Djokovic beats Soeda to reach quarterfinals at Japan Open

Associated PressOct 2, 2019, 4:53 PM EDT

AP Photo

TOKYO — Coming off an injury, Novak Djokovic is confident his game is going in the right direction.

Djokovic needed only two sets and 95 minutes to defeat Japanese wild-card entry Go Soeda 6-3, 7-5 and reach the quarterfinals of the Japan Open on Wednesday.

Top-ranked Djokovic, who is attempting to win a title on his tournament debut for the 10th time, hit 10 aces and saved three of four break points.

Djokovic retired with a left-shoulder injury during his fourth-round match against Stan Wawrinka at the U.S. Open but showed no lingering effects in Tokyo.

In his first competitive match since facing Wawrinka, Djokovic was knocked out of the doubles with Filip Krajinovic on Monday but beat Alexei Popyrin in the first round of the singles on Tuesday.

After three matches in three days, Djokovic said he’s pleased with his progress.

“I probably played even on a higher level than the first round,” Djokovic said. “So the game is going in the right direction, that’s for sure. I’ve played three games in a row, the doubles on Monday then two straight singles matches back-to-back, so everything is fine.”

With Djokovic serving for the win, Soeda broke his opponent for the first time when Djokovic double-faulted to make it 5-4. But the top-ranked Serb broke Soeda for the fourth time in the final game.

“From the baseline, I was solid, aggressive when I needed to be and taking the ball early,” Djokovic said. “I served very well until that game when I was serving for the match at 5-3. I made some double-faults, I missed all my first serves, so I didn’t serve that well that game, allowing him to break back and come back to the match.

“But there were not too many negatives today, because I had chances constantly. I had match points at 5-4, but he just came up with some very good shots and fought hard and that’s why we give him credit. But from my side, I’m really pleased.”

Djokovic, who is 42-8 this season with three titles in four finals, has a day off Thursday. He faces Lucas Pouille in the quarterfinals after the Frenchman beat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 6-2.

Also, Yasutaka Uchiyama beat Radu Albot 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 and Reilly Opelka defeated Gilles Simon 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2).

Third-seeded David Goffin rallied to beat Pablo Carreno Busta 1-6, 7-6 (8), 6-0 to advance to the second round and next faces Denis Shapovalov.

Goffin is the lone former champion in the draw. He has made the final in both of his previous appearances, losing to Nick Kyrgios in the 2016 final before defeating Adrian Mannarino for the title in 2017.

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.