Nadal, Federer cruise into Shanghai Masters quarterfinals

Associated PressOct 12, 2017, 1:35 PM EDT

Associated Press

SHANGHAI (AP) Rafael Nadal won his 14th consecutive match to reach the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals, beating Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday.

Fognini occupied Nadal for 63 minutes, nine minutes longer Nadal’s second-round match.

Roger Federer, seeded second to Nadal, also was not detained for long as he defeated Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-2.

“Of course it’s good news, and especially in this part of the season,” Nadal said. “Its better like this than having long matches. You save a little bit more the body.

“It doesn’t matter how long you are on court, (the) most important thing is be enough competitive to (handle) all the situations.”

Nadal hadn’t won an ATP hard-court title in more than three years until the U.S. Open last month, and now he’s gunning for his third in five weeks.

Nadal saved both break points he faced in the round-of-16 match, in the fourth game of the second set.

In the quarterfinals, Nadal will play sixth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who got past Sam Querrey of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Federer will play Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals.

Juan Martin del Potro advanced by overcoming third-seeded Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Del Potro required four match points – two on Zverev’s serve in the ninth game, two on his own serve in the 10th game – to win this first encounter against the German.

Del Potro, who lost his serve for the only time in the match in the second game, won nine of his 15 service games at love.

Zverev, in the hunt for a sixth ATP title of the season, lost his composure after netting a backhand to surrender his serve in the fifth game of the third set to the Argentine. He repeatedly smashed his racket until it was a mangled mess.

“For me, it’s impossible to lose a match when I’ve only been broken one time,” Zverev said. “The game where he broke me I was up 40-15 and I was just unfocused there.”

Del Potro knew Zverev’s reaction to losing serve was likely a good omen.

“I saw his frustration, for sure,” del Potro said. “He’s still very young and has to keep learning. He has everything to be in the top of the game.”

Del Potro will John Isner of the U.S. or Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the last eight on Friday.

Fourth-seeded Marin Cilic will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.

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.

Mikael Ymer fined about $40K after default for hitting umpire stand with racket

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 3:55 PM EDT

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS — Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer was docked about $40,000 after being disqualified for smashing his racket against the umpire’s chair at a tournament the week before he competed at the French Open.

An ATP Tour spokesman said Ymer forfeited about $10,500 in prize money and 20 rankings he earned for reaching the second round of the Lyon Open. Ymer also was handed an on-site fine of about $29,000.

The spokesman said the ATP Fines Committee will conduct a review of what happened to determine whether any additional penalties are warranted.

The 56th-ranked Ymer, who is 24 and owns a victory over current No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, was defaulted in Lyon for an outburst late in the first set against French teenager Arthur Fils last week.

Ymer was upset that the chair umpire would not check a ball mark after a shot by Fils landed near a line. As the players went to the sideline for the ensuing changeover, Ymer smacked the base of the umpire’s stand with his racket twice – destroying his equipment and damaging the chair.

That led to Ymer’s disqualification, making Fils the winner of the match.

After his 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 loss to 17th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the first round at Roland Garros, Ymer was asked whether he wanted to explain why he reacted the way he did in Lyon.

“With all due respect, I think it’s pretty clear from the video what caused it and why I reacted the way I reacted. Not justifying it at all, of course,” Ymer replied. “But for me to sit here and to explain? I think it’s pretty clear what led me to that place. I think that’s pretty clear in the video.”