Sunday, March 16, 2025

Wk.11- Mirra is That Girl

Hmmm, a tour-best 19 match victories, including 12 straight wins, with two consecutive 1000 titles and a five-match winning streak vs. Top 10 opponents as she climbs to a career-best #6 in the rankings.

And she's still only 17 years old?

Yep, the rise of Mirra Andreeva has officially become *the* top story of this early stretch of the 2025 season. (Sorry, Madi.)








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*WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*
INDIAN WELLS (CAL), USA (WTA 1000; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Mirra Andreeva/RUS def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 2-6/6-4/6-3
D: Asia Muhammad/Demi Schuurs (USA/NED) def. Tereza Mihalikova/Olivia Nicholls (SVK/GBR) 6-2/7-6(4)
MX: Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA) def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Mate Pavic (USA/CRO) 7-6(3)/3-6 [10-8]




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[IW 3rd Round+]




PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Mirra Andreeva/RUS
...in recent years, a breakout performance in Indian Wells and the heavy lifting involved with raising the championship trophy high have proven to be a prelude to an even greater result later in the season. In both 2018, when Naomi Osaka did it, and 2019, when it was Bianca Andreescu, the desert was the proving ground for slam title runs (in both those cases, at the U.S. Open).

With three major opportunities left in 2025, after what we've seen over the past month, who's brave (or is it crazy?) enough to be willing to wager that Andreeva *won't* end up following in Osaka and Andreescu's grand slam footsteps by the end of this season? If not in New York, then how about Paris (she reached the RG semis last year, after upsetting Aryna Sabalenka) or even London (Round of 16 in her '23 debut)?

Having already notched a 1000 title in Dubai a few weeks ago, during which she rode wins over Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Clara Tauson (in the final) to the winner's circle, Andreeva's I.W. run included second victories over all three of those players as well as Varvara Gracheva, Elina Svitolina and then world #1 Sabalenka in a title match in which the teenager rallied from a set down to avenge two of her three '25 defeats (in the Brisbane SF and AO 4r vs. the Belarusian).



Already the fifth-youngest finalist in I.W. history, the youngest since 2001, the win made the 17-year old the third youngest champion in the desert, behind only back-to-back winners Martina Hingis and Serena Williams in 1998-99. And she did so by knocking off both the world #1 and #2 players in her final two outings, the youngest to do so in the same event over the past 40 years (but not the youngest ever -- that'd be Tracy Austin, almost 46 years ago).

Amongst other things, Andreeva has now placed herself squarely in the middle of the WTA Points Race (at #3, still behind Sabalenka, but only barely, and Keys). More importantly, though, her peers -- who now *mostly* can go by one name only, just like Mirra -- must recognzie that they now have to come with their best (all day long) to take her out.

Neither Swiatek nor Rybakina could do it in two attempts this season, and Sabalenka couldn't do it in the desert despite having already beaten her twice earlier this season. Those three women have won 8 of the last 12 majors.

Welcome to the age of unlimited Andreeva potential, for it seems to have arrived in *full* form even earlier that previously anticipated.


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RISERS: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR and Liudmila Samsonova/RUS
...Sabalenka needed to regain her focus and escape her post-AO final loss rut in Indian Wells. At the very least, she did do that by posting straight sets wins over McCartney Kessler, Lucia Bronzetti, Sonay Kartal, Liudmila Samsonova and Madison Keys (allowing just 1 game vs. her Melbourne conqueror) to reach her second final in the desert in three years.

But Mirra Andreeva proved to be a tough nut to crack and the world #1 fell to 0-2 in I.W. finals, even after Sabalenka got half-way to the win by taking the 1st set and continuing to deny the teenager on BP chances early in the 2nd. But once the Hordette finally broke Sabalenka's serve, after going 0-for-17 in BP attempts over their three '25 matches, it was Andreeva's confidence that soared while Sabalenka's focus wobbled enough to never allow her to be in a commanding position the remainder of the match.

