Osaka, Halep advance to 2nd round in Madrid

Associated PressApr 30, 2021, 6:35 PM EDT

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MADRID — Second-seeded Naomi Osaka made a successful return to clay at the Madrid Open by beating Misaki Doi 7-5, 6-2 in the first round.

Osaka overcame Doi’s strong start by hitting six aces and breaking her serve five times.

A leg injury meant Osaka missed last season’s clay-court swing, and her last individual tournament on the surface was at Roland Garros in 2019. She played and lost for Japan against Spain’s Sara Sorribes in the Fed Cup in February 2020.

Osaka said she felt better on the surface.

“When I was playing on clay that year, I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all,” Osaka said. “The two matches that I lost, it was more mental than it was physical. Like, I didn’t feel uncomfortable sliding or I didn’t feel that tired. So I’m actually really excited to get that mindset back and to start feeling more comfortable on clay.”

Osaka, the U.S. Open and Australian Open champion, next plays Karolina Muchova after the Czech beat Qiang Wang 6-1, 6-3.

Third-seeded Simona Halep, who won the tournament in 2016 and ’17, beat Sorribes 6-0, 7-5.

Maria Sakkari roared back after losing the first seven games of her match against Amanda Anisimova to win 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova fought back to oust Cori Gauff 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, while Daria Kasatkina needed three match points to see off Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

Jennifer Brady beat Venus Williams 6-2, 6-4 after breaking her serve six times.

Fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka, Jennifer Brady, Elise Mertens, Saisai Zheng and Jessica Pegula also moved on.

Top-seeded Ashleigh Barty and three-time former winner Petra Kvitova also advanced.

The men will start their first round on Sunday.

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.”