Madison Keys beats Sam Stosur at Brisbane International

Associated PressJan 8, 2020, 4:24 PM EST

AP Photo

BRISBANE, Australia — Madison Keys beat Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to be among three Americans with second-round wins at the Brisbane International.

Stosur had beaten former world No.1 Angelique Kerber to progress beyond the first round at the tournament for just the second time in seven years on Monday.

The Australian had an early break against Keys, the 2017 U.S. Open finalist, but the American broke back in the next game and then in the 12th game to take the first set.

Keys broke serve again to begin the second set before sealing victory in 77 minutes.

“Sam obviously has a great serve and a great forehand and she’s really tricky off of her slice,” Keys said. “So I’ve known that in the past; I just felt like in the past I wasn’t doing a great job at handling my side of the court.”

Stosur will continue her Australian Open preparation at the Hobart International next week.

In earlier American victories, Alison Riske beat Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 and Danielle Collins defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-0.

Australian world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty won’t begin her singles campaign until Thursday but is already just one win from the doubles final.

Barty combined with Dutch player Kiki Bertens to beat second-seeded Nicole Melichar and Yifan Xu 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour on Wednesday.

Barty will play American Jennifer Brady in the second round in singles on Thursday.

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.”