Halep defeats Gauff to reach Madrid Open quarterfinals

Associated PressMay 2, 2022, 3:52 PM EDT

Getty Images

MADRID — Simona Halep continued to impress at the Madrid Open by overpowering American teenager Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-4 to make the quarterfinals.

A two-time Madrid Open champion, Halep upset No. 2-ranked Paula Badosa in the second round.

The 21st-ranked Halep converted three of her five break opportunities to close out the center-court match against 16th-ranked Gauff. She rallied from a break down in the second set, winning the last five games.

Halep won consecutive titles in Madrid in 2016 and 2017, and was runner-up in 2014 and 2019. She has 30 main draw wins, behind only the 31 she has at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

“It means a lot because I feel great,” Halep said. “I like the conditions. The people are very nice to me. I will always have a warm welcome. Everyone makes me feel like home.”

Halep will face eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a match interrupted by rain after the second set.

The 10th-ranked Jabeur, the only top-10 woman left in the draw, lost to Bencic at this stage in Madrid last year, and also in the final in Charleston last month.

“I came here to take my revenge,” Jabeur said. “I wish I played like that in the final in Charleston, to be honest.”

On the men’s side, Jannik Sinner saved three match points in beating Tommy Paul 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3. The American squandered two match points on serve at 5-3 in the second set, and another while trying to break at 6-5.

“It was a very difficult situation,” Sinner said after the three-hour match on center court. “I’m happy to be in the second round.”

The 12th-ranked Sinner has yet to reach a semifinal in 2022, but reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Miami and Monte Carlo.

The Italian next has Alex de Minaur, who beat Pedro Martinez 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-3.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, coming off his maiden Masters final in Monte Carlo, got past Lloyd Harris after breaking late in both sets of a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Fabio Fognini in straight sets to set up an encounter with Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who already has three titles this season: Rio de Janeiro, Miami and Barcelona.

The 18-year-old Alcaraz has been attracting as much attention as Rafael Nadal, who is expected to make his return from injury.

The practice courts were packed at the Caja Magica tennis complex when Alcaraz trained with Novak Djokovic.

The top-ranked Djokovic is scheduled to debut against Gael Monfils, who comfortably defeated Spaniard Carlos Gimeno Valero 6-3, 6-0.

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.