Doubles’ win by Sock, Harrison puts US in Davis Cup semis

Associated PressApr 8, 2018, 10:54 AM EDT

Getty Images

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison put the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 2012 by beating Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3), 6-4 Saturday to finish off an American sweep.

The United States now will play either Croatia or Kazakhstan in the semifinals Sept. 14-16.

John Isner and Sam Querrey set up the doubles match for the clincher by winning both their singles matches Friday at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University. Sock, who came in ranked 26th in doubles, and Harrison, 17th in the world, put the U.S. into the semifinals after taking three hours to finish off the Belgians.

The U.S. now is 5-0 all-time in the Davis Cup against Belgium.

For Gille and Vliegen, this was their Davis Cup debut coming only a few hours away from where both played in college. Gille went to East Tennessee State, while Vliegen played at East Carolina. The Belgians broke Sock and Harrison in Game 11 and took the first set 7-5 showing no signs of nerves as they scored on 80 percent of their first serves.

The Americans took the second set by fighting off two break points in Game 11, then they dominated by taking the final six points.

In the third set, Vliegen started struggling with cramps and had a foot fault when serving in Game 11. The Americans had three break points, but the Belgians fought them off to go up 6-5.

Sock and Harrison finished off the set again in a tiebreaker, and they avoided a third tiebreaker by breaking the Belgians to finish off the quarterfinals and start the American celebration before the raucous crowd.

France took a 2-1 lead over Italy with Pierre Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut beating Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3, 6-1. Germany leads Spain 2-1 after Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff downed Marc Lopez and Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 7-5.

Croatia took a 2-1 lead over Kazakhstan with Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic beat Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

—

More AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Tennis

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.