Nadal to face Mayer in Barcelona Open

Associated PressApr 22, 2019, 5:09 PM EDT

AP Photo

BARCELONA, Spain — Defending champion Rafael Nadal will face Leonardo Mayer in his first match at the Barcelona Open.

Mayer defeated Marius Copil 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-5 in the first round on Monday. The 63rd-ranked Argentine saved all five break points he faced in a match lasting more than two and a half hours.

Second-ranked Nadal, an 11-time winner in Barcelona, opens play at the clay-court tournament on Wednesday after a first-round bye. He is coming off a loss to Fabio Fognini in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters.

“My personal opinion is that I played one of the worst matches on clay,” Nadal said in Barcelona. “It’s a reality. There is no need to hide it. What has happened has happened.”

Fognini, the champion in Monte Carlo, will play either Nicola Kuhn or Federico Delbonis, who meet on Tuesday.

Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who had to go through qualifying after missing the deadline to enter the main draw, defeated Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. He will play third-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria on Tuesday.

In other results on Monday, Fernando Verdasco defeated wild card Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Spanish match, Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. beat Taro Daniel of Japan 6-2, 6-2, and Taylor Fritz got past Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4 in a meeting of Americans.

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.”