In the end, it was Ash Barty who was celebrating a final victory in the Elite Trophy... umm, "event?"
Hmmm, this actually *was* a real live WTA-level tournament, right? Because, you know, at times it sure didn't seem as such. So, it *is* then? Are you sure? Hmmm.
Okay, well, in that case... good on ya, Ash!
A fairytale ending to the most incredible year ?? THANK YOU! To everyone for your overwhelming support. It’s been a hell of a ride... Most importantly, thank you to Tyzz and my team for sticking with me. I’m a very lucky girl. pic.twitter.com/KaRMa8qtIV
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Ash Barty/AUS ...while there was much to pick at and criticize about the so-called "Elite" Trophy tournament in Zhuhai, Barty (though she ultimately benefited from some of the shananigans associated with a tournament whose rules and format often seem to have been scrawled on a dirty paper napkin during dinner the night before the start of play) wasn't one of them.
The Aussie's season-ending title run continued an '18 trend that saw her pick up more and more steam as the year wore on. After opening the season in hit (Sydney RU in Week 2) or miss (four one-win-or-less outings in her first eight tournaments) fashion that showed in her 11-8 tour-event mark through mid-May, the 22-year old finished her season on a 31-11, three-surface run that finished up with a Wuhan SF and her second '18 title (third career) on Sunday in Zhuhai (as well as including WD titles in Montreal and the U.S. Open). In Zhuhai, Barty won her group with the event's usual 1-1 record (doing so by one game, actually), then handled defending champ Julia Goerges (SF) and crowd favorite Wang Qiang (F) in straights to take the title. The result will lift her four spots in the rankings in the season's final week, carrying her past her season-ending finish from a year ago (#17) to a career-best #15. In 2019, she can set her sights on getting the first Top 10 finish for an Aussie since Sam Stosur was #9 in 2012.
At her best with a wind behind her back, the little info nugget pulled out during the final by the match commentators on Sunday proves to be quite a calling card for Barty heading into next season: her 3 & 4 win over Wang means she went 28-1 in '18 after winning the 1st set (her only loss was vs. Serena Williams), and the victory gives her 24 straight wins in such situations. =============================================== RISERS:Luksika Kumkhum/THA and Wang Qiang/CHN ...Kumkhum is always a reliable potential upset-maker (see Petra Kvitova), but prior to this weekend her biggest career title was just a $75K challenger back in 2013. Led by a win over Belinda Bencic in Melbourne, Kumkhum posted her best slam result (3rd Rd.) at the Australian Open earlier this year. But she still found herself ranked outside the Top 100 (#103) heading into the week. It all nearly came crumbling down early on, as she was forced to survive teen Indian Pranjala Yadlpalli serving for the match at 6-3/5-3 in the 1st Round in Mumbai. The 25-year old Thai followed up with wins over Barbora Stefkova, #1-seeded Zheng Saisai (in three sets), Margarita Gasparyan and Irina Khromacheva in a three-set final. The title will push Kumkhum all the way up to a career high ranking, as she'll jump twenty-three spots and finish the *official* WTA '18 season ranking period at #80, giving her a second Top 100 season (her first since '14).
In Zhuhai, Wang added yet another notable result within Chinese borders in the Elite Trophy event. Of course, her 1-1 round robin record (and all the total games won stats) actually *eliminated* her prior to the semifinals. But when actual semifinalist Madison Keys (the one player Wang had beaten in rr play) withdrew with a knee injury, the 26-year old crowd favorite was on the receiving end of a sudden call from her agent that told her that her 2018 season *wasn't* over, after all. It was an absurd, anti-results, joke of a move (one, though, remarkably *written in the rules for the event*) befitting the tour's biggest punchline of a tournament, but credit Wang for taking (some, but not full) advantage of a ridiculous situation that didn't automatically advance Garbine Muguruza into the final over her injured would-be opponent in the latter moments of a week-long event. Wang defeated the two-time slam champ 6-2/6-0 to reach her fourth final of the season. She put up a fight vs. Ash Barty in the final, but the Aussie proved too in-form to overcome. Still, her week's work (and unscheduled overtime) improves Wang's 4Q record in Asia to 21-6 in a SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU stretch (not counting her 5-win Asian Games Gold run before the U.S. Open), 18-5 of it in China, and gives her her first Top 20 ranking. With 2018's official season-ending rankings coming on Monday, she'll finish there, with her shouldn't-have-been final moments ultimately robbing Anett Kontaveit of *her* maiden Top 20 season (by 5 rankings points).
Nothing against Wang, who has proven herself to be a worthy tour star in recent months and a well-received inheritor of Li Na's Chinese tennis throne, but none of the above should have ever happened. Fact is, the tour's "B" season-ending event has already traditionally been the butt of easily-made snide remarks *before* nearly allowing a player eliminated after a week-long round robin competition to possibly *win* the event.
Even before the latest eye-roller...
1) what used to be called the "Tournament of Champions" usually had participants that hadn't actually won any titles
2) it was later moved and re-named the "Elite Trophy" event, which is laughable on a whole other level considering the season's truly "elite" players should be no where near the tournament
3) it has been held *after* the *real* tour season-ending event for years (though that *finally* changes in '19 -- hey, it only took a decade)
4) it continues to include a wild card for a local interest player (Zhang Shuai this year) who didn't qualify (or deserve, really) to be included in the field
5) it has a 12-player, four-group format that rewards mediocrity, and leads to ridiculous situations such as Caroline Garcia this week defeating Aryna Sabalenka in her final rr match, but not only not advancing because she lost *one* too many games during the week, but actually finishing *third* in the group. Of course, *someone* should have informed Garcia going into that match she needed to keep Sabalenka *under* eight total games won if she was going to reach the semis, as she didn't seem to know that for sure afterward. The result? Barty advanced from the group instead, and won the title.
And now we add...
6) after Keys won enough games vs. Wang in their final rr match to advance to the SF over her, she pulled out of the event a day later... and rather than have legitimately qualified semifinalist (the only one, really, since she had the only 2-0 rr mark, and had to save 3 MP in her last match to do it) Muguruza given a walkover to the final, she had to face the eliminated Wang in a "live" match (so does Qiang count as a LL, worth wondering in the moment considering the tour has already been notoriously fast-and-loose with *that* history for decades), and loses it 2 & love. Essentially, the tournament became an exhibition awarding rankings points at that moment, not a real tour-level event, which it *barely* was anyway.
I can understand wanting to give the fans a second singles match on SF day when a player is injured, but it should not *count* in the competition if it involves an already eliminated player, nor should the *extra* ranking points won be included in the added player's season totals. Lucky losers jumping into the opening rounds of a full main draw is one thing, slipping an eliminated player back into the mix a round from the final reaks of amateurish planning. =============================================== SURPRISES:Natela Dzalamidze/Veronika Kudermetova, RUS/RUS ...Dzalamidze & Kudermetova have developed quite a just-below-tour-level doubles history together. Since 2015, with their Mumbai WTA 125 Series title this weekend, the Russian duo have gone 2-0 in WTA 125 finals and 8-4 on the ITF level. Their 6-4/7-6 win in the final over Bibiane Schoofs & Barbora Stefkova (the former was attempting to defend her '17 title) was the first together by the Hordettes since they won their second of two $100K challenger events last season. Kudermetova, who won a third 125 title with Aryna Sabalenka in Taipei City in '17, has seen her singles stock rise over the past year (while Dzalemidze has played only a handful of WS qualifying matches, going 1-4). The 21-year old came into the week at #116, with two tour-level QF this season and highlight victories over Anett Kontaveit and Belinda Bencic on the grass at Roslamen this summer, as well as Carla Suarez-Navarro on clay in the spring.
=============================================== VETERAN:Timea Bacsinszky/SUI ...while play was going on in Zhuhai and Mumbai, former slam semifinalist Bacsinszky was winning her first singles title in thirty months ('16 WTA Rabat) at a $25K challenger in Nantes, France. The 29-year old Swiss, ranked #238 following wrist surgery but having recently reached a tour-level SF in Tianjin (a run which included a win over Aryna Sabalenka) and reached an $80K final, took the crown with a 6-4/3-6/6-1 victory over Pastry Amandine Hesse in the final. Bacsinszky's gone 14-4 since mid-September.
La suissesse Timea Bacsinszky remporte cette 17ème édition ! 6/4 3/6 6/1 face à la finaliste française Amandine Hesse. pic.twitter.com/Ke5kCD1eYy
— Engie Open International Nantes Atlantique (@OpenNantesITF) November 4, 2018
=============================================== COMEBACKS:Garbine Muguruza/ESP, Margarita Gasparyan/RUS and Timea Bacsinszky/SUI ...despite how things ended, Muguruza closed out her oft-underwhelming '18 season on an upswing.
The Spaniard was the only member of the 12-player round robin field in Zhuhai to be undefeated, going 2-0 after saving three MP in her final rr match against Anastasija Sevastova (she'd defeated Dasha Kasatkina earlier). Set to face a physically-limited Madison Keys in the semis, Muguruza was then the victim of a tournament bait-and-switch when Keys withdrew and the ridiculous rules of the "event" (as well as the WTAF, though no one has had the gall to try to pull it off there... yet) allowed the already eliminated Wang Qiang to replace her as if this was, at best, the 1st Round of a regular, full-draw tour event or, at worst, an "official" tournament actually doubling as an exhibition event (ding-ding-ding). Rather than get a break (and a rightful walkover) into the final, Muguruza won just two games against the crowd favorite who's been ripping things up for weeks in China-based tournaments. So, with that, her season was over.
Even with such a disappointing (and slipshod) ending, the week was still a "win" for Mugu, who'd seen her results dip quite a bit since her Roland Garros semifinal run. At one point, she's had four consecutive one-win-or-less events. This two-win week gives her three multi-win tournaments in her last five. Even so, she'll finish the season at #17, her first non-Top 10 campaign since 2014.
In the WTA 125 Series event in Mumbai, Gasparyan's comeback from multiple knee surgeries and near retirement posted another encouraging result. The Russian followed up her W-QF-QF stetch in WTA-level events this fall with a SF in the tour-sponsored challenger, improving her recent run to 12-3. She'll "officially" end the season just at #105, but if she chooses to play another event (just one more match win would likely do it) she could clear the Top 100 barrier and come January be in shockingly fine position to make a BIG move in 2019. Remember, she was outside the Top 1100 in January, in the #700's in April, the #500's in June and barely inside the Top 300 as recently as September. Her last Top 100 ranking came the week of October 10, 2016. =============================================== FRESH FACES:Irina Khromacheva/RUS and Pranjala Yadlapalli/IND ...in Mumbai, 23-year old Hordette Khromacheva reached her second WTA 125 Series singles final of the season. The unseeded Russian (#165) won her biggest career title in Anning earlier this year, but after recording wins over Ula Radwanska (3 sets), Valentini Grammatikopoulou (3 sets) and #2-seed Dalila Jakupovic, Khromcheva fell in three sets to #5-seed Luksika Kumkhum in the Mumbai final. A former junior star, Khromacheva reached #1 in 2010, was RU to Ash Barty in the '11 Wimbledon girls final, and went 3-2 in slam junior doubles finals from 2010-12. She's dipped in and out of the Top 100 during her pro career, reaching a career high of #89 last season while contesting much of her career on the challenger circuit, where she's picked up 38 titles (16s/22d). The last two years, she's gone 1-1 in WTA 125 singles finals, and 1-2 in doubles. In April, she won her first tour-level crown in the WD in Bogota with Jakupovic.
Khromacheva will jump 34 spots to #131 on Monday.
19-year old Yadlapalli, at #288 the third-ranked Indian woman in singles behind Ankita Raina and Karman Thandi, made her way through qualifying at the WTA 125 Series event in Mumbai to reach her biggest career main draw. In the 1st Round, she took eventual champ Luksika Kumkhum to three sets in a 6-3/5-7/6-1 loss, though she served for the win at 6-3/5-3 and ultimately got within two points of the upset. A year ago, Kumkham had allowed just two games in a victory over Yadlapalli. The teenager had come into the week with momentum, having won back-to-back $25K titles in Lagos. With this result, she's gone 15-3 in her last five events.
Coming through two qualifying rounds at the tournament and taking the first set from World No 103, Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum in Round 1, 19-year old Pranjala kept fighting like a tigress in the second set.
=============================================== DOWN:Madison Keys/USA ...Keys' injury situation is a constant issue. In between her various ailments, absences or periods of rest, recovery and uncertainty, Keys has managed to win three titles, reach #7, and play in a U.S. Open final and three other slam semis. Her 2018 season ended this week with still more questions.
First, she begged out of next weekend's Fed Cup final because of the condition of her knee. She was scheduled to play in the Elite Trophy "event" in Zhuhai, and told U.S. Captain Kathy Rinaldi she couldn't be certain her health would allow to play both. In lieu of signing up and then pulling out later, she played in China only.
As it turned out, she slipped into the semifinals with her 1-1 round robin mark, winning enough games to win her group (w/ Kasatkina and Wang, both also 1-1). Of course, then she pulled out of the SF with her injured knee, and Wang ended up playing anyway. She'll finish the season at #17 without having reached a final, somehow UP from 2017 when she was #19 after winning Stanford reaching being the runner-up at Flushing Meadows. Her QF-SF-3r-SF slam results in '18 helped A LOT. =============================================== ITF PLAYER:Whitney Osuigwe/USA ...in the second leg of the USTA's AO Wild Card Playoff competition series, 16-year old Osuigwe claimed her first pro title in the $80K challenger in Tyler, Texas. The teenager posted wins over Sophie Chang, Kurumi Nara, Caty McNally, top-seeded Belinda Bencic (saving a MP in their SF clash) and then, in a 6-3/6-4 final, comeback-minded Brazilian Beatriz Haddad (whose '18 season has seen the up-and-coming star injured her wrist this past spring, then later her back, and come into the week ranked at #235 after being inside the Top 60 as recently as March, and before this run having gone just 2-7 since her healthy return to the court). Osuigwe, the '17 Roland Garros girls champ and former junior #1, lost to Francesca Di Lorenzo in a $25K final in January in her only previous pro singles final. The Bannerette will jump into the Top 300 for the first time on Monday, maintaining her position (behind Marta Kostyuk) as the second-highest ranked player under 17.
=============================================== JUNIOR STAR:Eleonora Alvisi/ITA ...with so many of the legendary Italian WTA stars either now retired or slipping from relevance, the NextGen is looking to produce future talent of note. Earlier this season, Elisabetta Cocciaretto reached the AO Girls semis and is currently ranked in the junior Top 20. 15-year old Alvisi is ranked well behind her -- at #155 she's the eight-ranked ITA girl -- but she took a significant step up this past week in Santiago, Chile, reaching her second straight Grade 2 final and claiming her biggest crown while dropping just one set in six matches, defeating the #16, #11, #8 and #1 seeds (Dana Guzman/PER, in the final) en route to the title. Alvisi had previously reached a Grade 5 final in March, and won a pair of Grade 4 titles this summer.
=============================================== DOUBLES:Lyudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR/UKR) ...the Ukrainian sisters went undefeated (3-0) on their way to the Elite Trophy title, the biggest of their career. The event's #3 seeds, the Kichenoks posted wins over #2-seeded Kato/Ninomiya and one half of last year's defending WD champion team (Jiang Xinyu) in round robin play, then won out over #4 Aoyama/Marozova in a 10-7 match TB in the final. Previously 0-2 in tour-level finals in '18 before this win, the sisters' third career WTA title as a duo ties them for third (w/ the Pliskovas) on the tour's all-time all-sibling title-winning list behind the Williams (22 titles) and Chan (10) sisters. Overall, the Kichenoks are 3-3 in WTA finals together, as well as 22-20 on the ITF circuit.
Congratulations to my beautiful friends - Lyudmyla & Nadiia Kichenok ???? WTA Elite Trophy Doubles Champions 2018 ???? So happy for them both!!!! pic.twitter.com/L34rDD1ZdX
=============================================== WHEELCHAIR:Maria Florencia Moreno/ARG ...Argentina's 29-year old Maria Florencia Moreno (WC #17) won her biggest title in four seasons with her 6-1/6-2 victory in the Brazil Open final in Sao Paulo over local favorite Natalia Mayara. The #2 seed, Moreno defeated the #3 (Meirycoll Duval) and #1 (Mayara) seeds en route to the title, improving her season record vs. Mayara to 3-0 after having previously been 0-6 vs. the Brazilian. The winner of a pair of ITF Series 3 titles this spring, this Series 2 win in Moreno's biggest since 2014.
Moreno logró un importante triunfo ante la local Natalia Mayara, 16° del mundo, por 6-1 y 6-2 y se quedó con el cuadro femenino. pic.twitter.com/9fnNwoggLK
1. Elite Trophy rr - Dasha Kasatkina def. Wang Qiang ...6-1/2-6/7-5. The Russian opened her week by taking this nearly three-hour contest which saw 17 breaks of serve in 27 games. She ended it with a 4 & 4 loss to Aryna Sabalenka, but managed to keep a ranking step ahead of both the Belarusian, Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova and semifinalist Julia Goerges to record her first Top 10 season.
2018 @WTA Year-End Top 10 (Rank at start of season):
=============================================== 2. Elite Trophy rr - Caroline Garcia def. Aryna Sabalenka ...6-4/6-4. Garcia had held MP vs. Sabalenka in Cincinnati and Beijing, only to eventualy lose both times. That didn't happen here, but the Belarusian sort of "outdid" her anyway. Garcia got the win, but because of a spare drop of service early in the 2nd set (and her inability to break Sabalenka at 6-4/5-3) she failed to secure a berth in the semifinals. Garcia didn't seem to fully know the specifics immediately after the match (she *should* have, though) about just how close she came, but if she'd allowed just seven games in this match the Pastry would have won the group. Instead, eventual champion Barty did. On a side note, Sabalenka fired a 133-mph serve in this one.
This is Sabalenka with the 214 km/h (133 mph) serve during the #WTAEliteTrophy
=============================================== 3. Elite Trophy rr - Wang Qiang def. Madison Keys ...1-6/6-3/6-1. Keys would have automatically reached the SF with a straight sets win, but her edge in games allowed her to coast to a winning loss (yeah, this event) here while nursing her knee injury. As it turned out, she pulled out of that semi and Wang (naturally... yeah, this event) replaced her and ended up reaching the final.
Remind me again why this tournament exists. ===============================================
4. Elite Trophy rr - Garbine Muguruza def. Anastasija Sevastova ...6-7(4)/6-2/7-6(1). Muguruza saved three MP and reached the SF with the only unblemished (2-0) rr mark, then lost to an already-eliminated player in that match, winning just two games.
What Garbi said (only about this tournament, not the camera).
=============================================== 5. Elite Trophy Final - Ash Barty def. Wang Qiang ...6-3/6-4. By the way, with this result, it's still true that no Chinese woman has won three tour-level titles in a single season. At least Ash ended things with a nice shot...
=============================================== 6. $25K Wirral UK Final - Diana Marcinkevica def. Arantxa Rus ...7-6(2)/0-6/7-6(4). The 26-year old, the THIRD-ranked Latvian on tour, wins career title #7, her first in almost two years and her biggest since 2014. She had to save two MP vs. Rus to do it.
=============================================== 7. $25K Petange LUX Final - Mandy Minella def. Helene Scholsen ...6-2/6-1. After coming up short of winning her first pro title on home soil in the tour-level Luxembourg doubles final, Minella gets one here.
=============================================== 8. $60K Liuzhou CHN Final - Wang Yafan def. Han Na-lae ...6-4/6-2. The 24-year old matches the biggest career title she won at this same event last year. Wang moves up to #73, just two off her career high ranking. =============================================== 9. $60K Toronto CAN Final - Sharon Fichman/Maria Sanchez def. Maja Chwalinska/Elitsa Kostova ...6-0/6-4. Fichman's first title since her return after two and a half years away from the sport.
=============================================== 10. $60K Canberra AUS Final - Zoe Hives def. Olivia Rogowska ...6-4/6-2. Two consecutive titles Down Under for the 21-year old Aussie.
1. Elite Trophy Final - LYUDMYLA KICHENOK/NADIIA KICHENOK def. Shuko Aoyama/Lidziya Marazova ...6-4/3-6 [10-7]. The only all-sisters tour-level doubles champions of 2018.
=============================================== 2. Mumbai 125 1st Round - ULA RADWANSKA def. Zhu Lin ...7-6(5)/6-3. Urszula qualified for the Mumbai draw, upset the #7 seed here and took eventual finalist Khromacheva to three sets in the 2nd Round. The 27-year old is currently ranked #363, but was coming in off a $25K semi, and has posted QF, SF and Final results in similar challenger events in 2018. Of course, it all comes just as sister Aga's career seems to figuratively be balancing on the head of a pin.
This news about Aga Radwanska is distressing. The foot won’t heal. Article (attached in link below but in Polish) says she will make a decision about her career by the end of November. @michal1497 translated the important parts. Thanks for that. https://t.co/7xc0WrHDz9pic.twitter.com/ew48tB6UtC
=============================================== 3. $60k Canberra AUS Final - Ellen Perez/ARINA RODIONOVA def. Destanee Aiava/Naiktha Bains ...6-7(5)/6-3 [10-7]. Rodionova finishes the season with back-to-back doubles titles with Perez, who added four consecutive Aussie challenger circuit singles finals (0-4) before falling in the 2nd Round in Canberra.
=============================================== HM- $25K Petrange LUX Final - ANASTASIA PRIBYLOVA/Nina Stojanovic def. Katarzyna Piter/Chantal skamlova ...2-6/6-2 [10-8]. The Pastry reaches her fourth overall final (1 s/3 d) over the past month. She won a $15K crown with sister Anna in Israel, while this one comes with her "favorite monkey."
blessing that can be greater than this.. I finally have gotten sometime after this overwhelming feeling to get online and check the msgs and love we have received.Shoaib and I feel truly blessed and humbled with the wishes and love we have received ??Thank you to each one of u! pic.twitter.com/PTisH3qKUe
So it’s been 5 days since we came into this world .. Me as a mother and my little Izhaan as my son ?? we’ve even watched Baba play some cricket together since we’ve arrived ?? it truly is the biggest match ,tournament achievement I’ve ever won or had and there is no feeling or- pic.twitter.com/KRiXVNmcox
I was given a special gift last week. A video that means a lot to me as the words have been repeated to me over the past two years, especially after tough losses.
It was meant to be private but I'd like to share it with you because it tells you my story.
If we knew then how great she would be now...#OnThisDay in 1994, a 14-year-old @Venuseswilliams made her professional debut to beat World No.59 ranked Shaun Stafford 6-3, 6-4 in California ???? pic.twitter.com/xMI3rRKCWk
*WTA SECOND SEASON-ENDING EVENT FINALS* [TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, 2009-11 Bali/2012-14 Sofia] 2009 Aravane Rezai/FRA d. Marion Bartoli/FRA 2010 Ana Ivanovic/SRB d. Alisa Kleybanova/RUS 2011 Ana Ivanovic/SRB d. Anabel Medina-Garrigues/ESP 2012 Nadia Petrova/RUS d. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN 2013 Simona Halep/ROU d. Samantha Stosur/AUS 2014 Andrea Petkovic/GER d. Flavia Pennetta/ITA [ELITE TROPHY, 2015-xx Zhuhai, CHN] 2015 Venus Williams/USA d. Karolina Pliskova/CZE 2016 Petra Kvitova/CZE d. Elina Svitolina/UKR 2017 Julia Goerges/GER d. CoCo Vandeweghe/USA 2018 Ash Barty/AUS d. Wang Qiang/CHN [ELITE TROPHY - Doubles Champions] 2015 Liang Chen/Wang Yafan, CHN/CHN 2016 Ipek Soylu/Xu Yifan, TUR/CHN 2017 Duan Yingying/Han Xinyu, CHN/CHN 2018 Lyudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok, UKR/UKR
*2018 SVITOLINA "TO-DO" LIST FINISHES* Lead Tour in Match wins: no (44 is in the Top 10, though) 12+ Top 10 victories: no (9) 3+ wins over #1: no (1) Reach 6+ finals (a new career high): no (4) Win 6 titles (a new career high): no (4 - second behind Kvitova's 5) Reach #1 (hey, why not?): no (#4 is best season-ending ranking, though) Reach the QF at all four majors (I've never done that): no (1 slam QF) Win a Premier Mandatory title or the WTA Finals: Yes (WTAF champion) Reach a slam semifinal (and win it): no Reach a slam final (and maybe win it): no Finish '18 in Top 10 (and maybe Top 5): Yes (#4)
*FED CUP FINALS* 1963 United States def. Australia 2-1 1964 Australia def. United States 2-1 1965 Australia def. United States 2-1 1966 United States def. West Germany 3-0 1967 United States def. Great Britain 2-0 1968 Australia def. Netherlands 3-0 1969 United States def. Australia 2-1 1970 Australia def. West Germany 3-0 1971 Australia def. Great Britain 3-0 1972 South Africa def. Great Britain 2-1 1973 Australia def. South Africa 3-0 1974 Australia def. United States 2-1 1975 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 3-0 1976 United States def. Australia 2-1 1977 United States def. Australia 2-1 1978 United States def. Australia 2-1 1979 United States def. Australia 3-0 1980 United States def. Australia 3-0 1981 United States def. Great Britain 3-0 1982 United States def. West Germany 3-0 1983 Czechoslovakia def. West Germany 2-1 1984 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 2-1 1985 Czechoslovakia def. United States 2-1 1986 United States def. Czechoslovakia 3-0 1987 West Germany def. United States 2-1 1988 Czechoslovakia def. USSR 2-1 1989 United States def. Spain 3-0 1990 United States def. USSR 2-1 1991 Spain def. United States 2-1 1992 Germany def. Spain 2-1 1993 Spain def. Australia 3-0 1994 Spain def. United States 3-0 1995 Spain def. United States 3-2 1996 United States def. Spain 5-0 1997 France def. Netherlands 4-1 1998 Spain def. Switzerland 3-2 1999 United States def. Russia 4-1 2000 United States def. Spain 5-0 2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1 2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain 3-1 2003 France def. United States 4-1 2004 Russia def. France 3-2 2005 Russia def. France 3-2 2006 Italy def. Belgium 3-2 2007 Russia def. Italy 4-0 2008 Russia def. Spain 4-0 2009 Italy def. United States 4-0 2010 Italy def. United States 3-1 2011 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2 2012 Czech Republic def. Serbia 3-1 2013 Italy def. Russia 4-0 2014 Czech Republic def. Germany 3-1 2015 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2 2016 Czech Republic def. France 3-2 2017 United States def. Belarus 3-2 2018 CZE vs. USA
*FED CUP TITLES* 18 - United States 12 - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia 7 - Australia 5 - Spain 4 - Italy 4 - Russia 2 - France 2 - Germay/West Germany 1 - Belgium 1 - Slovakia 1 - South Africa
*BACKSPIN "FED CUP PLAYER OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2016 Caroline Garcia, FRA* 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA 2018 ? -- *-non-championship team member
*BACKSPIN - FED CUP FINALS MVPs* 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE 2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2016 Barbora Strycova, CZE 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA 2018 ?
*USTA AUSTRALIAN OPEN WILD CARD PLAYOFF WINNERS* 2007 Madison Brengle 2008 Madison Brengle 2009 Christina McHale 2010 CoCo Vandeweghe 2011 Lauren Davis 2012 Madison Keys 2013 Madison Keys 2014 Sachia Vickery 2015 Irina Falconi 2016 Samantha Crawford 2017 Kayla Day 2018 Taylor Townsend 2019 ? -- NOTE: Playoff Tournament 2007-14; combined multi-event results 2015-present
*WTA CAREER SEASON-END TOP 10 RANKINGS, 1975-current (total: 104)* 19 - Martina Navratilova 15 - Serena Williams* 14 - Chris Evert 14 - Venus Williams* 13 - Steffi Graf 13 - Monica Seles 11 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 10 - Lindsay Davenport 10 - Gabriela Sabatini 10 - Maria Sharapova* 9 - Manulea Maleeva-Fragniere 9 - Conchita Martinez 8 - Jennifer Capriati 8 - Martina Hingis 8 - Aga R adwanska* 8 - Pam Shriver 8 - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI* - *-active [2018 Top 10 - most Top 10 seasons] 8 - Caroline Wozniacki 6 - Angelique Kerber 6 - Petra Kvitova 5 - Simona Halep 3 - Karolina Pliskova 2 - Elina Svitolina 1 - Kiki Bertens 1 - Dasha Kasatkina 1 - Naomi Osaka 1 - Sloane Stephens
Again, more of this BS of giving awards for the semifinals (SEVEN months ago) the week before the final. At this point, what does it matter? Bonus points for three of the four nominees ultimately not being on a roster *for* the final.
FED CUP FINAL = PRAGUE, CZE (Hard Court Indoor) CZE: Kvitova,Strycova,Siniakova,Krejcikova (Capt: Petr Pala) USA: Collins,Kenin,Riske,Melichar (Capt: Kathy Rinaldi) =======================================
...well, ummm, is the post-game celebration already set up in Prague, with banners, napkins and cups emblazoned with congratulatory expressions in Czech? Because, let's face it, it'll take quite possibly the biggest upset in FC history for the U.S. to retain its title with these rosters. One has to feel for Kathy Rinaldi, who was both caught in no-woman's land *and* possibly blindsided by this situation.
For everyone else the shock was real when these rosters were released, too. (Especially when CZE's originally included Karolina Pliskova, as well.)
Already in Singapore there were days when I felt pain even when walking and I felt terrible.But I didn't attach much weight to it.I was looking forward to the final very much,but after the examination my start is not possible.I'm really sorry about that.Our team is strong enough!
A year or two from now, with the likes of a CiCi Bellis back healthy and the new teen corps (Anisimova, Liu, Gauff, Osuigwe, etc.) more seasoned, the U.S. Captain might have been able to cobble together a title-worthy "B" team from the young Bannerette talent pool. At this point in time, though, it's a real long shot to think that the Czechs won't win their sixth FC title in the last eight years (and fourth in a five-year stretch for the second time since 2012).
Tfw after 2 surgeries and 5 months I can finally hit again ????thanks for all your support and I can’t wait to be back on tour soon! pic.twitter.com/e5r7QuTbf3
The Sisters were never going to be here, but hope (always nice, but not a strategy* - *-courtesy of last week's episode of "Survivor") was alive that Madison Keys might be healthy enough to lend a hand. She played in Zhuhai this week, but wouldn't commit to being in shape to play in Prague *after* that and then be forced to pull out late. As it turned out, she played two matches, reached the semis, and pulled out of *that* one. Sloane Stephens looked great in Singapore, but still chose not to return to the FC final after going 0-2 there a year ago and nearly single handedly costing the Bannerettes the title. CoCo Vandeweghe, a stalwart in this Rinaldi FC stretch, played doubles in the WTA Finals, but apparently is no longer the ride-or-die-I'll-always-be-there-for-ya-Cap'n roster volunteer she appeared to be a year ago, either. So...
Both Collins (early on) and Kenin (since the summer) have made good cases for inclusion on this roster, though maybe not in the big-time roles they're being shoved into against the Czechs on the road. Kenin nearly upset Pliskova at the U.S. Open. Both will bring the fire, at least. Meanwhile, Riske's role likely will depend on how well the other two do. Melichar, not FC vet Mattek-Sands, earned the doubles specialist berth with a career year, and if she plays in a "live" match it'll be with a new partner against co-#1's Krejcikova & Siniakova.
The door appeared to be ajar for a fully-stocked U.S. squad to repeat as FC champion after Kvitova went 0-3 in Singapore, and Pliskova lost a 6-0/2-0 lead vs. Stephens in the semis. An outright battle seemed possible. Pliskova's withdrawal gives only a tiny additional ray of hope, as Strycova has starred in FC in her own right. Rinaldi & Co.'s best chance is for the WTAF hangover to linger for Kvitova, and either Collins or Kenin to take advantage and steal a win against her (on Day 1, if they're lucky). Then, maybe, one might have the chance to be one win away from forcing things to a deciding doubles match on Sunday.
A U.S. squad "Hail Mary" chance *is* alive if the Bannerettes can escape Saturday at no worse than a 1-1 tie. The Czech team *has* been forced into the deciding doubles on many occasions during their near decade of dominance, though the Maiden roster depth has usually pulled them through (they're 7-1 in DD matches since 2011).
Of course, I'm picking the Czechs to prevail. I'll give the Bannerettes a win, though, be it in a singles upset or in a dead rubber match. Either 3-1 or 4-1.
River Phoenix Died 25 Years Ago – That’s Longer Than He Was Alive:
He’s now a half-forgotten legend, compared (when he is remembered) to James Dean. Reporter Karen Heller looks back and reminds us that he was an actor with extraordinary gifts (and extr… https://t.co/4DjTmUizpB
After River Phoenix died with heroin in his bloodstream, 25 years ago today, Brad Pitt said, “I think he was the best. Is. Was. Is the best of the young guys. I’m not just saying that now—I said that before he died. He had something I don’t understand.” https://t.co/cmuYjJMGSM
ALSO THIS WEEK: 2018 Rankings Round-Up COMING SOON: 2018 WTA Year in Review, WTA Yearbook and the initial "Decade's Best (2010-19)" Players of the Decade nomination list
Rankings, rankings, rise and fall For Simona Halep, Roland Garros finally said it all
Away from the Cliffs, from the emotional canyons and fits Simo's body and heart pulled her through to the finish from the start
And if she survives to a hundred and five Look at all she'll have derived out of bein' alive Here is the best part, she had a head start Because she was among the very Parisian at heart
"My fairy tale did can come true and, believe me, it too can happen to you if you're Romanian at heart."
The annual 2018 Backspin recapping season begins now with the annual whole-lotta-love (and numbers) year-end rankings round-up. Of course, I can't promise all these words and numbers will be as headspinning as the sound of The Great Wave of (Naomi) Osaka crashing upon the New York shore, or as Process-affirming Elina Svitolina's I-proved-it-so-eat-it triumph to bring down the curtain on the tour's successful stint in Singapore.
First up, the fourth edition of the Backspin "All-Rankings Team."
Congratulations to the players who pulled off some of the most significant rankings accomplishments during the 2018 season!
Naomi Osaka, JPN: The U.S. Open champ appears on her second All-Rankings Team ('16) after a season that saw her rise from deeper in the rankings (#68) than any other Top 10 player. At 21, she's also the youngest Top 10er. Kiki Bertens, NED: The former "clay court specialist" (and All-Ranking Team honoree two years ago) fully committed to becoming the best player she could be, with the result being success on *all* surfaces and her Top 10 debut at #9 at age 26. Aryna Sabalenka, BLR: Belarusian Boom just missed out on a Top 10 season (#11), but her 67-spot climb over the last year is the biggest in the Top 20, of which she's 2018's youngest member at 20 years, 5 months. Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE: The three-time junior slam winners ('13 RG-WI-US) won their first two career majors at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, ending the season as doubles co-#1's as the 40th and 41st players to ever top the tour rankings. Seven have been Czechs. Simona Halep, ROU: It's easy to overlook the reigning #1 as a "rankings achiever" after finishing atop the tour pyramid for the second straight season. But it should be noted that aside from back-to-back #1 years, she also leads the tour with five straight Top 5 seasons, five Top 10 years in a row, 257 consecutive Top 10 weeks, and 277 weeks in the Top 20 (numbers based on the '18 52-week run that ends on December 24).
Dasha Kasatkina, RUS: The first of the GenPDQ Russians to reach the Top 10, the swashbuckling 21-year old shotmaker proved to be one of the most brash and exciting players on The Most Interesting Tour in the World, jumping from #24 to #10 and becoming top-ranked Hordette for the first time. Now a three-time All-Rankings honoree (2015-16), Kasatkina made the Russian absence from the season-ending Top 10 a short one, as Svetlana Kuznetsova just missed the honor in '17 (finishing #12), making the Top 10 Hordette-free for the first time since 2002. Petra Martic, CRO: now having fully rebounded from a back injury that took out her out for nearly a year in 2016-17, the 27-year old reached her first tour-level final in six years, won a WTA 125 Series title, recorded her first Top 10 win since 2012 and finished '18 at a career-high ranking of #32. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN: the Dane remained at #3 in the rankings in '18, but won her maiden slam crown and, even while being diagnosed during the summer with rheumatoid arthritis, put together a tour-best eleventh consecutive Top 20 campaign. Angelique Kerber, GER: A year after falling from #1 to #21, the biggest non-injury/retirement related drop in tour history for a season-ending #1, Kerber rebounded by winning Wimbledon and climbing all the way back up to #2. Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU: not that long ago, Buzarnescu's injury-riddled career seemed over. In 2018, though another injury crippled her 4Q final act, she was one of the comeback success stories of the season. At age 30, a season after her long-time-coming tour MD debut, the Romanian reached the Round of 16 at RG, won her first tour singles (San Jose) and doubles (Strasbourg) titles, notched her first three Top 10 wins, briefly climbed into the Top 20 and finished at #24, up 72 spots from her standing a year ago. Danielle Collins, USA: the two-time NCAA champion made her mark on tour in '18. One of three to finish in the Top 50 (Bencic & Tomljanovic) from outside the Top 100 a year ago, Collins won a WTA 125 Series title, had her first career Top 10 win (over Venus) and made the biggest one-year jump (131 spots from #167 to #36) of any Top 50 player. She's still the highest-ranked player without a tour-level singles final in her career, so there's still more room for growth in '19.
*BACKSPIN ALL-RANKINGS TEAMS* [2015] Timea Bacsinszky, SUI (1st team) Dasha Gavrilova, RUS/AUS (1st team) Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (1st team) Johanna Konta, GBR (1st team) Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1st team) Madison Brengle, USA Margarita Gasparyan, RUS Kristina Mladenovic, FRA Alona Ostapenko, LAT Teliana Pereira, BRA Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK [2016] Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR (1st team) Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (1st team) Vania King, USA (1st team) Johanna Konta, GBR (1st team) Naomi Osaka, JPN (1st team) CiCi Bellis, USA Kiki Bertens, NED Viktorija Golubic, SUI Dasha Kasatkina, RUS Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS Anastasija Sevastova, LAT [2017] Ash Barty, AUS (1st team) Caroline Garcia, FRA (1st team) Martina Hingis, SUI (1st team) Elise Mertens, BEL (1st team) Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1st team) Julia Goerges, GER Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA Aleksandra Krunic, SRB Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK Marketa Vondrousova, CZE [2018] Kiki Bertens, NED (1st team) Simona Halep, ROU (1st team) Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE (1st team) Naomi Osaka, JPN (1st team) Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (1st team) Mihaela Buzarenscu, ROU Danielle Collins, USA Dasha Kasatkina, RUS Angelique Kerber, GER Petra Martic, CRO Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
**RANKINGS NOTES OF NOTE** [as of end-of-season ranks on November 5, 2018]
Nineteen different women moved in and out of the Top 10 over the course of 2018's official 44-week schedule, two more than a year ago. When the season ended, six of that group had spent five weeks or less there, including #9 Kiki Bertens and #10 Dasha Kasatkina, who'd both climbed into the Top 10 in the closing weeks of '18. Only four women -- Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova -- played the full season ranked inside the Top 10.
After five different women spent time at #1 in '17 (the most since 2008), only two did so this season. And one of those, Caroline Wozniacki (after her Australian Open triumph), spent just four weeks there. Defending season-ending #1 Simona Halep held onto the spot the rest of the time, becoming the fifth different woman since 2000 (Davenport 2004-05, Henin 2006-07, Wozniacki 2010-11, S.Williams 2013-15) to post back-to-back #1 campaigns.
After thirty-five women appeared in the Top 20 last season, the number shrank to thirty-two this year. Nine maintained their Top 20 standing from Week 1 through 44.
A year after the '16 Top 3 all dropped at least twenty places in the rankings by the end of '17, #1 Halep and #3 Wozniacki both this year finished in the same position as they did last season.
2018 @WTA Year-End Top 10 (Rank at start of season):
Halep will begin 2019 with sixty career weeks at #1, tenth on the all-time tour list and just eleven weeks behind Wozniacki's total of 71. If the Romanian holds onto the top spot for the full 52-week span of 2019 she'd rank eighth all-time, just five weeks behind her idol Justine Henin's number of 117.
Meanwhile, in her second consecutive abbreviated season following her pregnancy with daughter Olympia, Serena Williams nonetheless had another Top 20 season. After finishing at #22 in '17, with an 8-1 record and Australian Open title, Williams played a bit more (18-6) but came up just short (twice) of getting career slam #24 while being runner-up at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Her #16 finish is Serena's nineteenth Top 20 season in her remarkable career.
Of the six women who failed to repeat their Top 10 seasons from a year ago, two of them were slam champions in '17: Alona Ostapenko, who fell to #22 to become the second-ranked Latvian behind Anastasiya Sevastova, and Garbine Muguruza, whose #18 final standing is her first outside the Top 10 since 2014. Three of the other four's failure to repeat their slam success played a role in their ranking slip, as well. AO/WI finalist/US semifinalist Venus Williams (she finished at #40+ for just the fourth time since 1996), AO/US semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe (her crash from #10 to #104 was the biggest of 2017's Top 10ers) and Wimbledon semifinalist Johanna Konta all dropped out, along with 2017 4Q breakout star Caroline Garcia, who didn't repeat her Wuhan/Beijing combo, but did win finally pick up her lone '18 title in the closing weeks of the season in Tianjin, enough to remain in the Top 20 at #19.
On the other hand, two of the six players who moved up were previous slam winners: Angelique Kerber, who won #3 at Wimbledon this season, and Petra Kvitova, who was tripped up on the slam stage in '18 but led the tour with five singles titles. First-time Top 10ers included Naomi Osaka (the first from Japan since 1996), Kiki Bertens (just the second from the Netherlands) and Sloane Stephens (the U.S. Open winner in '17, and RG finalist this year, finally made the leap after having just missed out on even reaching -- getting as close as #11 -- back in '13).
AO champ Wozniacki's Top 10 year is the eighth of her career, tied (w/ Aga Radwanska) for fourth on the active list behind Serena, Venus and Maria Sharapova. Radwanska, a season after falling out of the Top 20 for the first time in nine and a half years (ending a six-year Top 10 run) finished at #75 while battling a career-endangering foot injury, her worst finish since 2005.
*2018 TOP 10 - CAREER TOP 10 SEASONS* 8 - Caroline Wozniacki 6 - Angelique Kerber 6 - Petra Kvitova 5 - Simona Halep 3 - Karolina Pliskova 2 - Elina Svitolina 1 - Kiki Bertens 1 - Dasha Kasatkina 1 - Naomi Osaka 1 - Sloane Stephens
Anett Kontaveit continued her career progression in '18. Two years ago, she finished outside the Top 100. In 2017, she was #34. While she didn't win a singles title this season, she reached her biggest final (Wuhan), set (AO/RG) or matched (WI) her best result at three different majors, and recorded six of her eight career Top 10 victories. In the (literal) closing hours of this season, she appeared set to complete her first career Top 20 season, making her just the second Estonian to do so and the first since Kaia Kanepi in 2012. But then the Elite Trophy's ridiculous rule that allowed injured semifinalist Madison Keys to be replaced by eliminated round robin participant Wang Qiang changed all that. Wang knocked off Muguruza to reach the final and picked up just enough points to surpass Kontaveit and edge her out for a Top 20 season by a mere five ranking points. #20 Wang is just the third Chinese woman to finish a season inside the Top 20, following in the footsteps of Li Na and Peng Shuai (Zheng Jie ranked as high as #15, but never finished a season higher than #25, in 2008).
Victoria Azarenka's latest season produced yet another unique journey for the two-time slam champ and former #1.
A Top 3 player from 2011-13, injuries marred her '14 season as she fell to #32. 2015 included a few Top 20 weeks and a #22 finish. In 2016 she briefly returned to the Top 5 after becoming the third woman to pull off the "Sunshine Double" with back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami, but never played another match after Roland Garros, ending her season by announcing her pregnancy. Still, she ended up at #13. Returning from a 13-month absence during the grass court season, Azarenka played a handful of events and reached the Wimbledon Round of 16 in '17, but shut down her season why being unable to travel due to a custody battle. Her season-ending ranking fell to #208, her lowest since her ranking debut year in 2004. Finally settling her legal issues, she returned to the Top 100 in '18 but experienced an uneven season, going just 3-3 in slams and finishing her second straight season without having reached a final since her Indian Wells/Miami two-fer. Still, she got her first Top 10 win since '16 (Ka.Pliskova in Miami, where she reached the SF), as well as playing in the Wimbledon mixed doubles final. Her season-ending ranking is up to #51, a 157-spot jump that is the second biggest of any player ranked in the Top 100 (Dalila Jakupovic - 170 spots).
Looking for an even bigger rebound in '19, Azarenka has signed up Wim Fissette as her new coach.
While Kasatkina finished in the Top 10, some of her countrywoman had more "mixed" results in '18. Two-time slam champ Svetlana Kuznetsova took a singles title in Washington, but won multiple matches in just one of her other thirteen events. Her 95-spot fall from #12 to #107 was the second biggest drop for any player ranked in last year's Top 20 (behind pregnant countrywoman Elena Vesnina's 119-spot fall), giving her her worst finish since 2001.
Meanwhile, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won another title (#12, in Strasbourg), but finished outside the Top 40 (#42) for the first time since 2009. Maria Sharapova didn't win a title for the second season in the last three years, but her first (mostly) full season since her suspension saw her rise thirty-one spots to #29, have her best slam result (RG QF) since her return, and record three Top 10 wins while going 20-11. =============================================== The United States once again produced the most Top 100 players this season, landing twelve women in the field, down one from 2017, and four less than the number of Top 100-ranked Bannerettes in '16. The U.S. contingent once again includes both the oldest (Venus Williams, 38) and youngest (Amanda Anisimova, 17) players in the Top 100. A year ago, Anisimova was the youngest player in the Top 200. This year that honor goes to 16-year old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. The next youngest player in the tour rankings is another Ukrainian, 15-year old Dasha Lopatetskaya, at #465. The youngest player in the Top 1000 is 14-year old Roland Garros girls champion Coco Gauff (U.S.).
The only ranked singles players older than Venus are a pair of 39-year olds: #286 Patty Schnyder and #504 Greta Arn.
For the second straight year, thirty-four nations combine to compose the season-ending Top 100, while sixteen (three more than in '17) make up the Top 20, with the U.S. (3), Germany (2) and the Czech Republic (2) all having multiple representatives.
Twenty-six players fell out of the Top 100 since the end of last season, replaced by twenty-seven newbies. The majority (23) of the rising players made the logical jump from #101-200 a year ago, while three (Victoria Azarenka, Anastasia Potapova and Dalila Jakupovic) were ranked between #201-299. Of the group, nine had previous Top 100 seasons in their careers. Some of the "name" players were slipped outside the Top 100 included a handful of the players who have won slam crowns, and reached major finals or semifinals, including Francesca Schiavone (retired), Svetlana Kuznetsova, CoCo Vandeweghe, Elena Vesnina, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Peng Shuai, Timea Bacsinszky, and Lucie Safarova.
Meanwhile, after falling to twenty-one a season ago, the number of Top 50 nations in '18 went back up to the recent high water mark of twenty-five attained in 2016.
=============================================== It's been an annual ritual to bemoan the state of South American women's tennis in this spot each and every year. Not that there haven't been a few bright spots.
In 2015, Brazil's Teliana Pereira became the most successful female player from the Land of Bueno (as in now later Hall of Famer Maria) in some three decades, winning a pair of singles titles and finishing at #45 less than a year before the Summer Olympics were set to take place in Rio. But Pereira's tennis fortunes have been in a steep downturn ever since. She had her worst campaign since 2011 two years ago, falling to #204, slipped further to #352 in '17 as she became the eighth highest-ranked woman on the continent, and then this year is all the way down to #629, making her the eighth-ranked woman in Brazil alone.
But things are -- well, WERE -- looking up for the women of South America after last season. Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg posted her second consecutive "career year" (reaching the 4th Round at Roland Garros), while Colombia's Mariana Duque Marino continued to set up camp just outside the season-ending Top 100, despite the occasional dipping of her toe into those waters during the season throughout her career (climbing as high as #66 in 2015, her lone Top 100 campaign). But the best news coming out of South America was Beatriz Haddad Maia. The young Brazilian seemed poised to surpass Pereira as the "most bueno" post-Bueno female tennis star to emerge from the nation. She reached her first career tour singles final in 2017 and climbed 146 spots in the rankings, going from #211 to #65, and from the eighth-ranked player in South America to the first, with plenty of room for even more growth.
Then came 2018.
VCR slipped to #146 this year and failed to win a slam MD match, going 0-3 and losing in the opening qualifying round at the U.S. Open. Since she reached the 4th Round in Paris in '17, she's now dropped seven consecutive matches in slam competition. Again, Duque failed to finish in the Top 100 (she spent six weeks there in '18, the eighth different season in her career she's spent time there), ending the season at #112.
Haddad, rather than take another big step, took a step *back* due to injury. The 22-year old hurt her wrist this past spring, then later her back, and fell from inside the Top 60 in March to #235 (a two-year low) before reaching a $100K challenger in the final week of action before the season-ending rankings were set. The result bumped her up to #184. Still the top-ranked Brazilian, she finished as the South American #3.
For the record, at the time of the WTA's season-ending rankings, eight South American men were ranked in the current ATP Top 100. Six of them hail from Argentina alone, where the top-ranked woman is #264 Paula Ormaechea.
Meanwhile, the next generation of continental hope is finally emerging.
Now 18-year old Maria Carle (ARG) was a U.S. Open girls semifinalist in '17 along with 17-year old Colombian Emiliana Arango (the one who plays with the backward cap... yeah, her), who made a spring stir by reaching the tour-level Bogota QF in just her third WTA MD (all in Bogota from 2016-18). Meanwhile, on the junior level, Arango's fellow Colombian Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, 16, was a dominant presence all season long, opening with a 24-0 run (w/ three straight Grade 1 crowns), then later becoming still another South American to reach the U.S. Open junior semis. Late in the season, she won a Youth Olympic Bronze medal and reached the Junior Masters final. The next ranked junior girl behind #4 MCOS is still (now) part-time junior Carle at #40.
=============================================== Five teenagers rank in the Top 100, up from four last year (after 5, 5 & 6 from 2014-16), through four others turned 20 less than six months before the end of the season. They're no band of anonymous teens, either.
18-year old Dayana Yastremska won a tour singles title, while 17-year olds Anastasia Potapova (2) and Amanda Anisimova were finalists. Sonya Kenin will play a big role for the U.S. in the Fed Cup final, and Marketa Vondrousova won a title in '17. 17-year old Olga Danilovic won a title, too, but just missed out on a Top 100 finish at #103.
Now 20, Aryna Sabalenka reached a final while still a teenager (and three more after leaving her teens), Viktoria Kuzmova starred for Slovakia in Fed Cup and put up a tour-level SF in Budapest SF (later, at 20, she won two $100K challenger titles). Another 20-year old, Tamara Zidansek, won a WTA 125 Series crown.
A season after the Ostapenko/Kasatkina final in Charleston was the first featuring two teenagers since 2009, Danilovic and Potapova took part in another in Moscow. In Indian Wells, the all-(then)-20 Osaka/Kasatkina clash was the second-youngest final in 2018.
Generation PDQ is flexing its collective muscles. In all, there were fifteen under-21 singles finalists this season, with six picking up titles, including Osaka's I.W. and U.S. Open runs.
And the young pool continues to expand. The past few years have seen the number of teens ranked between #101-200 go from seven in '16 to seventeen last year. In '18, the number is fifteen.
=YOUNGEST IN...= Top 10: Naomi Osaka, JPN (21) Top 20: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (20) Top 50: Sabalenka Top 100: Amanda Anisimova, USA (17) Top 200: Marta Kostyuk, UKR (16) Top 300: Kostyuk Top 400: Kostyuk Top 500: Dasha Lopatetskaya, UKR (15) Top 600: Lopatetskaya Top 700: Lopatetskaya Top 800: Connie Ma, USA (15) Top 900: Ma Top 1000: Coco Gauff, USA (14)
2018 Roland Garros junior champ Gauff is the youngest player in the Top 1000 at #875. She brings up the tail end of this year's junior slam (and "extra" event) singles finalists, all of whom have a WTA ranking (three already in the Top 200):
AO W: Liang En-shuo, TPE (#279/jr.#5) RG W: Coco Gauff, USA (#875/jr.#6) WI W: Iga Swiatek, POL (#175/jr.#7 US W: Wang Xiyu, CHN (#200/jr.#2) Youth Olympic W: Kaja Juvan, SLO (#174/jr.#17) Junior Masters W: Clara Burel, FRA (#612/jr.#1) - AO RU: Clara Burel, FRA (#612/jr.#1) RG RU: Caty McNally, USA (#682/jr.#9) WI RU: Leonie Kung, SUI (#446/jr.#31) US RU: Clara Burel, FRA (#612/jr.#1) Youth Olympic RU: Clara Burel, FRA (#612/jr.#1) Junior Masters RU: Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, COL (#723/jr.#4)
As for the youngest players in the top-end of the tour rankings...
*YOUNGEST PLAYER - end of '18 season* [Top 100] 17...Amanda Anisimova, USA (born August 31, 2001) 17...Anastasia Potapova, RUS (born March 30, 2001) 18...Dayana Yastremska, UKR (born May 15, 2000) 19...Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (born June 28, 1999) 19...Sonya Kenin, USA (born November 14, 1998) 20...Vera Lapko, BLR (born September 29, 1998) 20...Anna Blinkova, RUS (born September 10, 1998) 20...Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK (born May 11, 1998) 20...Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (born May 5, 1998) 20...Tamara Zidansek, SLO (born December 26, 1997) [#101-200] 16...Marta Kostyuk, UKR (born June 28, 2002) 17...Iga Swiatek, POL (born May 31, 2001) 17...Wang Xiyu, CHN (born March 28, 2001) 17...Olga Danilovic, SRB (born January 23, 2001) 17...Kaja Juvan, SLO (born November 25, 2000) 18...Bianca Andreescu, CAN (born June 16, 2000) 18...Claire Liu, USA (born May 25, 2000) 18...Katarina Zavatska, UKR (born February 5, 2000) 18...Sofya Zhuk, RUS (born December 1, 1999) 19...Elena Rybakina, KAZ (born June 17, 1999) 19...CiCi Bellis, USA (born April 8, 1999) 19...Katie Swan, GBR (born March 24, 1999) 19...Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (born December 2, 1998) 19...Fanni Stollar, HUN (born November 12, 1998) 19...Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (born November 11, 1998) 20...Caroline Dolehide, USA (born September 5, 1998) 20...Marie Bouzkova, CZE (born July 21, 1998) 20...Karman Thandi, IND (born June 16, 1998) 20...Priscilla Hon, AUS (born May 10, 1998) 20...Ayano Shimizu, JPN (born April 11, 1998) 20...Gabriella Taylor, GBR (born March 7, 1998) 20...Magdalena Frech, POL (born December 15, 1997) 20...Paula Badosa Gibert, ESP (born November 15, 1997)
While the youngsters are rising, the veterans are staying around longer, and producing noteworthy seasons into their thirties. 30-year old Angelique Kerber won slam title #3 (she's three-quarters of the way to a Career Slam) and ended as the second-ranked player on tour. 37-year old Serena Williams (#16) reached two slam finals, and now 30-year old Julia Goerges was a first-time slam semifinalist at Wimbledon.
33-year old Svetlana Kuznetsova (Washington) was the oldest singles champion of '18, with (then) 36-year old Serena Williams (WI/US) the most senior finalist. In all, seven titles were won by players age 30+, though none were claimed by a Williams or Sharapova.
Nineteen thirtysomethings finished in the Top 100 for the second straight year, with ten more finishing with rankings between #101-200, including 34-year old former world #2 and slam finalist Vera Zvonareva, who finished with her best ranking (#123) since 2012. Francesca Schiavone spent much of the first four months of 2018 ranked inside the Top 100, before gearing down and eventually announcing her retirement in September after playing her final match in July (a Gstaad loss to Sam Stosur, the Aussie she defeated in the final to win her lone slam title at Roland Garros in 2010).
=OLDEST IN...= Top 10: Angelique Kerber, GER (30) Top 20: Serena Williams, USA (37) Top 50: Venus Williams, USA (38) Top 100: V.Williams Top 200: V.Williams Top 300: Patty Schnyder, SUI (39) Top 400: Schnyder Top 500: Schnyder
Meanwhile, 30-year old Ekaterina Makarova and 32-year old WD partner Elena Vesnina both reached the doubles #1 position for the first time this year. Twenty-five tour-level WD & MX titles were won by players age 32-and-over, including three from 43-year old Czech Kveta Peschke.
*OLDEST PLAYER - end of '18 season* [Top 100] 38...Venus Williams, USA (born June 17, 1980) 37...Serena Williams, USA (born September 8, 1981) 34...Samantha Stosur, AUS (born March 30, 1984) 33...Kaia Kanepi, EST (born June 10, 1985) 32...Kirsten Flipkens, BEL (born January 1, 1986) 32...Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE (borN January 4, 1986) 32...Pauline Parmentier, FRA (born January 31, 1986) 32...Barbora Strycova, CZE (born March 28, 1986) 31...Maria Sharapova, RUS (born April 19, 1987) 31...Tatjana Maria, GER (born August 8, 1987) 31...Andrea Petkovic, GER (born September 9, 1987) 31...Monica Niculescu, ROU (born September 25, 1987) 30...Angelique Kerber, GER (born January 18, 1988) 30...Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU (born May 4, 1988) 30...Ekaterina Makarova, RUS (born June 7, 1988) 30...Johanna Larsson, SWE (born August 17, 1988) 30...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP (born September 3, 1988) 30...Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (born October 4, 1988) 30...Julia Goerges, GER (born November 2, 1988) [#101-200] 34...Vera Zvonareva, RUS (born September 7, 1984) 33...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (born June 27, 1985) 32...Varvara Lepchenko, USA (born April 21, 1986) 32...Elena Vesnina, RUS (born August 1, 1986) 32...Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR (born August 8, 1986) 32...Mandy Minella, LUX (born November 22, 1985) 31...Lucie Safarova, CZE (born February 4, 1987) 31...Sara Errani, ITA (born April 29, 1987) 30...Silvia Soler-Espinosa, ESP (born November 19, 1987) 30...Laura Siegemund, GER (born March 4, 1988) =============================================== Sometimes the Tennis Gods like to mess with people...
Aleksandra Krunic, SRB: The Bracelet won her first career tour singles title at Rosmalen, reached a career high of #39 and doubled her career Top 10 win total to four. But her season-ending ranking actually fell from #55 to #57.
Genie Bouchard, CAN: the Canadian seemed to have a more consistent return to something close to *relevancy* in '18. She reached a pair of tour-level SF and a QF, and was a Fed Cup star once again after quite a few years of disappointing results when representing Canada or playing on home soil. But her season-ending ranking actually *fell* from #81 to #89, her worst finish since 2012.
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN: At this time last year, the Dane was still without a slam title and hadn't been ranked #1 since 2012. In 2018, she won the Australian Open and spent four weeks at #1, ending a record 312-week drought (breaking Serena's 265-week gap between #1 rankings from 2003-08). But her ranking remained static, as she posted her second straight #3 finish.
Alize Cornet, FRA: the Pastry won her first title in two and a half years at Gstaad and recorded her biggest win (#4 Kerber in Montreal) since 2015, but her ranking fell from #38 to #44 over the past year.
And sometimes players get the chance to mess with the Tennis Gods...
Madison Keys, USA: in 2017, Keys won a title in Stanford and reached her maiden slam final at Flushing Meadows. This year, with injuries once again holding her back, she failed to reach a singles final. Naturally, her season-ending ranking rose from #19 to #17.
Timea Babos, HUN: the Hungarian won a singles title in Taiwan and had the biggest single match win of her career (#9 Vandeweghe/AO), but she saw her ranking fall for a second straight season. She was #26 in '16, #57 in '17 and now #61 in '18. But this was still her "best" year, largely because of her doubles success. She won the Australian Open and WTA Finals WD titles with Kristina Mladenovic, and reached the U.S. Open final. She also played in the AO MX championship. She was the doubles #1 for thirteen weeks, and had a career-best finish of #3.
=============================================== There are still two full sets of sisters in the 2018 Top 100. In all, nine players with tennis playing siblings are present, one more than a year ago. Seven of the sisters are repeats from 2017, with Kateryna Bondarenko (#132), Arina Rodionova (#168) and Naomi Broady (#199) having fallen out.
The Sisters Top 10:
#5 Naomi Osaka, JPN (Mari) #8 Karolina Pliskova, CZE (Kristyna) #16 Serena Williams, USA (Venus) #28 Hsieh Su-wei, TPE (Shu-Ying) #40 Venus Williams, USA (Serena) #43 Ajla Tomljanovic, AUS (Hana) #75 Aga Radwanska, POL (Urszula) #77 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK (Kristina) #97 Kristyna Pliskova, CZE (Karolina) #115 Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (Polina)
The rest in the Top 300:
#126 Julia Glushko, ISR (Lina) #128 Caroline Dolehide, USA (Courtney) #132 Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR (Alona) #168 Arina Rodionova, AUS (Anastasia) #197 Lu Jia-jing, CHN (Jia-Xiang) #199 Naomi Broady, GBR (Liam-ATP) #224 Frankie Abanda, CAN (Elisabeth) #265 Kristina Kucova, SVK (Zuzana) #276 Olga Ianchuk, UKR (Elizaveta) #277 Peangtarn Plipuech, THA (Plobrung)
=============================================== STAT-COLLECTING "FIND," YEAR 2: while pulling together all of the numbers for this post a year ago, I happened upon one of those tennis names that just makes you smile, and I begged the Tennis Gods to bring her a little success. Her name was Eliessa Vanlangendonck.
It set off a year-long "Where In the World is Eliessa Vanlangendonck?" watch.
The 21-year old Belgian Waffle was ranked #723 in singles in '17, and #1030 in doubles, having reached five ITF singles semis in her career, and having lost in her lone WD final at the challenger level. The modest Please-Tennis-Gods goal for 2018 was her maiden pro title and breaking into the singles Top 700 for the first time.
Well, after a long season filled with near-misses (0-4 in singles SF), and 0-4 in doubles finals, Vanlangendonck finally got her first pro title in the final ranking week of the season, winning the $15K Monastir, Turkey challenger title with Tamara Curovic. She finished at a career-best #622 in singles (achieved on November 5) and #629 in doubles (achieved on October 29). And she's still playing on the challenger level this month, so things could get even better!
As of now, the next goal is, of course, a first singles final (and title) and, who knows, maybe even a Top 500 ranking by this time next year.
Keep it up, Eliessa! =============================================== Of course, there's always SOMEONE with her nose pressed up against the Top 100 glass, finishing #101. In 2018, it's Heather Watson.
The 26-year old Brit reached a semifinal in Hobart in January, but then suffered through a terrible stretch. Her losing streak reached ten matches, and she slipped from her 2017 #74 finish into the #130's in July. But she rebounded late in the summer, reaching a $100K final and tour-level semi at Quebec City. She was back up to #89 in October, and at #99 with one ranking week left to play. But she slipped two spots in the final week, ending at #101, her first non-Top 100 season since 2013, and just her second since 2010.
Last year's #101, Kurumi Nara, couldn't stop her slide this year after seeing her Top 100 season streak (2013-16) end in 2017. The 26-year old reached a $25K final in February, and won an $80K challenger in May (her first WS title since '14), but went through a ten-match losing streak this summer/fall. Her ranking slipped 60+ spots after the U.S. Open (she'd upset Kuznetsova in the 2nd Round in '17) to #161 in October, and she ultimately finished at #167.
*#101 FINISHES* 2011: Stephanie Foretz-Gacon, FRA 2012: Stephanie Foretz-Gacon, FRA 2013: Mariana Duque, COL 2014: Aleksandra Krunic, SRB 2015: Kiki Bertens, NED 2016: Donna Vekic, CRO 2017: Kurumi Nara, JPN 2018: Heather Watson, GBR
This year's Kontaveit/Wang situation has shown the call for a few other layers of "just-missed-it" lists. Here are recent players who came up one spot short of Top 10 and Top 20 seasons:
*#11 FINISHES* 2005: Serena Williams, USA 2006: Dinara Safina, RUS 2007: Elena Dementieva, RUS 2008: Nadia Petrova, RUS 2009: Marion Bartoli, FRA 2010: Li Na, CHN 2011: Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2012: Marion Bartoli, FRA 2013: Simona Halep, ROU 2014: Dominika Cibulkova, SVK 2015: Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2016: Petra Kvitova, CZE 2017: Kristina Mladenovic, FRA 2018: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR *#21 FINISHES* 2005: Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER 2006: Li Na, CHN 2007: Sybille Bammer, AUT 2008: Daniela Hantuchova, SVK 2009: Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2010: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS 2011: Julia Goerges, GER 2012: Varvara Lepchenko, USA 2013: Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2014: Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2015: Jelena Jankovic, SRB 2016: Samantha Stosur, AUS 2017: Angelique Kerber, GER 2018: Anett Kontaveit, EST
[based on November 5 end-of-season 2018 WTA rankings]
*TOP 100 FACTS* =HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYER WITHOUT A CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLE= 2007 Victoria Azarenka, BLR - won first title in 2009 2008 Victoria Azarenka, BLR - 2009 2009 Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS - 2010 2010 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK - 2011 2011 Peng Shuai, CHN - 2016 2012 Varvara Lepchenko, USA 2013 Sloane Stephens, USA - 2015 2014 Peng Shuai, CHN - 2016 2015 Kristina Mladenovic, FRA - 2017 2016 Dasha Gavrilova, AUS - 2017 2017 Wang Qiang, CHN - 2018 2018 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR ----------------------------- *TOP 60 PLAYERS WITHOUT WTA SINGLES TITLES* #30 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR #32 Petra Martic, CRO #36 Danielle Collins, USA* #41 Maria Sakkari, GRE #43 Ajla Tomljanovic, AUS #45 Yulia Putintseva, KAZ #46 Zheng Saisai, CHN #52 Sonya Kenin, USA* #55 Rebecca Peterson, SWE* #56 Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK* - *-also no tour-level finals ----------------------------- *PLAYERS RISING INTO THE TOP 100* 2018 newbies: 26 (since end of '17 season - November 6, 2017) 2017 newbies: 27 2016 newbies: 27 2015 newbies: 29 2014 newbies: 24 2013 newbies: 27 2012 newbies: 29 2011 newbies: 31 2010 newbies: 23 2009 newbies: 28 2008 newbies: 34 2007 newbies: 33 ----------------------------- TOP 100 NEWBIES ('17 rank): (* - first career Top 100 season) #36 Danielle Collins, USA (#167)* #37 Belinda Bencic, SUI (#165) #43 Ajla Tomljanovic, AUS (#151) #51 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (#208) #52 Sonya Kenin, USA (#113)* #55 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (#196)* #56 Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK (#132)* #58 Kaia Kanepi, EST (#107) #60 Dayana Yastremska, UKR (#189)* #65 Vera Lapko, BLR (#131)* #68 Bernarda Pera, USA (#127)* #69 Dalila Jakupovic, SLO (#239)* #70 Tamara Zidansek, SLO (#180)* #71 Ana Bogdan, ROU (#115)* #73 Wang Yafan, CHN (#168)* #74 Taylor Townsend, USA (#105)* #77 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK (#133) #80 Luksika Kumkhum, THA (#124) #82 Polona Hercog, SLO (#102) #85 Stefanie Voegele, SUI (#152) #92 Viktorija Golubic, SUI (#128) #94 Anastasia Potapova, RUS (#237)* #95 Amanda Anisimova, USA (#192)* #96 Sachia Vickery, USA (#116)* #98 Anna Blinkova, RUS (#136)* #100 Katie Boulter, GBR (#199)* ----------------------------- *SMALLEST 2017-to-2018 RANKING CHANGES IN TOP 100* 0...Simona Halep (#1 to #1) 0...Caroline Wozniacki (#3 to #3) 0...Julia Goerges (#14 to #14) 0...Marketa Vondrousova (#67 to #67) 0...Lara Arruabarrena (#84 to #84) +1...Dominika Cibulkova (#26 to #25) +1...Zhang Shuai (#36 to #35) +2...Elina Svitolina (#6 to #4) +2...Ash Barty (#17 to #15) +2...Madison Keys (#19 to #17) -2...Aleksandra Krunic (#55 to #57) ----------------------------- *TOP 100 BY NATION* (w/ # in 2017) 12...United States (13) 8...Russia (9) 6...Czech Republic (7) 6...Romania (5) 5...Germany (7) 4...Australia (3) 4...Belarus (2) 4...China (5) 4...France (5) 4...Slovakia (2) 4...Spain (4) 4...Ukraine (4) 3...Belgium (3) 3...Slovenia (0) 3...Switzerland (1) 2...Croatia (5) 2...Estonia (1) 2...Great Britain (2) 2...Kazakhstan (2) 2...Latvia (2) 2...Poland (2) 2...Sweden (1) 1...Canada (1) 1...Denmark (1) 1...Greece (1) 1...Hungary (1) 1...Italy (2) 1...Japan (2) 1...Netherlands (1) 1...Puerto Rico (1) 1...Serbia (1) 1...Taiwan (1) 1...Thailand (0) 1...Tunisia (1) -- 2017 TOP 100, NONE in 2018: Brazil (1), Paraguay (1) =============================================== *RANKINGS OF 2018 ITF SINGLES TITLE LEADERS* (by titles as of November 5, 2018) 8 titles - #294 Fernanda Brito, CHI 5 titles - #186 Rebecca Marino, CAN 5 titles - #232 Andreea Amalia Rosca, ROU ===============================================
*REGIONAL RANKINGS*
==EASTERN EUROPE & RUSSIA + BALTIC REGION== #1 Simona Halep, ROU #4 Elina Svitolina, UKR #11 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR #12 Anastasija Sevastova, LAT #21 Anett Kontaveit, EST #22 Alona Ostapenko, LAT #24 Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU #27 Lesia Tsurenko, UKR #30 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR #51 Victoria Azarenka, BLR #58 Kaia Kanepi, EST #60 Dayana Yastremska, UKR =RUSSIA= #10 Dasha Kasatkina #29 Maria Sharapova #42 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova #59 Ekaterina Makarova #88 Evgeniya Rodina #93 Ekaterina Alexandrova #94 Anastasia Potapova #98 Anna Blinkova #105 Margarita Gasparyan #107 Svetlana Kuznetsova [BALTIC REGION] #12 Anastasija Sevastova, LAT #21 Anett Kontaveit, EST #22 Alona Ostapenko, LAT #58 Kaia Kanepi, EST #338 Diana Marcinkevica, LAT #569 Daniela Vismane, LAT #958 Alise Cernecka, LAT #974 Joana Eidukonyte, LTU
==WESTERN EUROPE + SCANDINAVIA== #2 Angelique Kerber, GER #3 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN #7 Petra Kvitova, CZE #8 Karolina Pliskova, CZE #9 Kiki Bertens, NED #13 Elise Mertens, BEL #14 Julia Goerges, GER #18 Garbine Muguruza, ESP #19 Caroline Garcia, FRA #23 Carla Suarez Navarro, ESP #25 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK #26 Camila Giorgi, ITA [SCANDINAVIA] #3 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN #55 Rebecca Peterson, SWE #76 Johanna Larsson, SWE #274 Ulrikke Eikeri, NOR #419 Mirjam Bjorklund, SWE #511 Anastasia Kulikova, FIN #535 Cornelia Lister, SWE #561 Melanie Stokke, NOR #589 Malene Helgo, NOR
==ASIA/PACIFIC & AUSTRALIA + CHINA== #5 Naomi Osaka, JPN #15 Ash Barty, AUS #28 Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE #38 Dasha Gavrilova, AUS #43 Ajla Tomljanovic, AUS #45 Yulia Putintseva, KAZ #72 Samantha Stosur, AUS #80 Luksika Kumkhum, THA #91 Zarina Diyas, KAZ #119 Nao Hibino, JPN #122 Sofia Shapatava, UZB ==CHINA== #20 Wang Qiang #35 Zhang Shuai #46 Zheng Saisai #73 Wang Yafan #114 Zhu Lin #135 Liu Fangzhou #140 Duan Yingying #162 Han Xinyun #197 Lu Jia-jing #200 Wang Xiyu [AUSTRALIA] #15 Ash Barty #38 Dasha Gavrilova #43 Ajla Tomljanovic #72 Samantha Stosur #158 Priscilla Hon #168 Arina Rodionova #181 Ellen Perez #202 Jamie Fourlis #211 Olivia Rogowska #215 Zoe Hives #225 Astra Sharma #230 Lizetta Cabrera #249 Destanee Aiava
==AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST & MEDITERRANEAN== #41 Maria Sakkari, GRE #62 Ons Jabeur, TUN #126 Julia Glushko, ISR #165 Valentini Grammatikopoulou, GRE #173 Basak Eraydin, TUR #240 Pemra Ozgen, TUR #253 Deniz Khazaniuk, ISR #268 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR #358 Berfu Cengiz, TUR #368 Chanel Simmonds, RSA #396 Sandra Samir, EGY #424 Lina Gjorcheska, MKD #449 Elena Kordolaimi, GRE #477 Despina Papamichail, GRE #501 Ayla Aksu, TUR #526 Ipek Soylu, TUR
==SOUTH AMERICA + CENTRAL AMERICA== #112 Mariana Duque Marino, COL #146 Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR #184 Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA #264 Paula Ormaechea, ARG #294 Fernanda Brito, CHI #295 Daniela Seguel, CHI #320 Nadia Podoroska, ARG #321 Victoria Bosio, ARG #328 Andrea Gamiz, VEN #356 Catalina Pella, ARG #359 Carolina Meligeni Alves, BRA #362 Montserrat Gonzalez, PAR #388 Gabriela Ce, BRA [CENTRAL AMERICA] #688 Andrea Weedon, Guatemala #850 Melissa Morales, Guatemala
==NORTH AMERICA/ATLANTIC & UNITED STATES== [UNITED STATES] #6 Sloane Stephens #16 Serena Williams #17 Madison Keys #36 Danielle Collins #40 Venus Williams #52 Sonya Kenin #63 Alison Riske #68 Bernarda Pera #74 Taylor Townsend #90 Madison Brengle #95 Amanda Anisimova #96 Sachia Vickery #104 CoCo Vandeweghe [non-USA] #53 Monica Puig, PUR #89 Genie Bouchard, CAN #178 Bianca Andreescu, CAN #186 Rebecca Marino, CAN #210 Carol Zhao, CAN #219 Katherine Sebov, CAN #224 Franckie Abanda, CAN #258 Renata Zarazua, MEX #312 Victoria Rodriguez, MEX #365 Ana Sofia Sanchez, MEX #429 Marcela Zacarias, MEX #461 Gaby Dabrowski, CAN #487 Leylah Annie Fernandez, CAN #536 Giuliana Olmos, MEX
*BIGGEST RISES IN THE RANKINGS* =end of '17 to end of '18 season= [in 2018 Top 25] +67...Arnya Sabalenka (#78 to #11) +63...Naomi Osaka (#68 to #5) +48...Mihaela Buzarnescu (#72 to #24) +25...Wang Qiang (#45 to #20) +22...Petra Kvitova (#29 to #7) +22...Kiki Bertnes (#31 to #9) +22...Elise Mertens (#35 to #13) +19...Angelique Kerber (#21 to #2) +17...Carla Suarez Navarro (#40 to #23) +14...Dasha Kasatkina (#24 to #10) +13...Anett Kontaveit (#34 to #21) [2018 Top 26-50] +131...Danielle Collins (#167 to #36) +128...Belinda Bencic (#165 to #37) +108...Ajla Tomljanovic (#151 to #43) +68...Hsieh Su-wei (#96 to #28) +57...Aliaksandra Sasnovich (#87 to #30) +57...Petra Martic (#89 to #32) +53...Camila Giorgi (#79 to #26) +48...Zheng Saisai (#94 to #46) +31...Maria Sharapova (#60 to #29) +28...Kirsten Flipkens (#76 to #48) +25...Alison Van Uytvanck (#75 to #50) +22...Donna Vekic (#56 to #34) [2018 Top 51-100] +170...Dalina Jakupovic (#239 to #69) +157...Victoria Azarenka (#208 to #51) +143...Anastasia Potapova (#237 to #94) +141...Rebecca Peterson (#196 to #55) +129...Dayana Yastremska (#189 to #60) +110...Tamara Zidansek (#180 to #70) +99...Katie Boulter (#199 to #100) +97...Amanda Anisimova (#192 to #95) +95...Wang Yafan (#168 to #73) +76...Viktoria Kuzmova (#132 to #56) +67...Stefanie Voegele (#152 to #85) +66...Vera Lapko (#131 to #65) +61...Sonya Kenin (#113 to #52) +59...Bernarda Pera (#127 to #68) +56...Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (#133 to #77)
*BIGGEST FALLS IN THE RANKINGS* =end of '17 to end of '18 season= [2017 Top 25] -119...Elena Vesnina (#18 to #137) -95...Svetlana Kuznetsova (#12 to #107) -94...CoCo Vandeweghe (#10 to #104) -35...Venus Williams (#5 to #40) -33...Kristina Mladenovic (#11 to #44) -30...Johanna Konta (#9 to #39) -29...Magdalena Rybarikova (#20 to #49) -27...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (#15 to #42) -16...Garbine Muguruza (#2 to #18) -15...Alona Ostapenko (#7 to #22) -13...Dasha Gavrilova (#25 to #38) [2017 Top 26-50] -374...Ana Konjuh (#44 to #418) -311...Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (#32 to #343) -271...Peng Shuai (#27 to #298) -202...Lauren Davis (#50 to #252) -202...Timea Bacsinszky (#39 to #241) -83...CiCi Bellis (#47 to #130) -76...Lucie Safarova (#30 to #106) -49...Sorana Cirstea (#37 to #86) -47...Aga Radwanska (#28 to #75) -33...Mona Barthel (#48 to #81) -33...Tatjana Maria (#46 to #79) [2017 Top 51-100] -721...Shelby Rogers (#59 to #780) -234...Oceane Dodin (#85 to #319) -121...Carina Witthoeft (#51 to #172) -119...Beatriz Haddad Maia (#65 to #184) -108...Jana Fett (#98 to #206) -92...Christina McHale (#63 to #155) -80...Natalia Vikhlyantseva (#54 to #134) -69...Veronica Cepede Royg (#77 to #146) -67...Varvara Lepchenko (#62 to #129) -52...Jennifer Brady (#64 to #116) -48...Laura Siegemund (#69 to #117) -45...Duan Yingying (#95 to #140) -39...Kateryna Bondarenko (#93 to #132) retired...Francesca Schiavone (#90 to NR)
For the sixth time in eight years, and the fourth time in the last five, the Maidens are the FC champions, extending their dynasty by dethroning the U.S. (though none of the Bannerettes on the roster for the final had a hand in carrying Kathy Rinaldi's charges into the winner's circle a year ago) via a 3-0 shutout in Prague that was far closer than the final scoreline would suggest. With the nation's two top-ranked players sidelined, a veteran Maiden in her final Fed Cup stint and a youngster assuming a lead role on the big stage for the first time (of many) led the way, both while being pushed to the limit by a teenager making her FC debut. The victory is the first over the U.S. by the Czechs in FC competition in thirty-three years.
