No. 2 Medvedev wins in straight sets; Badosa advances; Pliskova toppled

Associated PressMay 26, 2022, 2:25 PM EDT

PARIS — Daniil Medvedev keeps getting more comfortable on red clay and his 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Laslo Djere means the U.S. Open champion now has made it to the third round at Roland Garros two years in a row.

Medvedev started his French Open career with an 0-4 record by losing his opening matches in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

He snapped that skid by getting to the quarterfinals in 2021 and has won all six sets he has played so far this week and dropped a total of only 16 games.

The second-seeded Russian will play No. 28 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia for a berth in the fourth round.

No. 3 Paola Badosa has become the first woman seeded in the top 10 to reach the third round at Roland Garros this year.

Badosa went down a break to open the third set of her match against 68th-ranked Kaja Juvan before regrouping to grab four games in a row and was on her way to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory at Court Suzanne Lenglen that took more than two hours.

Badosa’s best showing at a Grand Slam tournament was a quarterfinal appearance at the 2021 French Open.

She will face No. 29 Veronika Kudermetova next.

All five of the women seeded in the top 10 and placed on the bottom half of the draw are already out of the field.

The woman seeded 11th, American Jessica Pegula, reached the third round by beating Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

Two-time major finalist Karolina Pliskova has lost in the second round at Roland Garros to a French wild-card entry making her debut in any Grand Slam tournament.

The 227th-ranked Leolia Jeanjean’s 6-2, 6-2 victory over the eighth-seeded Pliskova means that six of the top 10 women in the seedings at the French Open already are gone before the second round is completed.

Pliskova joins No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova, No. 4 Maria Sakkari, No. 5 Anett Kontaveit, No. 6 Ons Jabeur and No. 10 Garbine Muguruza on the way out.

Pliskova has been ranked No. 1 and was the runner-up at Wimbledon last year and the U.S. Open in 2016. She also has reached the semifinals at the other two major tournaments. That includes at the French Open in 2017.

Jeanjean is a 26-year-old from Montpellier. She trailed 2-1 before winning nine consecutive games to take the opening set and grab a 4-0 lead in the second.

Pliskova made 28 unforced errors and was broken in half of her eight service games.

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.”