Davis Cup: Garin crushed as Chile loses in Slovakia

Associated PressSep 18, 2021, 7:55 PM EDT

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No. 17-ranked Cristian Garin was crushed in 50 minutes and won only one game to seal seeded Chile’s upset 3-1 loss to Slovakia in Bratislava in the Davis Cup World Group on Saturday.

Norbert Gombos, ranked nearly 100 spots lower, also knocked off Nicolas Jarry on Friday on the indoor hard-court to help advance Slovakia to the Qualifiers for a third consecutive time.

Along with No. 5-seeded Chile, No. 6 India and No. 7 Uzbekistan were also beaten in Europe.

India, already 2-0 down to Finland in Espoo, was bundled out after the doubles when former world doubles No. 1 Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara beat Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2).

Norway hit a bump while leading Uzbekistan 2-0 in Oslo when it lost the doubles. But 10th-ranked Casper Ruud clinched the tie in the first reverse singles by beating 567th-ranked Sanjay Fayziev comfortably and advancing Norway to its highest Davis Cup level.

Also, South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon clinched a 3-1 win over New Zealand on grass at the Hall of Fame in Rhode Island. South Korea joined Japan and Ukraine, which advanced in March.

In ties that started on Saturday, Belarus’ faith in a youthful lineup against No. 2-seeded Argentina in Buenos Aires paid off when 18-year-old Daniil Ostapenkov, in his first competitive Davis Cup match, upset 15th-ranked Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-3. Argentina squared the opening singles after Guido Pella beat 16-year-old Erik Arutiunian.

No. 1-seeded Belgium was in deep trouble after trailing Bolivia 2-0 in Asuncion, Paraguay. Veteran Ruben Bemelmans and Zizou Bergs, on his Davis Cup debut, won one set between them.

Joao Sousa equaled Joao Cunha-Silva’s all-time Portugal record of 37 Davis Cup match wins when he defeated Filip Cristian Jianu on his 20th birthday, but Romania won the second singles through Marius Copil at Cluj-Napoca in the teams’ first meeting in 26 years.

The Netherlands was leading Uruguay 2-0 in Montevideo without having to meet Pablo Cuevas, and Brazil led Lebanon 2-0 in Jounieh.

Only the top eight highest-ranked of the 12 winning countries will participate in the 2022 Qualifiers to try and make the 16-team Finals. The other four will play World Group I elimination matches in November, with the two winners then advancing to the 2022 Qualifiers.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.

New mom Elina Svitolina beats seeded player at French Open in 1st Slam match in 16 months

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:27 AM EDT

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PARIS — So much has changed for Elina Svitolina, who played – and won – her first Grand Slam match in nearly 1 1/2 years at the French Open, eliminating 2022 semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2.

For one thing, she’s now a mother: Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skaï, in October. For another, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd, nowhere near the career high of No. 3 she first reached in 2017, back in the days when she was regularly reaching the second weeks of major tournaments – including a pair of semifinal runs. Away from the courts, her home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia last year, and the war continues.

“Everything,” she said, “is kind of old and new for me right now.”

In sum, Svitolina is juggling a lot nowadays.

She hadn’t played at a Slam since a third-round exit at the Australian Open in January 2022. She hadn’t played a match anywhere since March 2022, when she was still ranked 20th.

“It was always in my head … to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” the 28-year-old Svitolina said.

The work to return to the tour after giving birth began this January; her initial WTA match came at Charleston, South Carolina, in April. She won her first title since returning to action, at a smaller event on red clay in Strasbourg, France.

At Roland Garros, she used her big forehand to compile a 20-12 edge in winners and never faced a single break point against Trevisan, who was seeded 26th.

Trevisan cried as she spoke after the match about a problem with her right foot that made it difficult to even walk and prompted her to stop playing during her quarterfinal last week at the Morocco Open, where she was the defending champion.

Still, she gave Svitolina credit.

“Even though she’s just coming back from having a daughter, she’s a champion,” Trevisan said. “And she’s coming off a title, so she’s confident.”

Svitolina talked about feeling “awful when you’re pregnant, especially the last months,” but getting into a position now where she thinks she’s stronger than before – in more ways than one.

“I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court and, match by match, I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental (state) can influence your physicality, as well,” she said. “I tried to find the balance, and I feel like I’m seeing (things) a little bit again differently as well after the break. Everything is getting there. The puzzles are getting slowly into place.”