What's the best thing about a Czech Fed Cup title celebration? Hmmm, maybe that they never show a hint of being jaded about their latest accomplishment because of their past success. While the circle dance and all the rest is nothing *we* haven't seen before, to those uninitiated to the Maidens' tennis history and their all-for-one strength as a *team*, it might appear that the latest championship is actually their first.
And maybe that's why it's anything *but* their first. Or their last.
Czech Republic have won their sixth Fed Cup title in eight years after Katerina Siniakova defeated Sofia Kenin to complete victory against the United States ??????? https://t.co/DJ7pP05QgLpic.twitter.com/rqLfNRRUov
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Katerina Siniakova/CZE ...Siniakova playing a big role in the Czech Fed Cup effort? Well, get used to it. Oh, pity poor Petr Pala... he's going to get *so* stressed out.
For her part, Siniakova was originally on the FC final roster as a back-up singles player and doubles "last line of defense." Then an injured Karolina Pliskova withdrew, allowing Siniakova's doubles partner Barbora Krejcikova to join the squad, seemingly further solidifying the 22-year old's "supporting" role in the tie. But when Petra Kvitova's illness took her off the available list, as well, Siniakova was shoved to the head of the line. Veteran Strycova got the #1 match slot, but that only meant that Siniakova would play back-to-back matches over Saturday and Sunday, and *still* might be called on by Captain Pala to play a deciding doubles match if the underdog Bannerettes managed to get two match wins. She held up well vs. Alison Riske, avoiding a 3rd set by winning a 7-2 2nd set tie-break to get a straight sets win.
Sunday's match #3 vs. Sonya Kenin was something else, though.
For 3:44, tying the Halep/Davis Australian Open marathon as the longest matches of '18, the two battled back and forth, taking leads and losing them, getting within a few points of a monumental game win, then often seeing it slip away and find themselves with *their* back against the wall soon afterward. After almost squandering her big 1st set advantage, Siniakova *did* blow a big lead in the 2nd and then was forced to save two MP in the 3rd (the first on a 25-shot rally) before eventually winning 7-5/5-7/7-5 on her own second MP. She's the third different Czech to clinch a FC title in singles (Kvitova four times, Ka.Pliskova once) in the event's current format during the nation's near decade run of dominance.
It goes without saying that the Czech dynasty can't persist forever on Petra and Pliskovas alone, as their unavailability this weekend showed, and with something of a dearth of top juniors at the moment (the top Czech girl is probably #136 Linda Noskova, who's still just 13 and a good ways away from reaching the tour) the future of the Maidens' Fed Cup will eventually rest on the Generation PDQ set of which Siniakova is currently the top-ranked (and most versatile, as she's co-#1 in doubles with Krejcikova). With the FC exit of Barbora Strycova and January retirement of Lucie Safarova, Siniakova's valuable abilities in both singles and doubles could make her the "switch-hitting" heart of the franchise as soon as 2019, and either she or Marketa Vondrousova (who jumped into the FC fray in '17) *should* be groomed for a long-time leadership role. It's possible, too, that U.S. Open (def. Yastremska and Muguruza) revelation Karolina Muchova will soon be called upon to see just what role she play have moving forward. And, of course, there's always the other half of the Pliskova twins, too... but one doubts Pala's nerves could survive having both Siniakova *and* Kristyna on the same team.
So, Siniakova, with all her rises and falls, spectacular and frustrating moments, nerves of steel and emotional inconsistencies (hmmm, maybe she's the *perfect* Strycova replacement?), will surely need to take her clutch (the pearls) performance this weekend to heart. She may be called upon to repeat it very soon.
=============================================== RISER:Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS ...while the Fed Cup final was populated with Czechs, the Limoges, France challenger was essentially overrun with Hordettes, with five reaching the QF, four (over)populating the semis, two (of course) facing off for the the title, and three Russian-born players competing in the doubles final. In the end, it was Alexandrova who was the last Russian standing in singles, as she won her second career WTA 125 Series crown (the other, also in Limoges, came two years ago).
The 23-year old hit a good stride this summer, reaching two $100K semis (on clay and grass) and another $100K final (clay). But she came into the fall on a six-match losing streak. Alexandrova has picked things up recent weeks, though, getting her first career Top 10 win in Seoul (Ostapenko), reaching the Linz final and now taking this week's title, getting wins over Olga Govortsova, Renata Voracova, Pauline Parmentier, Vera Zvonareva and Evgeniya Rodina in a straight sets final. =============================================== SURPRISE:Maia Lumsden/GBR ...another week, another good result from yet another young player from the U.K..
In this case, it's 20-year old Scot (Glasgow-born) Lumsden, who picked up her biggest career title in the $25K challenger in Shrewbury. After two qualifying wins, Lumsden post five more in the MD over the likes of Barbara Haas, Greet Minnen (3 sets) and Valeria Savinykh (3 sets) in the final. ===============================================
Barbora said she can’t put into words why she felt this would be her last @FedCup tie. Started thinking about it at USO. Stepped on court this week, knew it was right decision. Feels she’s leaving the team in good hands with the younger talent. “I leave with my head held high.”
VETERANS:Barbora Strycova/CZE, Evgeniya Rodina/RUS and Timea Bacsinszky/Vera Zvonareva (SUI/RUS) ...in what she has decided will be her final Fed Cup tie, 32-year old Strycova put on one more vintage clutch performance for her country. Facing off with FC newcomer Sonya Kenin in the opening match, she overcame a nervous start and dropping the opening set to the teenager to ultimately win in three, erasing her previous 0-4 mark in FC contests in which she lost the 1st set. Had she dropped the match, far greater pressure would have been shifted onto the shoulders of Katerina Siniakova, who was taken to a 2nd set tie-break in her opening match with Alison Riske and was forced to save two MP vs. Sonya Kenin on Sunday.
But, hey, thanks to Beezus, the first step proved to be both the truest, and (maybe) most important. And off she goes into the Fed Cup night.
In Limoges, #88-ranked Russian Rodina was the runner-up in the week's WTA 125 Series event, matching her biggest career final (she won a 125 title in Taipei in '16). The 29-year old, who became a mom in 2012 before it was "WTA chic," earlier this year qualified and reached the Wimbledon Round of 16 (def. Madison keys in the 3rd Rd.), a slam first in her career, before losing to the tour's most famous mother, Serena Williams. This week she posted wins over the likes of non-mothers Ana Bogdan and Margarita Gasparyan (who retired in the SF), and will match her career high (#74) in the rankings on Monday.
Also in Limoges, while they didn't walk away with a title, both Bacsinszky and Zvonareva continued their late season surges. A week after winning a $25K title, her first singles crown since her comeback from wrist surgery, Bacsinszky upset #2-seed Alize Cornet in the opening round, then lost to Zvonareva, who took the proverbial baton and reached the semis (the all-Hordette semis, that is) with an additional win over Tatjana Maria. A Moscow River Cup WD champ, U.S. Open qualifier and Kremlin Cup quarterfinalist in recent months, the 34-yea old lost to countrywoman and eventual champ Ekaterina Alexandrova, but will climb eleven spots to #112, edging ever so closer to her first Top 100 ranking since 2013. After wrapping up their respective singles runs, Bacsinszky & Zvonareva, who won a title in Saint Petersburg earlier this season, reached the doubles final without dropping a set. They lost to Veronika Kudermetova (a Russian) & Galina Voskoboeva (a Russian-born Kazakh).
Meanwhile, raise a (insert appropriate beverage choice) to Timea for this...
Name the shame ??! I don’t even have pity for you guys, you’re the ones clicking and betting, you can only blame yourself! Have a good one ??! Ps; none of the bad messages are making me weak ?? & forever ! pic.twitter.com/BBHyMAMHxR
The 24-year old Russian, who finally fully returned to the courts this spring following three knee surgeries, has spent the last six months working. And then working some more. And after that, she's worked still more. A journey that began in May with a $25K semifinal when she was ranked in the #1100's, after fifteen events, on Monday will see her back in the Top 100 (#92) for the first time in over two years. This past week, after knocking off Limoges 125 Series defending champ Monica Niculescu (assuring her Top 100 return) and countrywoman Anna Blinkova to reach the SF, she was forced to retire three games into her match with another Russian, Evgeniya Rodina. The finish adds another good result to a run since September that has produced, in order, a tour-level title in Tashkent, followed by QF in Linz and Luxembourg, then Series 125 semis in Mumbai and Limoges the last two weeks. =============================================== FRESH FACE:Sonya Kenin/USA ...it's hard to think of too many *better* 0-2 performances in recent Fed Cup ties than the one put on by Kenin in Prague. The #52-ranked 19-year old, making her debut for Team USA, was suddenly thrust into a front bench singles position due to the absence of higher-ranked big-name stars, and then was chosen to take *the* lead over #36 Danielle Collins (also making her FC debut) this weekend.
If one was looking closely, it wasn't a shock that Captain Kathy Rinaldi would rely on her (that she went with Alison Riske on the ultra-important Day 1 rather than Collins, who was preparing to take the court for match #4 had it been played, was more of a "Hmmm..." decision). Her role with the USTA has given her an up-close look at the teenager for years, and as she watched from the stands at Flushing Meadows at this summer's U.S. Open as Kenin nearly upset Karolina Pliskova it was pretty clear she liked the cut of her competitive jib, and her motherly pats on her head in the changeover area during this tie's breaks speak to just the sort of thing that has helped Rinaldi develop such a close relationship with her two U.S. teams in contrast to the oft-awkward rosters, personal dynamics and visuals during the Mary Joe Fernandez years.
In all, Kenin spent six and a half hours on the court in her two matches, rallying from 3-1 down in two of three sets vs. Barbora Strycova in match #1, only to lose in three, then then engaging in a game of momentum chicken against Katerina Siniakova in match #3, recovering from 7-5/3-0 down while playing with an injured thigh, then 3-0 in the 3rd (with the Czech holding a GP for a 5-2 lead) to find herself serving at 5-4, 40/15 with two MP to extend the tie to a fourth singles match.
Problem is, in the end, Kenin continued to show that she's nearly perfected the art of (barely) losing big matches on big stages to big-time Czech stars. With the match in the balance, Kenin saw Siniakova break for 5-5, recover from love/40 to hold for 6-5 and save a GP in game #12, then win the match on her own second MP in the season's last and longest (3:44) match. While the Czechs celebrated, the entire U.S. team surrounded the crushed Kenin, comforting the sobbing Bannerette who was the youthful heart and soul of this particular underdog unit.
She didn't post a win, but chalk this up as another learning experience for Kenin. Just as her U.S. Open defeat by idol Maria Sharapova last year was her better-than-anticipated introduction to the big stage, and her U.S. Open loss this summer to Pliskova proved that she could very well thrive there, this weekend showed she has no quit in her, even if she's not quite yet ready to win these sort of matches. A little more work (especially, say, on her ability to respond to balls in the fore court, as she squandered a number of opportunities on Sunday after having reached a ball, only to usually push her shot beyond the baseline) and she'll start winning these type of matches. A lot of them.
In stark contrast to the classless fans after the U.S. Open final, the Czechs *knew* the proper response to Kenin's heart and guile. Good for them.
Kenin still a little bit emotional as the trophy ceremony starts, but gets probably the biggest cheer from the arena as anyone in the US team when her name gets announced.
=============================================== DOWN:Team Simona ...it sort of dropped from the sky without warning on Friday, but the great four-year partnership between world #1 Simona Halep and coach Darren Cahill has come to an end. Well, at least temporarily. The Aussie announced a 12-month "coaching hiatus" to spend more time with his family as his kids approach a few milestones in 2019. What happens after that is unknown.
Thank you so much @darren_cahill for all your hard work and incredible support over the past four years.
I was lucky to have you and what a journey we had. Wishing you and your family nothing but the best and I'm sure I'll see you soon! ?? https://t.co/hFl28gdXfu
It's been no secret that the combination has been super effective for Halep, as she's learned from Cahill to loosen up, not be as negative as she naturally tends to be on the court, and bulk up on confidence. The teamwork finally produced a slam title in Paris last spring, as well as back-to-back #1 campaigns, but Halep will have to find a new normal without the daily prompt from Cahill next season. I guess we'll see how well his teachings have stuck to her bones and psyche, as well as whether or not the Romanian will seek out a temporary or more full-time coach to fill the void.
If she chooses to seek a big-name addition to the team, she'll be included in the (still) growing mix of top players seeking similar new working relationships. A few of the new combinations/additions/job titles...
Victoria Azarenka: Wim Fissette (redux) Belinda Bencic: ??? Kiki Bertens: added Elise Tamaela (Raemon Sluiter still #1 coach) Genie Bouchard: Michael Joyce Simona Halep: ??? Angelique Kerber: ??? Johanna Konta: Dimitry Zavialoff Elise Mertens: David Taylor Karolina Pliskova: Rennae Stubbs (w/ Conchita Martinez) Maria Sakkari: Mark Petchey Sam Stosur: ??? Elina Svitolina: Andrew Bettles (promoted to full-time) =============================================== ITF PLAYERS:Ivana Jorovic/SRB and Belinda Bencic/SUI ...at 2018's thirteenth of fourteen ITF $100K challengers (the last comes in Dubai in December), 21-year old Serb Jorovic took home the biggest title of her career with a run in Shenzhen. After winning a 3rd set TB against Danka Kovinic in the semis, the unseeded Jorovic outlasted #1 seed Zheng Saisai in the 6–3/2–6/6–4 final. Zheng hadn't lost a set en route to the final, and was seeking her second $100K title in recent weeks at the end of a season that saw her reach a tour-level final in Nanchang, go 1-1 in WTA 125 finals and claim an additional $50K crown.
Jorovic, the '14 RG junior runner-up (to Dasha Kasatkina) who made her slam debut at his year's AO, will jump *fifty* spots in the new rankings, climbing to #135, just one off her career high.
At the latest stop on the USTA's AO Wild Card Playoff competition (one more remains in Houston in next week WTA 125 event), the $80K Las Vegas crown wasn't won by a Bannerette, but by Swiss Belinda Bencic, who grabbed her first singles title of '18 after seemingly hording them by taking an armful of challenger crowns last fall after missing most of the season due to injury. The recent tour-level Luxembourg finalist, Bencic dropped just one set this week (to Czech Marie Bouzkova) while notching additional wins over Jasmine Paolini, Naomi Broady, Kurumi Nara and Nicole Gibbs in the final. Bencic still has points from a pair of '17 titles set to come off her ranking totals: next week's WTA 125 in Taipei and the final $100K challenger of the year in Dubai in mid-December.
Going into the week, recent title winners Varvara Lepchenko and Whitney Osuigwe were tied atop the USTA's Playoff standings with 125 points each, with Danielle Lao third with 63. Gibbs, who had 2 points, will climb closer in the standings, while Lao will add to her total with her QF result in Las Vegas this week. Lepchenko lost in the 1st Round. Lepchenko, Osuigwe and Gibbs are all in the MD in Houston. Lao is not. =============================================== JUNIOR STARS:Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL, Caty McNally/USA and Lulu Sun/SUI ...Osorio Serrano, 16, began the season in top form, and she's finishing it in quite similar fashion. The Colombian's three most recent junior events saw her reach the U.S. Open semis, win two Youth Olympic Games medals (singles Bronze and mixed Silver, as well as a 4th place finish in doubles) and reach the Junior Masters final. This week, in her Cucuta hometown, the #4-ranked junior won her maiden pro crown in the $15K challenger without dropping a set, defeating fellow Colombian Yuliana Lizarazo 6-3/7-6(2) in the final. A year ago, at 15, she's reached the semis in the same event.
In Lawrence, Kansas it was McNally (jr. #9) picking up her first pro title in the hard court $15K challenger. The 16-year old has been a big event junior star in '18, taking her place as a Roland Garros girls finalist on clay and Roehampton grass court singles runner-up (and doubles champ, with Whitney Osuigwe), as well as RG GD champion (w/ Iga Swiatek), Wimbledon finalist (w/ Osuigwe) and U.S. Open champ (w/ Coco Gauff). McNally upset Bianca Andreescu in the QF in Lawrence, and finished off her week with a 6-2/6-2 win over fellow Bannerette Catherine Harrison (ex-UCLA) in the final.
Congratulations to @CatyMcNally on winning her first professional title, the $25K Lawrence Kansas title with a 6-2, 6-2 score in the final! #USTAProCircuit
Meanwhile, 17-year old Swiss Sun (jr. #34) won the Grade 2 Inka Bowl in Lima, Peru without dropping a set, defeating three seeds and finishing up with a victory of Ukrainian Viktoriya Petrenko in the final. It's Sun's first singles title of '18, after her previous best results had been semifinals in a pair of junior (G1 Nanjing in July) and pro ($25K Obidos in June) events. The New Zealand-born Sun gained headlines earlier this season when she briefly played under the Kiwi flag during the Wimbledon junior competition, a move apparently precipitated as much by her goal of becoming eligible for last month's Youth Olympic Games as any long-held desire to play for her birth nation. Swiss passport issues had put her ability to play for Switzerland in question, though her NZL representation move appeared to come too late to allow her to pull off a "technicality dipsy-do." As turned out, Sun ended up playing in the YOG for SUI, losing in the 1st Round in singles and reaching the Bronze Medal Match in mixed.
=============================================== DOUBLES:Veronika Kudermetova/Galina Voskoboeva (RUS/KAZ) ...Kudermetova has become the queen of the 125 Series doubles, winning her second straight title this weekend in Limoges, and an all-time best fourth in her career. The 21-year old Russian, a week after winning in Mumbai with Natela Dzalemidze, took the crown with veteran Moscow-born Kazakh Voskoboeva, 33, by her side. The #3 seeds, the duo knocked off #1 Buzarnescu/Niculescu in a 10-4 match TB in the semis, then #2 Bacsinszky/Zvonareva by a 7-5/6-4 score in the final. Voskoboeva, a five-time tour-level champion (the last came in '14) had previously lost in the Moscow River Cup final (w/ Alexandra Panova) this season to Potapova/Zvonareva.
=============================================== WHEELCHAIR:Giulia Capocci/ITA ...the 26-year old Italian (WC #6) swept the titles at the Bath Indoors Series 1 event in England. With wins over Dana Mathewson (QF), Marjolein Buis (SF) and Kgothsatso Montajne in a 6-3/6-2 final, Capocci claimed the singles, and she teamed with France's Charlotte Famin to win the doubles crown, defeating Buis & Katharina Kruger in the final.
??AMAZING NEWS ALERT??: I ran ?????for the first time since my injury, you guys! PAIN FREE ?? I’m actually thrilled to be running again… 2019, let’s go! pic.twitter.com/nZrAsNpuZd
Naturally, the official '18 season would end with a FC-clinching, 3:44 drama that saw a new generation Maiden and a new Generation Bannerette face off in a back-and-forth affair with as many swings of emotion and momentum as rackets. With the Czechs up 2-0 after Day 1, there was no wiggle room for the defending champion U.S. squad. It was do or see their title defense die in Prague. For a bit, it looked as if the latter would happen in short order. Siniakova took a 5-3 1st set lead, but held off the late surge of Kenin, who got within two points of forcing a TB. The Czech broke to win the set 7-5.
Up 3-0 in the 2nd, and holding two BP for 4-0 at 15/40 on Kenin's serve, Siniakova lost her place in the battle. The Bannerette held and broke back a game later. Two games later, she broke the Czech from 30/love and took a 4-3 lead. Siniakova pushed back, breaking Kenin from 30/love, only to see Kenin soon respond by breaking *her* at love to lead 6-5. She then sent things to a 3rd set, serving out the 2nd by converting on her fourth SP opportunity.
Siniakova led 3-0 again in the 3rd, and saved five BP in a 19-minute hold to take a 4-1 lead. She had a GP for 5-2, but again Kenin, even while battling a thigh injury, had only begun to fight. She got the break to pull the match back from the edge and won three more games in a role. Serving up 5-4, 40/15 she held two MP to send the tie to a fourth singles match (Danielle Collins had already been tapped to finally join the fray after being held back on Day 1). But Siniakova had a final act of her own. She saved the first MP on a 25-shot rally, and got the break to keep the Czechs' hopes of a sweep alive. She held from love/40 down to take a 6-5 lead. Kenin had a GP in game #12, but couldn't get the set back to even. She saved a MP, but after retrieving a ball in the forecourt only to fire it beyond the baseline, Siniakova had a second chance. A wide Kenin forehand ended it, and the Czechs were champions. Again.
Siniakova was the Maidens' new Fed Cup star. Kenin, with the distinctive twinkle of perhaps one day being a star in her own right, was left to live with what she *didn't* get done in this match, even while everyone else was looking at her, smiling and saying, "Look what you did!" It's good that she wants more. It means she won't stop striving to attain it.
Spare a thought for Sofia #Kenin, who battled hard for 3hrs and 45mins, despite struggling with a thigh problem.
She left it all out there, and has done herself and her country proud. Shame someone had to lose that... pic.twitter.com/3VMVWa5CMi
2. Fed Cup #1 - Barbora Strycova def. Sonya Kenin ...6-7(5)/6-1/6-4. Separated by thirteen years and a load of FC experience, Kenin fell behind 3-1 in all three sets. She battled back to win the 1st in a TB, and had two BP chances in game #2 of the 2nd. But the Czech vet seized control, knotting the match and taking a 4-1 lead in the 3rd before the 19-year old got back into the set with back-to-back love breaks. Strycova managed to stay a step ahead of Kenin's wave, serving out the match and ending it all with serve-and-volley tactics on MP.
=============================================== 3. WTA 125 Limoges Final - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Evgeniya Rodina ...6-2/6-2. The first all-Russian WTA 125 Series final in the (so far) 40-tourament history of the series since 2012. There have been twenty-nine on the WTA tour, with the most recent being Margarita Gasparyan's win in Tashkent over Anastasia Potapova. =============================================== HM- $15K Monastir TUN Final - Mia Eklund/Bojana Marinkovic def. Tamara Curovic/Eliessa Vanlangendonck ...6-1/7-6(8). A week after Vanlangendonck finally claimed her first pro title in another $15K Monastir challenger doubles event, she reached another final. Back-to-back didn't happen, though, as the 21-year old Belgian Waffle falls to 1-6 in pro doubles finals (1-5 in '18). She reached the QF in singles, so she didn't get a chance to improve on her 0-9 singles SF mark (0-4 in '18). ===============================================
All right, after putting it off all year, it's almost time to have to begin to understand all this...
"Women - In 2019, players will only earn WTA ranking points at the $25,000 level and above. - Players will earn ITF World Tennis Ranking points at $15,000 tournaments, which will form a player’s ITF World Tennis Ranking.
Many players, especially those currently outside the ATP/WTA Top 300 will have both an ATP/WTA ranking in 2019 as well as an ITF World Tennis Ranking."
I guess it'll make total sense in 2019. So, I'll think about it all then.
1. $15K Cucuta COL Final - MARIA PAULINA PEREZ/PAULA ANDREA PEREZ def. Ana Maria Becerra/Daniela Carrillo ...6-1/6-1. A week after the Kichenok sisters took the Elite Trophy crown in Zhuhai, the 22-year old Perez twins won career ITF title #4 as a duo back home in Colombia.
=============================================== 2. $25K Shrewsbury ENG Final - Sarah Beth Grey/Olivia Nichols def. TAYISIYA MORDERGER/YANA MORDERGER ...0-6/6-3 [10-4]. The German Morderger sisters weren't able to follow them into the winner's circle, though, falling to the British pair on English soil (well, on an indoor hard court in an arena building constructed upon British soil, at least).
Citing recent health issues that have come up over the last few seasons, former No.5 and 2015 @rolandgarros finalist @luciesafarova announces that @AustralianOpen will be her final tournament. She plans to play singles and doubles in Melbourne.
*FED CUP FINALS* 1963 United States def. Australia 2-1 1964 Australia def. United States 2-1 1965 Australia def. United States 2-1 1966 United States def. West Germany 3-0 1967 United States def. Great Britain 2-0 1968 Australia def. Netherlands 3-0 1969 United States def. Australia 2-1 1970 Australia def. West Germany 3-0 1971 Australia def. Great Britain 3-0 1972 South Africa def. Great Britain 2-1 1973 Australia def. South Africa 3-0 1974 Australia def. United States 2-1 1975 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 3-0 1976 United States def. Australia 2-1 1977 United States def. Australia 2-1 1978 United States def. Australia 2-1 1979 United States def. Australia 3-0 1980 United States def. Australia 3-0 1981 United States def. Great Britain 3-0 1982 United States def. West Germany 3-0 1983 Czechoslovakia def. West Germany 2-1 1984 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 2-1 1985 Czechoslovakia def. United States 2-1 1986 United States def. Czechoslovakia 3-0 1987 West Germany def. United States 2-1 1988 Czechoslovakia def. USSR 2-1 1989 United States def. Spain 3-0 1990 United States def. USSR 2-1 1991 Spain def. United States 2-1 1992 Germany def. Spain 2-1 1993 Spain def. Australia 3-0 1994 Spain def. United States 3-0 1995 Spain def. United States 3-2 1996 United States def. Spain 5-0 1997 France def. Netherlands 4-1 1998 Spain def. Switzerland 3-2 1999 United States def. Russia 4-1 2000 United States def. Spain 5-0 2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1 2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain 3-1 2003 France def. United States 4-1 2004 Russia def. France 3-2 2005 Russia def. France 3-2 2006 Italy def. Belgium 3-2 2007 Russia def. Italy 4-0 2008 Russia def. Spain 4-0 2009 Italy def. United States 4-0 2010 Italy def. United States 3-1 2011 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2 2012 Czech Republic def. Serbia 3-1 2013 Italy def. Russia 4-0 2014 Czech Republic def. Germany 3-1 2015 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2 2016 Czech Republic def. France 3-2 2017 United States def. Belarus 3-2 2018 Czech Republic def. United States 3-0
*FED CUP TITLES* 18 - United States 13 - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia 7 - Australia 5 - Spain 4 - Italy 4 - Russia 2 - France 2 - Germay/West Germany 1 - Belgium 1 - Slovakia 1 - South Africa
*BACKSPIN "FED CUP PLAYER OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2016 Caroline Garcia, FRA* 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA 2018 Petra Kvitova, CZE -- *-non-championship team member
*BACKSPIN "FED CUP CAPTAIN OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2015 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA* 2016 Paul Haarhuis, NED* 2017 Kathy Rinaldi, USA 2018 Kathy Rinaldi, USA* -- *-non-championship team captain
*BACKSPIN - FED CUP FINALS MVPs* 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE 2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2016 Barbora Strycova, CZE 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA 2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
*WON SINGLES CLINCHER IN FC FINAL - current format* 2002 Janette Husarova, SVK 2003 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE 2013 Sara Errani, ITA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
*2018 LONG WOMEN'S MATCHES - WTA/SLAM/FC* 3:44 - FED CUP FINAL #3 - KATERINA SINIAKOVA def. SONYA KENIN 3:44 - AUstralian Open 3rd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Lauren Davis 3:36 - Strasbourg Final - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Dominika Cibulkova
*2018 FIRST-TIME WTA 125 CHAMPIONS w/o WTA TITLES* Newport Beach - Danielle Collins, USA (23/#162) Zhengzhou - Zheng Saisai, CHN (24/#139) Anning - Irina Khromacheva, RUS (22/#210) Bol - Tamara Zidansek, SLO (20/#122 Chicago - Petra Martic, CRO (27/#47) Mumbai - Luksika Kumkhum, THA (25/#103) LIMOGES - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA, RUS (23/#93)
*ALL-TIME WTA 125 SERIES TITLES* [singles] 2 - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA, RUS (2016,18) 2 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (2017) 2 - Zhang Shuai, CHN (2013,17) 2 - Zheng Saisai, CHN (2015,18) [doubles] 4 - VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA, RUS 4 - Wang Yafan, CHN 3 - Chuang Chia-Jung, TPE
*2018 $100K CHAMPIONS* Midland, USA (hci) - Madison Brengle/USA Khimki, RUS (hci) - Vera Lapko/BLR Cagnes-sur-Mer, FRA (rco) - Rebecca Peterson/SWE Trnava, SVK (rco) - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK Surbiton, ENG (gr) - Alison Riske/USA Manchester, ENG (gr) - Ons Jabeur/TUN Ilkley, ENG (gr) - Tereza Smitkova/CZE Southsea, ENG (gr) - Kirsten Flipkens/BEL Contrexeville, FRA (rco) - Stefanie Voegele/SUI Budapest, HUN (rco) - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK (2) Vancouver, CAN (hco) - Misaki Doi/JPN Suzhou, CHN (hco) - Zheng Saisai/CHN SHENZHEN, CHN (hco) - IVANA JOROVIC/SRB Dubai, UAE (hco) - [December]
...though I won't be handing out awards for the final two 125 events on the calendar. So immediately after you finish this you might want to leave for a few hours... the second we close up, they use this place to shoot porn.#TheGoodPlace
"You might want to head out, too. Because the second we close, they're gonna use this place to shoot porn." ?? — watching The Good Place
NEW NOW:Rankings Round-Up COMING SOON: 2018 WTA Year in Review LATER:: WTA Yearbook and the initial "Decade's Best (2010-19)" Players of the Decade nomination list
Sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're wrong. A look at the hits and misses from the preseason predictions...
In January, it's always a game of "what are the chances?" When it came to the season-ending 2018 Top 10, I put twenty-seven names into the proverbial hat and ranked them from most likely to least likely (by "temperature" spectrum position, or something like that). The results...
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Simona Halep) “We should see pretty quickly whether or not ending the year at #1 and spending an entire offseason atop the rankings has "permanently" fortified the Romanian's confidence. If she could hit the ground running in January it may just put enough wind in Halep's sails to make coach Darren Cahill's job a whole lot easier, as well as lift her to the sort of grand career heights that have so far eluded her." WHAT HAPPENED:From the start, Simona had her eyes on the prize. Halep swept the singles and doubles titles in Week 1 in Shenzhen, and while she was ultimately the runner-up at the Australian Open her marathon matches (and nasty ankle turn in a Match of the Year candidate vs. Lauren Davis) she was arguably THE story of the the tournament (and was voted the tour Player of the Month in January, not AO champ Wozniacki). Whether or not her confident warrior run in Melbourne was the key to her success, Halep's newly-ingrained never-quit persona won out over the course of the season, as she finally lifted her maiden slam crown in Paris, was a MP away from a Montreal/Cincinnati sweep, and completed the second of back-to-back #1 seasons, holding the spot for all but four weeks in' 18. A back injury ended her season early, and will have to be watched as we edge closer to '19, a season during which Halep will be without Darren Cahill, who recently announced a coaching hiatus.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Elina Svitolina) “The Ukrainian's game, and career, has usually resembled a long, well thought out march to a previously designated destination. Thus far, Svitolina has yet to make the sort of HUGE leap that characterized, say, Alona Ostapenko's slam-winning campaign last year. ... That'll come, most likely this year. Svitolina's career path says a final four slam result is on the agenda in '18. A bit more, say reaching #1 or winning a major, might be considered a case of her taking the rare 'extra' step. Will that have to wait until 2019." WHAT HAPPENED:Svitolina didn't get over the slam hump (an AO QF was her best result at a major), but after an uneven season her Trust the Process mantra proved a useful tool down the final stretch. After winning three Premier titles by the end of spring, the Ukrainian's results tailed off as the summer progress, but she buckled down again late just as her continued standing in the tour's upper echelon openly questioned. She toughed-out an undefeated week in Singapore to close out '18 with her biggest career title at the WTA Finals, perhaps giving her the jolt of adrenaline that will finally put her over the top in '19. A year ago, Wozniacki did the same and then claimed her first major at the AO. So... you know, I'm just sayin'.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Garbine Muguruza) “Contrary to her sometimes up-and-down 'contact level' on game days on occasion, none of the new twentysomething generation of slam/#1 challengers seems more composed on the big stage than Muguruza. ... Somewhat shockingly, '17 (w/ Wimbledon and Cincinnati wins) was the first season in which Muguruza has won multiple singles crowns. If Garbi indeed is what she seemed to be transforming into by the end of last season then she should match, and likely outpace, that total in the upcoming season, and a Top 10 finish would be as easy as 1-2-3." WHAT HAPPENED:Muguruza's '18 campaign was disappointing. She reached a slam SF at Roland Garros but was ousted in the 2nd Round in the other three (a step back in consistency from her four career-best four 4th Rd.+ results in '17), and won just a single small title, falling outside the Top 10 (#18) for the first time since 2014. Of course, the First Rule of Mugu is that nothing good or bad lasts forever (or very long at all), so a major rebound in '19 would be no shock to anyone.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Caroline Wozniacki) "Even while ending her '17 season on a high note with a WTA Finals title, Wozniacki has opened herself up to questions about whether or not she'll have the 'follow-through' to carry over her momentum to even greater heights in '18. After seeing added aggression instilled into her game style after hiring Sascha Bajin as a co-coach/hitting partner, and pulling off six of her eleven career Top 3 wins (and all three over #1's) during the season, the Dane parted ways with the former Serena/Vika team member at the end of the season. Will she have the mind to continue with the new style aspects that (finally) put a charge into her longtime game, or will she slip back into her old (too) defensive habits? ... There's no reason, as long as she avoids injury, to think Wozniacki will fall off in '18, but it's easy to see changes off the court proving to be a hindrance to lifting her game even higher." WHAT HAPPENED:The questioning of the Bajin-less and newly-engaged Wozniacki's focus and drive proved unfounded. With her more aggressive approach still in play, she blasted out of the '18 gate with an Australian Open title run, her first at a major, and briefly returned to #1. She won in Eastbourne, but her summer dragged to a close (she won just five more slam matches after Melbourne) as she experienced lingering aches and injury, finally explained with a pre-U.S. Open diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. With the question of what was wrong finally answered (and treatment begun), she won big again in Beijing in the fall, and finished at #3 for the second straight year.
*RANKINGS PREDICTIONS* -SELECTED SEASON-END #1's-
AUS: Ash Barty [yes] BLR: Aryna Sabalenka [yes] CAN: Bianca Andreescu [after another injury-plagued season, #2 CAN behind Bouchard] CHN: Zhang Shuai [#2 CHN behind the 4Q-surging Wang Qiang] CRO: Ana Konjuh [elbow surgery knocked her out of Top 400; Petra Martic edged out Donna Vekic for Croatian #1] CZE: Karolina Pliskova [Top 10, but #2 Czech behind Kvitova] FRA: Caroline Garcia [yes] GER: Angelique Kerber [yes] IND: Karman Thandi [IND #2 behind Ankita Raina] ITA: Sara Errani [suspended, exonerated but suspended longer anyway, she was still the ITA #2 behind Camila Giorgi] JPN: Naomi Osaka [yes] KAZ: Zarina Diyas [#2 Kazakh behind Yulia Putintseva] MEX: Marcela Zacarias [#4 Mexican, with Renata Zarazua the #1 for '18... psssst, look out for Giuliana Olmos in '19] RUS: Maria Sharapova [Russian #2 behind Kasatkina] South America: Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA [injured, but still the South American #3 behind Duque and Cepede Royg] SRB: Aleksandra Krunic [yes] SUI: Belinda Bencic [yes]
SWE: Rebecca Peterson [yes - I consider this one of my pat-on-the-back picks, since she climbed from #196 to #55 over the course of the year] TUR: Ipek Soylu [a disappointing season, she's the Turkish #6; Basak Eraydin is #1] USA: Serena Williams [no 24th slam, but still the U.S. #2 behind Sloane]
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Karolina Pliskova) “she didn't take that "next step" as she failed to match or best her U.S. Open final berth in any of the majors. Her serve was still, especially in the absence of Serena Williams, the tour's biggest ace producer, but she admittedly struggled to perfect it all season long and it never performed as consistently lethal a weapon. As a result, Pliskova didn't FEEL as impactful a presence on tour in '17 as her stats say she *should* have been. She seemed a decent bet to win her maiden slam heading into last season, but with quite a few additional contenders in the mix heading into '18 she seems a bit less a good bet to achieve the same this time around. WHAT HAPPENED:The Czech's serve again was something less than lethal for much of the year (she finally was surpassed as the Ace Queen by Julia Goerges). But a coaching change brought aboard Rennae Stubbs (w/ part-timer Conchita Martinez) led to a late summer resurgence that included a U.S. Open QF, Tokyo title, Tianjin final and WTAF semi. She should be overwhelmingly back in in the maiden slam champ mix for '19.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Alona Ostapenko) “She's had a busy offseason. She's been treated like a s-t-a-r, inked her name to many lucrative deals, and hired a new coach (David Taylor). Can Ostapenko back it up again? She'll never be perfect. Her game style won't allow for that. But she hates losing nearly as much (or more?) as she loves winning, and that's never a bad mindset for a player with the sort of weaponry Alona can pull out in the heat of battle, whether she's in the lead or trailing on the scoreboard. Of course, her serve will need to be improved for her to reach her full potential, but she's unquestionably a player to be feared... and one who'll be on the winning side even more often in '18 than she was in '17." WHAT HAPPENED:Ostapenko took a step back in '18, but the season wasn't without its high points, including a Premier Mandatory final in Miami (where she recorded her only two Top 10 wins on the year), Wimbledon SF and Fed Cup heroics. She climbed to #5, but ultimately replaced Taylor with Glenn Schapp in season that saw her serve often become more of a liability than it previously was (a troublesome problem since she's shown no path toward deviated from her hit-first-and-ask-questions-later style for anything resembling a "Plan B") as she finished outside the Top 20 and wasn't even the highest ranked Latvian (that'd be Anastasija Sevastova).
FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 10 JUMPS (i.e. not necessarily season-ending): Ash Barty/AUS, Julia Goerges/GER ...Goerges reached the Top 10 in August, finishing #14, while Barty ended the season at a career-best #15 FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 20 JUMPS: Dasha Kasatkina/RUS, Anett Kontaveit/EST, Elise Mertens/BEL, Naomi Osaka/JPN, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Laura Siegemund/GER ...Kasatkina (Top 10), Kontaveit, Mertens, Osaka (Top 5) and Sabalenka all reached the Top 20, while Sakkari reached a career-high #29 FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 50 JUMPS: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS, Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Anna Blinkova/RUS, Jennifer Brady/USA, Duan Yingying/CHN, Jana Fett/CRO, Viktorija Golubic/SUI, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Aleksandra Krunic/SRB, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS, Marketa Vondrousova/CZE ...Krunic, Sabalenka and Vondrousova all reached the Top 50. Kuzmova got as high as #54, and Duan #60. FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 100 JUMPS: Franckie Abanda/CAN, Destanee Aiava/AUS, Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Amanda Anisimova/USA, Anna Blinkova/RUS, Kayla Day/USA, Dalma Galfi/HUN, Miyu Kato/JPN, Sonya Kenin/USA, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK, Rebecca Sramkova/SVK, Wang Yafan/CHN, Maryna Zanevska/BEL ...Top 100 rankings were achieved by Anisimova, Blinkova, Kenin, Kuzmova and Wang Yafan
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Serena Williams) “If it was anyone else, the take-it-slow approach would be the norm, but Williams will surely be picked by many to defend the AO crown in a few weeks that she won a year ago when she was (secretly) already pregnant. And she very well could do it. If not, one would expect she'll return to the slam winner's circle at least once before the end of 2018. She's still Serena, remember." WHAT HAPPENED:Serena skipped the AO, but eventually returned and reached the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals. She's still seeking slam #24 as the battlefield moves to 2019. The competition is thick, and talented, and a return to the slam winner's circle isn't necessarily a stone cold given eventuality, but, well, she is *still* Serena. So...
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Maria Sharapova) “Whether or not she'll be able to get back to slam-winning form (she hasn't played her most favorable slam, RG, since 2015, remember) is a question, but anything resembling a normal season should bring the Top 10 back into the conversation, as well as a handful of titles." WHAT HAPPENED:Sharapova was still carrying injury questions through '18. She didn't reach a final for the just the second season since 2003, but posted her best post-suspension slam result (a RG QF, as well as her second straight U.S. Round of 16) and raised her ranking from #60 to #29. Whether she's capable of staying on the court for long enough stretches to discover the form (physically, but also mentally, an area in which the Russian has been surprising less-than-ideal at times since her return) necessary to once again become a legit slam title threat remains to be seen.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Venus Williams) “It's hard to imagine Venus having a *better* season in 2018 than she did in '17, though she *did* somehow fail to win a title during the eleven-month stretch. Still, this year she'll have to defend points from a pair of slam finals, a major semi and a runner-up at the WTAF. And, of course, she'll also turn 38 in the middle of the season, and at some point that'll have to mean that Williams begins to display a more mortal-seeming drop-off in form as she carries on deeper into advanced tennis age." WHAT HAPPENED:Hardly unexpectedly, Venus wasn't able to defend all her big point totals from a season ago, but she also didn't replace them with many new top-level results. She didn't reach a final for the first time since 2013 (her title drought could reach three years in February) and put up 1r-1r-3r-3r slam results a year after F-4r-F-SF. It was the worst four-major combined season result of her long career. She had zero Top 10 wins after posting seven in '17. At #40, she'll likely be unseeded at the AO. In the past, one might say that that's when she'd be her most dangerous. In 2019, though, it might be a case of maintaining a level high enough to make worthwhile one final Olympic appearance in Tokyo in '20.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Ash Barty) “The Aussie may turn out to be the player who'll take the biggest wrecking ball to the Top 10 in 2018. Barty's '17 season felt more like a preview of even bigger things to come than simply a nice comeback story from a player who felt the need to bow out of the sport for a while *before* she really saw her career take root on the WTA tour. Aggressive and with a killer instinct, the Barty Party could be this year's Latvian Thunder." WHAT HAPPENED:Barty is still seeking big-time slam success (3r-2r-3r-4r), but '18 was her best overall season so far. She won two titles (including that Elite Trophy thing), her first slam WD crown, had her biggest win (#3 Kerber), best ranking (season-ending #15) and was Top 10 (#7) in doubles, one of two players (w/ Mertens) in the Top 20 in both. In fact, she spent all but two weeks in such a position, far more than any other player. Bigger things are still to come. In fact, I'll reserve the right to repeat those words from last preseason come the Prediction Blowout for 2019.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Caroline Garcia) “One would expect such a level of play (Garcia's '17 4Q run, with Beijing & Wuhan titles) might be a bit difficult to replicate over the course of a long season, so we shouldn't be too disappointed if Garcia simply manages to maintain the position she scrambled into in the fall rather than climb even higher up the WTA ladder. That said, her '17 experiences should at least produce one deep slam run now that the space between her ears has caught up with the rest of her. If not, '18 won't have provided Garcia with the gains she should now expect to come her way." WHAT HAPPENED:Garcia didn't *break out* with a spectacular season, but she was mostly steady all year, with 2 slam Round of 16's, 10 QF+, 3 SF+ and (finally) reached her first '18 final in Tianjin (taking the title) in the fall. She finished at #19, nowhere near ending on a high the way she did in '17, but it was a good next step -- a decent stab at proving that she can be consistent over the course of a full season.
NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR: Destanee Aiava/AUS, Anna Blinkova/RUS, Jaimee Fourlis/AUS, Jiang Xinyu/Tang Qianhui (CHN)(d), Sonya Kenin/USA, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK, Vera Lapko/BLR, Antonia Lottner/GER, Anastasia Potapova/RUS, Dayana Yastremska/UKR, Sofya Zhuk/RUS ...Yastremska won her maiden WTA title and Potapova reached two finals, while Kuzmova, Blinkova, Lapko and Kenin finished in the Top 100. Jiang/Tang successfully defended their Nanchang title. Zhuk reached a WTA 125 final, while Lottner upset Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Fed Cup play. Fourlis won multiple ITF titles. And, yep, that's Original Anna with Kenin from a post from the Bannerette from earlier this year... all right, raise your hand if you feel really old looking at those pics.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYERS: Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Julia Boserup/USA, Naomi Broady/GBR, Oceane Dodin/FRA, Duan Yingying/CHN, Jana Fett/CRO, Naomi Osaka/JPN, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Wang Qiang/CHN, Carina Witthoeft/GER ...Osaka was a breakout slam champ, Sabalenka nearly reached the Top 10 (#11) after ending '17 at #78, and Wang repeated as Asian Games Gold Medalist and became a star while posting SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU 4Q results in Asia on her way to a Top 20 ranking. Fett held a 5-1 3rd set lead and 2 MP vs. eventual AO champ Wozniacki in the 2nd Round. Broady fired 20+ aces in back-to-back matches in Monterrey. SURPRISE PLAYERS: Storm Sanders/AUS (d), Bianca Andreescu/Carson Branstine (CAN)(d), Gao Xinyu/CHN, Han Xinyun/CHN, Dalila Jakupovic/SLO, Ivana Jorovic/SRB, Miyu Kato/JPN, Rebecca Peterson/SWE, Rebecca Sramkova/SVK ...Jakupovic was a tour semifinalist (Bogota), had her first Top 100 season and won her biggest title ($60K). Kato was a Fed Cup star (and tour titles in Toklyo) along with doubles partner Makoto Ninomiya. Peterson reached a tour SF in Acapulco, won a $100K crown and became the Swedish #1. Jorovic, too, won a career-best $100K title. COMEBACKS: Australian FC Team, Belinda Bencic/SUI, Magarita Gasparyan/RUS, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA (d), Anna Karolina Schmiedova/SVK, Laura Siegemund/GER, Ajla Tomljanovic/CRO-AUS, Taylor Townsend/USA, Jordanne Whiley/GBR (WC) ...Gasparyan returned from three knee surgeries to win her first singles title since '15 and climb from outside the Top 1000 to the Top 100. Schmiedlova ended her own nearly three year tour title drought and had her first Top 100 campaign since being #26 in '15. Mattek-Sands won the U.S. Open mixed titles with Jamie Murray. The Aussies defeated the Ukrainians in WG II play, and the Dutch in the World Group Playoffs to reach the '19 World Group (they'll face the U.S.). Bencic reached the Wimbledon Round of 16, won an $80K title and was nominated for the tour's "Comeback Player of the Year," while Tomljanovic reached her first two WTA singles finals since shoulder surgery, and Siegemund rebounded from her knee injury to win a tour-level WD crown and $25K singles title. Townsend won three ITF challengers and was the WTT Female MVP. ITF ACHIEVERS: Kayla Day/USA, Irina Khromacheva/RUS, Rebeka Masarova/SUI, Marta Paigina/RUS, Rebecca Sramkova/SVK, Katerina Stewart/USA, Iga Swiatek/POL, Maryna Zanevska/BEL, Sofya Zhuk/RUS ...Swiatek went 4-0 in ITF finals (she's now 7-0 career) and won the Wimbledon juniors. Sramkova was 2-2 in ITF finals. Khromacheva was 1-1 in WTA 125 finals and won a $25K crown. Masarova returned from injury to win a $15K in September in just her second event back. Stewart's post-Army cadat career picked up a $15K win in March. Zanevska won a $50K, while Zhuk reached a 125 final. NAMES TO WATCH IN THE JUNIOR SLAMS: Maria Carle/ARG, Olga Danilovic/SRB, Coco Gauff/USA, Kaja Juvan/SLO, Sofya Lansere/RUS, Ann Li/USA, Alexa Noel/USA, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL, Simona Waltert/SUI, Wang Xinyu/CHN ...Gauff won the RG juniors and reached #1, the youngest ever (14 yr., 4 mo.) to do so, and led the U.S. to the Fed Cup 16s title. Juvan swept the Youth Olympic Golds in singles and doubles. Osorio Serrano won four Grade 1 titles, reached the U.S. Open girls SF and Junior Masters final, won Bronze at the Youth Olympics and picked up her maiden pro ITF title in the fall. Wang Xinyu reached the AO/WI girls semis, won a pair of girls doubles slams (AO/WI), Youth Olympics doubles Bronze and her maiden pro singles crown ($25K). Noel swept the s/d at the Grade 1 Astrid Bowl, was RU to Osorio in the G1 Banana Bowl, and reached the Roehampton QF (def. eventual SW19 girls champ Wang Xiyu). Meanwhile, Danilovic won a Fed Cup Heart award, and famously became the first lucky loser to win a tour-level WTA singles title at the Moscow Cup. NCAA CHAMPION: Ingrid Neel, Florida [to watch: Ashley Lahey/PEPPERDINE, Sinead Lohan/MIAMI, Ena Shibahara/UCLA] ...Neel turned pro in January after her freshman year. In the spring, Lahey was the runner-up at the NCAA Championships to Mississippi's Arianne Hartono (NED).
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On CoCo Vandeweghe) “CoCo's '18 season very well could prove to produce fewer HUGE headline-worthy finishes (though she's likely got a few of those in her, too -- she's got three legit slam final opportunities, two on hard court, on which she's already reached a pair of SF, as well as on her *best* surface, grass), but with more solid overall results that allow her a chance to match the Top 10 finish she only barely achieved at the end of '17." WHAT HAPPENED:Though she had a good doubles season, winning Miami and U.S. Open crowns (w/ Barty), Vandeweghe was nagged by injuries for much of second half of the season (choosing to play through them, with not-very-good results -- losing nine straight to end the season). By the end, she'd dropped all the way out of the Top 100.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Petra Kvitova) “After her '17 campaign was more about the notion that she was back at all than how much she won, in '18 she'll be more expected to string together the sort of good results she was able to occasionally post after her return last year." WHAT HAPPENED:Kvitova, already welcomed back to the tour last year, was welcomed back into the winner's circle in '18. Many times, sometimes after *scary good* week-long runs. She led the tour with five titles, winning on hard, clay and grass courts, had seven Top 10 wins (her most since '13) and, though she was too ill to play in the final, led the Czechs throughout the season in their sixth Fed cup winning run in eight years. But Kvitova came up woefully short in the slams, with 1r-3r-1r-3r results, the first season of her career without at least one Round of 16, and seemed to tire down the stretch, losing her last five (and going 1-6 back to her U.S. Open exit).
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Julia Goerges) “She finally broke through the tape in the closing weeks of '17, winning her first titles since 2011 and achieving a career-high ranking. But the balance of her career has been marked by inconsistency, so it'd be no surprise to see a slight slip (possibly after a Top 10 run) back into the #20's this season." WHAT HAPPENED:Goerges bookended her season with singles titles (Week 1 Auckland/Week 42 Luxembourg), reached her first slam SF (Wimbledon) and recorded her first Top 3 win (Wozniacki) since 2012. The German made her Top 10 debut in August, then settled in at a season-ending #14 once her big final weeks results from '17 came off her points total.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Johanna Konta) “No steep drop off should be anticipated in '18, but the thought here is that Konta will have a hard time fighting off the horde of Top 10 contenders breathing down her neck, finishing between #11-15 once the dust has settled next fall." WHAT HAPPENED:The fall was bigger than anticipated, as Konta slipped all the way to #39, switched coaches yet again (giving her four since '16), followed up the Wimbledon SF year with 2r-1r-2r-1r results in the slams, and had zero Top 10 victories (after getting 11 in 2016-17, and 14 since '15). Konta reached just one final (Nottingham), but her only other SF+ finish was her season-concluding outing at the Kremlin Cup, so at least she ended on a high note. The Brit, with a little of the pressure back home off her shoulders after such a blow to her level of expectation is in serious need of a rebound in' 19. Is it possible she may even no longer be the top ranked British woman by this time next year?
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Sloane Stephens) “Stephens was a non-factor after winning the U.S. Open, and struggled to get out of her own way in the Fed Cup final, nearly costing Team USA the title. ... She's got half a season (and 4Q) without any points to defend in '18, so a return to the Top 10 would seem a certainty. Finishing the year there, though, is another question entirely if The Future is only a New York state of mind." WHAT HAPPENED:Once again, Stephens shined in the U.S., winning Miami. But she proved she could win away from home, too, reaching the Roland Garros and WTA Finals championship matches (and Montreal, as well), though she lost all three. She led the U.S. back into the Fed Cup final, though she chose not to help in the defense attempt in Prague. Stephens' eight Top 10 wins account for nearly half her career total (17), and she finally made her Top 10 debut, climbing as high as #3 before a #6 finish.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Madison Keys) “Until she goes multiple months without wrist soreness, though, it's hard to *expect* a *full* season of high level (and Top 10 rank producing) results from her." WHAT HAPPENED:Keys -- stop me if you've heard this before -- experienced another injury-impacted season during which she was usually either out injured, back from injury or hoping to be able to play without a lingering injury getting worse and taking her out again. A year after winning in Stanford and reaching the U.S. Open final, Keys didn't reach a final in '18, but managed to keep her Top 20 ranking by shining in the big events the *did* play, including SF at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, an Australian Open QF (and a Cincinnati QF and Charleston SF, too).
FIRST-TIME SLAM WINNER: Simona Halep/ROU ...the world #1 finally checked "major title winner" off her career wish list
FIRST-TIME SLAM FINALIST: CoCo Vandeweghe/USA ...after twice getting within a round of a slam final in '17, Vandeweghe had just one match win in the majors this season FIRST-TIME SLAM SEMIFINALISTS: Ash Barty/AUS, Caroline Garcia/FRA, Elina Svitolina/UKR ...Svitolina got the closest with a QF in Melbourne. I'll likely be picking two of these three here again for '19. FIRST-TIME SLAM QUARTERFINALISTS: Ash Barty/AUS, Julia Goerges/GER, Dasha Kasatkina/RUS, Anett Kontaveit/EST, Naomi Osaka/JPN, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR ...Osaka won the U.S. Open, Goerges reached the Wimbledon semis and Kasatkina had her first two QF, while the other three came up a match short of the quarterfinals FIRST-TIME SLAM ROUND OF 16's: Ash Barty/AUS, CiCi Bellis/USA, Jana Fett/CRO, Ons Jabeur/TUN, Naomi Osaka/JPN, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Laura Siegemund/GER, Katerina Siniakova/CZE, Donna Vekic/CRO, Marketa Vondrousova/CZE ...Barty, Osaka, Sabalenka, Vekic and Vondrousova were first-time 4th Rounders. Siniakova was a match short in each of the final three majors of '18, but one would hope the clutch nature of her Fed Cup heroics will help push her over that hump next season. FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS: CiCi Bellis/USA, Jana Fett/CRO, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Ons Jabeur/TUN, Aleksandra Krunic/SRB, Tatjana Maria/GER, Naomi Osaka/JPN, Yulia Putintseva/KAZ, Shelby Rogers/USA, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS ...Krunic, Maria, Osaka and Sabalenka all won their maiden titles. Jabeur and Sakkari reached finals, but lost. FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS, Bianca Andreescu/CAN, CiCi Bellis/USA, Jennifer Brady/USA, Jana Fett/CRO, Ons Jabeur/TUN, Tatjana Maria/GER, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Wang Qiang/CHN ...Alexandrova, Jabeur, Maria, Sakkari and Wang all reached their first finals. Maria and Wang were first-time champs (while Alexandrova won a WTA 125 Series challenger).
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Aryna Sabalenka) “Looking for an Ostapenko-like smash who might shock the world and obliterate -- Kool-Aid Man style -- a slam wall? Maybe Sabalenka will be ready for such a star turn. Her Fed Cup heroics looked to be just scratching the surface, but can she maintain control of her powerful, though oft-wild, game long enough for a deep run at a major?" WHAT HAPPENED:One of the Gen PDQ stars of the season, Sabalenka raised the level of her big game as the season progressed. After Wimbledon, she won two titles (the biggest a Premier 5 in Wuhan), got seven of her eight Top 10 wins of the season, reached her first slam Round of 16 (at the U.S. Open, after going 0-3 in the other majors) and nearly climbed into the Top 10, finishing at #11. Rather than create an Ostapenko-like boom in '18, she'll now be looking to craft an Osaka-esque one in '19 after barely coming up short in the "Boom-shaka-Osaka" match-up between the two at Flushing Meadows this year.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Naomi Osaka) “Powerful and with more personality than consistency at the moment, Osaka is a diamond that could prove to be HUGE if someone can find a way to polish her game to its potentially shiniest form. It may never FULLY happen, but Bajin, in his first solo coaching gig, now gets a chance to help make it so. If Osaka can "pinish," their teaming could prove to be one of the biggest stories of 2018." WHAT HAPPENED:Well, Osaka was surely the author of the biggest breakout campaign of 2018, as she became a worldwide star *and* maiden slam champion. Her Indian Wells title in the spring proved that the addition of Bajin was well on its way to solving the mystery of unlocking the great promise of the Japanese star, and her title run at the U.S. Open changed her life forever (her win could turn out to be the most lucrative in tennis history, with the bonanza of major Japanese endorsement deals, as well as her many U.S. ties offering her a chance to become a "name" brand across the Pacific, as well). Her rise could alter the tennis landscape for multiple generations. Not only could *she* elevate to the top of the sport, but the Asian tennis boom (which produced its biggest previous star in a late-in-career Li Na) that is already in full swing now has the sort of talented young superstar who could light the fuse on what could be a region-wide horde of new talent. Just in time for an Olympic spotlight in Tokyo in 2020, too, in a year during which Naomi could very well reach #1 (if she doesn't jump ahead and do it *next* year, that is). The Great Wave of Osaka has only just arrived, but it effects may be felt for quite a while.
WHAT I SAID THEN: (On Dasha Kasatkina) “She produced some of her best results in '17, but sacrificed consistency along the way. Bridging the gap between the two will tell the difference between whether she'll be a player who can contend for deep slam runs, or if she'll simply be a constant "regular tour" threat who spends her career ranked between #11-20." WHAT HAPPENED:The swashbuckling Russian shotmaker finally found the formula for year-round success in '18, though there's still room for *more* improvement next season. Kasatkina was a title winner at the Kremlin Cup, reached the Indian Wells final and had back-to-back slam QF results in Paris and London. At her best vs. top players, she recorded seven Top 10 wins, including five against the Top 3 (giving her six such wins the last two seasons). Dasha slipped into the Top 10 for the first time in the closing weeks of the season, and with the recent retirement of Aga Radwanska could be in store for quite a few Shot of the Month/Year honors in her future.
*MISCELLANEOUS PLAYER PREDICTIONS* Serena Williams wins (at least) one major crown, matching (or surpassing) Margaret Court's all-time mark of 24 ...Serena lost a pair of straight sets slam finals to Angelique Kerber (Wimbledon) and Naomi Osaka (U.S. Open). To be continued... =============================================== World #1 Simona Halep wins three singles titles, and for the first time in her career reaches at least the Round of 16 at all four slams in a season ...Halep won three titles (including RG). She didn't reach the Round of 16 at all four majors, but she *did* reach two slam finals (AO/RG) in a season for the first time in her career. She came within a 3rd Round MP at Wimbledon of reaching the 4th Round at *three* slams. =============================================== Alona Ostapenko wins her first career Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 title, and reaches the singles Top 3. She posts wins over two different #1's on the season, and has at least one SF-or-better result at a major. ...Latvian Thunder reached her first PM final in Miami, but lost to Sloane Stephens. She ranked as high as #5 in March. She didn't defeat a #1, recording only two Top 10 wins (Kvitova and Svitolina, both in Miami) this season, but she *did* reach the Wimbledon semis. =============================================== Garbine Muguruza becomes the first non-Williams/Sharapova/Belgian to win a third career major title since Jennifer Capriati (AO '02) and reclaims the #1 ranking from Halep, but she doesn't match her '17 feat of 4th Round-or-better results at all four majors ...Mugu reached the semis at Roland Garros, but exited in the 2nd Round at the other three slams. The Spaniard didn't become the first non-Williams/Sharapova/Belgian in sixteen years to win a third major... but Angie Kerber did. =============================================== Elina Svitolina notches wins over at least two different #1's for a third consecutive season and has 10+ Top 10 wins for a second straight year. She picks up her fourth & fifth career Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 titles. ...Svitolina's #1 wins total dropped to just one (Halep in Rome), but it was her sixth overall since 2016. She had nine Top 10 wins, second behind only Kiki Bertens (12) on tour in '18 (she had four by the end of May, but had to wait until October to get the other five). She won her fourth career high Premier title (Rome), as well as her biggest crown yet at the WTA Finals.
=============================================== Petra Kvitova returns to the Top 10, and wins two singles titles ...the Czech returned to the Top 10 in February, finishing #7, and led the tour with five titles.
=============================================== Caroline Wozniacki leads the tour in singles titles, but fails to advance beyond the QF in a slam. The Dane returns to #1 for the first time since 2012, but doesn't finish 2018 there. ...Wozniacki tied for third on tour with three titles, and won her maiden slam at the Australian Open. Her other best slam result was a Round of 16 in Paris. She *did* return to #1 for the first time in six years, but only for the four weeks immediately following Melbourne. She finished at #3 for the second straight season. =============================================== Venus Williams wins two singles titles and reaches another slam final ...Venus went title-less, final-less and never advanced past the 3rd Round in a major. She finished at #40. =============================================== Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic meet in a singles final. For the season, Kiki (1-3 in '17) posts a winning record in finals, while Garcia has the worse winning percentage in finals of the two Pastries, but ultimately claims more singles titles in '18. ...the former doubles partners got within one round of meeting in singles on four different occasions (including in three straight events -- New Haven/U.S. Open/Wuhan), but the match failed to become a reality each time. Kiki was 0-1 in singles finals, while Garcia won in her only appearance. =============================================== Maria Sharapova returns to the Top 10 and wins three singles titles ...the 31-year old Russian got as high as #21 in the summer, but didn't play after the U.S. Open and finished at #29. She failed to reach a final, falling in the Shenzhen and Rome semis. =============================================== Julia Goerges wins a Premier 5 title ...the German won International level titles in Auckland and Luxembourg, and was a Charleston (Premier) finalist. Her best Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 result was a QF in Dubai, but she *did* reach the Wimbledon and Elite Trophy semis. =============================================== Sloane Stephens wins one title and reaches two slam QF, but finishes the season outside the Top 15 ...Stephens won just one title, but it was a big one (Miami). She came up a match short in three other top events -- RG, Montreal and the WTAF. Her Roland Garros runner-up result was joined by a U.S. Open QF in her title defense attempt. She fell in the 1st Round in Melbourne and Wimbledon. She was #3 in July, and completed her first Top 10 season with a #6 ranking. =============================================== Karolina Pliskova finally reaches her first QF at Wimbledon, as well as the SF at another slam ...she didn't reach the QF at SW19, but her Round of 16 result is her best ever at Wimbledon. She reached QF at the Australian and U.S. Opens, as well. =============================================== Jo Konta wins two or more hard court titles, but has just one QF+ result at a major ...Konta reached just one final (Nottingham), and was only 2-4 overall in the majors after reaching a SF (AO/WI) in both of the last two seasons. =============================================== Ash Barty sweeps the S/D titles at at least one event, and wins two+ Premier level singles titles ...she never swept both titles, but Barty won two in singles (one in Zhuhai to close out the WTA schedule, and reached a Premier final in Sydney) and four (all big: Miami/Rome/Montreal/U.S.) in doubles with three different partners. =============================================== Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova wins one singles title (a successful title defense), but ends '17 outside the Top 20 ...Pavlyuchenkova won in Strasbourg (not a title defense), and slipped to #42, her worst finish since 2008. =============================================== CoCo Vandeweghe wins her biggest career title (any Premier). She leads Team USA back to the Fed Cup final, but the Bannerettes fail to repeat. ...a whole lot of "conditional" prediction success here. CoCo reached a Premier final in Stuttgart which would have given her her biggest singles title, but she lost to Pliskova. She *did* win her biggest doubles title at the U.S. Open, though. Her Fed Cup winning streak ended at thirteen in April (w/ a loss to Mladenovic), but she *did* contribute a singles win vs. the NED in the 1st Round and the U.S. returned to (and lost) the FC final, though CoCo (w/ a lingering injury since summer) wasn't on the roster. ===============================================
The Czechs reclaim the Fed Cup championship ...okay, sure, this was an easy prediction. But the Maidens can't win *every* year. I mean, they've lost TWICE in eight years, right? =============================================== Madison Keys wins just one title. She has no slam QF+ results, but reaches the Round of 16 at at least two majors. She ends '18 as no better than the fourth-highest ranked U.S. woman. ...well, Keys didn't reach a final, but she posted two SF and a QF at the majors. She maintained her TOp 20 standing, finishing as the third-ranked Bannerette behind Stephens and S.Williams. =============================================== Belinda Bencic returns to the Top 15, and wins two or more tour-level titles. The Swiss reaches at least one slam QF, and posts multiple victories over Top 2 players (one at #1) in a season for the first time. ...the Swiss returned to the Top 40, but her only title came on the ITF circuit (she reached the tour-level Luxembourg final). Her Wimbledon Round of 16 run was her best at a major since the '16 AO. She recorded two Top 10 wins at slams -- #5 Venus at the AO, #6 Garcia at SW19. =============================================== Laura Siegemund's return from knee surgery results in two clay court singles titles ...the German won an ITF clay court singles crown, and a tour-level WD title. She reached back-to-back tour singles QF on clay in Bucharest and Moscow. =============================================== Angelique Kerber wins her first singles title since the '16 season, and pulls off her second career #1 win (the other was over Serena in the '16 AO final) ...Kerber opened her season with a title in Sydney, and reached the AO semis (holding 2 MP vs. Halep). Later, she won career slam #3 at Wimbledon. Her six Top 10 wins didn't include a #1 victory, but she *did* defeat a trio of Top 5 players and finished at #2. =============================================== Aga Radwanska wins her first title since '16, but does not return to the Top 10 ...Aga never rose above #28, and reached just one semifinal (Eastbourne, easily her season high point with wins over Babos, Gavrilova and Ostapenko). Her win over Simona Halep in Miami was her first over a world #1 since 2012 (and her 49th and last Top 10 victory). After finishing at #75, her worst season since 2005, Radwanska went public with info concerning a foot injury that jeopardized her tennis future. She retired a few weeks later. At least now I won't be tempted to predict such a fate for her in '19, as I've maintained a personal ban on such prognostications in this space for quite a while.
=============================================== Sorana Cirstea wins her first tour-level singles title since 2008 ...nope. The Romanian's best results were QF in Nuremberg and Bucharest. =============================================== Francesca Schiavone wins a clay court title, and returns to the Top 75 ...the Italian played just a dozen matches (3-9). She last occurred in July, and Schiavone came to New York during the U.S. Open to officially announce her retirement. She plans to get into coaching. ===============================================
Margarita Gasparyan returns to the Top 150 following knee injury, reaches a tour-level QF (or better), and qualifies at a slam ...the Russian was one of 2018's least noticed success stories (can she still qualify for NEXT year's "Comeback Player" award?). After three knee surgeries, she was ranked outside the Top 1100 in January, then proceeded to make her "final" attempt to return to tennis an ever-expanding phenomenon. An ITF final in May was followed by her first WTA MD since '16 in July, a slam MD appearance (via a protected ranking) at the U.S. Open (a tough two-setter vs. Kerber), her first tour-level MD win since her return in September, a stunning run to her first title in three years at Tashkent, followed by two more WTA QF, and back-to-back 125 Series SF that lifted her ranking into the Top 100 in her season-closing event. She even threw in her maiden Top 10 win (over Kiki Bertens in Linz), for good measure. This was my favorite prediction "hit" of the season. And the Czarina liked it, too...
=============================================== Vera Zvonareva climbs back into the Top 75, posts her first Top 10 win since 2011, and reaches a slam Round of 16 ...the former world #2 didn't reach the Top 75, but she qualified for two slam MD (getting a U.S. Open win, her first in NYC since 2011). The Hordette nearly returned to the Top 100 after a season that included a tour level QF (Kremlin Cup) and 125 semi, as well as two doubles titles (Saint Petersburg and Moscow). My oh-so-random "first Top 10 win since..." prediction suddenly grew full-on legs (long Czech ones, in fact) when Zvonareva upset #5 Pliskova at the Kremlin Cup in the fall. =============================================== Genie Bouchard wins two WD titles, but never posts better than a tour-level QF in singles. She falls outside the Top 100, and at some point is the third-ranked Canadian before 4Q results lift her back to second. ...one of the most multi-faceted predictions, and much of it played out. Bouchard didn't win a doubles title, and she actually reached a pair of tour-level SF in Gstaad and Luxembourg. The snaking ranking path almost totally stuck to the script, though, as Bouchard fell outside the Top 100 (Jan.), slipped into the #3 (and #4) ranked Canadian spot, but re-assumed the top national spot this summer. =============================================== Anna Karolina Schmiedlova reaches a tour-level singles semifinal ...and she won it (in Bogota), as well as the next match to claim her first title since 2015. =============================================== The longest women's slam match ever is played (with or w/o Kuznetsova and/or Schiavone) ...no (Sveta's absence and Francesca's retirement didn't help), but the Halep/Davis 3:44 Australian Open marathon was the third-longest ever Down Under, as well as the longest of the season until Siniakova/Kenin matched it on Day 2 of the Fed Cup final to close out the '18 season. =============================================== At least one Career Doubles Slam is completed (Makarova/Vesnina need an AO title, while Mattek-Sands/Safarova are a Wimbledon short) ...Makarova/Vesnina reached the AO final, but lost to Babos/Mladenovic. Mattek-Sands returned to the scene of her audibly horrific knee dislocation in '17, but she and Safarova lost in the 1st Round. The Russians will likely get another shot, but not in '19 as Vesnina is pregnant (Makarova could still hold up her end, though). Team Bucie won't. Safarova will retire after the Australian Open. New mother Sania Mirza needs only a RG win to complete the set, while a slew of Career Mixed Slams are in play in '19 (Srebotnik and Mirza both need Wimbledon, while Mattek-Sands is an AELTC title away from becoming the first to win all four slams and MX Olympic Gold). =============================================== 2018 SLAM SINGLES FINALISTS: (2) Muguruza, (1 each) S.Williams, V.Williams, Halep, Ostapenko, Vandeweghe and Sharapova or Kvitova ...Halep (2), S.Williams (2), Kerber (1), Osaka (1), Stephens (1) and Wozniacki (1). =============================================== 2018 SLAM DOUBLES TITLES: (2) Mattek-Sands/Safarova, (1 each) Makarova/Vesnina and Siniakova & *someone* (likely Hradecka or Krejcikova) ...Siniakova won back-to-back slams with Barbora Krejcikova at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Makarova/Vesnina were RU in Melbourne. Babos/Mladenovic (AO) and Barty/Vandeweghe (US) won the two remaining majors. =============================================== 2018 SLAM MIXED DOUBLES TITLES: (1 each) Timea Babos, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, CoCo Vandeweghe ...Mattek-Sands won the U.S. Open with Jamie Murray, while Babos was the RU at the AO. The other three '18 MX champs were Gaby Dabrowski, Latisha Chan and Nicole Melichar. =============================================== A South American girl reaches a junior slam singles final for the first time since 2008 (U.S.: Gabriela Paz/VEN). The last winner from the continent was Maria-Emilia Salerni (ARG) at the 2000 U.S. Open. Three South Americans -- Emiliana Arango, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and Maria Carle -- ranked between #9-13 in the season-ending 2017 junior rankings. ...Osorio Serrano made it back-to-back years with South American semifinalists in the U.S. Open girls competition. She also reached the Youth Olympic semis and Junior Masters final. If the 16-year old Colombian plays a full junior slam schedule in '19 the drought since Salerni could very well end soon. ===============================================
"NAME YOU'LL KNOW..." by the end of 2018: Viktoria Kuzmova ...after nearly defeating Dasha Kasatkina on Russian soil in Saint Petersburg, Kuzmova clinched Slovakia's first ever FC victory over Russia in her Fed Cup debut, reached her maiden WTA semifinal (as a LL) in Budapest (and another at Rosmalen), notched her first slam MD victory in Paris, and claimed her biggest career titles at $60K and $100K (2, tops on the circuit) challengers. She rose from #132 to #56 during the season.
Viktoria Kuzmova posts her first Fed Cup win ?? ?? to send ???? into the World Group play-offs ??
