Russia, Australia, Serbia, Britain into ATP Cup quarters

Associated PressJan 7, 2020, 6:34 PM EST

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SYDNEY — Daniil Medvedev helped Russia to a 3-0 sweep of its pool matches to join Australia, Serbia and Britain in the quarterfinals of the inaugural ATP Cup on Tuesday.

Medvedev clinched victory against Norway by beating Casper Ruud 6-3, 7-6 (6) in Perth. Karen Khachanov had already routed Victor Durasovic 6-2, 6-1.

The fifth-ranked Medvedev will join Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, undefeated Australia and probably Rafael Nadal in Sydney for the knockout stages starting on Thursday. Only an unlikely 3-0 loss to Japan on Wednesday would stop Nadal and his Spanish Davis Cup-winning teammates from making the quarterfinals.

Australia will play Britain for a spot in the final four after Britain swept past Moldova 3-0 without dropping a set and then took advantage of Bulgaria losing to Belgium 2-1 to finish first in Group C. After David Goffin beat Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, Belgium rallied from a match and a set down to take the group match in Sydney.

The loss was costly for the previously unbeaten Bulgarians, who fell to third in their group and out of contention for a quarterfinal spot as one of the best two group runners-up.

Australia, which had already qualified for the quarterfinals by topping Group F, clinched a win over Greece in Brisbane where Nick Kyrgios defeated a hot-tempered Stefanos Tsitsipas. Kyrgios returned from a back injury to claim a 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5) win at Pat Rafter Arena.

After losing the first set, Tsitsipas slammed his racket into the bench, accidentally hitting his father and Greece captain Apostolos Tsitsipas on the forearm. His father walked away briefly before Tsitsipas’ mother, Julia, emerged from the crowd to stand behind the bench and criticize her son for his behavior.

Earlier, John Millman of Australia beat Michail Pervolarakis 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1).

British No. 1 Dan Evans outclassed Radu Albot 6-2 6-2 to clinch their match after Cameron Norrie downed Alexander Cozbinov by the same scoreline.

Britain captain Tim Henman said he’s looking forward to the quarterfinal against Australia.

“I have a lot of history with (Australia captain) Lleyton (Hewitt) and everyone knows the team well. It would be a big challenge, but we would love that opportunity,” Henman said.

Also in Brisbane, Canada eliminated Germany 2-1.

Alexander Zverev made seven double faults in losing to Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-2 after Jan-Lennard Struff put Germany ahead defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-4.

But Zverev’s loss and a 6-3, 7-6 (4) doubles win for Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime over Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies gave Canada the win.

With a 2-1 record in pool play, Canada can still quality for the quarterfinals as one of the best two group runners-up.

Zverev has 31 double faults in 31 service games in the tournament. He said an offseason exhibition tour in South America with Roger Federer left him behind in his preparations.

“I had like five days less than I normally have … I didn’t practice a lot of tennis,” he said. “You can see that on the tennis court. There are a lot of things that I still need to improve.”

In the night match at Perth, Italy took a winning 2-0 lead over the United States. Fabio Fognini beat John Isner 6-4, 7-6 (5) and Stefano Travaglia defeated Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1).

The six group winners and two best second-place finishers advance. Two quarterfinals are set for Thursday and two more on Friday. The semifinals are on Saturday and the final on Sunday at Ken Rosewall Arena.

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.