Sabalenka could have opened up a huge 2500+ point lead over #2 Iga Swiatek with the title, but will settle for holding an almost 2300-point edge on Monday. But maybe, long term (i.e. the 2025 year-end #1 spot), Swiatek isn't the player that Sabalenka might need to worry about the most.

She may have lost to *that* player on Sunday.

Still without a title during her career at either of the two biggest regular season hard court events to go with her three hard court majors, Sabalenka heads to Miami, where she's yet to reach a final (her best result has been a pair of QF, the last coming in 2023). If she can change that, though, she'd be just the third woman since 2000 (when it was Davenport vs. Hingis in the Melbourne, I.W. *and* Miami finals) to reach the title match of all three of the top early-season hard court events in a single season. The only two others to do it since then have been Maria Sharapova (2012) and Elena Rybakina (2023).

Meanwhile, Samsonova's QF run in Indian Wells, which included a win over #6 Jasmine Paolini (the Hordette's second Top 10 win in '25), gives her three Final 8 results in 1000 events since the start of last year (after reaching two finals, in Canada and Beijing, in '23) and sets her on a rare upward course over the opening months of a season.

Samsonova had additional victories over Caty McNally and Dasha Kasatkina in the desert before being taken out by #Sabalenka 2 & 3, enough for her best career I.W. finish.



A notoriously slow starter in recent seasons, the result lifts Samsonova above what had been another lackluster first leg (she was 6-6 pre-I.W.) to 9-7, her best January-through-Indian Wells record since 2021.

Samsonova stood at 4-7 through I.W. last year (and was soon 5-11), 8-7 in '23 (9-9) and 6-6 when leaving the desert in '22 (then 6-7 after Miami).
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SURPRISE: Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori, ITA/ITA
...all right, the Italian duo winning the Indian Wells Mixed Doubles Invitational isn't a "surprise," per se, considering they *are* the reigning U.S. Open MX champs, as well. But since *this* event's competition took place during *the actual tournament*, rather than as an "extra" that will occur before the start of the U.S. Open this summer -- during qualifying week (in an abbreviated draw that the USTA wants to be filled with bigger *singles* names) in a set-up that will make it feel even more like an exhibition than this *true* exhibition no matter the prize money involved -- it surely deserves a special mention this week.



Errani/Vavassori won a 10-8 MTB over Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Mate Pavic in the final.

Mattek-Sands was looking to add one of the few MX titles she's yet to claim, as the four-time slam MX champ has won the crown at three different majors (all but Wimbledon) as well as having an Olympic Gold medal (in 2016).
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VETERANS: Donna Vekic/CRO and Elina Svitolina/UKR
...Vekic has walked a strange path in 2025. She opened the year with a Top 20 ranking at the season's onset for the first time in her career, only to start 0-3. She bounced back to reach the AO 4th Round, her third straight second week run at a major (she had four *total* from 2013-22), and the second in three years in Melbourne.

But the 28-year old Croatian arrived in the desert having since dropped four straight.



In her tenth career I.W. MD, Vekic reached her first Round of 16 in the event with wins over Elina Avanesyan and Emma Navarro (her first Top 10 win since her Olympic Silver medal result last summer). In 57 MD appearances in 1000 level events, it was just Vekic's second 4th Round result (w/ '23 Rome 4r). Against Madison Keys, she won the 1st set vs. the AO champ and, after a no-break 2nd set led to a TB, lost a 9-7 breaker before going on to lose in three.

Vekic is still just 5-8 on the season, but will get another shot in 1000 MD #58 in Miami to reach her maiden QF. Remember, it took her 43 slam MD tries (the fifth-most all-time) before finally reaching her maiden SF at Wimbledon last year, so maybe something big will soon be around the corner.



Meanwhile, Svitolina followed up her AO QF in January with a QF run in the desert, her best Melbourne/Indian Wells result combo since 2019 (QF/SF).

The Ukrainian opened with a win over Ashlyn Krueger, then kept her momentum going by taking out Danielle Collins and #4 Jessica Pegula (career Top 10 win #41, and tying for her second biggest since 2019 -- w/ a win over #4 Paolini at this year's AO, behind only a #1 victory vs. Swiatek at the '23 Wimbledon). Svitolina dominated Pegula in the 2nd/3rd sets (1 & 2) after a long rain delay one game into the final set.



