Federer hopes Laver Cup will be hit on U.S. soil

Associated PressMar 20, 2018, 8:06 PM EDT

AP Photo

CHICAGO — The Laver Cup was a hit last year, and now Roger Federer is hoping it proves popular on U.S. soil.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion made his first-ever visit to Chicago on Monday to promote the second Laver Cup, a team competition that debuted last year in Prague.

Federer, shaking off a three-set loss to Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday in the final at Indian Wells that ended his 17-match winning streak, was joined by tennis legends Rod Laver and John McEnroe, along with young Australian star Nick Kyrgios.

Federer’s management team was instrumental in launching the Laver Cup, which pits Team Europe against Team World. After its third year, he said he’ll entertain possible changes to the format.

“Down the road I’m totally open to anything,” Federer said. “I’ve heard already from women players. They would love to do it as well.”

Four of the six players on each team are chosen on rankings after Wimbledon. The other two are captain’s picks, and captain McEnroe didn’t wait Monday – he announced the talented Kyrgios was already on the World Team.

Kyrgios lost a tight final singles match to Federer in Prague last season, which clinched the cup for Team Europe.

What impact the Laver Cup has on the future of Davis Cup, the long-standing competition between nations, is still debatable. But there is a proposal from the International Tennis Federation to play the top level of Davis Cup in a single-week, 18-nation format. It must be approved by a vote of the membership.

“It just takes so much out of the players to be available four weekends during the year every single year,” Federer said. “I played a lot of Davis Cup when I was younger and happy I did. I was happy it existed, but eventually it was just too much.”

Federer added: “I do believe that the Laver Cup has sparked some change, some inspiration to other cups that maybe we’ll see in tennis. But that’s a good thing. We’ll take that as a sign of flattery.”

McEnroe, once a staple for the U.S. Davis Cup team, said changes in that competition are overdue and certainly the success of the Laver Cup has not gone unnoticed.

“For me, I say, `When’s the last time anyone’s asked me about how many Davis Cup teams I was part of winning?”‘ McEnroe said.

“In the last 10 years, how many people have asked me that? You know how many people? None. Which is sad, ’cause I played a lot of Davis Cup and I loved it.”

The 2018 Laver Cup will be played Sept. 21-23 at United Center before returning to Europe the following year.

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.