Murray withdraws before match against Djokovic in Madrid

Associated PressMay 5, 2022, 4:30 PM EDT

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MADRID – Andy Murray withdrew from his showdown against Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open because of a stomach illness.

The announcement came not long before Murray was scheduled to take the court against the top-ranked Djokovic in the third round.

It would have been the first time Murray and Djokovic played against each other since Djokovic won the Doha final in 2017.

Murray had won his first two matches in Madrid, defeating Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov. The former No. 1 hadn’t won consecutive matches since January and hadn’t played in a clay-court tournament in nearly two years.

Ranked 78th in the world, the 34-year-old Murray has been making his way up the rankings since having hip surgery in both 2018 and 2019. He had arrived in Madrid with a 10-8 record in eight tournaments. He lost the Sydney final to Aslan Karatsev in January.

Tour officials gave no further details on Murray’s illness. He had said after the win over Shapovalov that he was feeling fine physically.

With Murray’s withdrawal, Djokovic automatically advanced to the quarterfinals – his second of the year after losing the Serbia final last month. He had lost in his first match in Monte Carlo in his first tournament on clay this season.

Djokovic is also trying to regain his best form after not being allowed to play in the Australian Open because he was not vaccinated. This is only his fourth tournament of the season. The Serb opened in Madrid with a two-set win against Gael Monfils.

Third-seeded Rafael Nadal, in his first tournament after a six-week injury layoff, takes on David Goffin, while Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz, celebrating his 19th birthday, faces Cameron Norrie.

Andrey Rublev, who beat Djokovic in the Serbia final, advanced to the quarterfinals after a hard-fought 7-6 (7) 7-5, win over Daniel Evans in nearly two and a half hours. The sixth-seeded Rublev converted just three of his 12 break-point opportunities.

Defending champion Alexander Zverev meets qualifier Lorenzo Musetti. Fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Gregor Dimitrov.

In the women’s semifinals, eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur faces qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova, while 12th-seeded American Jessica Pegula meets Jil Teichmann.

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.”