Stefanos Tsitsipas successfully defends title in Monte Carlo

Associated PressApr 17, 2022, 7:14 PM EDT

Manuel Queimadelos/Getty Images

MONACO — Stefanos Tsitsipas appeared happy to hear fans “yelling and chanting” again at the Monte Carlo Masters as he beat unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6 (3) to retain his title.

“It’s a great feeling because we had the crowd this year,” the third-seeded Greek said after winning the first big final of the clay-court season. “It was a bit more lively than last year.”

The coronavirus meant the 2020 edition was canceled and the 2021 tournament held without fans. So Tsitsipas felt the intensity more on his way to an eighth career title.

“It’s much more nerve-racking to have people involved, you have the fans yelling and chanting, but it was a great way to top it off with lots of fighting in the end,” Tsitsipas said. “He fought in moments I did not expect him to fight.”

Davidovich Fokina, the Spaniard who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the second round, was playing his first ATP final.

Tsitsipas, who lost last year’s French Open final in five sets to Djokovic after leading 2-0, became the first repeat champion at the Monte Carlo Masters since Rafael Nadal in 2018.

Tsitsipas won the first set despite conceding an early break. Davidovic Fokina overcame an early break in the second and broke twice. Tsitsipas squandered a chance to serve out the match at 5-4 but still wrapped up the final in 1 hour, 36 minutes.

“I am very proud of myself,” Tsitsipas said. “Things weren’t going well at one point, but I managed to stay composed.”

The 23-year-old Tsitsipas reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January.

The identity of his opponent in Sunday’s final surprised many.

“I must confess that he was not the Spaniard I was expecting in the final,” said Zeljko Franulovic, the tournament’s director, with 11-time winner Rafael Nadal not playing in Monte Carlo because of a rib injury.

As well as knocking out Djokovic, Davidovich Fokina also beat Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals and Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.

“It was an amazing experience,” the 22-year-old Spaniard said about the tournament.

Davidovich Fokina said it had increased his confidence for the rest of the season.

“I will be focused on every point, every game,” Davidovich Fokina said.

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.