D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, MAY 27 , 2022
GOLF
Wie West announces
she is ‘stepping back’
Michelle Wie West, who
burst into the golf world as a
youth sensation but whose
professional career has been
slowed by injuries, announced
Thursday that she is “stepping
back” from playing full time on
the LPGA To ur.
“I’m so grateful for the past
14 years I spent on tour, traveling
the world and competing against
the best in the game,” the
3 2-year-old Hawaii native wrote
on social media.
“ Excited to spend more time
now on projects that I always
wanted to do but never had time
for and to continually work to
help golf become a more diverse
and inclusive space.”
In an interview published by
Golfweek, Wie West said she
planned to compete in next
week’s U.S. Women’s Open before
embarking on an indefinite
hiatus from the sport. She added
that she also intends to play in
the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, to
be held at Pebble Beach, and that
she is not formally retiring.
— Des Bieler
Scottie Scheffler did
something last weekend that he
rarely does, watching a golf
tournament at home after
missing a cut. The world’s No. 1
player is back on the course and
tied atop a crowded leader board
at Colonial.
Scheffler was among eight
players who shot 4-under-par
66s in the Charles Schwab
Classic in Fort Worth. But he was
the only player in that group
without a bogey, rebounding
from his missed cut at the PGA
Championship.
Cam Davis, Beau Hossler,
Chris Kirk, Patrick Reed, Webb
Simpson, Nick Taylor and
Harold Varner III also shot
66s. Seven others were a shot
back....
New Zealand’s Steven Alker,
who leads the PGA To ur
Champions money list and
started the day with an eagle,
and American Bob Estes each
shot a 7-under 64 for a one-shot
lead after the opening round of
the Senior PGA Championship in
Benton Harbor, Mich....
Brittany Altomare rallied to
beat top-seeded Minjee Lee,
2 and 1, in hot conditions at
Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in the
second round of group play in
the LPGA Match Play
tournament....
Joost Luiten had eight birdies
and one bogey in a first-round
7 -under 65, giving him a one-shot
lead after the first round of the
European tour’s Dutch Open in
Cromvoirt, Netherlands.DIGESTBY HOWARD FENDRICHparis — For the first time in
nearly a half-century, just three of
the top 10 seeds in the French
Open women’s d raw made i t to the
round of 32.
Karolina Pliskova, a two-time
major finalist and the No. 8 seed,
was unable to offer much resis-
tance Thursday vs. 227th-ranked
Leolia Jeanjean, falling, 6 -2, 6-2, i n
the second round.
“Even m e, I don’t h ave an expla-
nation. I don’t even realize what’s
happening,” Jeanjean said. “It’s
my first Grand Slam. I thought I
would have lost in the first round
in two sets — and I found myself
beating a top-10 player.”
No. 9 Danielle Collins departed,
too, eliminated by 50th-ranked
Shelby Rogers, 6 -4, 6-3, in a
matchup between Americans.
According to the WTA, the last
time three or fewer top-10 wom-
en’s seeds got to the French Open’s
round of 32 was in 1976. In those
days, only eight players were seed-
ed in a field of 64, half of the
current tournament size.
Pliskova and Collins joined No. 2
Barbora Krejcikova — the 2021
champion who was beaten in the
first round Monday, then pulled
out of doubles after she tested posi-
tive for the coronavirus — as well as
No. 4 Maria Sakkari, No. 5 Anett
Kontaveit, No. 6 Ons Jabeur and
No. 10 Garbiñe Muguruza, who all
were gone by Wednesday.
The remaining trio, all in the
top half of the bracket, won sec-
ond-round matches Thursday:
No. 1 Iga Swiatek ran her winning
streak to 30 matches, the longest
in women’s tennis since Serena
Williams had a 34-match run in
2013, by overwhelming Alison
Riske, 6-0, 6-2; No. 3 Paula Badosa
recovered f rom a mid-match lapse
to get past Kaja Juvan, 7 -5, 3 -6, 6-2;
and N o. 7 Aryna S abalenka defeat-
ed Madison Brengle, 6-1, 6-3.
Two-time Grand Slam cham-
pion Simona Halep also bowed
out in the second round, with C hi-
nese teenager Qinwen Zheng pull-
ing off the 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 upset of the
2018 Roland Garros champion.
Halep, the 19th seed, said after-
ward she had a panic attack while
leading the match early and
couldn’t regain her focus.
