U.S. beats Britain to advance to United Cup mixed teams semis

Associated PressJan 4, 2023, 12:07 PM EST

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SYDNEY — Frances Tiafoe beat Britain’s Daniel Evans 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to move the United States into the United Cup mixed teams tournament semifinals.

Tiafoe’s victory gave the Americans an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five Sydney City Final.

It means the U.S. will be among four teams in the semifinal portion of the tournament that begins at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.

Earlier, world No. 3 Jessica Pegula gave the United States a 2-1 lead by beating Britain’s Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-0.

In the afternoon session, Madison Keys moved the U.S. ahead after rallying from a set down to defeat Katie Swan 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. But world No. 14 Cameron Norrie came back to post a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win against No. 9 Taylor Fritz to level the match.

Pegula and Fritz then won the final mixed doubles match to wrap up the 4-1 U.S. win.

“I think Madi really set the tone with her match,” Pegula said. “I think I did everything really well today. I could feel it. Some days you come out firing and you feel really good. I was honestly trying to settle myself down because I was seeing the ball really well today.”

Poland and Greece won deciding mixed doubles matches to advance 3-2.

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz defeated Camilla Rosatello and Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-1 to lead Poland past Italy in the Brisbane City Final.

It was Swiatek’s second win on the day after the World No. 1 beat Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-4 to pull Poland even at 1-1 following Musetti’s win over Daniel Michalski in the opening match.

Matteo Berrettini then beat Hurkacz 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to give Italy a 2-1 before Poland’s Magda Linette forced the decider by beating Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-2.

“(It feels) amazing, honestly. I don’t know. I think it’s better winning in a team than individually. I’m so happy that we did it together and team effort for sure paid off,” Swiatek said. “Today’s match was pretty stressful because we (don’t) play mixed doubles usually.

“But I’m so happy that I was able to play a solid game and Hubi was pushing our opponents and really making it easy for me. So I’m really happy that we played such a nice game.”

Greece moved on from the Perth City Final as Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Croatia’s Borna Gojo and Petra Martic 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Donna Vekic beat Despina Papamichail 6-2, 6-0 to put Croatia ahead before Tsitsipas beat Borna Coric 6-0, 6-7 (4), 7-5 on his sixth match point.

Sakkari then gave Greece a 2-1 lead by beating Martic 6-3, 6-3, before Gojo’s 6-4, 6-2 win over Stefanos Sakellaridis set up the mixed double decider.

Despite its loss, Italy still qualified as the next best-ranked team and will join the U.S., Poland and Greece in Sydney.

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.”