Svitolina lost a round later to Mirra Andreeva in straights, and heads to Miami ranked just ouside the Top 20 (her best result there has been a SF in 2021).
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COMEBACK: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...Bencic's comeback has proven to be one of the bigger stories of 2025's 1st Quarter, but she couldn't ride it to her first 1000 SF since 2022. She did reach her 11th career QF in just the second 1000 MD attempt of her comeback, though, while improving to 17-5 on the year.

After being a month away from becoming a first-time mother at this time in '24, the Swiss wild card's I.W. run included wins over Tatjana Maria, Doha champ Amanda Anisimova, Diana Shnaider and #3 Coco Gauff, Bencic's second Top 10 win of the year and her best since Charleston '23 (#3 Pegula).

Bencic fell to AO champ Madison Keys (her 16th consecutive win), but will return to the Top 50 on Monday and finds herself in the Top 10 in the 2025 Points Race heading into Miami.


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ITF PLAYERS: Sinja Kraus/AUT and Joanna Garland/TPE
...Kraus took the honors at the $75K Székesfehérvár challenger in Hungary, winning her second '25 crown via a 2-6/7-5/6-3 victory in the final over Amarissa Toth on the Hungarian's home clay (it's Toth biggest singles final appearance, and she'll jump 95 spots to obliterate her previous career high of #369, nearly cracking the Top 300 at #301).

The eleventh ITF win in the Austrian's career, it's Kraus' biggest so far and her fifth claimed since last August. She jumps 28 spots to #163, just 12 behind her career high of #151. That spot is currently held by Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, just 45 points ahead of Kraus.

Elsewhere, in Solarino (ITA), 23-year old Garland continued her barnstorming tour across the ITF circuit, claiming her ninth title since October and second in less than a week.

After winning the delayed Week 10 $35K Solarino final on Monday, the British-born Taiwanese player extended her stay and her winning streak to ten matches and picked up yet another title, defeating Viktoria Hruncakova in a 7-6(4)/6-2 final on Sunday.

53-5 over the past five months (a run which included a previous 29-match streak), Garland has collected nine $35K crowns over the stretch and lifted her ranking from #551 (in November) to #222 on Monday (one off her career high).


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JUNIOR STAR: Julieta Pareja/USA
...16-year old Californian Pareja claimed the J300 title in the event held in Indian Wells, closing out her week with wins over 16-year old Adla Lopez in the semis and 17-year old qualifier Alexis Nguyen in a 6-1/6-2 final contested during the Sabalenka/Andreeva women's championship match.

Pareja didn't drop a set all week, and improved to 14-1 in her last three events. She's reached three straight finals, claiming J300 wins in Barranquilla in January and this week in the desert, along with a RU in Lima in February.
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DOUBLES: Asia Muhammad/Demi Schuurs, USA/NED
...with a draw chocked full of former I.W. WD champs (5) and runner-ups (7), the final featured three of four women who'd never reached the title match in the desert before facing off there this year. Only Muhammad, RU with Ena Shibahara in '22, wasn't a newbie.

As it played out, Muhammad & Schuurs upset the #1 (Siniakova/Townsend in a 10-8 MTB in the SF, ending the duo's perfect 12-0 run in '25) and #3 (Errani/Paolini 1r) seeds to reach their maiden final as a pair, then defeated Tereza Mihalikova & Olivia Nicholls in straights sets to grab the win.

It's Muhammad's second 1000 crown ('24 Cincy w/ Routliffe) and 16th tour win; while Schuurs has now collected six 1000 (first since 2020) and 20 overall WTA titles.


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WHEELCHAIR: Aniek Van Koot/NED
...having moved past the recovering Diede de Groot to #2 in the rankings following her RU finish in Rome (USA) last week, Van Koot headed slightly west to Baton Rouge in Louisiana and swept the titles at the Cajun Classic Super Series event this past week.