=============================================== 2018 Wheelchair singles slam titles: Diede de Groot and Yui Kamiji with two each. Kamiji wins Wimbledon, making her the first woman to have won all eight WC slam crowns. (A mark de Groot matches by the end of 2019, though she comes one match from doing it *this* season -- she currently owns the Wimbledon WS and U.S Open WD titles.) ...de Groot won three (AO/WI/US), with Kamiji taking the other (RG). Kamiji fell short of the final in her attempt to claim her first Wimbledon crown, meaning de Groot (who also won her first AO/US singles and RG/WI doubles crowns this year) could become the first to win all eight majors title if she takes the AO doubles and RG singles before Kamiji gets another shot in London. De Groot played in both the finals in '18 that she's yet to win, so she was *two* matches away from collecting all eight by the end of '18. The Dutch 21-year old has played in the finals of thirteen of the sixteen slam WS/WD draws in which she's appeared in her career. =============================================== Breakout '18 Fed Cup stars: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE and Rebecca Sramkova/SVK ...Kuzmova was the new SVK Fed Cup star in '18, while Vondrousova's services weren't needed for the title-winning Czechs this time around. Along with Siniakova, though, she's part of the dynasty's future. =============================================== Name Game: Belgium's Eliessa Vanlangendonck wins her first ITF singles and doubles titles ...the 21-year old Waffle *did* win her first pro title this fall, taking the $15K Monastir doubles in her seventh career WD final. She's still seeking her first singles final, going 0-4 in '18 semis to drop to 0-9 at the stage for her career. She ended the season at career highs in both rankings. ===============================================
Every WTA campaign is something of a novel that plays out in real time, rolling out over the long season via plot-filled chapters filled with suspense and surprise, drama and drudgery, tearful heartbreak and, more often than not, strong-willed triumph that inspires everyone to come back for more once the proverbial book is closed on one season with the next waiting just around the corner, promising still more unexpected wonder and intrigue.
2018 was no different. In fact, often times it looked something like this:
Simona Halep cement her position in Romania's sports landscape for the rest of her life, and Serena Williams, while coming up short when it came to slam history, arguably have more impact than ever on the culture of the sport, as well as our lives in general.
Another year, another title. The US might lead the total tally but the Czechs have absolutely been owning this competition in the last decade. pic.twitter.com/Q4rSJyuf4k
Also, the Czechs added another title to their Fed Cup dynasty, a sixth in the last eight years. On the other hand, the formerly dynastic Russian FC squad tumbled down the competition's ladder into zone play for the first time since 1997.
There were four first-time slam semifinalists (the most since 2014, and making it at least one breakthrough performance at 20 of the last 22 majors), and three maiden slam champs (making it five at the last seven majors, all since Serena's last win). A year after a 37-year old (Venus) reached a pair of slam finals, a 36-year old (her sister, of course) played in two this season. The U.S. Open finalists were separated in age by sixteen years, the biggest gap in a slam final since 1991 (Navratilova/Seles).
2018 singles champions included players ranked from #1 (Halep) to #299 (Margarita Gasparyan). One (Pauline Parmentier) hadn't won a crown in nearly a full decade (the third-longest drought ever), and a 30-year old (Tatjana Maria) was the oldest first-time title winner since 2007, and just the second thirtysomething maiden tour champ in ten years. A month and a half later, Mihaela Buzarnescu won *her* first at age 30, too. Five months after her first in nearly ten years, 32-year old Parmentier won *another* title.
The first-ever "lucky loser" champion in tour history was born in the form of teenager Olga Danilovic, while the WTAF crowned a fourth consecutive champ (Elina Svitolina, after Aga Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova and Caroline Wozniacki) who took the round robin event without yet having claimed a slam singles title in their career. For the second straight year, the four majors and WTA Finals were won by five different women. Before 2017, it'd only happened once in tour history.
Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese player to win a major singles title, while Wozniacki (after saving two MP in Melbourne) was the maiden Dane. Halep was the first Romanian to win a slam in forty years, while Ons Jabeur was the first Tunisian to reach a tour singles final ever, and Daniela Seguel was the first Chilean to win a main draw WTA match since 1980.
A year after experiencing the biggest ever non-injury/retirement related ranking slide for a season-ending #1 (to #21), Angelique Kerber won her first title since 2016 and her third career major at Wimbledon, leaving her just a Roland Garros crown away from a Career Slam. Marta Kostyuk became first player born in 2002 to play in a slam main draw (she reached the Australian Open 3rd Round), and while Wang Qiang didn't become the first Chinese woman to win three singles titles in a season it wasn't for a lack of effort, as she finished '18 on a results run of SF-RU-SF-SF-W-RU on the 4Q Asian swing and finished in the Top 20 for the first time.
A year after the first all-teen singles final since 2009 (featuring 19-year olds Dasha Kasatkina and Alona Ostapenko), 2018 played host to the youngest (17-year old olds Danilovic vs. Anastasia Potapova) since 2005. In all, five tour singles finalists were aged 18 or under, with two of them going home as winners. Seven titles were won by players 30 and over, though for the first time since 2006 (and second time since '98) no titles were won by a Williams, whatever their age.
Halep finished her second straight season at #1, but came up a converted MP short of becoming the first woman to sweep the Rogers Cup (in Montreal this year) and Cincinnati titles in back-to-back weeks. 2017 U.S. Open champ Sloane Stephens didn't win her first post-NYC match until February, but went on to win her first Premier Mandatory crown (Miami), reach another slam final (RG) and close out her season by reaching the WTAF title match and posting her first career Top 10 season, her first as the #1-ranked Bannerette. Demi Schuurs didn't win her first doubles major, but the Dutch woman led the tour with seven titles after reaching nine finals with four different partners. Aryna Sabalenka won her first tour title(s), but came up just short (#11) of reaching the Top 10. She was the only player to take a set off eventual U.S. Open champion Osaka in their Round of 16 clash, but it was still Sabalenka's best (so far) major result. Her time will come... probably very soon.
Osaka became the third Japanese player (first since 2003) to make her Top 10 debut this season, while Kiki Bertens was the first Dutch woman since 1996, and just the second to finish a season there (Betty Stove '78).
The first Taiwanese (Liang En-shuo) girls slam champ was crowned, as well as the first ever from mainland China (Wang Xiyu) and the first Pole (Iga Swiatek) since 2007. The youngest-ever girls' #1 (Coco Gauff, at 14 years, 4 months) was recognized, while a Pastry (Clara Burel) finally rose to #1 after winning the Junior Masters after a series of big event runner-up results (AO, RG & Youth Olympics) in '18.
On the wheelchair tour, *two* women are closing in on becoming the first to claim all eight slam s/d titles in a career. This year alone, Diede de Groot (3) and Yui Kamiji (1) shared the four slam singles crowns, facing off in three finals. They combined to share the doubles titles at two slams, and both won another with a different partner.
Halep extended her tour-best streaks in the Top 10 (250+) and Top 20 (270+), while Svetlana Kuznetsova fell out of Top 100 for first time in over 800 weeks. In the closing weeks of the season, though, Sveta's fellow Hordette Margarita Gasparyan climbed into the Top 100 for the first time in over two years, and since and her three (count 'em, three) knee surgeries.
Meanwhile, the USTA was (finally) found "mostly liable" in the organization's court case vs. Genie Bouchard that stemmed from her locker room slip and concussion in 2015, and an out of court settlement was reached in the middle of a trial that should never have happened in the first place; Alize Cornet won her complaint vs. antidoping forces in the "broken intercom" snafu, while Sara Errani was effectively "exonerated" in "the tortellini incident" at the heart of *her* antidoping case, but still saw her suspension increased, leaving the Italian "disgusted" with the whole process; Madison Brengle filed suit over injuries incurred from blood testing; and an angry Serena Williams publicly questioned the number of times she was tested in comparison to other players.
(breath)
And all that really just scratches the surface of what 2018 turned out to be.
And if you're planning on raising the stakes still more, 2019... well, good luck with that. You're gonna need it.
Of course, I said the same thing a year ago and, well, you know how that challenge turned out.
It was yet another season during which there was more than enough glory to go around -- 35 different singles champions and 22 different nations, 81 different doubles/mixed winners, and 50 different title-winning WD/MX pairs -- but that doesn't mean the discussion to determine the year's top player was one that lasted long into the night, with a number of mental ballots having to be cast and pro/con arguments piled atop one another until an acceptable "compromise" choice as the season's top player was finally decided upon.
Because, for once, the race for 2018's version of "Ms.Backspin" evolved into something of an open and shut discussion come fall. With no truly "dominant" doubles duo on tour this year, and with the expected Czech Fed Cup success barely making a dent in the final standings, it came down to which player had the most solid *individual* campaign. While there were many legitimate nominees, including multiple slam winners as well as the tour's title leader (none one in the same, mind you, as *that* would have produced *quite* the candidate), only one combined an affecting story of triumph and resilience and high-level results over the course of the majority of the season, most notably the claiming of the lone major accomplishment that had previously eluded her.
So, on whose head will the "Ms. Backspin" crown rest for the next twelve months (I think it's pretty clear), and who followed in the "Ms.B" pecking order behind her? Well, let's see...
Here are the final "Ms. Backspin" rankings for 2018:
1. Simona Halep, ROU ...of all the stories of '18, none was told with more heartfelt emotion than that of the world #1, who burst out of the gates by sweeping the singles/doubles titles in Shenzhen, winning fifteen straight (WS+WD) matches, and playing the part of warrior in Melbourne en route to the final despite saving MP in two different matches, badly turning her ankle in a marathon 3:44 win and staring into the dead eyes of exhaustion. The confidence Halep gained during those early weeks surely shot her into the clay season with a renewed purpose, and she did finally crash through the slam title glass ceiling at Roland Garros in perhaps the most beloved major title turn since the late Jana Novotna finally won *her* first at Wimbledon two decades ago. Before a back injury ended her season early (and could very well be a story into '19), the Romanian won in Montreal and held MP in the Cincinnati final, coming that close to yet another historic two-week effort. Her back-to-back #1 seasons have solidified her standing in the game, and now we'll see just how much she's learned from her experiences, as she's set to begin next year without a daily guiding hand after Darren Cahill announced a one-year hiatus from coaching.
A fun stat:
Simona Halep is the first player to beat three Grand Slam champions in QFs (Kerber), SFs (Muguruza) and F (Stephens) to win a Women's Singles GS title since Justine Henin at the 2007 US Open (Serena, Venus, Kuznetsova).
2. Naomi Osaka, JPN ...the potential of Osaka's big game has been apparent for a while. It was just a matter of consistently corralling it on gameday. The addition of Sascha Bajin (ex-Serena & Vika hitting partner, and Caro "assistant coach") proved to be the secret ingredient to success, as the 20-year old (now 21) won big at Indian Wells, even bigger at the U.S. Open, and yet still only seems to be scratching the surface of what she's ultimately capabale of, both on and off court. Osaka is the latest Generation PDQer riding the wave of instant stardom, and the next challenge will be dealing with the higher level of expectation that will await her in 2019.
3. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN ...the Dane was the first of three maiden slam winners in '18, seizing the final spotlight from Halep in Melbourne and (for four weeks, anyway) taking away the #1 ranking after a tour record six-year absence from the top spot. Though she won in Eastbourne (her first grass title in nine years), the Dane operated just under the radar for much of the season as she suffered from a lingering "full-body" injury that was eventually diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis before the U.S. Open. Finally able to treat her pain, Wozniacki surged again late, taking a Premier Mandatory title in Beijing in the fall and finishing at #3 in the rankings for a second straight season.
4. Angelique Kerber, GER ...Kerber's "year after" her brilliant '16 campaign proved to be a trying one a season ago. She dropped from #1 to out of the Top 20, didn't win a title and her internal game was missing the burning drive that pushed her to new heights. Armed with a new coach (Wim Fissette, though the wandering, tennis rebuild-loving Belgian -- who has re-upped with Vika Azarenka -- will be replaced by German Rainer Schuettler in '19), Kerber immediately went to work erasing her memories of '17. After going 3-22 last season after losing the 1st set, she won her first three such matches in '18. She won her first ten matches of the year (not counting her additional 4-0 Hopman Cup action), winning Sydney and nearly taking down Halep in the AO semis, holding MP but falling 9-7 in the 3rd. Her season highlight was her third career slam title run, as she won her first Wimbledon title by becoming the first player not named Venus to defeat Serena Williams in multiple slam finals (she also defeated former slam winner Ostapenko, and future one Osaka along the way). Her results leveled off down the stretch, but managed to hold of Wozniacki for a #2 finish.
5. Petra Kvitova, CZE ...at times in '18, Kvitova was downright scary. After being grateful (as she still is) to be playing again at all in '17, the Czech upped her game this season with improved fitness and movement. The result was shockingly evolved clay court prowess, as she won Prague/Madrid in back to back "SuperPetra" weeks. For stretches, the "Pojds!" were flying a often as winners were coming off her racket. She strung together the tour's two longest winning streaks -- 14 and 13 matches -- and led the tour in titles with five, winning on three surfaces, and guided the Czechs back to the Fed Cup final. Though she didn't play in the concluding FC weekend, her picked up her sixth career title in the competition, behind only Chris Evert (8) and Billie Jean King (7). Her only disappointment in '18 was a lack of slam success, as she never advanced past the 3rd Round in a major.
6. Czech Fed Cup Team - six titles in eight years, and with enough talent to keep the dynasty going. 7. Kiki Bertens, NED - remember when she was *just* a Fed Cup heroine and clay court specialist? After fully committing to improving her game, Kiki is now an all-court threat with a big hard court title (Cincinnati), Wimbledon QF and (this year) tour-best twelve Top 10 wins (with only *two* coming on clay). 8. Diede de Groot, NED (WC) - the Dutch wheelchair star won three major singles and three major doubles crowns, and played in the final for the only two '18 slam crowns that eluded her. 9. Sloane Stephens, USA - backed up her U.S. Open title with a win in Miami and second slam final. Kvitova aside, she was arguably *the* pre-Fed Cup final player of the year as she led Team USA back to the final, but she didn't play vs. CZE and the Bannerettes' reign ended in a sweep. 10. Elina Svitolina, UKR - she won three first-half titles, saw her results dip at mid-season, but trusted her "process" and was rewarded with a hard-fought, confidence-building WTA Finals title. Will it be the stepping stone to grand success in '19?
11. Demi Schuurs, NED - the new "go-to" doubles partner on tour, the Dutch specialist led the tour in title (7) and finals (9), though her best slam result was just a QF in New York. 12. Serena Williams, USA - still on her way back, Williams nonetheless managed to reach a pair of slam finals in SW19 and NYC, though her losses to Kerber and Osaka mean she dropped two major finals in straight sets in the same season for the first time ever. RSVP slam #24 in '19, though, right? 13. Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE - a one-time dominant junior doubles duo, the Czechs earned their pro tour bones as a pair in '18, becoming the first pair to sweep Roland Garros & Wimbledon since 2003. They were the sixth and seventh (and last) players to hold the top doubles ranking this season, ending as the co-#1's. 14. Aryna Sabalenka, BLR - Generation PDQ's looming threat, she's seemingly just a step away from joining her cohorts in the latter stages of majors. 15. Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA - good friends who make beautiful doubles music together. The AO and WTAF champions, and U.S. Open finalists, will surely challenge for the #1 ranking in '19 (they ended this season just 10 points out of the #1 slot). Babos spent thirteen weeks there this season.
16. Dasha Kasatkina, RUS - a three-time finalist (including Indian Wells), Kremlin Cup champ, two-time slam quarterfinalist, Top 10er, #1 Hordette, Top 3 menace (five Top 3 wins in '18, eight the last two years) and (w/ the retirement of Aga Radwanska) maybe the most awe-inspiring shotmaker on tour (not counting Hsieh Su-wei -- she's often playing three-dimensional, alternate reality tennis, not the "regular" kind). 17. Ash Barty, AUS - the most accomplished combo player on tour, Barty won a pair of singles titles, four in doubles (including the U.S. Open) and finished in the Top 20 in both disciplines. 18. Elise Mertens, BEL - along the Barty, the tour's preeminent dual threat in '18. The Waffle was a first-time slam semifinalist Down Under, three-time singles and four-time doubles champ. 19. Wang Qiang, CHN - the two-time singles champ, four-time finalist and back-to-back Asian Games Gold medalist is poised to become the best Chinese player in the post-Li era. Well, at least until Wang Xiyu comes of age. 20. Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU - few "second" careers have bubbled up as suddenly as Buzarnescu's, as the doctorate earning (after leaving the sport due to injury and nearly ready to officially retire two season ago) 30-year old Romanian came all the way back (and then some) this season, reaching her maiden slam Round of 16 (RG), winning her first titles (in doubles and singles), notching her first three Top 10 wins and reaching Top 20 (singles) and Top 30 (doubles), both for the first time. Another late summer injury prevented a full 4Q schedule and even greater accomplishments this season, but come '19 she could very well author one of the most improbable success stories ever on a tour that is fast becoming known for just such tales.
Ash Barty/CoCo Vandeweghe, AUS/USA - the new '19 PowerDuo in doubles? After teaming in the wake of longtime Barty partner Casey Dellacqua's retirement, they brought the party wherever they went as the animated Vandeweghe broke down (almost by force) the Aussie's emotional on-court exterior while winning Miami (def. Krejcikova/Siniakova in the final) and the U.S. Open (def. Babos/Mladenovic in the final).
Julia Goerges, GER - the German carried over her late '17 run into the new year, winning in Auckland and reaching the Charleston final. A maiden slam SF at Wimbledon led to her Top 10 debut. Karolina Pliskova, CZE - the Czech kicked things into a higher gear after adding Rennae Stubbs (w/ help from Conchita Martinez) to her coaching team. Brighter in spirit and seemingly more focused (not like in '16, but closer), she got her lethal serve back, reached the U.S. Open QF and two 4Q finals (winning Tokyo over Osaka). The sky could be the limit again in '19. USA Fed Cup Team - a year after the surprise title run, Kathy Rinaldi & Co. returned to the final. Yui Kamiji, JPN (WC) - now playing in the lengthening shadow of de Groot, she's still the definitive #2 in the sport who is arguably (for now) the best player of the post-Esther Vergeer era. She and de Groot could soon become the "Chris & Martina"-style historic rivals of wheelchair tennis. Gaby Dabrowski/CAN, Latisha Chan/TPE, Nicole Melichar/USA, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA - in chronological order, the year's slam MX doubles champs. Anastasija Sevastova, LAT - the U.S. Open semifinalist is now the top-ranked Latvian. Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS - the longtime Russian duo reached the AO and I.W. finals and won in Madrid. They spent five weeks at #1 before (recent) new mother Vesnina ended her season.
="Ms.BACKSPIN" WINNERS= 2001 Jennifer Capriati / USA 2002 Serena Williams / USA 2003 Justine Henin-Hardenne / BEL 2004 Maria Sharapova / RUS 2005 Kim Clijsters / BEL 2006 Amelie Mauresmo / FRA 2007 Justine Henin / BEL 2008 Cara Black & Liezel Huber / ZIM-USA 2009 Italian Fed Cup Team 2010 Francesca Schiavone / ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova / CZE 2012 Serena Williams / USA 2013 Serena Williams / USA 2014 Czech Republic Fed Cup Team 2015 Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza / SUI-IND 2016 Angelique Kerber / GER 2017 Latisha Chan & Martina Hingis / TPE-SUI 2018 Simona Halep / ROU
=YEARLY "Ms. Backspin" Top 10's= [2001] 1. Jennifer Capriati, USA 2. Lindsay Davenport, USA 3. Venus Williams, USA 4t. Kim Clijsters, BEL 4t. Justine Henin, BEL 6. Martina Hingis, SUI 7. Jelena Dokic, AUS 8. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 9. Serena Williams, USA 10. Monica Seles, USA [2002] 1. Serena Williams, USA 2. Venus Williams, USA 3. Jennifer Capriati, USA 4. Kim Clijsters, BEL 5. Anna Smashnova, ISR 6. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK 7. Monica Seles, USA 8. Justine Henin, BEL 9. Jelena Dokic, AUS 10. Paola Suarez, ARG [2003] 1. Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 2. Serena Williams, USA 3. Kim Clijsters, BEL 4t. Anastasia Myskina, RUS 4t. Elena Dementieva, RUS 6. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 7. Maria Sharapova, RUS 8. Ai Sugiyama, JPN 9t. Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP 9t. Paola Suarez, ARG [2004] 1. Maria Sharapova, RUS 2. Lindsay Davenport, USA 3. Anastasia Myskina, RUS 4. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 5. Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 6. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 7. Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 8. Elena Dementieva, RUS 9. Serena Williams, USA 10. Vera Zvonareva, RUS [2005] 1. Kim Clijsters, BEL 2. Lindsay Davenport, USA 3. Mary Pierce, FRA 4. Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 5. Serena Williams & Venus Williams, USA/USA 6. Maria Sharapova, RUS 7. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 8. Cara Black, ZIM 9. Patty Schnyder, SUI 10. Nadia Petrova, RUS [2006] 1. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2. Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 3. Maria Sharapova, RUS 4. Nadia Petrova, RUS 5. Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS 6. ITA Fed Cup Team 7. Martina Hingis, SUI 8. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 9. Kim Clijsters, BEL 10. Nicole Vaidisova, CZE [2007] 1. Justine Henin, BEL 2. Jelena Jankovic, SRB 3. Venus Williams, USA 4. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 5. Serena Williams, USA 6. Ana Ivanovic, SRB 7. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS 8. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 9. Maria Sharapova, RUS 10. Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS [2008] 1. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 2. Serena Williams, USA 3. Jelena Jankovic, SRB 4. Maria Sharapova, RUS 5. Venus Williams, USA 6. Dinara Safina, RUS 7. Ana Ivanovic, SRB 8. RUS Fed Cup Team 9. Elena Dementieva, RUS 10. Vera Zvonareva, RUS [2009] 1. ITA Fed Cup Team 2. Serena Williams, USA 3. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 4. Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA 5. Nuria Llagostera-Vives/Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP/ESP 6. Dinara Safina, RUS 7. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 8. Kim Clijsters, BEL 9. USA Fed Cup Team 10. Elena Dementieva, RUS [2010] 1. Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2. Kim Clijsters, BEL 3. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 4. Serena Williams, USA 5. Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA 6. ITA Fed Cup Team 7. Vera Zvonareva, RUS 8. Samantha Stosur, AUS 9. Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ 10. USA Fed Cup Team [2011] 1. Petra Kvitova, CZE 2. Li Na, CHN 3. Liezel Huber, USA 4. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO 5. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 6. Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA 7. Samantha Stosur, AUS 8. CZE Fed Cup Team 9. Victoria Azarenka, BLR 10. Kim Clijsters, BEL [2012] 1. Serena Williams, USA 2. Victoria Azarenka, BLR 3. Maria Sharapova, RUS 4. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA 5. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL 6. Sara Errani, ITA 7. CZE Fed Cup Team 8. Angelique Kerber, GER 9. Petra Kvitova, CZE 10. Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA [2013] 1. Serena Williams, USA 2. Victoria Azarenka, BLR 3. Simona Halep, ROU 4. Hsieh Su-Wei/Peng Shuai, TPE/CHN 5. ITA Fed Cup Team 6. Roberta Vinci, ITA 7. Maria Sharapova, RUS 8. Marion Bartoli, FRA 9. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA 10. Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS [2014] 1. CZE Fed Cup Team 2. Serena Williams, USA 3. Maria Sharapova, RUS 4. Petra Kvitova, CZE 5. Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA 6. Simona Halep, ROU 7. Li Na, CHN 8. Genie Bouchard, CAN 9. Ana Ivanovic, SRB 10. Peng Shuai, CHN [2015] 1. Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, SUI/IND 2. Serena Williams, USA 3. CZE Fed Cup Team 4. Angelique Kerber, GER 5. Simona Halep, ROU 6. Garbine Muguruza, ESP 7. Timea Bacsinszky, SUI 8. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE 9. Maria Sharapova, RUS 10. Karolina Pliskova, CZE [2016] 1. Angelique Kerber, GER 2. CZE Fed Cup Team 3. Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic, FRA/FRA 4. Serena Williams, USA 5. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE 6. Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, SUI/IND 7. Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS 8. Karolina Pliskova, CZE 9. FRA Fed Cup Team 10. Garbine Muguruza, ESP [2017] 1. Latisha Chan & Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI 2. Alona Ostapenko, LAT 3. Garbine Muguruza, ESP 4. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 5. Simona Halep, ROU 6. Elina Svitolina, UKR 7. Venus Williams, USA 8. Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE 9. Caroline Garcia, FRA 10t. USA Fed Cup Team 10t. CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
Up next, positioning a magnifying glass on the world... region by region.
==NORTH AMERICAN & ATLANTIC REGION== PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sloane Stephens/USA RUNNER-UP: Serena Williams/USA RISERS: Madison Keys/USA and Danielle Collins/USA SURPRISE: Bernarda Pera/USA VETERAN: Serena Williams/USA FRESH FACES: Amanda Anisimova/USA and Sonya Kenin/USA COMEBACKS: Rebecca Marino/CAN and Allie Kiick/USA DOWN: CoCo Vandeweghe/USA, Venus Williams/USA & Shelby Rogers/USA JUNIORS: Coco Gauff/USA, Whitney Osuigwe/USA and Caty McNally/USA DOUBLES: Nicole Melichar/USA, Gaby Dabrowski/CAN and Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA ITF PLAYERS: Rebecca Marino/CAN and Madison Brengle/USA NCAA PLAYERS: Ashley Lahey/USA (Pepperdine) and Fernanda Contreras/MEX (Vanderbilt) IMPROVED: Danielle Collins/USA and Asia Muhammad/USA UNDERRATED: Taylor Townsend/USA and Sachia Vickery/USA FED CUP: Sloane Stephens/USA and Genie Bouchard/CAN FED CUP CAPTAIN: Kathy Rinaldi/USA WHEELCHAIR: Dana Mathewson/USA TEAMS: USA Fed Cup & Stanford Cardinal (NCAA) KEEP AN EYE ON...: Claire Liu/USA and Giuliana Olmos/MEX =MARKET WATCH= BUY: Bianca Andreescu/CAN SELL: Venus Williams/USA (slowly until the summer of 2020) HOLD: CiCi Bellis/USA BULLISH FUTURE: United States
==SOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICAN REGION== PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mariana Duque Marino/COL RUNNER-UP: Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR RISER: Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA SURPRISES: Daniela Seguel/CHI and Melissa Morales/Kirsten-Andrea Weedon, GUA/GUA VETERAN: Mariana Duque Marino/COL FRESH FACE: Emiliana Arango/COL COMEBACK: Paula Ormaechea/ARG DOWN: Teliana Pereira/BRA JUNIOR: Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL DOUBLES: Alexa Guarachi/CHI ITF PLAYER: Fernanda Brito/CHI NCAA PLAYER: Luisa Stefani/BRA (Pepperdine) IMPROVED: Maria Fernanda Herazo Gonzalez/COL UNDERRATED: Montserrat Gonazalez/PAR and Charlotte Roemer/ECU FED CUP: Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR FED CUP CAPTAIN: Ramon Delgado/PAR WHEELCHAIR: Natalia Mayara/BRA TEAM: PAR Fed Cup KEEP AN EYE ON...: Maria Carle/ARG =MARKET WATCH= BUY: Emiliana Arango/COL SELL: Maria Irigoyen/ARG HOLD: Nadia Podoroska/ARG BULLISH FUTURE: Colombia
==ASIA/PACIFIC REGION== PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Naomi Osaka/JPN RUNNER-UP: Ash Barty/AUS RISERS: Wang Qiang/CHN, Yulia Putintseva/KAZ and Dasha Gavrilova/AUS SURPRISES: Wang Yafan/CHN and Ellen Perez/AUS VETERANS: Hsieh Su-wei/TPE and Zhang Shuai/CHN FRESH FACES: Jiang Xinyu/Tang Qianhui(CHN/CHN), Priscilla Hon/AUS and Jamiee Fourlis/AUS COMEBACK: Alja Tomljanovic/AUS DOWN: Ana Konjuh/AUS and Latisha Chan/TPE JUNIORS: Wang Xiyu/CHN, Liang En-shou/TPE and Wang Xinyu/CHN DOUBLES: Ash Barty/AUS and Xu Yifan/CHN ITF PLAYERS: Lee Hua-chen/TPE and Zoe Hives/AUS NCAA PLAYERS: Astra Sharma/AUS (Vanderbilt) and Eudice Chong/HKG (Wesleyan University) IMPROVED: Zheng Saisai/CHN and Luksika Kumkhum/THA UNDERRATED: Ankita Raina/IND and Shuko Aoyama/JPN FED CUP: Ash Barty/AUS and Miyu Kato/Makoto Ninomiya, JPN FED CUP CAPTAIN: Toshihisa Tsuchihashi/JPN WHEELCHAIR: Yui Kamiji/JPN TEAM: JPN Fed Cup KEEP AN EYE ON...: Karman Thandi/IND, Lizette Cabrera/AUS and Pranjala Yadlapalli/IND =MARKET WATCH= BUY: Wang Xiyu/CHN, Elena Rybakina/KAZ and Samantha Stosur/AUS (doubles) SELL: Samantha Stosur/AUS (singles) and The Elite Trophy (Zhuhai) HOLD: Sania Mirza/IND and Peng Shuai/CHN BULLISH FUTURE: China and Taiwan
==AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN REGION== PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maria Sakkari/GRE RUNNER-UP: Ons Jabeur/TUN RISER: Julia Glushko/ISR SURPRISE: Basak Eraydin/TUR VETERAN: Pemra Ozgen/TUR FRESH FACE: Ipek Oz/TUR COMEBACK: RSA Fed Cup DOWN: Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR JUNIORS: Sada Nahimana/BDI and Lina Glushko/ISR DOUBLES: Chanel Simmonds/Madrie Le Roux (RSA/RSA) and Julia Glushko/Lina Glushko (ISR/ISR) ITF PLAYERS: Julia Glushko/ISR and Sandra Samir/EGY NCAA PLAYER: Mayar Sherif/EGY (Pepperdine) IMPROVED: Valentini Grammatikopoulou/GRE UNDERRATED: GRE Fed Cup FED CUP: Maria Sakkari/GRE FED CUP CAPTAIN: Anis Bouchlaka/TUN WHEELCHAIR: Kgothatso Montjane/RSA TEAM: TUN Fed Cup KEEP AN EYE ON...: Zoe Kruger/RSA =MARKET WATCH= BUY: Ons Jabeur/TUN and Helene Pellicano/MLT SELL: Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR HOLD: Ipek Soylu/TUR BULLISH FUTURE: Tunisia and Malta (yes, Malta)
==RUSSIA & EASTERN EUROPEAN REGION== PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Simona Halep/ROU RUNNER-UP: Elina Svitolina/UKR RISERS: Dasha Kasatkina/RUS, Anett Kontaveit/EST and Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR SURPRISES: Kateryna Kozlova/UKR VETERAN: Anastasija Sevastova/LAT, Lesia Tsurenko/UKR and Kaia Kanepi/EST FRESH FACES: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Dayana Yastremska/UKR and Anastasia Potapova/RUS COMEBACKS: Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU and Margarita Gasparyan/RUS DOWN: BLR Fed Cup, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS and Alona Ostapenko/LAT JUNIORS: Dasha Lopatetskaya/UKR, Viktoriia Dema/UKR and Daniela Vismane/LAT DOUBLES: Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina (RUS/RUS) and Vera Zvonareva/RUS ITF PLAYERS: Andreea Amalia Rosca/ROU NCAA PLAYER: Anastasia Rychagova/RUS (Kansas) IMPROVED: Vera Lapko/BLR and Veronika Kudermetova/RUS UNDERRATED: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS and Lyudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok, UKR/UKR FED CUP: Alona Ostapenko/LAT FED CUP CAPTAIN: Florin Segarceanu/ROU WHEELCHAIR: Viktoriia Lvova/RUS TEAMS: ROU Fed Cup, RUS 14s (W) and UKR 16s (RU) KEEP AN EYE ON...: Marta Kostyuk/UKR =MARKET WATCH= BUY: Marta Kostyuk/UKR, Sofya Zhuk/RUS and Anna Blinkova/RUS SELL:Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS Hmmm, then again, let's make it...RUS Fed Cup (at least until there's some real leadership, because the young talent is there again, from Dasha on down) HOLD: Victoria Azarenka/BLR, Maria Sharapova/RUS BULLISH FUTURES: Ukraine and Latvia
==WESTERN EUROPEAN REGION== PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN (by a paper-thin margin) RUNNERS-UP: Angelique Kerber/GER and Petra Kvitova/CZE RISERS: Kiki Bertens/NED, Karolina Pliskova/CZE and Petra Martic/CRO SURPRISES: Dalila Jakupovic/SLO, Tamara Zidansek/SLO and Karolina Muchova/CZE VETERANS: Julia Goerges/GER, Pauline Parmentier/FRA and Kveta Peschke/CZE FRESH FACES: Elise Mertens/BEL, Katerina Siniakova/CZE and Donna Vekic/CRO COMEBACKS: Petra Kvitova/CZE, Angelique Kerber/GER and Andrea Petkovic/GER DOWN: Johanna Konta/GBR, Garbine Muguruza/ESP and Aga Radwanska/POL JUNIORS: Clara Burel/FRA, Clara Tauson/DEN and Kaja Juvan/SLO DOUBLES: Demi Schuurs/NED and Barbora Strycova/CZE ITF PLAYERS: Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK and Fiona Ferro/FRA NCAA PLAYER: Arianne Hartono/NED (Mississippi) IMPROVED: Kiki Bertens/NED, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK and Rebecca Peterson/SWE UNDERRATED: Aleksandra Krunic/SRB, Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL and Polona Hercog/SLO FED CUP: Petra Kvitova/CZE FED CUP CAPTAIN: Petr Pala/CZE WHEELCHAIR: Diede de Groot/NED TEAMS: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (CZE/CZE), CZE Fed Cup and Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (HUN/FRA) KEEP AN EYE ON...: Olga Danilovic/SRB and Kaja Juvan/SLO =MARKET WATCH= BUY: Iga Swiatek/POL, Ivana Jorovic/SRB and SVK Fed Cup SELL: ITA Fed Cup HOLD: Timea Bacsinszky/SUI, Laura Siegemund/GER and Sara Errani/ITA BULLISH FUTURES: Slovenia and Serbia
**YEARLY REGIONAL PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR WINNERS** ==NORTH AMERICAN & ATLANTIC REGION== 2008 Serena Williams, USA 2009 Serena Williams, USA 2010 Serena Williams, USA 2011 Serena Williams, USA 2012 Serena Williams, USA 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Serena Williams, USA 2015 Serena Williams, USA 2016 Serena Williams, USA 2017 Venus Williams, USA 2018 Sloane Stephens, USA
==SOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICAN REGION== 2008 Gisela Dulko, ARG 2009 Gisela Dulko, ARG 2010 Gisela Dulko, ARG 2011 Gisela Dulko, ARG 2012 Paula Ormaechea, ARG 2013 Paula Ormaechea, ARG 2014 Paula Ormaechea, ARG 2015 Teliana Pereira, BRA 2016 Mariana Duque, COL 2017 Beatriz Haddad, BRA 2018 Mariana Duque, COL
==ASIA/PACIFIC REGION== 2008 Zheng Jie, CHN 2009 Samantha Stosur, AUS 2010 Samantha Stosur, AUS 2011 Li Na, CHN 2012 Li Na, CHN 2013 Li Na, CHN 2014 Li Na, CHN 2015 Sania Mirza, IND 2016 Sania Mirza, IND 2017 Chan Yung-Jan, TPE 2018 Naomi Osaka, JPN
==AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN REGION== 2008 Cara Black, ZIM 2009 Shahar Peer, ISR 2010 Shahar Peer, ISR 2011 Chanelle Scheepers, RSA 2012 Chanelle Scheepers, RSA 2013 Cara Black, ZIM 2014 Cara Black, ZIM 2015 Ons Jabeur, TUN 2016 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR 2017 Maria Sakkari, GRE 2018 Maria Sakkari, GRE
==EUROPE== [Non-Russian Europe, 2008-12] 2008 Jelena Jankovic, SRB 2009 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR [Russia, 2008-15] 2008 Dinara Safina 2009 Svetlana Kuznetsova 2010 Vera Zvonareva 2011 Maria Sharapova 2012 Maria Sharapova 2013 Maria Sharapova 2014 Maria Sharapova 2015 Maria Sharapova [Non-Russian Eastern Europe, 2013-15] 2013 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2014 Simona Halep, ROU 2015 Simona Halep, ROU *** [RUSSIA & EASTERN EUROPEAN REGION] 2016 Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS 2017 Alona Ostapenko, LAT 2018 Simona Halep, ROU [WESTERN EUROPEAN REGION] 2013 Aga Radwanska, POL 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Martina Hingis, SUI 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER 2017 Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2018 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
**HARD COURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS** 2004 Lindsay Davenport, USA 2005 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2006 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2007 Justine Henin, BEL 2008 Serena Williams, USA 2009 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2010 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2011 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Serena Williams, USA 2015 Serena Williams, USA 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER 2017 Elina Svitolina, UKR 2018 Naomi Osaka, JPN
**CLAY COURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS** 2004 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2005 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 2006 Nadia Petrova, RUS 2007 Justine Henin, BEL 2008 Dinara Safina, RUS 2009 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2010 Samantha Stosur, AUS 2011 Li Na, CHN 2012 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2015 Angelique Kerber, GER 2016 Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic, FRA/FRA 2017 Simona Halep, ROU 2018 Simona Halep, ROU
**GRASS COURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS** 2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2005 Venus Williams, USA 2006 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2007 Venus Williams, USA 2008 Venus Williams, USA 2009 Serena Williams, USA 2010 Serena Williams, USA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Serena Williams, USA 2013 Marion Bartoli, FRA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Serena Williams, USA 2016 Serena Williams, USA 2017 Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
**INDOOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS** 2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS 2005 Mary Pierce, FRA 2006 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2007 Justine Henin, BEL 2008 Jelena Jankovic, SRB 2009 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2010 Ana Ivanovic, SRB 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Angelique Kerber, GER 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS 2015 Aga Radwanska, POL 2016 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK 2017 Julia Goerges, GER 2018 Elina Svitolina, UKR
*"RISING PLAYER" WINNERS* 2002 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK 2003 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS & Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2005 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER 2006 Nadia Petrova, RUS 2007 Jelena Jankovic, SRB & Ana Ivanovic, SRB 2008 Dinara Safina, RUS 2009 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 2010 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 2011 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2012 Aga Radwanska, POL 2013 Simona Halep, ROU 2014 Simona Halep, ROU & Genie Bouchard, CAN 2015 Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2016 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2017 Caroline Garcia, FRA 2018 Naomi Osaka, JPN
*"FRESH FACE" WINNERS* 2002 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2003 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2004 Tatiana Golovin, FRA 2005 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE 2006 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE 2007 Agnes Szavay, HUN 2008 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 2009 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2010 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS 2011 Monica Niculescu, ROU 2012 Laura Robson, GBR 2013 Sloane Stephens, USA & Genie Bouchard, CAN 2014 Belinda Bencic, SUI 2015 Belinda Bencic, SUI 2016 Dasha Kasatkina, RUS 2017 Alona Ostapenko, LAT 2018 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
*JUNIOR/"NextGen" WINNERS* 2002 Vera Zvonareva, RUS 2003 Vera Dushevina, RUS 2004 Maria Kirilenko, RUS & Nicole Vaidisova, CZE 2005 Ana Ivanovic, SRB 2006 Olga Puchkova, RUS 2007 Tamira Paszek, AUT 2008 Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS 2009 Melanie Oudin, USA 2010 Alisa Kleybanova, RUS 2011 Caroline Garcia, FRA 2012 Taylor Townsend/Genie Bouchard, USA/CAN 2013 Belinda Bencic, SUI 2014 CiCi Bellis, USA 2015 Dalma Galfi, HUN 2016 Kayla Day, USA 2017 Claire Liu, USA 2018 Wang Xiyu, CHN
*NCAA PLAYER* 2015 Jamie Loeb, USA (North Carolina) 2016 Danielle Collins, USA (Virginia) 2017 Francesca Di Lorenzo, USA (Ohio State) 2018 Astra Sharma, AUS (Vanderbilt)
*"SURPRISE" WINNERS* 2002 Anna Smashnova, ISR 2003 Anca Barna, GER 2004 Claudine Schaul, LUX 2005 Samantha Stosur, AUS 2006 Severine Bremond, FRA 2007 Sybille Bammer, AUT 2008 Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN 2009 Yanina Wickmayer, BEL 2010 Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ 2011 Galina Voskoboeva, KAZ 2012 Sara Errani, ITA 2013 Karin Knapp, ITA 2014 Tereza Smitkova, CZE 2015 Johanna Konta, GBR 2016 NED Fed Cup Team 2017 BLR Fed Cup Team 2018 Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU
*"VETERAN" WINNERS* 2002 Monica Seles, USA 2003 Ai Sugiyama, JPN 2004 Lindsay Davenport, USA 2005 Lindsay Davenport, USA 2006 Martina Hingis, SUI 2007 Venus Williams, USA 2008 Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 2009 Serena Williams, USA 2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2011 Li Na, CHN 2012 Serena Williams, USA 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Serena Williams, USA 2015 Serena Williams, USA 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER 2017 Venus Williams, USA 2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
*"COMEBACK" WINNERS* 2002 Chanda Rubin, USA 2003 Lina Krasnoroutskaya, RUS 2004 Mary Pierce, FRA 2005 Venus Williams, USA 2006 Martina Hingis, SUI 2007 Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA 2008 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2009 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2010 Justine Henin, BEL 2011 Sabine Lisicki, GER 2012 Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE 2013 Jelena Jankovic, SRB 2014 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO 2015 Russian Fed Cup Team 2016 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK 2017 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2018 Serena Williams, USA
*"MOST IMPROVED PLAYER" WINNERS* 2003 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2004 Alicia Molik, AUS 2005 Kveta Peschke, CZE 2006 Jelena Jankovic, SRB 2007 Marion Bartoli, FRA 2008 Vera Zvonareva, RUS 2009 Samantha Stosur, AUS 2010 Kaia Kanepi, EST 2011 Aga Radwanska, POL 2012 Varvara Lepchenko, USA 2013 Julia Glushko, ISR and Alison Riske, USA 2014 Alize Cornet, FRA 2015 Dasha Gavrilova, RUS/AUS 2016 Monica Puig, PUR 2017 Maria Sakkari, GRE and Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA 2018 Kiki Bertens, NED and Wang Qiang, CHN
*"DOWN" WINNERS* 2002 Meghann Shaughnessy, USA 2003 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK 2004 Jelena Dokic, SRB 2005 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2006 Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA 2007 Maria Sharapova, RUS 2008 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE 2009 Ana Ivanovic, SRB 2010 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2011 Venus Williams, USA 2012 Vera Zvonareva, RUS 2013 Nadia Petrova, RUS 2014 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2015 Genie Bouchard, CAN 2016 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK 2017 Angelique Kerber, GER 2018 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
*"DOUBLES" WINNERS* 2003 Martina Navratilova, USA 2004 Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP 2005 Cara Black, ZIM 2006 Lisa Raymond, USA 2007 Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 2008 Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 2009 Nuria Llagostera-Vives/MJ. Martinez-Sanchez, ESP/ESP 2010 Gisela Dulko, ARG 2011 Liezel Huber, USA 2012 Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA 2013 Kristina Mladenovic, FRA 2014 Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA 2015 Martina Hingis, SUI 2016 Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic, FRA/FRA 2017 Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI 2018 Demi Schuurs, NED
*"TEAM OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2003 Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 2004 Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 2005 Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA 2006 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS 2007 Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 2008 Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 2009 Italian Fed Cup Team 2010 Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA 2011 Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO 2012 Czech Republic Fed Cup Team 2013 Hsieh Su-Wei/Peng Shuai, TPE/CHN 2014 Czech Republic Fed Cup Team 2015 Czech Republic Fed Cup Team 2016 Czech Republic Fed Cup Team 2017 U.S. Fed Cup Team 2018 Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
*"ITF PLAYER OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2008 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER 2009 Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE 2010 Mathilde Johansson, FRA 2011 Casey Dellacqua, AUS 2012 Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, ESP 2013 Reka-Luca Jani, HUN 2014 Denisa Allertova, CZE 2015 Dasha Kasatkina, RUS 2016 Isabella Shinikova, BUL 2017 Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU 2018 Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK
*"FED CUP PLAYER OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Francesca Schiavone, ITA 2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA 2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2016 Caroline Garcia, FRA* 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA 2018 Petra Kvitova, CZE -- * - non-championship team
*"FED CUP CAPTAIN OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2015 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA* 2016 Paul Haarhuis, NED* 2017 Kathy Rinaldi, USA 2018 Kathy Rinaldi, USA* -- * - non-championship team
*"COACH OF THE YEAR" WINNERS* 2018 Sascha Bajin (Osaka)
The annual listing of the people, successful quests, dynasties, controversy-and-adoration attracting icons, trusting processes, generational waves, Eastern European booms, surviving malevolent entities, on-point Instagram games and other things of indeterminate description that provided me with a "helping hand" in shaping this season's Backspin landscape. Some may not necessarily have been THE stories of the year but they surely struck this Backspinner's fancy at some point. And that's enough.
=============================================== 3. Serena vs. "Serena": the irrational notion of an "ideal" great, combined with double-standards, rose-colored glasses, grandstanding, a loss of minds, reality and the clarity of life = a living, imperfect, reliably human icon for the ages (aka, "Serena is still Serena") ...also a likely offseason highly-charged "Carl Talk" discussion surely to last deep into the night
=============================================== 10. SuperPetra Warning: Tennis at Your Own Risk
=============================================== 11. The Future of Bannerette Tennis is Bright, and it's named Sloane, Madison and CiCi... err, or Sonya and Amanda, or Whitney and Coco, err, or maybe...
=============================================== 12. Diede the Great vs. Queen Kamiji: The Greatest Wheelchair Rivalry
FIVE consecutive ladies’ wheelchair doubles title for Yui Kamiji.
2018 champion of the ladies’ wheelchair singles AND doubles for Diede de Groot.#Wimbledon is a place of happy memories for these two… pic.twitter.com/NxfTcaWyzZ
=============================================== 16. The Li Na Generation Stirs ...and Wang Qiang fills in the "in-between" time until they fully arrive
=============================================== 17. The "Elite" Trophy tournament"exhibition" ...with all due respect (or not), why? No, check that... that rule is just asinine.
Rule explanation: In a round-robin format like the WTA Finals or @WTAEliteTrophy, the 2nd place finishers from each group stay on-site as semifinal alternates until the 1st place finisher takes the court. pic.twitter.com/kBUUD7ByqE
=============================================== 18. Death, Taxes, Serena, White House Embarrassments, Tennis God dirty little tricks and Antidoping Overreach Attempts (in 2018 it involved Cornet, Errani...) ...things we just can't quit.
At least not until 2020. Or (gulp) 2024. =============================================== 19. Mugu Gotta Mugu
=============================================== 25. Passages... from the court of life (Jana Novotna, Maria Bueno), and the more constricted one, as well (Aga Radwanska, Roberta Vinci, Patty Schnyder, Casey Dellacqua, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Olga Savchuk and others).
=============================================== 26. "To HoF or Not to HoF, that is the Question" ...what makes someone a "Hall of Famer?" And which women's stars, past and present, might soon (or eventually) earn the honor?
I admire both Obi Wan and Dumbledore. When things got really bad and they faced a powerful foe they just rolled over and died, allowing some teenagers to deal with the mess.
#1 - THE GREAT WAVE ARRIVES Over two weeks in New York, Naomi Osaka road the wave of her tennis (and cultural) potential to her maiden slam title at the U.S. Open, becoming the first Japanese major champion, and at 20 the youngest winner in New York since 2006. She dropped just a single set, closing out the event with a pair of 6-2/6-4 victories over '17 finalist Madison Keys and seven-time U.S. champion Serena Williams in the final, overcoming the tremendous pressure of her first deep slam run as well as the distraction of all the nonsense stirred up by Williams during the match after the icon was correctly assessed a series of penalties by the chair umpire. Osaka's win thus completely alters the future course of her career (both on and off court, as her win at Flushing Meadows could prove to be arguably the most lucrative match victory in tennis history, as she's already started stacking up major endorsement deals in Japan), and quite possibly women's tennis, as well.
=============================================== #2 - THE TRIUMPH OF THE RESILIENT ROMANIAN Simona Halep's longtime career quest for a slam title finally came to an end in her fourth major final, and her third in Paris in five years. Naturally, after having previously lost leads during her unsuccessful attempts, she dropped the 1st set vs. Sloane Stephens in the Roland Garros final and then staged a comeback from a break down in the 2nd to win in three. Befitting her star-crossed journey into the winner's circle, Halep is the first maiden slam winner who was already the reigning #1 player in the world when she finally achieved her breakthrough. The Romanian is the first from her nation in forty years to be crowned a major champion.
A fun stat:
Simona Halep is the first player to beat three Grand Slam champions in QFs (Kerber), SFs (Muguruza) and F (Stephens) to win a Women's Singles GS title since Justine Henin at the 2007 US Open (Serena, Venus, Kuznetsova).
=============================================== #3 - SIMONA THE WARRIOR Has a player ever given so much, or come so close, finding a way to fight and survive until the very bitter end... yet still come away with nothing tangible to show for it than Simona Halep at this year's Australian Open? While Halep's eleven-match winning streak to start the season, highlighted by her ankle-rolling-and-heart-in-throat start and eventual five-MP-saving-in-two-different-matches path to the final in Melbourne left her in the position of being the latest hard-luck Fan Favorite without a slam title, her perseverance earned her the respect and admiration of her peers that few ever enjoy over the course of a career, as well as the backing of anyone who enjoys seeing a good story (eventually) get the grand ending it deserves. Halep won her first event (Shenzhen) as the world #1 in January, and only went down in the AO when the forces of seven kingdoms (plus or minus a couple of flying dragons) converged as one against her -- or at least it seemed that way -- in her first slam as the top seed, falling to Caroline Wozniacki. With her Melbourne warrior run in her back pocket, Halep confidently went to Paris four months later and won her aforementioned maiden slam crown at Roland Garros. =============================================== #4 - CLAY QUEEN KIKI OF OHIO Kiki Bertens, former "clay court specialist," erased any remaining doubts about her hard court bona fides in Cincinnati. The Dutch woman notched four Top 10 victories in all, as defeats of U.S. Open semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe and Anett Kontaveit were strung together with connective wins in Ohio over #2 Caroline Wozniacki (retired), #7 Elina Svitolina and #6 Petra Kvitova to reach her first tour-level hard court final. There she faced down a MP in the 2nd set vs. #1 Simona Halep, found the belief within herself to "go for it," increased her aggression and walked off with the biggest title of her career. Boom. An *all-surface* star was officially born. Bertens' wins over the world #1 and reigning RG champ, the world #2 and reigning AO champ, the '18 tour title leader (Kvitova) and what would ultimately be the WTAF champ (Svitolina) all IN THE SAME WEEK make this the most impressive non-slam title run of the entire season. =============================================== #5 - A SINGAPOREAN SONG OF SVITOLINA Once Elina Svitolina finally qualified for the eight-player WTA Finals field, she was determined to silence her critics and prove beyond a doubt that she *did* indeed deserve to be there, as well as re-write the thumbnail, spare-no-feelings, less-than-ideal descriptions of her career thus far, by winning on a truly big stage.
The only thing the Ukrainian doesn't own is a slam title and the long-term respect that comes with it. Or even a major semifinal. Not that she hasn't been close. In fact, she's squandered numerous opportunities, not the least of which was an epic collapse in the Roland Garros quarterfinals two years ago against Simona Halep. Singapore wasn't a slam, but it's about as close as it gets outside of Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
After her results slipped in the second half of the season, Svitolina desperately needed a boost. A good memory to call upon this offseason and in times of future trouble. After searching for the table-turning moment for over two years, she seemed to collect a whole bushel of them in her final event of the season, going undefeated while building one confidence-building moment upon another, upon another, and upon another, gradually elevating the Ukrainian's prospects in clutch moments -- even in her own mind, where it's most important but is sometimes corrupted by negative emotions and frustration -- to another realm.
Petra Kvitova fell in straights in round robin play followed by four straight three-set victories over Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Wozniacki (from a set down), Kiki Bertens and, in the final, Sloane Stephens. Suddenly, after fighting through lingering moments of doubt as the week wore on, being "positive" seemed easier for her to pull off come the final match. When Svitolina should have been physically dragging after a series of tough, intense in-match situations, she was bouncing around the court for two hours vs. Stephens, coming back from a set down once again and sending herself off into '19 (and beyond) on a sky-high note.
=============================================== #6 - THE MONTH(s) OF SuperPETRA In February, Kvitova won 14 straight matches, leading the Czechs back to the Fed Cup semis and claiming titles in Saint Petersburg and Doha, resurrecting the gasps of awe and possibilities of "SuperPetra" first experienced during her SW19 runs in 2011 and '14. She delivered a second dose of dominance in the spring, winning 13 straight on clay, claiming back-to-back titles in Prague and Madrid, as well as leading the Czechs back to the Fed Cup final with a 2-0 mark (in Germany) against Kerber and Goerges. She reached five titles by June, enough to lead the tour for '18 even while going title-less during the final five months of the season. =============================================== #7 - GIMME AN "A!" GIMME AN "N!" GIMME A a "G-I-E!" Angelique Kerber wins her first Wimbledon title, defeating a string of NextGen stars and then ending with 23-time slam champ Serena Williams in the final. She loses just one set the entire fortnight. Three-quarters of the way to a Career Slam, she's the first German to win at SW19 since 1996, the first to win a third major since 2011, and just the second (w/ Venus) to defeat Serena in *two* slam finals.
=============================================== #8 - THE DAY OF THE DANE Expelling Jana Fett's name to the annals of slam "What If...?" scenarios, Caroline Wozniacki overcomes 2 MP at 5-1, 40/15 deficit in the 3rd set of the Australian Open 2nd Round, then turns the Croat's squandered lead into her personal moment of destiny, going on to outlast #1 Simona Halep in a three-set final and finally claim her maiden slam title in Melbourne and briefly return to the top ranking after a tour record six-year absence. =============================================== #9 - MEET THE NEW DOUBLES BOSSES? Reigning Roland Garros champs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova followed up their first slam title by winning a second at Wimbledon, becoming the first duo since 2003 to pull off the RG/SW19 sweep. Of course, the Czechs have traveled this road before. In 2013, they won RG, Wimbledon and U.S. Open's girls doubles crowns. The run provided much of the fuel for what led to the Maidens becoming the doubles co-#1-s by the end of the season, ending 2018 sharing the top spot.
Come 2019, maybe they'll brush up on their old dance routine, too...
=============================================== #10 - THE ROAD TO OSAKA After an early career filled with promise but weighed down by inconsistency, Naomi Osaka finally "scratches the surface" of her talent by finding her way to her maiden tour title in Indian Wells with a previously unseen level of between-the-lines equilibrium maintained while stacking up victories over the likes of Maria Sharapova, Aga Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and Dasha Kasatkina. The youngest I.W. champ in a decade, and the first unseeded winner since Kim Clijsters in '05, Osaka is also the first Japanese player to reach a Premier Mandatory final, and the lowest-ranked (#44) Premier Mandatory champion.
=============================================== #11 - SIMONA DOES MONTREAL (and nearly Cincy, too) Simona Halep battled blisters, fatigue, scheduling issues, and battles with negativity... but, in the end, was raising her arms in victory to close out the week. Yes, it was everything -- and more -- that we've come to expect from Halep, who in '18 transformed before our eyes from tough luck contender to beloved (and gusty) grand slam champ, stable #1-ranked player in the world and quite possibly the last player on The Most Interesting Tour that anyone wants to face off with when tennis death is on the line.
In her first tournament since Wimbledon, where she followed up her RG win with an acceptable 3rd Round result ended by the bedeviling game of Hsieh Su-wei, it wouldn't have been shocking for Halep to take her time finding her footing in Montreal. Instead, she jumped feet first into the North American summer fire. In a two-day match vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, she overcame a 4-2 3rd set deficit and won in 3:07, then came back later in the night and defeated Venus Williams in straight sets. She won nine of ten games under the lights to finish off Caroline Garcia after trailing 5-4 in the 1st set, knocked off Ash Barty in straights early in the afternoon on Saturday to reach the final, then won an instant-classic three-set final over Stephens to finish off her second straight Rogers Cup title run in Montreal, having won the last time it was played there in '16.
A week later, she nearly became the first player to sweep the titles in Canada and Cincinnati in back-to-back weeks, coming up a converted MP short in the final vs. Kiki Bertens from making history yet again. =============================================== #12 - BACK TO THE FUTURE SLOANE Having survived an eight-match losing streak after her U.S. Open title run last year, Sloane Stephens regains her "Future is Now" form in Miami, handling the likes of Garbine Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Vika Azarenka (coming back from a set and a break down) and Alona Osapenko (so, four straight slam winners, two of them reigning champs, and three former #1's). The title run finally lifted Stephens into the Top 10 for the first time, making her the third Bannerette to break the barrier in the last three seasons after what had been a 17-year drought of U.S. newcomers following the rise of the Williams Sisters. =============================================== #13 - ELI'S ROMAN HOLIDAY II Elina Svitolina's Rome run, her second succesful title defense of '18, saw her lose just one set, defeating three eventual RG quarterfinalists -- Kasatkina (after dropping a love 1st), Kerber (her sixth straight win over the German, three when she was still ranked #1) & Halep (in a rematch of last year's Italian Open final), as well as Paris Round of 16er Anett Kontaveit. Her love & 4 victory over the Romanian was her sixth over a world #1 since her upset of Serena Williams at the Rio Olympics in the summer of '16. =============================================== #14 - TO WANG WITH LOVE During this season's 4Q Asian swing, Wang Qiang assumed the mostly-vacant position (since Li Na's '14 retirement) as China's #1 tennis star. After defending her Asian Games Gold Medal and knocking the First Seed Out of the U.S. Open to close out the summer, Wang went 21-6 (18-5 in China) in a season closing SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU stretch on the continent that included three Top 10 wins (and five more Top 20) as well as her first Top 20 ranking to close out the season.
=============================================== #15 - THE FIELD(s) -- save two -- FEAR THE KASATKINA Dasha Kasatkina saves five MP over two matches -- 2 vs. Johanna Konta in the 2nd Rd., 3 vs. Garbine Muguruza in the SF -- to reach her third career tour final in Dubai, finally cracking the Top 20 (she'd later reach the Top 10) for the first time in her career, though she lost to Elina Svitolina in the final when the Ukrainian did just about everything a little better than her. In Kasatkina's next event, she was at it again, showing nearly every shot in the book and staging yet another value-your-lives run that saw a handful of top-ranked players made to look anything but when placed on the opposite side of the net from the Russian. She knocked off four straight previous slam champions in Sloane Stephens, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, and Venus Williams (in 2:48) before coming up short once more when she finally seemed to hit the wall against the consistent power of Naomi Osaka in the final (though only after having performed in the role of unofficial "tweener coach" to her eventual opponent a few weeks earlier).
=============================================== #16 - THE BRACELET RULES ROSMALEN 25-year old Serb Aleksandra Krunic claimed her maiden tour title in raging comeback fashion at Rosmalen. Reaching into her bag and pulling out far too many amazing shots to recount, Krunic saved a MP against #1-seed and two-time champ CoCo Vandeweghe in the semifinals, erasing a set and 4-2 deficit, saving a MP in the 3rd, to reach her second tour-level singles final. Once there, after dropping the 1st set (via a love TB) despite having led 5-3 and served for it vs. Kirsten Flipkens, Krunic came back again for the victory, this time from another set and a break (twice, in fact) hole. Flipkens served for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, only to see Krunic get the break and proceed to take nine of the final ten games en route to the win.
=============================================== #17 - THE DEVONSHIRE DANE Caroline Wozniacki opened what became her first grass court title-winning experience in nine years with a victory over eventual Wimbledon quarterfinalist Camila Giorgi, came back a set down to defeat '17 Wimbledon semifinalist Johanna Konta and handled Nottingham champ Ash Barty in two sets. In the semifinals, she battled eventual Wimbledon champ Angelique Kerber for three sets, saving a MP on a 24-stroke rally and dominating when it came to collecting the match's most important points (including 3-of-4 BP opportunities). In the final, her second straight at Devonshire Park, she overcame Aryna Sabalenka serving for both the 1st and 2nd sets, and holding a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set TB, to win 7-5/7-6 and claim her second career title at Eastbourne. It was the second '18 title won after Wozniacki came back from MP down, having done so (vs. Jana Fett) during her maiden slam title run in Melbourne in January. =============================================== #18 - THE MOST INTERESTING STORY ON THE MOST INTERESTING TOUR IN THE WORLD In San Jose, 30-year old Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu became the tour's latest thirtysomething maiden champ, finally winning her first tour title after reaching her seventh QF, sixth SF and third final of the season. Wins over Sachia Vickery, Amanda Anisimova, Ajla Tomljanovic and Elise Mertens set up a battle for a first career title between Buzarnescu and Maria Sakkari. It was no contest. Buzarnescu coasted to a 6-1/6-0 win. Fittingly, she sealed the deal with an ace. In a season chocked full of stories, Buzarnescu's may be the "craziest." After being a top junior, injuries wrecked her career. She missed nearly two full years in 2013-14, but found her way back to the sport after she suddenly felt no more pain after having filled her time earning a Ph.D. in sport science. The Swarmette only made her MD tour debut last summer (at the U.S. Open) after more than a dozen failed qualifying attempts. She got her maiden MD win in Linz in October '17. Since then, she's recorded five Top 20 wins (3 Top 10), reached a slam Round of 16 in Paris, won her first tour title and made her Top 20 debut. "Interesting" doesn't really do her justice.
=============================================== #19 - THE LUCKY WINNER 17-year old Serb Olga Danilovic was a Top 5 junior who grabbed three junior doubles slam crowns in 2016-17, earlier in '18 won $60K and $25K ITF challengers, as well as having a starring Fed Cup turn in her February debut when she led the Bracelettes in zone play (she got a win over Anastasija Sevastova). But it wasn't so overwhelming a rise by the big-hitting lefty that anyone arched an eyebrow *too* high when she lost in the final round of Moscow Open qualifying to Spain's Paula Badosa. But when Danilovic entered the main draw (her first on tour) due to Petra Martic's withdrawal, the stage was set for history to be made.
Wins over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Kaia Kanepi, world #10 Julia Goerges and Aliaksandra Sasnovich made Danilovic the first LL to reach a tour final since CoCo Vandeweghe did it in Stanford in 2012. Her 2:20 win in the final over Anastasia Potapova (with both age 17, it was the youngest tour final since Vaidisova/Golovin in '05), during which she battled nerves and a sometimes-wonky second serve with grit and teenage verve, she forged ahead from a break deficit in the 3rd set to become the first LL to ever win a WTA title and the first player to claim the crown in her maiden tour MD event since 2001 (Angelique Widjaja in Bali). =============================================== #20 - ONCE MORE, WITH RADWANSKIAN FEELING 2018 turned out to be Aga Radwanska's final season on tour, but before she left for retirement (and hotel ownership... yes, "Radwanska Abbey" is now a *real* thing!) she gave us one final extended bit of magical brilliance this past summer, even if we didn't fully realize it at the time.
Over the past two seasons, injuries and inconsistency pulled Radwanska from the ranks of a long-time Top 10 player to battling to just be seeded at the majors (she was #32 at Wimbledon). She ultimately ended '18 ranked at #75. But the grasscourt-loving Pole, back in Eastbourne after being out for two months, looked as much like her old master magician self all week long as she had in quite some time. A surprisingly easy win over Timea Babos gave her a welcome return moment, then she went deep into her bag of tricks (and maybe got a little "extra" help from her "old friend") against Dasha Gavrilova. The Aussie held two MP in the 2nd set in their match-up, but Gavrilova DF'd twice. Radwanska took the resulting TB, then won the 3rd set at love. Oh, and that match just happened to occur on June 26, the annual "Radwanska Remembrance" day for that crazy, upset-filled afternoon at Wimbledon back in 2013.
A round later, Radwanska got a walkover from Petra Kvitova (hamstring), then defeated Alona Ostapenko to reach her first semifinal since New Haven nearly a year earlier (and just her third since her Week 2 final in Sydney in January 2017). Aga was tripped up in three sets by Aryna Sabalenka in what turned out to be her final career semifinal, and the win over Ostapenko her last over a Top 20 player. Radwanska went just 2-5 the rest of the season before announcing in November that a foot injury would end her career.
The big news coming in was that the Canadian squad for the nation's Fed Cup World Group II Playoff tie in Montreal vs. Ukraine included Genie Bouchard, on board after a three-year absence following her "I'll pass" on handshakes, disastrous 0-2 weekend in Montreal vs. Romania in 2015. Oddly enough, "Curse of Genie" aside, Bouchard turned out to be the *only* stable thing about the Canadian roster, the youngest in World Group play that April weekend, at the end of which nearly everyone representing the Maple Leaf (l'Unifolié) was also a member of the walking wounded. A club which Bouchard only barely managed to avoid joining herself.
HUGE passing shot on the run gets @geniebouchard the break for 3-2 in the first set…
First, Franckie Abanda was pulled from Match #1 at the last minute after a pre-match fall (periorbital contusion/black eye), replaced by 17-year old Bianca Andreescu. Andreescu was dominating Ukraine roster #1 (and recent Monterrey champ) Lesia Tsurenko, then cramped up, lost nine straight games, and collapsed in tears on the court. She stayed there for ten minutes, retiring and eventually being taken off in a wheelchair. With the score knotted at 1-1 after a Bouchard win, then 2-1 up after another, Abanda was pulled yet again on Sunday from Match #4 due to whiplash from the previous fall. She was replaced (again) by Andreescu, who then was replaced by doubles specialist and singles #364 Gaby Dabrowski.
At the time, it was legitimate to wonder if Captain Sylvain Bruneau might consider giving UKR a singles walkover so that a well-rested doubles specialist Dabrowski could then team with Bouchard in the deciding doubles, avoiding having the one rested and healthy roster player being too tired to play back-to-back matches. But Dabrowski played, and amazingly stunned Kateryna Bondarenko by taking the 1st set, but was then dominated in sets 2 and 3. Still, Dabrowski was enlisted to come out *again* for the doubles, but not with Bouchard (who was willing to go). Instead, it was Andreescu in yet another lineup shuffle.
Maybe even more shockingly, it all worked out for the home team, with Andreescu/Dabrowski clinching the tie with a 6-3/4-6/6-3 win over Bondarenko & Olga Savchuk, but only after failing to serve things out at 5-2 in the 3rd and holding MP. They broke serve to secure the win.
So, you know... easy-peasy.
1. Australian Open SF - Simona Halep def. Angelique Kerber ...6-3/4-6/9-7. Two warriors, brought to their knees by the never-say-die competitiveness of the other. Halep served at 5-3 in the 3rd set, but Kerber saved two MP. Then it was Simona's turn, saving two Kerber MP. Nearly half an hour after she'd had a chance to finish off the match the first time around, Halep won on her fourth MP of the day to reach her third career slam final. Credited with 50 winners in the match, the Romanian admitted to being proud of herself for persevering beyond reason for what seemed to be just about the millionth time over the span of two weeks in Melbourne.
=============================================== 2. Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Lauren Davis ...4-6/6-2/15-13. Halep did not ultimately win the Australian Open. But she definitely left in her wake a few spray-painted "Simona was Here" tags strategically placed all over Melbourne Park. Another example came on the middle Saturday -- nearly ALL that Saturday, in fact -- when she and Davis spent their time coating Rod Laver Arena with a blood-and-sweat (but no tears) masterpiece in The Match That Ate Day 6.
In 3:44, the third-longest AO women's match ever (tied for the most ever in total games) and tied for the longest of the 2018 season, Halep wins her Warrior masterpiece against a game Davis in a battle that, quite literally, was decided by a toenail. In the 2:22 3rd set, Halep faced triple MP at love/40, escaping with a combination of her own guile and Davis' toenail coming off at just about the WORST MOMENT EVER ("Atta boy!," said the ball that rolled under Ana Konjuh's feet vs. Aga Radwanska at Wimbledon in 2016, from it's current home at the end of a dangling string in a garage outside London). On her fourth attempt to serve out the match, Halep finally prevailed. Afterward, she said, "I'm almost dead."
The Great Wall of Halep! 🖐️👊
With incredible defensive grit and determination @Simona_Halep fends off an inspired, gutsy, fearless Lauren #Davis to advance to 4R 4-6 6-4 15-13.
=============================================== 3. Rome QF - Maria Sharapova def. Alona Ostapenko ...6-7(6)/6-4/7-5. One of those situations where all the hype was worth it. In their first meeting, the two RG champions, one past and one reigning, battled for 3:11 in a back-and-forth battle that was in question until the final game. Ostapenko nearly blew a 5-2 1st set lead, failing to secure four SP on Sharapova's serve and ultimately seeing the Russian serve for the set at 6-5, then held a SP at 6-5 in the TB before the Latvian (who'd twice DF'd when up 3-1 and 4-3) took the breaker 8-6. Ostapenko threatened to erase Sharapova's break lead in the 2nd, only to hand it back after getting things back on serve at 4-3. Sharapova maintained a similar break lead at 4-2 in the 3rd, and got within two points of the win at 5-3 while Ostapenko dealt with a leg injury that occurred when she did a rare (for her, at least) end-of-point split. The 20-year old saved two MP down 5-4 and managed to get things to 5-5, only to see Sharapova get the break to close the match two games later. In the end, Sharapova won 128 points to Ostapenko's 126, while the Latvian led 34-32 in winners (and had 61 UE's to the Russian's 49). While '17 RG champ Ostapenko would go on to suffer a 1st Round upset in Paris, Sharapova advanced to her first slam QF since her return from suspension.
=============================================== 4. Montreal Final - Simona Halep def. Sloane Stephens ...7-6(6)/3-6/6-4. Halep and Stephens came together for another classic final. Halep led 4-1 in the 1st, but as both players jumped on the poor second serves of their opponents things got tight rather quickly. Halep served for the set at 5-4, but soon had to hold at 5-6 just to reach a TB. She saved a pair of SP to get there, then quickly fell behind 4-0. After getting one mini-break back, the Romanian DF'd to fall into a 5-1 hole. Back-to-back errors from the serving Stephens turned a 5-2 lead into a suddenly-close 5-4. Another Halep DF gave Stephens two more SP, but she failed to convert either, with her fourth of the set going away via a net cord shot that sailed beyond the baseline. Halep won a 20-shot rally with a backhand winner into the corner to reach her first SP, which she got with a Stephens return error to win 8-6.
Up 4-2 in the 2nd, Stephens saved two BP and forced a 3rd set when she converted on her fourth SP (after being 0-for-7 in the match). Halep led 2-0 in the 3rd, but Stephens got back to even at 2-2, only to see Halep break to reclaim the lead as the two continued to trade off breaks of serve. Serving at 5-3, Halep DF'd on MP, and saw Stephens save two more on her own serve in game #9. Finally, serving for the match at 5-4, Halep fired an ace up the "T" to secure the title. =============================================== 5. Moscow Final - Dasha Kasatkina def. Ons Jabeur ...2-6/7-6(3)/6-4. A match between friends and training partners turned into a battle of highlight reel shots...
Featuring a comeback from 6-2/4-1 down by the Russian, who not for the first time during the week called upon her coach to light a fire under her racket. She stormed back and took control, serving for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd. Jabeur broke Kasatkina for 5-4, but leg cramps in her final service game led to the sort of unfortunate end this match didn't deserve. Though the concern and sportswomanship shown by Kasatkina for her friend/competitor *did* shine a welcome light on the finish.
“I saw you gave everything today and this is what sport is about.”
=============================================== 6. Fed Cup Final Match #3 - Katerina Siniakova def. Sonya Kenin ...6-7(4)/6-2/7-6(1). Oh, 2018... you little devil.
Naturally, the official '18 season would end with a FC-clinching, 3:44 drama that saw a new generation Maiden and a new Generation Bannerette face off in a back-and-forth affair with as many swings of emotion and momentum as rackets. With the Czechs up 2-0 after Day 1, there was no wiggle room for the defending champion U.S. squad. It was do (now!) or see their title defense die in Prague. For a bit, it looked as if the latter would happen in short order. Siniakova took a 5-3 1st set lead, but held off the late surge of Kenin, who got within two points of forcing a TB. The Czech broke to win the set 7-5.
Up 3-0 in the 2nd, and holding two BP for 4-0 at 15/40 on Kenin's serve, Siniakova lost her place in the battle. The Bannerette held and broke back a game later. Two games later, she broke the Czech from 30/love and took a 4-3 lead. Siniakova pushed back, breaking Kenin from 30/love, only to see Kenin soon respond by breaking *her* at love to lead 6-5. She then sent things to a 3rd set, serving out the 2nd by converting on her fourth SP opportunity.
Siniakova led 3-0 again in the 3rd, and saved five BP in a 19-minute hold to take a 4-1 lead. She had a GP for 5-2, but again Kenin, even while battling a thigh injury, had only begun to fight. She got the break to pull the match back from the edge and won three more games in a role. Serving up 5-4, 40/15 she held two MP to send the tie to a fourth singles match (Danielle Collins had already been tapped to finally join the fray after being held back on Day 1). But Siniakova had a final act of her own. She saved the first MP on a 25-shot rally, and got the break to keep the Czechs' hopes of a sweep alive. She held from love/40 down to take a 6-5 lead. Kenin had a GP in game #12, but couldn't get the set back to even. She saved a MP, but after retrieving a ball in the forecourt only to fire it beyond the baseline, Siniakova had a second chance. A wide Kenin forehand ended it, and the Czechs were champions. Again.
Spare a thought for Sofia #Kenin, who battled hard for 3hrs and 45mins, despite struggling with a thigh problem.
She left it all out there, and has done herself and her country proud. Shame someone had to lose that... pic.twitter.com/3VMVWa5CMi
=============================================== 7. Indian Wells SF - Dasha Kasatkina def. Venus Williams ...4-6/6-4/7-5. In their third three-setter in three career matches (this one went 2:48), Kasatkina physically wore down Venus (17 years her senior) beneath the nighttime sky in an instant desert classic. After dropping the 1st set, the Russian led 3-1 in the 2nd, but had to hold a key 13-minute, 22-point game for 5-3 to avoid giving Venus true hope that she could finish things off in two. Despite showing pretty much all the shots in her arsenal -- slices, solid forehands, jumping backhands, drop shots, backhand flicks down the line and into the corner -- Kasatkina found herself down 4-5 in the 3rd, and love/30 when she flubbed a shot into the net on a short ball. But rather than have her evening be defined in a negative way by the moment, she made it a foundation from which to build a winning exit strategy in the match. She won the next four points to hold, and 8/9 to close out the match. Venus contributed with back-to-back DF to break herself to give the Hordette a 6-5 lead that she didn't relinquish. In the end, Williams' 49/63 winner/UE stats didn't hold up against Kasatkina's (33/35), and the Russian's seventh break (on her 19th BP) to her own six (12 BP) proved to be just enough to get the victory. ===============================================
8. Rosmalen SF - Aleksandra Krunic def. CoCo Vandeweghe ...2-6/7-6(4)/7-6(1). Krunic's master class in shotmaking took down the two-time Rosmalen champ and #1 seed, erasing a set and a break deficit and saving a MP in the 3rd. But, really, all you really need to do is watch.
