Federer dominates De Minaur to win 10th Swiss Indoors title

Associated PressOct 27, 2019, 11:52 AM EDT

AP Photo

BASEL, Switzerland — Roger Federer won his hometown Swiss Indoors title for the 10th time by dominating Alex de Minaur in a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Sunday.

The 38-year-old Federer put on a tennis clinic in his first match against the 20-year-old Australian, who was not born when the Swiss great turned professional and first played at Basel in 1998.

Mixing speeds and angles with powerful ground strokes, Federer clinched on his first match point when De Minaur sent a forehand wide.

Federer’s 10th Basel title was one of his most efficient. He did not drop a set in four matches played, and was never pushed to a tiebreaker.

Sunday’s final took just 68 minutes, and Federer’s longest match all week lasted 79 minutes.

“I was really hoping that Roger was going to get sick of winning here and give someone else a chance,” De Minaur said during the trophy ceremony. “Too good again, that was amazing.”

Federer’s fourth title in 2019 is the 103rd of his career. De Minaur has 100 fewer titles and won all three previous finals he played this season.

Praising his 28th-ranked opponent, Federer predicted “so many more things to come for you. You are going up from here.”

Federer forced the first break of service leading 2-1 in the first set, though only after De Minaur saved one chance in a 39-shot rally. It ended when Federer pushed a backhand wide.

Federer clinched the break by finishing the next point with a clinical overhead crosscourt volley for a winner.

Federer forced two set points on his opponent’s serve and took the second when De Minaur netted a forehand.

Federer also broke De Minaur’s next service game in the second set, taking his third break chance. A forehand passing shot from behind the baseline left De Minaur flat-footed at the net.

De Minaur earned some respite saving another break chance at 4-1, and even put rare pressure on Federer’s serve at 0-30 in the next game. Federer quickly took back control with a backhand half-volley passing shot.

Federer extended his winning streak to 24 matches on Basel’s center court at St. Jakobhalle, where he has not lost since the 2013 final against Juan Martin del Potro.

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.