The veteran Van Koot lost in last week's final to Dutch countrywoman Lizzy de Greef, but won over the 20-year old when they met again in the QF (6-1/7-5). After a SF victory over Kgothatso Montjane, Van Koot defeated 19-year old Pastry roller Ksenia Chasteau in a 6-2/6-2 final. Chasteau, the '24 RG junior champ who has thus far not won a pro title above the Series 3 level, had upset the #2 (Angelica Bernal) and #3 (Zhu Zhenzhen) seeds before losing to top seeded Van Koot.

Van Koot also won the doubles alongside Brit Lucy Shuker.
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[IW 3rd Round+]


1. Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Madison Keys def. Elise Mertens
...6-2/6-7(8)/6-4. Keys keeps her winning streak going, but only after nearly wasting a 6-2/3-0 lead over the veteran Waffle. Keys served at 5-3 and held 2 MP in the 2nd, then a second and third in the TB that was ultimately won 10-8 by Mertens.


Mertens couldn't complete the comeback to get what would have been her first Top 10 win since the 2023 RG (Pegula), though, as Keys claimed the 3rd set (on MP #6).


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2. Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Jaqueline Cristian
...6-4/3-6/6-4. Cristian nearly kept her crowd-pleasing run in the desert going, but Paolini rallied from 3-1 down in the 3rd to edge out the Romanian for the victory. The Italian was forced to save two BP at 4-4 in the decider, a nine-deuce hold that preceded Paolini's break of Cristian (who'd led 30/love) a game later to end the match.


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3. Indian Wells SF - Aryna Sabalenka def. Madison Keys
...6-0/6-1. On a cold and windy night in the desert, Keys' 16-match winning streak came to a thudding halt in her first meeting with Sabalenka since defeating her in the AO final in January.

The ignominious scoreboard denouement -- Sabalenka led 6-0/5-0, and likely had a tad of mercy late in avoiding the love & love final -- came at the end of a week where Keys struggled (going to three vs. Mertens after having 4 MP in the 2nd), battled (coming back from a set down vs. Vekic, winning a 2nd set TB) and dominated (1 & 1 vs. Bencic) in her return to action for the first time since Melbourne.
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4. Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Zheng Qinwen def. Lulu Sun
...6-4/7-5. Meeting for the first time since Sun upset Zheng in the 1st Round of Wimbledon last summer, Zheng evens the score to drop the New Zealander to 13-15 since their previous meeting.

Afterward, Zheng admitted to having a long memory about such things.



Hmmm, if it was "story-time" with the WTA, is this where there'd be a plot thread where Emma Navarro is being stalked around the world by an unseen foe hiding in the shadows? Although, Zheng did *defeat* Navarro at the Olympics before she was insulted by her, so maybe the same "rules of revenge" don't apply.

Meanwhile, perhaps Iga Swiatek has a decent memory, too, as two rounds later (in their first match-up since Zheng got the win in their Olympic QF in Paris) Zheng was sent packing 3 & 3.


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5. $75K Targu Mures ROU Final - Patricia Hon def. Arianne Hartono
...6-3/6-4. The Aussie picks up her second $75K crown of the season, and the rare title *outside* of Australia.

Hon is 13-2 in career ITF finals, a mark which includes a 9-2 mark on home soil. This is her first win away from Down Under since 2022.
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@christina_mchale


HM- $15K Montreal (QUE) CAN Final - Raphaëlle Lacasse/Christina McHale def. Sara Daavettila/Sabastiana Leon
...7-5/6-1. McHale, 32, grabs her first title since her return last November after having retired in September 2022.

The New Jersey native's most recent ITF doubles crown came in 2010 (Arantxa Rus, still active 15 years later, was on the other side of the net), and her last at tour level was in 2016.