=============================================== 9. Doha SF - Petra Kvitova def. Caroline Wozniacki ...3-6/7-6(3)/7-5. The Czech and the Dane tangled for 2:35, trading off attempts in the 2nd and 3rd sets to serve out the match. First, Wozniacki served up 6-3/5-4 (suffering a love break), then 6-5, in the 2nd. Kvitova won a TB to force a 3rd set, where she held from 15/30 (even w/ two DF, of the eleven she had on the day) for 4-4, broke a game later, and served for the match at 5-4. She was broken by the Dane, but then broke back a game later and finally served out the match. The win ended Wozniacki's 12-match semifinal unbeaten streak, making it the first time she failed in an attempt to reach a final since the 2016 U.S. Open vs. Kerber. ===============================================
10. Wimbledon QF - Angelique Kerber def. Dasha Kasatkina ...6-3/7-5. Pay no attention to the rather "routine" scoreline. A meeting between the two can be expected to have many things, from a large dose of variety, long rallies, the Russian pulling off every shot in the How-To-Tennis guidebook (and a few only available in the "updated" version you can purchase online), the German's defensive scrambles turning into suddenly shocking offense, and several instances when you see sweat glistening off both as they bend over in exhaustion after a particularly exciting adventure caper (complete with its own catchy theme song) and recognize that *this* is what guts and glory look like in a sports setting. And that's what we got, too. In fact, about the only thing we didn't see was a 3rd set. Ah, who knows what we missed out on.
As things played out a pattern developed for the swashbuckling Kasatkina, who'd often fluctuate between being brilliant and frustratingly inconsistent all day. A little more steadiness from the grinding *and* flashy (an intriguing combination, to say the least) Hordette and this could have been a Wimbledon classic. Kerber, by contrast, played a steady game. No big highs, but also no big lows. She staked out the "middle" and maintained it from the first point until the last. It turned out to be her key to victory.
The final game turned out to be a semi-masterpiece of guile and audacity. Kerber actually led 40/15 and it seemed as if it would end quickly, but it turned out to be a 16-point, 7-MP tussle highlighted by a 25-shot rally (to reach MP #6) that saw, just to name a few moments, Kasatkina slip and fall behind the baseline, then recover and race back to the other side of the court, pull off a drop shot, but then see it answered by a point-winning volley from Kerber.
Seven match points. A 25 shot rally. Hawk-Eye drama.
A point later Kerber just missed completing a drop and lob combo to win the match (on MP #6), then finally did on MP #7 when Kasatkina failed to get back the German's forehand as Kerber's win set the stage for what turned out to be her third career slam title run.
=============================================== 11. Cincinnati Final - Kiki Bertens def. Simona Halep ...2-6/7-6(6)/6-2. Halep seemed ready to embrace the history of becoming the first Canada/Cincy back-to-back champ, but Bertens had other thoughts. The Dutch woman led the 2nd set 4-1, but once the world #1 battled her way back, saved a SP at 5-4 and had a MP at 6-5 in the TB, Halep's first Cincinnati title appeared destined to be hers. But Bertens threw caution to the wind, upped her aggression, and stole the TB 8-6. With Simona frustrated and tiring in the heat after two LONG weeks, Kiki seized her opportunity and turned up the heat just a little more. After Halep broke serve in game #3 after falling behind 2-0, Bertens' immediate break back a game later showed that she wasn't going to wilt. She ended things with an ace. Of course... because that's what a good hard court player like Kiki does, right?
Congratulations @kikibertens - great fight today ??
=============================================== 12. Australian Open 4th Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Hsieh Su-wei ...4-6/7-5/6-2. Faced with an opponent in Hsieh who twisted the former #1 into a soft pretzel with her varied series of drop shots, slip-sliding forehand slices, hooks, flat change-of-direction winners down the line, angled brain-twisters, curling hand-cuffers, and, of course, her more "normal" corner-to-corner groundstrokes that served to leave her perpetually out of position for most of two full sets, Kerber was bewitched, bothered and bewildered almost to the point of being on the brink of defeat. Almost. As a tiring Hsieh hit the physical wall in the 3rd, Kerber finally hit *her* stride and pulled away. =============================================== 13. Strasbourg Final - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Dominika Cibulkova ...6-7(5)/7-6(3)/7-6(6). The Russian wins a crazy one in 3:35, saving two MP down 5-4 in the 3rd. After trailing 4-2 in the deciding TB, Pavlyuchenkova won four straight points to reach her own double MP. She didn't get either, but then took the final two points to secure the title. She had 73 winners on the day, 13 aces and 49 UE's, edging Cibulkova 136-134 in total points. =============================================== 14. Fed Cup World Group II Match #4 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Anastasia Potapova/RUS ...3-6/6-3/6-4.You can that say you knew her when....
Kuzmova may very well be the future of SVK Fed Cup, but after losing 4 & 2 to Natalia Vikhlyantseva in Match #1, then falling down a set vs. 16-year old Potapova in Match #4, things weren't looking particularly good for the 19-year old in her debut FC singles weekend. But she pulled her big game together and staged a comeback against Russian Captain Myskina's "substitute Anastasia," making her first FC victory a truly historic one, ending her nation's winless history vs. the Hordettes with an epic forehand put-away.
Viktoria Kuzmova posts her first Fed Cup win ?? ?? to send ???? into the World Group play-offs ??
=============================================== 15. U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Andrea Petkovic ...6-4/4-6/6-4. A match overlooked by most, but still worth remembering.
It was streaky in nature right from the start. Petkovic won the first five points, including a love break of Ostapenko's serve in game #1, until the German hit a double-fault. The Latvian then broke back and won four straight points of her own. Still, Ostapenko dropped her first six service points in the match. When Petkovic broke to take a 3-2 lead, Ostapenko's frustration bubbled just under the surface. By game #6, she'd already committed twelve unforced errors. But she found her groove and, as is the law with the Thunder, it was difficult for her opponent to keep up with her when she did.
The Latvian took the 1st at 6-4 and led 3-0 in in 2nd set, and had break point for 4-0. But after she failed to convert the opportunity, her rising UE total spelled her doom in the set. As that was playing out, a fired-up Petkovic blazed back into contention. With a BP at 4-4, the German absolutely crushed a second serve return for a winner into the corner to get the chance to serve for the set. With the game knotted at 30/30, one final surge did the trick as Petko took the set with an ace.
Again, Ostapenko held an early lead in the 3rd. Up 2-0, she dropped serve in game #3, but broke back and held for a 4-1 advantage. She served for the match (into the sun) at 5-3, and held two match points. Petkovic's defense, though, extended rallies and, as it turned out, the match, as well. MP #2 was saved when a Petko forehand bounced off the tape, caught a line, and resulted in a mistimed Ostapenko forehand into the net. The Latvian then DF'd and, BP down, saw another forehand error hand a break of serve to Petkovic, who pounded her chest as she stalked toward the changeover area with the score at 5-4.
Petkovic held at 15 to level the set, as Ostapenko's UE total edged near sixty for the match. But just when it appeared as if the German might provide Armstrong with another day-opening upset, the Latvian's thunder emerged. She fell behind 15/30 in game #11, and saved two BP, but managed to hold for a 6-5 lead. With Petko serving to stay in the match, the score was 30/30 a game later. On game point, the German double-faulted. On a second GP, Ostapenko ended a rally previously defined by Petkovic's defense with a swing volley winner to drown out what would be her final chance to stay in the match. A point later, Petkovic pulled up her racket on an Ostapenko ball near the baseline, then immediately challenged the call of the shot which had been declared in. When the replay showed that it had indeed caught the line -- by, it seemed, maybe the newly-ruffled fuzz of the ball -- Ostapenko had her third MP. Petko saved it with a service winner, but a running crosscourt forehand winner from the Latvian gave her fourth MP. When the German netted her reply to Ostapenko's backhand return, it was over after nearly 2:30 on the hottest of the early days of this year's Open.
=============================================== 16. Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. CoCo Vandeweghe ...6-7(3)/6-3/8-6. Vandeweghe battled the Czech for over three hours despite a bum ankle, and a nasty looking fall (she raced forward to reach a ball, slid on the grass and ended up flat on her back, partially under the net and beside the net post on the AD court side). While limping and wincing throughout, she managed to take the 1st set TB from the Czech, then take control in the 3rd set after Siniakova had won the 2nd. She served for the match at 5-3, but failed to seal the deal, then saw Siniakova play her more straight-up without thinking about her injury down the stretch. She pulled even and then ahead for good.
=============================================== 17. Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Julia Goerges def. Barbora Strycova ...7-6(3)/3-6/10-8. Lost in the Day 5 commotion of both Williams Sisters simultaneously (on Centre and Court One) squaring off with different Kikis at the same time, there was another crazy match taking place out on Court 2. As it turned out, Goerges, after coming to London having lost five straight 1st Round matches at Wimbledon, advanced to her first SW19 Round of 16 (and, later, her maiden slam semi) with a victory in 2:58 over Strycova. The match turned out to have a 3rd set for the ages, as after twelve straight holds of serve it suddenly became impossible for either player to hold at all. Goerges finally got her first break of the day (after 16 previous service holds from Strycova) of the Czech's serve to take a 7-6 lead. But Strycova then continually broke back to stay in the match, forcing Goerges to serve for the the win three different times, at 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8. Finally, she got the hold to win. ===============================================
18. U.S. Open 4th Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Aryna Sabalenka ...6-2/2-6/6-4. The "Boom-shaka-Osaka" clash at Flushing Meadows that will likely only grow expotentially in stature as the years go on.
The all-20 year old, U.S. Open Round of 16 match-up between #26 Sabalenka and #20 Osaka wasn't just a first-time meeting between a pair of Generation PDQ "Bash Sisters," it was a look into something of the soul of the future of women's tennis. Not all of it, mind you, but a large subsection where power rules, the potential for it to intimidate excites, and individual stardom awaits for those who can corral it all and rise above.
After the ten-minute between-set break, Osaka held at 15 to open the 3rd, looking fresh again after seeing her game take step back in the 2nd. The Japanese player being able to stave off a BP in her last 2nd set serve game allowed her to open the deciding set on serve, preventing her from having to face the constant pressure of serving from behind. Instead, it would be Sabalenka's lot in the 3rd. Sabalenka followed suit on her own service hold at 15 with a down-the-line forehand that painted the side line. In game #3, Osaka found herself in a love/30 hole, causing her frustration to leak out just a bit as she tapped rather forcefully (but never fully slammed) her racket on the court. A netted forehand put her down double BP, then Sabalenka charged the net behind her return and put away a breaking volley to go up 2-1. But rather than Sabalenka taking the wind-in-her-sails moment and carrying it to the finish, it was Osaka who lifted her level in the final games, better controlling her power (and UE) and playing with the sort of consistency that was always going to be necessary for *one* of these two if they were going to have any sort of real say in the outcome of the match.
She got the break back a game later, then followed with a strong hold, ending it with an ace to lead 3-2. A missed backhand down the line put Sabalenka down love/30, then a DF gave Osaka triple BP. But Sabalenka, as she has so often this summer in a series of three-setters, often coming back from MP down to win, managed a final push with her back against the wall. She pulled herself out of the hole with big serves and aggressive play, holding for 3-3 with a game-ending forehand winner. A Sabalenka error on a short ball off an Osaka return put her down love/30 two games later, but she held again for 4-4.
But remember, Sabalenka was the one who was tasked with holding to keep contact in the set, and the pressure to continually do so proved to be too great, and the Great Wave of Osaka too strong to hold back. Feeling the moment and recognizing her time to shine, Osaka held at love, punctuating the game with an ace for a 5-4 lead. Again serving to get even, this time to stay in the match, the Belarusian again fell behind. But this time she couldn't battle her way back. A backhand bounced off the net cord and landed out, leaving her love/30 down. A DF gave Osaka triple MP.
In one final flourish, Sabalenka got the game back to deuce, saving three MP with a wide second serve and forehand winner combo, an Osaka return error and a service winner up the middle. On GP, Osaka fired a big return at Sabalenka's feet and the game continued, with MP #4 soon coming after another large return. This time, rather than pull herself back up, Sabalenka served herself out of the U.S. Open with another DF, giving Osaka a win and her maiden slam quarterfinal result.
Sabalenka's 2nd set win turned out to be the only stanza Osaka would lose the entire tournament, as she claimed her first career slam crown, raising expectations for her future while leaving the Belarusian wondering what might have been. =============================================== 19. Fed Cup Americas I Promotional Playoff Match #2 - Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR def. Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA ...6-7(2)/7-5/7-6(9). Cepede Royg and Haddad Maia saw their match suspended with the Brazilian leading 4-3 in the 1st set. Hours later, after day had turned into night, Haddad took a late break lead in the 3rd, only to see VCR break back and force a deciding TB (with a rule change, the long, drawn out final sets in FC play are now history because, you know, who wants drama?). The Paraguayan held triple MP at 6-3, only to see Haddad save all three and hold three MP of her own. The Brazilian DF'd on #3 up 9-8, leading to VCR finally securing the win and clinching the tie victory on MP #4 to take the breaker 11-9, ending a match that lasted 3:20 between the lines, but much longer when you factor in the rain delay. Naturally, somehow the ITF (months later, of course) saw fit to nominate Haddad for the Americas Zone Fed Cup Heart Award for the weekend, not Cepede Royg, though the Brazilian was out-voted for the honor by... Montserrat Gonzalez, VCR's teammate. Some things boggle the mind.
??#Tenis#FedCup¡PARAGUAY CAMPEÓN (2-0 vs. Brasil) Y ACCEDIÓ AL PLAY OFF DEL GRUPO MUNDIAL II! ¡@verocepede venció a Haddad Maia por 6-7 7-5 7-6 y dejó el título en nuestras tierras! ¡VAMOS! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/EPHiqoL4RT
=============================================== 20. Moscow Final - Olga Danilovic def. Anastasia Potapova ...7-5/6-7(1)/6-4. Potapova was 2-0 ('16 AO & Roehampton) in their junior head-to-head, winning a pair of straight sets matches. But this match-up of two 17-year olds was a back-and-forth affair. Danilovic came back from 4-1 down (w/ points for 5-1) to win the 1st at 7-5, then DF'd on MP when serving for the title at 5-4 in the 2nd. In the 3rd, it was Potapova who lost a break lead as the Serb's aggression and big groundstrokes finally dragged her across the match's finish line first... and into tour history as she became the WTA's first lucky loser champion. ===============================================
=MEMORABLE, BUT FOR THE WRONG REASON...=
Rome 2nd Rd. - Maria Sakkari def. Karolina Pliskova ...4-6/6-3/7-5. A great win for Sakkari, but one that will be remembered for umpire Marta Mrozinska wrongly failing to overturn a clear line call. Still, though she had a right to be frustrated and angry, Pliskova's act of attacking the umpire's chair with her racket following the match, smashing a hole in its side as Sakkari winced and did her best to avoid any shrapnel was a step too far.
Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Venus Williams def. Serena Williams ...6-3/6-4. Seventeen years after the controversial semifinal walkover, the Sisters finally meet in Indian Wells in the 29th edition of their historic on-court series. Still early-on in Serena's return, it should have hardly come as a surprise that Venus would prevail over her little sister for the first time in nearly four years (Montreal '14). Of course, Serena *did* manage to delay the "inevitable" a little bit, as Venus failed to serve things out at 5-2 (w/ a MP), stringing together a Serena passing shot/Venus missed sitter/DF stretch to drop serve, then had to stave off another BP in the 5-4 game before finally closing things out.
Can't be lost how monumental this Venus-Serena match is.
17 years ago, one of the worst scenes we've ever seen in tennis. An American crowd hurling racial slurs at two American teenagers. They vowed to never return.
They forgave. 17 years later, they finally meet in the desert.
WTA Finals rr - Elina Svitolina def. Caroline Wozniacki ...5-7/7-5/6-3. Svitolina's path to the title was made possible not by a win here, but by one set. The 2nd. One *game*, really. THE TWELFTH.
While Wozniacki needed a straight sets win to reach the SF and eliminate Svitolina, the Ukrainian needed only to take a single set. With the moment of truth fast approaching late in the tight 2nd stanza, with the Dane serving down 5-6, Svitolina went up 15/40. She didn't *have* to win game #12 to advance, as she would have gotten another chance in a "winner-takes-the-SF-slot" TB. But this moment can now be viewed through the lens of "before." Before Svitolina battled through her nerves (and some short-landing shots that allowed Wozniacki to battle back and hold two GP). Before Svitolina slayed one of her more lethal personal "can't win in the clutch, can't close out a win on the big stage" demons from her past and secured the game, set and the semis on her fifth BP/SP/Advancement Point. Before whatever follows in the aftermath of this win -- and tournament -- for the Ukrainian becomes a reason to look back on this moment once again. Possibly in 2019.
Svitolina's eventual match win closed out a 3-0 round robin mark, giving her 1st Place in her group, altering what would have otherwise been the semifinal matchups. As it turned out, she faced Kiki Bertens in the SF, who faltered at the end of both the 1st and 3rd sets, and *then* in the final it was Sloane Stephens, who appeared a bit tired at the end of a long week while Svitolina (who'd faced just as many tight situations in long matches) was drinking from a cup filled to the brim with confidence, excitement and redemption.
Would Svitolina have won the title if she'd faced a slightly fresher Stephens in the semis, then either Bertens or Pliskova in the final? Maybe. Maybe not. But she wouldn't have had the chance if not for GAME TWELVE. Thus, it carves out a special place in Svitolina history. The Process is officially a plotline, not a punchline.
2005 Aust. Open SF - Serena Williams d. Maria Sharapova 2006 Aust. Open SF - Justine Henin-H. d. Maria Sharapova 2007 Los Angeles SF - Ana Ivanovic d. Jelena Jankovic 2008 U.S. Open Final - Serena Williams d. Venus Williams 2009 Wimbledon SF - Serena Williams d. Elena Dementieva 2010 Brisbane Final - Kim Clijsters d. Justine Henin 2011 Aust. Open 4th - Francesca Schiavone d. Svetlana Kuznetsova 2012 Miami 4th - Victoria Azarenka d. Dominika Cibulkova 2013 Cincinnati Final - Victoria Azarenka d. Serena Williams 2014 Indian Wells QF - Aga Radwanska d. Jelena Jankovic 2015 R.Garros 2nd - Francesca Schiavone d. Svetlana Kuznetsova 2016 Wimbledon 4th - Dominika Cibulkova d. Aga Radwanska 2017 Madrid 2nd - Genie Bouchard d. Maria Sharapova 2018 Aust. Open SF - Simona Halep d. Angelique Kerber
1. Australian Open 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Jana Fett ...3-6/6-2/7-5. The escape that made her eventual maiden slam title run possible. Early on, 2014 AO girls finalist Fett (in just her second career slam MD match) controlled the flow and direction of the match, dictating play with her power, and serving big while Wozniacki was seemingly forgetting about her new, more forward, aggressive style of play. The Dane's 2nd set moment of truth presented her with the chance to show that she *could* diagnose her difficulties and change course. In the aftermath of dropping the 1st, she began to move forward and take balls earlier, knotting the match. But rather than go away herself, Fett stood up. Not holding back, she regained control of the match in the 3rd. Hitting and serving big, she pressured the once-again-off-message Wozniacki into more producing more errors. The frustrated Dane's fifth double-fault of the match broke her own serve and she was down 5-1. Fett took a 40/15 lead on serve and held double match point. And then she finally started to show her nerves. Fett continued to go for big first serves, but started missing them. Her deep groundstrokes started landing shorter in the court, and Wozniacki began to take advantage, allowing her experience advantage to take hold. With the Croat starting to resemble the big stage newcomer she was, Wozniacki knew what she needed to do: hit the ball deep in the court to prevent Fett's power from bailing her out of a rally, and try to never fire a ball outside the lines. Luckily for Wozniacki, she's always been expert at both. Refusing to miss, Wozniacki saw the match come right back to her, and served out the win to produce a result that turned out to be the biggest Houdini-esque escape of the entire women's competition.
=============================================== 2. Sydney 1st Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Lucie Safarova ...6-7(3)/7-6(8)/6-2. As was the case with her career-transforming Australian Open title run in '16, Kerber's appearance in Sydney was almost over before it'd hardly even begun. With the ghost of Misaki Doi surely floating by, the German scratched out tangible early evidence of her turnaround after a forgettable '17 campaign, surviving two rain stoppages, going a set and a break down, and saving two MP in the tie-break vs. the Czech in her opening match, then going on to win the title.
=============================================== The Rad's series of loving goodbye kisses to Aga on the grass courts of England...
3. Eastbourne 2nd Rd. - Aga Radwanska def. Dasha Gavrilova ...5-7/7-6(4)/6-0. Like (doomsday) clockwork, the machinations of our favorite malevolent entity seemed to be lingering in the shadows at Eastbourne on the annual Remembrance Day of the original June 26, 2013 "Radwanskian Massacre" at Wimbledon. On Tuesday it felt like old times, as a (briefly) revitalized Aga, after having lost the first set to Gavrilova despite leading it 4-1, saw the Aussie DF on two MP at 6-5 in the 2nd. The Pole then took the 2nd set TB to force a deciding set, and then won it 6-0. Gavrilova had 17 DF in the match, which seemed destined to go way over the three-hour mark before the bagel 3rd. With a 28-minute final set added in, the contest came in at 2:56.
Eastbourne QF - Aga Radwanska def. Alona Ostapenko ...6-2/7-5. Then, a day later, this match happened. The only thing better than Aga's lob might on this point have been Alona's reaction to it:
Not a comeback there, but worthy of inclusion, for old time's sake.
Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Aga Radwanska def. Elena-Gabriela Ruse ...6-3/4-6/7-5. Against #197 Ruse, Radwanska jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 1st. But the Romanian, a qualifier in her slam MD debut, began to find her footing, playing fearless tennis and going for all her shots. She managed to close to within 5-3 in the 1st before Radwanska finally finished off the set, then broke the Pole's serve to take the 2nd. The two were locked in a tight battle in the 3rd, tied at 4-4. Pulling Aga in to the net, then firing passing shots by her, Ruse converted a GP with a net cord shot that ploppped onto Radwanska's side of the court to go up 5-4.
Game #10, with Radwanska serving to stay in the tournament, with her worst-ever Wimbledon result potentially at hand, turned out to be a showcase for all the "murky" things that have always seemed to happen around Radwanska on the AELTC grounds. It wasn't quite of the Konjuh-steps-on-a-ball-and-turns-her-ankle variety, but it was surely memorable in its own right. The game lasted fourteen minutes, had 23 points, went to deuce eight times, saw Ruse hold SIX match points... and then ended when Radwanska, somehow, managed to hold for 5-5. Perhaps the key point, Ruse's 6th and final MP, came when after she'd gotten into position for a career-altering win by hitting out, she tried to drop shot Radwanska to end the match. The ball failed to make it over the net, and the sense of a lost opportunity swept over the windswept SW19 landscape. A game later, Ruse went up 30/love, but soon found herself BP down. An error off the Romanian's racket got Aga the break and the chance to serve out the match.
Aga lost in the 2nd Round, tying for her worst finish (w/ '11) in thirteen SW19 appearances. With ther recent retirement, this ended up being Radwanska's final Wimbledon match win.
Aga may be gone, but the ghost of the Rad still lingers around the AELTC grounds. Nothing ever *totally* leaves this earth. I'm just sayin'. =============================================== Belarusian Boom's wild summer and early fall, during which she deliriously danced along the edge of the "Cliffs of Simona"...
4. Montreal 2nd Rd. - Ayrna Sabalenka def. Caroline Wozniacki 5-7/6-2/7-6(4) Montreal 3rd Rd. - Elise Mertens def. Aryna Sabalenka 2-6/7-6(1)/6-0 ...what a day. A week earlier, Sabalenka fell in the opening round of San Jose qualifying to #258 Maria Sanchez. In Montreal, she saved 3 MP vs. #2 Wozniacki and avenged her loss to the Dane in the Eastbourne final, firing 15 aces and 64 winners en route to the biggest win of her career in the 2:31 contest. Thing is, due to all the rain in Quebec, Sabalenka wasn't finished. She had to play a second match about ninety minutes later vs. Mertens. She held a MP vs. the Waffle, but dropped a 2nd set TB, then lost the 3rd set at love.
Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Karolina Pliskova ...2-6/6-4/7-5. After previously this summer falling to the Belarusian in Eastbourne despite holding a 4-1 3rd set lead, Pliskova failed to close her out in Cincy even after holding two MP at 5-4 in the 3rd. A game later, the Czech DF'd on BP and Sabalenka served out yet another comeback win.
Cincinnati 3rd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Caroline Garcia ...6-3/3-6/7-5. Garcia served at 5-4 and had a MP, but couldn't stop Sabalenka from recording her third win from MP down in back-to-back events. She swept the final four games.
Beijing 3rd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Caroline Garcia ...5-7/7-6(3)/6-0. After winning these sort of matches in the latter stages of '17, Garcia was felled for the second time in a matter of months by the comeback-minded Belarusian. The Pastry led 7-5/5-2, but was unable to stop Sabalenka's momentum once she started to roll late in the 2nd set. =============================================== 5. Dubai SF - Dasha Kasatkina def. Garbine Muguruza ...3-6/7-6(11)/6-1. After going 3:00 (and saving 2 MP) vs. Johanna Konta earlier in the week, Kasatkina went "just 2:30" in this one, staging another comeback win despite being down a break twice in the 2nd set. Four straight breaks of serve led into the start of the TB, where the Russian started with a DF before then winning a 38-shot rally and saving three MP, including one with a successful replay challenge. She took the breaker 13-11 to force a 3rd. After failing to close out the win, Muguruza then "drifted" (aka Mugu-ed) toward the finish, dropping serve to open the set, committing too many errors and ultimately notching just a single game in the deciding stanza.
Rome 2nd Rd. - Dasha Gavrilova def. Garbine Muguruza ...5-7/6-2/7-6(6). Garbi's trouble with Dashas continued in the spring.
The Aussie saved two MP (Muguruza DF'd on the first) and overcame 4-0 3rd set deficit to take out the world #3 in 3:08, closing out the match after two o'clock in the morning.
Daria Gavrilova saves 2MPs to defeat Garbiñe Muguruza 7-6(6) in the third. First Top 5 win for Gavrilova since 2016. Plays Sharapova. #ibi18
=============================================== 6. Charleston SF - Kiki Bertens def. Madison Keys ...6-4/6-7(2)/7-6(5). After dropping the 1st set, Keys led the 2nd 5-3, only to see Bertens win three straight games and hold two MP at 6-5. Bertens failed to convert either, though she had a chance on #2 and hit the ball almost directly to Keys at the net for the put-away volley rather than going for an outright winner that likely would have ended the match. Keys took control in the TB, and raced to a lead in the 3rd. She served for the match and held a MP at 5-4, but was broken, then failed to serve things out again at 6-5. The Dutch woman won the deciding TB 7-5 to prevent Keys from reaching her second Charleston final in four years, then went on to take the title herself. =============================================== 7. Eastbourne SF - Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber ...2-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Wozniacki's second 2018 title after having staved off a MP was nearly lost here against the eventual Wimbledon champ in a seesaw match in which the Dane was out-pointed (101-95), out-winnered (42-34) and had more unforced errors (24-19). Wozniacki saved the MP by outlasting Kerber in a massive 24-shot rally in the 2nd set. She went on to take the TB to force a 3rd, where she led 4-0 before things got tight again in the end. Ultimately, Wozniacki's big point prowess won out, as she saved break points in both of her last two service games (Kerber was 4-of-12 on the day), while she converted three of her own four BP chances in the match.
=============================================== 8. Tashkent 2nd Rd. - Margarita Gasparyan def. Tatjana Maria ...6-2/3-6/7-6(2). The Russian's title run wouldn't have happened had she not overcome being two breaks down (0-4, love/30) in the 3rd vs. the German. She finished off Maria with a MP lob, and the rest was history. =============================================== 9. Acapulco Final - Lesia Tsurenko def. Stefanie Voegele ...5-7/7-6(2)/6-2. Having won sixteen straight sets (and led 5-0 when her opponent retired in another) over a two-year span in Acapulco, Tsurenko dropped the opening set in the '18 final vs. first-time tour finalist Voegele, and trailed 7-5/4-2. She broke the Swiss and served for the 2nd set at 5-4, only to see her opponent get back on serve and eventually get within three points of the title. But the Ukrainian took a 7-2 2nd set TB, then took a 3-1 lead in the 3rd. Again, Voegele broke to get back on serve in game #5, but Tsurenko turned it on late to successful defend her title. The result: "Sombrerenko II!"
=============================================== 10. Dubai Q3 - Sara Errani def. Aryna Sabalenka 6-2/1-6/7-6(4) Budapest Q1 - Roberta Vinci def. Anna Kalinskaya 3-6/6-4/7-6(3) ...this could very well be the last time we see two original members of the Italian Quartet come back from MP down to win in the same week. Errani impressively staged a comeback from 4-1 and 5-3 down in the 3rd vs. Sabalenka, who served for the match and held a MP at 5-4. In Budapest, Vinci saved a MP at 5-4 in the 3rd vs. Kalinskaya, winning and then reaching the MD with a 2:30 Q2 victory over Vera Lapko. While Errani topped one Belarusian, Vinci then lost to the other, falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the 1st Round. =============================================== 11. Roland Garros 2nd Rd. - Dasha Gavrilova def. Bernarda Pera ...5-7/7-5/6-3. After coming back from a set down to win a dramatic 1st Round match over Sorana Cirstea, Gavrilova did it again in a seesaw contest with Pera. Leads meant little in this one, as the Bannerette was up a break at 2-1 in the 1st, only to see Gavrilova win four in a row to lead 5-2, then Pera counter with a five-game run of her own to take the set 7-5. In the 2nd, Pera led 3-1, went up a double-break and held a MP at 5-2 before it was Gavrilova who won five straight to take a 7-5 set to send things to a 3rd after the Bannerette's unfortunate collapse. Again, the U.S. player, who reached the 3rd Round as a lucky loser in Melbourne in January, took an early break lead and was up 2-0 in the 3rd, only to see the Aussie again win five straight to lead 5-2. Then Pera won five straight... err, no, wait... sorry, force of habit. *This* time the player with the lead actually held onto it as Gavrilova closed out a victory in 2:35 to reach the Final 32 for the first time in Paris. =============================================== 12. Miami Q1 - Tereza Martincova def. Sara Errani ...6-4/5-7/7-6(2). Lost in the shuffle of the early stages of qualifying in Miami was what arguably goes down as the biggest squandered lead of the season, as Errani led Martincova 5-0, Ad-up in the 3rd. The MP ball was called out, but overruled by the umpire. The Italian should have known then and there that the Tennis Gods were dead set against her in 2018. =============================================== 13. Rosmalen QF - CoCo Vandeweghe def. Alison Riske ...7-6(6)/3-6/7-6(12). It says something about the matches in Den Bosch that one where the winner saved SEVEN match points got lost in the shuffle in the end. Well, that happened here. Vandeweghe won the 1st set on her sixth SP. In the 3rd, she failed to convert at MP before Riske forced things to a TB. Ultimately, CoCo saved seven MP before finally winning on her own fifth MP... then went on to squander a MP in the SF vs. Aleks Krunic, who then took the title a day later. =============================================== 14. Australian Open 4th Rd. - Carla Suarez-Navarro def Anett Kontaveit ...4-6/6-4/8-6. Seeded for the first time (#32) at a major, Kontaveit showed why she's a player to watch, only to falter when things mattered the most. With her maiden slam QF within reach, she led 6-4/4-1, with a double-break advantage, only to see the aggression she'd used to take the lead wane and her error total climb as CSN reeled off five straight games to even the match. Kontaveit managed to carve out another opportunity in the 3rd, breaking the Spaniard for 5-4 and serving for the match. But, again, she played a bad game as Suarez-Navarro mostly simply played steady shots (that one-handed backhand is always reliable and a joy to watch) and allowed her to err. CSN got the break, backed it up with a love hold for 6-5, then forced Kontaveit to hold to stay alive again two games later. Finally, a long Kontaveit forehand on CSN's third MP completed the comeback, sending her to her sixth career slam QF. =============================================== 15. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Yulia Putintseva def. Wang Qiang ...1-6/7-5/6-4. Putintseva finally put an end to the career slam run of Wang in Paris, but she had to come back from a 6-1/4-1 deficit, then climb out of a 3-0 hole in the 3rd, as well, before ultimately getting the win to reach her second career slam Round of 16 (w/ '16 RG QF, which she'd go on to match)). She then celebrated the way only she can...
=============================================== HM- U.S. Open Q3 - #24 Vera Zvonareva def. #12 Zhu Lin ...6-2/4-6/7-5. The former finalist (2010) comes back from 5-2 down in the 3rd, saving three MP, to reach her first Open MD in seven years. She got a win, her first since '15 (and in NYC since reaching the QF in '11). ===============================================
=THE ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON AND NEW YORK...=
...before she was a Fed Cup queen, Siniakova was rising from the dead on the grand slam stage, staging comebacks after seeing her opponent serve for the match in the 1st AND 2nd Rounds of BACK-TO-BACK slams this summer.
Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7(3)/6-3/8-6 Wimbledon 2nd Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Ons Jabeur 5-7/6-4/9-7 ...first, the Czech Maiden escaped her 1st Round match with Vandeweghe. The Bannerette was nursing an ankle injury and took a bad spill at the net, but still led Siniakova 5-2 in the 3rd set and served for the match at 5-3. Three days later, Siniakova experienced a very vivid case of deja vu against Jabeur.
She likely began the day feeling good about her chances. She held a 4-0 head-to-head lead (2 WTA/2 ITF) over the Tunisian, having never lost a set against her. Jabeur won a tight 1st set at 7-5, then Siniakova served out a 6-4 2nd. In the 3rd, Jabeur took a 5-2 lead (she had a MP), then served for the match at 5-3. Sound familiar? She couldn't do it, and in the blink of an eye Siniakova was serving for the match at 6-5 (she fell behind 15/40), then again at 7-6 (she fell behind 15/40), then again at 8-7. She finally won it on 2:27. She needed every last one of the 117 points she won (vs. Jabeur's 115) on the day.
U.S Open 1st Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Anett Kontaveit 6-7(3)/6-3/7-5 U.S. Open 2nd Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3/6-7(7)/7-6(4) ...by this time, "imminent danger" was Siniakova's best friend. Kontaveit served for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd in New York, but the Czech prevailed again. Siniakova served for the match in the 2nd against Tomljanovic, only to see the Aussie get *her* chance to serve things out at 6-5 in the 3rd. Again, though, Siniakova was the last woman standing.
Such drama didn't ultimately lead to deep slam runs, though both results match her career best major finish. At Wimbledon, Siniakova lost in the 3rd Round to Camila Giorgi after leading the Italian 6-3/4-2, and holding a MP at 5-4. At the Open 3rd Round, she lost 4 & love to Lesia Tsurenko.
1. Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Kateryna Kozlova def. Alona Ostapenko ...7-5/6-3. What a difference a year makes. Back in Paris for the first time since her maiden slam run at RG, Ostapenko had trouble holding serve right from the start. The Latvian would continually get the break back but would be unable to avoid giving it away again almost immediately. After leveling things at 4-4, she was broken for 5-4 in the 1st. She denied Kozlova when she served for the set once, only to then drop serve again and see the Ukrainian secure the lead with a hold for 7-5. After taking a 2-0 lead, Ostapenko fell behind a break in the 2nd at 3-2. The two traded breaks again in games 6 and 7 until Kozlova finally pulled away, even while dealing with a nasty blister on her heel. For Kozlova, in just her second tournament back after cracking cartilage in her right knee at Indian Wells, it was her first career Top 30 win, and her second slam MD victory (w/ '17 U.S.). Ostapenko's loss made her the first defending RG champ to exit in the 1st Round since Anastasia Myskina in 2005 (and it happened on Day 1 on the opening Sunday...NONE have ever exited so quickly). Ostapenko would go on to lose 1st Round matches in WD and MX, as well. =============================================== 2. Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Amanda Anisimova def. Petra Kvitova ...6-2/6-4. The recipe for eliminating a Petra with a 14-match winning streak included, other than (understandable) fatigue on the Czech's side of the net, a big-hitting 16-year old wild card thoroughly enjoying her first experiences on a big stage. Anisimova failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the 2nd, but then broke Kvitova to close the door, becoming the first 16-year old to reach the Round of 16 in the desert since 2005.
=============================================== 3. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Sachia Vickery def. Garbine Muguruza ...2-6/7-5/6-1. In Vickery's first event as a Top 100 player, she got the biggest win of her career, becoming the second straight Muguruza opponent to come from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the Spaniard. In Dubai, Muguruza twice held a break lead vs. Dasha Kasatkina in the 2nd set and had three MP in the TB, only to lose it 13-11 and then "wander off" while the Russian ran away with the 3rd. Against Vickery, she led by a set and 3-0, and had six points for a 4-0 lead, but she failed to convert any, and saw Vickery storm back and level the match. Back-to-back DF in game #4 of the 3rd handed Vickery a 3-1 lead, and she never looked back. Muguruza, as per usual, seemed, umm, something less than interested in Sam Sumyk's coaching advice during a changeover visit late in the match. For all intents and purpose, it was already over.
=============================================== 4. Miami QF - Danielle Collins def. Venus Williams ...6-2/6-3. Collins' mad March dream not only carried over on the opposite coast from her Round of 16 result in Indian Wells, but it actually got even better as the two-time NCAA champ won seven total matches while going from qualifier to semifinalist, the first such climb in the history of the tournament. The former University of Virginia star knocked off Irina-Camelia Begu, CoCo Vandeweghe, Donna Vekic, Monica Puig and then childhood idol Venus Williams (!!) in the QF.
=============================================== 5. Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Vitalia Diatchenko def. Maria Sharapova ...6-7(3)/7-6(3)/6-4. The Russian qualifier's win in 3:08 in the final moments of the day's light gave her her first Wimbledon MD victory, and just her third ever at a slam. Sharapova, who lost in the opening round at SW19 for the first time, served for the match at 7-6/5-3. But Diatchenko would never go away, and Sharapova, as has been the case since she returned from suspension, often seemed tight in the big moments and had a hard time not only putting her opponent away, but just keeping hold of an advantage on the scoreboard when she got it. Diatchenko won a 7-3 TB to knot the match. She then saw Sharapova obtain, then give away, a pair of break leads in the 3rd set. Her last came after she'd taken a 4-3 lead, only to drop serve herself moments later. She wouldn't win another game after that, and ultimately double-faulted on MP. Diatchenko hadn't played a slam MD match since 2016, while Maria was 49-3 in the 1st Round of majors alone. Not only that, but Sharapova has a long history of beating up on her fellow Russians inside the lines of the court. She came into the day with a nearly 80% win percentage vs. her countrywomen for her career and had gone 35-4 against them since early 2010, 27-3 since 2011, and had been 2-0 the last two seasons.
6. Fed Cup WG Playoff Match #2 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-2/2-6/7-6(5) Match #4 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR 6-1/7-6(3) ...and here it seemed as if Kuzmova's big win to clinch Slovakia's first ever win over Russia back in February was going to be her Fed Cup season highlight. Even with the doubles loss, this double-barreled blast may have left that one in the dust in short order. Unfortunately for her and the other Slovaks, it wasn't enough to take the tie from '17 FC finalist Belarus, which won 3-2.
Game, set and match Kuzmova ????! The 19 year old posts a 61 76(3) win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich ???? to claim her second victory of the weekend and draw ???? level in Minsk ??????
=============================================== Signs of things that would soon come...
One of the key advances necessary for Osaka's career to take an upturn was always her ability to be more consistent, which is surely tied into her not allowing negativity to slip into her thought process. Whether it's because of the presence of new coach Sasha Bajin or Osaka's own maturation process, or some combination of the two, there was something different about her ever before she claimed the biggest titles of her career in 2018.
7. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Maria Sharapova ...6-4/6-4. It was quickly apparent in her first step toward what turned out to be a title run in Indian Wells. Her quick leads in both sets over Sharapova were impressive, but what was even more so was how she held on and claimed both after the Russian had twice leveled things at 4-4. Even Osaka noted how in the past she'd likely had been unable to halt either slide.
Fresh off her win in the desert, Osaka traveled east to the opposite U.S. coast...
Miami 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Serena Williams ...6-3/6-2. I.W. champ Osaka, just days after flying as high as she ever had (but not as high as she soon would), was called upon to face none other than Serena Williams in Miami. With both players experiencing totally foreign circumstance, no one knew what to expect. As it turned out, Osaka managed to avoid being overwhelmed, not to mention starstruck (at least until the handshake at the net), as she handled a less-than-average version of Serena in a rather unfortunate, far-too-early encounter.
Sometimes body language tells the story all on its own...
As it turned out, their second meeting -- also won by Osaka -- had its rather unfortunate aspects, as well. The body language displayed at Flushing Meadows, both in the heat of and after the match, was pretty telling, too. =============================================== 8. Australian Open Q1 - Marta Kostyuk def. Arina Rodionova 4-6/6-3/6-3 Australian Open 1st Rd. - Marta Kostyuk def. Peng Shuai 6-2/6-2 ...Kostyuk's AO ride began with a Q-round victory over veteran Aussie Rodionova, who got *her* first career slam MD wins at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, only to fall in her hometown to the 15-year old, who'd gotten a Q-round WC due to winning the '17 AO Girls title. After winning two more three-setters to reach the MD (becoming the first player born in 2002 to do so), Kostyuk knocked off a seed, #25 Peng, and advanced all the way to the Round of 16 (the youngest since 1996), where she lost to countrywoman Elina Svitolina.
=============================================== 9. Fed Cup Europe/Africa I Pool A Round Robin Match #2 - Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR def. Alona Ostapenko/LAT ...6-2/3-6/6-3. No matter what happened by the end of the weekend, as Latvia scrambled to win a Promotional Playoff and advance to the WG Playoffs, the most significant result in Tallinn was this one. Buyukakcay has racked up a series of "first player from Turkey to..." honors the last couple of seasons, though her results have leveled off over the last year or so. For one match, though, that changed when she opened up round robin play with a 6-2/3-6/6-3 win over the reigning Roland Garris champ, recording the first Top 10 win of her career. =============================================== 10. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Mihaela Buzarnescu def. Elina Svitolina ...6-3/7-5. A year ago, Svitolina held MP on Simona Halep in the RG quarterfinals, only to crumble. This year, Halep won her first major title in Paris, while Svitolina, one of the pre-tournament favorites, fell to ANOTHER Romanian (who'd come to Paris w/o a MD win at a major in her career) in the 3rd Round. The 30-year old Swarmette lefty has been one of the best stories in the sport over the past year, coming back from injuries and after deciding to pursue a Ph.D while she was out of action. She was #377 when Roland Garros was being played last spring, and this year managed to be seeded at a major for the first time. Playing with aggression and confidence worthy of someone with a bushel of slam MD wins (and maybe more), Buzarnescu jumped on Svitolina and dared her to fight back. She tried, but it was never enough. The Romanian took the 1st set 6-3, holding a 14-3 edge in winners, winning 72% of first serve points (to Svitolina's 50%), and even 60% of her second, while converting both of her BP chances. Svitolina mostly righted her problems in the 2nd set, but still found herself in a dogfight. Buzarnescu led 17-8 in winners, but Svitolina's late break for 5-4 after displaying great defense and seeing the Romanian miss an overhead gave her a chance to serve out the set. She held a SP, but was broken and soon found herself serving two games later just to STAY in the match while down 6-5. The Ukrainian went up 40/15, but squandered the lead and was MP down. Her rally-ending backhand error secured the win, Buzarnescu's first career Top 5 victory and one that got her into her first slam Round of 16 result. =============================================== 11. Saint Petersburg 2nd Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Caroline Garcia ...4-6/7-6(6)/7-6(5). The Garcia 2.0 that we saw in the closing weeks of 2017 wasn't in evidence here, as the Pasty twice led by a set and a break, failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, couldn't convert a MP and dropped a TB she led 3-0 and 4-1 as the #450-ranked Russian teen (who switch to KAZ by the end of '18) forced a 3rd set and won it in another TB to notch her first career Top 10 win.
=============================================== 12. U.S. Open 2nd Rd. - Karolina Muchova def. Garbine Muguruza ...3-6/6-4/6-4. In a match that ended after 1 a.m. on Armstrong, the #202-ranked Czech qualifier picked up her first slam MD win in just her second tour-level MD event. Muguruza led 2-0 in the 3rd, and had a BP for 3-0. =============================================== Before her triumphant Asian swing, Wang Qiang was a 1st Round slam sniper...
Winner, Winner
Qiang Wang avenges her 2017 Roland-Garros loss to Venus Williams, defeating the No.9 seed 6-4 7-5 for the biggest win of her career.#RG18pic.twitter.com/Qc6ZcRFuH8
13. Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Wang Qiang def. Venus Williams ...6-4/7-5. Wang secured the first Top 10 win of her career, defeating Williams after overcoming a 3-0 2nd set deficit to hand Venus her first 1st Round loss at a major since the '15 RG. Williams was the First Seed Out at Roland Garros. It was just her eleventh one-and-done in her Open era record 78 career major appearances, but along with her AO 1st Round exit at the hand of Belinda Bencic in January this was her first career back-to-back such results at majors.
U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Wang Qiang def. Magdalena Rybarikova ...6-2/6-2. Hardly experiencing a hangover from her successful Asian Games Gold medal defense, Wang came to New York and made it TWO 2018 slams at which she'd sent the first seed packing, in this came #31 Rybarikova. Come January, it'll be Wang who'll be seeded (for the first) at a major in Melbourne. =============================================== 14. Charleston 2nd Rd. - Kristyna Pliskova def. Petra Kvitova ...1-6/6-1/6-3. A sure-fire resume-building result for Pliskova, who ended Kvitova's 5+ year, 24-match, 19-set streak of success vs. fellow Czechs. Of course, it wasn't "easy." She led 5-2 in the 3rd, and with a history that includes such high profile losses as her own vs. Monica Puig in Melbourne in '16 (Kristyna had 31 aces and 5 MP) and Dominika Cibulkova in Indian Wells last year (she led 6-2/4-2 and served for the match w/o having faced BP all day, only to lose the match in three, failing to convert a MP), *no* match is *ever* over until it, you know, actually is. Kvitova saved six MP before Pliskova finally converted on #7 when Petra sailed a return long. =============================================== 15. Acapulco 1st Rd. - Renata Zarazua def. Kristyna Pliskova 6-3/6-4. Acapulco 1st Rd. - Ana Sofia Sanchez/Renata Zarazua def. Kristyna Pliskova/Stefanie Voegele 4-6/6-4 [10-8] ...the 20-year old Mexican (#253) notches her first WTA MD win and her maiden career Top 100 victory over Pliskova in front of a home crowd, then returned later in the day (w/ Ana Sofia Sanchez) and, not showing much hospitality, beat her in doubles, too. "...and don't come back, either."
20-year-old, Renata Zarazua (CH 240) dumps (Kr) Pliskova and secures her career's first Top 100 win.
=============================================== 16. Fed Cup World Group II - Marta Kostyuk/UKR def. Dasha Gavrilova/AUS ...7-6(3)/6-3. Gavrilova's "favorite" surface is grass. 15-year old Kostyuk (the '17 AO Jr. champ) admitted her leeriness of it during the week. Yet, in her FC debut, the Ukrainian, fresh off a breakout AO performance and ITF title run in Australia, hit double the number of winners (20-10) as Dasha, adding yet another wonderful experience to Australian memory wall. =============================================== 17. Hong Kong 1st Rd. - Kristina Kucova def. Alona Ostapenko ...5-7/6-3/6-2. The 21-year old, suffering from a wrist injury, lost matches to the world #122 and #317 in a span of four events, as well as pulling off the the rare Kristina Kucova (HK) and Kateryna Kozlova (RG 1st Rd. upset) exacta this season. =============================================== 18. Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Hsieh Su-wei d. Simona Halep ...3-6/6-4/7-5. Armed with two-handed swings from both sides, Selesian angled shots, and an array of magical weapons that included slices, drops, superior anticipation and movement, Hsieh once again flashed her upset skills vs. a top player in a major. The 32-year old Taiwanese vet defeated both Muguruza and Radwanska in Melbourne, and very nearly Kerber, early in the season.
At SW19, newly-minted RG champ Halep didn't give a particularly admirable accounting of her in-match problem-solving skills, while her own form was off, and her serve wasn't up to par. Lured into a series of cross court rallies that made her opponent's game plan even "easier" to implement, when she wasn't off balance or fooled so well that she couldn't even offer a stab at a defensive get, Halep often found herself racing in vain to chase down shots.
Even after Hsieh had pushed things to a 3rd, though, Halep held a seemingly commanding lead (5-2) there, and served at 5-3. A game later, she held a MP on Hsieh's serve. Halep's worst mistake may have been to allow Hsieh back into a match she appeared to have on her racket in spite of everything Hsieh had thrown at her. After Halep didn't convert her MP, she never saw another. In fact, she didn't win another game. Hsieh converted a BP and served for the match at 6-5. She fell down 15/40, but then Hsieh proceeded her pull Halep around the court as if she were on the end of a string. Side to side, up and back. Essentially, at times, the Romanian looked like a fidget spinner in all-white tennis gear. Every stroke was a scramble since she didn't really know where any were going, a situation made worse by the ever-present fear that Hsieh might just suddenly step in and pull off a hard down the line shot. The BP's squandered in game #11 left Halep just 7-of-23 on the day, 2-of-10 in the 3rd. Hsieh served out third career slam Round of 16 result, her second this year alone. #1 Halep's exit was the nineth by a Top 10 seed in the first three rounds, an all-time record. =============================================== HM- Wimbledon 2nd Rd. - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Garbine Muguruza ...5-7/6-2/6-1. The Belgian, a big hitter with a good serve, used those weapons to take advantage of the surface. Van Uytvanck was on Muguruza from the start, taking a 4-2 lead. Muguruza immediately broke back, and served for the set at 5-4, but failed to secure the hold. She still won the set 7-5, and took a break lead at 1-0 in the 2nd. But from there Van Uytvanck played with the steady belief that she did while taking the title in Budapest in February. After falling down 7-5/1-0, Van Uytvanck wouldn't be broken again, winning twelve of fourteen games en route to her first career Top 10 win and best Wimbledon result. She sealed her win with a service winner that wrapped up a 3rd set in which she didn't face a single BP and won 16 of 20 points on serve in her victory over the Wimbledon defending champion.
Through to the third round at #Wimbledon for the first time - and defeating the defending champion to seal it...
San Jose 1st Rd. - Johanna Konta def. Serena Williams ...6-1/6-0. In the middle of the night (back home), Konta strung together twelve consecutive games to hand Serena the worst full-match loss of her career.
=============================================== U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Kaia Kanepi def. Simona Halep ...6-2/6-4. Sure, veteran Kanepi has been a second week slam player in the past, including a quarterfinalist in NYC in '17, but her win over Montreal champ/Cincinnati finalist Halep (she'd been a MP away from becoming the first to ever win the events in back-to-back weeks) made the Romanian the first world #1 to exit the Open in the 1st Round in the Open era. ===============================================
=IN THE ABSENCE OF SANIA...=
It was Ankita Raina who made the most news on the court for Indian women's tennis in '18, including being the protagonist is yet another messed-up Fed Cup Heart Award incident.
Thus, when the TRUE Fed Cup Heart Award "winner" upset the player who would somehow win the ACTUAL Fed Cup Heart Award...
Fed Cup Asia/Oceania I Pool A Round Robin Match #2 - Ankita Raina/IND def. Yulia Putintseva/KAZ ...6-3/1-6/6-4. Fed Cup is often shunted aside and ignored, but for the vast majority of the players involved on all levels of the competition it provides some of the most memorable moments of their entire tennis lives. Raina's win over Putintseva was such a moment, as she notched the biggest win over her career in her nation's longest-ever FC match (2:53), in front of a home crowd that included her mother.
Words fall short to describe what I've felt and experienced today on court! Best match of my career so far and best performance, gave my heart out today! My mother and I tears of joy after today's match. pic.twitter.com/IUl5BxpOlO
A month later, Raina maintained her feel-good Fed Cup momentum...
For a little over three years now, @ankita_champ has been the No. 1 female singles player in India, now she reaches another milestone up swinging 43 places to reach her career-best 212 in the @WTA chart.
A post shared by Ankita Raina (@ankitaraina_official) on
Of course, the WTA Yearbook still remains on the official 2018 To-Do list (mine, not Elina's). Luckily the Backspin Academy School for the Performing Arts has stepped up and is again fully committed to participating in the production, and the works of our most creative students will once more be exclusively honored in this year's edition, along with the announcement of the individuals scheduled to take part in our regular offseason "Carl Talks" lecture series that has become a December tradition on campus.
(Pssst.... there's even a rumor that Carl himself might be in town for the festivities this year.)
So, be on the lookout!
And, finally, without further ado, to sign off... here's the top ranked player from Belarus doing, umm, doing *this*.
As the latest term comes to its natural end, we here at Backspin Academy choose to send our students, benefactors and emotional supporters back out into the world with something for them to savor and hold dear as they remember their campus experiences of the past year.
And the time has come for us to gather together.
Our Beloved Backspin Academy
On one long weekend each December, the past, present and future of BSA -- along with some special invited guests and anyone who wishes to join us -- congregate across the campus grounds for a well-earned respite and time to pause, reflect and recuperate from all the work undertaken over the course of the prior eleven months.
In recent seasons, the event has taken on a name. Dubbed our "Carl TALKS Weekend" for the free-to-the-public, all-encompassing series of speeches presented by past alumni and future graduates (named after BSA's most senior, ummm, denizen), the activities have grown in scope -- literally and figuratively -- seemingly every year. This time around, nearly every area of campus was simultaneously utilized to both provide therapy and/or much-needed fun for all involved.
NAVRATILOVA HALL OF RECORDS
From the Navratilova Hall of Records that stands as the hub of the daily BSA grind to the impressive Henin Hall on the newly-renovated west property, Backspin Academy was decorated with festive banners and student artwork that formed a series of connective bridges between the various centers of action, drawing individuals in and encouraging them to turn both inward and outward in order to make their weekend getaway as rewarding as possible.
HENIN HALL
2018's Carl TALKS Weekend was pleased for the first time to welcome its namesake, as the beloved Carl himself made the trek from parts unknown to join with us in celebration.
A man of few words, Carl nonetheless led the inaugural edition of the sure-to-be-annual Carl Games on The Commons, which featured a series of athletic competitions at which Carl has traditionally thrived, including the "chase with club" game and a few hearty rounds of "Squish" (oddly enough, Carl seemed to *always* win). The agreed upon highlight of the Games was the the first-ever Elking event held on campus grounds. After hearing about the sport for years, the curious specators were all... um, delighted to finally see it up close and personal on the sprawling lawns on which our students often enjoy a break in the middle of each day.
We were assured that no elks were harmed in the demonstration... though the psyches of a few individuals in the crowd may not be able to say the same.
Joining Carl in demonstrating the finer points of Elking expertise was his son Carlo, who many of us haven't seen since he was just a boy. Carlo has grown into a fine young man in the interim, and announced to all this weekend that he'd been a 2nd Round draft choice of the Saskatoon Berrypickers of the World Elking League. Carlo showed everyone recent of photos of his mom Carla, twin sister Carlita, and infant sibling Carlie from their recent vacation at the Great Wall of China (including Carla's remarkable single-bound leap from one side of the wall to the other... something which has led to some discussions with the Chinese Olympic Federation about relocating the family there, which many of us suspect may be the reason why the rest of the family didn't make the trip back to campus this year).
Champions were crowned in every age group, with each winner getting the opportunity to take a photo with Backspin Academy's version of a "black swan," the formerly missing-and-presumed-imaginary "Caroline's Roo."Has it been nearly a year now since the creature was finally discovered in, naturally, Melbourne?
[Editor's note:we have since learned that Carl has been banned from attending Carlo's WEL competitions due to illegal coaching from the sidelines... as well as verbally threatening the umpire who levied the penalty against Carlo during one of his matches.]
In between and surrounding the activities of the Carl Games, campus vistors were thrilled with our offerings this year, as the boundaries of the traditional picnic area were populated by a series of pop-up stores, including those featuring items from longtime supporter Sugarpova (the CEO even dropped by to autograph a few bars of her new chocolate offerings), Jo Konta's Homebaked Goods, Michaella Krajicek's one-of-a-kind artwork and resident poet Diane Dees' tennis-themed "Nomenclature" brand cosmetics & accessories line (inspired by the well-received poem of the same name that debuted on Poetry Super Highway earlier this year). With items such as The Light and the Joy Glitter (the weekend's best seller), needless to say, the lines stretched nearly all the way to the Sugarpova Cineplex.
The BSA Bookstore on Dokic Drive was busy from sun up until sundown, nearly selling out of some of the items newly added to its shelves and storeroom since last year, from the usual specialty t-shirts to the exclusive musical collections from some of our more creative (and busy) students...
We're really excited about these 2018 releases!
The bookstore's items always seem able to fill an urgent need, or maybe even inspire a new one. If you get the chance when you're on campus, drop by and have a look (you never know which familiar-faced student might be working behind the register!).
Great news! We do believe that we generated enough funds for another big weekend at this time *next* year. We're so excited for the future!
Of course, the annual magazine cover collage was a big hit, and the site served as a background for quite a few selfies you've surely seen on social media in recent days. The BSA Arts & Crafts Club deserves all the credit for spending the year locating and collecting as many of the tangible tributes to the popularity of our students as possible.
This year, we thought we'd add a taste of the academic experience found on campus, allowing the weekend visitors a glimpse of the sort of discussions that go on within the walls of the Academy on a daily basis. One impromptu class -- "Svitology-101" -- proved so popular that we're thinking of adding it to the coming semester's course catalog. It seems as if it'd fit in rather nicely into the vacant slot left open by the recent cancellation of the no-longer-necessary "Wozniology-101" class that was chocked full of enthusiastic, socially concerned students for years.
Another instructive public class involved the aspect of "How-Not-To Report the News" (aka, according to some in attendance, "tennis news dies in darkness"). NOTE: A few of our younger guests, otherwise distracted last summer, had a difficult time determining from the classroom examples precisely *which* player actually prevailed in London... which we thought sort of proved our point.
And an accompanying "How-To Report the News" instructional offering that showed that it *is* indeed possible to take note of an event's "most talked about" aspect while also not burying the lede, or insulting the *true* protagonist in the story...
As always, we're very proud of our student body and faculty, even if some of them disappoint us on occasion. The BSA environment is one that embraces sincere attempts at redemption, and our arms are always open to reconciliation with even some of the more wayward members of the community. But even if such evolution never becomes a reality, we are committed to finding alternate ways to coexist. The BSA campus is a large one, and there is room for everyone, for we never lose hope.
Luckily for us, the BSA School for the Performing Arts has stepped up to fully commit the time and effort to truly make Carl TALKS Weekend (for the record, formerly informally dubbed the "Festival of Ideas," a moniker scrapped when Carl threatened to pull the use of his name from the lecture series event unless an *official* change was enacted) a celebration heard 'round the world, bringing together the talents of students from both near and far.
The Academy board of directors decided to acquiesce to Carl's desires, and the Carl TALKS sessions were once again a rousing success!
THE HANAJANA CENTER
By the way, we'd all like to thank Kathy Rinaldi for serving as this year Mistress Captain of Ceremonies for the lecture portion of the weekend! By the end of it all, we all felt like a solid team.
Here's a look at what was a jam-packed schedule for the HJC this weekend:
Invocation performed by Carlos Ramos, laying out the rules and order for speakers, listeners and post-Talk autograph seekers gathering on the edge of the stage
"POJD!" - Petra Kvitova "Trusting the Process and Other Self-deluding Trusty Self-Help Techniques" - Elina Svitolina "Dealing with New Expectations That Will Now Scrape the Sky (note from speaker: this will probably be the worst Carl Talk ever)" - Naomi Osaka (w/ a brief introduction from Alona Ostapenko) "Living in the Shadow of Thunder (a view from above the clouds)" - Anastasija Sevastova "Working Eight Days a Week (or so it seems)" - Elise Mertens "Clay, Me & My New Hard Court Life" - Kiki Bertens "Strategies and Marketing in the Candy Business in a Health Conscious Age (aka Yum!)" - Maria Sharapova "Intercom Repair for Dummies" - Alize Cornet
"Tennis is better than any movie." - Karolina Pliskova
"How to Insult Officials, Be a Poor Loser and Selfish Opponent, Assume the Role of Victim and Simultaneously Demand That Stated Rules Not Apply to You, and Yet Inspire Unbridled Support Due to Great Past Deeds" - Serena Williams (followed by a many-sided interpretation of double standards by Martina Navratilova, Sally Jenkins and Barbora Strycova) "Preventative Medicine, Smart Body Management, Recuperation, Recovery & Restorative Success" - Dr. Mihaela Buzarnescu "Traversing the New Terrain When Relationship Dynamics Shift Due to Changing Professional Success" - Donna Vekic "Fear the Cap" - Emiliana Arango "Flying High Mid-Range" - Caroline Garcia "Bravely Getting Over the Past and Moving on to the Future" - Kristina Mladenovic [CANCELLED due to Mademoiselle Mladenovic missing multiple rides to campus] "Nein!" - Julia Goerges "When the Best Year is the Toughest Year" - Simona Halep "Smiling Through the Pain, Eventually" - Margarita Gasparyan "Don't Blame Me, I Don't Make the Rules (delivered via video link from Zhuhai)" - Wang Qiang "The Petko Dance: A History" - Andrea Petkovic (with an after-Talk bonus: "The Philosophy of Tennis as It Pertains to Life (an open-ended conversation)") "Building the Perfect Naomi, Pt.1" - Sascha Bajin "Optimizing Doubles Success on the Grandest Stage" - Peng Shuai [CANCELLED due to illegal exchange of money in an attempt to arrange a better speaking time] "Redefining Greatness" - Diede de Groot
"That's what makes me great: I always play everyone at their greatest, so I have to be greater." - Serena Williams
"The Secret Art of the Mugu" - Garbine Muguruza "You May Not Know Me Well, But You Will (and I'm awesome, by the way)." - Dayana Yastremska "I'm Back, and This Time I Mean It" - Victoria Azarenka [POSTPONED FROM AN EARLIER DATE] "(Insert Appropriate Number) Time's the Charm" - Clara Burel "Tales of a Great Chick: How Adding Grass to My Diet Made Me a New Woman All Over Again" - Angelique Kerber (w/ an introduction from Ash Barty) "Surviving and Thriving" - Rebecca Marino [with after-Talk supervised online chat] "Fear Nothing, but Hope for Better Health" - Madison Keys "Have Expertise, Will Must Travel in Search of New Challenges" - Wim Fissette "Remembering Bueno" - a tribute by Billie Jean King "When Upside Down is Right side Up" - Caroline Wozniacki "When Right side Up is Suddenly Upside Down" - Jana Fett "Are You Ready For Me?" - Aryna Sabalenka "More Time for Coffee (and no skimping on the creamer)" - Lucie Safarova "It's Good to Be Wanted" - Demi Schuurs "Do You Know My Mommy?" - Alexis Olympia "The Continued Fine Art of Bannerette Whispering" - Kathy Rinaldi "The Fine Art of Pasty Whispering: Men's Edition" - Amelie Mauresmo (SCHEDULE CHANGE: new title is "The Fine Art of Pouille Whispering") "Toiling in the Shadows (and being fine with that)" - Petr Pala "What the Future Holds for Me" - Jelena Jankovic [CANCELLED due to absence of speaker]
"I think I have nothing to prove anymore to anyone, and it's definitely a good statement for myself." - Elina Svitolina
"The Future Still Looks Good From Here" - Sloane Stephens "Against the Odds: The Future Still Looks Good From Here (crossing fingers)" - Timea Bacsinszky "Baking All Your Troubles Away, in Theory" - Johanna Konta "Living Without My 'Other Side' (and Abbey Management Tactics)" - Aga Radwanska "Finally Finding that White Mile" Patty Schnyder "When Everyone Tells You You're Wrong, But You Don't Believe Them... and then you're told you *were* 75% wrong"" - The USTA "When Being Only 25% at Fault is a 100% Victory" - Genie Bouchard "I'm Ready to Do This From the Other Side -- Who's Up First?" - Coach Francesca Schiavone "Winning is Heaps Cool (and I want to do it more often)" - Ash Barty "Living the Dream" - Ankita Raina "I'm Still Not Sure Why I'm Here (but I *do* like the complementary mint on my pillow)" - Eliessa Vanlangendonck "POJD! (closing statement)" - Petra Kvitova
All our visitors knew that our talented students had been working overtime for this year's weekend celebration, as it was clear *before* they even arrived on campus. The evidence was right along the road for all to see.
The Carl TALKS weekend has garnered much praise for the creative arts showcase that it has become while featuring all varieties of student-produced entertainment.
From travelogues..
What a video we shot for my hometown Riga! Proud to show my home turf to you all! pic.twitter.com/VQWBHQJQNK
Of course, the day and night long affair that is our annual film & theater festival attracts by far the biggest number of individuals.
Since its founding a short while ago, the works produced in association with the Backspin Academy Center for the Performing Arts have seemingly grown exponentially in both quantity and quality. We're positively bursting at the seams with pride and a desire for the vast array of talent on campus to be recognized and celebrated. This year's carefully selected films, plays and streaming entertainment allowed the entire campus community, as well as the general public, to experience the breadth and scope of our student body's creativity in one big three-day gulp. The entertainment was rolled out 24-hours-day on the weekend (though the one woman show being given by a certain German won't take place until later this month, she was generous enough to give out audiences a few brief preview of what's to come on New Year's Eve). The whole big deal was kicked off with a casual red carpet affair that preceded the opening of our very first, star-studded presentation...
When you get *THIS* close to the stars @WesternSouthern and literally don’t know what to do with yourself…
A day-long honoring of the campus' biggest achiever of the past year, featuring her past starring roles, as well as her triumphant recent ones...
[HINT: click on images for inspirations]
For some, nothing beats the heart-pounding excitement of a live performance, and the festival caters to such tastes.
JJ CENTER FOR DRAMATIC ARTS
Our live plays and musicals were performed at the fabulous JJ Center for Dramatic Arts, on the stage of the glorious Li Na Theatre...
We've added a streaming entertainment service to meet changing needs and desires. So far, our original content (previewed on the big screen on Carl TALKS weekend) has thus far been viewed as top rate.
Meanwhile, our traditional film and television festival once again took place at the high-tech and oh-so-comfortable Sugarpova Cineplex...
Stars great and small, past and present -- and everyone in between -- starred in all varieties of films, often in roles echoing their own life experiences (that is, when they weren't taking the opportunity to experience some things "out of this world")...
In a tribute to a recently departed (for new pastures where we all expect her to find great success!) and much-beloved student, we brought back a past favorite...
GOOD LUCK, AGA!
You can now book an apartment in Aga Radwanska's own hotel in Kraków!! ??
"AGA Tenis Apartments by Radwanska"
The apartments are dedicated to Aga's biggest successes in career like Singapore, Wimbledon, Beijing. The rooms are full of original gadgets and a personal souvenirs ?? pic.twitter.com/O8roXRL47l
At long last, we even celebrated the curtain dropping on the nightmare midnight movie after a run that was, quite frankly interminable...
Of course, the BSA arts community does not discriminate. Student-produced works, art house fare and mainstream big budget international productions are given equal time throughout the year on the screens of the Sugarpova Cineplex. For those who wish to take a break from our exclusive productions to enjoy a few hours of Hollywood-style fun in a different setting, there will be fine additional entertainment choices.
And, with an introduction from our own Sachia Vickery...
And, thus, we arrive at the end of yet another year, as soon our thoughts will be overtaken by the ideas and notions that will shape the NEXT twelve months.
Who will reclaim a leading role on campus, or further grow their current influence? With the slate clean, everyone's grade point average will once again be 0.0 as 2019 begins, after all. Who will break out of the pack and become a new star? Someone will, of that we can be certain. One year from now, we will know all. Today, though, we are a-sea in the darkness.
Good.
If we knew the answers ahead of time, we'd miss out on all the fun.
Has it really been nearly ten years since the most recent rundown of all the best we saw over the course of a full decade? Yes. Yes, it has.
This decade was ushered in with everyone anticipating the beginning of the 2010 season.
Serena Williams had won career majors #10 and #11 in 2009, while the slam season had concluded with an un-retired Kim Clijsters (who'd become a first-time mom in her two years away) picking up her long-delayed maiden major title at the U.S. Open, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. As the 2010 season was set to begin, we were awaiting the return of another Belgian, Justine Henin, who was staging her own comeback after a year and a half retirement. She'd reach the final of her first event (Brisbane, losing to Clijsters) and slam (falling to Williams in the Australian Open title match), but an elbow injury would force her to retire for good in January '11.
Clijsters would successfully defend her U.S. Open crown that summer, then retire for the final time after the '12 event at Flushing Meadows. Francesca Schiavone would battle her way to her career moment in Paris, becoming the Roland Garros champion in the spring of '10. Meanwhile, Wozniacki wouldn't win a slam that year, but would complete her first of back-to-back #1 seasons. Serena would win (naturally) another slam title (at Wimbledon) during the season, but days later would step on broken glass in a Munich restaurant, miss the rest of the year, and the following March suffer a hematoma and near-fatal pulmonary embolism. She wouldn't play again until June '11.
Flashforward to the upcoming start of the 2019 campaign. Both Clijsters and Henin are now Hall of Famers, with both Serena and the Dane on deck for future enshrinement. Schviavone retired this past summer. Henin is now the mother of two kids, while Clijsters has since given two siblings to first daughter Jada. Wozniacki finally won her maiden slam last year in Melbourne and, after having first reached #1 in '10, briefly returned to the top spot in '18 after a record six-year absence. She's now engaged. Serena, too, has become a mother, gotten married, survived another near-death health emergency (a pulmonary embolism after giving birth), and now holds 23 major titles, just one short of Margaret Court's all-time record.
Ten years from now, when the 2020-29 stretch is remembered, surely Serena's playing career will have long since officially ended and become part of tennis history forever. Well, at least we *think* that'll be the case. Hmmm, daughter Olympia will be, what, eleven years old (probably going on 30) as '29 approaches? Old enough to be proficient with a racket... and, remember, she's *already* been on the court for *one* slam title run, as Serena was secretly pregnant with her when she won her most recent major in Melbourne in 2017.
So... I'm just sayin'.
This post kicks off a second Backspin "Decade's Best" series, set to appear periodically in this space throughout 2019. At the moment, it's time for an opening "nominations list" that includes all the players deserving of consideration for Backspin's "Players of the Decade." Well, it's more of an "honor roll," really, since the vast majority of the women mentioned below have no chance to rank very highly on the final list. But their individual achievements during the span DO deserve to be highlighted, even if only for a brief moment (which will occur, for the most part, when they're "officially" eliminated from contention as the list is cut down as the final season of the decade plays out).
So, how did these nominations come about? It was actually quite easy. As I did before the '09 season, I started with all the players who've won grand slam singles titles from 2010-18 (names may or may not be soon added, of course), then worked down the list from there. Thus far, 152 players have met the "criteria" for inclusion on the master list, but more could pick up their Honor Roll "prerequisites" before the end of the upcoming season to make the final cut.
The first pruning of the list will occur after the Australian Open, when I'll also compile a Top 10 list to highlight the players who most brought their "A" games to Melbourne over the most recent 10-year span. I'll do the same for each of the four slams as the season progresses, then count down the Top 25 (well, probably with an "honorable mention," so 26) players of the 2010's after the U.S. Open, and over the final weeks of the 2019 season.
Without further ado and explanation, here are all the up-to-date nominations, with the players placed in the highest of their "qualifying categories," which are listed in descending order of criteria "importance" (or at least something resembling it), though I *did* add a few additional lists for this decade in order to pay respect to the top level wheelchair stars, as well as widening the doubles net a bit.
NOTE: I won't follow the "Ms.Backspin" pattern of listing Fed Cup teams as entries on the Top 25 list, though there will be a final ranking of the top teams of the decade. Hmmm, I *wonder* which team will be #1?
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES CHAMPION* (17) Victoria Azarenka Marion Bartoli Kim Clijsters Simona Halep Angelique Kerber Petra Kvitova Li Na Garbine Muguruza Naomi Osaka Alona Ostapenko Flavia Pennetta Francesca Schiavone Maria Sharapova Sloane Stephens Samantha Stosur Serena Williams Caroline Wozniacki
...four more than 2000-09, with another season (and a handful of legit potential first-time slam champs in the mix) to go. The seventeen champions hail from fifteen different nations, with only the U.S. (Serena/Sloane) and Italy (Francesca/Flavia) with more than one.
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES RUNNER-UP* (+12) Genie Bouchard Dominika Cibulkova Sara Errani Justine Henin Madison Keys Sabine Lisicki Karolina Pliskova Aga Radwanska Lucie Safarova Roberta Vinci Venus Williams Vera Zvonareva
...most are either retired (3), scheduled to retire (1), in their late 30's (2), or likely past their "best chance" moment (4) to win a major. Only Keys and Pliskova are exceptions. Even if no new names are added to the slam *winner* list, a few might jump into the mix here by the end of '19.
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES SEMIFINALIST* (+19) Timea Bacsinszky Kiki Bertens Elena Dementieva Kirsten Flipkens Julia Goerges Ana Ivanovic Jelena Jankovic Johanna Konta Mirjana Lucic-Baroni Ekaterina Makarova Elise Mertens Peng Shuai Andrea Petkovic Tsvetana Pironkova Magdalena Rybarikova Anastasija Sevastova CoCo Vandeweghe Elena Vesnina Zheng Jie
...and few here -- most notably Makarova, Vandeweghe and Vesnina -- have been versatile enough that they would qualify for their *doubles* success alone, as well. Lucic would have met the agreed-upon qualifications for 1990-99 (for her WS/WD/MX results in the late '90s), but not for 2000-09, and now does so again for 2010-19. Ah, The Most Interesting Tour. And, we see you there, JJ -- you can't hide!
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES QUARTERFINALIST* (+22) Belinda Bencic Caroline Garcia Camila Giorgi Daniela Hantuchova Kaia Kanepi Dasha Kasatkina Maria Kirilenko Ana Konjuh Svetlana Kuznetsova Kristina Mladenovic Tamira Paszek Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Nadia Petrova Yulia Putintseva Shelby Rogers Yaroslava Shvedova Barbora Strycova Carla Suarez-Navarro Elina Svitolina Lesia Tsurenko Alison Van Uytvanck Zhang Shuai
...though 48 players met the qualifying standard before her, Svitolina is the only one here (though Mladenovic & Strycova should *contend*... Sveta, who knows?) assured of a spot in the final Decade Top 25, based solely on her regular season prowess and just-won WTA Finals title. She really needs to bump her spot up on this list in '19, though.
*YEAR-END TOP 10* (0) --
*EIGHT-OR-MORE WTA SINGLES TITLES - 2010-19* (0) --
...contenders to possibly jump onto the list? Hmmm. Not many. Alize Cornet has five titles in the decade, but she was a player who started the '09 season on the verge of adding her name to the list, too, but ultimately never did. Aryna Sabalenka only has two titles as of now, but *could* (in a best-case scenario) get hot enough in '19 to reach eight, though she's more likely to join the list based on her slam results or Top 10 finish. If Wang Qiang could bring her Asian continental success to the rest of the world, she'd be under consideration, too (though she's *already* on the nomination list -- as you'll see later).
