Justin Abdelkader and Ryan McDonagh scored for the U.S., which did not unravel in a meaningless game like it did in the 2014 Olympic bronze medal game. Ben Bishop allowed four goals on 20 shots in two periods, and

NEW YORK -- It seems surreal, but this US Open is the first Grand Slam since the 2004 French Open that doesnt have either Roger Federer, Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Top seed Novak Djokovic is the only representative of the Big Four left in the singles. That seems to put him back on track to win his third major of 2016. Or does it? Heres what you need to know:How to watch all the action FridayAt noon ET, the mixed-doubles final between No. 7 Coco Vandeweghe/Rajeev Ram and Laura Siegemund/Mate Pavic will begin on ESPN2 & WatchESPN.?Click to watchAt noon ET, a number of American juniors will be in action on the outer courts. Click to watch?At 3 p.m. ET, the mens semifinals will begin on ESPN & WatchESPN. Click to watchTo view starting times of upcoming days at the US Open, click here.?Live scoringOur real-time scoreboard, updated stats and social handles can be found in one spot: US Open CourtCast.?Fridays mens semifinals breakdownNo. 1 Novak Djokovic versus No. 10 Gael Monfils, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN and WatchESPNCase for Djokovic: The Serbian star came into this tournament hoping that his injured wrist and an unspecified right-arm problem wouldnt wreck his chances over the course of a punishing two-week major played under grueling late-summer conditions. He ominously hinted that he was hoping just to get through the beginning of the event and take his chances from there. But the tennis gods must look upon Djokovic with great favor, because its almost as if he couldnt help making it into the semis. He has played just nine-plus sets, benefiting from a walkover and two retirements. Hes hit enough balls under fire to be seasoned, but his wrist and arm have been spared and given extra recovery time. This much luck must make him confident as well. And to top it off, while Monfils was Djokovics feared junior rival, Novak is 12-0 in their pro matches.Case for Monfils: The whippet-lean Frenchman won the most significant singles title of his career a few weeks ago in Washington, D.C. For a player of his talent, that simply isnt an adequate career best. Monfils seems to know it, too. Hes been playing this summer with a new and uncharacteristic sense of purpose. Hes won 19 straight sets on hard courts since losing to Kei Nishikori (after holding a match point) at the Rio Olympics. Monfils must continue to play aggressive, first-strike tennis and serve with gusto. He must also avoid challenging Djokovic to rallying contests -- even if they give Monfils great opportunities to show off his spectacular retrieving abilities.Prediction: Djokovic in fourNo. 3 Stan Wawrinka versus No. 6 Kei Nishikori, after Djokovic-MonfilsCase for Wawrinka: After surviving a scare in the third round versus Dan Evans, Wawrinka thanked the crowd for believing in me sometimes more than I believe in myself. The reality is that the pundits and camp followers often overlook him in their focus on the Big Four, even though hes won the same amount of majors as Nadal and Andy Murray since the start of 2014 (two). Nobody, but nobody, is more dangerous than when Wawrinka is at the top of his game. Twenty percent of his shots at the US Open have been winners; thats tied for eighth-best in the tournament, and only one other semifinalist can match him. Wawrinka will likely try to smother Nishikori and keep him from turning the match into a track meet. Wawrinka leads this rivalry 3-2.Case for Nishikori: The conventional wisdom casts Nishikori as a baseline grinder. Its a deceptive oversimplification. This years youngest Open semifinalist at 26, Nishikori doesnt have enough pop on his serve to build a conventional attacking game. Instead, he uses his quickness and mastery of angles to open up the court and force an error or win a point outright. Thats why he, not the spectacular Monfils or the precise Djokovic, is one of three men tied with Wawrinka in the winners stats department in New York. This match will be loaded with David vs. Goliath overtones. Nishikoris game plan will be to get one more ball back, thereby increasing his chances to wear down Wawrinka and/or tease out an error.Prediction: Wawrinka in three Greg Maddux Jersey . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Mark Wohlers Jersey .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. http://www.custombravesjersey.com/custom-babe-ruth-jersey-large-77z.html . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Custom Bob Uecker Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. David Justice Jersey Large . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. TORONTO -- Left with nothing play for at the World Cup of Hockey, coach John Tortorella told his United States players to play a game for themselves.They played hard, gave effort in a meaningless round-robin finale but still lost 4-3 to the Czech Republic on Thursday night. With an 0-3-0 record and a minus-6 goal differential, the U.S. finished seventh among eight teams, ahead of only Finland.The bottom line is we leave here with nothing, Tortorella said. Certainly we cant be happy about that.Previous losses to Team Europe and Canada eliminated the Americans from contention. While Canada, Sweden, Europe and Russia prepare for the semifinals this weekend, the U.S. and Czech Republic played out the string in front of a half-empty arena.Joe Pavelski, Justin Abdelkader and Ryan McDonagh scored for the U.S., which did not unravel in a meaningless game like it did in the 2014 Olympic bronze medal game. Ben Bishop allowed four goals on 20 shots in two periods, and Cory Schneider made seven saves in relief.Petr Mrazek stopped 36 of the 39 shots he faced to backstop the Czech Republic to its first victory. Milan Michalek scored twice and Zbynek Michalek and Andrej Sustr each had a goal.U.S. players promised they wouldnt mail it in with nothing to play for. A result of human nature, it felt like an all-star game with a lack of real physicality as everyone wanted to get through without getting injured.I thought some guys gave some really true efforts, Tortorella said. We just didnt find a way to win the hockey game.Afterward, Tortorella broke from his usual routine and addressed the team.McDonagh said the message was, Keep