The men’s draw certainly has
seen some excitement — including
five-set victories after b eing match
point down for both No. 3 Alexan-
der Zverev and No. 6 Carlos Alcar-
az on Wednesday — but all 12 of
the highest seeds advanced to the
third round, the first time that has
happened at the French Open
since 2009 , according to the ATP.
No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, the
runner-up to Novak Djokovic at
Roland Garros last year, saved
four set points after f alling behind
6-2 in the last tiebreaker before
putting away 134th-ranked quali-
fier Zdenek Kolar, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8),
6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6).
Kolar hadn’t won a tour-level
match until this week, but his re-
lentless b all-tracking l eft Tsitsipas
acknowledging: “ He d rove me cra-
zy. Yeah, it was really frustrating.”
— Associated Press
FRENCH OPEN
Women’s
field gets
shaken up
quickly
BY LIZ CLARKEWashington’s Citi Open is
bringing back the women’s tour-
nament that for several years was
a companion event to the long-
running men’s hard-court classic
at R ock Creek Park Te nnis Center.
Player commitments are pend-
ing, with an announcement of the
partial fields expected in the
coming weeks. But Citi Open
officials are expected to an-
nounce Friday that they signed a
sanction agreement with the
Women’s Tennis Association to
host a 250-level event to replace
the tournament that the govern-
ing body withdrew from Wash-
ington in 2020.
“One of the great things about
tennis is that it’s one of the fewsports in which men and women
are often featured in the same
event,” said Citi Open chairman
Mark Ein, a D.C.-born venture
capitalist who assumed manage-
ment and operation of the tour-
nament in 2019.
As a WTA 250-level event, the
Citi Open women’s event will be
one rung below the 500 -level ATP
men’s event in terms of prize
money, ranking points and field
size. But from 2012 to 2019, when
the women’s event was staged in
conjunction with the men’s tour-
nament at Rock Creek Park, it
drew rising stars and enthusias-
tic audiences.
Past champions include Jessi-
ca Pegula, currently ranked 11th
in the world; 2017 U.S. Open
champion Sloane Stephens; andthe doubles team of Coco Gauff
and Caty McNally.
In the absence of a WTA event
last summer, the Citi Open staged
a women’s invitational that con-
sisted of former world No. 1
Victoria Azarenka and Ameri-
cans Gauff and Pegula competing
in a round-robin format. The
results didn’t affect the players’
WTA ranking; it was a non-sanc-
tioned exhibition.
This year’s Citi Open will be
held from July 30 to Aug. 7, its
customary week on the ATP cal-
endar, which makes it a logical
hard-court stop as players from
across the world acclimate to the
East Coast’s time zone, heat and
humidity in preparation for the
Masters 1000 event in Canada
that precedes the U.S. Open inNew York.
“Washington is a popular stop
among players,” Ein said in a
telephone interview. “They have
loved D.C., loved being on the
East Coast on the way to Canada
and the U.S. Open. And Washing-
ton is a great tennis community.”
Founded in 1969, Washington’s
Citi Open wasn’t held in 2020
because of coronavirus restric-
tions. Its resumption in 2021
drew record crowds, Ein said.
The tournament debut of Rafael
Nadal, who has since won a men’s
record 21st Grand Slam title, was
a primary reason for last sum-
mer’s capacity crowds.
As a top- 10 player, Nadal has
the option of choosing which ATP
500 -level events suit his schedule
best. Last summer, he chose theCiti Open to test his readiness for
competition following a roughly
two-month hiatus to address a
foot injury that flared up during
the French Open. His competitive
return was short-lived. After a
third-round loss in Washington,
Nadal withdrew from the sea-
son’s remaining events to have
foot surgery.
The Citi Open was co-founded
by Donald Dell and the late
Arthur Ashe, who was committed
to staging a pro tournament in a
fully accessible, public park. It is
owned by the Washington Te nnis
& Education Foundation, which
provides tennis education and
educational support to young-
sters in underserved areas of the
city and is largely funded by
proceeds from the tournament.Citi Open is set to bring back a companion WTA tournamentwhile twice being named the
Patriot League coach of the year.
Last year’s team won 23 games
and reached the NCAAs.MISC.
DeWanna Bonner scored
18 points, Natisha Hiedeman
had 17 points and six assists, and
the Connecticut Sun beat the
Dallas Wings, 99-68, in a WNBA
game in Uncasville, Conn....
Drake Batherson scored on a
power play 43 seconds into
overtime to give Canada a 4-3
comeback victory over Sweden inthe world hockey quarterfinals in
Ta mpere, Finland. In the
semifinals Saturday, defending
champion Canada will face the
Czech Republic, and the United
States will play Finland....
