Kuznetsova beats Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3 in Miami Open semis

Associated PressMar 31, 2016, 4:44 PM EDT

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) Svetlana Kuznetsova is back in the Key Biscayne final 10 years after she won the tournament.

Kuznetsova erased 12 of the 14 break points she faced and beat Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3 Thursday in the semifinals of the Miami Open.

The 30-year-old Kuznetsova’s opponent Saturday will be the winner of the semifinal Thursday night between No. 2-seeded Angelique Kerber and two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, who is seeded 13th.

Kuznetsova hadn’t enjoyed much success at Key Biscayne in recent years, but she upset eight-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round and won four consecutive three-setters to reach the semifinals. At No. 19, the Russian is the lowest-ranked women’s finalist in the event since No. 38 Kim Clijsters earned the 2005 championship.

“I’m happy I could hang in there,” Kuznetsova said. “I haven’t been feeling my best, but I’ve been fighting with every ball and trying to run as much as I could.”

If Kuznetsova wins the title, she’ll return to the top 10 for the first time since 2010. She’s already assured of surpassing $20 million in career prize money.

On a sunny, sweltering afternoon, Kuznetsova earned the first break of her semifinal in the 10th game to take the grueling, 65-minute first set. She broke three consecutive times in the second set to pull away from the No. 19-seeded Bacsinszky.

“I was playing to finish it in two sets so I have a little bit of time to rest,” Kuznetsova said.

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who turned 38 this week, lost in the semifinals of doubles to Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, 6-3, 6-3. The Bryans hold a record 16 Grand Slam titles but haven’t won a tournament since August.

At French Open, Francisco Cerundolo is mad at chair umpire over Holger Rune’s double-bounce

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 8:49 PM EDT

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS – Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina was devastated about losing his French Open fourth-round match to Holger Rune of Denmark in a fifth-set tiebreaker Monday. He also was mad at chair umpire Kader Nouni for missing a double-bounce of the ball on a point that was awarded to Rune early in his 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory.

They were tied at a set apiece and on serve at 2-1 for the No. 6-seeded Rune early in the third at Court Suzanne Lenglen when the point of contention happened. Cerundolo, who was serving at deuce, hit a forehand that skidded low at the baseline and quickly bounced a second time – which normally would have meant that the point was his.

But Rune went ahead and got his racket on the ball, sending it back over the net. At about the same time, No. 23 seed Cerundolo was saying “sorry” to apologize for the odd way his forehand made the ball skim across the clay. Nouni was not immediately aware of the double-bounce, thought the ball was still in play and called Cerundolo for hindrance for talking during a point. That meant Rune got the point, and when he won the next one, too, he had a service break.

“It was unbelievable, because it was a clear double-bounce. I was mad at the umpire because he has to see it,” Cerundolo said. “It’s his fault.”

In tennis, electronic line-calling is used at many tournaments to make line calls, but replays are not used to check things like double-bounces or whether a point should be lost because a player touches the net, which is not allowed.

And while Cerundolo put the onus on the official, he also thought Rune could have ceded the point because of the double-bounce.

“For sure, I wish he would have done that, because it was a big moment,” Cerundolo said.

Rune, who moved into a matchup against No. 4 Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals, said he saw a replay after the following point, and “saw it was a double bounce. But the point already happened, and he called the score. So I felt sorry.”

But, Rune added: “This is tennis. This is sports. Some umpires, they make mistakes. Some for me; some for him. That’s life.”

Gael Monfils withdraws from French Open with wrist injury

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS — A thrilling five-set victory took a toll on Gael Monfils, whose withdrawal from the French Open handed No. 6 Holger Rune a walkover to the third round.

The 36-year-old Frenchman said he has a strained left wrist and can’t continue.

He battled Sebastian Baez for nearly four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier before beating the Argentine 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in a first-round match that ended at 12:18 a.m. local time.

The victory was Monfils’ first at tour level this year, as the veteran was coming back from heel surgery.

“Actually, physically, I’m quite fine. But I had the problem with my wrist that I cannot solve,” he said. “The doctor say was not good to play with that type of injury. Yesterday was actually very risky, and then today definitely say I should stop.”

Monfils reached the semifinals at the French Open in 2008 and made it to the quarterfinals on three other occasions.