Angelique Kerber through to Pan Pacific Open semifinals

Associated PressSep 20, 2019, 1:49 PM EDT

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OSAKA, Japan — Fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber advanced to the semifinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Friday after Madison Keys retired injured in the deciding set.

Kerber led 6-4, 4-6, 2-1 when the fifth-seeded Keys retired.

“It was a really good match in the first two sets, and this is never the way that you want to win,” Kerber said. “I hope Madison will recover really soon so she is ready for the next tournaments.”

Keys recorded 39 winners against 33 unforced errors while Kerber had 18 winners and 13 unforced errors.

Kerber next faces the winner of the match between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Misaki Doi. Pavlyuchenkova was leading 2-0 in the first set before rain stopped play for the day.

At the Korea Open in Seoul, fourth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland cruised into the semifinals with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kirsten Flipkens.

Linette next faces second-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova for the first time. The Russian beat Kristie Ahn of the United States 6-7 (0), 6-4, 6-4. Ahn held a 2-0 lead in the decider before losing four straight games and was unable to make a comeback.

In the other quarterfinals, Karolina Muchova beat Priscilla Hon 6-3, 6-3 to set up a match against eighth-seeded Yafan Wang, who beat Paula Badosa 6-1, 6-3.

At the Guangzhou International in China, Samantha Stosur rallied after a slow start to beat Viktorija Golubic 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the semifinals and qualified for her first WTA singles final in 2 1/2 years.

“I just tried to hang in there and find a way to start playing a bit better,” Stosur said. “She’s very tough to play against so I’m just happy to get through.”

Stosur is chasing her first title since winning at Strasbourg in 2017. Her opponent will be third-seeded Sofia Kenin after the American defeated Anna Blinkova of Russia 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-1.

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.”