NEW YORK -- Its a strange thing to say about a man who was playing for his third Grand Slam title of the year, but top-ranked Novak Djokovics season has gone sideways since he won his first French Open in the beginning of June. The mystery of what exactly has happened to the Serbian star just keeps getting more curious.In the space of two months, Djokovic has gone from being the surest bet to win Grand Slam tournaments the past two years to an enigma who crashed out of the third round at Wimbledon in July and bombed out of the Rio Olympics in August with an opening-round loss to Juan Martin del Potro that left the world No. 1 weeping as he walked off the court.Then he seemed oddly subdued for long stretches Sunday during his four-set loss to Stan Wawrinka in the final of the US Open. And the crowd sensed it, t. It began chanting Djokvoics name without prompting a handful of times, imploring him to rage back into this match.You know, in matches like this, if you dont use the opportunities, the other guy comes and takes it, Djokovic said.Djokovic knows thats particularly true of Wawrinka, who has won 11 straight finals he has played. The other day, Djokovic didnt dispute an Italian reporters teasing contention that You are responsible for creating the Stanimal, a reference to their fourth-round 2013 Australian Open match in which Djokovic won the deciding set 12-10. The match gave Wawrinka the belief he could actually beat the worlds best.You couldnt blame Djokovic if he had flashbacks to that day or his 2015 French Open final loss to Wawrinka every time the Swiss hit a rope down the alleys.But even if you countenance the idea Wawrinka, who has now beaten Djokovic along the way to all three of his career Slam titles since 2014, has somehow crawled a little inside Djokovics head, that still doesnt fully explain Djokovics current fugue state.For whatever reason -- be it the unspecified personal problems he alluded to at Wimbledon or the more recent wrist and shoulder injuries -- Djokovic hasnt lked himself since June.He has somehow transformed from a chest-thumping man whose reputation for fighting, scratching and clawing his way to wins no matter how long it takes to a man who endured Wawrinkas 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 march to the title Sunday rather quietly.Along the way, Djokovic controversially resorted to the ploy of calling out a trainer twice in the final set. (It wasnt the first time he has been accused of bending the rules when struggling in a big match.)Wawrinka was about to serve at 3-1, up two sets to one, when Djokovic requested the first trainers visit not long after hed spent a changeover icing both of his thighs. But when the trainer arrived, Djokovic tk off both shoes and treated everyone to some adventures in podiatry by requesting treatment on -- wait -- his feet?The toenails were off and bleeding, Djokovic explained. It was quite painful to move around. The toe just happened today.Wawrinka was caught on TV microphones during the first six-minute delay complaining to the chair umpire that Djokovic was trying to buy time because he was cramping -- something that a player cannot receive treatment for during a match.And Djokovic admitted in his news conference that he does know that rule.But he denied under repeated questioning that he did anything untoward as a last-ditch ploy to win. And Wawrinka, who was only just three games from victory by then anyway, refused after the match to criticize his longtime friend and sometime practice partner for requesting the trainers visits.For me, I just asked the umpire because he asked [for] the physio when he was serving, and we played maybe seven more points, Wawrinka said. If your opponent is struggling, if he has bld coming out [of his toes], you have to stop.As it turned out, neither pause had much impact on the match. Long before his feet began to trouble him, Djokovics biggest problem Sunday -- besides the bombs Wawrinka was hitting down the lines again and again -- was he couldnt break Wawrinkas serve. And he didnt hurt Wawrinka much with his own.Djokovic is considered the best returner in tennis history. But against Wawrinka, he converted only three of the 17 opportunities.It was a terrible conversion of the break points -- just terrible, he said. I lost my nerves in very important moments today.And so Djokovic moves on down the road now lugging a personal record of 12-9 in Grand Slam finals with him. He had won four straight majors until his early-round loss at Wimbledon.A glass half-full person would rightly say its an extraordinary achievement the 29-year-old Djokovic has even made 21 major finals. But Sunday, Djokovic -- who fell to 2-for-7 in US Open title matches alone -- wasnt feeling that way just yet.Obviously, Grand Slam finals are different than any other match, [and] I have lost a few Grand Slam finals, some close matches, Djokovic said. Thats the cycle of life, I guess. m.com/Ricky-Rubio-City-Edition-Jersey/" target="_blank">Ricky Rubio Suns Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty gd place to start laying the groundwork. 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The ex-partner of Bryce Cartwright has been charged after targeting the NRL star in a revenge porn attack and threatening to kill him.Lewd photos of Cartwright were posted on social media by his former girlfriend Brittany Hura in apparent revenge for the breakdown of their six-year relationship.NSW police said they had arrested a 24-year-old woman from Constitution Hill and charged her with stalk/intimidate with intent to cause fear or physical harm and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.She was bailed to appear next Tuesday in Penrith Local Court.Police take all reports of intimidation and harassment seriously and encourage any person who believes they are being targeted to come forward and make a report so it can be investigated, a police spokeswoman said.Panthers chief executive Bryan Fletcher said the incident had been referred to police after her erratic behaviour escalated at the weekend.This is now a NSW Police matter. We are most appreciative of the swift response by NSW Police to this situation, Fletcher said.The priority of Panthers is to ensure the protection, safetyy and wellbeing of Bryce, his partner and his family.dddddddddddd. We are affording Bryce all the support we can during this difficult time.The club will be making no further comment until NSW Police have concluded their investigations.Hura posted nude photos of the 22-year-old Panthers playmaker on Twitter over the weekend, apparently in revenge after he began seeing another woman.She also posted a video on Facebk threatening to kill Cartwright. You think Im laughing because Im mentally f***ed up?, she said in the video, which had since been deleted.Im not mentally f***ed up Im just laughing at you ... youre going to be dead sn.In the grave ... six feet under.Hura said she was aggrieved after Cartwright began dating another woman.Cartwright is considered one the of rising stars of the NRL and recently penned a three-year contract extension.He was recently named in the NSW Blues emerging squad and is expected to push this year for a maiden State of Origin jumper. ' ' '