McHale was once a Top 25 singles player, reaching two WTA finals (winning one) and notching Top 10 wins over no less than five different former slam champions (Azarenka, Wozniacki, Bartoli, Kvitova and Muguruza), defeating a then-#1 Caroline Wozniacki in 2011 and a #3-ranked Petra Kvitova a year later.
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[IW 3rd Round+]


1. Indian Wells Final - Mirra Andreeva def. Aryna Sabalenka
...2-6/6-4/6-3. In the desert, Mirra was no mirage.

Sabalenka came into the match with a 4-1 head-to-head advantage, and 2-0 edge in '25 (via 6-3/6-2 and 6-1/6-2 wins in January) vs. Andreeva. Early on, she held her ground and swatted away the young Russian's attempts to break her serve for the first time this year, holding from love/30 in game 1 and saving four BP in game 3. She broke Andreeva at love in game 4, and carried out her edge to a 1st set victory.

Things started similarly in the 2nd, as Sabalenka saved three more BP in the opening game, making Andreeva 0-for-7 on the day and 0-for-18 on the year in their trio of match-ups. But the teenager, bolstered by a heap of success since those previous early season defeats, never stopped challenging Sabalenka. Finally, in game 3, her maiden '25 break of Sabalenka's serve came. And it changed everything.

After an Andreeva hold for 3-1, she was the one in the position of saving BP (2 in game 6) to maintain her lead, finishing off Sabalenka's best chance to get back on serve on the BP #2 when she reached a ball in the doubles alley and flicked a crosscourt backhand passing shot that caught the sideline and put her in the driver's seat en route to the title.



Sabalenka saved a SP and held for 4-5, but Andreeva serve out the set a game later, then broke to take charge in the first game of the 3rd.

Sabalenka prevented Andreeva from a game 2 hold despite three GP chances, including one in which the world #1 framed her return, hit the baseline, then saw the teenager commit an error. Two points later the set was back on serve at 1-1, but Sabalenka dropped served again in the next game and Mirra's path was suddenly very clear.

Ultimately, Andreeva didn't need to serve things out. Up 5-3, her second serve return winner down the line gave her a 15/30 lead on Sabalenka's serve, then a great defensive get forced a made-to-hit-one-more-shot Sabalenka UE that handed the teenager her first MP. She wouldn't need a second.



Then, as has quickly become her trademark, Andreeva thanked everyone important who played a part in yet another career-best achievement, and didn't forget the *most* important figure in the mix. Needless to say, Mirra has quickly become known for saying the quiet part out loud...


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2. Indian Wells 4th Rd. - Mirra Andreeva def. Elena Rybakina
...6-1/6-2. The 2023 Indian Wells champ plays one of the worst matches of her career, getting just three games (and sporting a woeful 4/33 winner-to-UE ratio) vs. Andreeva, losing to the teenager in a second straight event and getting just six games in her last three sets against her.

All nine of the Top 10 seeds in Indian Wells (Badosa w/d before the start of play) reached at least the 4th Round, but none went out there quite as hard as Rybakina. Although, it *has* been a common occurrance that the Kazakh has been unlucky her '25 draws. This was her fifth loss of the season in a non-team event, and in three of her previous four defeats (Keys/AO, Bencic/ABU, Andreeva/DUB) her conqueror ultimately won the title, with the other loss coming vs. three-time defending champ Swiatek in Doha.



By the end of the week in the desert, *four* of Rybakina's five losses had come vs. the eventual tournament champion.
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3. Indian Wells SF - Mirra Andreeva def. Iga Swiatek
...7-6(1)/1-6/6-3. Andreeva improves to 2-1 vs. Swiatek, backing up her Dubai QF win over the world #2 with another to become the fifth youngest finalist in Indian Wells history as she reaches a second straight 1000 final.

Defending champ Swiatek had rallied to quickly take the 2nd set after dropping a 7-1 1st set TB, but Andreeva didn't blink and reasserted herself to win in three.



As another match slipped away, and another "nemesis" was added to a lengthening list, Swiatek's frustration grew. She was initially criticized for whacking this ball *at* the ballkid, but...



Still, she hit the ball *toward* the ballkid and *into* (sort of, as it didn't quite make it) the stands at her team. If this were a few other players, we know the calls for a default would have overwhelmed the ultimate story of Andreeva's win.

