Boxengasse » For three quarters the Demons kept up,

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The spectators told Monica Puig they believed she could win Puerto Ricos first Olympic gold medal in any sport, providing a soundtrack of Si se puede! -- Yes, we can! -- during the Rio de Janeiro Games womens tennis final.She could. And she did.The unseeded and unheralded Puig capped her run of upsets with the biggest one of all Saturday, overpowering No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to become the Olympic champion.I did hear everybody saying, Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can! I kept repeating it inside myself: `Yes, I can! Yes, I can! Yes, I can! Puig said. They really helped me believe and just showed me they were there for me, whether I was going to win or lose.Puigs father told her he believed, too, emailing the lyrics to the Puerto Rican national anthem a day earlier, just in case they would come in handy.And so, as the strains of that song echoed around an Olympic arena for the first time, and Puerto Ricos red-white-and-blue flag was raised to the highest level during a medal ceremony for the first time, Puig remembered what Dad had written.She recognized plenty of the words as fans belted them out.She just couldnt join in the joyous chorus, for a simple reason: too many tears.If I wouldve stopped crying, I probably would have started singing, Puig said afterward, smiling at the thought. But I couldnt. I was choking up the whole time.A 22-year-old born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and now based in Florida, Puig is also the first woman representing her country to earn a medal of any color. When she finished a tense closing game -- saving six break points and converting her fourth match point -- she flung away her racket and went over to collect a flag she paraded across the court.I couldnt really believe what just happened, she said. It was such an amazing moment.Gigi Fernandez, who is Puerto Rican, won two Olympic womens doubles gold medals in tennis, but did so while representing the United States.Im particularly happy for Puerto Rico, Fernandez said in a telephone interview from Connecticut. All the hurt that people felt, all the anger people felt because I played for the U.S., I couldnt be happier.Puig had shown promise in the past, reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon as a teen in 2013, but she hasnt been that far again at any major.Also notable about Puig: She is the first unseeded woman to win the singles title since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988. Ranked 34th, she added her surprising win over Kerber -- a German who won the Australian Open and was the Wimbledon runner-up this year -- to those she picked up in Brazil against two other past major title winners, Garbine Muguruza and Petra Kvitova.Earlier Saturday, Kvitova earned the bronze for the Czech Republic by beating Madison Keys of the United States 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.Kvitova called her medal one of the best things that happened in my career, definitely.Clearly, Puig felt the same.And she played attacking tennis full of powerful shots that seemed to rattle the counter-punching Kerber.Puig smacked a down-the-line backhand -- her 18th winner to that point, 10 more than Kerber -- for a break that gave her the opening set.During the ensuing changeover, Kerber was visited by a trainer, standing on the sideline while her lower back was massaged and manipulated, before heading to the locker room for a medical timeout. Kerber said later that bothered her from the outset, but it wasnt why she lost.She played her best tennis and one of her best matches in her career, for sure, Kerber said. I tried everything.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich---AP Sports Writers Jon Krawczynski and Tim Reynolds contributed. Air Jordan 4 Cheap Australia .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Air Jordan 4 Cheap Australia . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. http://www.airjordan4australia.com/ . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Air Jordan 4 Australia . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Buy Air Jordan 4 Australia . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Dallas Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown said he got tired of hearing from wide receiver Steve Smith Sr.?during Sundays 27-17 victory?over the?Baltimore Ravens.I had respect for him before the game, but after the game, I have no respect for him anymore, Brown said. Hes a real character, and I actually saw it for myself [Sunday]. I dont got nothing to say about Steve Smith.Brown, a rookie, said the wide receiver in his 16th year was constantly talking after plays.Coming into the game, they already told me what kind of player he was, Brown said. But until you see it for yourself, tthen youre just, Calm down, but its hard because he keeps yapping after every play.dddddddddddd Its kind of hard.Smith caught eight passes for 99 yards in the Ravens loss. He beat Brown for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and tallied his 1,000th career reception, but Smith called the accomplish bittersweet.Id give all that back to win, to be honest, said Smith, who now has 1,005 catches in his career.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '