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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Juan Martin del Potro ended Rafael Nadals bid for an unprecedented second Olympic singles gold medal in a thrill-a-minute semifinal, then celebrated as if the title were already his, kneeling to kiss the court before leaping into the stands. Sammy Sosa Cubs Jersey .Del Potro, who earned a bronze for Argentina four years ago, will add a silver or gold to that after advancing to the Rio de Janeiro Games final by coming back to stun 2008 champion Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in more than 3 hours Saturday.Both of us, Nadal said, played a very high level.Using the same ferocious forehands that carried him past No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round a week ago, 2009 U.S. Open champion del Potro now will try to pull off a third surprise on Sunday, when he meets defending champion Andy Murray in the best-of-five-set final.It means something very, very big in my career. It would be the same as the U.S. Open. Maybe even better, said del Potro, whos fallen to 141st in the rankings after three operations on his left wrist, which he uses for a two-handed backhand.I didnt expect to reach the final, beating Djokovic and Rafa, del Potro said, but I did, and I get a medal, and its amazing for me.The No. 2-seeded Murray earned a gold in singles and a silver in mixed doubles for Britain at the 2012 London Games.Hes the favorite for sure, del Potro said. Hopefully I can run like I did today.No tennis player has won two Olympic singles golds, let alone two in a row, as Murray is attempting to achieve.It would mean a lot, obviously, Murray said after beating fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-1, 6-4 to stretch his winning streak to a career-high-tying 17 matches. Its obviously not an easy thing to do. Thats why its not been done before.Standing in Murrays way now will be del Potro, whose wrist problems forced him to miss 2+ years worth of Grand Slam tournaments.He showed signs of his resurgence by beating two-time major title winner Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon in June, then used all of his 6-foot-6 frame to produce intimidating forehand after forehand that Djokovic couldnt fend off. That same formula worked against Nadal, with 18 of del Potros 19 groundstroke winners coming off his preferred wing.Its been a tough road for del Potro, who got down on his back, spread-eagle, near the Olympic logo in the main stadium after the semifinal ended with Nadal sailing a forehand wide. Moments later, del Potro planted a smooch on the dot atop the middle letter of Rio near the five rings.And to complete his rejoicing, del Potro jumped into the front row for a group hug with some of the thousands of flag-waving, name-chanting fans who rooted so vociferously for their man.With their blue-and-white flags and national soccer team jerseys, the Argentines in the crowd supported him with choruses of Ole, ole, ole, ole! del Po! del Po! -- often drawing boos or shushes from Nadals backers. The Spaniards chimed in, too, shouting Na-dal! Na-dal!All the cacophany created occasional delays between points, prompting chair umpire James Keothavong to ask for quiet.Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam champion, earned the singles gold medal for Spain eight years ago at the Beijing Games, but sat out in 2012 because of a knee injury. He added a doubles gold on Friday, teaming with his good pal Marc Lopez. But instead of another medal of that color, he will try to go home with a bronze by beating Nishikori on Sunday -- not bad, considering Nadal missed 2+ months with an injured left wrist.Nadal got broken to trail 5-4 in the third set, allowing del Potro to serve for the match. Nadal broke right back at love, with the help of a couple of superb shots he marked with more than a half-dozen fist pumps apiece. In the next game, del Potro held three break points at love-40, but Nadal held for a 6-5 lead.In the tiebreaker, del Potro went up 5-2 with -- what else? -- a forehand winner, then earned a pair of match points with a 127 mph ace. He converted the second on a miss by Nadal, who made only six unforced errors in the first set and 25 over the last two.I gave it all I had, Nadal said, and the only thing left to do is to congratulate del Potro for his victory.The most memorable moment of Murrays straightfoward win over Nishikori came right at the end.Serving for the victory, Murray came up with a tremendous down-the-line backhand passing winner on a 23-stroke exchange, stumbling as he hit the shot and winding up sitting right there on the green court. When he realized hed won the point, he raised a fist, then stood and motioned to the crowd for more noise.That gave Murray his third match point, which he converted with a service winner. He yanked off his white hat and bellowed.Bit of a lucky shot, Murray said. I didnt even see it land, so I didnt know whether it was in or not. Thankfully, it was good.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Mark Prior Jersey . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Nicholas Castellanos Cubs Jersey . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2930t-anthony-rizzo-jersey-cubs.html . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Were halfway through?another season, and its time for my midseason All-Rookie team. Take a look at my preseason team -- pretty good! Lots of hits and a few misses.It was tough at a few positions -- namely quarterback and wide receiver -- but other position groups have struggled. The defensive tackle and cornerback classes havent been stellar so far.You can also see my updated Rookie Big Board below. Without further ado ...OFFENSEQuarterbackDak Prescott, DallasPrescott gets the nod over Carson Wentz.?Lets look at their résumés: Prescott is 144-of-221 (65.2 percent) for?1,773 yards with nine touchdown passes and two interceptions. He also has four rushing touchdowns, and the Cowboys are 6-1. Wentz is 150-of-228 (65.8 percent) for 1,526 yards with nine touchdown passes and three interceptions. Craig Kimbrel Jersey. He doesnt have a rushing touchdown, and the Eagles are 4-3. The difference in Total QBR is stark -- Prescott ranks third in the league (81.3), while Wentz is 27th (49.4). The second half of the season for the Cowboys will be interesting, though, as?Tony Romo?has returned to practice.?Will Prescott start all 16 games?Running backEzekiel Elliott, DallasElliott leads the league in?rushing (799 yards) and yards after contact (362), and he has the most runs of 20 yards or more (seven) and the most runs for first downs (43). Hes?in the MVP discussion at the midway point of the season. This was an easy pick. ' ' '