Halep and Badosa to meet in 2nd round of Madrid Open

Associated PressApr 28, 2022, 5:03 PM EDT

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MADRID – Two-time Madrid Open champion Simona Halep and second-ranked Paula Badosa will meet in the tournament’s second round after opening with victories.

Halep beat Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3 and Badosa defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-0.

It will be the first time Halep and Badosa meet.

“I think it’s going to be an interesting match, because it’s going to be quite a clay-court match very tactically, and I’m really looking forward to that,” said Badosa, who is from Spain. “Of course she’s a great champion. So maybe I’m the favorite or no, I will try to give my best, because for sure she will push me to the limits.”

Badosa, a semifinalist in Madrid last year, made it to No. 2 in the world for the first time this week.

“I’m really looking forward to these kind of matches, because I really like them and it’s the matches that you work for,” said the 24-year-old Badosa, who saved all five break points she faced.

Halep won consecutive Madrid titles in 2016 and 2017 and was runner-up in 2014 and 2019.

“I’m really happy that I could win this match,” the Romanian said. “It means a lot. Being in Madrid, I have great memories. So everything went together today and I played a good match.”

The 30-year-old Halep won under a closed roof on a rainy morning in the Spanish capital.

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek withdrew from the clay-court tournament on Wednesday because of a sore arm.

Also, Amanda Anisimova upset third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, while fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova lost to Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 7-5.

Coco Gauff defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-0, 6-2, Victoria Azarenka beat Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (5), 6-3, and Varvara Gracheva rallied past Alize Cornet 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.

The men’s first round begins next week, with both Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic participating.

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.