Danill Medvedev wins Open 13 for 10th title on eve of move to No. 2

Associated PressMar 14, 2021, 5:26 PM EDT

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MARSEILLE, France — Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev was pushed to three sets by doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Open 13 final on Sunday, winning 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 for his 10th career title on the eve of his move up to second in the rankings.

Medvedev will overtake Rafael Nadal on Monday and push the 20-time Grand Slam champion down to No. 3.

“It is always better when you step up the rankings when you do something great,” Medvedev said. “It is great for the self-esteem that, just before becoming No. 2, I win a tournament.”

Victory also made his childhood dream come true.

“I am really happy about the number 10. It gets me to two digits, something which I dreamt of when I was a kid,” said Medvedev. “It is already a great number, but I am going to try to work more and get some more. I really like to play on hard courts, I feel like that is where my game suits me the best. I feel like I know the solutions I have to find.”

Given that six of his 10 titles have been on indoor hard courts, he was heavy favorite here. Furthermore, the two-time Grand Slam runner-up faced a player with all four majors in doubles, but without any titles in singles and ranked 93rd.

But the serve-and-volley specialist Herbert did made it awkward for the imposing Russian at times by upsetting his rhythm, breaking his serve once and forcing him to save four break points.

“Pierre-Hugues can play unbelievable tennis. I know what he is capable of,” Medvedev said. “Especially when I lost in the Roland Garros first round. Today was a tricky, tough match and I am really happy that I managed to be on top.”

Medvedev edged the Frenchman in aces 13-10 and first-serve points won – 83% compared to 72% – while converting three of his six break points.

The Australian Open runner-up improved to 14-2 this year and has won 23 of his last 25 matches.

Boosted by his wins over second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and former No.4-ranked Kei Nishikori this week, Herbert’s confidence showed as he tried to shorten the points by rushing to the net.

But ultimately he fell short, dropping to 0-4 in singles finals compared to 19-7 in doubles.

“It has been an incredible week. I played five really high-level matches. This is what I am proud of,” Herbert said. “I lost to someone who was just better (over) the full match. I managed to hold on and have a chance, but he was too good.”

When he climbs to No. 2 on Monday, Medvedev will be the first player outside the Big Four of Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to do so since Nadal in July 2005.

Now he just needs to win a major.

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.