Swiatek wins WTA Player of Year; Pegula’s coach Witt honored

Associated PressDec 12, 2022, 12:23 PM EST

Susan Mullane/USA TODAY Sports

Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland who was the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2020, led the tour with 67 match wins and eight titles. That included a run of six trophies in a row during a 37-match winning streak that lasted from February to July and was the longest undefeated stretch in women’s tennis in a quarter of a century.

“I felt like everything clicked this season,” Swiatek said in a video interview with The Associated Press during her unbeaten streak. “And I wasn’t expecting to be that consistent.”

She ascended to the top of the rankings after Ash Barty suddenly retired at age 25 and relinquished that spot. Swiatek later won her second major championship at the French Open in June, then claimed the U.S. Open title in September, making her the first woman with two Slam trophies in one season since Angelique Kerber in 2016.

The WTA Coach of the Year award went to David Witt. He works with Jessica Pegula, a 28-year-old American who rose to a career-best No. 3 in the rankings during 2022 and was a quarterfinalist at three Grand Slam tournaments – losing to Barty or Swiatek each time.

Pegula also won the Guadalajara Open, made it to her first WTA 1000 final at the Madrid Open and qualified for the WTA Finals in singles and doubles (with Coco Gauff).

Witt’s honor was voted on by other registered coaches. Player awards determined by a vote of international media members included:

– Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic were the WTA Doubles Team of the Year for the second consecutive season and third time overall after winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open;

– Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil was the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year after rising from No. 80 to No. 15 in the rankings and winning her first two tour-level titles;

– Zheng Qinwen of China, who turned 20 in October, was the WTA Newcomer of the Year after rising more than 100 places in the rankings and reaching the fourth round in her French Open debut before bowing out against Swiatek;

– Tatjana Maria of Germany was the WTA Comeback Player of the Year after getting to her first career Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon at age 34, making her the oldest woman to make her debut at a major tournament. She twice took time away from the tour to have children.

Ons Jabeur received the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award, Gabriela Dabrowski collected the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for a third time and Maria Sakkari won the Jerry Diamond ACES Award for helping promote the sport via off-court activities.

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.