Sabalenka sharp in win; Collins, Halep lose in 2nd round; Keys, Ruud advance

Associated PressMay 26, 2022, 2:54 PM EDT

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PARIS — Aryna Sabalenka needed just 62 minutes to beat Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3 and advance to the third round at Roland Garros for the third straight year.

No. 7 Sabalenka is one of just three top-10 women’s seeds remaining. No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 3 Paula Badosa are the others.

The 24-year-old Belarusian reached the semifinals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins is the latest top-10 women’s seed to exit the French Open.

In a battle of Americans, Shelby Rogers upset 9th-seeded Collins 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time since 2017.

Collins is the seventh top-10 seed to lose.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep is out of the French Open in the second round.

Chinese teenager Qinwen Zheng pulled off the 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 upset of the 2018 Roland Garros champion at Court Simonne-Mathieu.

The 74th-ranked Zheng amassed 27 winners to Halep’s nine to earn a trip to the third round on her French Open debut.

The 19th-seeded Halep was looking for her 21st win of the season. The 2019 Wimbledon champion had beaten Zheng in Melbourne in January.

Madison Keys advanced to the third round at Roland Garros after beating Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-6 (3).

The 2017 U.S. Open runner-up relied on her dominant serve to get past her French opponent on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The 22nd-seeded American will next face 16th-seeded Elena Rybakina, the only woman with more aces than Keys this season.

Keys at one point got her necklace stuck in her hair so chair umpire Jaume Campistol helped her untangle it.

Keys is making her 10th appearance at the French Open and reached the semifinals four years ago.

No. 8 Casper Ruud has reached the third round of the French Open for the third year in a row.

The 23-year-old Norwegian beat Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Ruud won the Geneva Open for his seventh career title on clay courts.

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.