Cameron Norrie, Casper Ruud advance to San Diego Open final

Associated PressOct 3, 2021, 1:42 AM EDT

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

SAN DIEGO – Cameron Norrie upset top-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the final of the inaugural San Diego Open.

Norrie, the 26-year-old British player who won his first ATP Tour title this year in Acapulco, will face second-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway on Sunday.

Ruud, ranked No. 10 in the world, beat No. 29 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Ruud eliminated former world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray in straight sets Thursday night.

Rublev, ranked No. 5 in the world, claimed the first set with a scorching 117 mph ace before Norrie, ranked No. 28, rebounded to force a decisive third set to reach his fifth final of the year.

“It’s such a big win for me,” Norrie said. “It’s definitely a match that I’m going to remember for a long time.”

It was Norrie’s first career victory over Rublev. They last faced off in last year’s St. Petersburg Open, where Rublev swept Norrie.

“To beat someone like Andrey, who I respect and he’s one of my favorite players on the tour, its huge to me, and also to get revenge after he beat me easy last time,” Norrie said. “it’s nice to see that I improved a little bit and got him this time. Great match.”

Rublev had several outbursts in the second set, including throwing his racket and yelling at the officiating crew. He also appeared disturbed by the noise of planes taking off from nearby Lindbergh Field.

Rublev was making his eighth semifinal appearance this season. The Russian was coming off an impressive Olympic gold medal performance in mixed doubles with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and a win in the Laver Cup.

It was Norrie’s sixth semifinal this year, marking the most semifinal appearances in his career. He will be trying for his second ATP win of the season.

Ruud won his match when Dimitrov returned a shot into the net.

Having both semis go three sets “shows that it’s been a very tough tournament with good-level players and good-level matches.” Ruud said. “Today was I think the same. It was high-level from the first to the last point. Both matches put on a good show.”

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.”