-ranked players. Sock had never gone the distance in a best-of-five match until this year, when he won two of three going into this tie.Then on Friday, Sock made it three of four by digging himself out of a very deep hole. He lost the first two sets to Marin Cilic but surged back to win. It was the second time in eight days that Cilic lost after leading by two sets. (Roger Federer pulled the other comeback in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.) Isner crushed Coric in the second match, giving up just 11 games. It was an impressive display of American grit and firepower.After his humiliating loss to Sock, Cilic declared he would be playing doubles, even though it wasnt part of the game plan. He teamed with Ivan Dodig to hammer the Bryan brothers, inflicting just the fifth loss in 29 matches for the U.S. doubles specialists. The tie turned on that upset.Fired up, Cilic met Isner in the fourth match. Isner played a great first set, but Cilic outdueled him in the tiebreaker and went on to win in straight sets.In my first match, I didnt show how much spirit we have, said Cilic, the elder statesman of the Croatian squad. I didnt show my emotion. I wanted it to be different today to show how motivated we are.The win set the stage for Corics heroics. The only other time he had played Sock came on the slow red clay of the 2015 French Open, with the American rolling in straight sets.This one was different. While Sock seemed to handle the occasion well, he was haunted by the same inconsistency that hampers him on tour. Hes a wonderful athlete who hasnt quite harnessed all of his energy, so it is often scattered in every direction instead of being modulated and channeled into a single productive one.You could say he sometimes lacks focus.That doesnt appear to be Corics problem. Devin Shore Jersey . 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Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. ST. LOUIS -- Brian Elliott got a warm welcome in his old home.Elliott stopped 23 shots in his return to St. Louis, Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett each had a goal and an assist and the Calgary Flames beat the Blues 4-1 on Tuesday night.I had so much fun playing in front of these fans and in this building that I wanted to do it again even though its with another team, Elliott said. The guys did a heck of a job in front of me to get that win for me.Elliott was traded from St. Louis to Calgary in June, and the 17,337 in attendance serenaded him with chants of Moose, his nickname, on his first couple of saves.I knew how much the fans kind o anythinng to make him uncomfortaof loved that. It was special for me hearing that and really kind of got me into the game and have that feeling a little bit, Elliott said. Im sure they dont like the result now, but it meant a lot.Elliotts best save came late in the second when he slid his right pad across the crease to rob Nail Yakupov on a rebound attempt.He reads the play so well, Flames defenseman Mark Giordano said. A lot of their one-timers, if you really watch, hes already there before the puck is shot. Its a confidence booster for us. We know we can give up some shots and hes going to be there to stop them for us.Dennis Wideman and Deryk Engelland also scored to help the Flames snap a seven-game losing streak at St. Louis.Kevin Shattenkirk scored for the Blues on a two-man advantage in the third, and Carter Hutton made 26 saves. After winning their first three games, the Blues are 1-2-1 in their last four.The Blues werent surprised by Elliotts effort.He was great tonight, but we didnt make it too hard on him either, Shattenkirk said. Hes too good of a goalie to not have traffic in front of him, to not have grade-A scoring chances. We didnt really do anythinng to make him uncomfortable.dddddddddddd.Widemans power-play goal early in the first ended a string of 19 straight penalty kills for the Blues. Wideman gave the Flames the 1-0 lead after former Blue Troy Brouwer won the puck along the boards and found Wideman alone in the slot.Engelland added to the lead midway through the first after Kris Versteeg sent him in alone on Hutton with a pass. The play started after Vladimir Tarasenko whiffed on a shot on the other end, sending the Flames in on an odd-man rush.Bennetts wrist shot went in through a maze of traffic early in the second to give Calgary a 3-0 lead. Bennett had an assist on Engellands goal, giving him his second multipoint game of the season, both against St. Louis.The game was also a homecoming for Calgarys Matthew Tkachuk, son of former Blue Keith Tkachuk, who had an assist on Bennetts goal. Matthew Tkachuk, the 6th overall pick by the Flames, was one of four St. Louis area natives taken in the first round of this years amateur draft.It was fun, Matthew Tkachuk said. Kind of an eye-opening experience too with the play and the rink you kind of grew up in, so its great to get the win. I had a lot of people here watching so Im sure theyre pretty happy.Game notes Blues F Alexander Steen played in his 500th game with St. Louis. ... Giordano played in his 600th game with Calgary. ... Brouwer and Elliott both joined the Flames in the offseason and received a standing ovation after the Blues played a video tribute to them midway through the first period.UP NEXTFlames: Return home to face Ottawa on Friday night.Blues: Continue a three-game home stand against Detroit on Thursday night. ' ' '