Belgian rider Dries De Bondt
won a four-man sprint in Treviso,
Italy, to take the last flat stage of
a Giro d’Italia cycling event.
Richard Carapaz, the 2019
champion and To kyo Olympics
gold medalist, maintained a
three-second lead overall.
— F rom news services
and staff reportsNCAA WOMEN’S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT, SEMIFINALS
12:30 p.m. Northwestern vs. North Carolina » ESPNews
3 p.m. M aryland vs. Boston College » ESPNU
COLLEGE BASEBALL — CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
TBD SEC, losers’ bracket: Arkansas vs. Florida » SEC Network
TBD SEC, winners’ bracket: Alabama vs. Texas A&M » SEC Network
TBD SEC, winners’ bracket: Vanderbilt vs. TBD » SEC Network
TBD SEC, losers’ bracket: Tennessee vs. T BD » SEC Network
10 a.m. Big Ten, losers’ bracket: Iowa vs. Purdue » Big Ten Network
11 a.m. ACC, Pool D: Virginia vs. Notre Dame » MASN
2:30 p.m. Big Ten, winners’ bracket: Penn State vs. Rutgers » Big Ten Network
3 p.m. ACC, Pool C: Wake Forest vs. Miami » MASN2
6 p.m. Pac-12, losers’ bracket: Arizona State vs. TBD » Pac-12 Network
6 p.m. Big Ten, losers’ bracket: Indiana vs. TBD » Big Ten Network
7 p.m. ACC, Pool A: North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech » MASN2
9:45 p.m. Pac-12, losers’ bracket: UCLA vs. TBD » Pac-12 Network
10 p.m. Big Ten, winners’ bracket: Maryland vs. TBD » Big Ten Network
NCAA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT — SUPER REGIONALS
Noon Game 1: Arizona at Mississippi State » ESPNU
2 p.m. Game 1: Florida at Virginia Tech » ESPN2
4:30 p.m. Game 1: Central Florida at Oklahoma » ESPN2
6:30 p.m. Game 2: Texas at Arkansas » ESPN2
8 p.m. Game 1: Northwestern at Arizona State » ESPNU
9 p.m. Game 2: Clemson at Oklahoma State » ESPN2
10:30 p.m. Game 1: Oregon State at Stanford » ESPNU
11 p.m. Game 1: Duke at UCLA » ESPN2COLLEGES
Ian Petrutz singled to tie the
game in the bottom of the 10th
inning before being hit by a pitch
with the bases loaded in the 11th
as top-seeded Maryland (45-10)
survived an upset bid by No. 8
seed Indiana (25-31) for a 6-5
victory in the first round of the
weather-delayed Big Te n baseball
tournament in Omaha.
The Te rrapins, who won the
conference regular season title,had taken a 4-0 lead on Nick
Lorusso’s RBI single in the first
inning and run-scoring doubles
by Bobby Zmarziak, Kevin
Keister and Chris Alleyne in the
fourth....
Wake Forest hired American
University’s Megan Gebbia as its
new women’s basketball coach.
The 49-year-old Gebbia had
spent the past nine seasons at
American, leading the Eagles to
three NCAA tournament bidsTELEVISION AND RADIO
MLB
7 p.m. Colorado at Washington » MASN, WJFK (106.7 FM)
7 p.m. Baltimore at Boston » Apple TV Plus, WIYY (97.9 FM)
NBA PLAYOFFS
8:30 p.m. Eastern Conference finals, Game 6: Miami at Boston » ESPN
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
8 p.m. Western Conference semifinal, Game 6: Colorado at St. Louis » TNT
AUTO RACING
8 a.m. Formula One: Monaco Grand Prix, practice » ESPN2
11 a.m. Formula One: Monaco Grand Prix, practice » ESPN2
1:30 p.m. NASCAR Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, qualifying »
Fox Sports 1
3:30 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series: Alsco Uniforms 300, qualifying » Fox Sports 1
6 p.m. ARCA Series: General Tire 150 » Fox Sports 1
8:30 p.m. NASCAR Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 » Fox Sports 1
GOLF
7:30 a.m. DP World Tour: Dutch Open, second round » Golf Channel
1 p.m. Senior PGA Championship, second round » Golf Channel
4 p.m. PGA Tour: Charles Schwab Challenge, second round » Golf Channel
7 p.m. LPGA Tour: Match Play, Day 3 » Golf Channel
SOCCER
7 p.m. NWSL: Washington at Orlando » CBS Sports Network
TENNIS
5 a.m. French Open, third round » Tennis Channel
7 a.m. French Open, third round » MASN2embarrassing moment for me.”