*DOUBLES/MIXED SLAM CHAMPION* (+28) Timea Babos Ash Barty Iveta Benesova Cara Black Latisha Chan Gaby Dabrowski Casey Dellacqua Gisela Dulko Jarmila Gajdosova Anna-Lena Groenefeld Martina Hingis Hsieh Su-wei Liezel Huber Vania King Barbora Krejcikova Bethanie Mattek-Sands Sania Mirza Kveta Peschke Andrea S.-Hlavackova Lucie Hradecka Nicole Melichar Melanie Oudin Lisa Raymond Laura Siegemund Katerina Siniakova Abigail Spears Katarina Srebotnik Heather Watson
...speaking to either the singles-only nature of so many of the *top* stars, the doubles depth, or maybe the absense of long-term "super duos" hogging the big titles, this number is nearly double the number (15) that were on the list to begin the '09 season. And let the internal debate begin... just how high will Hingis land on the Top 25 list with her 2.0 doubles career? Barty should be able to add some singles numbers to her candidacy in '19.
...at least both Chans are now present. And a South American who has played more recently than Dulko, too.
And in an act of widening the net a bit...
*WHEELCHAIR SINGLES SLAM/MASTERS YEC/PARALYMPIC FINALS* (+12) Marjolein Buis Diede de Groot Daniela Di Toro Sabine Ellerbrock Florence Gravellier Jiske Griffioen Korie Homan Yui Kamiji Aniek Van Koot Esther Vergeer Sharon Walraven Jordanne Whiley
...seven of Vergeer's slam singles crowns (+ a Paralympic Gold and two Masters) took place in the decade. With four slam singles crowns heading into '19, could her protégé Diede (The Great) de Groot end up with *more* in 2010-19 than The Greatest Ever? Who'd be the WC Player of the Decade? Another internal debate.
...the Brit won the Doubles Masters with de Groot two years ago. As is traditionally the case, all the other WD title winners were also singles champs/runners-up.
*ASIAN GAMES FINALS* (+5) Akgul Amanmuradova Chan Chin-wei Luksika Kumkhum Aldila Sutjiadi Wang Qiang
...see, I told you -- there she is. Wang has won back-to-back AG Golds.
Here's how things were finalized from 2000-09:
1. Serena Williams, USA 2. Justine Henin, BEL 3. Maria Sharapova, RUS 4. Venus Williams, USA 5. Kim Clijsters, BEL 6. Jennifer Capriati, USA 7. Lindsay Davenport, USA 8. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 9. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 10. Cara Black, ZIM 11. Lisa Raymond, USA 12t. Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP 12t. Paola Suarez, ARG 14. Rennae Stubbs, AUS 15. Elena Dementieva, RUS 16. Martina Hingis, SUI 17. Liezel Huber, RSA/USA 18. Mary Pierce, FRA 19. Dinara Safina, RUS 20. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK 21. Ana Ivanovic, SRB 22. Jelena Jankovic, SRB 23. Ai Sugiyama, JPN 24. Anastasia Myskina, RUS 25. Patty Schnyder, SUI HONORABLE MENTION- Martina Navratilova, USA
[Tournament] Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2004 Athens Olympics [Weekend] Justine Henin, 2003 U.S. Open (SF-def. Capriati, Final-def. Clijsters) [Team] Russia wins four Fed Cup titles (2004-05, 2007-08) [Misc.] Russians sweep Beijing '08 Olympics Medal stand (Dementieva-Safina-Zvonareva)
*TOP DOUBLES TEAMS* 1. Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA 2. Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 3. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/RSA-USA HM- Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS
*TOP* [Junior] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS [Breakout] Maria Sharapova wins Wimbledon (2004) [Comeback] Jennifer Capriati (2001) [Adopted Technology] Instant Replay review
*MATCHES OF THE DECADE* 2001 Roland Garros Final - Capriati def. Clijsters ...1-6/6-4/12-10. So what if it was the only three-set RG final this decade. It was the most dramatic, historic match. Period. ============================= 2003 U.S. Open SF - Henin def. Capriati ...4-6/7-5/7-6. The legend of La Petit Taureau is born. =============================
*BEST* [Story] The Williams Sisters [Unlikely Tennis Power] Belgium [Revolution] Russian
*Ms. Backspin of the 2000's* THE Serena Williams
1. Serena Williams, USA 2. Jennifer Capriati, USA 3. Lindsay Davenport, USA 4. Justine Henin, BEL 5. Maria Sharapova, RUS 6. Martina Hingis, SUI 7. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 8. Kim Clijsters, BEL 9. Venus Williams, USA 10. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK HM- Rennae Stubbs, AUS
*DOUBLES* 1. Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA 2. Virginia Ruano-Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 3. Martina Hingis, SUI 4. Rennae Stubbs, AUS 5. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
*JUNIORS* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS & Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE
1. Justine Henin, BEL 2. Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP 3. Mary Pierce, FRA 4. Jennifer Capriati, USA 5. Serena Williams, USA 6. Ana Ivanovic, SRB 7. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 8. Kim Clijsters, BEL 9. Anastasia Myskina, RUS 10. Paola Suarez, ARG HM- Lisa Raymond, USA
*DOUBLES* 1. Virginia Ruano-Pascual, ESP 2. Paola Suarez, ARG 3. Lisa Raymond, USA 4. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
1. Venus Williams, USA 2. Serena Williams, USA 3. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 4. Maria Sharapova, RUS 5. Cara Black, ZIM 6. Lindsay Davenport, USA 7. Justine Henin, BEL 8. Ai Sugiyama, JPN 9. Kim Clijsters, BEL 10. Elena Dementieva, RUS HM- Jennifer Capriati, USA
*DOUBLES* 1. Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA 2. Cara Black, ZIM 3. Ai Sugiyama, JPN 4. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA 5. Rennae Stubbs, AUS 6. Martina Navratilova, USA 7. Kim Clijsters/Ai Sugiyama, BEL/JPN 8. Virginia Ruano-Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 9. Lisa Raymond, USA 10. Samantha Stosur, AUS
*JUNIORS* 1. Sisters: Agnieszka Radwanska, Urszula Radwanska and Kateryna Bondarenko 2. Laura Robson, GBR 3. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
1. Serena Williams, USA 2. Justine Henin, BEL 3. Kim Clijsters, USA 4. Venus Williams, USA 5. Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 6. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 7. Maria Sharapova, RUS 8. Lindsay Davenport, USA 9. Lisa Raymond, USA 10. Elena Dementieva, RUS HM- Jelena Jankovic, SRB
*DOUBLES* [Teams] 1.Virginia Ruano-Pascual/Paola Suarez, ESP/ARG 2. Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS 3. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA [Individuals] 1.Lisa Raymond, USA 2.Rennae Stubbs, AUS 3.Cara Black, ZIM 4.Nathalie Dechy, FRA
*JUNIORS* Americans: Coco Vandeweghe, Jessica Kirkland and Alexa Glatch ============================= A Belgian: Kirsten Flipkens ============================= Russians: Maria Kirilenko and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; Svetlana Kuznetsova and Yana Buchina =============================
Soon all the coaching changes, offseason training regimens, and attempts to adjust to and recalibrate as a result of what happened *last* season will be put to the ultimate test.
Yet again.
As Week 1 arrives, the slate is officially wiped clean for all involved as the packaging is ripped off a new-in-the-box WTA campaign. For a brief moment, everyone will be equal in the eyes of the still undefined season, and all things the heart desires will be possible once more. And then the first round of matches will be completed and the knock-down, drag-out competition that is the Most Interesting Tour in the World will claim its initial victims.
And then everything gets serious.
Within two weeks, we'll be crowning the first WTA champions of 2019. Before all the preseason notions begin to be chipped away, though, it's time to stake out a few positions regarding what will might happen over the next eleven months. *Now* is when we can pretend that we have all the answers because, before you know it, the ugly truth will happily intrude on the fantasy land of our imagination.
First up, gauging the position on the temperature spectrum of 2019's Top 10 contenders.
Here are a few of the players, listed in temperature spectrum-ready order as far as the likelihood, from this particular crow's nest, that they'll *still* be in the Top 10 as New Year's Day 2020 arrives on our doorstep twelve months from now.
Elina Svitolina, UKR (2018 #4): Trusting the Process has turned out to be Svitolina's true north. At least it appears so as 2019 begins. The Ukrainian's step-by-step career path has been well known, as she's made winning (and defending) titles, notching big wins (29 Top 10 victories since 2014, 20 the last two years, including a tour-best six vs. #1's since '16) and climbing the rankings ladder seem routine. Getting her big slam breakthrough? Not so much. A change in training produced a leaner physique last season, and as her upward progression seemed to stall around mid-year it was easy to question whether she'd sacrificed power and stamina for quickness... and wasn't her real problem in majors between her ears, anyway? But the Ukrainian didn't deviate from her plan, and in the closing weeks she battled to make the Singapore field while some questioned whether she deserved to be there (despite the points-based qualification for the event being as fair and balanced as any formula could be). When she made it, then opened with a win, she took the opportunity to note that she was well aware of the detractors, and that she'd used the criticism as fuel. She then went about justifying The Process by going undefeated in the event, winning a series of tight, confidence-building matches en route to the WTA Finals crown, the biggest of her career. A year after Caroline Wozniacki rode the momentum from a WTAF title run to her maiden slam win in Melbourne, Svitolina is now in the Dane's shoes as 2019 begins. With her Singapore win officially making her the only player in tour history with 13+ singles titles but ZERO slam semifinal results, the breakthrough has to happen this season, right? She couldn't open a year in a better frame of mind, with burgeoning confidence, an appropriate swagger and a hint of the leftover Singapore desire to prove herself. If not now, then when? After deciding to promote Andrew Bettles to her main coach, if she took a step back would she have to start over again from scratch? It'd be a decision that would go against the pattern of Svitolina's entire career, which has seemingly advanced with a long-term plan to smartly build one higher level of success upon another while shoring up lingering weaknesses along the way. Thankfully, it doesn't look as if Eli will have to hit any "reset" button. 2019 will (finally) be the season she's been dreaming of and building toward for years. She'll lead the tour in titles and Top 10 wins. But she's done that before. The difference will be that those numbers will be secondary factoids, as Svitolina's headlines will include her long-awaited slam "moment" (a title, or at least a final) and first appearance atop the WTA rankings.
Simona Halep, ROU (1): just about all of Simona's dreams came true in 2018. Her next stated goal is winning Olympic Gold for her beloved Romania, but her chance for that won't come until 2020. Til then, at least at the start of the new season, Halep will go it alone after coach Darren Cahill's announced one-year hiatus to spend time with his family. Whether she continues to captain her own ship all season will likely depend on how well the world #1 has taken the Aussie's coping (with pressure, both from within and without) lessons to heart. Assuming the back injury that ended her season won't continue to be a lingering problem (she's released practice video, and is signed up for early season events... so, fingers crossed), Halep should be in the mix for a title in just about any draw she enters, just as has been the case the last five seasons that have seen her consecutively finish at #3-#2-#4-#1-#1. It'll just be a matter of health (which she struggled with, but ultimately overcame, throughout '18) and her continued ability to finish, successfully avoiding those famed (and treacherous) "Cliffs of Simona." She proved during the North American hard court season that winning Roland Garros didn't dampen her ability or willingness to compete until the bitter end, coming within a MP of becoming the first woman to sweep the Rogers Cup and Cincinnati titles in back-to-back weeks. A wire-to-wire #1 season isn't out of the question in '19, especially since her closest competitors (#2 Kerber, with a title and AO semi, and #3 Wozniacki, with her AO crown) also have a large number of early season points to defend (Halep has a Week 1 title and AO final), though she'd be susceptible to an end-run from #4 Svitolina or #5 Osaka should they win in Melbourne. That said, a full season hold on the #1 ranking isn't likely. Still, expect another fine season from Halep, complete with a slam final (or multiple SF), at least two titles and a late-season shot to finish #1 for a third straight year.
Serena Williams, USA (16): at this point, it's really only about the slams, right? Even while Williams has grown into a legendary sports and cultural icon both on and off the court over the past two decades, it's the breadth of her tennis accomplishments that will forever define her place in the sport. Back from becoming a mom and another health scare, she had two opportunities in slam finals to finally record her Margaret Court-tying 24th major title last season. She didn't get the win in either London or New York, and even managed to roll through another of her by-now-characteristic and unsurprising big stage meltdowns while losing at Flushing Meadows with her "Q-rating" intact and her status undiminished (even if at some point Williams' biggest backers are going to have to acknowledge that for all the good she's done and embodied, Serena bears some measure of responsibility and blame for the reality that ultimately her legacy must include a discussion of a few "dark moments" that, frankly, should have been beneath someone of her stature). Between now and the end of 2019, it's hard to imagine Williams won't finally match Court in the record books, and quite possibly pass her by, as well. Assuming her health holds up, she'll be a Top 10 player (maybe Top 5, or even better) even if she plays a shortened non-slam schedule with only a few big results. But rankings (ironic, considering her return last year led to the recent ranking changes that benefit returning mothers... or in *her* case, the players who might have to play *one particular mother* TOO early in a draw) have never mattered much to Serena. She's won slams from positions all over the WTA computer throughout her career. She'll do it again in 2019. At least once.
Angelique Kerber, GER (2): Kerber flipped the script back in 2018. One year after dropping from #1 to outside the Top 20, she won career slam #3 (at Wimbledon, defeating Serena in a *second* slam final) and climbed all the way back to #2, going 18-3 in slams (she was 20-2 in her career year in '16) and recording six Top 10 wins. The German will turn 31 during the Australian Open, an age after which only two women not named Serena have won major titles (they were named Martina and Flavia, BTW). This season and next, Kerber seems set to possibly play the part of the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" as far as the "normal" (i.e. not you-know-who) thirtysomething crowd's continued slam viability as Generation PDQ's roots fully take hold on the tour. If her '18 season is any indication, how Kerber gets out of the gate may give us a clue to her '19 prospects. The German rebounded from her disappointing '17 by winning ten straight (14 w/ the Hopman Cup) last January, grabbing her first title in over a year and reaching the AO semis (falling just short vs. Halep in the season's "Match of the Year"). She only won one other title, but it was Wimbledon at the end of a 10-2 grass season. Her results tailed off in the back half of the year (7-7 after SW19), so one wonders if she's still capable of the sort of all-season long sprint that characterized 2016 (and maybe contributed to her "low on fuel" follow-up campaign). She'll enter the new year without coach Wim Fissette, who helped Kerber bring everything back together before once again hitting the road for parts and challenges unknown (well, not really -- he's since teamed up with Vika), so it'll be up to Rainer Schuettler to help her maintain her high level of results. With a coaching background that has included stints with middlin' ATPers Sergiy Stakhovsky and Vasek Pospisil, it remains to be seen if the all-German team will develop a recognizable synergy. The thought here is that Kerber won't fall off as she did two seasons ago, but while her slam results will be consistently good she won't pick up slam #4. She'll win more singles titles than a season ago, but will top out in the majors at the SF stage (quite possibly at Roland Garros, which would still be her best Paris finish at the one slam missing in her career trophy collection).
Naomi Osaka, JPN (5): the Great Wave of Osaka finally crashed onto the WTA shores in 2018. Hard. Granted, the 21-year old's burgeoning legend was built upon just two events last season, but what extended performances they were. In fourteen matches in Indian Wells and Flushing Meadows, Osaka lost just *two* sets (to Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively), and overcame the sort of unsettling non-tennis display from Serena during the U.S. Open final that might have derailed the concentration of many young players. In fact, it may have done as much to Osaka herself before last season, a campaign which was intelligently grounded by her preseason decision to bring aboard Sascha Baijin as coach. In his first solo coaching gig, Baijin proved just how much he learned working in the past with the likes of players who could go by just their first names (Serena, Vika, Caro). His corralling of Osaka's huge talents and calming of the frustrations that sometimes brought her down to her earth in the past earned him the tour's well-deserved inaugural Coach of the Year honor. The "year after," though, brings along a whole new set of issues, from maintaining Osaka's focus to enabling her to handle her new level of expectation. It's never going to be a simple breeze when so many are calling you "the future of the sport," saying you'll soon reach #1 AND win another slam in '19. All of that might be true, but never forget that Williams herself went over two full seasons between slam win #1 and #2, and Latvian Thunder seemed all set for world domination after winning Roland Garros in '17 and showing no immediate signs of a dip in results soon afterward (she ended up title-less and outside the Top 20 in '18). Osaka's mood/match-altering serve game will probably prevent a similar step back in '19, but as January approaches it'd be good to *also* note that if you take away her I.W. run the Japanese star was just 19-15 in WTA MD matches last year before the U.S. Open (including 13-11 in the time between the desert and New York City). After winning seven of eight post-Open matches in Asia, Osaka's adrenaline rush subsided and she lost a final in Tokyo (to Pliskova) and went 0-3 in Singapore. We know what Osaka is capable of, but there's a good chance her busy offseason, new commitments (to sponsors and the tour) and responsibilities (as the face and hope of Japanese tennis) might have her fighting to stay balanced for much of the year. As so many new young champs have proven before her, it ain't as easy as it sometimes looks. That said, Osaka is still going to be a wrecking ball at times this coming year. (At least) another slam final is certainly likely, and she very well could lead the tour in Premier titles. But there will come a moment this year when she loses a few matches in a row, is frustrated and a few eyebrows are raised when she falls to a lower ranked player most think she should smoke in under an hour. That's when the tale of her season will be told. In 2018, her post-I.W. dip reversed course when Osaka, after apologizing to fans for her play, found a way to break free of her ennui and make things "fun" again. The result was the U.S. Open win and all that's come with it. And it's been A LOT, with still more to come. Of course, if Naomi *is* the transformative presence that will soon dominate the tour, maybe she'll bypass the usual "year after" haze and pick up in 2019 right where she left off in New York, and never relent. That *probably* won't be the case, but if it is... well, look out, world.
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (11): in 2017, Sabalenka's Fed Cup bombast gave everyone an early indication that she was planning something. In 2018, her big-hitting game, heroine's heart and raging fire within allowed her to knock on the doors of the tour's top players rather vociferously. Will she mastermind a home invasion of all involved in 2019? Maybe. It wouldn't be right to dub Sabalenka possibly "this year's Osaka" because she's too far along for that, and very nearly *was* Osaka last season (she won the Newcomer of the Year award). Their "Boom-Shaka-Osaka" Round of 16 clash at the U.S. Open looked, felt and played out like a battle to determine which generational fireballer would be the one to scale the tour's pyramid of power first. Sabalenka was the first to take a set off Osaka in the event, and the Japanese star wouldn't lose another en route to the title. To say that Sabalenka realized how close *she* was to living Osaka's New York dream would be an understatement. The Belarusian, who'd already reached finals on three difference surfaces during the season, spent the rest of the year taking her game's engine to the limit in an all-out pursuit of happiness... and Singapore (she came up just short of making the field), and the Top 10 (she finished #11), and the desire to make a huge closing statement about what will soon be her place in the game. In the end, even with her biggest title (Premier 5 Wuhan) and the running up of her season Top 10 win total (she had eight, seven coming on hard court from July forward as she ended on a 25-7 run), the calendar ran out before she could complete her goals. That'll change in 2019. After going 0-3 in the first three majors of '18, Sabalenka has so much room to grow it's crazy. But maybe not as crazy as the notion that she'll still be just 20 years old come the start of May. By then, her day may have *already* come. I'm going to stop just short of predicting her to be Generation PDQ's next first-time slam champ in '19 (I'm picking her to "only" reach her maiden major final, but pick up a Premier Mandatory title), but I also realize that I very well may regret not taking that plunge now when I recap these picks in about eleven months time. Actually, I might already fully regret it before the the start of February, if you know what I mean.
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (3): in 2018, the Dane finally did it. Boosted by a more aggressive style and confidence gained from a season-ending WTAF title run in '17, Wozniacki saved two MP early on in Melbourne and went on to finally claim her maiden slam at the Australian Open. She returned to the #1 spot for a month before Halep held it for the remainder of the season. As the year wore on, newly engaged and with her big career "get" in her back pocket, it was easy to wonder if Wozniacki still wanted *more* from her tennis and whether her mind was elsewhere. While she didn't drop away after the AO, she *was* a quiet presence for much of the season. She won her first grass title in nine years during the summer, but was just an "okay" 23-14 after Melbourne into the 4Q. But once she learned how to deal with what had been a lingering, undiagnosed injury (it turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis) that wasn't figured out by doctors until U.S. Open time, Caro put on a nice closing push in Asia. She won a Premier Mandatory title in Beijing and if she'd been out of the gates a bit quicker in Singapore (she listlessly dropped her opening RR match to Pliskova before finding her footing) she'd reached the semis with a real shot to defend her crown. With the possibility of becoming a younger generation's face of her condition and how to overcome it, a second slam title in '19 would come complete with several additional layers of storyline than was even the case with her Down Under run of a season ago. The thought is that she won't get it, but barring injury Wozniacki should remain the Top 10 player she's been for most of the last decade (ankle injuries knocked her into the teens in 2015-16), pick up a handful of titles (she enters the season with 30, six behind Maria Sharapova for the recognition of being the winningest active non-Williams on tour), and put up her eighth career slam semi, as well.
Garbine Muguruza, ESP (18): sometimes the Mugu-ing goes well, sometimes it doesn't. In 2018, a year after Muguruza won slam #2, there were far more misses than hits as the Spaniard dropped from #2 to #18, by far the biggest one season slip in her career (her previous worst follow-up was just a four-spot fall from #3 to #7 from '15 to '16). She won just one small title in Monterrey, didn't post a big match win after March (going 1-4 vs. the Top 20, with early losses meaning her only Top 10 foe was #1 Halep in the RG semis) and after posting consistent slam results for a full season (QF-4r-W-4r) for the first time in her career in '17, Muguruza's nice Roland Garros SF run was joined by a trio of 2nd Round exits at the other three majors. Coach Sam Sumyk is still on board Team Garbi as 2019 begins, though it should be noted that Mugurzua's best slam run since she won her maiden major in Paris in 2016 -- her '17 SW 19 title -- came with Conchita Martinez acting as a coaching fill-in for the fortnight. One has to wonder how much life is left in the Muguruza/Sumyk partnership, as it often feels more akin to the dynamic between a spoiled and squabbling teen and an exasperated parent (not exactly an oddity with many coach/pupil set-ups as viewed from the outside, it should *also* be noted) than the picture of a finely tuned machine with all the gears greased and working smoothly to produce the best communication, respect and results possible. Muguruza *did* pick things up a bit down the final stretch, going 10-6 after the U.S. Open. But the one good thing about a bad stretch (or season, in this case) for the Spaniard is that, like the tides, the Law of Muguruza is that an ebb is inevitably followed by a strong flow in the opposite direction. It'd be just like Muguruza to follow up a disappointing campaign with possibly a career year. Though she's capable of dominating anyone on tour in her best form, it's crazy to impose that sort of prediction on *any* season from the WTA's most hard-to-gauge player (yes, even more so that, say, Sveta), but it'd be smart to expect a rebound. While consistency can't be assured, it almost seems a lock that Muguruza will reach another high tide in '19, say by winning slam title #3 (to go along with one or two 1r/2r losses at other majors) and reclaiming her spot in the Top 10.
Karolina Pliskova, CZE (8): in 2016, Pliskova looked suspiciously like the next most likely first-time slam champ. During that summer she dominated on hard courts and nearly won the U.S. Open. Over the next year and a half, though, something changed. The Czech seemed to top out as far as improving her game (her better movement, for one, had proven to be a key component in her rise that season), and the big serving skills that ultimately propelled her to #1 (for eight weeks one year after her big' 17 summer) often was a nonentity when she needed it most. Pliskova still put up nice serving numbers, but the shot was no longer an element with which she controlled the direction of matches as she once had. Her 2018 season had quite a few good moments, including one of her best clay court campaigns ever (she won her first clay title in three years, and had her first Top 10 wins on the surface since '14), but it was only after she jettisoned coach Tomáš Krupa (her last in a string of male Czech coaches) in favor of what will be a new combination with Aussie Rennae Stubbs (w/ Conchita Martinez, who worked with her at the U.S. Open, putting in some time, as well) that Pliskova began to once again to "feel" like the player she'd been two seasons earlier. With her drive renewed, the gameday significance of her serve returned (perhaps one fed off the other?). She followed up her best Wimbledon showing (4th Rd.) with a QF in New York and big win in the Tokyo final over U.S. Open champ Naomi Osaka in front of her home fans, and ended with a WTAF semifinal finish. She posted half (3) of her season's Top 10 win total in the final quarter. With some of her intangibles intact once again, Pliskova may be able to give a little more finishing bite to what has been an underrated good slam run the last few seasons. After not reaching a Round of 16 in her first seventeen majors, she's done so at seven of her last nine (w/ six QF+ results). As 2019 begins, she's legitimately back in the slam winning mix, and not just because of her high ranking. Pliskova once again has the *look* of a player capable of scaling the mountain. Will she do it? She *could*, but I'm not going to predict her to do so. I am placing her in her first major final since '16, though, as well as in the winner's circle in tournaments on hard, clay and grass surfaces in a season for the first time in her career, as well as assuming the role of "MVP" for another of the Czech Republic's successful Fed Cup runs.
Kiki Bertens, NED (9): the Dutch star proved she was more than just a clay courter in '18, winning Cincinnati on hard courts and reaching the QF on the grass at Wimbledon. Was it just a one year all-surface surge, or the start of a stretch where the 27-year old becomes a late twentysomething, Kerber-esque (any) big event threat into her thirties? If the commitment that bred the confidence that led to the success of '18 remains, the latter could very well become her new norm (maybe she'll even actually be named the Dutch Female Athlete of the Year in '19 after being snubbed this past year!). Opening the year at #9, without a red clay title to defend (her Charleston win was on green) and just one Round of 16 slam result to back up, Bertens has room to pick up rankings points and rise still higher this season. At the very least, how about a campaign in which the improved fitness and aggression that led to greater success on hard courts allows her to "go back to her roots" and be *even better* on clay courts than she was in the past? Bertens' last red clay title was in July '17, and she's never won a Premier level event on her "best" surface. She should take care of that this year, and maybe equal (or knock off?) her best Roland Garros result ('16 semi), too. Add that to consistent results elsewhere, and she could poke her head into the Top 5 by the summer.
Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (10): with all the talk of Russians and walls, 2019 seems destined to be an extra special year for "The Russian Wall" herself, right? The swashbuckling Hordette made a big move in '18, reaching her biggest final (Indian Wells), having her best slam results (two QF), reaching the Top 10 and adding to her two-year run of fabulous results against the tour's very best players, as she increased her WTA leading 2017-18 win total over Top 3 players to eight (including two different #1's and three different #2's, all of which came *before* she reached the Top 10 herself). A player with a blessed combination of grind-it-out grit and one-shot brilliance, Kasatkina has left herself room to make an even more significant move in '19. Slightly more efficient matches could make a big difference, as while Kasatkina is a good three-set player (16-8 in '18) she often is taken to three when she could have won in two, leaving her more weary late in tournaments than she should be. It could be why her results tilted a bit downward in last season's final months. Other than her lung-filing Kremlin Cup title run back home in Russia, she was just 6-7 after Wimbledon. Kasatkina is only a breathtaking big slam run away from taking her rightful and acknowledged place as one of the best *and* most exciting players on tour. Here's to her putting up her first SF+ result at a major, as well as grabbing her biggest career title in '19 (Premier 5 or better, while reaching at least a Premier Mandatory final), enabling her to improve on her recently-completed "career year."
Ash Barty, AUS (15): the preeminent dual threat on tour, Barty is coming off her best singles season (titles on grass and hard courts, with her Elite Trophy win the *only* good thing to say about that particular so-called "tournament") and having won her first slam crown in doubles (U.S. w/ Vandeweghe). With her confidence growing in the closing months of '18 (and maybe WD partner CoCo having helped to loosen her up between the lines), the Aussie finished on a 17-6 singles run and reached her career ranking high. Expect more of the same in '19, with a Top 10 run, her biggest title to date (a Premier 5 or better), her first (and second) slam QF run, at least five Top 10 wins and maybe, just maybe, a lead role in what could be Australia's best chance for a huge FC victory in a while (it's AUS vs. USA in the 1st Round in February).
Petra Kvitova, CZE (7): Kvitova led the tour in titles (5) in '18, but was a shadow of her regular season self in the majors (1st-3rd-1st-3rd). While her comeback from hand surgery has taken much of the focus away from her lack of slam success, the fact is that she's reached just a pair of major QF (in 16 slam appearances) since winning her most recent Wimbledon title in 2014. Fifteen different players have as many in just the last two years. Kvitova needn't repeat in her tour-leading title winner role in '19 to remain in the Top 10. Just a couple of good slam runs will make up the different for any reduction in hardware attained, especially if the bump occurs at her "best" major, as she's gone just 4-4 at Wimbledon since winning her second crown there (which ended a SF-W-QF-QF-W stretch at SW19). SuperPetra will make a few appearances in '19, just maybe not during quite as many long stretches of dominance as last season. She'll win fewer titles, but will post better slam results en route to what might arguably be considered a "better" season even as her ranking ends up looking not quite as good as the "7" that stood by her name at the end of the most recent campaign.
Alona Ostapenko, LAT (22): normally, a season in which a 20/21 year old with just two career singles titles climbs to #5 in the rankings, records a pair of Top 10 wins (Svitolina/Kvitova), and reaches a Premier Mandatory final (Miami) and slam semi (Wimbledon) would be considered a *great* year. But this was 2018 for Ostapenko, a year after the Latvian won Roland Garros just a day out of her teens. In that context, her "year after" wasn't nearly the follow up that many wanted for her, and that she won no titles, fell out of the Top 20 and is now #2 in her own country were the "headlines" of her season. In truth, they've *all* relevant facts. Ostapenko proved she wasn't a one-slam wonder and is still the sparking talent she appeared to be in '17, but she also still has much to work on to maximize her career, namely her serve (second, but first, too) and willingness to change up her strategy a little more often when her feast-or-famine shots aren't landing in. The former is far more likely to be successfully coached out of her in '19 than the latter, and it's still an open question whether Glen Schaap (who came aboard mid-season in '18) is the right mentor to help usher Ostapenko into the next phase of her career. 2019 isn't a "make or break" season as far as the course of Ostapenko's path goes, but it could play a big role for her next three years. By the start of '20, she'll need to have determined whether Schaap or another coach is the right tennis mind to partner with, or else spend the *next* year and a half (or more) determining just who *is*, which would mean it might not be until '22 that she might be settled into a successful coach/pupil relationship that allows her to best utilize her tremendous talent off the ground along with her in-match fire without the sort of dangerously streaky, error-strewn, service-dropping stretches that doomed her chances of adding onto her '17 RG win last season. It feels totally wrong to think she'll have all her proverbial ducks in a row by the end of '19, but with the post-slam pressure alleviated *a little* look for her to get back into the title-winning game a few times, including at a nice-sized Premier event, and post another slam SF run *somewhere* (that's be three consecutive years with a major semi). If she's lucky, it'll be enough to get her back into the back end of the Top 10, or at least in the #12-15 range to set herself up nicely for '20.
Sloane Stephens, USA (6): is the at-best "temporary" break (no offseason work, or trip Down Under) with coach Kamau Murray a bad sign? The Stephens combination with Murray, the coach who finally "got" her, seemed to play a large role in Sloane finally settling and reaching her potential (though not without at least one sketchy stretch) the last season and a half. Much like Serena Williams before her, Stephens is the sort of Bannerette who can simmer on cool for quite a while, then gradually warm up enough that over the course of two weeks at a major she ultimately looks unbeatable on the final weekend (see '17 U.S. Open). She could have a middlin' season, see her ranking slide out of the Top 10, and *still* contend for her second major with a deep run in, well, any of the three slams at which she's contended for titles thus far. 2019 isn't opening with Stephens looking ready for a dominant season, but more likely one with a big Premier title and a deep, ultimately title-less, slam run, leading to bottom-of-the-Top 10 contention and a fight to slip into the WTA Finals in Shenzhen in the final weeks of the season (essentially, a repeat of '18).
Madison Keys, USA (17): if Keys could ever put together a totally healthy campaign she might finally live up to all of her early "future of U.S. tennis praise" from a few years ago. Remember, at age 23, she's already posted SF+ results at three different majors, and none have come on arguably her best surface (grass). In 2018, even while rarely healthy for long (she retired or went out via walkover in a quarter of her 16 events), she shined on big stages -- two slam SF and a QF, plus a Cincy QF and Charleston SF -- and actually *improved* her ranking in a season in which she reached no finals (and was 0-2 in the I.W./Miami swing), one year after winning Stanford and reaching the U.S. Open final. Can she put it all together and play a (mostly) full schedule this year? Why not? The odds have to be on her side at some point, right? One has to think she'll at least reach a few finals in '19, and maybe win a few titles, too. Say, winning her biggest crown yet (a Premier 5 would do it), matching or besting her biggest non-slam final (ditto) and putting on another deep slam run and returning to the Top 10 at some point during the season.
Katerina Siniakova, CZE (31): just how much will the confidence gained by the Czech's recent Fed Cup success bolster her upcoming '19 season? The 22-year old is a gifted player -- arguably the *most* gifted of the top players from her nation -- with enough versatlity that she won two slam doubles crowns and reached #1 in '18, but her singles inconsistency and sometimes overly emotional stretches have kept her fenced in between #30-50 in the rankings. She may have turned a significant corner, though. Not just with her FC clinching heroics in Prague, but with a handful of slam comeback wins that preceded that weekend, as well. Siniakova either saved MP or saw her opponent serve for the match (or both) in the 1st & 2nd rounds of *both* Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last season, and won all four matches. In 2019, a couple of Premier finals (all five career finals thus far have been of the International variety), a win in one of them as well in an Int'l final, along with a consistent slam slate (with at least one QF) and the Czechs might have a new Maiden chomping at the bit for a career-altering moment come the start of the 2020 season.
Anett Kontaveit, EST (21): Kontaveit has been "this close" to her breakout year for two seasons now. With a game that translates to all surfaces, she finally edged into the Top 20 for the first time late in '18 and ended the season on its doorstep after a campaign that saw her record six Top 10 wins. STAT NOTE: all eight of the Estonian's Top 10 victories have come over players who've won major titles in their careers. Still, Kontaveit has continued to only *knock* at the door of something big. 2019 could be the season she finally jimmies the lock and gains entry into the discussion of the game's top young players that far too often excludes her name. She'll end the singles title drought that extends back to the summer of '17, winning multiples titles for the first time, and will finally break through the slam Round of 16 (one at each of three different majors) glass ceiling this season. She got as far as finishing as the runner-up (to Sabalenka) in her attempt to grab a big title in Wuhan late this past season, so at Premier level (low or high) crown is a must for '19 to even begin to approach what it *could* be and what some season (if not this, then '20) *should* be soon.
Wang Qiang, CHN (20): with her ridiculous string of 4Q results (SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU after the U.S. Open), and two "First Seed Out" upsets at majors, in '18 Wang became the biggest breath of fresh air to come out of Chinese tennis since, well, the great Li Na, of course. Her results in Asia got her into the Top 20, but can Wang put up some of her best results outside the continent and make the leap into the Top 10? The 26-year old was just 11-14 in MD play elsewhere in '18, with a Strasbourg QF and three-win run in Indian Wells her best results outside Asia. She sure looked like a Top 10 threat in the closing months, but she still has to prove it at other stops on the WTA schedule. Wang will likely still be at her best closer to home, but her personality and dramatic play can make her a fan favorite in any corner of the globe (ala Li), and that could go a long way toward winning close matches and putting up good results throughout the year. Look for her to have improved success elsewhere, making at least one final outside Asia and winning her first title a long way from home. Whether or not she can climb into the Top 10 will depend on if she can rattle off a few second week runs at the slams (her best results are 3rd Rounds at RG and the U.S.). It's easy to see her getting at least one QF+ major run in '19... and why not have it come in Melbourne, the "Asia/Pacific slam" where Li first made her slam breakthrough in the first slam of this nearly complete decade with a SF in '10?
Victoria Azarenka, BLR (51): after playing in just four of the last ten majors, calm reigns (finally) in Azarenka's personal life. That, as well as the return of Wim Fissette as coach, would seem to signal a return to serious contention for the former #1 and two-time slam champion. Or at least the *intention* and *will* is alive and well. But at nearly 30 (she'll make the jump in July), and with a history of injury issues, nothing is assured for Vika. Still, when she was last in good form and function on all fronts she swept Indian Wells and Miami in 2016 (remember?), and even as a pale shadow of her former self in '18 (just 12 events, with her best result a Miami semi) she almost had a Top 50 campaign. 2019 should see Azarenka's name "return to the conversation," with the Belarusian winning a Premier level crown and putting together at least one deep slam run that lights up all the "Vika is back" marquees. Whether it's enough to slip back into the Top 10 is debatable (she might need a slam final or win to pull off that), but a Top 20 season is well within the grasp of Azarenka 2.0 in the new year.
Anastasija Sevastova, LAT (11): always overshadowed by her younger countrywoman, Sevastova is Latvia's top-ranked player. She seems destined to (at least temporarily) make the small jump into the Top 10 in 2019's opening weeks/months, but the field will get crowded from there on out as the likes former slam winning vets and future major champions make their multi-headed, Hydra-like push for the game's upper echelon of rankings. Can Sevastova win BIG, and do it enough times, to keep ahead of enough of them to finish in the Top 10? She can probably be counted on to have a good season by her standards, but the top-out level of too many others will be too much for her to hold on and finish ahead of them all for her first season-ending Top 10 standing.
Julia Goerges, GER (14): has Goerges moved slightly beyond her late-blooming career peak (a slew of title runs, her first Top 10 ranking and maiden slam semi have all come since the final few weeks of the '17 season) and will now settle into being a Top 20 player for a few seasons into her thirties before the inevitable slippage begins to show? Or does the German Ace Queen still more new mountains to conquer before she's through? If she does, it'd probably be best she climb them in '19 before Generation PDQ gets an even stronger foothold. She's still seeking that first high Premier level title, but will have to settle for simply reaching her first such final in '19.
Elise Mertens, BEL (12): Mertens was a consistent singles and doubles threat in '18, but one would think she'll need to play a little bit less and win a bit bigger in the new year in order to stay fresh and continue her rise up the rankings. The Top 10 is within reach, but she'll have a singles title and AO semi to defend right out of the gate. So she might find herself having to battle her way back into the Top 20 and the calendar will say it's only February. To keep pace she'll replace two of her three '18 International level singles title with one Premier, and her AO semi with two QF runs. Though a path can be found, it'll prove to be too tough for the Belgian to *end* the year in the Top 10.
Timea Bacsinszky, SUI (241, now #191): a former Top 10 player and slam semifinalist (twice), Bacsinszky's return from hand surgery was slow in '18, but she methodically built up success in doubles before finally rounding into singles shape late in the year, ending on a 15-5 all-level run (with wins over the likes of Sabalenka and Cornet) that has her inside the Top 200 as '19 begins. At her best, she's a difficult bear to wrestle for even the top players, especially on clay. If she's truly back close to good form, she could be *the* comeback story of the season.
Dayana Yastremska, UKR (60, now #58):hail Mary, full of Dayana. If Bacsinszky is a Top 10 veteran comeback wild card heading into the '19 season, then just maybe the Ukrainian, the tour's highest-ranked teen, is the Generation PDQ prayer who under the perfect circumstances might arrive with the force of a thudding blow to the head. Ever since she battled, mini-Vika style, to a dramatic 2nd place vs. Anastasia Potapova in the Wimbledon girls final in 2016, the now 18-year old Yastremska has looked like a talent with a powerful fuse just waiting to be lit. After a star-crossed, year-long wait to reach her maiden slam draw, she finally made her major debut at last year's U.S. Open after last summer becoming the first woman born in the 2000s to reach the Top 100. She spend the final weeks of '18 picking up momentum for the new year, destroying Wang Qiang (yes, that Wang Qiang) in the Hong Kong final (yes, that Wang Qiang, in China) for her first tour title, then following up with a Luxembourg SF run that included wins over Garbine Muguruza and Margarita Gasparyan. The new season should bring her even more riches, including her first of many Top 10 wins, multiple singles titles (look for her to have soon won more titles before turning 19 over the past decade than any player since Wozniacki, who won five in 2008-09) and maybe even a Cinderella second-week-of-a-slam breakout that would make her the talk of the sport for at least a few days. She'll likely come up short of her ultimate goal, as she did in that junior final in London. But give her time. Yastremska will still be in her teenage years until the summer of 2020.
OTHER TOP 10 CONTENDERS: Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU (21), Caroline Garcia/FRA (19), Margarita Gasparyan/RUS (105, now #92), Maria Sharapova/RUS (29), CoCo Vandeweghe/USA (104, now #100), Venus Williams/USA (40, now #38)
*RANKINGS PREDICTIONS* -SELECTED SEASON-END #1's- Africa/Middle East: Ons Jabeur/TUN BLR: Aryna Sabalenka CAN: Bianca Andreescu CRO: Donna Vekic CZE: Karolina Pliskova FRA: Caroline Garcia GBR: Katie Boulter IND: Karman Thandi LAT: Alona Ostapenko MEX: Giuliana Olmos POL: Iga Swiatek
RUS: Dasha Kasatkina SLO: Tamara Zidansek South America: Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA SRB: Ivana Jorovic SUI: Timea Bacsinszky SVK: Viktoria Kuzmova USA: Serena Williams USA (non-Williams): Madison Keys
FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 10 JUMPS (i.e. not necessarily season-ending, for all jumps):Ash Barty/AUS, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Anastasija Sevastova/LAT, Wang Qiang/CHN FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 20 JUMPS:Margarita Gasparyan/RUS, Camila Giorgi/ITA, Ons Jabeur/TUN, Sonya Kenin/USA, Petra Martic/CRO, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Katerina Siniakova/CZE, Donna Vekic/CRO, Dayana Yastremska/UKR
FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 50 JUMPS:Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS, Amanda Anisimova/USA, Anna Blinkova/RUS, Katie Boulter/GBR, Olga Danilovic/SRB, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Ons Jabeur/TUN, Ivana Jorovic/SRB, Dalila Jakupovic/SLO, Kaja Juvan/SLO, Vera Lapko/BLR, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Bernarda Pera/USA, Rebecca Peterson/SWE, Anastasia Potapova/RUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Wang Yafan/CHN, Dayana Yastremska/UKR, Tamara Zidansek/SLO FIRST-TIME IN-SEASON TOP 100 JUMPS:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Marie Bouzkova/CZE, Harriet Dart/GBR, Francesca Di Lorenzo/USA, Caroline Dolehide/USA, Georgina Garcia Perez/ESP, Ivana Jorovic/SRB, Kaja Juvan/SLO, Marta Kostyuk/UKR, Veronika Kudermetova/RUS, Claire Liu/USA, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS, Fanny Stollar/HUN, Iga Swiatek/POL, Jil Teichmann/SUI, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Sofya Zhuk/RUS
NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR:Emiliana Arango/COL, Olga Danilovic/SRB, Fiona Ferro/FRA, Marta Kostyuk/UKR, Veronika Kudermetova/RUS, Anastasia Potapova/RUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Wang Xinyu/CHN, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Sofya Zhuk/RUS MOST IMPROVED PLAYERS:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Anna Blinkova/RUS, Giulia Capocci/ITA (WC), Margarita Gasparyan/RUS, Sonya Kenin/USA, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Katerina Siniakova/CZE, Fanny Stollar/HUN, Alja Tomljanovic/AUS, Marketa Vondrousova/CZE, Dayana Yastremska/UKR, Tamara Zidansek/SLO SURPRISE PLAYERS:Katie Boulter/GBR, Harriet Dart/GBR, Georgina Garcia Perez/ESP, Polona Hercog/SLO, Giuliana Olmos/MEX, Elena-Gabriela Ruse/ROU, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS, Slovenian Fed Cup, Katarina Zavatska/UKR COMEBACKS:Victoria Azarenka/BLR, Timea Bacsinszky/SUI, CiCi Bellis/USA, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Margarita Gasparyan/RUS (since the WTA couldn't include her as an '18 nominee for Comeback Player), Sania Mirza/IND (d), Garbine Muguruza/ESP, Alona Ostapenko/LAT, Peng Shuai/CHN, Russian Fed Cup, CoCo Vandeweghe/USA ITF ACHIEVERS:Clara Burel/FRA, Dasha Lopatetskaya/UKR, Andreea Amalia Rosca/ROU, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS, Gabriella Taylor/GBR NAMES TO WATCH IN THE JUNIOR SLAMS (non-2018 final Top 10ers):Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA, Dasha Lopatetskaya/UKR, Eli Mandlik/USA, Yuki Naito/JPN, Diane Parry/FRA, Gabriella Price/USA, Emma Raducanu/GBR, Oksana Selekhmeteva/RUS, Daniela Vismane/LAT DOUBLES DUOS TO WATCH:Miyu Kato/Makota Ninomiya (JPN/JPN), Veronika Kudermetova/Russian or Russian-born partners, from Natela Dzalamidze to Anna Blinkova, Galina Voskoboeva or others (RUS/RUS+?), Asia Muhammad/Maria Sanchez (USA/USA), Sabrina Santamaria/Kaitlyn Christian (USA/USA), Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai (AUS/CHN) NCAA CHAMPION:Ashley Lahey/USA (Pepperdine) [to watch: Michaela Gordon/USA (Stanford), Eden Richardson/GBR (LSU) and Lourdes Carle/ARG (Georgia)]
FIRST-TIME SLAM WINNER:Elina Svitolina/UKR
FIRST-TIME SLAM FINALISTS:Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Elina Svitolina/UKR FIRST-TIME SLAM SEMIFINALISTS:Dasha Kasatkina/RUS, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Elina Svitolina/UKR + another of the first-time quarterfinalists below... if I had to pick ONE, I guess I'd go with Czech FC heroine Siniakova FIRST-TIME SLAM QUARTERFINALISTS:Ash Barty/AUS, Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU, Margarita Gasparyan/RUS, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Katerina Siniakova/CZE, Wang Qiang/CHN, Dayana Yastremska/UKR FIRST-TIME SLAM ROUND OF 16's:Amanda Anisimova/USA, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Ons Jabeur/TUN, Sonya Kenin/USA, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Katerina Siniakova/CZE, Iga Swiatek/POL, Wang Qiang/CHN, Dayana Yastresmka/UKR FIVE NOTABLE FIRST-TIME SLAM 1st ROUND WINNERS:Amanda Anisimova/USA, Ankita Raina/IND, Iga Swiatek/POL, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Dayana Yastremska/UKR FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS:Ons Jabeur/TUN, Sonya Kenin/USA, Petra Martic/CRO, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Yulia Putintseva/KAZ (finally), Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR, Iga Swiatek/POL, Ajla Tomljanovic/AUS, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Zheng Saisai/CHN FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS:CiCi Bellis/USA, Ivana Jorovic/SRB, Sonya Kenin/USA, Marta Kostyuk/UKR, Veronika Kudermetova/RUS, Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK, Vera Lapko/BLR, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Iga Swiatek/POL, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Wang Yafan/CHN, Tamara Zidansek/SLO FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Anna Blinkova/RUS, Katie Boulter/GBR, Caroline Dolehide/USA, Fiona Ferro/FRA, Dalma Galfi/HUN, Ivana Jorovic/SRB, Kaja Juvan/SLO, Marta Kostyuk/UKR, Veronika Kudermetova/RUS, Liang En-shuo/TPE, Claire Liu/USA, Karolina Muchova/CZE, Iga Swiatek/POL, Wang Xinyu/CHN, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Sofya Zhuk/RUS HIGHEST RANKED WITHOUT A CAREER TITLE:Anastasia Potapova/RUS HIGHEST RANKED WITHOUT A CAREER FINAL:Anna Blinkova/RUS
All right. Now for some additional notions that I can look back on eleven months from now with a smile or, quite likely, one of several more-than-a-little incredulous, fully Ostapenko-istic, "nonverbal articulations" in recognition of any number of dubious accomplishments.
Yeah, something like that.
*MISCELLANEOUS PREDICTIONS*
2019 SLAM SINGLES FINALISTS: (2) S.Williams, and (1 each) Halep, Muguruza, Osaka, Ka.Pliskova, Sabalenka, Svitolina =============================================== 2019 SLAM DOUBLES TITLES: (1 each) Babos/Mladenovic, Barty/Vandeweghe, Stosur & *someone* (Sh.Zhang or w/ a last-minute partner), a duo consisting of at least one Czech (Hlavackova, Krejcikova, Siniakova, Strycova, etc.) =============================================== 2019 SLAM MIXED DOUBLES TITLES: (1 each) Gaby Dabrowski, Andreja Klepac, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Alona Ostapenko =============================================== 2019 IN-SEASON SINGLES #1's: Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina, Serena Williams =============================================== 2019 IN-SEASON DOUBLES #1's: Timea Babos, Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, Kristina Mladenovic =============================================== 2019 ROUND OF 16 AT ALL FOUR SLAMS: Caroline Garcia, Angelique Kerber, Aryna Sabalenka, Elina Svitolina, Serena Williams =============================================== 2019 QF AT ALL FOUR SLAMS: Elina Svitolina, Serena Williams =============================================== 2019 SINGLES TITLE LEADER: Elina Svitolina =============================================== 2019 MATCH WIN LEADER: Angelique Kerber
=============================================== Caroline Garcia will record her first career win over a world #1, then later get a second over a DIFFERENT world #1. =============================================== Laura Siegemund will reach her first tour level singles final (on clay, of course) since her knee injury, win a tour-level WD title on the surface and have her career best Roland Garros result (3rd Rd.+). =============================================== CoCo Vandeweghe will return to the Top 30 and reach a slam quarterfinal, as well as once again be Kathy Rinaldi's "right hand woman" in Fed Cup. =============================================== At some point during the season there will be TWO Canadians ranked in the Top 60. On that note, Bianca Andreescu will claim titles in a $100K challenger and WTA 125 Series event; while Genie Bouchard will reach her first tour-level singles final since 2016. =============================================== Timea Bacsinszky will return to the Top 20, reach a slam QF and record three Top 10 wins, her first since the spring of 2017 and subsequent hand surgery. =============================================== Mihaela Buzarnescu will come within a single match win of reaching the Top 10, but will get no closer. She'll reach a pair of slam QF, record the biggest win of her career (current best: over #4 Svitolina, '17 RG), as well as claim 3+ doubles titles. =============================================== Amanda Anisimova will post a match win in a slam over a former #1-ranked player. =============================================== Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (career titles: 12) will replace Elina Svitolina as the only player in tour history with 13+ titles but zero slam semifinal results. =============================================== Garbine Muguruza will win 3+ titles in a season for the first time. =============================================== Four different Belarusians will reach WTA singles finals, with three winning titles during the season. =============================================== A Top 20 women's singles player will be defaulted from a match. =============================================== The Czechs will retain their Fed Cup championship.
=============================================== Maria Sharapova will claim her first singles title since 2017 -- and biggest since 2015 (Italian Open - Premier 5) -- but will not climb back into the Top 10. She'll finish in the Top 20 for the first time since 2015. =============================================== Demi Schuurs will win WTA doubles titles with four different partners. =============================================== Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic will finally play against each other in a singles match for the first time since the publicly contentious end of their doubles partnership. Garcia will win, while Mladenovic will provide her with a sincerely (that's *key*) gracious greeting at the net. Kiki will then go on to win her first singles title since February 2017 (she's 0-4 in finals since then, and currently 1-7 for her career). #KarmicKiki =============================================== Andrea Petkovic will play in her first WTA singles final since February 2015. =============================================== Margarita Gasparyan will reach the Top 20 in both singles and doubles, win a pair of tour-level singles titles and advance to at least the QF of a major. =============================================== Alona Ostapenko will win a slam Mixed Doubles title, and reach a slam Doubles final. =============================================== Sloane Stephens will win either Indian Wells or Miami, as well as her first WTA doubles title (quite possibly as part of a sweep of one of the aforementioned tournaments). =============================================== Svetlana Kuznetsova will claim her final WTA singles title. =============================================== 21+ different nations will produce tour-level singles champions, the most since 2012. The list will include the first champion hailing from Slovenia since that same year (P.Hercog - Bastad). =============================================== A South American girl will reach a slam junior singles final, the first in more than a decade ('08 US: Gabriela Paz/VEN). The last winner from the continent was Maria-Emilia Salerni (ARG) at the 2000 U.S. Open. =============================================== Vera Zvonareva will return to the WTA Top 75 for the first time since 2012. =============================================== Wang Qiang will be the first Chinese player ever to win three tour-level singles titles in a season. =============================================== Venus Williams will be shut out as far as singles titles for the third straight season (a career-worst drought), but will reach her first final since 2017 and play in a slam QF. =============================================== Ash Barty will be the first player since February 2016 (Lucie Safarova) to be ranked in the WTA Top 10 in both singles and doubles simultaneously during the season. =============================================== After an encouraging start with coach Dimitri Zavialoff, Johanna Konta will be searching for a new coach again before the start of 2020. =============================================== Elite Trophy champion: Anett Kontaveit =============================================== A woman representing Mexico will play a main draw slam singles match (I predict this almost every year, I know. I'll be correct, too... some day.) ===============================================
2019 WHEELCHAIR SLAMS: Diede de Groot will sweep all four majors to win a four-part singles Grand Slam, becoming the first ever (Esther Vergeer competed when Wimbledon didn't have a singles competition) to do so. She'll also pick up the two titles (AO doubles & RG singles) she needs to become the first player to win all eight slam crowns in a career. In the end, though, she'll come up one slam doubles title short of going 8-for-8 in '19.
Yui Kamiji will reach three singles slam finals, and win at least two slam doubles crowns (if she splits her four slam partnerships between de Groot and another player, such as possibly a back-from-having-a-baby Jordanne Whiley late in the year at the U.S. Open, she'll complete a Doubles Grand Slam for the season).
Some new deep-in-the-draw blood: Kgothatso Montjane (RSA) will be a surprise slam singles finalist, while Giuliana Capocci (ITA) will reach a semifinal. =============================================== 2019 NAME GAME: Belgium's Eliessa Vanlangendonck (currently 0-10 in career WS semis, and 1-7 in WD finals) will win her first *TWO* ITF singles titles, and at least three ITF doubles crowns. ===============================================
Of course, I could be waaaaaay off.
Well, that's it. We'll see how smart, or stupid, I look *this* season beginning very soon...
Yeah, I think it's safe to say that that visually represents what would be the *best case* scenario.
**BACKSPIN WEEK 1 PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK** 2002 Venus Williams, USA 2003 Serena Williams, USA 2004 Lindsay Davenport/USA, Eleni Daniilidou/GRE (co-PoW) 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Lucie Safarova, CZE 2007 Dinara Safina, RUS 2008 Li Na, CHN 2009 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2010 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2011 Vera Zvonareva, RUS 2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Serena Williams, USA 2015 Maria Sharapova/RUS, Simona Halep/ROU (co-PoW) 2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2018 Simona Halep, ROU
**CAREER WEEK 1 TITLES - active** 2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2...Eleni Daniilidou, GRE 2...Serena Williams, USA 2...Venus Williams, USA 1...Lauren Davis, USA 1...Julia Goerges, GER 1...Simona Halep, ROU 1...Jelena Jankovic, SRB 1...Kaia Kanepi, EST 1...Petra Kvitova, CZE 1...Karolina Pliskova, CZE 1...Lucie Safarova, CZE 1...Maria Sharapova, RUS 1...Katerina Siniakova, CZE 1...Sloane Stephens, USA 1...Elina Svitolina, UKR 1...Yanina Wickmayer, BEL -- NOTE: Srebotnik won 1 singles title
**CAREER "DOROTHY TOUR" (AUS/NZL) TITLES - active** 9...Serena Williams, USA 4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR 3...Eleni Daniilidou, GRE 2...Simona Halep, ROU 2...Angelique Kerber, GER 2...Petra Kvitova, CZE 2...Elise Mertens, BEL 2...Maria Sharapova, RUS 2...Venus Williams, USA
**MOST RECENT FIRST-TIME CHAMPS IN WEEK 1** 2006 Marion Bartoli (Auckland) - first final 2009 Victoria Azarenka (Brisbane) - had been 0-4 in finals 2017 Katerina Siniakova (Shenzhen) - had been 0-2 in finals 2017 Lauren Davis (Auckland) - had been 0-2 in finals
**MOST RECENT MULTIPLE FIRST-TIME CHAMPS IN WEEK 1** =2000= Silvija Talaja/Gold Coast Anne Kremer/Auckland =2017= Katerina Siniakova/Shenzhen Lauren Davis/Auckland
**HOPMAN CUP CHAMPIONS** 1989 Czechoslovakia (Sukova/Mecir) 1990 Spain (A.Sanchez/E.Sanchez) 1991 Yugoslavia (Seles/Prpic) 1992 Switzerland (Maleeva-Fragniere/Hlasek) 1993 Germany (Graf/Stich) 1994 Czech Republic (Novotna/Korda) 1995 Germany (A.Huber/Bo.Becker) 1996 Croatia (Majoli/Ivanisevic) 1997 United States (Gimelstob/Rubin) 1998 Slovak Republic (Habsudova/Kucera) 1999 Australia (Dokic/Philippoussis) 2000 South Africa (Coetzer/W.Ferreira) 2001 Switzerland (Hingis/Federer) 2002 Spain (Sanchez-Vicario/Robredo) 2003 United States (S.Williams/Blake) 2004 United States (Davenport/Blake) 2005 Slovak Republic (Hantuchova/Hrbaty) 2006 United States (Raymond/Dent) 2007 Russia (Petrova/Tursunov) 2008 United States (S.Williams-Shaughnessy/Fish) 2009 Slovak Republic (Cibulkova/Hrbaty) 2010 Spain (Martinez-Sanchez/Robredo) 2011 United States (Mattek-Sands/Isner) 2012 Czech Republic (Kvitova/Berdych) 2013 Spain (Medina-Garrigues/Verdasco) 2014 France (Cornet/Tsonga) 2015 Poland (A.Radwanska/Janowicz) 2016 Australia Green (Gavrilova/Kyrgios) 2017 France (Mladenovic/Gasquet) 2018 Switzerland (Bencic/Federer)
Let's see. In Week 1 we had six singles finalists from six different nations, and twelve semifinalists representing twelve different nations. Auckland had its first repeat champ in fifteen years, and its first qualifier finalist in twenty-three. A player ranked #283 upset a Top 10er. Two of last year's slam champions already have their first losses. A 43-year old won a doubles title, while an 18-year old reached a singles final. A Kiwi played in a doubles final in front of her home nation's fans, and a player who reached #2 in 2010 is officially back in the Top 100 for the first time in six years. Oh, and we may have just seen the greatest -- and final -- Hopman Cup ever.
Now, the next trick is trying to figure out if any of it means anything at all.
AUCKLAND, NZL (International/Hard Court) S: Julia Goerges/GER def. Bianca Andreescu/CAN 2-6/7-5/6-1 D: Genie Bouchard/Sonya Kenin (CAN/USA) d. Paige Mary Hourigan/Taylor Townsend (NZL/USA) 1-6/6-1 [10-7]
Hopman Cup XXXI (Perth, AUS/Indoor Hard Court) F: SUI (Bencic/Federer) def. GER (Kerber/A.Zverev) 2-1
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Julia Goerges/GER ...in the end, no Canadian -- neither one of them, in fact -- was going to prevent Goerges from becoming the first woman to successfully defend the Auckland singles title in fifteen years. [QUICK QUIZ: Who was the player who won back-to-back ASB Classic titles in 2003-04? Hint: she's still active.]
The 30-year old German, who twelve months ago opened up 2018 with a title in New Zealand to kick off a season that saw her reach her maiden slam SF and make her Top 10 debut, is looking for a repeat. Well, *another* repeat. Goerges wasn't always in *top* form in Auckland this past week, but when she needed to be, she was. Wins over Johanna Larsson and Mona Barthel set up a QF match with Genie Bouchard. The top-ranked woman from Canada seemed to have Goerges' number. She led 3-0 in the 3rd set, and held a MP. But the German pushed things to a tie-break, and then put on a great 14-point performance to get the win, closing out by advancing to the net with a 7-6 lead and reaching inside Bouchard's chest, pulling out her beating heart and showing it to her, taking what looked like a down-the-line pass to tie things at 7-7 and turning it into a match-ending volley instead.
She followed that up by handling Viktoria Kuzmova in the semis and then overcoming a very slow start versus future Canadian #1 Bianca Andreescu in the final, battling against herself and the getting-to-everything-despite-a-eight-match-workload-that'll-probably-set-her-back-for-weeks for two sets before finally seizing control of the match in the deciding 3rd and wearing down the teenager, who finally had nothing more to give after giving more all week than even her backers (for example: me) thought she probably had in her at this point of her young career. Career win #7, and her first successful title defense, for Goerges completes a quite nice four-year run in Auckland which looks something like this: RU-SF-W-W.
Not bad, eh?
QUIZ ANSWER: it was... Eleni Daniilidou.
Did you get it? You deserve a medal if you did. For the record, at age 36, Daniilidou's efforts are now confined to the challenger circuit. The Greek played as recently as December (a singles SF at a $15K in Italy) after finishing last season #1016 in singles and #925 in doubles. =============================================== RISER:Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Karolina Pliskova/CZE and Lesia Tsurenko/UKR ...for two of the players honored here, their Week 1 titles are nice, but they're hoping for something more very soon.
In Shenzhen, Sabalenka carried over her late '18 momentum to a season-opening title (#3 for her career). But while her wins over Tatjana Maria (from a set down), Ekaterina Alexandrova, Maria Sharapova (ret.), Wang Yafan and Alison Riske (from a set down again) were nice, one has to think the entire time the little voice in the back of her head was telling her how all this is going to help her in Melbourne (or maybe London or New York). Sabalenka has unfinished business, and it isn't in Shenzhen... well, at least not until November, I guess. The Belarusian, who'll once again rise to being THIS CLOSE to the Top 10 (#11) in the new rankings, a slam breakthrough is next on her career agenda, if not her destiny. Sabalenka was just 1-4 in slam MD play before her Round of 16 run at Flushing Meadows ("Boom-shaka-Osaka") last summer. She's capable of so much more. And she knows it, too. To be continued.
In Brisbane, Pliskova won her second title at the tournament in three years, coming from a set down to defeat Yulia Putintseva in the 1st Round, going three to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic in the QF (tossing in 14 aces) and resurrecting her title hopes in the final after falling behind Tsurenko 6-4/5-3. She also defeated Marie Bouzkova and Donna Vekic along the way. Title #12 is a fine thing, as is her now seven-season streak of winning at least one crown (behind only the active runs of Caroline Wozniacki's 11 and Petra Kvitova's 8 through '18), and her reclaiming of the Czech #1 ranking from Petra this week. But, just like Sabalenka, Pliskova -- a former #1 and slam finalist -- has bigger fish to fry. A major one, in fact. Her trip to Melbourne will be her first with her new official coaching set-up (w/ Aussie Rennae Stubbs and '98 AO finalist Conchita Martinez) in place, as well as her return to the sort of serving form that made her a true slam threat in 2016. Coming off back-to-back QF at the Australian the last two years, Pliskova arrives this time with her credibility fully restored, and her eye of a fish fry. To be continued.
Meanwhile, Pliskova's final opponent, Tsurenko leaves Week 1 with the light of new possibility in her eyes, as well. After her previous four tour singles finals (all wins) had come in International level events, the Urkainian's runner-up result in the Premier Brisbane tournament was both a career first *and* best. Wins over Mihaela Buzarnescu, Kimberly Birrell, Anett Kontaveit and Naomi Osaka (the second biggest win of her career, after #2 Wozniacki at last year's U.S. Open) set up her match vs. Pliskova. She led by a set and 5-3, but couldn't fashion a winning ending that would have produced her biggest career moment. Doing a "3/4 Halep" ankle roll in the 3rd set surely didn't help her cause. Still, the 29-year old will rise to a new career-best ranking of #24 this week as she looks to follow up her first slam QF run at last year's U.S. Open with another similar result at a second straight major. She'll have to overcome her AO history (1-5 the last five years) to do it.
=============================================== SURPRISES:Kimberly Birrell/AUS and Wang Yafan/CHN ...20-year old Aussie Birrell (#283) has had quite the productive few weeks. In December she won Tennis Australia's AO Wild Card Playoff (def. Astra Sharma in the final) to reach her maiden slam main draw. This week in Brisbane (as a WC) she picked up her second career tour-level MD victory with a three-hour long take down, and comeback from 5-3 in the 3rd, against world #10 Dasha Kasatkina. Sure, she lost her next match to Lesia Tsurenko, but not everyone can do the sort of things Bianca Andreescu did this week in Auckland.
This Kimberly #Birrell post match interview is so precious ! She said: "I've always looked up to her (Daria Kasatkina) , and i will never forget this moment (defeating her first ever top 10 player) , here in my hometown of Brisbane"- she was absolutely gushing ? #BrisbaneTennispic.twitter.com/VbG9baZqpn
Birrell carried over her good vibes (for a while) to Sydney this weekend, as she saved two SP in the 1st and a MP in the 3rd en route to upsetting Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round of qualifying. She lost in her following match to fellow Aussie Priscilla Hon. Still, she'll jump 34 spots to a career-best #249 this week.
Elsewhere, you say you *didn't* have Wang YAFAN as the last remaining Chinese women in the singles draw in Shenzhen? Surely it was a typo and you *meant* to list her as the player to reach the semifinals rather than Wang QIANG, right? It's a good story, so stick with it.
Wang, coming off a career-best season that saw her finish at #70, win her biggest title (a $60K), reach the Miami Round of 16, just her second WTA WS semi (Taipei) since '14, and biggest singles final (WTA 125 Zhengzhou), reached her fourth tour-level semifinal with wins over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Ons Jabeur and Monica Niculescu. She lost to top seed and eventual champ Sabalenka in straights. Wang will be up to another career high (#64) in the new rankings. =============================================== VETERANS:Alison Riske/USA and Angelique Kerber/GER ...Riske, 28, has reached seven singles finals in her WTA career. Five of them have come in China, with three taking place in Shenzhen over the past four years. Sure, Riske's loss this weekend to Aryna Sabalenka drops her career tour-level final record to 1-6 (with six straight defeats since winning her maiden final in Tianjin in 2014), but it's safe to say that the Pittsburgh native quite often feels at home just this side of The Great Wall. After opening with a win over Wang Qiang (yes, that Wang Qiang... yes, in China... so, you know, score!), Riske followed up with victories over Evgeniya Rodina, Sorana Cirstea and Vera Zvonareva (via ret. at 6-0/1-0) to get within a win of taking the tournament title yet again. After taking the 1st set, Riske staged a comeback from 4-1 down in the 2nd to force a tie-break, only to see the Belarusian seize control and ride it out to victory a set later. The week allows Riske to rise fourteen spots -- jumping the likes of Azarenka, Bencic, Makarova, Jabeur and others. It's her first Top 50 ranking since September '17.
Yes, she and Sascha Zverev finished as the Hopman Cup runners-up for the second straight year to the Swiss (ahem, clears throat... that Federling guy), but it wasn't for Angie's lack of trying. Just as she did last year, Kerber took care of her end of things, going 4-0 in singles as she notched wins over Garbine Muguruza, Alize Cornet and Ash Barty in the finalist-deciding tie vs. Australia. In the final, just as she did last year, she defeated Belinda Bencic in singles only to lose to her and you-know-who with her German ATP teammate by her side in the deciding mixed match-up (though this time it came down to a final point that served as a MP for both teams). She'll stop off in Sydney this week (she could face Simona Halep in the final, after possibly having faced the 1st Round Sabalenka/Kvitova survivor in the QF) before heading to Melbourne.
Of course, one can't mention the Hopman Cup -- beloved, feel-good, well run and, as it often is, the event that got more headlines in Week 1 than all the other events combined -- without noting that this 31st edition of the event might be the last. It's not on the schedule for 2020 due to funds being diverted to the new all-male ATP World Team Cup in Australia next January. Whether the Hopman can be saved (in some form) or replaced by a similar mixed-tour format is in question, but you know the odds aren't good. Which is to be expected, I guess, since it has been a rare shining example of athletes from the two tennis tours combining their efforts in an entertaining, near-perfect format in which good competition mixed with fun, and was absent the usual cross-tour back-biting that occurs elsewhere (usually not from the side of the Most Interesting Tour, it should be noted) and allowed all players to exist on an equal plane without question, offense or side-eye (see Serena/Roger).
I mean, why would something like *that* be able to exist these days? =============================================== COMEBACKS:Genie Bouchard/CAN and Vera Zvonareva/RUS ...Bianca Andreescu was the bigger story during the week, but it was her Canadian countrywoman Bouchard who left New Zealand with a title. And she came very closet to upsetting Goerges' title-winning jaunt in singles, as well. With Michael Joyce on board as coach, Bouchard finally looks to possibly be ready to make a legitimate move back up the rankings. Auckland wins over Madison Brengle and Bibiane Schoofs set up a QF clash with defending champ Goerges. Bouchard led 3-0 in the 3rd set, and held a MP, only to see the German storm back and take the match with an excellent TB performance to win 8-6. With her week not over yet, Bouchard then went out and claimed her first career tour WD title (*now*, Genie -- after I'd predicted you to do that *last* year on your way back, but you left it off your "To-Do" list?), joining with fellow first-timer Sonya Kenin to win deciding 3rd set TBs over Han/Jurak (10-8) in the semis and Hourigan/Townsend (10-7) in the final. Bouchard rises to #79 in singles this week, her highest standing since October '17.
In Shenzhen, 34-year old Zvonareva, a two-final tour singles finalist in China ('08 Guangzhou and '10 Beijing RU), used a wild card into the singles MD to put together a semifinal run that included wins over Luksika Kumkhum, Ivana Jorovic and fellow Hordette Veronika Kudermetova (over two days, in a three-setter that ended on her seventh MP). It's enough to lift her from #109 into the Top 100 for the first time since January 2013. Ultimately, Zvonareva, who also reached the doubles semis with Timea Bacsinszky, retired with an injured back after losing the first seven games of her semi vs. Alison Riske. =============================================== FRESH FACES:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Donna Vekic/CRO and Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK ...while she didn't win the title in Auckland, Andreescu "won" Week 1. Her qualifier to finalist run is what we'll remember most (well, maybe after the "When Serena Met Roger.." moment in Perth, I mean).
Essentially, there was nothing she didn't do well this past week. Her power and touch game was dangerous and tricky (sometimes at the same time), her defensive skill were often eye-popping (even at the tail end of an eight-matches-in-nine-days stretch during which she'd dealt with a lingering cough, back injury and a thigh she had wrapped at the end -- at least until she ripped the bandages off late in her final match -- that had left her body "a mess"), her first serve was effective, she didn't blink when facing down future Hall of Famers (one the current world #3 and reigning AO champ), big hitters, oddball attacks (she's a natural at solving Tennis Sudoku, apparently) or, for a while, a defending champ who has made the event her personal playground in recent years. I've been a fan of the still-only-18 year old for a while (I know I've been dragging her into the conversation back to at least 2016), and have always felt she was capable of a lot if she could ever avoid the lingering injuries that (especially in '18) slowed her proress, but even I didn't see her Week 1 breakout coming.
In truth, I was happy when she made her way through qualifying, and ecstatic when the world #152 posted her first tour-level MD win in over a year by taking out Timea Babos. In just her fifth WTA MD (1 slam, 1 Premier & 3 Int'l), it was hard to imagine that she'd handle #3 Caroline Wozniacki as handily as she did (improving to 2-0 vs. Top 20 players, having previously send Kiki Mladenovic down that long dark losing streak by upsetting her in Washington in '17), or that she'd stand up to the likes of Venus Williams as she did a round later (she didn't let twice losing a break lead in the 1st get her down, or losing the eventual TB take her off course, or being a break down early in the 2nd cause her to lose hope -- she instead responded by reeling off eleven straight games). While some are perplexed by the game of Hsieh Su-wei, Andreescu didn't blink and defeated the veteran in straights to reach her maiden tour final, becoming the first qualifier to reach the Auckland final since 1996 (Marion Maruska).
Ultimately, she was finally taken out by a better player, but only after making defending champion Julia Goerges dig down to bring forth her best after the teenager dominated an "off" German in the 1st set, and then turned around a 2nd set deficit to actually get back on serve and lead 5-4. Though Goerges eventually pulled away as Andreescu's long week seemed to finally hit her (at least glancingly) in the deciding set, but it was anything but an easy night.
Andreescu comes up just short of becoming the first Canadian WTA singles champ since 2014 (she'd been just the seventh ever, and the third in the past thirty years), and won't yet break into the Top 100 (she'll be #107). One wonders if she'll be up to lasting long in AO qualifying this week. But she proved in Auckland that there is indeed a lot of *there* there. Since she returned in October from her summer injury break, The Pride of Mississauga, Ontario (and Romania, too, as she was born in Canada, went with her family to ROU, then returned as a rising tennis pre-teen -- picking Simona Halep as her favorite player, so she's got that goin' for her, too) has won two $25K titles, reached a WTA final, two $60K semis and a $25K QF for a combined record of 18-4 in less than three months time.
Now, if she can just clean up the "mess" caused by her big run and see what happens next.
Oh, and since she seemingly got almost as much screen time as Andreescu herself this week, that was always-smiling Tennis Canada trainer Virginie Tremblay sending sunbeams and rainbows Bianca's way while coaching her all week long. Before this week she hadn't tweeted since 2015.
A big shoutout goes to TC fitness coach Virginie Tremblay, who has been by Bianca’s side as her coach all week in Auckland. // Salutations très méritées à Virginie Tremblay, qui a été aux côtés de Bianca tout au long de la semaine en tant que coach!
What an incredible journey it was! Went through qualifications all the way to the finals. 8 matches in a row, it was amazing! Congratulations @Bandreescu_ I’m so proud of you. It was a pleasure to have lived this special moment with you. Now we are off to Melbourne for AO! Allez! pic.twitter.com/JORN2SyfsQ
In Brisbane, Vekic continues to make a case for leaving this "Fresh Face" category for the more experienced pastures of the "Risers," but she's still just 22 and, well, that category was a little crowded this week. So here she is, at least for this week. You could feel the change in the Croatian last summer at Wimbledon when she fed off her disappointment from a year earlier at SW19 to produce her first slam Round of 16 result. So it was nice to hear this week, as she put on a semifinal run after knocking off Magdalena Rybarikova, Kiki Bertens (winning the 1st after being a break down on multiple occasions, then pulling out the victory after the Top 10er served at 5-4 in the 3rd and had two MP) and '18 finalist Aliaksandra Sasnovich, that *she* still thinks about her career-altering AELTC experience, too.
“After Wimbledon I started to believe in myself more. I do belong here."@DonnaVekic had never won the 1st match of a season before this week @BrisbaneTennis.
She lost to Pliskova a match short of her seventh (and biggest) career final, but she'll take what she needs from the experience as she enters the Top 30 for the first time this week. While still in her early 20's, she's been around for a while, and through a lot. She reached her first tour singles final six and a half years ago now. It isn't often the case with players of her standing with such a background, but the best *still* seems yet to come for Vekic. Crossing fingers.
“There's ups and downs in every career, every sport. Not only in sport, in life. And I think I've already gone through that, and to say I've already gone through that at 22 I think is pretty good.”
A year ago, Kuzmova opened her season by making her way through Auckland qualifying before losing to eventual champion Julia Goerges in the 2nd Round. Twelve months later, after a season that saw her rise from outside the Top 100 to on the cusp of the Top 50 (she jumped inside with a $100K challenger result in December), become a Fed Cup star for Slovakia and reach two tour SF (one as a LL). The 20-year old was in Auckland again in Week 1 this year. She posted wins over Tamara Zidansek, Sonya Kenin and Amanda Anisimova (the final two in three sets)... only to lose (this time in the semifinals) again to Goerges, who'd once more go on to win the title. After falling love & 4 in '18, she rebounded from a 6-1 1st this time to at least force a 2nd set TB in a straight sets defeat. Kuzmova will climb to a new career high of #46 but, you know, maybe she should consider Shenzhen in 2020. Just a thought. =============================================== DOWN:Hmmm... ...as noted earlier, using poor Week 1 results to gauge what a player will do in the upcoming season is pretty much akin to perusing the in-match Twitter commentary being doled out by members of many top star's fans when the player is question in the throes of losing a match they expected to see won: unreliable, nasty and idiotic. [The latest example: a string of anti-Andreescu comments from a subset of fans of a certain Dane earlier this week.]
