Sports world daily: Fritz ends Tsitsipas' title defence in Monte Carlo; Man Utd's Martinez injured

Defending champion at the Monte Carlo Masters Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to American Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal. Former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev also lost out.

Sticking with tennis, Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet held firm to help France lead Britain 2-0 in their Billie Jean King Cup playoffs.

In football, Manchester United were dealt a blow as their main defender Lisandro Martinez suffered a fracture in his foot and will miss the rest of the season.

Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 15 April, 2023:

Defending champion Tsitsipas loses

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ bid for a third consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title was ended after a straight-sets loss to American Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals on Friday, while Daniil Medvedev was knocked out by Holger Rune.

Second seed Tsitsipas was on a 12-match winning streak in the principality but slumped to a 6-2, 6-4 loss in only 70 minutes.

Fritz will face Russian Andrey Rublev on Saturday in the last four as he attempts to reach the final of a clay-court event for the first time.

“I thought my level today was very high. I think I played a very good match. Beating him here gives me a lot of confidence,” Fritz said.

“It has given me the reassurance I need to know I can play well on clay.”

Fritz’s win was his first against Tsitsipas after three previous defeats by the Greek, including a five-set thriller at the Australian Open last year.

The world number 10 – who reached a career-high ranking of fifth earlier this year – is into his third Masters semi-final, with the other two both coming at Indian Wells where he won the 2022 title.

In other results, Daniil Medvedev’s run of five successive finals came to a halt as the former world No 1 slipped to a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Danish rising star Rune.

Medvedev won his fourth title in five events at the Miami Masters earlier this month but has still never won an ATP clay-court tournament.

The 19-year-old Dane, who reached the French Open quarter-finals last year, is hunting his first title of the season and will next play Jannik Sinner.

“He played good. He’s a great player on clay. I feel like that’s the surface that suits him the best,” Medvedev said of Rune.

Sinner cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fellow Italian youngster Musetti who failed to back up his brilliant performance against Novak Djokovic.

The 21-year-old Sinner has reached the semi-finals at all three Masters events so far this year.

Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev, who lost to Tsitsipas in the 2021 final, earlier booked his place in the semi-finals with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff.

The fifth seed won six straight games after being broken in the opening game and clinched victory in a tense second-set tie-break.

Rublev has lost four of his previous six meetings with Fritz, but the pair have never played each other on clay.

Results from the ATP Monte Carlo Masters on Friday (x denotes seeding; players representing Russia and Belarus are banned from competing under the name or flag of their countries):

Quarterfinals

Jannik Sinner (ITA x7) bt Lorenzo Musetti (ITA x16) 6-2, 6-2

Holger Rune (DEN x6) bt Daniil Medvedev (x3) 6-3, 6-4

Andrey Rublev (x5) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)

Taylor Fritz (USA x8) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x2) 6-2, 6-4

Lisandro Martinez injured

Manchester United have been hit by a double defensive injury blow after Lisandro Martinez was ruled out for the rest of the season and Raphael Varane sidelined for the next few weeks.

Both players were hurt in Thursday’s 2-2 draw against Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford, in which United conceded two late own goals.

Martinez, who won the World Cup with Argentina in December, pulled up in pain gripping his right ankle late in the match and was taken away on a stretcher.

United had already lost fellow first-choice centre-back Varane to injury at half-time and his replacement Harry Maguire scored an own goal in stoppage time.

Manager Erik ten Hag was unable to provide an update when he faced the media at lunchtime on Friday but the club later confirmed the severity the injuries.

“Lisandro Martinez has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after fracturing a metatarsal bone in his foot,” United said in a statement.

“However, the Argentinian defender is expected to make a full recovery in time to be ready for the start of next season.”

The statement added: “Lisandro’s defensive partner Raphael Varane was also substituted with an injury at half-time in the same game and is expected to be out for a few weeks.”

Martinez – in his first season at Old Trafford – and Varane have established themselves as Ten Hag’s preferred centre-back pairing and their absence leaves a void as United look to end the campaign on a high.

France close in on BJK Cup Finals qualification

Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet put France on the brink of qualifying for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Friday with a 2-0 lead against hosts Britain.

World No 5 Garcia was pushed hard by world No 154 Katie Boulter before battling through 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in three hours and 26 minutes in Coventry.

Cornet, ranked 70, then secured the second point with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3) win over 138th-ranked Harriet Dart in the best-of-five tie which concludes on Saturday.

“I’m so relieved, it was such a huge fight against Harriet,” said Cornet.

“I’m very happy to get through in two sets. The third set would’ve been very tough for both of us.

“Five tie-breaks today, this tie is so tough and we knew we could not let go of a single point.”

Britain, who reached the semi-finals last year, are again missing Emma Raducanu, leaving Dart as their top singles player.

France only needs one victory to qualify for the finals, with two singles and a doubles slated for Saturday.

With text inputs from AFP

Updated through the day