“You hit the clay with the
racket, but you never expect to fly
that much,” Begu said.
Hours later, the French Open
released a statement recounting
the sequence of events after Begu
threw her racket. It read:
“The racket bounced over the
bench into the spectators’ area.
The racket accidentally ended up
in the spectators’ area where it
brushed a young spectator. After
an initial scare the spectator
turned out to be OK. The Grand
Slam supervisor spoke with the
parents who were with the child,
the parents confirmed that the
child was fine and not injured.
According to the procedures, a
code violation for unsportsman-
like conduct was issued.”process.
“A t one moment, I understood
that it can negatively affect your
tennis,” Medvedev said. “But I
definitely didn’t u nderstand it [at
14]. It was much later.... I’m still
learning because I have some
tantrums, if it’s the right word,
sometimes on the court. Usually
I’m not happy about it. The most
important is either to know how
to react or, better, how not to do
them and just stay focused on the
match.”
Begu, who won Thursday’s
match in three sets, went to the
stands afterward and held the
frightened child in her arms as
photographs were taken.
In her news conference after-
ward, she said she was sorry for
the incident and called it “anship award, behaving on court is
something he learned as a child.
“My uncle, my family, never
allowed me to break a racket,
never allowed me to say bad
words or give up a match,” Nadal
once explained. “Probably when I
was a kid, they didn’t care much
about winning or losing. Of
course, a ll the parents and family,
my uncle [who was also his
coach] wanted me to win every
single match. But probably that
was not the most important
thing. The most important thing
was the education and the fact
that I grow with the values, with
the right values.”
For second-ranked Daniil
Medvedev, w ho is still haunted by
an epic meltdown he had as a
14-year-old junior, it has been athe match, penalizing ticket-buy-
ers and broadcasters alike.
And because players know
this, they see little reason to
police their own behavior — even
if they’re capable of doing so.
“That’s the tricky part,” Carillo
says. “The players who are acting
out know, looking at the umpire,
‘A re you going to throw me out?
Do you know how much booing i s
going to happen when you throw
me off this court?’ I think that
gives them extra agency. They
think, ‘Why not push it all the
way?’ ”
Most pros at the top of the
sport, however, come to realize
that controlling their anger is
ultimately in their interest.
For Rafael Nadal, a five-time
recipient of the ATP’s sportsman-But the recent spate of fits is
different, with a physical compo-
nent that some believe calls for a
firmer hand.
“It’s more violent; it’s a bsolute-
ly more violent,” said Mary Caril-
lo, who trained alongside McEn-
roe as a junior and won the
French Open’s 1977 mixed dou-
bles titles as his partner. “These
guys have taken it up a notch.”
Two-time Grand Slam cham-
pion Tracy Austin called on the
ATP to “step up” its response.
Hall of Fame inductee Pam
Shriver, a frequent tennis com-
mentator, also feels tournament
officials and the ATP need to take
a firmer hand — particularly
when players verbally abuse the
crowd, as Denis Shapovalov did
at the recent Italian Open,
screaming “Shut the f--- up” at
fans who booed his prolonged
rant at the chair umpire.
“I think there hasn’t been seri-
ous enough consequences in
some situations,” Shriver said.
“Swearing to a crowd is totally
unacceptable because that’s
who’s providing your livelihood
— the fans.”
Regarding Zverev’s attack on
the umpire’s chair, Shriver argues
it warranted a suspension from
the next few tournaments.
One American player, 14th-
ranked Ta ylor Fritz, however,
thinks tennis would be better
served if players were given more
latitude to express their emo-
tions — not less.
“I think it would be cool to see
the kind of hype around tennis
grow,” Fritz said this week at the
French Open. “One thing we can
do on tour is be more a ccepting of
kind of like crazier attitudes and
stuff like that going on. I feel like
any little thing can kind of get
someone fined or get someone in
trouble, so I maybe would like to
see more kind of just openness
for players to be crazier.”
That’s what his generation re-
sponds to, he noted.
“Maybe letting players get
away with a bit more would be a
bit exciting,” Fritz said.
That, in Carillo’s view, is the
rub.
Unlike team sports, in which a
star athlete can be ejected for an
egregious offense and replaced
by a backup, tennis is individual-
based. If a chair umpire ejects an
out-of-control player, that endsFRENCH OPEN FROM D1Tennis’s anger management problem gets worseDYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS
Andrey Rublev got a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct after he smashed a ball in a rage that almost hit a French Open groundsperson.