Nadal blows 2-set Slam lead for 1st time, loses to Fognini

Associated PressSep 5, 2015, 6:51 AM EDT

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NEW YORK (AP) For the first time in his career, Rafael Nadal lost a Grand Slam match after taking a two-set lead.

And for the first time since 2004, he will end a season without winning at least one Grand Slam title.

“The only thing it means,” Nadal said about that streak coming to a close, “is I played amazing the last 10 years.”

Once so seemingly invincible, able to run down every last ball and tough to slow down once out in front, Nadal was beaten 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 by 32nd-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy in the third round of the U.S. Open.

“To win like that – against him, from two sets down – is something incredible,” Fognini said, calling it a “mental victory.”

The eighth-seeded Nadal’s defeat, which finished at nearly 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, follows exits in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the French Open, then the second round at Wimbledon.

He said he must “accept that (it) was not my year.”

Once ranked No. 1, he dropped as low as No. 10 in 2015, his lowest spot in a decade. The 29-year-old Spaniard also has spoken openly about a crisis of confidence.

“What I (am) doing worse is playing worse than what I used to do the last couple of years,” he said. “That’s it.”

Nadal, who has won two of his 14 career major titles at Flushing Meadows, not only claimed the first two sets against Fognini, but also led by a break in the third at 3-1.

He couldn’t sustain it, though, as Fognini began taking more high-risk shots – and putting plenty right where he wanted them, winding up with more than twice as many winners as Nadal, 70 to 30.

“You have to attack him,” Fognini said.

Asked how it was possible that an opponent could produce that many winners against him, Nadal smiled and joked: “Maybe I am slower.”

Ripping big groundstrokes off both wings, many on a full sprint, for more than 3 1/2 hours, the two men engaged in entertaining exchanges that thrilled the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that included Tiger Woods.

“An incredible match, for sure,” Fognini said. “We killed ourselves.”

The 52-minute fifth set alone was filled with one apparent momentum swing after another. Starting at 1-all, there were seven consecutive breaks of serve, a pattern that finally ended when Fognini broke to go ahead 5-4, then held to end it.

Fognini reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time. The last Italian man to get that far at the U.S. Open was Davide Sanguinetti a decade ago.

Nadal, meanwhile, had won 22 of his last 23 U.S. Open matches, including earning championships in 2010 and 2013, and reaching the final in 2011. He missed the tournament because of health issues in 2012 and last year.

He tried to look on the bright side as he spoke to the media at about 2:30 a.m., saying that he was pleased that his mind allowed him to “fight until the end, something that I was missing for a while.”

But Nadal acknowledged there are problems with his strokes, particularly not enough topspin on his forehand and too-shallow groundstrokes in general.

“Easy to understand, easy to explain, difficult to change,” Nadal said. “But I’m going to do it.”

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.

New mom Elina Svitolina beats seeded player at French Open in 1st Slam match in 16 months

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:27 AM EDT

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PARIS — So much has changed for Elina Svitolina, who played – and won – her first Grand Slam match in nearly 1 1/2 years at the French Open, eliminating 2022 semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2.

For one thing, she’s now a mother: Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skaï, in October. For another, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd, nowhere near the career high of No. 3 she first reached in 2017, back in the days when she was regularly reaching the second weeks of major tournaments – including a pair of semifinal runs. Away from the courts, her home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia last year, and the war continues.

“Everything,” she said, “is kind of old and new for me right now.”

In sum, Svitolina is juggling a lot nowadays.

She hadn’t played at a Slam since a third-round exit at the Australian Open in January 2022. She hadn’t played a match anywhere since March 2022, when she was still ranked 20th.

“It was always in my head … to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” the 28-year-old Svitolina said.

The work to return to the tour after giving birth began this January; her initial WTA match came at Charleston, South Carolina, in April. She won her first title since returning to action, at a smaller event on red clay in Strasbourg, France.

At Roland Garros, she used her big forehand to compile a 20-12 edge in winners and never faced a single break point against Trevisan, who was seeded 26th.

Trevisan cried as she spoke after the match about a problem with her right foot that made it difficult to even walk and prompted her to stop playing during her quarterfinal last week at the Morocco Open, where she was the defending champion.

Still, she gave Svitolina credit.

“Even though she’s just coming back from having a daughter, she’s a champion,” Trevisan said. “And she’s coming off a title, so she’s confident.”

Svitolina talked about feeling “awful when you’re pregnant, especially the last months,” but getting into a position now where she thinks she’s stronger than before – in more ways than one.

“I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court and, match by match, I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental (state) can influence your physicality, as well,” she said. “I tried to find the balance, and I feel like I’m seeing (things) a little bit again differently as well after the break. Everything is getting there. The puzzles are getting slowly into place.”