Defending champ Tsitsipas out at Open 13; Medvedev through

Associated PressMar 12, 2021, 6:45 PM EST

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MARSEILLE, France — Stefanos Tsitsipas’ bid to win a third straight Open 13 fizzled out when he lost to doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Herbert has a career Grand Slam in doubles but in singles is ranked 93rd, compared to fifth for the Australian Open semifinalist Tsitsipas.

But the clean-serving Frenchman turned the tables on the big-serving Greek by effectively using serve and volley on the indoor hard-court. He hit eight aces to two, won 79% of his first serves compared to 64% for second-seeded Tsitsipas, and clinched victory with a smart backhand volley at the net.

Herbert dropped his serve twice but broke Tsitsipas five times for the best win in a singles career in which he’s lost more than half of his matches.

A French finalist is guaranteed, too, since Herbert plays fourth-seeded Ugo Humbert. He won 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) against Arthur Rinderknech, a qualifier ranked 138th.

Earlier, second-seeded Daniil Medvedev made light work of reaching the semis in brushing aside fifth-seeded Jannik Sinner 6-2, 6-4.

The imposing Russian saved the only break point he faced and broke the Italian player’s serve three times at the indoor tournament.

The Australian Open runner-up has won 21 of his last 23 matches and will climb to second in the ATP rankings next week.

“It is my first time here in the semifinals in Marseille … I was on top of the match the whole time,” Medvedev said. “Jannik always tries to hit the ball as hard as he can. You cannot give him easy balls, otherwise you are going to run all over the place and he is probably going to hit a winner.”

When the two-time Grand Slam runner-up climbs to No. 2 on Monday, he will be the first outside the Big Four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – to do so since Nadal in July 2005.

Medvedev is chasing a 10th career title and next faces qualifier Matthew Ebden, who at No. 287 became the lowest-ranked semifinalist in the tournament’s 28-year history.

Setting the tone for upsets, the Australian downed third-seeded Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, breaking the Russian four times.

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.”