Federer beats Tsitsipas at Basel; faces De Minaur in final

Associated PressOct 26, 2019, 4:00 PM EDT

AP Photo

BASEL, Switzerland — Roger Federer delighted his hometown fans by cruising past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the Swiss Indoors semifinals on Saturday.

Seeking a 10th career title in Basel, the 38-year-old Federer will play 20-year-old Alex de Minaur in Sunday’s final.

“That’s what you do with a home court advantage,” said Federer, who has reached the final 13 straight times he has played the Swiss Indoors. “They enjoy when I’m playing good tennis and it pushes me to play even better.”

De Minaur, a wild card, advanced by beating big-serving American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) in a meeting of unseeded players.

Both finalists have won three titles this season, though for De Minaur these are the only three of his career so far while Federer is chasing his 103rd.

Serving for the match, Federer saved the only break point he allowed the seventh-ranked Tsitsipas.

Federer clinched two points later with a leaping volleyed winner approaching the net after Tsitsipas struggled to handle a strong first service.

Top-seeded Federer broke the Tsitsipas service at 2-2 in the first set, and created set point chances with a delicate angled drop volley for a winner. He clinched by firing an ace down the middle.

Federer broke again to begin the second set, taking his chance with a powerful forehand winner down the line.

Victory lifted Federer to a 50-8 record in 2019. It’s his third straight year of 50 wins since an injury-ravaged season ended early in 2016.

De Minaur, ranked No. 28, has won all four of his semifinals this season. He went on take the title each time, at Sydney, Atlanta, and Zhuhai, China.

He also improved to 4-0 this season against the 37th-ranked Opelka, who stands at 6-foot-11 (2.10 meters).

Opelka hit 26 aces to top 1,000 for the year and overtake John Isner for the ATP lead.

“Probably the most important thing is not to get frustrated,” De Minaur said. “You’ve got to know that he’s going to serve at least 40, 50 aces against you.”

Federer and De Minaur, who was born in February 1999, four months after the Swiss great played his first match at Basel, have never played each other on tour.

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.”

Debutant Stearns beats former champ Ostapenko to reach French Open 3rd round

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 11:14 AM EDT

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PARIS — French Open debutant Peyton Stearns produced the biggest win of her career by defeating former champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

Stearns, a former player at the University of Texas, only turned professional in June last year.

Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open but has since failed to advance past the 3rd round. The 17th-seeded Latvian dropped her serve five times against Stearns and hit 28 unforced errors in her 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 loss.

The 21-year-old Stearns has been climbing the WTA rankings and entered the French Open at No. 69 on the back of an encouraging clay-court campaign.

Third-seeded Jessica Pegula also advanced after Camila Giorgi retired due to injury. The American led 6-2 when her Italian rival threw in the towel.

Only hours after husband Gael Monfils won a five-set thriller, Elina Svitolina rallied past qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

In the men’s bracket, former runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas ousted Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2. The fifth-seeded Greek was a bit slow to find his range and was made to work hard for two sets but rolled on after he won the tiebreaker.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic are on court later. Alcaraz meets Taro Daniel on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Djokovic will follow against Martin Fucsovics in the night session.