Australian Open chief defends tournament’s January date

Associated PressJan 9, 2023, 1:49 AM EST

Graham Denholm/Getty Images

MELBOURNE, Australia — Tournament director Craig Tiley described calls for the timing of the Australian Open to be changed to allow players a longer off-season “ridiculous” and “bizarre.”

Tiley was responding to an Australian media report which suggested the first Grand Slam of the season might be moved away from January and the height of the Australian summer.

“I did read that. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous – a bizarre claim,” Tiley said. “You talk to every player, this is the season. It starts in January. It starts here in Australia.”

Tiley was speaking during an event at Melbourne Park that marked the start of the Australian Open qualifying tournament. The Australian player Alex de Minaur, who also attended the event, said it was “no secret” the professional season was a long one but said he relished the January start.

“Alex has a good point about the length of the season,” Tiley said. “The sport does need to get together and look at the length of it.

“It finishes with Davis Cup late on the men’s side and not as late on the women’s side but I do think it’s a long season. We’ve been talking about that for a long time.

“But Australia is the summer, Australia is January and this event is, from the players’ perspective, one of their favorite places to play.”

Some commentators have linked the withdrawal of leading players including men’s No.1 Carlos Alcaraz from this year’s Open with the short off-season. Alacaraz and veteran Venus Williams both will miss the tournament with injuries. Many players also face the challenge of adapting from the northern hemisphere winter to the Australian summer.

Tiley said players had adequate time to prepare and acclimatize.

“They’re coming here earlier, we’re now seeing players here for six weeks, for seven weeks and the preparation for the Australian summer is very normalized,” he said. “They know what they need to do.”

De Minaur said the length of the season needed to be reviewed.

“It’s no secret the year’s a very long year,” de Minaur said. “You play tournaments throughout the whole year, you finish quite late. That depends on your schedule and everything.

“If there was a bit more time for an off-season, I’m sure a lot of players would like that. But at the same time we’re kind of used to it. “I’ve done it for a couple years where you finish quite late and then you get right into the midst of things.”

Tiley also said for the first time since 2020 players would not be required to report positive tests for COVID-19. But he said players would be encouraged to stay away if ill.

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.”