Greek second seed Tsitsipas, who triumphed at the Monte Carlo Country Club in the last two editions, was never in the mix against Fritz, who reached the last four of a Masters event for the first time.
* Former Denmark boss Age Hareide has been named as the new coach of Iceland, the Football Association of Iceland (KSI) said on Friday. The 69-year-old will replace Arnar Vidarsson, who left the job in late March after a mixed start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
* Schalke 04 cruised past fellow strugglers Hertha Berlin 5-2 in their relegation battle on Friday to climb off last place and into the playoff space with six games remaining. The Royal Blues, who have staged a comeback in the past months having lost just two of their 11 league games, bounced back after two straight defeats and moved up to 16th place on 24 points leaving Hertha in last place on 22.
* Rafa Nadal will miss next week's Barcelona Open and continue building his match fitness following a hip injury sustained at the Australian Open in January, the 22-times Grand Slam champion said on Friday. Nadal skipped tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami as well as the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters after suffering the injury that effectively ended his Melbourne Park title defence as he crashed to a second-round defeat by Mackenzie McDonald.
* Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova comfortably won their opening matches to help Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic respectively take 2-0 leads in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers on Friday. France took a 2-0 lead over hosts Britain as world number five Caroline Garcia first battled to a 6-7(2) 7-6(4) 7-6(2) win over Katie Boulter in a marathon lasting three hours 26 minutes.
* Czech tennis player Barbora Krejcikova said on Friday she will donate her Billie Jean King Cup earnings to Turkey's earthquake victims. The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 killed more than 55,000 people.
* Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez will miss the remainder of the season due to a fractured metatarsal bone in his foot, the Premier League club said on Friday. Martinez was carried off during United's 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the Europa League on Thursday after he fell to the ground clutching his right foot with no opponents nearby.
* Four-times major winner Rory McIlroy will forfeit $3 million from his Player Impact Performance (PIP) earnings given his decision to skip this week's RBC Heritage, a PGA Tour source confirmed on Friday. That total represents 25 per cent of the $12 million bonus he was awarded for finishing second behind Tiger Woods on last year's PIP list which rewards the golfers who have the biggest positive impact on the PGA Tour.
* Liverpool have been fined £37,500 (US$46,900) by the Football Association after their players surrounded the referee during this month's 4-1 Premier League defeat at Manchester City.