So, it's easy to overlook 1st Round losses this week by the likes of Dasha Kasatkina (to Aussie upstart Kimberly Birrell), Elina Svitolina (to Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the player she beat in last year's Brisbane final), Sloane Stephens (to Johanna Konta), Wang Qiang (IN CHINA, to Alison Riske), Elise Mertens (to Kiki Bertens), Caroline Garcia (to Ivana Jorovic) and Alona Ostapenko (to Monica Niculescu, who allowed just *two* games... of course, it's *especially* unfair to judge Latvian Thunder for not being ready for the Romanian's oft-maddening unconventional style in her *first* match of the new season, isn't it?).
Same goes for the aforementioned Caroline Wozniacki's 2nd Round upset by the Canadian, as well as that of Petra Kvitova (vs. Kontaveit) and Bertens (vs. Vekic). Garbine Muguruza losing to both Angelique Kerber and Ash Barty in the Hopman Cup, then pulling out of MX doubles with an injury after finally getting a singles win over Cornet, is another case of Garbi being Garbi. We sort of *expect* that. Maria Sharapova's QF retirement (thigh) against Aryna Sabalenka in Shenzhen, too, is becoming a far too common ending. Konta opened with that win over Stephens, but then fell to Ajla Tomljanovic a match later, and this weekend retired with a neck injury during Sydney qualifying. But at this point early losses and the continued slip of the Brit down the rankings (she's barely inside the Top 40 now after back-to-back Top 10 years in 2016-17) barely causes an involuntary twitch. Could another coaching change be imminent? (I joke, of course... I mean, we *know* it's just a matter of when, not if, *that* happens.)
Sharapova on her injury: 'I have felt my legs for a couple of days and at one particular point I felt a burn and just decided the smarter choice would be to evaluate it and see how it goes next week.'
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka's exit (SF vs. Tsurenko) in Brisbane wasn't pretty, but her instant acknowledgement of such and public self-analysis was so special it'd be easy to forgive her even if it happens again in Melbourne: "Before I would just be nervous to be there in a way. But now I feel nervous because I feel I should win." Week 1 was a "valuable lesson" for Osaka, and her reaction to it should be one for a slew of other players, too.
For me as a coach hearing this press conference is pure gold. If I wasn’t working with her right now I would die to do it in the future. So proud of Naomi and how far she has come. Stay open minded and all the doors will open by itself for you young warrior! ???? #TeamNaomihttps://t.co/s7tEVUeczr
I suppose if one was going to raise an eyebrow at a poor Week 1 result(s) it'd be best if it continued a worrisome trend from the previous season. Case in point: Aleksandra Krunic. Ever since the 25-year old Serb's spirited run to her maiden title at Rosmalen last summer, she's been *way* off her game. A pair of opening qualifying rounds losses this week -- 3 & 0 to Christina McHale in Brisbane, then 1 & 4 to Priscilla Hon in Sydney -- leaves the Bracelet 7-12 since her title run. She's lost five sets at love in the stretch.
Krunic saw her ranking climb to career-high #39 (from #55) after her first title, but her lack of results had her back at #55 by season's end. She'll drop into the #60's now. =============================================== ITF PLAYER:Anna Kalinskaya/RUS ...there were just two ITF challenger events on the schedule for Week 1, with the $25K in Playford the only one held Down Under. A year after Aussie Zoe Hives (a WC recipient for this year's AO) won the inaugural City of Playford Tennis International, Hordette Kalinskaya won the follow up competition. It's the 20-year old's sixth ITF crown, but her first since 2017. She dropped just one set all week (vs. Maryna Zanevska) while putting up victories over Barbara Haas, Chloe Paquet and 19-year old Kazakh (ex-Russian) Elena Rybakina in the final.
Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya has won the Ladies Singles at the Playford International in straight sets over Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-4. #playfordprotourpic.twitter.com/nOTt1at03z
Meanwhile, as the ITF's instantly-controversial "Transition Tour" begins, SI.com's Jon Wertheim is already (sort of) predicting it'll be thrown onto the scrap heap by 2020, and players are highlighting the gaping holes in the process...
JUNIOR STARS:Wang Xinyu/CHN, Dasha Lopatetska/UKR and Connie Ma/USA ...Week 1's junior achievers popped up on three levels of play: on the WTA tour, the challenger circuit and on the junior national championship stage.
17-year old Wang -- the junior #7 and 2018 girls AO, Wimbledon and Youth Olympics semifinalist -- joined the Shenzhen MD via a wild card. After opening with a victory over Xun Fangying, the teenager challenged none other than Maria Sharapova and seeming had the former #1 on the ropes. She won the 1st set in a tie-break, but was soon after brought down by cramps in the 2nd. Barely able to walk, she finally retired down 5-2 in the set. Sharapova consoled her young opponent, and stayed with her in the changeover area while she recovered after the match, telling her "You played unbelievable" and giving her advice on how to avoid such an incident in the future.
In Hong Kong, 15-year old Lopatetksa (I suppose that's the official spelling of her name we're going with, as a few years ago she was listed as "Lopatetska" before it was recently listed as "Lopatetskaya," and now it's back to "Lopatetska" on the ITF site even as some individual match results vs. other players still list her as "Lopatetskaya" -- got it?) picked up her third career pro title in a $25K challenger, defeating Barbora Stefkova in the final. The Ukrainian won titles in her first two career ITF events last season, getting off to a 17-0 start in her pro career. She's now 24-3 in challenger events, while still being ranked inside the junior Top 30. Last summer Lopatetska qualfied and reached U.S. Open girls semis after posting wins over (get this) Connie Ma (another honoree this week), Claura Tauson, Eli Mandlik and Coco Gauff before finally losing in three sets to eventual champ Wang Xiyu.
Or course, it should also be noted that Dasha's Instagram account lists her as... "Lopatetskaya." (Face in palm.)
Meanwhile, at the USTA Winter Nationals at Lake Nona, Florida it was 15-year old Ma sweeping the singles and doubles titles of the 18s competition. Ma defeated Alana Wolfberg in the final, and teamed with Anna Campana to claim the doubles title. As always, Colette Lewis' Zoo Tennis is the place to go for all the details.
=============================================== DOUBLES:Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke (USA/CZE) and Peng Shuai/Yang Zhaoxuan (CHN/CHN) ...in Brisbane, Melichar/Peschke put together quite the interesting (and dominant) opening week during which they didn't drop a set. With a full Andreescu difference in age, at 25 and 43, respectively, the #3-seeded pair claimed their third and biggest title together (all since last May) with early wins over two intriguing duos (Kasatkina/Kontaveit and Danilovic/Potapova), then closing victories over #1-seeded Krejcikova/Siniakova and #4 Chan/Chan in the final. It's Melichar's fourth tour title, and Peschke's 32nd. The win ties the Czech for 25th on the all-time tour WD title list with Chris Evert and Liz Smylie.
Peng & Yang were home country champs in Shenzhen in their first career pairing, dropping zero sets and finishing the week with wins over Bacsinszky/Zvonareva (SF) and Duan/Voracova (F). Days before her 33rd birthday, Peng claimed her 22nd career WTA WD title (her second in Shenzhen, having won in '17 w/ Andrea Hlavackova), while the 23-year old Yang wins her fourth (she 4-5 in tour finals with seven different partners since the start of the '16 season).
=============================================== WHEELCHAIR:-- ...no Wheelchair winner this week, but since Marjolein Buis is the preeminent social media chronicler of the regular goings-on at all the stops on the WC tour...
When Marjolein's in Melbourne, you know we're getting close to game time. But not before she searches out some unconventional artwork at as many hotel gyms as she can find...
1. Auckland 2nd Round - Bianca Andreescu def. Caroline Wozniacki ...6-4/6-4. It was the world #152 vs. #3, and it was the former whose power, slice, drop shots, defense and overall fight that seized control. Aggressive and handling the pressure of the moment like it was old hat, Andreescu twice staged comebacks from love/30 to hold in the 1st, and led 4-2. After Wozniacki's MTO at 4-3, the Canadian fell behind love/40 but ultimately saved half a dozen BP before finally dropping serve. She then immediately broke back. At SP at 5-4, she pushed a short backhand at the net past the baseline, but didn't let it play on her mind and matter of factly converted SP #2 two points later. Breaking to go up 2-1 in the 2nd, the Canadian took her own MTO (for a back injury that she's had for a few months and continued to be treated for all week) and held on down the stretch, lifting her game at the end when she had the chance to close out the Dane. Her first career Top 5 win took precisely nine tour-level MD matches to become reality.
=============================================== 2. Auckland QF - Julia Goerges def. Genie Bouchard ...3-6/6-3/7-6(6). Bouchard led 3-0 in the 3rd, and had a MP at 6-5. But Goerges took things to a deciding TB, played it terrifically well, and stone cold picked a TB-tying winner from the Canadian's pocket on point #14 and turned it into a converted MP.
=============================================== 3. Auckland Final - Julia Goerges def. Bianca Andreescu ...2-6/7-5/6-1. Goerges was off-kilter from the get-go, and her slow start wasn't helped by Andreescu being in fine form. It was the veteran defending champ who seemed on edge, not the first-time finalist. The German took control early in the 2nd, but the Canadian battled to get back on serve and actually led 5-4 before Goerges found her stride and eventually pulled away down the stretch. =============================================== 4. Brisbane 1st Round - Kimberly Birrell def. Dasha Kasatkina ...5-7/6-4/7-6(3). Just call it the upset that officially christened the 2019 season, as #283 Birrell knocked off #10 Kasatkina in 3:07, coming back from 5-3 down in the 3rd, then avoiding squandering the match by winning a deciding TB after she'd failed to serve things out.
Kimberly Birrell earns her 2nd ever @WTA main-draw match win, coming from 3-5 down in the third to beat No.7 seed Daria Kasatkina 5-7 6-4 7-6(3)
Sydney Q1 - Kimberly Birrell def. Kristina Mladenovic ...7-6(5)/3-6/7-6(8). The Aussie was at it again a little farther south Down Under, saving two SP in the 1st vs. the Pastry, and then a MP in the 3rd. ===============================================
5. Brisbane 2nd Round - Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Elina Svitolina ...6-4/0-6/6-3. Try not to read too much into Svitolina's early loss in Brisbane, against the same player she'd beaten in the final to take last year's title, no less. Sasnovich chalked it up to wanting a little revenge, and passing on the risotto and mushrooms.
Sasnovich: “Hi everyone. To be honest, Australia is my favorite country & you are my favorite public. Today was a really tough match. Last year I ate too much risotto w/ mushrooms before the match & this time I didn’t. I changed my food plan.”
“It’s very important in women’s tennis, revenge,” Sasnovich says of her win over Svitolina, who beat her in last year’s final. “I’m really happy I can progress. I want the maximum (from myself)“ #BrisbaneTennispic.twitter.com/j9zylvQD06
=============================================== 6. Brisbane 2nd Round - Donna Vekic def. Kiki Bertens ...7-6(5)/1-6/7-5. Career Top 10 win #7 came for Vekic after she'd won the 1st set after being down multiple break disadvantages, and then after Bertens had served for the match at 5-4 and held two MP in the 3rd. =============================================== 7. Shenzhen 1st Round - Monica Niculescu def. Alona Ostapenko ...6-0/6-2. Ostapenko served at 43% and had a 10/35 winner/UE ratio. Oh, and Niculescu was doing stuff like this:
=============================================== 8. Brisbane 2nd Round - Anett Kontaveit def. Petra Kvitova ...7-5/7-6(1). All nine of Kontaveit's career Top 10 wins have come against former slam champions. =============================================== 9. Auckland Q2 - Iga Swiatek def. Claire Liu ...3-6/7-5/6-2. In a match-up of former Wimbledon girls champs, Liu led 6-3/5-3, only to see future Polish #1 Swiatek win ten of the final twelve games. =============================================== 10. Brisbane Q2 - Karolina Muchova def. Dayana Yastremska ...6-2/5-1 ret. Hey, at least Dayana didn't retire down MP vs. the Czech as she did in one of her matches last year. This exit prevented a Down Under version of the '16 Wimbledon girls final between Yastremska and Anastasia Potapova. =============================================== 11. Brisbane 1st Round - Maria Bouzkova def. Samantha Stosur ...4-6/6-2/6-2. Stosur ushered in the new year -- literally, as the Aussie clock struck 12 midnight during the match -- with a loss on home soil. Gee, at least part of that sounds *really* familiar. =============================================== 12. Brisbane 1st Round - Ajla Tomljanovic def. Katerina Siniakova ...1-6/6-3/6-0. What was it that someone said about Siniakova getting ready for a big singles season after her Fed Cup heroics?
New Year’s Frustration: Katerina Siniakova could not turn a won first set into her first win of 2019. pic.twitter.com/vyjlGUtFTd
Yeah, I won't yet scratch that thought justyet, but only because it's Week 1 and, well, you know. =============================================== HM- Auckland Q1 - Danielle Lao def. Astra Sharma 6-3/3-6/7-6(7) Auckland Q2 - Danielle Lao def. Asia Muhammad 5-7/6-1/7-6(1) ...no one can accuse The Little Giant of not being ready for the season to start. In her opening two matches, she saved 1 (vs. Sharma) and 3 (vs. Muhammad) MP en route to victory. ===============================================
1. Hopman Cup rr MX - Bencic/Federer (SUI) def. S.WILLIAMS/Tiafoe (USA) ...4-2/4-3(3). Oh, yeah, did you hear? Something great and rare happened in Perth. Good thing it happened in 2019, while it still could.
=============================================== 2. Auckland QF - Bianca Andreescu def. VENUS WILLIAMS ...6-7(1)/6-1/6-3. There was no step back for Andreescu after upsetting Wozniacki. She simply followed up by beating a Williams, despite twice losing a break lead in the 1st set and falling behind a set and a break at 7-6/1-0. With one shoulder against the wall, the Canadian won eleven straight games until she led 5-0 in the 3rd, having broken Venus six straight times. Williams closed to 5-3, but Andreescu finished things out anyway.
=============================================== 3. Brisbane Final - KAROLINA PLISKOVA def. Lesia Tsurenko ...4-6/7-5/6-2. Tsurenko led 6-4/5-3, but Pliskova turned things around to win her second Brisbane title in three years. =============================================== 4. Auckland 1st Round - VENUS WILLIAMS def. Victoria Azarenka ...6-3/1-6/6-3. Vika kicks off her first Dorothy Tour stint since 2016 by falling for the fifth time in seven career matches vs. Venus. This was their first meeting since 2015.
=============================================== 5. Brisbane 2nd Round - NAOMI OSAKA def. Destanee Aiava ...6-3/6-2. Aiava had saved a MP in qualifying (vs. Minella) to reach the MD, then upset Mladenovic in the 1st Round. She then faced off with the player she's sometimes mistaken for. That one didn't turn out nearly as well.
Aiava: "This past week I've been mistaken for Naomi about four times, so we'll see if they can tell us apart tomorrow night.”
Q. What do you say to people when they think that you're Naomi?
=============================================== HM- Brisbane SF - Lesia Tsurenko def. NAOMI OSAKA ...6-2/6-2. The 26 UE performance -- and her immediate introspective response to it -- that'll surely be referenced down the line if it precedes some sort of fabulous follow up result from the U.S. Open champ. ===============================================
This year I would like to help & make a small difference by auctioning off one of my paintings every month for the whole year!!! ?? ——————————————— The first painting to be auctioned off : ?? “Boy meets Girl” ?? 70x50cm , oil painting on canvas ———————————————— ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/SWbCZT5dZ3
Maria sneaks across after on-court interview and nicks the towel Roger has been sitting on... and I think Stefanos was intending to take it first! Lovely, lovely match, esp that last point from #Sakkari. She's won a lot of new fans in Australia, that's for sure.
In case you missed it this week, unfortunately, Safarova's career has either ended a little bit earlier than anticipated, or will be extended a bit as she awaits a wild card (in Prague?) in order to officially say goodbye from *between* the white lines.
Last day of 2018, walking out onto an arena I love so much. Thank you Shenzhen for this rockstar-like welcome. Happy New Year! ?????? pic.twitter.com/P2qh9fSUTS
**BACKSPIN WEEK 1 PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK** 2002 Venus Williams, USA 2003 Serena Williams, USA 2004 Lindsay Davenport/USA, Eleni Daniilidou/GRE (co-PoW) 2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS 2006 Lucie Safarova, CZE 2007 Dinara Safina, RUS 2008 Li Na, CHN 2009 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2010 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2011 Vera Zvonareva, RUS 2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE 2013 Serena Williams, USA 2014 Serena Williams, USA 2015 Maria Sharapova/RUS, Simona Halep/ROU (co-PoW) 2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE 2018 Simona Halep, ROU 2019 Julia Goerges, GER
**CAREER WEEK 1 TITLES - active** 2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2...Eleni Daniilidou, GRE 2...JULIA GOERGES, GER 2...KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE 2...Serena Williams, USA 2...Venus Williams, USA 1...Lauren Davis, USA 1...Simona Halep, ROU 1...Jelena Jankovic, SRB 1...Kaia Kanepi, EST 1...Petra Kvitova, CZE 1...ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR 1...Lucie Safarova, CZE (ret.) 1...Maria Sharapova, RUS 1...Katerina Siniakova, CZE 1...Sloane Stephens, USA 1...Elina Svitolina, UKR 1...Yanina Wickmayer, BEL -- NOTE: Srebotnik won 1 singles title
**CAREER "DOROTHY TOUR" (AUS/NZL) TITLES - active** 9...Serena Williams, USA 4...Victoria Azarenka, BLR 3...Eleni Daniilidou, GRE 2...JULIA GOERGES, GER 2...Simona Halep, ROU 2...Angelique Kerber, GER 2...Petra Kvitova, CZE 2...Elise Mertens, BEL 2...KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE 2...Maria Sharapova, RUS 2...Venus Williams, USA
**HOPMAN CUP CHAMPIONS** 1989 Czechoslovakia (Sukova/Mecir) 1990 Spain (A.Sanchez/E.Sanchez) 1991 Yugoslavia (Seles/Prpic) 1992 Switzerland (Maleeva-Fragniere/Hlasek) 1993 Germany (Graf/Stich) 1994 Czech Republic (Novotna/Korda) 1995 Germany (A.Huber/Bo.Becker) 1996 Croatia (Majoli/Ivanisevic) 1997 United States (Gimelstob/Rubin) 1998 Slovak Republic (Habsudova/Kucera) 1999 Australia (Dokic/Philippoussis) 2000 South Africa (Coetzer/W.Ferreira) 2001 Switzerland (Hingis/Federer) 2002 Spain (Sanchez-Vicario/Robredo) 2003 United States (S.Williams/Blake) 2004 United States (Davenport/Blake) 2005 Slovak Republic (Hantuchova/Hrbaty) 2006 United States (Raymond/Dent) 2007 Russia (Petrova/Tursunov) 2008 United States (S.Williams-Shaughnessy/Fish) 2009 Slovak Republic (Cibulkova/Hrbaty) 2010 Spain (Martinez-Sanchez/Robredo) 2011 United States (Mattek-Sands/Isner) 2012 Czech Republic (Kvitova/Berdych) 2013 Spain (Medina-Garrigues/Verdasco) 2014 France (Cornet/Tsonga) 2015 Poland (A.Radwanska/Janowicz) 2016 Australia Green (Gavrilova/Kyrgios) 2017 France (Mladenovic/Gasquet) 2018 Switzerland (Bencic/Federer) 2019 Switzerland (Bencic/Federer)
**ACTIVE WTA TITLE LEADERS** 72 - Serena Williams, USA (last title: 2017) 49 - Venus Williams, USA (2016) 36 - Maria Sharapova, RUS (2017) 30 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (2018) 25 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2018) 20 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2016) 18 - Simona Halep, ROU (2018) 18 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (2018) 13 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (2018) 12 - Angelique Kerber, GER (2018) 12 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (2018) 12 - KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE (2019) 12 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (2011) -- ALSO: 15 - Jelena Jankovic, SRB (2015)
**CAREER PREMIER TITLES - ACTIVE** 20...Serena Williams, USA [6/7/7] 17...Petra Kvitoav, CZE [3/5/9] 16...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN [3/3/10] 13...Victoria Azarenka, BLR [6/3/4] 13...Maria Sharapova, RUS [3/5/5] 9...Simona Halep, ROU [3/4/2] 7...KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE [0/1/6] 7...Angelique Kerber, GER [0/0/7]
**VENUS WILLIAMS LOSSES vs. PLAYERS #100+** NR - Kim Clijsters (2009 U.S. Open 4th) #223 - Peng Shuai (2016 Beijing 1st) #152 - BIANCA ANDREESCU (2019 AUCKLAND QF) #143 - Petra Kvitova (2008 Memphis 1st) #140 - Sonya Jeyaseelan (1999 A.Island 2nd) #125 - Barbara Schwartz (1999 R.Garros 4th) #119 - Kateryna Bondarenko (2015 Istanbul 1st) #115 - Nathalie Dechy (1997 Toronto 1st) #109 - Olga Puchkova (2013 Florianopolis SF)
**2019 AO WILD CARDS**
Destanee Aiava/AUS: the 18-year old will appear in her third straight AO main draw via a wild card. Last year in Melbourne, she held (in a 15-minute game) for a 5-2 1st set lead vs. Halep, then undertook a 10-minute off-court look-see from trainers. When play resumed. Halep saved two SP, witnessed an odd moment when a confused Aiava lost track of the set score and looked to changes sides as she wandered around the court, and ultimately won in straights despite badly rolling her ankle in the 2nd set. Aiava knocked off Mladenovic in 1st Round this Brisbane this week. Kimberly Birrell/AUS: the Aussie, 20, won Tennis Australia's Wild Card Playoff event (def. Astra Sharma in the final) to assure her slam MD debut. In 2019, she's already upset Dasha Kasatkina (1st Rd./Brisbane) and Mladenovic (Q1/Sydney). Clara Burel/FRA: the 18-year old Pastry, the 2018 junior #1, will make her slam MD debut in Melbourne. Last season, Burel was a hard-luck runner-up in the junior AO, US and Youth Olympics finals before finally winning the season-ending Junior Masters event and claiming the top girls ranking. Zoe Hives/AUS: at 22, Hives is the oldest wild card making her slam debut at this year's AO. 5-0 in career ITF singles/doubles finals in her career, she finished second to Priscilla Hon in Tennis Australia's multi-event WC challenge series late last year. Priscilla Hon/AUS: Hon makes her second career slam MD appearance three years after her debut Down Under at age 17. She lost in qualifying at all four majors in '18, but won the TA Wild Card Challenge series to avoid a similar fate ahead of this year's AO. Peng Shuai/CHN: about to turn 33 this week, the former slam semifinalist ('14 US) has rebounded quickly since serving three months of her original six-month suspension (quite simply the stupidest suspension in tennis history) for an apparent attempt (along w/ her coach, who was also suspended) to pay off her Wimbledon doubles partner to get her to pull out of the event after the sign-up deadline so that Peng could play with someone else (i.e. someone better who was now available). Peng closed out '18 by winning consecutive WTA 125 Series and $100K challengers, as well as claiming the Asia/Pacific Wild Card Playoff event to reach the AO MD. She won the Shenzhen doubles title in Week 1. Ellen Perez/AUS: the University of Georgia product made her slam debut at the US Open in 2016, and posted her first tour-level MD win over Mladenovic in Sydney last year. Sheesh, Kiki has quite a bad history against these wild cards, doesn't she? What are the odds she draws one of them in the 1st Round? Whitney Osuigwe/USA: the 16-year old former girls #1 and '17 RG junior champ won the USTA's multi-event Wild Card Challenge to earn a spot in her second consecutive slam MD. Osuigwe slipped onto the court in Perth this past week, replacing an injured Garbine Muguruza as a fill-in for Spain in a mixed doubles match alongside David Ferrer.
Shockingly, the following announcement was made without the assistance of an accompanying selfie.
Thank you world for supporting my tenure @usta@usopen It’s been a great run. I now introduce you to #PatrickGalbraith#Chairman and President of the #usta The ?? is in his court????
Hmmm... (nodding while agreeing with Judy's second thought, and figuring that at least one of the people she's thinking about was the same one who popped into *my* mind).
Well, good news, great news and worrisome news in the life of Carl & family this past week.
First, Carlo made the team! (Yay!) Not that it didn't come with a little controversy, naturally. Our favorite rookie elker survived the final cut and joined his Saskatoon Berrypicker teammates as a second string hornblaster, the backup to the team's living legend/aging folk hero, Saskatechwan's own Bud "Windy" Windsor. Carlo was given the number 7, though some of the team's fans were offended that he simply had "Carlo" on his back, as they flooded Twitter with opinions that as a 2nd Round draft pick he hadn't earned the right to go by one name. Of course, he was able to diffuse the situation by explaining that he only HAS one name, so...
Though, in truth, Carlo's explanation WAS at least a *slight* fib, as we all know his birth name is actually Carlito III, though just like his dad Carl (Carlito II) he has never actually gone by the name. Whether or not this came about simply because Carl respected his dearly departed dad too much, or because he just didn't want to waste time saying (or hearing) those two extra syllables is up for debate... and no has asked Carl about that in a LONG time. Well, at least no one who's still around to tell anyone what he said.
In Week 1 of the World Elking League season, the Berrypickers faced off with their blood rivals, the Regina Force. The Force were heavy favorites in the match-up. While the Berrypickers were seen as the more athletic group (with significant height and stacking advantages), the defending champion club from Regina were viewed as the more "professional and prepared" group, with four WEL titles in the last seven years. The Force were led by #1 overall draft pick Engelbert Hardington IV (or "Eh4" to the locals), setting up a week-long series of news reports about the old legend (Windy) facing off with the player many think will take his place as the "face of Elking."
But, as it turned out, Carlo stole the show. Before the jersey situation, he'd previously been known mostly for the trouble Carl has had with tournament officials. That's all changed now (well, mostly, as... uh, I'll get to that later).
Hardington staked Regina to a 24-2 lead with a fantastic scoring play from his back at the end of the 1st period, but then the Berrypickers' exceptional squishing skills turned the momentum of the match. For a while. When Force all-star Puck Moore scored a huge 10-point squish w/ 2:00 left to regain the lead it seemed that victory belonged to the champs. But a second half injury to ol' Windy proved to be a blessing in disguise, as he was replaced by none other than Carlo. After taking most of the second half to get his elking legs, Carlo scored a field-length 6-point stack with :03 left to steal a shocking 72-68 victory! Carlo was carried off the field by Windy, who hinted in post-match interviews that he may be ready to call it quits after this season... and that "the 'pickers may have found my replacement."
In the locker room (well, really an old circus tent set up on the edge of the forest), Carlo's call from a happy mom Carla (all the way from her new specially-build home atop the Great Wall of China!) was aired live all throughout Saskatchewan during the post-game show.
Afterward, cameras caught up with Carl outside the competition area (he's been banned, remember, from attending WEL matches due to his "elking dad" reputation and history of assaulting the sport's various officials). He said, "Carlo do what taught. He learn from best." When asked if he was talking about Windy, Carl bellowed "No! Me!" and attacked the reporter who asked the question. The gentleman reportedly spent the night in a hospital in traction (he was doing better this morning), while Carl was last seen bounding over a fallen Alder tree and disappearing into the far distance. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, but Carl's whereabouts are currently unknown.
Like father, like son, Carlo is once again at the center of still more controversy. He and fellow rookie Hardington exchanged jerseys after the game, as is an elking post-match tradition. On Sunday morning, though, the news broke that Carlo's jersey had been put up for sale on eBay. It has since been removed. But the incident will surely provide more hateful fodder for the Regina/Saskatoon rematch later this season that will surely have Saskatchewan and the entire WEL crazy with anticipation.
WORLD ELKING LEAGUE - DIVISIONS =MAPLE LEAF= Alberta Bison Regina Force Saskatoon Berrypickers Yukon Malamutes =ROCKY MOUNTAIN= Cheyenne Killer Clowns Colorado Range Helena Guardians Idaho Potato Bugs =ASIAN= EC Astana The Herders of Mongolia Nanchang Heroes Siberian Tsars
To be continued...
One morning while reading a newspaper, Jarbas Agnelli saw a photograph of birds on an electric wire. He cut out the photo and was inspired to make a song using the exact location of the birds as musical notes. He was curious to hear what melody the birds created. pic.twitter.com/lrdiS328z7
NEWS THAT MATTERS: A pelican befriended a stray dog who was often spotted hanging out all alone along the boat docks. The man who photographed this has adopted him but brings him back every day to see his friend, Petey the Pelican. pic.twitter.com/1U0VJKBg1D
For a player's season to go up, she must first go Down Under.
January is always a capricious character built into the WTA story each and every season. One never knows what to make of what one sees, and fortunes often turn on a dime -- or, as I heard last week on Animal Planet's Australia-based "Crikey! It's the Irwins" show, on a sixpence.
Five times since 2003, the Australian Open champion has had to save (at least one) match point en route to the title. Serena Williams has done it twice!
2003 Serena Williams - saved 2 MP vs. Clijsters in SF 2005 Serena Williams - saved 3 MP vs. Sharapova in SF 2014 Li Na - saved 1 MP vs. Safarova in 3rd Rd. 2016 Angelique Kerber - saved 1 MP vs. Doi in 1st Rd. 2018 Caroline Wozniacki - saved 2 MP vs. Fett in 2nd Rd.
Last year, *both* finalists teetered on the edge of an earlier exit, as Wozniacki's opponent -- now #1 Simona Halep -- saved MP in TWO matches (AND rolled her ankle in an ugly way in the 1st Rd.) along her path to the concluding weekend of play in Melbourne.
In the next few days, even if things suddenly look bleak for one (or more) of the favorites at this first major of 2019, remember that it may simply be another case of the momentum gathered by the simple act of surviving ultimately providing enough fuel to take a player all the way to the end. On occasion, especially Down Under, what *looks* like a sign that the Tennis Gods are on a player's side turns out to be just that.
So, keep that in mind, and keep an eye out... in January it often *is* darkest before the dawn.
*RECENT WOMEN'S SLAM WINNERS* 2016 AO: Angelique Kerber, GER 2016 RG: Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2016 WI: Serena Williams, USA 2016 US: Angelique Kerber, GER 2017 AO: Serena Williams, USA 2017 RG: Alona Ostapenko, LAT 2017 WI: Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2017 US: Sloane Stephens, USA 2018 AO: Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 2018 RG: Simona Halep, ROU 2018 WI: Angelique Kerber, GER 2018 US: Naomi Osaka, JPN
*ACTIVE SINGLES PLAYERS - FIRST SLAM FINAL* 1997 U.S. Open - Venus Williams 1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (W) 2004 Wimbledon - Maria Sharapova (W) 2004 U.S. Open - Svetlana Kuznetsova (W) 2008 U.S. Open - Jelena Jankovic 2009 U.S. Open - Caroline Wozniacki 2010 Roland Garros - Samantha Stosur 2010 Wimbledon - Vera Zvonareva 2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova (W) 2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka (W) 2012 Roland Garros - Sara Errani 2013 Wimbledon - Sabine Lisicki 2014 Australian Open - Dominika Cibulkova 2014 Roland Garros - Simona Halep 2014 Wimbledon - Genie Bouchard 2015 Roland Garros - Lucie Safarova 2015 Wimbledon - Garbine Muguruza 2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber (W) 2016 U.S. Open - Karolina Pliskova 2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko (W) 2017 U.S. Open - Sloane Stephens (W) 2017 U.S. Open - Madison Keys 2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka (W)
*AUSTRALIAN OPEN TOP SEEDS - since 2007* 2007 Maria Sharapova, RUS (RU) 2008 Justine Henin, BEL (QF) 2009 Jelena Jankovic, SRB (4th) 2010 Serena Williams, USA (W) 2011 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (SF) 2012 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (QF) 2013 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (W) 2014 Serena Williams, USA (4th) 2015 Serena Williams, USA (W) 2016 Serena Williams, USA (RU) 2017 Angelique Kerber, GER (1st) 2018 Simona Halep, ROU (RU) 2019 Simona Halep, ROU
*ALL-TIME AO MATCH WINS - WOMEN* 81...Serena Williams* 60...Margaret Court 56...Lindsay Davenport 54...Maria Sharapova* 52...Martina Hingis 51...Venus Williams* 47...Steffi Graf 46...Martina Navratilova -- * - active
*FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN - OPEN ERA* 1977 Kerry Melville-Reid, AUS 1978 Chris O'Neil, AUS 1979 Barbara Jordan, USA 1980 Hana Mandlikova, CZE 1995 Mary Pierce, FRA 1997 Martina Hingis, SUI 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA 2006 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER 2018 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
*AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINALS - ACTIVE* 8...Serena Williams (7-1) 4...Maria Sharapova (1-3) 2...Victoria Azarenka (2-0) 2...Venus Williams (0-2) 1...Angelique Kerber (1-0) 1...Caroline Wozniacki (1-0) 1...Simona Halep (0-1) 1...Dominika Cibulkova (0-1)
*LOW-SEEDED AO CHAMPIONS - OPEN ERA* Unseeded - 1978 Chris O'Neil, AUS Unseeded - 2007 Serena Williams, USA #12 - 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA #7 - 2005 Serena Williams, USA #7 - 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER #5 - 1979 Barbara Jordan, USA #5 - 2008 Maria Sharapova, RUS #4 - 1995 Mary Pierce. FRA #4 - 1997 Martina Hingis, SUI #4 - 2014 Li Na, CHN
*BACK-to-BACK US/AO TITLES OVER TWO SEASONS - Open era* 1969-70 Margaret Court, AUS 1970-71 Margaret Court, AUS 1988-89 Steffi Graf, FRG 1989-90 Steffi Graf, FRG 1991-92 Monica Seles, YUG 1992-93 Monica Seles, YUG 1993-94 Steffi Graf, GER 1997-98 Martina Hingis, SUI 2002-03 Serena Williams, USA 2003-04 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 2008-09 Serena Williams, USA 2010-11 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2014-15 Serena Williams, USA
*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMEN IN AO SF, since 2000* Unseeded - 2000 Jennifer Capriati, USA Unseeded - 2007 Serena Williams, USA (W) Unseeded - 2010 Zheng Jie, CHN Unseeded - 2015 Madison Keys, USA Unseeded - 2016 Johanna Konta, GBR Unseeded - 2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO Unseeded - 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA Unseeded - 2018 Elise Bertens, BEL Wild Card - 2010 Justine Henin, BEL (RU) #32 - 2004 Fabiola Zuluaga, COL #30 - 2014 Genie Bouchard, CAN #29 - 2013 Sloane Stephens, USA #22 - 2004 Patty Schnyder, SUI #21 - 2018 Angelique Kerber, GER #20 - 2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (RU) #19 - 2005 Nathalie Dechy, FRA #16 - 2010 Li Na, CHN #13 - 2017 Venus Williams, USA (RU) #12 - 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA (W) #11 - 2012 Kim Clijsters, BEL #10 - 2000 Conchita Martinez, ESP #10 - 2007 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE #10 - 2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
*AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS FINALS - since 2005* 2005 Victoria Azarenka/BLR d. Agnes Szavay/HUN 2006 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS d. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN 2007 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS d. Madison Brengle/USA 2008 Arantxa Rus/NED d. Jessica Moore/AUS 2009 Ksenia Pervak/RUS d. Laura Robson/GBR 2010 Karolina Pliskova/CZE d. Laura Robson/GBR 2011 An-Sophie Mestach/BEL d. Monica Puig/PUR 2012 Taylor Townsend/USA d. Yulia Putintseva/RUS 2013 Ana Konjuh/CRO d. Katerina Siniakova/CZE 2014 Elizaveta Kulichkova/RUS d. Jana Fett/CRO 2015 Tereza Mihalikova/SVK d. Katie Swan/GBR 2016 Vera Lapko/BLR d. Tereza Mihalikova/SVK 2017 Marta Kostyuk/UKR d. Rebeka Masarova/SUI 2018 Liang En-shuo/TPE d. Clara Burel/FRA
*BEST AO GIRLS/WOMEN'S RESULTS* [won Girls & Women's titles] Evonne Goolagong (1970 Jr. Champion; 1974-77 Women's Champion) Chris O'Neil (1973 Jr. Champion; 1978 Women's Champion) Victoria Azarenka (2005 Jr. Champion; 2012-13 Women's Champion) [others] Lindsay Davenport (1992 Jr. RU; 2000 Women's Champion) Maria Sharapova (2002 Jr. RU; 2008 Women's Champion) Caroline Wozniacki (2006 Jr. RU; 2018 Women's Champion)
*AO WHEELCHAIR CHAMPIONS* 2002 Esther Vergeer, NED 2003 Esther Vergeer, NED 2004 Esther Vergeer, NED 2005 Sharon Walraven, NED 2006 Esther Vergeer, NED 2007 Esther Vergeer, NED 2008 Esther Vergeer, NED 2009 Esther Vergeer, NED 2010 Korie Homan, NED 2011 Esther Vergeer, NED 2012 Esther Vergeer, NED 2013 Aniek van Koot, NED 2014 Sabine Ellerbrock, GER 2015 Jiske Griffioen, NED 2016 Jiske Griffioen, NED 2017 Yui Kamiji, JPN 2018 Diede de Groot, NED [doubles] 2004 Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED 2005 Florence Gravellier/Maaike Smit, FRA/NED 2006 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED 2007 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED 2008 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED 2009 Korie Homan/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED 2010 Florence Gravellier/Aniek van Koot, FRA/NED 2011 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven, NED/NED 2012 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven, NED/NED 2013 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot, NED/NED 2014 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR 2015 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR 2016 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN 2017 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot, NED/NED 2018 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN
*RECENT WC SLAM SINGLES FINALS* 2016 AO - #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED d. Aniek Van Koot/NED 2016 RG - Marjolein Buis/NED d. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER 2016 WI - #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED d. Aniek Van Koot/NED 2017 AO - #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED 2017 RG - #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER 2017 WI - Diede de Groot/NED def. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER 2017 US - #1 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. #2 Diede de Groot/NED 2018 AO - #2 Diede de Groot/NED def. #1 Yui Kamiji/JPN 2018 RG - #1 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. #2 Diede de Groot/NED 2018 WI - #1 Diede de Groot/NED def. Aniek van Koot/NED 2018 US - #1 Diede de Groot/NED def. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN
*SLAM TITLES AFTER AGE 30* 10..Serena Williams, USA (age 30-35)* 3...Martina Navratilova, USA (age 30-33) 3...Margaret Court, AUS (age 30-31) 2...Billie Jean King, USA (age 30 & 31) 2...Chris Evert, USA (age 30 & 31) 1...Flavia Pennetta, ITA (age 33) 1...Virginia Wade. GBR (age 31) 1...Ann Haydon Jones, GBR (age 30) 1...Angelique Kerber, GER (age 30)* -- *-active
*OLDEST WOMEN'S SINGLES SLAM CHAMPIONS - OPEN ERA* Serena Williams (35y/125) - 2017 Australian Serena Williams (34/283) - 2016 Wimbledon Serena Williams (33/285) - 2015 Wimbledon Martina Navratilova (33/263) - 1990 Wimbledon Serena Williams (33/254) - 2015 Roland Garros Flavia Pennetta (33/201) - 2015 U.S. Open Serena Williams (33/127) - 2015 Australian
*OLDEST WOMEN'S SINGLES SLAM FINALISTS* Martina Navratilova (37y,258d) — lost '94 WI to C.Martinez Venus Williams (37/28) - lost '17 WI to Muguruza Serena Williams (36/347) - lost '18 US to Osaka Serena Williams (36/291) - lost '18 WI to Kerber Venus Williams (36/226) — '17 AO, lost to S.Williams Serena Williams (35/125) — '17 AO, def. V.Williams Martina Navratilova (34/325) — '91 US, lost to Seles Serena Williams (34/287) — '16 WI, def. Kerber Serena Williams (34/252) — '16 RG, lost to Muguruza Serena Williams (34/127) — '16 AO, lost to Kerber
*OLDEST FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS* 33y,199d - Flavia Pennetta, 2015 U.S. Open 29y,346d - Francesca Schiavone, 2010 Roland Garros 29y,275d - Jana Novotna, 1998 Wimbledon 29y,154d - Kerry Melville-Reid, 1977 Australian Open 29y,98d - Li Na, 2011 Roland Garros 28y,277d - Marion Bartoli, 2013 Wimbledon 28y,12d - Angelique Kerber, 2016 Australian Open 27y,200d - Caroline Wozniacki, 2018 Australian Open 26y,255d - Simona Halep, 2018 Roland Garros 26y,207d - Amelie Mauresmo, 2006 Australian Open 26y,165d - Samantha Stosur, 2011 U.S. Open
*MOST SLAMS BEFORE FIRST TITLE* 49 - Flavia Pennetta (2015 U.S. Open) 47 - Marion Bartoli (2013 Wimbledon) 45 - Jana Novotna (1998 Wimbledon) 43 - Caroline Wozniacki (2018 Australian Open) 39 - Francesca Schiavone (2010 Roland Garros) 34 - Samantha Stosur (2011 U.S. Open) 33 - Angelique Kerber (2016 Australian Open) 32 - Simona Halep (2018 Roland Garros) 32 - Amelie Mauresmo (2006 Australian Open)
*TEEN SLAM CHAMPS - since 1997* 1997 Martina Hingis, 16 (AO)* 1997 Iva Majoli, 19 (RG)* 1997 Martina Hingis, 16 (WI) 1997 Martina Hingis, 16 (US) 1998 Martina Hingis, 17 (AO) 1999 Martina Hingis, 18 (AO) 1999 Serena Williams, 17 (US)* 2004 Maria Sharapova, 17 (WI)* 2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova, 19 (US)* 2006 Maria Sharapova, 19 (US) -- * - first-time slam winner NOTE: Ostapenko* (won '17 RG at 20 yrs, 2 days)
*BIGGEST AGE DIFFERENCE IN SLAM FINAL* 17y,45d - Seles (17) d. Navratilova (34) = '91 U.S. 16y,20d - Osaka (20) d. S.Williams (36) = '18 U.S. 15y,180d - Martinez (22) d. Navratilova (37) = '94 WI 14y,175d - Graf (18) d. Evert (33) = '88 AO 13y,113d - Muguruza (23) d. V.Williams (37) = '17 WI
*LOW RANKED IN SLAM FINAL - Open era* NR - Evonne Goolagong, 1977 Australian (W) NR - Kim Clijsters, 2009 US Open (W) NR - Justine Henin, 2010 Australian #181 - Serena Williams, 2018 Wimbledon #111 - Chris O'Neil, 1978 Australian (W) #83 - Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open (W) #81 - Serena Williams, 2007 Australian (W) #78 - Betsy Nagelson, 1978 Australian #68 - Barbara Jordan, 1979 Australian (W) #66 - Venus Williams. 1997 US Open
*CAREER SLAM #1 SEEDS - active* 20...Serena Williams 6...Caroline Wozniacki 5...SIMONA HALEP 4...Maria Sharapova 3...Victoria Azarenka 3...Angelique Kerber 1...Jelena Jankovic 1...Karolina Pliskova 1...Venus Williams
*RECENT SLAM JUNIOR CHAMPS* [2016] AO: Vera Lapko, BLR RG: Rebeka Masarova, SUI WI: Anastasia Potapova, RUS US: Kayla Day, USA [2017] AO: Marta Kostyuk, UKR RG: Whitney Osuigwe, USA WI: Claire Liu, USA US: Amanda Anisimova, USA [2018] AO: Liang En-shuo, TPE RG: Coco Gauff, USA WI: Iga Swiatek, POL US: Wang Xiyu, CHN
*SERENA, MARIA, VIKA & VENUS IN SAME SLAM DRAW* =CHAMPIONS= =2006= AO - Mauresmo =2007= RG - HENIN WI - V.Williams US - HENIN =2008= AO - Sharapova RG - IVANOVIC WI - V.Williams =2009= RG - KUZNETSOVA WI - S.Williams US - CLIJSTERS =2010= AO - S.Williams RG - SCHIAVONE WI - S.Williams =2011= WI - KVITOVA US - STOSUR =2012= RG - Sharapova WI - S.Williams US - S.Williams =2013= AO - Azarenka RG - S.Williams =2014= AO - LI WI - KVITOVA =2015= AO - S.Williams RG - S.Williams WI - S.Williams =2016= AO - KERBER =2017= - =2018= RG - HALEP WI - KERBER US - OSAKA === [TITLES - 29 slams] [overall] 14 - Serena, Venus, Maria, Vika 15 - everyone else (12 different players) [individual] 9 - S.Williams 2 - Henin,Kerber,Kvitova,Sharapova,V.Williams 1 - Azarenka,Clijsters,Halep,Ivanovic,Kuznetsova,Li,Mauresmo,Osaka,Schiavone,Stosur
=ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS= #16 S.Williams d. V.Williams - #1 Halep is in this section, too - maybe gets Hobart champ Kenin in 2nd Rd. #7 Ka.Pliskova d. #18 Muguruza - I was so tempted to replace Mugu with Bacsinszky or Tomljanovic #4 Osaka d. (Q) Andreescu - can Q.Wang (or Vika?) slip through here? #6 Svitolina d. #17 Keys - '18 SF Mertens could face Keys in 3rd; can Eli beat *both* SVK's, Kuzmova & Cibulkova? #11 Sabalenka d. #8 Kvitova - I tried to knock out Petra early, but couldn't pick a rightful upset winner #15 Barty d. #3 Wozniacki - the last repeat winner was Azarenka in 2013 #9 Bertens d. #31 Martic - Sloane's quarter, as well as that of Sasnovich. Hmmm. #2 Kerber d. #14 Goerges - Oktoberfest in January, and Angie has unfinished AO business
=QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS= #16 S.Williams d. #7 Ka.Pliskova - if the Czech wins here, she maybe wins it all #4 Osaka d. #6 Svitolina - Svitolina really *needs* a win here, though #11 Sabalenka d. #15 Barty - Sabalenka has unfinished business, too #2 Kerber d. #9 Bertens - Bertens had three 3r's in her first 22 slams, she's got 4 straight coming into '19
=SEMIFINAL PREDICTIONS= #16 S.Williams d. #4 Osaka - cue the likely truth-challenged U.S. Open '18 final rehashes #11 Sabalenka d. #2 Kerber - if Kerber wins here, would she be even money to win out over Serera?
=FINAL PREDICTION= #16 S.Williams d. #11 Sabalenka -- she seems fit, focused and determined to get #24 in '18... why not get it out of the way?
SYDNEY, AUS (Premier/Hard Court) S: Petra Kvitova/CZE def. Ash Barty/AUS 1-6/7-5/7-6(3) D: Aleksandra Krunic/Katerina Siniakova (SRB/CZE) d. Eri Hozumi/Alicja Rosolska (JPN/POL) 6-1/7-6(3)
HOBART, AUS (International/Hard Court) S: Sonya Kenin/USA def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK 6-3/6-0 D: Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan (TPE/TPE) d. Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson (BEL/SWE) 6-3/3-6 [10-6]
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Petra Kvitova/CZE ...well, Kvitova, still has *it.* At least as far as winning tour titles goes. In Sydney, the Czech picked up career title #26. 26-7 in finals, she hasn't lost one since October 2016, winning eight in a row and all seven since her return from hand surgery. Straight sets wins over Aryna Sabalenka, Hsieh Su-wei, Angelique Kerber and Aliaksandra Sasnovich allowed her to have just enough gas (barely enough) to get past Ash Barty in three sets in the final, coming back from 3-0 down in the 3rd, twice failing to serve out the match but still pulling enough from herself to close things out in a deciding TB even while clearly exhausted and beginning to cramp up. It's her second title at the tournament, having previously won in 2015.
But will it matter in Melbourne, as she tries to escape the seasons-long slam rut she's found herself in since winning her most recent major at Wimbledon in 2014? Kvitova has reached just a pair of QF (U.S. Open 2015 &'17) in the sixteen slams she's played since she won that title. In the previous fifteen, she won two, reached three semis and three quarterfinals.
Astra Sharma/AUS ...in Melbourne, 23-year old Sharma, last year's NCAA singles #1 while playing for Vanderbilt, proved to be the star performer of the qualifying rounds. Having come one win short of winning Tennis Australia's wild card tournament in December, she was forced into the Q-rounds. She opened by knocking Q-#1 seed Vera Zvonareva, followed up with a win over Russian Varvara Flink, then finished off a third straight Hordette by saving three MP vs. #25 Irina Khromacheva to assure her slam MD debut. She'll open vs. fellow Aussie Priscilla Hon, with the winner facing the Ostapenko/Sakkari survivor in Round 2.
Astra Sharma:
* lost in the final round of the Australian wild card playoff * denied a wild card by Tennis Australia * drew the top seed in QR1 * was down a set in QR2 * was down 3 match points in FRQ ... * Is into the Australian Open main draw
=============================================== RISERS:Ash Barty/AUS and Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR ...for the second straight year, Barty came up a match short of winning Sydney in front of the Aussie fans. But twelve months after her first final run at the event the 22-year old took quite a few more significant moves up the tour ladder. Stringing together wins over Alona Ostapenko, Simona Halep (her first #1 win), Elise Mertens ('18 AO semifinalist) and Kiki Bertens (#9) ranks close to her '17 Wuhan result as the most productive (though title-less) week of her singles career. The run in last '17 included three Top 10 wins (Konta/Pliskova/Ostapenko) and another over Aga Radwanska. The event in China ended with Barty losing a set lead and falling to Caroline Garcia in the final. This week was similar, as she lost to Petra Kvitova in three after having won the 1st and led 3-0 in the 3rd. The loss ended Barty's two-event/two-final tour stretch which began with her title run at the Elite Trophy to end '18 (she went 2-1 in Week 1 at the Hopman Cup). A year after her second straight AO 3rd Round result, she'll open play on Night on MCA vs. Luksika Kumkhum. Let another Barty Party commence.
"I 100% respect Simona. She's done amazing things in this sport.
But I certainly fear no one, and I feel like I can go out there and match it with the world's best."
Meanwhile, Sasnovich hasn't quite finished what she's started so far in '19, but she's proving more and more adept at giving herself multiple opportunities. A week after knocking off Anastasia Potapova and Elina Svitolina in Brisbane (only to put up just two games vs. Donna Vekic in the QF), the 24-year old qualified in Sydney (surrendering just one game to Monica Puig in the final round) and then posted MD wins over Dasha Kasatkina, Priscilla Hon and Timea Bacsinszky to reach the semifinals. Bu when facing Petra Kvitova, the Czech she upset in the 1st Round last year at Wimbledon, she was quickly dispatched, winning just three games. Having won at least one match at five straight slams, and reached her sole major Round of 16 in London last year, Sasnovich will surely be a not-do-dark horse pick as a first week chaos-maker at the AO, opening vs. Kirsten Flipkens in a section that includes #20 Anett Kontaveit and #9 Kiki Bertens, with the survivor there possibly facing #5 Sloane Stephens (though she hasn't won an AO match since 2014) in the 4th Round. The Belarusian *could* get through, but *will* she? =============================================== SURPRISE:Greet Minnen/BEL ...21-year old Waffle Minnen has recently often made more headlines off the the court for being the girlfriend of tour singles titlist Alison Van Uytvanck than for her on-field progress, of which there has been a great deal over the past year. She (w/ Van Uytvanck) won a tour-level doubles title in Luxembourg in '18, as well as four of her seven career ITF singles crowns in a season that saw her rise from #828 to #316. This past week in Hobert, Minnen qualified with wins over Katie Boulter and Fiona Ferro, then posted the first two WTA MD wins of her career over Kateryna Kozlova and Magda Linette before falling in the QF to Alize Cornet. Tennis Channel was lauded by some for showing a bit of the Minnen/Kozlova match live this past week, after which Van Uytvanck was there to offer congratulations. Though I wonder if a few demerits should be issued to TC for Ted Robinson later referring to AVU as Minnen's "good friend" during a highlight package. I'd think we've grown beyond the point of using such a needlessly euphemistic phrase, haven't we?
Harriet Dart/GBR ...the 22-year old Brit has been something of an ongoing revelation since last summer. Back-to-back-to-back $100K SF/QF/QF results earned her a Wimbledon wild card, and she proceeded to upset Kristyna Pliskova at Eastbourne and then push Karolina to three sets at SW19. She then came back out and reached the Mixed Doubles semis. Dart ended 2018 by sweeping the singles and doubles at a $25K challenger, and has carried over the momentum to '19. In Week 1 she qualified in Brisbane (def. Dolehide/Kozlova/Petkovic) and reached the 2nd Round. This past week, she make it through AO qualifying with wins over Chloe Paquet, Xu Shilin and #10 Ivana Jorovic, making her 12-1 overall in singles going back to late October. She'll open in Melbourne vs. Maria Sharapova.
=============================================== VETERAN:Varvara Lepchenko/USA ...the 32-year was the sole Bannerette of the twelve competing in Melbourne to advance through the required three rounds to reach the AO main draw. It'll be something of a return to normal for Lepchenko, who missed last year's U.S. Open and ended what had been a 31-slam MD streak during which she racked up 32 match wins dating back to 2006. Ranked #134, she personally ended fellow U.S. player Christina McHale's 33-slam MD streak this week, winning a final Q-round a 10-3 3rd set super TB (yeah, the new addition to the AO this year) to advance.
=============================================== COMEBACK:Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK ...the troubles in recent seasons of AKS are well documented, as she suddenly fell (w/o injury) from nearly being a Top 20 player and 2-time title winner to well outside the Top 200. 2018 marked a real upturn in her results, as she climbed back into the Top 100 and won a WTA crown in Bogota, her first since 2015. She's had only moderate success since, going 18-21 on all levels heading into Week 2. The Slovak's Hobart final run is not only her best result since Bogota, but allows her something to finally *build* a season on in some sort of ordered process (hi, Eli) rather than hoping for lighting to strike like it did last spring in Colombia. Schmiedlova's wins over Evgeniya Rodina, Alison Van Uytvanck, Irina-Camelia Begu and (especially) Belinda Bencic give her a foundation for '19 success. Her 3 & love loss to Sonya Kenin in the final didn't change that. She jumps eighteen spots to #59 this week, her highest standing since August '16.
Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA ...it wasn't long ago that Haddad was South America's new/best hope in a generation (or two or three) for a legitimate Top 20 contender, and the player who'd take the ball put into played by Maria Bueno in the the 1950's, picked up a few seasons back by Teliana Pereira, and carry it farther along than anyone in decades. She still may do just that, but 2018 served as something of a step-back campaign as her season was pretty much wrecked by an early season wrist injury. The 22-year old recovered in time to reach an $80K final in November. This week in AO qualifying she won three straight matches in a top level event for the first time since her Seoul final (she lost in three to Ostapenko) in September '17. A year after winning a 1st Round match in Melbourne, becoming the first woman from Brazil to do so in the Open era (the first since Bueno played in the 1965 final, actually), Haddad won consecutive matches over Lauren Davis (who held MPs vs. Halep at last year's AO), Kaja Juvan and #16 Jen Brady. She'll open vs. Bernarda Pera. =============================================== FRESH FACE:Sonya Kenin/USA ...while the 20-year old Bannerette didn't come out on top in last season's Fed Cup final vs. the Czech Republic, Kenin's guts and guile that weekend in Prague were arguably as big a story as the Maiden's sixth title run in eight years. It was clear that big things were in her future. Two weeks into the new season, she's already picked up two titles, winning her first tour doubles (Auckland) and singles (this week in Hobart) crowns and now securing her spot as the youngest player in the Top 50. She'll jump from #56 to a new career high of #37 as play begins in Melbourne... where she could very well soon find herself in the spotlight once again, with a potential 2nd Round match-up with #1 Simona Halep.
Kenin opened play with a bang in Hobart, knocking out #1 seed Caroline Garcia. She never relented, not dropping a set all week while taking down Ons Jabeur, Kirsten Flipkens, Alize Cornet and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on her way to becoming 2019's first maiden WTA singles champion.
Iga Swiatek/POL ...Aga may be gone, but Iga is here. And she's making her presence known. The 17-year old Pole, last year's Wimbledon girls champ (and an undefeated champion in all seven of her pro singles final on the ITF circuit), will make her slam MD debut this week after racing her way through qualifying. After opening with a win over #6-seeded 2018 Moscow champ Olga Danilovic in three sets (1-6/7-6/7-5), she posted straights sets wins over Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov and Danielle Lao.
She'll open at the AO vs. Ana Bogdan. Could Swiatek be this year's Kostyuk, and maybe a future year's Osaka down the road?
I spoke with Iga Swiatek right after her match today. Asked her what could be the legacy of Agnieszka Radwanska for the young polish players, her answer: pic.twitter.com/d5acQyrqWd
=============================================== DOWN:Alona Ostapenko/LAT, Dasha Kasatkina/RUS and Sloane Stephens/USA ...under different circumstances -- or, in Latvian Thunder's case, a different season -- all of these three might be considered contenders in Melbourne. Through two weeks of the new season, though, they've shown little to indicate as much as far the Australian Open goes.
After dropping out of the Top 20 at the end 2018, Ostapenko hasn't exactly (ala, say Kerber, who found herself in similar circumstances a year ago and burst into '18 riding the tip of a rocket) entered the new season swinging a big stick. Instead, she'll head to Melbourne looking to win her first set since October. She'll face Maria Sakkari in the 1st Round. She ended last season nursing a wrist injury, with her low point being a was double-bagel loss to Wang Qiang in Beijing before she ended the year with a three-set Hong Kong defeat by Kristina Kucova. So far in '19, Ostapenko has extended her sets lost streak to six (and 8-of-9 starting with the love & love match), falling 6-0/6-2 to Monica Niculescu in Week 1, then 3 & 3 this week in Sydney vs. Ash Barty.
Meanwhile, January has never been Kasatkina's bag. For all the offseason training she does, she's yet to hit the ground running to start a season. In four years of opening month pro results, she's gone a combined 8-11 on the Dorothy Tour circuit, with just one QF result (Sydney '17). Rather than see an improvement, her season-opening results have gotten worse. 2r-q2-3r-2r-QF-1r results in 2016-17 have been followed (so far) by 1r-1r-2r-1r-1r the last two seasons, including a loss in Week 1 to #283 Kimberly Birrell (after leading 5-3 in the 3rd) and a 1 & 4 exit at the hands of Aliaksandra Sasnovich this week in Sydney.
Tough one for Sloane Stephens. She won the first set , lost a close 2nd set TB and got steamrolled in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/yQaGJvCMMd
Stephens, on the other hand, had her first major breakthrough in Melbourne, reaching the AO semis in 2013 (with a 4th Rd. finish in '14). Since then, though, due to injury or lack of form, she's been a total non-factor. After opening her '19 season with a loss to Johanna Konta last week, she *did* finally get her first win on Australian soil in four years this week in Sydney, even if she did have to rally from 6-0/5-3 down to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova. Of course, her squandering of a 6-3/5-4 lead in which she served for the win in a loss to Yulia Putintseva a round later pretty much erased that accomplishment from the books. Since her '14 AO Round of 16 run, Stephens has gone 2-6 in Australia (though she *has* gone 6-1 in New Zealand in the span, winning Auckland in '16). ===============================================
JUNIOR STAR/ITF PLAYER:Dasha Lopatetska/UKR ...there she goes again.
15-year old Ukrainian Lopatetska has won *another* challenger title. That makes two already in 2019, and her fourth in eight pro events since she made her debut last June and promptly won the first seventeen matches of her pro career. Her $25K Hong Kong title this weekend makes her 12-0 in '19 (31-4 in pro events in her career), as she added wins over Wang Xinyu and two seeds (including #1 Mai Minokoshi) before her 1 & 2 demolition of #4-seed Cagla Buyukakcay in the semis, then defeat of Ma Shuyue by a 4 & 3 score to take the title. She'll jump a massive 124 spots to #365 this week, and will be the youngest player in the Top 650 (and change). ===============================================
DOUBLES:Aleksandra Krunic/Katerina Siniakova (SRB/CZE) and Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan (TPE/TPE) ...while things haven't yet gone well in '19 singles for either Krunic or Siniakova, as they've gone 0-2 in MD matches (the Czech *did* post two qualifying wins in Sydney), but their doubles results have at least given then some precious time on the court. Siniakova & Barbora Krejcikova reached the Brisbane semis in Week 1, and this week she and sometimes partner Krunic (their history goes back to their first pairing in Tashkent in '14, when they won the crown) picked up their second title as a pair (as many on the pro level as Siniakova has with Barbora Krejcikova, though their two wins have come in majors).
Krunic/Siniakova knocked off Sydney top seeds and defending champs Dabrowski/Xu in the QF, Kato/Ninomiya in the semis and Hozumi/Rosolska in the final, completing a no-sets-lost week.
While Siniakova is pretty secure in her position at the moment as a rising singles player (she'll break out of a tie with Krejcikova and become the solo WD #1 in the new rankings w/ this week's result), Krunic surely could use the confidence boost this title might provide, as her singles results have tailed off badly since she won her first singles title last summer at Rosmalen. But, with this win, the first official charm has been attained for the 2019 edition of the Bracelet's commemorative BSA bracelet.
In Hobart, the Chan sisters proved once again that blood is thicker than temporary doubles combinations. While the two have broken off and played with other partners over the years (Latisha famously so with Martina Hingis in '17, winning nine titles), they've still won more titles with each other than any other partners in their careers. Tour title #11 (w/ a 125 and 3 ITF crowns, as well) together came this week as they followed up their Week 1 final in Brisbane by going one better. The #1 seeds, they knocked off #3-seeded Niculescu/Yang Zhaoxuan (SF) and then #4 Flipkens/Larsson in a 10-6 3rd set TB in the final. The first title for the siblings since October '17 (Hong Kong) is Latisha's 30th, and Hao-ching's 15th on the WTA tour.
=============================================== WHEELCHAIR:Yui Kamiji/JPN or Aniek Van Koot/NED ...Kamiji and Van Koot will face off on Sunday in the final of the Bendigo (AUS) ITF Super Series tournament, with the world #2 from Japan seeking to complete a sweep of the titles (she's already won the doubles with Marolein Buis). While Van Koot advanced with straight sets wins over Katharina Kruger and Kgothatso Montjane, Kamiji was forced to three in the semis by #31 Huang Hui Min. It was the first set taken off Kamiji by the 28-year old from China in three career meetings, and came after Huang had had a spectacular week pulling off a pair of upsets over Top 10ers Sabine Ellerbrock and Buis.
Meanwhile, Buis is currently sporting some pretty funky tan lines after playing with her shoulder taped...
I think this qualifies as a triumphant return, no?
Confirmed! Li Na will play this year's Australian Open invitational for the first time. That's indeed how you celebrate 5-year anniversary of winning the women's singles title properly :) pic.twitter.com/gJa0by3M97
1. Sydney Final - Petra Kvitova def. Ash Barty ...1-6/7-5/7-6(3). Might this be the "regular" tour match that will foreshadow another early exit in Melbourne for Kvitova? If so, at least Petra will always have Sydney. Pushing herself to the physical limit in the heat, Kvitova responded in a dramatic 3rd set. Down 3-0 to Barty in front of an Aussie crowd, Petra battled back and served for the title at 5-4 and 6-5 while fighting exhaustion. Bending over between points (and reminding everyone of her asthma and long time issues with humid conditions), the Czech began flailing shots. Two DF allowed the set to reach a deciding TB. Again, she tapped into her competitive reservoir and took a 3-1 lead. DF #10 knotted things at 3-3. Up 5-3, Kvitova began to show recognizable signs of cramping, but she had one last surge in her and won 7-3, causing Barty (who led 98-97 in total points) to come up one win short of the Sydney title for the second straight year. Kvitova has now won in eight straight tour finals, as well as eight straight at the Premier (w/ Elite Trophy '16) level.
=============================================== 2. Sydney 1st Rd. - Ash Barty def. Alona Ostapenko 6-3/6-3 Sydney 2nd Rd. - Ash Barty def. Simona Halep 6-4/6-4 ...not an insignificant trick to pull off back-to-back straight sets win over the last two Roland Garros champs, even if Ostapenko doesn't resemble her major winning self at the moment and Halep was very obviously tentatively testing the limits of her body in her first match of the season after missing six weeks of offseason training waiting out the recuperation from her back injury.
=============================================== 3. Sydney 1st Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Ekaterina Alexandrova 0-6/7-6(3)/7-6(3) Sydney 2nd Rd. - Yulia Putintseva def. Sloane Stephens 3-6/7-6(4)/6-0 ...after rallying from 6-0/5-3 down to defeat Alexandrova and notch her first win in Australia since 2015, Stephens lost a 6-3/5-4 (and serving) lead vs. the Kazakh a round later. The symmetry of opening and closing her week in Sydney by losing a love set, though, is, well, something.
=============================================== HM- Hobart 1st Rd. - Zoe Hives def. Johanna Larsson ...7-6(1)/7-6(2). A wild card for Melbourne, the 22-year old Hives (#211) makes her tour MD debut and notches victory #1.
Victory!
Australian wildcard Zoe Hives secures a career best win defeating world No. 75 Johanna Larsson (SWE), the result is also Hives first ever WTA main draw win ??#HobartTennispic.twitter.com/eM8thYUYfu
Kateryna Bondarenko is pregnant! Soon #AusOpen doubles champion and her husband will become parents for the second time ??????? https://t.co/mQ08Hwmoyt
1. Hobart Final - Sonya Kenin def. ANNA KAROLINA SCHMIEDLOVA ...6-3/6-0. Kenin in the seventeenth U.S. woman to win her maiden tour singles title since a Williams (Venus in Memphis) first won a maiden title in 1998.
Last week: First WTA doubles title! Today: First WTA singles title!@SonyaKenin wins the @HobartTennis ??!°°
=============================================== 2. Hobart Final - CHAN HAO-CHING/LATISHA CHAN def. Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson ...6-3/3-6 [10-6]. Second all-time, the Chans are now *half-way* to the tour record of doubles titles (22) won by an all-sister duo. I don't really need to say which siblings are #1, do I? ===============================================
1. AO Q1 - #12 Sofya Zhuk def. Jana Fett 5-7/6-2/6-4 AO Q1 - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Lauren Davis 6-3/6-3 ...what a difference a year can make.
Lauren Davis took Simona Halep to a 28-game third set in 2018; loses in R1 qualifying today.
Jana Fett had match points on eventual champ Wozniacki in 2018; down a break in 3rd set in R1 qualifying.
=============================================== 2. AO Q1 - Astra Sharma def. #1 Vera Zvonareva ...6-3/6-2. I believe this was a sign of good things to come.
ASTRA-nomical win! West Australian @astrasharma stuns top seed and former world No.2 Vera Zvonareva in #AusOpen qualifying, winning 6-3 6-2 in just 71 minutes. pic.twitter.com/jeFFNlqcdR
=============================================== 3. AO Q3 - Astra Sharma def. #25 Irina Khromacheva ...5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10). See? She saved three MP.
WHAT AN AMAZING STORY!
Aussie Astra Sharma is 23 years old. She's never played in a Grand Slam before. And she just defeated Russia's Irina Khromacheva in three sets, 12-10 in the third set tiebreak to book her spot in the Australian Open.@astrasharma#AusOpen#9WWOS#Tennispic.twitter.com/BSXvaBnZ7u
=============================================== 4. AO Q1 - Iga Swiatek def. Olga Danilovic ...1-6/7-6(4)/7-5. The Serb has lost six straight matches, and gone just 2-7 since her title run in Moscow as a lucky loser. =============================================== 5. AO Q2 - (PR) Olga Govortsova def. #2 Mandy Minella ...6-1/1-6/7-5. A match-up of recent WTA moms. Govortsova failed to add yet another Belarusian to the MD, falling in the final Q-round. =============================================== 6. AO Q3 - #22 Misaki Doi def. (PR) Olga Govortsova ...7-6(2)/6-4. Speaking of *that* match, it got Doi into the MD. Doi, remember, held MP vs. in the AO 1st Round in '16 vs. Kerber before the German rallied and went on to win the title and have a career year. =============================================== 7. AO Q1 - #19 Caroline Dolehide def. Rebecca Marino ...6-2/6-2. But it was still Marino's first slam match in six years, and that's something to feel good about.
After her public struggles years ago, Rebecca Marino is back, and she wants you to know that she's happy now.
=============================================== 8. AO Q1 - Kaja Juvan def. #17 Yanina Wickmayer ...4-6/6-4/7-5. In her first pro slam match, "Name You'll Know..." #1 for 2019 (yeah, because Swiatek and Andreescu had already been talked out too much, but still) Juvan notches a win over a seed after trailing 5-3 in the 3rd set. It's a good start for the Slovak.
Heck of a QR1 win for 18-yo Youth Olympic gold medalist Kaja Juvan, who rallies from 3-5* down in the final set to defeat Yanina Wickmayer, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. #ausopen
Wickmayer launches a ball out of frame, spikes her racquet in the court after missing long on MP #3.
=============================================== HM- AO Q3 - #4 Bianca Andreescu def. #26 Tereza Smitkova ...6-0/4-1 ret. After all the matches she's played already in 2019, it was Andreescu's *opponents* who physically broke down against her in AO qualifying. Smitkova was the second of her three foes (after Katie Swan in the opening match) to do so in Melbourne. It'll still allow the 18-year old Canadian (and Auckland finalist) to make her AO MD debut in her first slam 1st Round contest since the '17 Wimbledon.
BOOM. Bianca Andreescu is into the #AusOpen main draw, overcoming Tereza Smitkova 6-0, 4-1 ret.
After an exhausting week in Auckland, the 18-year-old got a little lucky in qualifying with two retirement wins, but hey, we’ll take it.
Maybe the Tennis Gods finally like her? ===============================================
*AO QUALIFIERS*
Bianca Andreescu, CAN (18/#107) Paula Badosa Gibert, ESP (21/#142) - slam debut Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL (24/#158) - slam debut Harriet Dart, GBR (22/#132) Misaki Doi, JPN (27/#133) Viktorija Golubic, SUI (26/#104) Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (22/#176) Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (20/#167) Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (21/#111) - slam debut Varvara Lepchenko, USA (32/#134) Karolina Muchova, CZE (22/#141) Jessika Ponchat, FRA (22/#240) Astra Sharma, AUS (23/#230) - slam debut Iga Swiatek, POL (17/#178) - slam debut Natalia Vikhlyantseva, RUS (21/#135) Zhu Lin, CHN (24/#118)
Halep on seeing the Murray news: "I had a knot in my stomach. It's not easy to see a great player retiring because of the injuries actually. I always admired him. He's a great person. Little bit crazy on court, but I like that because I'm similar (smiling).” #AusOpen
"My son definitely inspires me. I still have my own dreams, to fulfil my potential. I have a lot of motivation to continue."@vika7, two-time champion.#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/3SatXDcRlx
“I can’t believe it’s been a year – it’s awesome to be back.” @CaroWozniacki says she's fit and ready to defend her title in an #AusOpen draw packed with great matches from day one.
**U.S. WOMAN WINS MAIDEN WTA TITLE - since 1998** 1998: Venus Williams (Memphis) 1998: Tara Snyder (Quebec City) 1999: Serena Williams (Paris Indoors) 1999: Corina Morariu (Bol) 2000: Meghann Shaughnessy (Shanghai) 2001: Meilen Tu (Auckland) 2002: Jill Craybas (Tokyo JO) 2006: Vania King (Bangkok) 2012: Melanie Oudin (Birmingham) 2014: Madison Keys (Eastbourne) 2014: CoCo Vandeweghe (Rosmalen) 2014: Alison Riske (Tianjin) 2015: Sloane Stephens (Washington) 2016: Irina Falconi (Bogota) 2016: Christina McHale (Tokyo JWO) 2017: Lauren Davis (Auckland) 2019: Sonya Kenin (Hobart)
**AUSTRALIAN OPEN "Q-PLAYER OF THE WEEK" WINNERS** 2006 Ashley Harkleroad, USA 2007 Julia Vakulenko, UKR 2008 Julia Schruff, GER 2009 Elena Baltacha, GBR 2010 Yanina Wickmayer, BEL 2011 Vesna Manasieva, RUS 2012 Paula Ormaechea, ARG 2013 Lesia Tsurenko, UKR 2014 Belinda Bencic, SUI 2015 Renata Voracova, CZE 2016 Naomi Osaka, JPN 2017 Elizaveta Kulichkova, RUS 2018 Marta Kostyuk, UKR 2019 Astra Sharma, AUS
**YOUNGEST AO...** =WC= 16 - Whitney Osuigwe, USA 17 - Clara Burel, FRA 18 - Destanee Aiava, AUS 20 - Kimberly Birrell, AUS 20 - Priscilla Hon, AUS =Q= 17 - Iga Swiatek, POL 18 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN 20 - Anna Kalinsakya, RUS
**LOW-RANKED AO QUALIFIERS** #240 - Jessika Ponchat, FRA #230 - Astra Sharma, AUS #178 - Iga Swiatek, POL #176 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA #167 - Anna Kalinsakaya, RUS #158 - Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL
**SLAM QUALIFIERS MAKING SLAM MD DEBUTS** AO - Paula Badosa Gibert, ESP AO - Ysaline Bonaventure, ESP AO - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS AO - Astra Sharma, AUS AO - Iga Swiatek, POL
**NOTABLE Q/WC STREAKS - 2019 AO** Destanee Aiava, AUS - 3 consecutive AO wild cards Anna Kalinskaya, RUS - 2 consecutive AO qualifying runs Anna Kalinskaya, RUS - 2 consecutive slam qualifying runs Karolina Muchova, CZE - 2 consecutive slam qualifying runs Whitney Osuigwe, USA - 2 consecutive slam wild cards Jessika Ponchet, FRA - 2018 AO wild card + 2019 AO qualifier Zhu Lin, CHN - 3 consecutive AO qualifying runs
**WTA FINALS - since 2015** 19 - Simona Halep, ROU (10-9) 17 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (9-8) 17 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (8-9) 16 - Angelique Kerber, GER (9-7) 14 - PETRA KVITOVA, CZE (12-2) 13 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (11-2) 13 - Serena Williams, USA (8-5)
**WTA SF - since 2015** 30 - Simona Halep, ROU 29 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (1 in '19) 27 - Angelique Kerber, GER 24 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 24 - Elina Svitolina, UKR 21 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP 20 - PETRA KVITOVA, CZE (1) 20 - Aga Radwanska, POL 19 - Julia Goerges, GER (1)
**WTA ALL-TIME SINGLES TITLES** 167 - Martina Navratilova 154 - Chris Evert 107 - Steffi Graf 92 - Margaret Smith-Court 72 - Serena Williams * 68 - Evonne Goolagong 67 - Billie Jean King 55 - Virginia Wade 55 - Lindsay Davenport 53 - Monica Seles 49 - Venus Williams * 43 - Justine Henin 43 - Martina Hingis 41 - Kim Clijsters 36 - Maria Sharapova * 33 - Conchita Martinez 30 - Tracy Austin 30 - Caroline Wozniacki * 29 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 27 - Gabriela Sabatini 27 - Hana Mandlikova 25 - PETRA KVITOVA * 25 - Amelie Mauresmo 24 - Jana Novotna 21 - Pam Shriver # 20 - Aga Radwanska # 20 - Victoria Azarenka * == * - active; # - without major title
It's a compelling moment in women's tennis with generations clashing and outcomes uncertain. But it's also a treat because the game's artists are finding a way to not only survive but thrive. My piece https://t.co/AwQZz2RrWG
In recent years, the German has been on the *other* side of things when it's come to being the First Seed Out in Melbourne. In 2015 (#7 Sara Errani) and '16 (#32 Belinda Bencic), the unseeded Goerges sent higher ranked players packing in the opening hours of the year's first slam. But as her career began to more fully blossom as she approached age 30, *she's* now become the hunted. The #14 seed at this AO, she started her season by successfully defending her title in Auckland. In the final there, she was erratic early on in her match against Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu, but she managed to turn things around in the 2nd set and went on to win.
