Carla Suarez Navarro Bows Out Of French Open In Silence - UBITENNIS
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Carla Suarez Navarro Bows Out Of French Open In Silence

In her last ever match at Roland Garros, Suarez Navarro had to play the closing stages of it behind closed doors due to the local curfew.

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Carla Suarez Navarro greets Sloane Stephens at the net following their first round match at the French Open (image via https://twitter.com/rolandgarros)

Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro said farewell to the French Open on Tuesday in an empty stadium after losing her first match since returning to the Tour following a battle with cancer.

 

The former top 10 star was edged out 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4, by Sloance Stephens after fighting for more than two hours on the court. It was the first time the Spaniard has played a competitive match since March 2020 after being diagnosed with an early stage of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. An uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system. She completed her treatment and recovery from the illness in April.

“It was a long time, really tough moments,” she commented on her experience with Cancer following the match. “But every time I had on my mind that I wanted to come back. Roland Garros is one of my favorite tournaments.
“I tried to prepare myself the best that I can. Obviously I need more time but I think I had a good time this week practicing, I had a good level in my match.”

32-year-old Navarro already confirmed that this year’s will be her last on the Tour. She had originally planned to retire in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic and then her diagnoses derailed her plans to do so.

Due to having her match scheduled as the last one to take place on Tuesday, it went beyond the 9pm curfew. Meaning that the later stages had to be played behind closed doors and therefore there was no crowd to cheer as she walked of the court at Roland Garros for a final time. Something she admits made her ‘sad.’

“I had a little bit of the crowd, and I really enjoyed it. But then I was so sad when they had to leave,” she said. “It was difficult. I thought about that yesterday (Monday) when I saw that I was the fourth match on court. Sometimes it can happen.”

Suarez Navarro ends her French Open career with a total of 26 wins against 12 losses. On her debut back in 2008 she reached the quarter-finals before doing so again in 2014. Furthermore, she also reached the semi-finals of the doubles tournament back in 2014 with partner Garbine Muguruza.

“I feel proud of what I did but I’m really sad because I lost. I mean, every time I go on court, I want to win,” she concludes.

Before leaving the sport for good, Navarro aims to play a few more tournaments, including the Olympic Games. She is currently ranked 118th in the world.

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Hamad Medjedovic moves to 2-0 in Red Group at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah

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Hamad Medjedovic edged past Luca Van Assche 4-2 2-4 4-3 (9-7) 4-1 to move to 2-0 In Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah one day after winning a marathon five-set match against Alex Michelsen. 

 

Medjedovic broke serve in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. He held serve and saved two break points in the sixth game to close out the first set 4-2. 

Van Assche saved three break points at 2-2 before breaking serve in the sixth game  with a running forehand pass to seal the second set 4-2. 

Medjedovic earned a break point in the first game of the third set, when Van Assche made a double fault. Van Assche saved them to hold on his serve. Both players held on serve en route to a tie-break. Van Assche raced out to a 5-1 lead. Medjedovic won three consecutive points to claw his way back to 4-5. Van Assche earned three set points at 6-4, 6-5 and 7-6, but Medjedovic won the final three points to win the tie-break 9-7. 

Medjedovic left the court for nine minutes for a bathroom break. 

Medjedovic broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. When he was serving out the match, he saved three break points as he closed out the win with two unreturned serves. 

“For sure the tie-break changed a lot of things in this match. He had three set points. I stayed focused on the important points. I was consistent, hitting the ball hard, and I am glad that I won the tie-break”, said Medjedovic. 

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Abdullah Shelbayh upsets Alex Michelsen to win his first win at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah

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Jordan’s wild card Abdullah Shelbayh beat world number 97 Alex Michelsen 4-2 1-4 4-0 4-0 to clinch his fourth top 100 win. Shelbayh moves to 1-1 in Red Group. 

 

Shelbayh hit 26 winners, including seven aces. The Asian player will face Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic in his third round robin match. 

Shelbayh earned the first break in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. The wild card held his next two service games at 30 to close out the first set 4-2. 

Michelsen, who reached the ATP 250 final in Newport last summer, broke in the second game of the second set to take a 2-0 lead, when Shelbayh made a backhand error. 

Michelsen earned a break point in the first game of the third set, but Shelbayh saved it with an ace. The Jordanan player held serve before breaking serve to close out the third set 4-0. Shelbayh won four consecutive games with two breaks of serve to win the fourth set 4-0. 

“Having the opportunity to play here now to finish here, I could not ask for a better end to the year. I appreciate all the support throughout the week that I have been receiving already, throughout the year and from the Arab world especially. It makes me happy to represent my country. There is some pressure but you feel like it’s good pressure to have on you shoulders when you are representing your country and the region you come from”,said Shelbayh. 

Shelbayh improved his ATP ranking from world 470 to 185. His tennis idol is Rafael Nadal. Shelbayh has trained at the Rafa Nadal for more than five years. Toni Nadal flew to Jordan when Shelbayh was 13 years old to recruit him to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy. He became the first Jordanan player to win a main-draw ATP Tour match last April against Elias Ymer in Banja Luka. 

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Arthur Fils eases past Flavio Cobolli to move to 2-0 at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah

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World number 36 Arthur Fils eased past Flavio Cobolli 4-1 4-2 4-2 in 59 minutes to move to 2-0 in Green Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. Fils won 72% of his first service points and fired five aces. 

 

Fils saved a break point in the first game on the deciding point. The Frenchman broke serve in the second game and rallied from 0-30 down to hold serve in the third game. 

Fils served out the first set 4-1 with a hold at love. 

Cobolli made a double fault at 30-30 in the first game of the second set, but Fils broke serve when Cobolli hit his backhand into the net. 

Cobolli saved a break point with an ace on the deciding point in the third game. Fils won his next two service games with ease to seal the second set 4-2. The Frenchman dropped two points on serve in the second set.

Fils earned an early break in the first game of the third set. Cobolli broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Fils broke for the second time at love in the third game with a backhand down the line return winner and sealed the win on his second match point. 

Fils, who beat Luca Nardi in five sets in his opening match, will face Dominic Stricker in his third round-robin match. 

“I played very nice today. I served very good, and I was moving well on the court, so I am very happy with it. Tomorrow I have a good match against a great opponent. He already beat me once this year, so let’s what I can do”, said Arthur Fils. 

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