The opposite happened vs. Collins.
The two-time NCAA champ (at U-Va.) was something skin to being North America's version of Wang Qiang in '18, putting up by far her best results near home. Some were eye-popping. She won a WTA 125 title in Newport, notched her first tour-level MD win in Indian Wells and getting her first win over a Top 50 player (Madison Keys) en route to the Round of 16, then changed coasts and reached the Miami semis (beating Top 10er Venus Williams) before later in the summer igniting again in the U.S. with a SF run in San Jose. But until today Collins was 0-5 in slam main draws.
Goerges seemed well on her way to making her 0-6. She served for the match at 6-2/5-4, and got within two points of the win before Collins won a 7-5 tie-break to send things to the 3rd set, where she broke the German's serve in the first game. As Goerges' error total (44 for the day) mounted, Collins served for the win at 5-4. An ace gave her double MP. After Goerges chased down a ball behind the baseline, Collins moved in and fired a swing volley off the net cord and into the corner for a match-ending winner, taking the first slam victory of her career by a 2-6/7-6(5)/6-4 score.
It's just another example of the capricious nature of tennis in January. After getting out of the gates quickly, Goerges seemed ready for the AO. Turned out she wasn't. Ironically, in a career defined until only recently by its longtime inconsistency, *this* slam was were the German has always been the most reliable. She last lost in the 1st Round in Melbourne in 2009, her debut appearance there in a MD. She's had seventeen other one-and-out exits -- 3 RG, 7 SW19 and 7 U.S. -- in her career. Her two Down Under, where she's experienced 16 of her 46 career slam match wins, are minuscule in comparison.
Afterward, Collins thanked the fans at MCA for their support. She said that though she's half way around the world from the U.S., they made it feel a little like home.
Hmmm, finding a way to make foreign soil "feel" like home. Could it be that *that's* the hidden secret to consistent tennis success? And now Collins knows all about it. Maybe she'll take advantage of the knowledge in the next round, when she faces -- wouldn't you know it -- another Bannerette in Sachia Vickery.
...as things kicked off on Day 1 in Melbourne the first big battle didn't happen on any particular court, but on several courts. Virtually simultaneously, as the potential site of the First Victory in the main draw bounced around the grounds -- follow-the-bouncing-ball style -- with a number of matches edging toward their finish at the same time.
Rebecca Peterson led Sorana Cirstea 6-4/5-0 on Court 15, but the Romanian held to get on the board in the 2nd set. Moments later, #31 Petra Martic led 6-1/5-2 over Heather Watson on Court 14 as the players came out of a changeover break. Meanwhile on Court 3, #11 Aryna Sabalenka led Anna Kalinskaya 6-1/5-3, though the Russian qualifier was set to serve. Peterson went up 40/love, just as Martic moved to within two points of a win of her own. According to the AO site scoreboard at the time, as Cirstea got things to 40/30, both Peterson and Martic were at MP.
Finally, by a matter of seconds, Peterson put away the first MD win of this slam, followed immediately afterward by Martic.
As those matches wrapped, #30 Maria Sharapova led qualifier Harriet Dart 6-0/5-0 on Laver, Sabalenka served at 6-1/6-4, and Marketa Vondrousova led Evgeniya Rodina 6-3/5-2 on Court 20. All three went on to advance in short order. Sharapova won 6-0/6-0, serving up her first double bagel win since defeating Paula Ormaechea in the Roland Garros 3rd Round in 2014, and her first in Melbourne since opening the slam's 2013 edition with *two* such victories over Olga Puchkova and Misaki Doi.
While Chris Evert spent the opening moments of ESPN2's coverage making a prediction that Sharapova would retire at the end of the season (largely because of her post-suspension spotty health, poor play and inability to defeat top players). Thing is, though, while the Russian surely hasn't usually resembled her former self since her mid-2017 return, she *is* still ranked in the Top 30, and isn't #200 or something. Also, last season she posted her best slam result since coming back (RG QF), and has gone 7-8 vs. Top 20 players during the period in question. Not great, but enough to consider "if she could just stay on the court...", an issue which hasn't quite yet reached the point of throwing up one's hands in frustration and walking off into the sunset.
After her match, Sharapova visited the network's set and had another take on it all.
On set with McKendry and Mary Joe, Sharapova says she still feels her body has a few years left.
I'm not sure why so many are so fired up to push future Hall of Famers out the door, rather than appreciate what little time we have left to watch them, hoping to see a few more "vintage-like" moments while we still can and *enjoying* those rather than always asking "when are you going to retire?" questions. Just simply allow them to make their own decisions in due time, please. But, of course, this has been going on for quite a while (see later for the sort of questions a current player was being lobbed.... back in 2010!).
Maria Sharapova is still motivated by her passion for the challenge, but the 5-time major champion does not fear the future.
“That doesn't make me sad. That makes me excited."
Elsewhere, in another of the matches that opened play, Brit Katie Boulter -- the only one of the Katies in this draw -- handed former AO semifinalist (2015) Ekaterina Makarova a 1st set bagel, then successfully fought off the veteran Russian in a deciding 3rd set that became the first MD singles match (there were a few in qualifying) in Melbourne to employ the new final set Super Tie-break at 6-6. Boulter won it 10-6 to add her second career slam win to the first she picked up last summer in London. And, yes, I'll surely highlight it anytime Boulter does something (anything) this year since she was included on my "Name You'll Know..." list for '19 last month.
Of course, this vow also includes something such as this moment...
In the first ever first to 10-point tiebreak at the Australian Open, Katie Boulter thought she had won the match at 7-4 up. Started celebrating. #AusOpen
Ah, Katie. Someone was going to do it, why not have it be you? But she won so, you know, whatever. And, really, she probably won't be the last caught up in the middle of a premature celebration this week.
...also early in the day, within minutes of one another, Kristina Mladenovic was shipped out 2 & 4 by #29 Donna Vekic, while #19 Caroline Garcia ousted fellow Pastry Jessika Ponchet by a 6-2/6-3 score. And, yes, this sort of symmetry will be a thing until (when, or if) they ever actually meet on the court again and we can close the long-overdue final chapter on that story.
Meanwhile, the young Aussies had quite the day. While the higher ranked and more well known home nation's players either play late Monday night or Tuesday, the various wild cards and qualifiers who took the court during the day had a frightening high rate of success.
First up was Sharma -- by my reasonable assertion the top performer in AO qualifying (she upset the #1 seed and saved 3 MP in the final round) -- who continued a slam journey that began in October/November when she finished fifth in Tennis Australia's two-event Wild Card Challenge, which was won by Priscilla Hon. That was followed by her losing to Kimberly Birrell in the December final of Tennis Australia's Wild Card Playoff tournament. Sharma was ultimately forced into the AO qualifying rounds after TA gave a WC to Zoe Hives rather than her, despite the fact that Sharma had beaten Hives in the Playoff semifinal. But that doesn't matter now (well, not as much), as former NCAA #1 (for Vanderbilt) Sharma defeated Hon in three sets today to record her first career slam MD win.
Later, wild card Birrell defeated Spanish qualifier Paula Badosa for her own first win, while Hives (who'd finished second to Hon in the Challenge, as well, before the loss to Sharma) did the same with a victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Wild card Ellen Perez didn't fair a well a few hours later, through, losing to Wang Yafan 6-4/6-0.
...meanwhile, #5 Sloane Stephens, who hasn't exactly been burning up the courts in the opening two weeks of the season, at least posted her first AO win in four years with a straight sets victory over fellow Bannerette Taylor Townsend. It's her first win in Melbourne since she reached the Round of 16 in 2014, one year after her initial breakout SF run.
Another Bannerette, 17-year old Amanda Anisimova recorded her first career MD win at a major with a 7-6/6-4 win over Romanian veteran Monica Niculescu. Anisimova won the '17 U.S. Open girls title, and especially sparked in '18 in Indian Wells (def. Kvitova) and Hiroshima (reaching her maiden tour final). Today, she recovered from 15/40 to hold and serve out the win.
...the occasion of the second seed of the day falling on Monday afternoon, unfortunately, stayed true to the pattern that has seemingly overtaken her game over the last six months. #22 Alona Ostapenko, whether it's connected to the late season wrist injury from last year or if it's something more ingrained into the fabric of her feast-or-(recently mostly)-famine game, finds herself tasked with climbing out of a suddenly very deep looking hole that threatens her entire season if she can't find her way out. And it's only January 14. On some level, I suppose that *could* be viewed at as a good thing, since she's got an entire season to try to figure things out.
If she can, it's not going to happen in the singles competition in Melbourne, though. For after being dominated in the opening set by Maria Sakkari, then managing to send things to a 3rd set, she was once again handled in the decider to the delight of the many Greek fans in attendance (always ready to rumble, they took to even cheering Ostapenko double-faults and booing replay challenges by the Latvian) at Melbourne Arena (formerly both Vodafone and Hisense). Sakkari jumped out to a 4-1 lead and seemed to hold serve with an ace. But a ahwhatthehell challenge from Ostapenko actually managed to overturn it, and she then saved the GP.
About a year and a half ago, that moment might have turned the match. But not here. Not with Ostapenko as she currently exists. Instead, back-to-back Sakkari aces seemed to once again secure the 5-1 lead. Ostapenko challenge once more, but this time lost the point. Things ended fairly routinely two games later.
Ostapenko has always had holes in her game, but her big weapons were often able to overcome them, sometimes with stunning brilliance. What we're seeing now is what she is when those weapons just aren't as lethal. It makes all her serve and UE sore points -- and they may or may not be worse now than they were back in 2017 -- ever harder (impossible) to overcome. She's now 0-3 on the season, with five straight losses dating back to last year. 1-8 in her last nine matches, she's 4-11 since her Wimbledon semifinal run last summer. Hopefully she'll remain in the doubles (and likely MX) draws for this slam, as her doubles success *did* seem to help her (temporarily) pull herself out of a similar drought early last season... and, you know, I predicted her to have some nice WD/MX success in the majors this year, and I just *have* to look for any possible angle that'll help me put a few more checkmarks on the list, naturally.
For her part, Sakkari will go on to face Sharma. It'll be a match that'll pit the Greek fans against the Aussies in the stands... though it'd be nothing like we could get if things play out and Sakkari wins there and gets Ash Barty -- likely under the lights -- in the 3rd Round.
...in matches later tonight, defending champ Caroline Wozniacki (vs. Van Uytvanck on Laver) and Sydney winner Petra Kvitova (vs. Rybarikova at MA) hit the court for the first time, as will Sydney finalist and Barty Party hostess Ash (vs. Kumkhum on MCA).
...SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO ON DAY 3: Collins vs. Vickery in Melbourne. Two seasons ago in a 1st Rounder in Texas...
...LIKE ON DAY 1: This just kind of made me chuckle. Recreating an emotional reaction for a photo can sometimes go either way... I think Alize came about as close to pulling it off as one could hope, though.
Ready to show all my fighting spirit for this #AusOpen 2019 ?????? ! Starting tomorrow?? Prête à montrer toute ma combativité dès demain sous la chaleur de Melbourne ?????? pic.twitter.com/W0DlGqXGVU
Towards the end, it sort of reminds me of the old Jhoon Rhee ad (I have expected one of the kids to say, "Nobody bothers me... because I'm gonig roller skating.")
As part of the season-long "Decade's Best" look back at the soon-to-conclude 2010's (here's the first nomination list for Players of the Decade, which will get its first new additions -- and subtractions -- once this AO in over), I'm going to be using this space over the course of each slam to give a quick thumbnail sketch of all of the slams that have taken over the first nine years of the decade, leading up to picking the Top 10 players (and other stuff) for each of the four majors.
First up, the 2010 Australian Open...
==NEWS & NOTES==
Serena Williams wins her fifth AO title, and sweeps the singles and doubles crowns. She and sister Venus win their third straight slam WD title, and fourth in a five-slam stretch. They'd go on to win at Roland Garros later that year, too.
=============================================== Wild card Justine Henin reaches the women's final in her first slam since ending her 20-month retirement, losing to Serena in their first and only meeting in a slam championship match. It was their last of fourteen career match-ups (SW 8-6). =============================================== Two Chinese women -- Li Na and Zheng Jie -- reach the semis of a major for the first (and only... so far) time
=============================================== All four of the women's semifinalists survived close calls: S.Williams rallied from 6-4/4-0 down vs. Victoria Azarenka in the QF, Henin trailed Alisa Kleybanova 6-3/3-1 in the 3rd Round, Li saved two MP vs. Agnes Szavay in the 2nd Round and was behind 6-2/5-3 against Venus Williams in the QF, and Zheng began her 1st Rounder vs. Peng Shuai by dropping the 1st set at love =============================================== Nadia Petrova upsets two reigning slam champions -- Kim Clijsters (US) and Svetlana Kuznetova (RG) -- only to lose in the QF to Henin =============================================== Maria Kirilenko upsets Maria Sharapova in the 1st Round in a 3:22 battle. Sharapova is the First Seed Out, as it's her worst slam loss since the 2003 Roland Garros. =============================================== With Esther Vergeer out, her Dutch countrywoman Korie Homan wins the women's wheelchair singles crown, the only slam she'd win in her career =============================================== Henin turns down an offer to sample Vegemite during a visit to the ESPN set on Australia Day, earning yet another Gold Star in this Backspinner's personal highlight book =============================================== Barbora Strycova (then still married and going by Zahlavova-Strycova) and Regina Kulikova play a 1st Round match that lasts 4:18, the longest women's match in AO history. It's surpassed a year later in Melbourne, when Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone engage in a 4:44 marathon in the 4th Round to set the all-time slam mark. =============================================== Karolina Pliskova defeats Laura Robson in the girls singles final. Robson had defeated the Czech's twin sister Kristyna in the semis.
=============================================== Timea Babos & Gaby Dabrowski lose the girls doubles final to Jana Cepelova & Chantal Skamlova. Eight years later, Babos wins the 2018 AO women's doubles with Kristina Mladenovic, while Dabrowski picks up the Mixed title with Mate Pavic, defeating Babos & Rohan Bopanna in the final. ===============================================
==QUOTES== * -"It sucks." -- Kim Clijsters, after her 6-0/6-1 3rd Round loss (in the worst of her career, she had a 5/26 winner/UE ratio) to Petrova
* -"Well, like I said so many times before. If I would have gotten involved in what people said I would have never left the ghetto." - Venus Williams
* -"It was super cool. Prince William was really dapper and suave. You know, he was just basically, 'shazam!' ... "I told him that I might like his little brother better because he's the little brother, and he laughed and said he might like Venus better because she's older." -- Serena Williams, about meeting the visiting Prince William at Melbourne Park
* -"As long as I'm playing great, I'm not putting a number on it yet." -- Venus Williams, 29, when asked about possibly retiring from tennis. Nine years later, she's now in her third decade of participation at the AO.
*RECENT AO "FIRST SEED OUT"* 2005 #16 Ai Sugiyama, JPN (lost to Sucha) 2006 #9 Elena Dementieva, RUS (lost to Schruff) 2007 #25 Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP (lost to Vesnina) 2008 #32 Julia Vakulenko, UKR (lost to Vesnina) 2009 #23 Agnes Szavay, HUN (lost to Voskoboeva) 2010 #14 Maria Sharapova, RUS (lost to Kirilenko) 2011 #28 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (lost to Kulikova) 2012 #19 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (lost to Bratchikova) 2013 #32 Mona Barthel, GER (lost to Pervak) 2014 #7 Sara Errani, ITA (lost to Goerges) 2015 #32 Belinda Bencic, SUI (lost to Goerges) 2016 #17 Sara Errani, ITA (lost to Gasparyan) 2017 #4 Simona Halep, ROU (lost to Rogers) 2018 #13 Sloane Stephens, USA (lost to Sh.Zhang) 2019 #14 Julia Goerges, GER (lost to Collins)
*RECENT AO "FIRST VICTORY" HONORS* 2009 Patricia Mayr, AUS (def. Schruff) 2010 Dinara Safina, RUS (def. Rybarikova) 2011 Evgeniya Rodina, RUS (def. Rogowska) 2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (def. Watson) 2013 Maria Sharapova, RUS (def. Puchkova) 2014 Kirsten Flipkens, BEL (def. Robson) 2015 Julia Goerges, GER (def. Bencic) 2016 Petra Kvitova, CZE (def. Kumkhum) 2017 Monica Puig, PUR (def. Tig) 2018 Duan Yingying, CHN (def. Duque Marino) 2019 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (def. Cirstea)
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xx TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS: xx REVELATION LADIES: xx NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Haddad Maia, Sharma LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: Birrell, Hives LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Day 1 wins: Birrell, Hives, Sharma Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx IT (??): xx COMEBACK PLAYER: xx CRASH & BURN: xx ZOMBIE QUEEN: xx KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx LADY OF THE EVENING: xx DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
To be a Bracelet or a Swashbuckler can be difficult. Just ask Aleksandra Krunic and Dasha Kasatkina. On Day 2, the former ultimately found a way to live up to her moniker, while the latter was a vision of "buckle" without any of the "swash."
I noted this weekend that Krunic's Sydney doubles title with Katerina Siniakova could be the best thing to happen to the Serb, whose long slide since her maiden tour title at Rosmalen last summer had carried over into 2019 with a pair of qualifying losses in the new season. *Any* success, even if doubles, had to be an opportunity to crowbar some confidence and a little Bracelet-style good luck into her psyche and, in turn, results.
Well, that's just what happened on Day 2 in Melbourne.
Arriving on Tuesday with not only a 0-3 AO main draw record for her career (seven of her nine career slam match wins have come at Flushing Meadows), as well as riding a four-match losing streak going back to last fall *and* a 7-12 slump since winning her first career title, Krunic found herself trailing Zarina Diyas 6-3/5-3 today. The Kazakh served for the win. Krunic got the break, then saw Diyas' game fall apart. Krunic took the 2nd set 7-5, and led 4-1 in the 3rd.
During a long, 12-deuce Diyas service game, Krunic was frustrated early by her inability to quickly secure the break (slamming her racket even while she was in control and just two games from the win) She finally did, though, then finished riding the wave of momentum by serving things out, winning a tenth game in the last eleven to win 3-6/7-5/6-1.
Krunic's last win from a set down came in her most recent win -- a 1st Round upset of Elina Svitolina in Beijing last fall after dropping the opening set at love. Before that you have to go back to her consecutive rallies in the SF (vs. Vandeweghe) and final (vs. Flipkens) in 's-Hertogenbosch while winning her first title.
Go Bracelet!
(It won't do any good to say, "Go Dasha!," though. Not anymore.)
In my recap for Week 2, I said...
"January has never been (Dasha) Kasatkina's bag. For all the offseason training she does, she's yet to hit the ground running to start a season. In four years of opening month pro results, she's gone a combined 8-11 on the Dorothy Tour circuit, with just one QF result (Sydney '17). Rather than see an improvement, her season-opening results have gotten worse. 2r-q2-3r-2r-QF-1r results in 2016-17 have been followed (so far) by 1r-1r-2r-1r-1r the last two seasons, including a loss in Week 1 to #283 Kimberly Birrell (after leading 5-3 in the 3rd) and a 1 & 4 exit at the hands of Aliaksandra Sasnovich this week in Sydney."
Well, add another "look away (please!)" moment to that lengthening list. #10 Kasatkina opened well vs. Timea Bacsinszky, the former slam semifinalist still utilizing her protected ranking after returning from hand surgery (she's #145), winning the first three games of the match. The thing is... she didn't win *any* more. The Swiss veteran ended with an "off-schedule double-bagel," winning 6-3/6-0.
I said before the season that if Bacsinszky's health truly was sound (as it gradually seemed to become over the back-half of '18), she could be this year's *big* comeback story. While it'd be great to give her all the credit for such a dominating win over a Top 10 player -- her first such victory since 2017, and first of any kind at a major since that same year at Wimbledon, before her injury -- the majority of the credit/blame likely falls on the shoulders of the Russian, who completely fell apart. Serving at a 49% clip, winning 16% of her second serves (3/19), serving nine double-faults, committing 24 UE's (to just 6 winners), and winning 35% of return points while essentially embodying that final scoreline.
Kasatkina will likely figure things out and get her game in order soon, but come *next* offseason she's really going to have to think about changing things up. Whatever she's doing in November and December, it's just not translating into results in January. What is it they say about continuing to do the same thing and expecting a difference result?
Yeah, that.
Now, where was I? Oh, yeah... go Bracelet! (Wang Qiang is up next... and she's not playing in China.)
=DAY 2 NOTES=
...while there were quite a few big names on the court on Day 1, even bigger guns were sent into battle on Day 2.
Yeah, it's safe to say that the #16 seed looked pretty good.
So did #7 Karolina Pliskova, who did just what she needed to do against fellow Czech Karolina Muchova, taking down the qualifier 6-3/6-2. If she's going to end her career-long major drought, this is just the sort of thing she'd want in the 1st Round after arriving having opened her season with a title run in Brisbane. Now onto what comes next.
After muddling through the first two weeks, bowing out of *two* events early, #18 Garbine Muguruza showed up ready for action today, as well, giving up just five total games to Zheng Saisai.
2012-13 champ Victoria Azarenka, playing her first match in Melbourne since 2016, battled Laura Siegemund, now seemingly *fully* back from knee surgery. Azarenka turned back a 5-2 1st set TB deficit to steal the opening set by winning the final five points to win 7-5. She led 4-2 in the 2nd, only to see the German turn the tables on *her* this time, winning four straight games to send things to a 3rd. Serving up 4-2, Siegemund fought off three BP and avoided having the set go back on serve, holding for 5-2 then breaking Azarenka to close out the win.
Laura Siegemund toughs out a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 win over Victoria Azarenka. #AusOpen
I wrote last year for @NYTSports about Siegemund's comeback from the ACL tear that derailed her soaring rise: https://t.co/ObwVKr8Cw4
Vika's not through with this AO, though. She's scheduled to fill in for the injured CoCo Vandeweghe as Ash Barty's doubles partner.
...for her part, Venus Williams looked to be on her way to joining Azarenka, left behind in the 1st Round of the women's bracket.
She led 5-2 in the 1st and served for the set vs. #25 Mihaela Buzarnescu, only to be broken at love and then losing the subsequent tie-break. The Romanian vet led the 2nd 5-3, only to see Venus flip the script and win another TB to take things to a 3rd set. Williams pulled ahead early there, leading 4-1. Having increased her aggression (she finished 30/38 at the net), Venus went on to take the set 6-2 to record her 52nd AO match win.
#1 Simona Halep (vs. Kaia Kanepi, the player who knocked her out in the 1st Round at last year's U.S. Open) and #4 Naomi Osaka (vs. Magda Linette) are set to complete under-the-lights matches during Day 2's night session to wrap up the 1st Round of play.
...meanwhile, Hobart singles finalist Anna Karolina Schmiedlova was looking to follow up that result with her first slam MD win since the 2015 U.S. Open. On the other side of the net was '18 AO semifinalist Elise Mertens. Whether AKS might have found a way to succeed in a 3rd set against the Belgian is something that will have to remain a mystery, as while the Slovak had a bright and shining chance to push things to a deciding stanza -- she served at 5-3, then had two SP on Mertens' serve a game later -- it didn't happen. Mertens got the break, the hold and then broke again on her way to sweeping the final five games to win 6-2/7-5.
Mertens has taken some minor flack on Twitter this week for ending her doubles partnership with Demi Schuurs (yeah, they won three titles together last year -- but Demi wins titles with almost anyone, and they were hardly an every-week duo) to focus on her singles, only to then see Schuurs (w/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands) pop up as her & Arna Sabalenka's 1st Round WD opponent at this AO. But the fact is that Mertens played *way* too much in '18 because she regularly took part in both disciplines, and did very well in both, too. There was no smart way she could commit to a partnership that was likely to put her through that sort of year-long grind for a second straight season if she wanted to back up her career year and make a push for the Top 10.
In her four most recent slams, Mertens has posted SF-4r-3r-4r results in singles.
...you know it's the Most Interesting Tour if a 1st Round match in Melbourne pits a Sydney-born former Aussie turned Brit vs. a Zagreb-born former Croat turned Aussie. And that's just what we had in the Tuesday match-up between Johanna Konta and Ajla Tomljanovic.
Konta has had much trouble (and many coaches) while trying to follow up her '17 Wimbledon semifinal run, posting 1r-2r-1r-2r-1r results in the five majors since starring at the AELTC; while Tomljanovic has made a successful comeback from shoulder surgery, but was today still seeking her first AO MD win since 2015 in her adopted country.
The Aussie took an early lead in the 1st, but Konta impressively rallied to win the set in a TB. After Tomljanovic pushed things to a 3rd, the match had another TB moment at 6-6 in the 3rd. The umpire gamely announced to all that the match would be decided by a first-to-10-win-by-2 tie-break, as everyone got the chance to remember Katie Boulter's brief moment of infamy from yesterday.
Konta took a 2-0 lead, only to see Tomljanovic win four straight points and build her edge to 6-4 (remember, NOT a MP). The Brit then won three straight of her own, and reached MP at 9-7 when she fired a backhand return winner down the line after Tomljanovic had stopped playing thinking her serve had been out. A forehand crosscourt winner ended the 7-6(4)/2-6/7-6(7) match after 2:51 as Konta got her eleventh career AO match win (of twenty-five in her slam career). Konta has never lost in the 1st Round in Melbourne, having reached at least the 2nd Round in all four appearances (which included SF and QF results her first two times out in 2016-17).
...it's now been five years since Genie Bouchard's breakthrough slam semifinal at the AO (which then led to SF-RU results at the *next* two slams, as well). The 24-year old Canadian is a long way from repeating such results, but she's surely trending in the right direction. She kicked off what has been the best major of her career with a quick 6-2/6-1 win over veteran wild card Peng Shuai, improving to 14-5 at the AO.
.@geniebouchard is rediscovering her love for the game ??
"I'm really enjoying it on the court...before today I was so nervous, and I told my coach, and he was, like, 'That's good. It means you care.'"#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/NnUSvGlUBu
Unfortunately for her, she gets someone named Serena next. So...
Meanwhile, #17 Madison Keys played her first match since last season, dispatching Aussie wild card Destanee Aiava (the new Olivia Rogowska, as she's been given three consecutive AO WC but has yet to post a win or crack the MD at another major) 6-2/6-2. Even with all her injury issues, Keys has posted RU-QF-SF-3r-SF results in her last five majors, and SF-4r-QF finishes in her last three appearances in Melbourne.
...soon after Kasatkina's defeat, Slovenian Tamara Zidansek (another of those "Name You'll Know..." contenders from last year who put up a few too many good results late in '18 to be considered for 2019's official list) took out the other Russian-born Dasha in the draw, eliminating Aussie Gavrilova in straights sets. The newly-engaged Dasha was a Round of 16 participant in Melbourne in 2016-17.
And, no, the Dashas aren't playing doubles together at this slam.
...at some point, you get the feeling Bianca Andreescu is just going to fail to post in a match, her body unwilling to take on another battle and begging for a week or so off. Today wasn't that day, though.
The 18-year old Canadian has already reached the Auckland final as a qualifier this season, defeating the likes of Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams along the way, then immediately followed up by making her way through qualifying (with the help of two retiring opponents, but still) for this AO. Seeking her first career slam MD win, Andreescu faced off with 16-year old Bannerette wild card, Whitney Osuigwe, a former girls slam champ (RG) and junior #1, on Tuesday.
Andreescu managed to find her way to the 2nd Round, but it was far from easy. Up a break in the 1st set, she saw Osuigwe fight back and get back on serve, leading 5-4. But the Canadian picked up her power later, holding for 5-5 and taking a 15/30 lead on Osuigwe's serve a game later. But the younger teenager used a series of good serve to hold, ultimately forcing a TB. Andreescu won it 7-1.
The 2nd set played out with a reversed storyline. Osuigwe had the early break, but was unable to serve out the set. Things went to another TB, with Osuigwe winning it 7-0 as Andreescu physically struggled, bending over between points and having difficult running full out. After taking break lead at 3-2 in the 3rd, Andreescu took one of the series of MTO's she utilized -- as she did in Auckland while battling a lingering hip/back ailment -- during the match. She then held for 4-2, and held the advantage to win 7-6(1)/6-7(0)/6-3.
...later in the early evening, maybe the most immediately ready-to-roll of the *new* group of emerging teens broke new ground in Melbourne.
Dayana Yastremska took a bit of time finding her footing, but once she did she was lights out vs. Samantha Stosur. Stosur led 5-2, only to see the 18-year old Ukrainian proceed to blow past her from there forward, winning five straight games to take the 1st set, then racing to a 5-1 lead in the 2nd. After the Aussie vet held, Yastremska served out her first career slam MD victory. It's Stosur's fourth straight 1st Round exit in Melbourne, where she's gone 4-8 since 2012.
Of course, I say Yastremska is the "most" ready because she slightly older than 17-year old qualifier Iga Swiatek, and because she's the only one with a tour title (for now). Swiatek, too, got her first career MD slam win on Day 2, defeating Ana Bogdan in three sets. Down a break at 3-2 in the 3rd, Swiatek took a medical timeout to have her leg wrapped. Bogdan held for 4-2, but then the Polish teenager swept the final four games, breaking the Romanian on her second MP to get the win.
...Russian Margarita Gasparyan, who made stunning late season progress last year after returning from multiple knee surgeries, defeated qualifier Zhu Lin in three sets. It's her first slam MD win since the 2016 Australian Open, where she reached the Round of 16 in her Melbourne debut. She'd injure her knee later that year and have surgery following Wimbledon, then taking nearly two years to finally get healthy enough for a full-time return to the tour.
Can she eclipse her 4R run at the #AusOpen in 2016 this year?
Are Fila's outfits for this slam *supposed* to make the players look like candy stripers? Especially the pink version, seen below on Ash Barty and Irina-Camelia Begu:
After collapsing to the court in the eighth game of the second set, Andrea Petkovic retires against Irina-Camelia Begu. She appears to be ok and walks to shake hands under her own power. pic.twitter.com/jBI4D6Dsyo
...DISLIKE ON DAY 2: I'm more than a little bit tired of the continuing false narrative on ESPN (mostly from Chris Evert) about Halep's big "letdown" after winning Roland Garros last year. Yes, that win was the highlight of her season, but she *did* at least reach the 3rd Round at Wimbledon, then came to North America and won the Rogers Cup and came within a MP in the Cincinnati final of becoming the first woman to ever win those two BIG tour events in back-to-back weeks. She lost in the 1st Round of the U.S. Open, but her body was breaking down by that point and the back injury ended her season.
I wouldn't term that a "letdown," but I think Evert has for many months been latched onto Halep's post-RG comments about her "only goal" left unfulfilled in tennis being to win Olympic Gold for Romania, and she just won't let it go.
On we go. The 2011 Australian Open...
==NEWS & NOTES==
Kim Clijsters wins her first Australian Open title. It's her fourth straight win in a slam final after starting her career 0-4 in major finals. 3-0 in slam title matches since her '09 comeback from a two-year retirement, her Melbourne win is her final major crown. She retired for good after the '12 U.S. Open, and entered the Hall of Fame in 2017.
=============================================== China's Li Na is the first grand slam singles final from Asia, reaching her maiden championship match after staging a comeback from 6-3/4-2 down vs. Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. She became the first Asian major winner at Roland Garros later that spring, and finally won the AO title in 2014 in her third Melbourne final appearance. Li recently topped the first ever fan balloting for the 2019 Hall of Fame class. =============================================== A year after winning her fifth AO title, Serena Williams missed the '11 tournament after being out since the previous June after stepping on shards of glass in that infamous German nightclub incident =============================================== The 2011 Australian Open proved to be the final major for former #1's Justine Henin and Dinara Safina. The Belgian, who'd injured her elbow at Wimbledon in '10 and was never able to adequately recover, lost in the 3rd Round to Svetlana Kuznetsova; while the Russian lost 6-0/6-0 to Clijsters in the 1st Round. Henin retired on January 26, and entered the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016. Safina played deeper into the '11 season, then disappeared from the WTA tour for good, though her retirement didn't become "official" until 2014. =============================================== Wheelchair legend Esther Vergeer wins her seventeenth career singles major, and eighth AO crown. She also claimed the doubles. Vergeer's 6-0/6-0 win in the final over Aussie Daniela di Toro extended her singles winning streak to a mindboggling 404 matches. It would eventually reach 470. =============================================== Belgian An-Sophie Mestach sweeps the girls singles and doubles titles, defeating Puerto Rico's Monica Puig in the final. Mestach became the junior #1 with the result.
The two finalists' semifinal opponents would go on to have better pro careers. Bouchard reached the Top 5 and played in two slam finals (including the AO) in 2014, while Caroline Garcia would reach the Top 10 in 2017. Puig's career highlight has been her remarkable Gold medal run at the 2016 Olympics, a performance that very well may be *the* best of the decade. Mestach would reach only #98 on the WTA tour, winning zero titles before retiring in September '18. She played just one slam MD singles match (AO '15) in her career.
Mestach claimed the doubles with the Netherlands' Demi Schuurs, who reached the doubles Top 10 in 2018. Mestach never rose above #64, winning two WTA doubles titles. ===============================================
Francesca Schiavone defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th Round, winning a 16-14 3rd set in a match that set the Open era women's slam record by lasting 4:44. In the three-hour final set, Schiavone saved six MP before finally winning on a third of her own. In the end, the Italian was suffering from a groin injury, while the Russian was bedeviled by blisters. =============================================== This happened when Aga Radwanska played Kimiko Date-Krumm in the 1st Round, giving birth to a gif that will outlast us all.
===============================================
==QUOTES== * - Li Na cements her quotable legacy with tales of calling out her husband Jiang Shan (later "Dennis," as in tennis) for him thinking that tennis is "easy" and snoring too much, saying her mom doesn't come watch her matches because "she has her own life," and noting that she keeps her focus by thinking about the prize money she can win
* - Caroline Wozniacki, having fun during a press conference, provides both the answers and questions, and weaves a tale (later revealed to be quite tall) about a kangaroo scratching her leg. (Sparking, by the way, Backspin's "Caro's roo" metaphor about her missing slam title... until 2018, anyway.)
Sometimes it just works out that way.
"I knew I wasn't 100% ready for the new season but I tried to do everything I can to be ready."
After wrist injury, Jelena Ostapenko ready to get to work.
Hmmm, I sense a bit of a "Hillary vibe" here... first, when Sharapova doesn't play well *enough* people run around like their hair is on fire and try to shove her through the retirement door, then when she plays great she's asked stupid questions like that which seem designed to be a centerpiece for a "Maria has no friends on tour" story rehash.
Okay, end of unscheduled rant.
*ALL-TIME AO MATCH WINS* 82 - Serena Williams# 60 - Margaret Court 56 - Lindsay Davenport 55 - Maria Sharapova# 52 - Martina Hingis 52 - Venus Williams# 47 - Steffi Graf 46 - Martina Navratilova 43 - Monica Seles 43 - Kim Clijsters -- #-active
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xx TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS: xx REVELATION LADIES: xx NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1st Rd. wins: Andreescu, Haddad Maia, Sharma, Swiatek, Vikhlyantseva LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1st Rd. wins: Birrell, Hives LAST AUSSIE STANDING: 1st Rd. wins: Barty, Birrell, Hives, Sharma Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx IT (??): xx COMEBACK PLAYER: xx CRASH & BURN: xx ZOMBIE QUEEN: xx KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx LADY OF THE EVENING: xx DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
Say hello to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Again. This time, she might not leave.
The opening weeks of the '19 season have seen the 24-year old from Minsk, in between talking about making a Top 10 run and revealing what her meal choices have been leading up to her matches, doing (nearly) all she can to remind everyone that Aryna Sabalenka isn't the only Belarusian looking to make her mark on tour.
Actually, while her younger countrywoman, currently positioned just outside the Top 10, is seen by most as quite possibly the tour's *next* first-time slam champion, it's #31 Sasnovich who arrived in Melbourne with a better slam history. Until her Round of 16 result in New York last summer, the 20-year old Sabalenka was 0-3 in her slam career. Sasnovich reached *her* maiden 4th Round at a major a few months *before* Sabalenka, at Wimbledon, but didn't suffer any of the three 1st Round exits in '18 majors that Sabalenka did. Instead she reached the 3rd Round at last year's AO and the U.S. Open, as well as winning a match in Paris.
While Sabalenka opened 2019 with a get-ready-her-I-come style title run in Shenzhen, Sasnovich upset Elina Svitolina in Brisbane en route to a Week 1 QF, then qualified in Sydney, took down her second Top 10 player in two weeks (Dasha Kasatkina, though, granted, that doesn't feel *quite* as impressive after the Russian's 1st Round crash-out yesterday) and defeated Timea Bacsinszky (Kasatkina's AO conqueror) to reach the SF. Thing is, her results hit a wall right there. She won just two games vs. Donna Vekic in Brisbane, then only three against Petra Kvitova a week later.
Through three days this week, she's set herself up for another shot at a breakout, though. After posting a 1st Round win over Kirsten Flipkens, Sasnovich took down her third Top 20 opponent of the year today, handling #20 Anett Kontaveit 6-3/6-3.
Coming into this slam, Sasnovich was an obvious not-so-dark horse pick to create a little chaos in her section of the draw. With one seed dispatched by her own hand, she won't even have to face another in the next round, as #9 Kiki Bertens was taken out by up-and-down Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Wednesday. The winner of their match-up will face either #5 Sloane Stephens or #31 Petra Martic for a berth in the Round of 16.
By then, Sasnovich may have posted her full, week-long eating schedule (or maybe all the stores she's thinking about visiting when she has a spare hour or two) while also cultivating a Li Na-esque sense of mystery and anticipation around any moment when a microphone is sure to be placed before her.
...meanwhile, as noted, Sasnovich's next opponent won't be #9 Bertens. Fresh off a season during which she built up her hard court credibility, and just days after a semifinal run in Sydney, the Dutch star failed to get past Russia's Pavlyuchenkova, who chose today to once again take a moment to post the sort of effort and result that makes all those times when she does quite the opposite that much more head-shaking.
Her 3-6/6-3/6-3 win today advances Pavlyuchenkova into the AO 3rd Round for the third time in her career.
Through the years, after a banner junior career that saw her win *three* slam singles titles and reach #1 (2006), Pavlyuchenkova has ridden the tour rollercoaster more often than, well, maybe anyone else. After finishing at #16 in 2011, seemingly ready to make her big move, she spent the next five seasons finishing between #26-#36. After surging again in '17 to #15, and finally looking ready to belatedly live up to her early promise, she slipped back to #42 in 2018, a season which produced arguably her most gritty effort en route to winning the Strasbourg title, saving two MP and defeating Dominika Cibulkova in a three-TB final that lasted 3:35 and saw the Hordette fire 73 winners (13 aces) and eke out a win while holding just an overall two-point (136-134) advantage over the Slovak.
Going over Pavlyuchenkova's career stats are akin to take a tennis-themed Rorschach test designed to either determine the respectability of the Russian's career, or your own sanity and ability to cope with seemingly contradictory facts. Or both. The 27-year old has so far put together the strangest, most frustrating, still-very-good-but-also-seemingly-having-left-so-much-on-the-table career of anyone in her generation.
Her WTA title-winning years date all the way back to 2010, and she's won multiple titles in four different seasons. But with twelve career wins (in eighteen finals), she's one title run away from joining Elina Svitolina as the only two players in tour history with thirteen singles crowns but *zero* trips to a slam semifinal. All thirty-nine other players who've won as often have *at least* one.
In between her casual major "drive-bys" over the years (she has thirteen 1st Round exits in forty-four slams, with sixteen more in the 2nd Round), Pavlyuchenkova has actually managed to be one of just thirteen active women with a Career QF Slam, having reached the final eight in each of the four majors. As one would expect from the Russian, though, her four have felt a little like how every few years or so you might find a $20 (okay, even just a $1) bill on the pavement in the middle of a parking lot. You can never expect such a thing, but it makes your heart go pitty-pat for a second when it does, and for a while you scan *every* parking lot you visit thinking you'll get lucky again.
Pavlyuchenkova's slam quarterfinals come in the form of ONE at each major. Just one. And they've all come in bunches, *many* years apart. She had two in a span of three slams back in 2011, raising hopes for a trend... but then didn't have another for five years, then *again* pulled off two in a three slam stretch.
The last in that run came in Melbourne two years ago, causing one to think (again) she *might* have finally turned a corner. Well, her next seven slams went like this: 2r-1r-1r-2r-2r-1r-1r. Still, during that stretch she's gone 4-1 in tour-level finals and recorded four Top 5 wins (including her first over a world #1 in '17). Her win today gives her twenty-nine career Top 10 victories, with at least one every season since 2009.
What to make of Pavlyuchenkova?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anytime she gets a win like the one today that little voice in the back of your head *still* whispers, "Maybe this time she'll come through... Maybe this time she'll- "
That little voice really needs to shut up.
...meanwhile, the intriguing 3rd Round match-up that'll pit the significant fan bases of the #1 Aussie (Ash Barty) vs. the #1 Greek (Maria Sakkari) in a battle to see which will reign supreme.
In something of a test run, Sakkari handled Aussie qualifier 6-1/6-4 today on Court 3, to the delight of the Greek hordes there to see both her and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Still not sure the candy striper look is really right for her, but if she keeps on winning, hey, go with it.
...elsewhere, the honor of being the first teen (of the six to reach the 2nd Round) to reach the 3rd Round was taken -- gobbled up, really -- by 17-year old Bannerette Amanda Anisimova. She not only defeated #24 Lesia Tsurenko today, she positively owned her. She fired twenty-four winners in just fourteen games, winning 6-0/6-2 to reach her first slam 3rd Round.
Later in the afternoon, after fellow Aussie newcomers Sharma and Zoe Hives (vs. Caroline Garcia) had lost, Kimberly Birrell further solidified her standing as one of the revelations of the early season. Having already posted '19 wins over Kasatkina and Kristina Mladenovic, the #240-ranked, 20-year old wild card pulled away from #29 Donna Vekic in the 3rd set, winning 6-4/4-6/6-1.
Later tonight, the likes of Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber (vs. Beatriz Haddad on Laver) will wrap up the bottom half of the draw's 2nd Round slate under the lights.
...as for a few of the early-round awards...
REVELATION LADIES: rather than go with the usual nation (USA, AUS or RUS) or region (North America), I'm going with the teens. As noted earlier, six -- Andreescu, Anisimova, Potapova, Swiatek, Vondrousova and Yastremska -- reached the 2nd Round. Of the group, two have already won tour titles, and three have reached finals. Only Swiatek has yet to do so... but that distinction won't likely last long.
UPSET QUEENS: The Bannerettes. Danielle Collins knocked out the first seed (#14 Goerges), while Anisimova sent out #24 Tsurenko today after previous defeating Monica Niculescu.
LAST AUSSIE STANDING/LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Barty and Birrell are still in contention as the last home nation player, but Birrell *is* officially the last of the wild cards to breathe air in this draw.
CRASH & BURN: nothing official yet, but it'll take a BIG name going out in shocking fashion in what's left of the 2nd Round to push out #10 Dasha Kasatkina's "off-schedule double-bagel" loss to Timea Bacsinszky after winning the first three games of their 1st Round match.
NATION OF POOR SOULS: there is no real "disaster nation" at this slam, so we'll see how it works out. If nothing pops up, Romania should take it. The Swarmettes went 2-6 in the 1st Round, with Sorana Cirstea being the first player to lose, Niculescu (vs. Anisimova) and Ana Bogdan (vs. Swiatek) losing to teenagers, and Mihaela Buzarnescu squandering a 7-6/5-3 lead vs. Venus. Simona Halep was on thin ice vs. Kaia Kanepi on Night 2, too, but pulled it out. Begu faces Kvitova tonight.
Meanwhile, Germany and France were 2-4 (Kerber plays tonight, Garcia won today) in the 1st Round, while Belgium and Slovakia were both 1-3.
ZOMBIE QUEEN: a number of contenders, but no frontrunner yet. A few:
Venus Williams = trailed Buzarnescu 7-6/5-3 Danielle Collins = Goerges served at 6-2/5-4 Laura Siegemund = trailed Azarenka 7-6/4-2 Simona Halep = was down 7-6 and a break at 2-1 in the 2nd vs. Kanepi Aleksandra Krunic = Diyas served at 6-3/5-3
...LIKE ON DAY 3: Can you hear that sound approaching? Off in the distance...
Azarenka in tears: I’ve been through a lot of things in my life and sometimes I wonder why I go through them, but I think they’re going to make me stronger, I want to believe https://t.co/eOX2S8Chra
*AO "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS* 2004 Hungary 2005 Russia 2006 Spain 2007 Czech Republic 2008 Russia 2009 France 2010 Russia 2011 Russia 2012 Russia 2013 Russia 2014 Australia 2015 Germany 2016 Russia 2017 United States 2018 Ukraine 2019 United States
*AO "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS* 2006 Italy 2007 Belarus 2008 Poland 2009 Kazakhstan 2010 Germany 2011 Czech Republic 2012 Germany 2013 United States 2014 Romania 2015 France 2016 China 2017 Australia 2018 Estonia 2019 Teens (6 in 2nd Rd.)
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Nominee: 1st Rd. - Collins d. #14 Goerges TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS:United States REVELATION LADIES:Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: Andreescu, Haddad Maia, Sharma(L), Swiatek, Vikhlyantseva LAST WILD CARD STANDING:Kimberly Birrell/AUS (in 3rd Rd.) LAST AUSSIE STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Barty, Birrell Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx IT (??): Nominee: Birrell COMEBACK PLAYER: xx CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #10 Kasatkina (loses 12 con games to lost 1st Rd. vs. Bacsinszky) ZOMBIE QUEEN: xx KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Halep DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
Sonya Kenin is new to all this, but Simona Halep has been here before. It's a good thing for the Romanian, too, since on Day 4 she was just forced to play her "warrior card" yet again in the early stages of another Australian Open.
In the last day session match on Laver on Thursday, starting late because of a rain stoppage in the afternoon, world #1 Halep took on up-and-coming Sonya Kenin in a battle of a player who last season finally found her promised land against another who is just beginning to find her way.
The 20-year Bannerette is "getting there," though, gradually. She's already been featured on big slam stages on multiple occasions, playing night matches at the U.S. Open the last two years, first against her idol Maria Sharapova on Ashe in '17, then former #1 and Open finalist Karolina Pliskova last year on Armstrong. The then-teenager was initially nervous but game, and never lost her head. Her second big stage experience proved to be more competitive that her first, as well. So much so that U.S. Fed Cup Captain Kathy Rinaldi, in the stands for the match, called upon Kenin to play a big role in the U.S. FC final effort in Prague last fall. Though she went 0-2 vs. higher ranked Czechs, Kenin showed heart, guts and star potential. With a 3rd Round U.S. Open result and two Top 10 wins under her belt, Kenin finished the year in the Top 50, then won her first career tour doubles title in Auckland in Week 1, and her first singles crown last weekend in Hobart. Two months past her 20th birthday, she came to Melbourne as the youngest player in the Top 50 at #35.
Halep jumped out early, breaking Kenin in the opening game. But Kenin got her feet under her soon afterward. Still down a break, she managed back-to-back love holds while down 4-3. Even at 5-3 down, Kenin was even at 19-19 in total points. But at 5-3, two forehand errors immediately put Kenin down love/30, then a third had Halep at double SP. An errant backhand two points later handed the Romanian the set.
In the 2nd, as had been the case so often on Day 4, one player's greater experience shined the brightest. For a while.
Dropping just one point in her first two service games surrounding a break of Kenin, Halep led 3-0 before Kenin finally got on the board win a hold in game #4 after being taken to four deuces after having led 40/15. If Halep had secured the break, the match may have ended quickly. But that turned out to hardly be the reality. Two UE errors from the Romanian and a swing volley winner from Kenin, followed by a backhand winner into the corner, got the Bannerette the break to get back on serve at 3-2. She held for 3-3, then at love for 4-4 as her confidence (and aggression) grew.
After having seemingly been on her way to a fairly routine win only minutes before, Halep now had to put her foot on the gas pedal a bit more in order to keep ahead of Kenin. She held in a tight game for 5-4 by revving up her serve at key moments, then held at love for 6-5, twice forcing Kenin to match her to stay alive in the contest. And she did just that, taking the set to a TB after converting on her fifth GP after being forced to deuce after leading 40/love.
Kenin swatted a crosscourt forehand winner to go up a mini-break at 3-2. She netted a backhand a point later to give the advantage back, then saw Halep take a mini-break lead by racing to a drop shot and putting away a winner into the corner for a 4-3 lead. Halep split her two service points, handing things over to Kenin with the TB on serve at 5-4. The Bannerette secured both her own points, with a backhand winner giving her a SP at 6-5. She sent things to a 3rd set moments later, winning a rally in which she skidded two shots off the net cord before Halep sailed a shot long.
After having hoped to get off the court without having to go three sets for the second straight round, the world #1 suddenly found herself in just such a predicament.
Kenin was immediately tested in the opening game, and she once again passed the exam with flying colors, holding after saving four BP in a seven-deuce game that lasted twenty points. As the 3rd set progressed with things remaining on serve, with Halep serving from behind, the top seed was increasingly irritated with the proceedings. But she mostly held things in check, and managed to ace Kenin up the "T" to knot the score at 2-2. Kenin led 40/15 in game #5, but netted a short ball backhand off a net cord Halep return, giving the Romanian a BP. She saved it with an unreturnable backhand down the line and went on to hold serve.
A game later, as the hard, aggressive rallies continued, a scrambling Halep won the then longest point of the match, a 17-shot battle that have her a GP. But Kenin won the next two points to reach BP. She missed on a wide forehand, then saw Halep fire an ace on a second BP. On BP #3, Halep pushed a backhand long and Kenin led 4-2. Seeking to consolidate the break, though, the 20-year old faltered, showing her inexperience by immediately displaying her frustration after falling behind 15/30 in the game, perhaps revealing to Halep that the Romanian did indeed still have the match on her racket (and between her ears). Moments later, Kenin's second DF of the match (and just the second overall in the match, 200 points in) gave Halep a BP chance, and a forehand error put the 3rd set back on serve. After holding for 4-4, Halep, in a turnabout from her pre-Roland Garros title past, appeared the picture of calm as her younger opponent's emotion and frustrations more forcefully bubbled to the surface.
Kenin fell behind love/40 in game #9, and after saving two BP with aggressive shot she dropped serve on BP #3, giving Halep the chance to finally serve out the match. She quickly reached triple MP, and on her second MP chance fired a big serve up the middle that Kenin couldn't get back, finishing off the 2:30 match with a 6-3/6-7(5)/6-4 final scoreline. Halep swept the final four games, and claimed fourteen of the last nineteen points.
So, once again Kenin showed great promise, ala in the Fed Cup final, albeit in a losing effort. But if her history tells us anything about yet another member of the new generation of future stars, she'll learn from this, figure out a way to avoid getting down on herself even while in the lead in a big match (a big no-no... just ask Simona), and will be better for it the next time she steps onto a court.
As for Halep, well, she's been here before. A year ago in Melbourne she merely survived the first two rounds of the AO, badly rolling her ankle in the 1st Round, then saving MPs and winning a 15-13 final set in the 2nd. This year, she's been forced to find her game after months without match play and little training, yet winning back-to-back three setters vs. game opponents. All in all, though she finds herself sore and tired (and having slightly pulled something in her leg in the 2nd set running for a shot), she's actually in a *better* position heading into the 3rd Round this year than she was in 2018. And last year she ended up reaching the final.
Of course, we'll soon see if these two hard-fought wins are going to be enough to allow Halep to be a contender for this title following an offseason in which she took off six weeks to recover from a back injury, a situation which allowed her to enjoy Christmas at home for the first time in ages.
But for all the "advantages" in her favor at this year's AO, they may be wiped out by what comes next. Last year she didn't face the prospect of facing *both* Williams Sisters *before* the QF. That *is* the case in 2019. Venus, who won out in three sets over Alize Cornet while Halep/Kenin was taking place, is up next, with Serena likely on deck for the winner.
But that's a battle (or two) for another day, isn't it?
=DAY 4 NOTES=
...as the early part of Thursday's schedule played out, a definitive theme emerged. One that highlighted the importance of experience.
As #6 Elina Svitolina faced off with young Slovak Viktoria Kuzmova, the reigning WTA Finals champ found herself backed into a corner, serving at 4-4 and facing down three BP. It was then that the grit and confidence the Ukrainian showed en route to winning in Singapore last fall finally came to the fore for the very first time this season. Svitolina staved off the break points to hold serve, then broke Kuzmova to steal the set a game later. With a sudden stranglehold on the match, the 2nd set was completed in a flash as Svitolina won 6-4/6-1.
#7 Karolina Pliskova, a former world #1 and slam finalist, fell behind early against Madison Brengle, the Bannerette who struggled for most of a decade (2005-14) to win her first slam MD match and, for a stretch of twenty-four majors from 2008-14 to even make her way through qualifying to play her next main draw match in a major. Brengle took a break lead in the 1st set and led 3-2, saw the Czech take a 4-3 lead, then seized the moment again and won the set 6-4. Then Pliskova ripped a page out of the Book of Petra.
She won the first four games of the 2nd set, then finished off Brengle by claiming twelve of the final thirteen games in a smashing 4-6/6-1/6-0 finish en route to victory.
#27 Camila Giorgi doesn't have the sort of big moments, rankings and titles that Svitolina and Pliskova have posted in their careers. But the Italian with the sudden, big shots has her share of big wins (nine over Top 10 players) and two tour titles. 17-year old qualifier Iga Swiatek, thus far, does not. It showed as Giorgi schooled her today, winning 6-2/6-0 to reach her second career AO 3rd Round.
Meanwhile, 18-year old Canadian Bianca Andreescu has played her heart out in the opening weeks of 2019. Qualifying and reaching the Auckland final in Week 1, counting Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams amongst her victims, and then qualifying for the AO main draw in Week 2. Nursing a back/hip injury, playing earlier this year with a wrap on her thigh, and often appearing (between MTO's) to be dragging her body form one corner to the other for most of a month, you knew the day would eventually come when she would have nothing more to give.
It didn't quite happen in any sort of head-down, get-me-out-of-here sort of way that you often see from a young player being physically tested over and over again on increasingly bigger stages for the first time. But, in the end today vs. #13 Anastasija Sevastova, Andreescu's fuel gauge was clearly flickering around "E."
After Sevastova took the opening set, Andreescu (we now know for certain) characteristically reached down and found her fight. Up 2-1 in the 2nd and having reached BP, she squandered a big moment with three consecutive UE's, then saw the Latvian fire an ace to hold for 2-2. Andreescu then dropped serve, only to get the break back a game later. From love/40 down in game #7, the teenager managed to hold on to take a 4-3 lead. After a brief hold up for some drizzling rain, Andreescu broke Sevastova and served out the 2nd set.
Not dead yet.
She broke to open the 3rd then, after dropping serve a game later, had a chance to get the break back with two MP chances in game #3. Often bending over and squating between points (wincing due to that back/hip), Andreescu nonetheless continued to fire back shots. After failing to convert a third BP chance, she swatted her racket on the court and cracked it. After retrieving another, she fired off another shot and landed a fourth BP. But Sevastova got the hold for 2-1. It was likely the most important game of the match.
In game #6, Andreescu fell behind love/40, and after chasing down a ball in the left sidelines she stopped running as Sevastova directed a winner into the open court. The Canadian grabbed at her ankle, then limped back toward the court down 4-2. She cracked another racket after losing a 15/30 lead on Sevastova's service game moments later, then pushed a shot long to go down 5-2. Still only a break down even as she was clearly physically struggling, Andreescu needed to hold to give herself another chance. But Sevastova knew what to do to prevent that. At 15/15, she moved the ball around the court, keeping the teenager off balance while making her run and hit several extra shots (as a scrambling Andreescu couldn't get enough behind two deep-court overheads to end the rally) until she couldn't get one back over the net. Having gone as far as she could, Andreescu's thrilling (and taxing) January experience finally came to an end two points later as Sevastova put away a winner behind her in the back court, winning 6-3/3-6/6-2 to reach her third AO 3rd Round, and second in the past three years. Her best run Down Under has been a Round of 16 result in 2011 in the first phase of her career.
A brilliant January comes to a close for Bianca Andreescu.
11 wins in 12 matches finally took their toll on he 18-year-old, as she succumbs 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Anatsasija Sevastova in the #AusOpen second round.
Three years and three knee surgeries ago, Margarita Gasparyan reached the Round of 16 in Melbourne. But #12 Elise Mertens reached the semifinals *last* year.
The Belgian raced to a 4-0 lead in the 1st set and won it 6-1. But once the Russian found her feet, she threatened to send things to a decide. With Mertens serving down 5-3, Gasparyan failed to put away three SP, but the Waffle's third DF of the game gave the Hordette a fourth chance. Mertens saved it by winning a 21-shot rally, and then held for 5-4. Having lost her edge, Gasparyan never really got it back. Mertens got the break a game later and held for 6-5. The Russian led 30/15 on serve in her attempt to force a TB, but a few wonky one-handed backhand shots blew things up one final time. She saved MP with a backhand down the line as Mertens fell behind the baseline, but another wayward backhand from Gasparyan gave the Belgian a second MP. A final backhand error ended it, as Mertens won 6-1/7-5 to reach the 3rd Round at her fifth straight major.
...Swiatek and Andreescu's loses, along with that of Anastasia Potapova today to #17 Madison Keys and Day 3's loss of Marketa Vondrousova to Petra Martic, officially erased four of the six teens from the draw who won 1st Round matches at this slam. Only Amanda Anisimova won yesterday, leaving Dayana Yastremska as the last teenager left to make an attempt to join her in a maiden slam 3rd Round.
The 18-year old Ukrainian was taking on #23 seed Carla Suarez-Navarro in a match still on court at the time of this post. The Spaniard was labored in her movement (by an apparent knee injury, one suspects, as she had tape on her left knee), and fell behind 6-3/3-1. She turned the momentum in her favor late in the 2nd, though, and took things to a 3rd set.
...in doubles, winners included #1 Krejcikova/Siniakova, #3 Babos/Mladenovic (the defending champs), #6 Hradecka/Makarova, #7 Chan/Chan and Ostapenko/Cirstea. #3 seeded Dabrowski/Xu fell to, of course, an all-Czech duo. In this case, Strycova/Vondrousova.
Two days after being ousted in singles by Laura Siegemund, then tearfully talking about her struggles to return to form on the court while also going through a custody battle off it, Vika Azarenka played her first doubles match with Ash Barty against the #16 seeds, Peng Shuai & Yang Zhaoxuan.
While the doubles seemed a way for Azarenka to find some current light in the tunnel, for a few moments it appeared as if she might leave with more bad memories. With Barty serving up 4-3 in the 3rd set, Vika had back-to-back net errors as the pair dropped serve. They got the break back a game later, but then Azarenka lost her serve, as well, ending the game by hitting a forehand shot into the middle of the net. At 5-5, the rains came and stopped play on all the outside courts and suspended play on the open-roofed show courts.
Barty/Azarenka immediately broke the Chinese duo when play resumed, and Barty served for the match. Down double BP at 15/40, they got a reprieve when Peng fired a shot long on BP #1, then Barty's service winner saved #2. On a third BP, Barty chased down a ball to the outer edge of (the wonderful looking) Court 7 (literally, she had to hold up her arm to avoid crashing into the wall below the covered spectator area after hitting a forehand and bumping up against the stands). Her shot ripped crosscourt between Peng and Yang, the latter of which did the full splits as she changed direction at the baseline and couldn't make an attempt at a return shot.
Barty & Azarenka won 7-5/4-6/7-5 two points later.
"YES" Azarenka smiling and giving an high 5 to Barty after winning 7-5 in the decider their doubles
Later, Elise Mertens & Aryna Sabalenka knocked off #15 seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Demi Schuurs in three sets. Mertens & Schuurs won three titles together last year.
...the late-starting night session is set to feature Serena Williams vs. Genie Bouchard, as well as Garbine Muguruza vs. Johanna Konta. We can probably foresee what will happen in the former, but we'll have to wait and see which version of either player in the latter decides to show up on this night before we have any earthly idea what to expect.
...AND IT'S COME TO THIS IN JANUARY 2019 ON DAY 4:
There are fake print editions of The Washington Post being distributed around downtown DC, and we are aware of a website attempting to mimic The Post’s. They are not Post products, and we are looking into this.
This is the greatest thing I’ve seen at the #AusOpen? ?!
Two old ladies fighting over Aryna Sabalenka’s headband, which she threw into the crowd! ??
Security came and escorted both women from the stadium. They also took the headband away as neither of the ladies would let go. pic.twitter.com/tv0I2mdaTt
...DID YOU REALIZE...? ON DAY 4: That if you combine "Halep" with "Kenin" you get "Henin?"
(Yeah, you also could get "Kalep"... but that's just stupid.)
Up next, the 2012 Australian Open...
==NEWS & NOTES==
Victoria Azarenka -- sporting the (quite famous, at one time, in these parts) white shorts look -- wins her maiden slam crown, defeating former #1's Kim Clijsters (SF) and Maria Sharapova (F) in back-to-back matches.
Two years earlier in Melbourne, she'd lost a 6-4/4-0 lead in the QF vs. Serena Williams, twice failing to serve out the match. Williams then went on to win the title the year.
Azarenka ascended to the #1 ranking in the world for the first time at the conclusion of the tournament. =============================================== Four years after she won the AO title, Maria Sharapova's appearance in the final is her second in a major since her late 2008 shoulder surgery. She'd become the first with such an injury to win a slam crown later that season at Roland Garros. =============================================== The 2012 AO was Kim Clijsters' final appearance in the event, as she eventually retired following that season's U.S. Open after seeing a string of injuries hamper her play or keep her out of action. The maladies included an injured ankle incurred while dancing at a wedding in the spring of '11, costing cost her most of the clay season, then the worsening of the injury forced her to miss Wimbledon. She decided to end her season four months early soon after and missed the U.S. Open, where she'd won the previous two titles. She had hip spasms in Brisbane in early 2012 and retired from a match, then badly rolled her ankle in the AO 4th Round vs. Li Na. She rallied to win that match (saving 4 con. MP from 6-2 down in the 2nd set TB), then beat Caroline Wozniacki in the QF en route to the semis, where she lost to Azarenka. =============================================== Petra Kvitova's semifinal result was her (so far) best career result in Melbourne, coming six months after her maiden slam title run at Wimbledon in 2011. There was even a SuperPetra sighting Down Under, as the Czech trailed Vera Dushevina 0-2, love/30 in the 1st Round, then she reeled off sixteen straight points, 19-of-20 and 24-of-27 to win the 1st set and go on to claim the final twelve games of the match.
Never having reached #1 (yet) in her career, Kvitova had a shot in the weeks before the '12 Australian Open. Needing to win in Sydney in Week 2 (an event she later won in '15 and '19), she blew a 6-1/3-1 lead in the semis vs. Li and lost. =============================================== In her first appearance in the AO since her title run in 2010, Serena Williams lost to Ekaterina Makarova in the Round of 16, her first defeat in Melbourne since 2008. The 6-2/6-3 scoreline tied her career record for fewest games won in a slam match. Until falling to the Russian, Williams has won fourteen straight AO matches, and was 25-1 back to 2003. =============================================== Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the Mixed Doubles with Horia Tecau, claiming her first career slam title. As 2019 began, BMS had won a total of eight slam titles (5wd/3mx). She's a Wimbledon MX title away from a Career Golden MX slam, having won in the Olympics with Jack Sock in '16, as well as a Wimbledon WD title from a Career WD Slam, as well.
=============================================== Svetlana Kuznetsova & Vera Zvonareva won the women's doubles, becoming the first all-Russian duo to win such a title in a major. (Larisa Savchenko & Natasha Zvereva won two slams in 1989 and '91 while representing the USSR.) =============================================== Back after a one year absence, Dutch wheelchair legend Esther Vergeer won her 20th career slam singles and 20th career slam doubles crowns, defeating countrywoman Aniek Van Koot 6-0/6-0 in the singles final. It'd be Vergeer's final AO, as she'd retired before the '13 season after winning her final slam crowns at Roland Garros (s/d) in her last major, then sweeping the Paralympics Golds in London that summer. With seven Golds (4s/3d) and a Silver (wd) in her career, she's the most decorated Paralympic tennis athlete ever. =============================================== 15-year old Taylor Townsend sweeps the girls singles and doubles crowns, defeating Yulia Putintseva (then-RUS) in the final. She became (and still is) just the second U.S. girl to claim the AO crown (1989-Kim Kessaris), and the first Bannerette to sweep a slam's junior titles since 1992 (Lindsay Davenport at the U.S. Open). She additionally would become the first U.S. girl to finish as the girls #1 since 1982 (Gretchen Rush), and went on to win three of the season's girls doubles slam titles in 2012.
Genie Bouchard reached her second straight girls semifinal. Two years later, she'd play in the women's final. =============================================== Caroline Wozniacki was the #1 women's seed at the 2012 AO, the sixth straight seed at which she sat atop the draw. It was the longest streak for a woman since Martina Hingis was the top seed at eleven straight between 1998-2001. Serena Williams would surpass both streaks from 2013-16, with fifteen consecutive #1 seeds. =============================================== Three years after her dream comeback QF run in Melbourne, Aussie Jelena Dokic played her final career slam singles match at the '12 AO, losing in the 2nd Round to Marion Bartoli under the lights on Laver on Night 4. She'd play just seven more singles matches in her career that season, winning only one (vs. Mladenovic in Kuala Lumpur). Her final pro match came in Melbourne in 2014 in a doubles match with Storm Sanders, a 1st Round loss to Rybarikova/Voegele. ===============================================
==QUOTES== * -"The whole country probably hates me right now." - Sorana Cirstea, after defeating #6-seeded Aussie Samantha Stosur in the 1st Round
* -"THIS is the dream." - Petra Kvitova, when asked if she dreamed of tennis accomplishments as a kid, after recovering from a 2-0, 30/15 3rd set deficit vs. Carla Suarez-Navarro in the 2nd Round
* -"I gave it some milk, and it just spit it all over me. I was like, is this the thank you I get for just being nice and petting the kangaroo? I got milk all over myself. I guess I deserved that for the story last year." - Caroline Wozniacki, on her latest zoo encounter with a kangaroo, one year after having spun a tall tale during the '11 AO about being scratched by a 'roo, a story that most thought was a true one at the time
* -"I'm 24 years old, almost 25. I love this sport as much as I loved it, you know, when I was at that age (17, when she won Wimbledon). I've also been through a lot of tough times. I've also said the success that I can achieve, the fact that I got myself back to being Top 5 in the world, playing tennis again, playing at a high level, competing at this level is pretty remarkable from where I was on a surgery table, not knowing if I'd ever be able to hit a serve again." - Maria Sharapova
* - [Commentating a match featuring Italian Sara Errani] "She's so busy on the return of serve my calves are getting sore just watching her." - Martina Navratilova * - [When asked if Errani plays with the same zest as countrywoman Francesca Schiavone] "She plays with the same kind of passion. I think it's something in the pasta."
* -"I think it's just too loud. I don't think it's very necessary to scream that loud. So if they (the WTA) want to do something, why not?" - Aga Radwanska, when asked about rules being instituted against players grunting during points * - [On Sharapova's on-court noise] "About Maria, I mean, what can I say? For sure that is pretty annoying and just too loud." * -"Isn't she back in Poland already?" - Maria Sharapova, when told of Radwanska's comments. Sharapova reached the final, while Radwanska had lost in the quarterfinals.
* - [On Caroline Wozniacki] "Today you just can't let yourself get pushed back. She has to try to move in, step forward, otherwise there is always going to be somebody coming on top of her at a grand slam. She's a great player. I wish I would see her come in a little bit more." - Martina Hingis
* -"We won the match like, twice!" - an angry Elena Vesnina, after she and partner Sania Mirza finally defeated Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond in the QF on their 8th MP. They *thought* they'd won on their 7th MP on a double bounce that wasn't called, the umpire didn't see and that Huber refused to admit had happened. The whole thing set off an on-court argument involving Mirza and (especially) Vesnina and Huber. Raymond, who was brought to tears by it all, later apologized to Mirza & Vesnina for Huber's actions and tweeted congratulations. Vesnina tweeted back, "Thank you Lisa. It was great match and u are better player and person on and off the court, then your partner!!!” Vesnina and Huber would get involved in another incident later in the season at Wimbledon.
* -"It's a dream come true. I have been dreaming and working so hard to win the grand slam, and being #1 is a pretty good bonus. Just the perfect ending and the perfect position to be in." - Victoria Azarenka
*SERENA WILLIAMS at THE SLAMS* 69-1...1st Round ['12 RG: Razzano] 66-2...2nd Round ['98 AO: Venus; '14 RG: Muguruza] * 58-8...3rd Round 49-8...4th Round (1 w/o) 36-13...Quarterfinals 31-5...Semifinals 23-8...Finals == 62-22...three-setters AO: 15-6 RG: 17-8 WI: 17-4 US: 13-4 == walkover L: 4r 2018 RG (Sharapova) == WHEN LOSES 1st SET: 39-37 -- * - to play AO vs. Bouchard
*AO "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING" WINNERS* =2006= Olga Savchuk, UKR (3rd Rd.) =2007= Anne Kremer, LUX (all 2nd Rd.) Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS Tamira Paszek, AUT Julia Vakulenko, UKR Renata Voracova, CZE =2008= Marta Domachowska, POL (4th Rd.) =2009= Elena Baltacha, GBR (all 2nd Rd.) Alberta Brianti, ITA Sesil Karatantcheva, KAZ =2010= Yanina Wickmayer, BEL (4th Rd.) =2011= Vesna Manasieva (now Dolonc/SRB), RUS (3rd Rd.) =2012= Nina Bratchikova, RUS (3rd Rd.) =2013= Valeria Savinykh, RUS (both 3rd Rd.) Lesia Tsurenko, UKR =2014= Zarina Diyas, KAZ (3rd Rd.) =2015= Lucie Hradecka, CZE (3rd Rd.) =2016= Zhang Shuai, CHN (QF) =2017= Mona Barthel, GER (both 4th Rd.) Jennifer Brady, USA =2018= Denisa Allertova, CZE (4th Rd.) =2019= Bianca Andreescu, CAN (all 2nd Rd.) Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA Astra Sharma, AUS Iga Swiatek, POL Natalia Vikhlyantseva, RUS
*AO "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"* 2012 GBR (0-4 1st Rd.; all on Day 1) 2013 AUS (1-6 in 1st Rd., 1-7 overall) 2014 ITA (top-seeded #7 Errani & #12 Vinci out 1st) 2015 CHN (year after Li champ, 1-5 in 1st Round) 2016 AUS (1-8 in 1st Rd.; only AUS-born in 2nd is a Brit) 2017 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., First Loss, 1st Seed Out, 3 Top 32 defeats) 2018 USA (0-8 start/1-9 on Day 1; 3/4 of '17 U.S. Open SF ousted) 2019 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed)
*AO WOMEN'S DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 2008* 2008 Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko 2009 Serena Williams / Venus Williams 2010 Serena Williams / Venus Williams 2011 Gisela Dulko / Flavia Pennetta 2012 Svetlana Kuznetsova / Vera Zvonareva 2013 Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci 2014 Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci 2015 Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Safarova 2016 Martina Hingis / Sania Mirza 2017 Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Safarova 2018 Timea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic 2019 ?
**AO MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 2009** 2009 Sania Mirza & Mahesh Bhupathi 2010 Cara Black & Mahesh Bhupathi 2011 Katarina Srebotnik & Daniel Nestor 2012 Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Horia Tecau 2013 Jarmila Gajdosova & Matthew Ebden 2014 Kristina Mladenovic & Daniel Nestor 2015 Martina Hingis & Leander Paes 2016 Elena Vesnina & Bruno Soares 2017 Abigail Spears & Juan Sebastian Cabal 2018 Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic 2019 ?
*BACK-to-BACK US/AO TITLES OVER TWO SEASONS - Open era* 1969-70 Margaret Court, AUS 1970-71 Margaret Court, AUS 1988-89 Steffi Graf, FRG 1989-90 Steffi Graf, FRG 1991-92 Monica Seles, YUG 1992-93 Monica Seles, YUG 1993-94 Steffi Graf, GER 1997-98 Martina Hingis, SUI 2002-03 Serena Williams, USA 2003-04 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL 2008-09 Serena Williams, USA 2010-11 Kim Clijsters, BEL 2014-15 Serena Williams, USA
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Nominee: 2nd Rd. - #1 Halep d. Kenin TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS:United States REVELATION LADIES:Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska NATION OF POOR SOULS:Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.) LAST WILD CARD STANDING:Kimberly Birrell/AUS (in 3rd Rd.) LAST AUSSIE STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Barty, Birrell Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx IT (??): Nominees: Anisimova, Birrell, Yastremska COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominee: Bacsinszky CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #10 Kasatkina (loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky) ZOMBIE QUEEN: xx KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Halep DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
The WTA talent pool is deep, varied and complicated. As we stand, it comes in waves of all shapes, shades and demeanors, with one generation of players doing battle with another on a regular basis.
20-year old Aryna Sabalenka came into Day 5 in an enviable position amidst this landscape, standing just outside the Top 10 and considered to be the "next star" set to explode on the slam stage. But before the afternoon was finished the player who is just barely the "present" on tour already had "the future" breathing down her neck. In the form of Amanda Anisimova.
On this day, the 17-year old Bannerette demanded equal time. And she got it, and then some.
Sabalenka, though she's only gone as far as the Round of 16 in one slam draw, was the third favorite to win the women's title at this Australian Open. She opened her season by winning a singles title. Blessed with big shots and an even bigger presence, the Belarusian just looks like someone who should be lifting shiny trophies. And she probably will some day.
But she's not the only one.
Anisimova knows what promise feels like, too. New Jersey born and Miami raised (since she was 3), she won the U.S. Open girls title in 2017 after having reached the Roland Garros junior final a season earlier. Both before and after an ankle injury knocked a hole in a significant portion of her season (forcing her to miss RG and SW19), she more than carved out a spot in limited WTA action that begged for an RSVP to her future. The long-legged and calm teen, armed with big flat groundstrokes and smooth movement around the court, burst onto the scene last spring by becoming the first 16-year old to reach the Indian Wells Round of 16 since 2005, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and #9 Petra Kvitova along the way. After returning from her Miami ankle injury, she picked up where she left off, putting up another good big event result (Cincinnati 3rd Rd.) and reaching her maiden tour final in Hiroshima.
Already with Melbourne wins over Monica Niculescu and Lesia Tsurenko, the #87-ranked Anisimova (she's the youngest player in the Top 100) was consistently on top of Sabalenka's big shots, blasting back quick and deep replies from the baseline that tied up and frustrated the #11 seed. Accepting of the moment and showing no hit of twisted stomach or lightheadedness in the moment, Anisimova faced just one break point the entire match as she proceeded to pluck the proverbial "brass ring" from Sabalenka's grasp and slip it into her own back pocket for a while.
After holding a break advantage at 4-2 in the 1st set, Anisimova wasted little time. She took a love/40 lead on Sabalenka's serve in game #9, and on her third set point secured a 6-3 win before the Belarusian had even experienced her first BP opportunity.
Following an easy hold to open the 2nd set, the teenager continued to play the role of "the natural." Stepping inside the baseline she swept a backhand crosscourt for a winner to lead 15/40. A clear return winner down the line got the break for 2-0 lead. Sabalenka finally saw her first BP chance a game later, but Anisimova swatted it away, then held with a down the line backhand.
Anisimova very nearly shut the door on Sabalenka by the end of game #4, taking a 15/40 lead with a double-break lead within reach. Though frustrated by what was coming back at her from the other side of the net, the 20-year old collected herself and held serve. After a love hold from Anisimova for 4-1 -- as the teen raced to the changeover area, Tennis Channel's Mary Carillo gleefully exclaimed, "Look at her, prancing around like a spring lamb!" -- she went up love/40 on Sabalenka's serve after a return shot caught the net cord and dribbled over onto the Belarusian's side of the court. But Sabalenka clung to her faltering comeback hopes, digging out of the hole to hold again. Just in case.
But she probably knew her time was nearly up.
As Anisimova took a 40/15 lead in the following game, Sabalenka threw down her racket multiple times, sending her dampener flying across the court and providing a foreshadowing bit of drama for the teenager's hold for 5-2 a few moments later. Serving to stay alive in the match, Sabalenka instead saw Anisimova fire a return deep into the corner, then come in behind the shot and deliver a wickedly angled backhand that the Belarusian ran down in the left sideline but could only stretch and barely touch with her racket. It was 30/30. A deep shot off the baseline proved unreturnable as Sabalenka framed the ball off a short bounce, giving Anisimova a MP. Again the 17-year old fired a ball deep into the court in the middle of a rally, and again it was too much for Sabalenka to effectively handle. She sailed her reply, and Anisimova had won 6-3/6-2 in just 1:05.
For the day, the teenager had 21 winners to just 9 UEs, as well as a handful of age-related markers with her name attached to them.
Amanda Anisimova is the youngest American to reach the Round of 16 at a major since Serena Williams at 1998 Roland Garros, and youngest American to reach R16 @AustralianOpen since Jennifer Capriati in 1993. #AusOpen
Anisimova's first slam Round of 16 comes in her third major. Sabalenka's first came in her fifth last summer in New York. The Belarusian remains ahead of the Bannerette on the generational evolutionary scale. But she, as well as the rest of Generation PDQ, have yet another power-hungry and strong-willed member to worry about.
(And, meanwhile, somewhere Kathy Rinaldi's smile surely grew three sizes this day.)
=DAY 5 NOTES=
...after a moderate rain delay and several long matches pushed play all the way back to almost 3:30 a.m. in Melbourne on Night 4, the weather shut down all the courts except for the ones with roofs in the early hours of Day 5.
In the only women's match to be played amongst the first-up contests on court, #15 Ash Barty jumped on Maria Sakkari early in the 1st set on Laver, leading 3-1. The Greek got things even at 5-5, but the Aussie pulled away to take the set 7-5, then put her away 6-1 in the 2nd.
...in a battle to see which player could follow up a big win with another, well, it was no contest.
As she did after big wins in the season's opening weeks, Aliaksandra Sasnovich (def. 20 Kontaveti) barely showed in her next outing. Her 3rd Round match-up with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (def. #9 Bertens) lasted just sixty minutes. The Russian stoned the Belarusian in a love 1st set, and only allowed three total games in the 2nd. She had just eight UE, and faced just one BP in the match.
It's the Hordette's sixth career slam Round of 16 result in 45 majors. In four of her previous five such situations, she won another match to reach the final eight.
Pavlyuchenkova's win, even before #30 Maria Sharapova took the court later, extended a bit of Hordette slam history that goes all the way back to *before* that big Revolution year of 2004 when three Russians won major titles. Her win means at least one Russian has reached the Round of 16 at 71 of the last 74 slams. Since 1998, a Russian has failed to advance to the 4th Round just once (last year) in Melbourne.
The only misses: 2013 Wimbledon, 2016 U.S., 2018 AO
...in a match-up of both former #1's and past AO champions (in editions a full decade apart -- 2008/18 -- as far as the latter goes), #30 Maria Sharapova used the occasion of her first match-up since 2015 with defending champ and #3 seed Caroline Wozniacki to answer a few of the questions about her ability to return to a place of legitimate prominence on the WTA tour, while the Dane will be left with the memory of seeing her first slam title defense slip away in a match in which she wasn't as aggressive as she surely needed to be when the moment called for it later in the match.
Wozniacki led 3-1 in the opening set, but a DF put the stanza back on serve. When Sharapova broke to take a 5-4 lead, the Dane angrily fired a ball into the stands (though she didn't receive the should-be-customary penalty/warning for the action). The Russian closed out the 6-4 set by winning her fifth straight game in one of her best extended displays in a big match since her return from suspension.
Wozniacki took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd. Sharapova got the set back on serve, but was broken to end it as the Dane sent things to a 3rd with a 6-4 win.
Knotted at 3-3 in the decider, Sharapova ramped up her game in what turned out to be the most important moment of the match. Sort of how she always used to. A big service return gave her a love/30 lead on Wozniacki's serve, then an even bigger crosscourt return of a second serve made it 15/40. She sprayed a shot on her first BP, then saw Wozniacki work the ball around the court until she elicited an offbalance error on the second. Wozniacki fired an ace, but Sharapova responded by blasting a series of shots down lines on opposite sides of the court until the Dane didn't get one back. A loose Wozniacki error gave the Russian a third BP chance, and her lunging return into the corner set up a forehand winner into the opposite side of the court to take a break lead at 4-3.
Big serves and groundstrokes followed, as Sharapova feasted on a series of short-landing Wozniacki shots. She held at love for 5-3, then reached MP a game later when the Dane DF'd on a 30/30 point. Wozniacki fought off one MP, but not the second that came soon afterward. Sharapova claimed the 6-4/4-6/6-3 victory, losing just five points on serve in the 3rd set.
It's the 25th Top 3 win in Sharapova's career, but her first since knocking off Simona Halep in the 1st Round of the U.S. Open in 2017. It's only the second such win since her return, and just her third since 2014.
While her performance will quiet some naysayers, at least for a while, it's interesting to note that this actually gives Sharapova four Round of 16-or-better results in her six slam appearances since the suspension. In truth, contrary to popular opinion, she hasn't been a ghost of her former self the last two seasons. She just hasn't been "right," by her past high standards (mostly due to an inability to stay healthy), leading to the lack of the sort of results (and accompanying confidence in tense situations) that formed the foundation of her (future) Hall of Fame career.
Her play in the seventh game (and beyond) in the 3rd set tonight, though, could go a long way toward pointing her in the right direction.
#5 Sloane Stephens, who hadn't won an AO match in four years until a few days ago, was made to work by #31 Petra Martic, who was looking to repeat her Round of 16 result from a year ago. The Croat led Stephens 3-1 and 4-2 in the 1st, but lost an 8-6 TB, then again led 3-1 in the 2nd only to see Stephens once more rally to win another TB (7-5) to close out the match.
After a slow start to her '19 campaign, Stephens is working her way into this tournament. She's shown in the past that she can catch a groove and begin to roll with Futuristic fervor. She'll face Pavlyuchenkova next in her attempt to keep the momentum going.
Still to play on Day/Night 5 are Kvitova/Bencic to wrap up the matches scheduled for during the day session, and then Garcia/Collins (MCA) and newly-turned-31 Kerber vs. Birrell (Laver) from the night schedule.
...LIKE ON DAY 5... Day 4... well, yeah, actually, Day 5: The Best Match Hardly Anyone Saw?
Midnight madness: Garbine Muguruza finally won what is believed to be the latest-starting match in Australian Open history, edging Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5 in an after-midnight marathon that began at 12:30 a.m. and concluded at 3:12 a.m. on Friday. https://t.co/gnRG7GjY9bpic.twitter.com/QIzJ2lGvyf
Victoria Azarenka defeats Li Na in the single final and becomes the only woman in the decade to successfully defend her AO title.
At the height of her powers, Azarenka reels off victories in 26 straight matches dating back to the 2012, and doesn't lose her first on-court match in '13 (she had two walkovers) until May. By the end of the season she sports a 26-2 record in the hard court slams of 2012-13, reaching the finals of all four, defeating future Hall of Famers Li and Sharapova for titles, and taking Serena Williams to three sets twice (serving for the match vs. Serena in the '12 US final). =============================================== Li Na's appearance in the final is the third of her slam career, and her second in three years in Melbourne. She would return to the final a year later, finally winning the title in her last appearance at the AO. =============================================== The tournament opened with each member of the triumvirate of talent at the top of the womens' game -- Azarena, S.Williams and Sharapova -- with a shot at the #1 ranking. Azarenka had assumed the top spot after winning the AO in '12, and retained it for all but four weeks (Sharapova) until February 18, 2013. At that point Williams replaced her at #1, and held onto the position for 186 straight weeks until she was moved aside by Angelique Kerber in September 2016. =============================================== Sloane Stephens has her intitial breakout slam moment, reaching the semifinals after upsetting S.Williams in the QF. She's the first U.S. woman younger than Serena to ever defeat her.
In the semis, Stephens is dominated by Azarenka, though the match is best remembered for the Belarusian's late-match anxiety attack and much-debated double-MTO. Stephens wouldn't reach her second career slam SF until she won the U.S. Open in 2017.
=============================================== Maria Sharapova opens singles play with back-to-back double-bagel victories, the best start by a woman in the AO since 1985 (Wendy Turnbull). She lost just five games through the first four rounds (a record), and nine through the QF (the previous record had been 20). She was defeated in the semis by Li. =============================================== Canada's Rebecca Marino, in her first slam back after a late 2012 absence while dealing with "mental/physical fatigue," suffers a 1st Round loss to Peng Shuai. She retires from tennis in February due to what is later revealed to be issues with depression. She didn't play again until October 2017, and went on to win five ITF singles titles in 2018. Her appearance in qualifying at this year's AO was her first in any slam since her MD loss to Peng six years earlier. =============================================== Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci win the women's doubles, giving the Italians three-quarters of a Career Doubles Slam. The duo completed their mission at the 2014 Wimbledon, having won all four slams over a 26-month stretch, going from zero to five career major titles during the span.
They defeated the Williams Sisters in the QF (both Sisters served for the match in the 2nd, and they led 3-0 in the 3rd), and wild cards Ash Barty (at age 16) & Casey Dellacqua in the final. =============================================== Jarmila Gajdosova wins the Mixed Doubles with Matthew Ebden, coming the first Aussie woman to win the title since Samantha Stosur (w/ Scott Draper) in 2005. It'd be the only slam title of Gajdosova's career. =============================================== With Esther Vergeer retired, Aniek Van Koot wins her maiden Wheelchair Singles slam title, topping Sabine Ellerbrock in the final. She claims the doubles with fellow Dutch player Jiske Griffioen. The pair would go on to win a natural Doubles Grand Slam in '13, sweeping all four titles to become the first WC duo that didn't include Vergeer (who did it in '09 and '11 with Korie Homan and Sharon Walraven, respectively) to accomplish the feat. =============================================== Croat Ana Konjuh defeats Katerina Siniakova to win the girls singles title. Rising to #1, she'd later win the U.S. Open junior crown, as well. In Melbourne, Konjuh also picks up the doubles title with Canada's Carol Zhao.
The girls singles quarterfinal field included Elise Mertens ('18 women's SF), Barbora Krejcikova (WD co-#1 w/ Siniakova in '18, winning RG and Wimbledon) and Alona Ostapenko ('17 RG champ). =============================================== At 42, Kimiko Date-Krumm becomes the oldest woman to record a MD singles win in AO history, defeating Nadia Petrova 6-2/6-0. She reaches the 3rd Round in singles, and in doubles (w/ Aranta Parra-Santonja) upsets the #3-seeded Czech duo of Hlavackova/Hradecka. =============================================== Azarenka joined the list of AO champs who've won the title after surviving a close call early in the tournament. In the 3rd Round, the talented but star-crossed Jamie Hampton, treated for a back injury during the match, led the eventual champ by a break advantage at 2-1 in the 3rd. But while dealing with the pain of her injury, Hampton dropped serve a game later, then fell behind 4-2 and couldn't get the leveling break vs. Azarenka despite holding triple BP at love/40. Azarenka swept the final five games of the match.
Hampton reached three slam 3rd Rounds (3r-4r-1r-3r) in 2013, but due to injuries hasn't played a slam match since. In 2014, a hip injury led to six surgeries, and she hasn't returned to the tour. Of note, Hampton still lists herself as, simply, "tennis player" on her Twitter profile. =============================================== Another player whose career was bedeviled by injury, Brit Laura Robson, had one of her best career moments in Melbourne in 2013.
Facing off with Petra Kvitova in a night match that went past midnight, the Australia-born Robson, 18, upended the #8 seed in a battle of lefties, coming back from a set down to get the win in a three-hour marathon. The Czech led 3-0 in the 3rd, had GP's for 4-1, and led 4-2. Kvitova (in all her Good/Bad Petra glory) got within two points of victory, and fired 18 aces on the night while also having 18 DF. Robson won an 11-9 final set, defeating her third slam winner in her last two slams.
Robson was a Wimbledon junior champ (2008) and two-time AO girls finalist (2009-10). In 2012, she won MX Olympic Silver with Andy Murray in London and reached her first career tour singles final. She attained her career high (#27) in July '13 after reaching her second slam Round of 16 (at Wimbledon) in less than a year. But a wrist injury in August altered the course of her career. After missing time she had surgery in '14, and spent the next few seasons attempting to make a comeback while often spending more time in a commentary booth than on the court. After slowly finding moderate success (winning her biggest title, a $60K in '17), she had hip surgery in the summer of 2018. She hasn't played since June of last year. =============================================== After days of unbecoming, Australia media-fueled attacks against her for what happened vs. Stephens, Azarenka was met with whistles, cat calls and anti-Vika signs (one labeled her "Cheaterenka") during the final. After she won, when her name was initially engraved on the Daphne Akhurst Cup, Azarenka's home nation was listed as "BEL," rather than "BLR."
===============================================
==QUOTES== * -"Some people, the player's mother is younger than me." - Kimiko Date-Krumm, 42, on playing much younger opponnents
* -"I want both!" - Aga Radwanska, on whether she'd prefer to reach #1 or win a major
* -"[It'd be] like playing one of my mom's friends." - Sloane Stephens, on the prospect of playing Date-Krumm
* - [Aga Radwanska, asked what annoys her most] "A lot of things, actually. Slow drivers, for example. When my internet is not working... so angry."
* -"Truth is, I'm younger than you." - 30-year old Li Na, when interviewer Rennae Stubbs asked her if "30 is the new 20"
* -"I almost did the Choke of the Year.""I couldn't breathe. I had chest pains. It was like I was getting a heart attack." - Victoria Azarenka, on her apparent anxiety attack in the closing games of her SF (when she failed to convert 5 MP) vs. Sloane Stephens. The incident kicked off 48 hours of controversy that spilled over to the final, where the Aussie crowd was audibly and nastily against her in one of the more class-less moments in the history of "the happy slam"
* -"Because I'm stupid." - Li Na, when asked why she fell multiple times in the final. Against Azarenka, Li fell and injured her ankle early in the match, then again later, hitting her head (and eliciting a laugh from the crowd as she smiled while a doctor checked her condition by having her eyes follow her finger).
* -"I guess I'm pretty tough." - proud singles champion Azarenka, after successfully defending her title in the face of controversy
Hopefully, Vika will remember that going forward into 2019 and beyond.
=WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16= x vs. x x vs. x x vs. x x vs. x x vs. Amanda Anisimova/USA #15 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #30 Maria Sharapova/RUS #5 Sloane Stephens/USA x vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS x vs. x
*AO "CRASH & BURN" LOSERS* 2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (3rd Rd.) 2009 Venus Williams, USA (2nd Rd.) 2010 Maria Sharapova, RUS (1st Rd.) 2011 Jelena Jankovic, SRB (2nd Rd.) 2012 Samantha Stosur, AUS (1st Rd.) 2013 Samantha Stosur, AUS (2nd Rd.) 2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE (1st Rd.) 2015 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (1st Rd.) 2016 Simona Halep, ROU (1st Rd.) 2017 Simona Halep, ROU (1st Rd.) 2018 S.Stephens, C.Vandeweghe & V.Williams, USA (1st Rd./'17 U.S. Open SF) 2019 Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (1st Rd.)
*AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS DOUBLES CHAMPS - since 2010* 2010 Jana Cepelova / Chantal Skamlova, SVK/SVK 2011 An-Sophie Mestach / Demi Schuurs, BEL/NED 2012 Gabby Andrews / Taylor Townsend, USA/USA 2013 Ana Konjuh / Carol Zhao, CRO/CAN 2014 Anhelina Kalinina / Elizaveta Kulichkova, UKR/RUS 2015 Miriam Kolodziejova / Marketa Vondrousova, CZE/CZE 2016 Anna Kalinskaya / Tereza Mihalikova, RUS/SVK 2017 Bianca Andreescu / Carson Branstine, CAN/USA 2018 Liang En-shou / Wang Xinyu, TPE/CHN 2019 ?
*AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS FINALS - since 2001* 2001 Jelena Jankovic/SRB d. Sofia Arvidsson/SWE 2002 Barbora Strycova/CZE d. Maria Sharapova/RUS 2003 Barbora Strycova/CZE d. Victoriya Kutuzova/UKR 2004 Shahar Peer/ISR d. Nicole Vaidisova/CZE 2005 Victoria Azarenka/BLR d. Agnes Szavay/HUN 2006 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS d. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN 2007 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS d. Madison Brengle/USA 2008 Arantxa Rus/NED d. Jessica Moore/AUS 2009 Ksenia Pervak/RUS d. Laura Robson/GBR 2010 Karolina Pliskova/CZE d. Laura Robson/GBR 2011 An-Sophie Mestach/BEL d. Monica Puig/PUR 2012 Taylor Townsend/USA d. Yulia Putintseva/RUS 2013 Ana Konjuh/CRO d. Katerina Siniakova/CZE 2014 Elizaveta Kulichkova/RUS d. Jana Fett/CRO 2015 Tereza Mihalikova/SVK d. Katie Swan/GBR 2016 Vera Lapko/BLR d. Tereza Mihalikova/SVK 2017 Marta Kostyuk/UKR d. Rebeka Masarova/SUI 2018 Liang En-shou/TPE d. Clara Burel/FRA 2019 ?
*FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN - OPEN ERA* 1977 Kerry Melville-Reid, AUS 1978 Chris O'Neil, AUS 1979 Barbara Jordan, USA 1980 Hana Mandlikova, CZE 1995 Mary Pierce, FRA 1997 Martina Hingis, SUI 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA 2006 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA 2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER 2018 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
*RECENT TEEN SLAM CHAMPIONS* 1997 Australian Open - Martina Hingis (16)* 1997 Roland Garros - Iva Majoli (19)* 1997 Wimbledon - Martina Hingis (16) 1997 U.S. Open - Martina Hingis (16) 1998 Australian Open - Martina Hingis (17) 1999 Australian Open - Martina Hingis (18) 1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (17)* 2004 Wimbledon - Maria Sharapova (17)* 2004 U.S. Open - Svetlana Kuznetsova (19)* 2006 U.S. Open - Maria Sharapova (19) -- * - first-time champion -- NOTE: Ostapenko was 20y,2d when won '17 RG
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r):#16 Serena Williams/USA TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r):2nd Rd. - #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-4/6-7(3)/7-5 (ended at 3:12 a.m.) TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS:United States REVELATION LADIES:Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska; Anisimova and Yastremska reach 3rd Rd. NATION OF POOR SOULS:Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.) LAST WILD CARD STANDING:Kimberly Birrell/AUS (in 3rd Rd.) LAST AUSSIE STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Barty(W), Birrell Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx IT (??): Nominees: Anisimova, Birrell, Yastremska COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominee: Bacsinszky, Sharapova CRASH & BURN:#10 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (after leading 3-0 in 1st set, loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky) ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominee: Halep (1st Rd. - down set and a break vs. Kanepi; 2nd Rd. - down 4-2 in 3rd set vs. Kenin) KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Halep, Muguruza DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
One day after Aryna Sabalenka was overwhelmed by (and maybe underprepared for) Amanda Anisimova, two more pre-tournament "favorites" (if there is such a thing) were put to the test by veteran opponents. Both called upon past experiences to get them through.
Neither result, by any means, was a sure thing... and that may turn out to be best thing imaginable for both Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina.
As is often the case when players face off with the mind boggling game of Hsieh Su-wei (see Angie Kerber at last year's AO), Osaka had a hard time figuring out what to do against her offbeat combination of sudden and oft-perplexing variety and quick-strike ability. Running around the court with little intent, the #4 seed spent more time chasing balls than hitting them. Hsieh broke for a 4-2 lead, causing Osaka to angrily bounce her racket off the MCA surface. She got the break back, but saw the 33-year old from Taiwan break her serve again to take a 7-5 1st set. This time time Osaka threw her racket.
Broken early in the 2nd, and down 3-0 and 4-1, Osaka hit her way out of her stupor and gradually seized control, breaking Hsieh in games #7 and #9, and then holding to send things to a 3rd set. There, the 21-year old got the early break and rode it out to win 5-7/6-4/6-1.
What a turnaround!@Naomi_Osaka_ is through to the round of 16!
Osaka didn't really face anything quite like this en route to her U.S. Open title (she lost just one set, to Sabalenka, incidentally), and finding a way to overcome such a predicament here could very well be an important development not only in relation to her prospects next week, but for how her career will continue to advance as she forms a protective coating of on-court experiences around her that could one day make a display of these sorts of survival skills a routine occurrence for her. And that would surely mean *big* things would soon be coming her way in fast and furious fashion.
Not surprisingly, the memory of her Week 1 Brisbane loss (her capitulation to Lesia Tsurenko, as well as her mature and appalled reaction to it) reared its head for the first time since. Likely not for the last time, either... and that's a good thing (see preceding paragraph).
Osaka on fighting back from a set an 0-3 down: “That’s one of the biggest things I always thought I could improve, because it sort of seems like before I would accept defeat in a way, and then this time I just wanted to learn from the last match that I played in Brisbane."
Meanwhile, #6 seeded Svitolina was facing Zhang Shuai, an AO quarterfinalist three years ago, as well as battling a neck injury that led to multiple medical time outs during the match. In the end, rather than go down in flames earlier than anticipated in yet another slam, she once again utilized the fighting skills she flashed while winning the WTA Finals last fall. And she found a way. It was dramatic, and hardly the sort of thing she'd want to have to duplicate too many times. But it got her through, and that's all that matters.
With Zhang firing balls deep and coming in behind the shots to the net, the 29-year old from China put away a volley to reach BP in game #9, then fired a deep return into the corner and won another point at the net to break for a 5-4 lead. Up 40/love a game later, she put away the set on her second SP with a backhand down the line.
Despite taking an MTO in the middle of game #9 in the 2nd, Svitolina held and quickly broke Zhang a game later to force a 3rd set. There, after another MTO between sets, she found herself down a double break at 3-0. That's when "Eli 2.0" kicked in as Zhang had to deal with her own physical issues. Svitoina broke to close to 3-1, then held for 3-2 before Zhang took her own MTO. Fighting off BP's, the Ukrainian held for 4-3 two games later.
She failed to serve out the match at 5-3. Zhang wildly sailed a forehand off a short ball (Svitolina ducked from her position near the net) a game later, but held for 5-5. With Zhang serving to force a 10-point TB two games later, Svitolina led 15/30 and seemed in control of a rally, only to stop play to challenge the call of a Zhang shot on the baseline. The ball was in, and Svitolina lost the point. In the past, such a thing may have set the Ukrainian on edge. But not Eli 2.0.
*This* Svitolina scrambled to a short ball and lifted it to the corner for a winner to reach MP. She netted a forehand, but on her second MP saw Zhang's backhand error end the contest.
Svitolina used the momentum garnered from tough, tight matches to push her way into the winner's circle and claim her biggest career title in Singapore to end her season last fall. Assuming her neck injury doesn't become a worsening problem, this -- erasing a double-break disadvantage in the fnal set -- is just the sort of thing on which to build *another* big run.
Serena Williams made quick work of Dayana Yastremska, the only teenager left in the draw not cool-as-a-cucumber-and-named-Amanda. The 18-year old , fully *half* Williams' age, was a bit overwhelmed by the situation on Laver, as well as facing the tennis idol she talked the other day about watching when she was a little kid and dreaming about playing one day.
Thus, Serena reaches her 59th career slam Round of 16, and her 15th in Melbourne. She's reached this stage in her last eleven AO appearances (back to 2007, as she's missed two events), as well as in her last fourteen slams (to 2014, missing four).
Seeing Yastremska's tears, Williams offered supportive words at the net that will surely allow the Ukrainian to at least feel a little better about what happened.
“You did amazing. You did so well. You did amazing. Don’t cry. You did really well.”
And Serena wasn't entertaining any of interviewer Sam Smith's talk of Yastremska being "intimidated" by her, either, and said she thought she played well. Though, really, it was clear that Smith's intent wasn't so much to get Williams to talk badly about Yastremska as it was to get to questions about whether or not a young Serena was intimidated by any opponents when she first came on tour (after a while, she did eventually think to mention Venus, as well as having nice words about the inspiring nature of Billie Jean King).
Really, in retrospect, Smith should have probably said something about Yastremska being "in awe" of Williams, as it wouldn't have had quite as much of a negative connotation.
...in the night session, Serena's Round of 16 opponent was determined in a match-up between her sister Venus and #1 seed Simona Halep.
Venus was forced to three sets in her last outing against Alize Cornet, and she had to scramble back from a set and 5-3 down in the 1st vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu, too. Halep had also gone three sets in *her* opening two matches. But while Venus' long battles were easily seen as a red flag, Halep's served a purpose. After six weeks off with a back injury this offseason, and just one pre-AO match, the Romanian used her comebacks against Kaia Kanepi and Sonya Kenin to find her lost form.
It likely made all the difference... both here and maybe for what comes next.
In the 1st set, Williams had multiple opportunities (five BP, in fact) to make a real fight of things. But Halep, playing with a light wrap on her left thigh, consistently kept a step ahead. Up a break at 3-2, she saved four BP, then smacked an ace (her first of the day) to reach SP. Venus failed to get into position for a low bouncing ball at the net, flying it well beyond the baseline as the Romanian took a 4-2 lead. A long Williams forehand on BP a game later put her down 5-2. She got her fifth BP of the set in game #8, but after she failed to put it away saw Halep hit an ace up the "T" (#2) and take the set with a clean forehand winner.
The two exchanged breaks to open the 2nd set, with Williams' win in game #2 ending Halep's five game winning streak. Venus saved a BP and held for 2-1, temporarily staving off what would ultimately be her fate. Come game #7, Halep led 15/40 and got the break when a forehand into the corner elicited a Williams backhand error that gave the Romanian a 4-3 lead. Venus led 15/30 a game later, but couldn't get back Halep's big wide serve. On GP, Halep blasted a series of crosscourt shots to Williams' backhand, finally opening up a shot down the opposite line that Venus attempted to reach, but she couldn't keep her forehand in the court when she did. Up 5-3, Halep's delivered a celebratory roundhouse punch to the air.
Such a thing *has* been accomplished before. Most recently, Karolina Pliskova defeated both Sisters at the U.S. Open in 2016, when the Czech defeated Venus in the Round of 16 and Serena two rounds later. Of course, she still didn't win the title. Angelique Kerber did. It's been nine seasons since both were defeated in back-to-back matches. Jelena Jankovic did it in Rome in 2010. She didn't win the title, either -- Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez did.
So there's that. And this...
*DEFEATED SERENA & VENUS IN SAME EVENT* 1998 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Sydney) = [won event] 1999 Steffi Graf (Sydney) = [reached SF] 2001 Martina Hingis (Australian Open) = [reached final] 2002 Kim Clijsters (WTA Championships) = [won event] 2004 Lindsay Davenport (Los Angeles) = [won event] 2007 Justine Henin (U.S. Open) = [won event] 2009 Kim Clijsters (U.S. Open) = [won event] 2010 Jelena Jankovic (Rome) = [reached final] 2016 Karolina Pliskova (U.S. Open) = [reached final] [in back-to-back matches] 1998 Sydney - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (SF Venus/F Serena) 1999 Sydney - Steffi Graf (2nd Rd. Serena/QF Venus) 2001 Australian Open - Martina Hingis (QF Serena/SF Venus) 2002 WTA Chsp. - Kim Clijsters (SF Venus/F Serena) 2004 Los Angeles - Lindsay Davenport (SF Venus/F Serena) 2007 U.S. Open - Justine Henin (QF Venus/SF Serena) 2010 Rome - Jelena Jankovic (QF Venus/SF Serena)
In the past year, the world #1 has been through "The Aussie Wars," emerging scathed but reinforced, and realistically carving a path to her triumphant march through Paris a few months later. If she can add a *second* win over a Williams in a single event to her list of battlefield heroics, it'll add another chapter to her story. As it should.
Good luck, Simo.
=This message will self-destruct in five seconds.=
5...4...3...2...1...
...in the other day session 3rd Round matches, Anastasija Sevastova defeated Wang Qiang to reach her first her first AO Round of 16 since 2011, while Madison Keys eliminated '18 semifinalist Elise Mertens in straight sets, extending her remarkably good run in majors (which she's managed to be mostly healthy for, oddly enough) that looks like this in the last six: RU-QF-SF-3r-SF-(4r).
Meanwhile, Mertens drops outside the Top 20 in the "live" rankings.
...playing in her first match since finishing up her 2nd Rounder with Johanna Konta at 3:12 a.m., #18 Garbine Muguruza won out in two over Timea Bacsinszky. The 1st set saw the two trade momentum back and fourth throughout. The Spaniard failed to serve out the set, then couldn't convert a SP at 6-5 on the Swiss woman's serve. But Muguruza took a 4-1 lead in the TB, and won it 7-5. She broke Bacsinszky to open the 2nd, and went on to win 7-6(5)/6-2 to reach her fourth AO Round of 16.
#7 Karolina Pliskova will meet #27 Carmila Giorgi late on Laver in the final women's 3rd round match to be completed.
...THIS-IS-GETTING-RIDICULOUS ON DAY 6: Hey, ESPN. Helen Wills-Moody... *still* Californian. Still *not* British.
That's not a photo of the graphic shown tonight, it's from last year... but it's the same mistaken graphic that they used during the Serena/Yastremska match, last season *and* the season before that, too.
Two women in wedding dresses sitting together in Margaret Court Arena, which bears the name of one of the loudest and most vitriolic voices on the losing side of Australia's gay marriage debate. #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/i7oPQy9MAe
=WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16= #1 Simona Halep/ROU vs. #16 Serena Williams/USA #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. x #13 Anastasija Sevastova/LAT vs. #4 Naomi Osaka/JPN #17 Madison Keys/USA vs. #6 Elina Svitolina/UKR #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE vs. Amanda Anisimova/USA #15 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #30 Maria Sharapova/RUS #5 Sloane Stephens/USA vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS Danielle Collins/USA vs. #2 Angelique Kerber/GER
=GIRLS SINGLES SEEDS= 1. Clara Tauson, DEN 2. Zheng Qinwen, CHN 3. Diane Parry, FRA (withdrew) 4. Leylah Annie Fernandez, CAN 5. Manachaya Sawangkaew, THA 6. Lea Ma, USA 7. Luly Sun, SUI 8. Park So-hyun, KOR 9. Kamilla Bartone, LAT 10. Hong Yi Cody Wong, HKG 11. Adrienn Nagy, HUN 12. Thasaporn Naklo, THA 13. Mariia Tkacheva, RUS 14. Sada Nahimana, BDI 15. Marta Custic, ESP 16. Emma Raducanu, GBR 17. Loudmilla Bencheikh, FRA
Ashleigh Barty has withdrawn from doubles due to an abdominal injury. #AusOpen
Thank you for this time @australianopen !! You will always have a very special place in my heart! I did my best and fought my hardest, but came up just a little short this time! Thank you to everyone who came out to support! pic.twitter.com/cZ582qRMZ2
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r):#16 Serena Williams/USA TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r):2nd Rd. - #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-4/6-7(3)/7-5 (ended at 3:12 a.m.) TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS:United States REVELATION LADIES:Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska; Anisimova and Yastremska reach 3rd Rd. NATION OF POOR SOULS:Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.) LAST WILD CARD STANDING:Kimberly Birrell/AUS (3rd Rd.) LAST AUSSIE STANDING:Ash Barty (in 4th Rd.) Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx IT (??): Nominees: Anisimova, Barty COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Bacsinszky, Sharapova CRASH & BURN:#10 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (after leading 3-0 in 1st set, loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky) ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominees: Halep (1st Rd. - down set and a break vs. Kanepi; 2nd Rd. - down 4-2 in 3rd set vs. Kenin); Osaka (3rd Rd. - down 7-5/4-1 vs. Hsieh); Svitolina (3rd Rd. - down double-break 3-0 in 3rd vs. Sh.Zhang; MTO's); Collins (1st Rd. - Goerges served for match) KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Halep, Muguruza DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
The Round of 16 match on Sunday between #15 Barty and #30 Maria Sharapova was bound to ignite a storyline. It was just a matter of which one. Either the veteran Sharapova was going to provide further evidence for a career resurgence on the heels of her elimination of defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in the previous round, or the subject of just-barely-under-the-surface hopes and dreams for great things for the young Aussie was going to explode like fireworks over Sydney Harbor all over the grounds of Melbourne Park.
Well...
After formerly being a dominant tennis nation several generations ago, Australia, while it's had the occasional men's star since the "glory days," has seemingly been in a constant search for a true, flag-waving Aussie woman to inject the nation back into the discussion on the women's tour since the start of the 1990's. While many had occasional success over the years, Samantha Stosur has been by far the most successful, reaching two slam singles finals and winning Roland Garros in 2011, along with becoming a doubles #1 early in her career while picking up multiple WD/MX slam crowns. But Stosur's inability to be at her best in the Australian Open (or on Aussie soil at all, really) prevented her from ever lifting the entire enterprise onto her shoulders and starring in the sort of shared, communal and national moment that could be the starting point for even greater things.
Enter Barty, an all-court player who is Australia's best hope is several generations. Already a top doubles star, she seemingly lifts her singles game with each tournament. In recent months, she's ended one season by winning a title in Zhuhai, then opened another by recording her first #1 win and making a final run in Sydney, and following that up by posting what is now her best career slam result, as well as the best by any Aussie woman in Melbourne since 2009.
With Barty having to withdraw from the WD with an abdominal injury, there was a bit of trepidation when it came to truly believing that today's match was going to be as competitive as most hoped. Especially if the elevated game that Sharapova showed against the Dane was suddenly her new/old norm. As it turned out, the injury never played a part.
The match was one laced with slowly building drama, not to mention a few sudden plot twists before a scintillating conclusion.
Mid-way through the 1st set, three consecutive games in which servers were forced to deal with break points would determine which woman claimed the opening stanza. First Barty saved a BP to hold for a 4-3 lead, then Sharapova saved two a game later. At 4-4, Sharapova reached double BP at 15/40. Finally, on BP #3 in the game, Barty sailed a crosscourt backhand at the net and the Russian grabbed a 5-4 advantage. As she had vs. the Dane two days ago, Sharapova won the 1st set's biggest points down the stretch. After a Barty return bounced off the net cord and landed out of bounds to give the '08 AO champ a 40/love lead, Sharapova's ace took the set at 6-4.
And then everything changed.
Just as Sharapova had grabbed her opportunity in the 1st, Barty did so in the 2nd as Sharapova's sudden lapses led to her game seeming to virtually fall, floor after floor, from the top of a tall building with a wonderfully familiar view, heading toward the basement. After having previously continued to resemble her "old self" for a second straight big match, she no longer did. Barty got a break for 3-1 via a Sharapova backhand error and ran off with the set at 6-1. She opened the 3rd with a break, and after falling behind 15/30 in game #2 she held serve for 2-0, then saw Sharapova squander a 40/15 lead a game later. Two DF were followed by a long backhand error and the Russian found herself down BP again. A forehand error gave Barty a double-break lead at 3-0. The Aussie won her ninth consecutive game immediately after, holding at love for 4-0. Sharapova, her game badly off the rails, had ten winners vs. a whopping forty-two UE in the match.
A tournament narrative that was at once feel-good on her part had quickly turned ugly as her exit in a hail of errors seemed imminent. Ah, but the match had at least one more direction change remaining to play out.
With Barty holding two BP for a 5-0 3rd set lead, Sharapova somehow found a way to hold on. She held for get on the board at 4-1, then seemed emboldened by her breath of life. Finding her range again and hitting big, she took a 15/40 lead on Barty's serve and got one of the breaks back. Adding in drops and a lob to points which saw her scrambling defense keep rallies alive, Sharapova saved two BP and held to pull to 4-3. Threatening to come all the way back, she went up 15/40 in game #4, as Barty -- if you squinted a little -- was beginning to get a certain "Stosur Down Under" look about her as a seemingly certain victory appeared to be slipping away.
But then Barty showed that she may just be different, after all.
She pulled back her service game to deuce, then used an ace and another big serve to get the crucial hold for 5-3. Sharapova held to force the Aussie to serve out her biggest slam win. Another big serve gave Barty her first MP. Sharapova saved it with a forehand winner, but another ace brought up a second MP. It came and went, too, but was replaced by a third due to a backhand error from the Russian. Finally, the third time was Barty's charm. She smacked another ace -- #30 in the event, more than anyone in the draw to date -- to close out the 4-6/6-1/6-4 victory, clinching her first appearance in a slam quarterfinal. On her way to the net, she whacked a ball into the stands in exuberant celebration.
Every day is a Barty Party now. Until it no longer is. But that *could* take a while.
As for Sharapova, her late surge allowed her to salvage something from a nearly two full set collapse that almost left an indelibly messy smudge on what had previously been a good and encouraging event for the 31-year old. While she wasn't able to complete the comeback, she showed that *that* type of competitiveness is still there, just as she had vs. Wozniacki in the 3rd Round. It's just a matter of being able to stay injury-free long enough to build, putting more matches upon those matches, and then still more results and efforts of their kind on top of those. It was a somewhat open question at the start of the week whether Sharapova still had the goods to compete for big titles. As her AO ends, she's now given every indication that she, indeed, does.
Meanwhile, Barty is a hop, skip and a jump from becoming the first Aussie woman to debut in the Top 10 in nine years (Stosur - March '10), and is two wins from becoming the first to play for the Australian title since 1980. Venus Williams was just six months old at the time when Wendy Turnbull was the most recent finalist, and Serena wouldn't be born for another nine months. But let's not ahead of things.
First up: another go with her Sydney final opponent Petra Kvitova, who defeated her in a 3rd set TB last weekend.
If Barty can get some measure of revenge (and she'll have some help in the quest from the stands), suddenly all things become possible.
=DAY 7 NOTES=
...sometimes you're the truck, but sometimes you're the bug on the windshield of the truck. After being the former in her 3rd Round match against #11 Aryna Sabalenka, 17-year old Amanda Anisimova experienced being the latter today against #8 Petra Kvitova in what was the day's opening women's Round of 16 match.
Of course, the Czech knew what to expect from the Bannerette. While Sabalenka seemed to have no idea, Kvitova had come by her knowledge the hard way. By losing to a then 16-year old Anisimova last year at Indian Wells. She arrived knowing she had to be ready from the start. And she was, too.
Riding an eight-match winning that began with her Sydney title last weekend, Kvitova is looking to get her '19 slam season off to a good start after faltering on the big stage last year. Though she led the tour with five titles, she won just four matches at the majors in 2018. Right from the jump vs. Anisimova, she seized the initiative. Up love/30 in the opening game, she stopped a point mid-rally to challenge a line call. When the U.S. teen's shot was declared to have been long, Kvitova had triple BP. She got the break at 30, and proceeded to never relinquish control.
While Anisimova's game in her first truly HUGE match on a big stage was nowhere near as clean as it was against Sabalenka -- she had 9 UE by game #5, as many as she had the entire match vs. the Belarusian -- Kvitova was nearly perfect. Anisimova saved BP and held in a 7-minute game for 3-2, but it would prove to be her last moment of relief. Kvitova added on another break two games later, then served out the 1st at 6-2.
She grabbed an early break in the 2nd and coasted to a 6-2/6-1 win in fifty-eight minutes, reaching her first AO QF since her best-ever Melbourne result (SF) in 2012. She never faced a BP in the match, served at 86%, and won 83% of her first serve points.
I got a tennis lesson today, but at least it was from one of the best in the world hey ??????? really though I had such an enjoyable week here, thank you so much for being such an amazing crowd. I am so looking forward to next year Melbs ?? #believe#cloud9over?? pic.twitter.com/Ti3jr5CtsB
In some respects, it was like the #2 seed's match with Danielle Collins didn't even happen. Starting in the wake of Barty/Sharapova, it was essentially over before most people probably even knew it'd begun. And it wasn't the three-time slam champ delivering the splattering force, either.
From her love break of Kerber in the opening game, to her misery-ending drop shot winner on MP, the two-time NCAA champ made this a day the German will be more than happy to forget. She never had a shot. She never got a look. Collins didn't allow it to happen, playing out of her mind en route to a love and two win that maybe wasn't even *that* close in practice The 1st set was over in twenty minutes, and the match in four mintues under an hour. Collins led 29-6 in winners en route to adding a third name (after #14 Goerges and #19 Garcia) to her list of seeded victims at this slam.
Afterward, she was the very picture of head-first confidence as the most unexpected member of the final eight.
The final Round of 16 match of the day will take place tonight on Laver, as Sloane Stephens (looking to make it an all-Bannerette QF vs. Collins) faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (looking to reach a *second* QF at a slam for the first time).
...junior action has been underway in Melbourne for two days, and the top seed comes in off winning a title.
Dane Clara Tauson picked up the Traralgon Grade 1 crown with a victory in the final over Leylah Annie Fernandez.
Tauson posted a three-set 1st Round win today. Four seeded girls were upset: #10 Hong Yi Cody Wong (HKG), #13 Mariia Tkacheva (RUS), #14 Sada Nahimana (BDI) and #16 Emma Raducanu (GBR).
LAF isn't the only Canadian teenager making waves, either. And, no, I'm not talking about Bianca Andreescu. Melodie Collard is set to take on Bannerette Abigail Forbes in the G1 Coffee Bowl final in Costa Rica.
Additionally, 21-year old Canadian Franckie Abanda has reached the $25K Daytona Beach final against Hungary's Anna Bondar.
...meanwhile, it was a very big wheelchair tennis weekend, as world #2 Yui Kamiji won an epic encounter with #1 Diede de Groot in the Melbourne Open final.
Japan's Kamiji, the most successful player in the post-Vergeer era, has recently fallen into the shadow of de Groot as the 22-year old Dutch woman has surpassed her for the #1 position and then pulled away as she's edged closer to some major WC tennis records while still in the early stages of her career. After winning eleven of her first fourteen career matches against the newcomer from 2014 up until late '17, Kamiji saw de Groot seize control on their head-to-head in 2018, winning five of six match-ups (seven of eight since Kamiji defeated her in the '17 U.S. Open final), and four in a row heading into the Melbourne final. There, Kamiji was down 5-4, 40/15 in the 3rd set, but saved both MP, then three more in a deciding TB that ended at 13-11.
Kamiji, already a previous '19 title winner, is now 8-0 on the season. This tournament was De Groot's season debut, and she didn't leave empty handed. She picked up the doubles crown with Aniek Van Koot.
*Kamiji vs. de Groot* 2019 Melbourne Open F - KAMIJI 3-6/7-5/7-6(11) ------------------------------------------------ 2018 NED Wheelchair Tennis Masters F - DE GROOT 6-3/7-5 2018 US Open F - DE GROOT 6-2/6-3 2018 British Open WC Tennis Chsps Fl - DE GROOT 6-2/3-6/3-6 2018 BNP Paribas Open de France F - DE GROOT 7-5/6-4 2018 Roland Garros F - KAMIJI 2-6/6-0/6-2 2018 Australian Open F - DE GROOT 7-6(6)/6-4 ------------------------------------------------ 2017 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters F - DE GROOT 7-5/6-4 2017 Open d'Amiens Hauts de France F - DE GROOT 1-6/7-5/6-3 2017 US Open F - KAMIJI 7-5/6-2 2017 US Open USTA WC Chsps F - KAMIJI 5-7/6-3/7-6(12) 2017 British Open WC Tennis Chsps F - KAMIJI 6-4/6-3 2017 BNP Paribas Open de France SF - KAMIJI 6-4/6-3 2017 Japan Open F - KAMIJI 6-2/6-2 2017 Melbourne Wheelchair Tennis Open SF - KAMIJI 6-3/6-4 2017 Apia Int'l Sydney WC Tennis Open SF - DE GROOT 7-5/7-6(5) ------------------------------------------------ 2016 Paralympic Games Bronze - KAMIJI 6-3/6-3 2016 BNP Paribas Open de France F - KAMIJI 6-3/7-6(4) 2016 Toyota Open Int'l de L'ile de Re SF - DE GROOT 4-6/7-5/1-0 ret. ------------------------------------------------ 2015 Sardinia Open QF - KAMIJI 6-1/6-1 2015 BNP Paribas Open de France QF - KAMIJI 6-2/6-4 ------------------------------------------------ 2014 Swiss Open Starling Hotel Geneva 1st - KAMIJI 6-1/6-2 == Kamiji leads 13-9
...meanwhile, in ITF action, Ula Radwanska finds herself one win away from her first title since taking a $75K challenger event in Nottingham, England in 2012.
After defeating Alize Lim in the semis, she'll next play in the final of the $25K Petit-Bourg, France event against Mexico's Ana Sofia Sanchez.
Radwanska was a Top 30 player seven years ago, but injuries have sent her well down the rankings (she was #330 last year, which was actually an improvement on her #524 finish a year earlier). She had four Top 100 seasons between 2009-2015, reaching two tour finals ('12 Rosmalen and '15 Istanbul) and posting three Top 10 wins (including one -- the first of her career -- over her sister Aga in '09 in Dubai). This week's event was her first of the '19 season.
The other day Ula shared hateful messages she'd received following a match, and pleaded for the spread of such thoughts to stop.
...LIKE ON DAY 7: The Apple liquid retina display "human flood of color" ad.
For weeks, every time it comes on I've have to stop and watch (or listen) to it. I don't give a whit about the product, but the Bollywood-like feel of the whole thing is really fun, I think.
...Hmmm... ON DAY 7: I don't get it. How is this any different from what Monfils has pretty much always done on a tennis court? For, like, his entire career.
If she manages to win this title and people -- you know the usual suspects -- somehow try to give some sort of "credit" and/or undeserved attention to the most underachieving men's player of his generation...
...LIKE ON DAY 7: Saw Li Na play a little tennis today.
...LIKE ON DAY 7: I don't know if I've ever seen this in a doubles match, save for maybe a Legends competition or exhibition.
*AO "IT" WINNERS* 2006 Samantha Stosur, AUS 2007 Shahar Peer, ISR 2008 Casey Dellacqua, AUS 2009 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP 2010 Maria Kirilenko, RUS 2011 An-Sophie Mestach, BEL (jr.) 2012 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS 2013 [Fortysomething] Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN 2014 [Teen] Genie Bouchard, CAN 2015 [Madisons] Madison Keys/USA & Madison Brengle/USA 2016 [NextGen Belarusian] Vera Lapko, BLR 2017 [Party] (Ash) "Barty Party" 2018 [Teen] Marta Kostyuk, UKR 2019 [Teen] Amanda Anisimova, USA
*TRARALGON (Jr.) G1 EVENT - RECENT WINNERS* 2013 Anna Danilina, KAZ (lost AO 3rd) 2014 Varvara Flink, RUS (lost AO 2nd) 2015 Katherine Sebov, CAN (lost AO 2nd) 2016 Vera Lapko, BLR (won AO jr. title) 2017 Iga Swiatek, POL (lost AO 1st) 2018 Liang En-shou, TPE (won AO jr. title) 2019 Clara Tauson, DEN
*UNSEEDED/WC/Q in AO QF SINCE 32-SEED DRAW* [2002-present] 2002 Adriana Serra-Zanetti/ITA 2003 Meghann Shaughnessy/USA, Virgina Ruano Pascual/ESP 2006 Martina Hingis/SUI (wc) 2007 Serena Williams/USA [W], Lucie Safarova/CZE 2009 Jelena Dokic/AUS (wc), Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP 2010 Justine Henin/BEL(wc)[RU], Maria Kirilenko/RUS, Zheng Jie/CHN 2012 Sara Errani/ITA, Ekaterina Makarova/RUS 2013 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS 2015 Madison Keys/USA 2016 Johanna Konta/GBR, Zhang Shuai/CHN(q) 2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni/CRO, CoCo Vandeweghe/USA 2018 Elise Mertens/BEL, Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP 2019 Danielle Collins/USA -- NOTE: Pavlyuchenkova to play 4th Rd.
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r):#16 Serena Williams/USA TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r):2nd Rd. - #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-4/6-7(3)/7-5 (ended at 3:12 a.m.) TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS:United States REVELATION LADIES:Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska; Anisimova and Yastremska reach 3rd Rd. NATION OF POOR SOULS:Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.) LAST WILD CARD STANDING:Kimberly Birrell/AUS (3rd Rd.) LAST AUSSIE STANDING:Ash Barty (in QF) Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Nominee: Barty, Collins IT (Teen):Amanda Anisimova/USA (first player born in 2000s to reach slam 4th Rd.) COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Kvitova (in slams), Sharapova CRASH & BURN:#10 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (after leading 3-0 in 1st set, loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky) ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominees: Halep (1st Rd. - down set and a break vs. Kanepi; 2nd Rd. - down 4-2 in 3rd set vs. Kenin); Osaka (3rd Rd. - down 7-5/4-1 vs. Hsieh); Svitolina (3rd Rd. - down double-break 3-0 in 3rd vs. Sh.Zhang; MTO's); Collins (1st Rd. - Goerges served for match) KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: S.Williams, Kvitova LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Halep, Muguruza DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
Two days after besting her older sister Venus, world #1 Simona Halep found another member of the Williams clan on the other side of the net for her Round of 16 match in Melbourne on Day 8. With Serena having arrived at this Australian Open with daughter Olympia (and Qai Qai, of course) in tow, looking to add another slam crown to the one she won "with" her two years ago, it was never going to be an easy task for the Romanian. Though both women are still in the process of removing *all* the rust from their games in the season's opening passages, Halep was still seen as the "underdog" in the contest. As should be the case, really. I mean, unless Serena is playing with a rollerskate on one foot and a ski on the other. And even then, well... who knows, she might just create a whole new game on the spot that'll be all the rage by the weekend..
After seeing Serena open the match looking "off" in her first service game, falling down love/40 and double-faulting to hand the game to Halep, the Romanian failed to take advantage of Williams' slow start. Needing her serve to be better than average, it was instead not up to par. What resulted was a 20-minute blitz of brilliance from Serena, and what in the past might have been a disheartening stretch for Halep. After seizing upon Halep's second serves, seeing her DF and then firing a return winner down the line to break for 1-1, Serena never let the world #1 up for air in the opening set, winning it 6-1 in sometimes-brutally efficient fashion.
But Halep didn't go away, once more proving that the anvil that used to exist on her back is no longer quite the nagging problem it used to be. Winning a major really *can* be a grand relief, apparently.
Halep held serve to open the 2nd set, and it felt like a HUGE deal. And it was. But not necessarily because anyone thought she was going to bet back into the match. It was good for her, because who wants Simona to feel bad, right?
This is, she took the opportunity of NOT suddenly being down to finally find her footing while the ground stopped shaking beneath her. As the night wore on, Halep pulled her game together. She carved out a pair of BP chances on Serena's serve in game #5. Williams held, but Halep had shown that she wasn't dead yet. Employing her usual defense, she was also landing her shots deeper in the court and improving her serve. At the same time, Williams' game saw the errors that were nonexistent early on begin to introduce themselves in the match. The breaks of serve of the 1st set became holds for Halep in the 2nd, and she was suddenly a game away from leveling the match.
After holding for a 5-4 lead, the Romanian took at love/30 lead on Williams' serve, and with a backhand down the line reached SP. A long backhand shot from Serena gave the set to Halep, who double fist-pumped her way to the changeover area in a match that was now a one-set-for-your-AO-life tussle.
Up 40/15 in the opening game of the 3rd, Halep was forced to save a BP, but did so to take the 1-0 lead. Up 3-2, her defense carved out a BP opportunity on Serena's serve.
It would be the opening plot point for what would turn out to be the game of the match.
Serena saved the BP with a big serve, but a Halep forehand down the line got second BP. Williams saved that with a deep shot that pushed Halep back and caused an off-balance forehand to be yanked wide. Another big serve gave Serena a GP, but the ensuing rally went to Halep, who won it by firing a shot behind Williams in the backcourt. Halep's inside-out backhand return winner gave her a third BP chance, but Williams again pulled out a big serve as a life preserver. Halep denied a GP with a net cord dribbler, but a Serena ace and forehand winner past Halep at the baseline finally got the hold in the five-deuce game for 3-3.
Halep had a GP in game #7, but missed on a few first serves and saw Williams' firepower take its measure of her. Reaching BP, Williams grabbed the lead when the Romanian netted a forehand, going up 4-3. Serena took a 40/love lead on serve a game later, holding for 5-3, then served for the match at 5-4.
In the stands, Venus watched her sister, knowing full well what was to come next. We've *all* seen it so many times, haven't we? Serena has always been a closer, and she was once again on this night. She won a rally to get to 15/15, pulling Halep from side to side on the baseline. A big serve followed. Up 30/15, a blast to the corner, then a winner into the other side of the court brought her to double match point. Finally, a long Halep forehand relieved Serena of the "pressure" of finding yet another way to deliver the final blow off her own racket.
The 6-1/4-6/6-4 victory moves her into her 50th career slam quarterfinal, and her twelfth at the AO, putting her two wins from reaching her third straight slam final, and three wins from tying Margaret Court's record of twenty-four career slam titles. She's 21-1 vs. world #1 in slam match-ups.
(Oh, and, at 37, she broke Venus' record for being the oldest woman to defeat a world #1, and moved to within one such win of tying Martina Navratilova's all-time mark with the seventeenth #1 win of her storied career.)
But, hey, who's counting, right? Well, actually, a lot of people.
Of course, that's just the way it is when it comes to Serena and winning. This is want we want, after all.
...the early women's Round of 16 matches on Monday were both three set affairs, but they really boiled down to which player won a small section of one of those said sets.
#6 Elina Svitolina jumped on #17 Madison Keys in the 1st set, as the Bannerette (as she sometimes does, no matter how well she's been playing coming in) struggled to find her game. Svitolina raced to a 4-0 lead, and took the set at 6-2. But just as quickly as that had happened, Keys turned around and did the same to her in the 2nd. She went up 5-0, and won the set 6-1.
In the 3rd, game #3 pretty much settled the deal. At 1-1, Svitolina DF'd to hand Keys a BP chance. She didn't get it, and game then proceeded to last more than ten minutes, going to deuce ten times as Svitolina once again called upon her Singaporean success and toughness (or toughness and resulting success) to deflect a total of five BP to hold for 2-1. The result pushed Svitolina skyward, and took the fortunes of Keys down for the final time. The Ukrainian got the break for a 3-1 lead in the next game and never looked back, winning 6-2/1-6/6-1 to reach her second straight QF in Melbourne.
In the other early 4th Round match, #4 Naomi Osaka continued to see how the other half lives. Well, at least how the "other half" lived last summer in New York when she lost just one set en route to her maiden slam crown. Through three rounds at this AO, she'd already lost as many sets (one) in Melbourne as she did the full two weeks at the U.S. Open, and had found herself backed into a corner (down 7-5/4-1) in the 3rd Round against Hsieh Su-wei. She was once again pressed into extended action today in a three-setter against #13 Anastasija Sevastova. But when everything came to head, it was Osaka who won the most important game of the match.
After splitting the first two sets, Osaka began the 3rd with a break of serve. But, serving at 3-2, she found herself down love/40 after netting a short backhand at the net when she tried to drive a flat shot down the line over the high part of the net. Needless to say, it didn't work. After saving five BP, she finally dropped serve as Sevastova evened up the set at 3-3. That *may* have proved to have been the key game here, if not for Osaka immediately breaking back a game later. In game #8, which *did* turn out to be the final turning point, Osaka took a 40/love and seemed ready to coast to an easy hold. But four deuces later, she was in a fight to avoid being back in a late-set dogfight all over again. After having failed to secure her first five game point opportunities, Osaka did so on her sixth to hold for a 5-3 lead. Two games later, she jumped to another 40/love lead as she served for the win. This time, though, she didn't let it slip. She closed Sevastova out for a 4-6/6-3/6-4 win and her first berth in the AO quarterfinals.
As is always the case with an Osaka match, it's worth it to stick around for the post-match on-court interview. You never know what she might reveal (the other day, it was that she thinks she says "Umm" too much). This time her chat with Sam Smith revealed that she can travel in Melbourne without being recognized, and that she came to the grounds today inspired by watching all the "kids" (named Tsitsipas and Tiafoe, who are pretty much her own age) topple big stars yesterday, saying that it's something that every player dreams about and she wanted to follow their lead today. Of course, she left out that, in everyone *else's* mind *she's* the big star that the "kids" are dreaming of having the chance to play, not the other way around. But that the reigning U.S. Open champ didn't even seem to factor in such a reality shows that she's still pretty new to all this, and hasn't changed on the inside even while her reputation and standing have grown exponentially on the outside. And that's a rare, and really nice, thing.
(Here's part of that interview, though I'm not sure why the AO isn't always tweeting full versions the on-court interviews. Instead, it's often going with posting shaved down versions -- sometimes needlessly cutting maybe :25 good seconds out of a 1:57 video so that it up being 1:22 or something -- or only using a clip that features one quick comment. It's really been doing a number of the interviews -- sometimes little gems if seen in full -- a disservice.)
The final day session Round of 16 match looked like it was going to be a high-quality, dramatic affair. #7 Karolina Pliskova and #18 Garbine Muguruza played a good nip-and-tuck 1st set that was decided by a key break of serve from the Czech in game #8. Muguruza, already in the pressure spot of serving second in the rotation and having to match Pliskova's hold (she'd been handling it well, though), blinked at 3-4 and found herself down a couple of break points. On the second, Pliskova fired a deep forehand crosscourt return that appeared to float before seeming to suddenly have its bottom drop out, momentarily freezing the Spaniard, and it settle into the corner to win the game. Muguruza challenged that call, but the shot really *had* managed to catch a line. Pliskova served out the set a game later.
From there, Pliskova was just too good. Ever since bringing aboard Rennae Stubbs (and now still-not-a-Hall-of-Fame-and-it-needs-to-be-rectified Conchita Martinez, too), Pliskova has more and more resembled the take no prisoners player who took control of the North American hard court season in 2016, reached the U.S. Open final, and used that stretch as the foundation for a rise to #1 the following season. That Pliskova was playing for keeps today. After taking an early break lead, she only needed :24 2nd set minutes to put Muguruza away, winning 6-3/6-1.
In the end, Pliskova served at a 78% clip, winning 82% of first serves, as well as 75% of seconds. She had 23 winners to 3 (yes, 3) unforced errors (she was 14/1 in the 1st, 9/2 in the 2nd).
...in Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe), Urszula Radwanska defeated Ana Sofia Sanchez 6-1/2-6/6-1 to win the $25K challenger's singles title, her first of any kind as a pro since 2012.
Meanwhile, Hungary's Anna Bondar swept the $25K Daytona Beach singles and doubles titles. She won the WD with Ulrikke Eikeri, and took a 6-7(3)/7-6(5)/7-5 singles final over Franckie Abanda after the Canadian had served for the match in the 2nd set and held multiple MPs.
On Saturday, India's Ankita Raina defeated Arantxa Rus 6-3/6-2 to win the $25K in Singapore. It's her eighth career title, with three coming in the last ten months.
Congratulations to Ankita Raina, for winning the ITF Singapore tournament, beating the top-seeded Arantxa Rus I’m straight sets in the final. pic.twitter.com/NbygOEMPsy
...in Costa Rica, 17-year old Bannerette Abigail Forbes won the Grade 1 Coffee Bowl event with a three-set win over Canada's Melodie Collard. The RPM Junior Open (G1) in the Czech Republic was claimed by 16-year old Maiden Kristyna Lavickova, who defeated Latvian Darja Semenistaja 6-0/6-1.
...MAKING IT OFFICIAL ON DAY 8:
Congratulations to the International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2019!
The world No.44 hits 46 winners to upset Sloane Stephens 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3 to advance to the #AusOpen quarterfinals for the second time. pic.twitter.com/RWvHkLtFtr
..."YIKES!" ON DAY 8: Whew! Katerina Siniakova came *real close* to "pulling a Halep" when she rolled her ankle in her and Barbora Krejcikova's 3rd Round match vs. Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka. With Krejcikova serving for the match in a long game up 5-3 in the 3rd (they'd already had three MP), Siniakova somewhat hyperextended her knee and rolled her left ankle while lunging into the left sideline for a Aryna Sabalenka smash. She crumpled over for a few moments, but managed to brush it off and play on (though she said after the match she still felt it). The tour's top doubles duo won on MP #4 a few moments later, advancing to the QF, a little bit closer to possibly winning their third *different* slam in the last year.
Ice, ice, baby.
What's this? Ah, yes. The 2014 Australian Open...
==NEWS & NOTES==
Li Na's first Australian Open crown finally came in her third final in four years in Melbourne.
After opening play vs. two 16-year olds (1st-Konjuh/2nd-Bencic), Li saved a MP vs. Lucie Safarova in the 3rd Round (the Czech challenged the call that went against her, as eventual history truly did hang, frozen, in the balance for a few moments). It would be Li's last Australian Open (unless you count her return for Legends competition play in '19), as she'd retire in September after not having played since Wimbledon due to a knee injury. Her final match was at Wimbledon that year, a 3rd Round loss to Barbora Strycova. =============================================== Victoria Azarenka's two-year reign as the AO women's champ was brought to a close in the QF with a loss to Aga Radwanska, ending the Belarusian's 18-match Melbourne winning streak. 3-12 vs. Azarenka coming in, with seven straight losses (and 10 of 11) in the series, Radwanska had total games won stats of 6-2-4-6-6 in each of her previous five encounters with Vika. But the Pole brought fourth a "classic" Radwanska performance in the 3rd set in Melbourne, showing every shot in the proverbial tennis handbook en route a 6-0 route.
Up to that point, Azarenka had been the only quarterfinalist not to have lost a set in the tournament (and only lost a four sets during her long AO win streak), a week that included a 4th Round rematch of her so-called "controversial" SF match vs. Sloane Stephens from a year earlier. She defeated Stephens 6-3/6-2, giving up the same number of games (5) to her as she had in 2013. =============================================== Dominika Cibulkova faced Li in the final, having become the first Slovakian woman to reach a slam singles final after recording four Top 20 wins (two Top 5 vs. Radwanska and Maria Sharapova, as well as wins over future #1 Simona Halep and former RG champ Francesca Schiavone). Her two-year RU/QF stretch at the AO in 2014-15 (10-2) stands out in her career at the event, as she was just 7-6 in Melbourne before then, and has gone 2-4 since. Had Cibulkova won the title she would have tied the record -- held by Nancy Richey (1968 RG) and Mima Jausovec (1977 RG) -- as the shortest slam winner ever, at five-foot-three. =============================================== 19-year old Genie Bouchard, in her fourth career slam MD, reaches the semifinal for the best major result by a Canadian woman since Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open. She'd go on in 2014 to reach the Roland Garros semis and Wimbledon final.
Meanwhile, Bouchard's Australian fans formed the "Genie Army."
=============================================== Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci defend their women's doubles title, joining the Williams Sisters as the only duo to do so at the AO in twenty years. The Italians defeated Makarova/Vesnina in the final, coming back from 5-2 in the 3rd set to snatch the crown. The #1-ranked duo would lose the top ranking to Peng Shuai in February, but reclaim it later in the summer after completing their Career Doubles Slam by winning the WD at Wimbledon. =============================================== Kristina Mladenovic wins the Mixed Doubles with Daniel Nestor, picking up her second career MX title. She hasn't added a third such win since, but *has* picked up Roland Garros (w/ Garcia) and Australian Open (w/ Babos) women's doubles crowns. =============================================== Germany's Sabine Ellerbrock wins the women's wheelchair title, adding to her first career major won at RG in '13. She won the title with a victory in the final over Japan's Yui Kamiji, appearing in her first career slam singles final at age 19. She's since won six, including RG and the U.S. Open later in the '14 season. Along with Brit Jordanne Whiley, Kamiji claimed her first slam doubles crown. The duo would go on to complete a Doubles Grand Slam that season. Kamiji now has fourteen slam WD titles.
=============================================== Russia's Elizaveta Kulichkova becomes the fourth consecutive junior to sweep both the singles and doubles titles in Melbourne. Defeating Croatian Jana Fett in the singles final, the Hordette becomes the first Russian girl to win a slam title since Dasha Gavrilova (now AUS) at the 2010 U.S. Open, and the first to do so at the AO since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's back-to-back crowns in 2006-07.
Kulichkova's pro career never took flght, as she was often injured. She won seven career ITF titles, and ranked as high as #87 in 2016. Having not played since failing to qualify at the 2017 U.S. Open, she retired in 2018. =============================================== A year after setting an AO record by posting a MD singles win at age 42, 43-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm lost in the 1st Round to 16-year old qualifier Belinda Bencic, who was making her slam debut. ===============================================
The Aussie summer heat made its presence known in 2014: Jelena Jankovic burned herself on an uncovered chair, while Caroline Wozniacki's water bottle melted on a hot court
=============================================== Ekaterina Makarova defeated Venus Williams in the 1st Round, staging a comeback from 3-0 down in the 3rd set. The win, combined with her victory over Serena at the '12 AO, makes the Russian one of the rare (and, as of 2019, one of just two) players with slam wins over both Sisters in a career in which they've never been ranked #1 in singles. Of course, Makarova *has* been ranked #1 in doubles.
Only Sloane Stephens currently resides on that oddball list along with Makarova, but three other players were once there only to remove themselves by eventually rising to #1: Angelique Kerber in '16, and both Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza in '17 =============================================== Also at the 2014 AO: Simona Halep defeated Jelena Jankovic to reach her first career slam QF. With the result, she became the third Romanian woman to reach the Top 10, and first to make her debut there since Irina Spirlea in 1996. She'd go on to reach her first slam final at Roland Garros later in 2014, become #1 in 2017, and win her maiden slam in Paris in '18 while completing her second of back-to-back #1 seasons. ===============================================
==QUOTES== * -"When I think of power I think of Serena. When I think of focus I think of Sharapova. When I think of heart and guts I think of Azarenka." - Chris Evert
* -"She's a genius!" - Pam Shriver, on Aga Radwanska
* -"Make me rich!" - Li Na, after winning the women's title, to her agent
* - [To husband Dennis, after the final] "Thanks a lot. You're a nice guy. And also you are so lucky... (you) found me!" - Li Na
=WOMEN'S SINGLES QF= #16 Serena Williams/USA vs. #7 Karolina Pliskova/CZE #4 Naomi Osaka/JPN vs. #6 Elina Svitolina/UKR #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE vs. #15 Ash Barty/AUS Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS vs. Danielle Collins/USA
=WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF= #1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. Stosur/Sh.Zhang (AUS/CHN) Strycova/Vondrousova (CZE/CZE) vs. #5 Klepac/Martinez Sanchez (SLO/ESP) #7 Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE) vs. Brady/Riske (USA/USA) #9 Atawo/Srebotnik (USA/SLO) vs. Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)
=GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16= x vs. x x vs. x x vs. x x vs. x Manon Leonard/FRA vs. (Q) Veronika Pepelyaeva/RUS (Q) Lisa Pigato/ITA vs. #4 Leylah Annie Fernandez/CAN #7 Lulu Sun/SUI vs. (Q) Federica Rossi/ITA Victoria Allen/GBR vs. Anastasia Tikhonova/RUS
=WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S SINGLES= #1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. Lucy Shuker/GBR Marjolein Buis/NED vs. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER Aniek Van Koot/NED vs. Kgothatso Montjane/RSA Giulia Capocci/ITA vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN
=WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S DOUBLES= #1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Capocci/Kamiji (ITA/JPN) Montjane/Shuker (RSA/GBR) vs. #2 Buis/Ellerbrock (NED/GER)
*2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL 8* [by career slam QF] 50 - Serena Williams, USA 11 - Petra Kvitova, CZE 7 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE 5 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS 4 - Elina Svitolina, UKR 2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN 1 - Ash Barty, AUS 1 - Danielle Collins, USA [by career AO QF] 12 - Serena Williams 3 - Petra Kvitova 3 - Karolina Pliskova 2 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2 - Elina Svitolina 1 - Ash Barty 1 - Danielle Collins 1 - Naomi Osaki [w/ consecutive slam QF] 3 - Serena Williams 2 - Naomi Osaka 2 - Karolina Pliskova [w/ consecutive AO QF] 3 - Karolina Pliskova 2 - Elina Svitolina -- NOTE: Serena Williams 4 in last 4 appearances (DNP 2018) [WTA career slam QF - active] 50...Serena Williams, USA 39...Venus Williams, USA 25...Maria Sharapova, RUS 16...Victoria Azarenka, BLR 16...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS 11...Simona Halep, ROU 11...Petra Kvitova, CZE 10...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 9...Angelique Kerber, GER 8...Dominika Cibulkova, SVK 8...Jelena Jankovic, SRB 7...Sara Errani, ITA 7...Garbine Muguruza, ESP 7...Karolina Pliskova, CZE 7...Samantha Stosur, AUS 7...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP 6...Kaia Kanepi, EST 6...Madison Keys, USA 6...Ekaterina Makarova, RUS 6...Vera Zvonareva, RUS 5...Sabine Lisicki, GER 5...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS 5...Sloane Stephens, USA [WTA slam QF in 2010's - active] 22...Serena Williams, USA 14...Victoria Azarenka, BLR 12...Maria Sharapova, RUS 11...Simona Halep, ROU 11...Petra Kvitova, CZE 10..Angelique Kerber, GER 9...Venus Williams, USA 9...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN 7...Dominika Cibulkova, SVK 7...Sara Errani, ITA 7...Garbine Muguruza, ESP 7...Karolina Pliskova, CZE 6...Madison Keys, USA 6...Ekaterina Makarova, RUS 6...Samantha Stosur, AUS 6...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
*ALL-TIME WINS OVER WORLD #1* 18 - Martina Navratilova 17 - Serena Williams 15 - Venus Williams 15 - Lindsay Davenport 11 - Steffi Graf [active] 18 - Serena Williams 15 - Venus Williams 7 - Maria Sharapova 7 - Svetlana Kuznetsova 6 - Elina Svitolina
*OLDEST PLAYER WITH WIN OVER WORLD #1* 37 - Serena Williams (#16) -def. Halep (2019 Aust.Open 4r) 36 - Venus Williams (#12) - def. Kerber (2017 Miami QF)
TOP QUALIFIER:Astra Sharma/AUS TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r):#16 Serena Williams/USA TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx TOP QUALIFYING MATCH:Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut) TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r):2nd Rd. - #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-4/6-7(3)/7-5 (ended at 3:12 a.m.) TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx ============================= FIRST VICTORY:Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU) FIRST SEED OUT:#14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA) UPSET QUEENS:United States REVELATION LADIES:Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska; Anisimova and Yastremska reach 3rd Rd. NATION OF POOR SOULS:Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING:Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.) LAST WILD CARD STANDING:Kimberly Birrell/AUS (3rd Rd.) LAST AUSSIE STANDING:Ash Barty (in QF) Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Nominee: Barty, Collins, Pavlyuchenkova IT (Teen):Amanda Anisimova/USA (first player born in 2000s to reach slam 4th Rd.) COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Kvitova (in slams), Sharapova CRASH & BURN:#10 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (after leading 3-0 in 1st set, loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky) ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominees: Osaka (3rd Rd. - down 7-5/4-1 vs. Hsieh); Svitolina (3rd Rd. - down double-break 3-0 in 3rd vs. Sh.Zhang; MTO's); Collins (1st Rd. - Goerges served for match); S.Williams (4th Rd. - Halep 3 BP for 4-2 lead in 3rd set) KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: S.Williams, Kvitova LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Halep, Muguruza, S.Williams DOUBLES STAR: xx JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
A man of few words, Carl nonetheless led the inaugural edition of the sure-to-be-annual Carl Games on The Commons, which featured a series of athletic competitions at which Carl has traditionally thrived, including the "chase with club" game and a few hearty rounds of "Squish" (oddly enough, Carl seemed to *always* win). The agreed upon highlight of the Games was the the first-ever Elking event held on campus grounds. After hearing about the sport for years, the curious specators were all... um, delighted to finally see it up close and personal on the sprawling lawns on which our students often enjoy a break in the middle of each day. 
Joining Carl in demonstrating the finer points of Elking expertise was his son Carlo, who many of us haven't seen since he was just a boy. Carlo has grown into a fine young man in the interim, and announced to all this weekend that he'd been a 2nd Round draft choice of the Saskatoon Berrypickers of the World Elking League. Carlo showed everyone recent of photos of his mom Carla, twin sister Carlita, and infant sibling Carlie from their recent vacation at the Great Wall of China (including Carla's remarkable single-bound leap from one side of the wall to the other... something which has led to some discussions with the Chinese Olympic Federation about relocating the family there, which many of us suspect may be the reason why the rest of the family didn't make the trip back to campus this year).
First, Carlo made the team! (Yay!) Not that it didn't come with a little controversy, naturally. Our favorite rookie elker survived the final cut and joined his Saskatoon Berrypicker teammates as a second string hornblaster, the backup to the team's living legend/aging folk hero, Saskatechwan's own Bud "Windy" Windsor. Carlo was given the number 7, though some of the team's fans were offended that he simply had "Carlo" on his back, as they flooded Twitter with opinions that as a 2nd Round draft pick he hadn't earned the right to go by one name. Of course, he was able to diffuse the situation by explaining that he only HAS one name, so...
Afterward, cameras caught up with Carl outside the competition area (he's been banned, remember, from attending WEL matches due to his "elking dad" reputation and history of assaulting the sport's various officials). He said, "Carlo do what taught. He learn from best." When asked if he was talking about Windy, Carl bellowed "No! Me!" and attacked the reporter who asked the question. The gentleman reportedly spent the night in a hospital in traction (he was doing better this morning), while Carl was last seen bounding over a fallen Alder tree and disappearing into the far distance. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, but Carl's whereabouts are currently unknown.
Like father, like son, Carlo is once again at the center of still more controversy. He and fellow rookie Hardington exchanged jerseys after the game, as is an elking post-match tradition. On Sunday morning, though, the news broke that Carlo's jersey had been put up for sale on eBay. It has since been removed. But the incident will surely provide more hateful fodder for the Regina/Saskatoon rematch later this season that will surely have Saskatchewan and the entire WEL crazy with anticipation.