That topic aside, Swiatek had dominated in the early rounds, but while such things mean so much to "momentum players" (Alona and a few others), no player's miniscule early-round games lost totals means less later on than do Iga's. Such an easy early path for Iga has become common in recent seasons, as has the abrupt end of that run when the Pole was then roundly ousted either by a big/deep shot-hitter or an opponent who remains unintimidated by facing such an honored champion. In this case it was Andreeva (again) after Swiatek's ten straight wins, and twenty consecutive sets claimed, in the desert.

With no title since Roland Garros, and no final appearances since her positive drug test last summer, it does make one wonder how long coach Wim Fissette will remain tethered to the Swiatek team. Someone has to be blamed, right? Hmm, what are either Piotr Sierzputowski or Tomasz Wiktorowski -- both named WTA Coach of the Year while coaching Iga -- doing these days, anyway?

Thing is, Swiatek is 2-0 vs. Rybakina (who'd beaten her four out of five before '25), but now 0-2 vs. Andreeva, still winless vs. Ostapenko and has also lost yet another to Gauff (who she formerly dominated) this season.
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4. Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Sonay Kartal def. Polina Kudermetova
...7-5/6-3. In her 1000 MD debut, Kartal reaches the Round of 16 as a lucky loser, joining the likes of Eva Lys (AO 4r), Aliaksanda Sasnovich (Cluj SF) and Ashlyn Krueger (Adelaide QF) as deep run LL successes already this season.


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5. $75K Kyoto JPN Final - Sara Saito def. Himeno Sakatsume
...6-4/7-6(2). The 18-year old, who reached the Tokyo QF in her WTA debut in the '24 4Q, claims her second $75K+ crown in less than a year. She won a $100K title last June.
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HM- $75K Székesfehérvár HUN Final - Irina Bara/Ekaterine Gorgadze def. Luca Udvardy/Panna Udvardy
...6-7(7)/6-3 [10-3]. The Udvardy sisters -- 19-year old Luca and 26-year old Panna -- lose at the final hurdle, but still play in their first pro final together.
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Yes, it's also the fourth attempt in a decade to (poorly) push the same tired narrative that does nothing to sell the tour/sport.


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Meanwhile, not another critique of the WTA rebrand, but an abbreviated take about a possible "fake" campaign:

Called "Heroes / Every Day," it could combine the ahead-of-its-time 2009 "Looking for a Hero?" marketing strategy with the current decade (and four campaigns) long attempt by the tour to sell women's tennis by positioning the athletes as off-court "game-changing" inspirations for girls, women and others around the world.



The difference is, "#HeroesEveryDay" could be more versatile, and not be *solely" dependent upon pulling off the continued (to date) failed attempts to entertainingly present the WTA's generally-quite-pretentious and preaching-to-the-already-converted vision of itself to potential *new* fans and investors.

It could still utilize the off-court inspiration ("everyday" heroes, every day) angle that the tour so clings to, but combine it with highlighting the on-court heroics the players routinely take part in on a daily (Every Day) basis all year long, leaning into the fact that the WTA is *always on*, i.e. with a season that lasts nearly eleven months, meaning *someone* is doing *something* great pretty much every single day of any calendar year.

In addition to this, the "heroes" aspect could escape the "overly earnest" tone that the tour has for so long preferred, allowing the campaign theme to be punctuated by "superhero"-style photoshoots, filmed "action" ads and short animated pieces (or comic book-style paneled images) featured on social media and starring the tour's top personalities, up-and-coming faces and maybe even greats from the past who have "already saved the world" and passed the baton along to other generations over the decades.

Products such as life-size posters and cardboard stand-ups, special edition phone covers and t-shirts that could work to individualize the athletes, as themselves or their "alter egos" (or maybe both!), in an attempt to engage fans who can then play along with how their favorites are presented and envisioned across the entire WTA landscape, literally wearing their allegiance on their chest, smartphone or bedroom wall.

Just a (quick) thought.



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So, did Indian Wells finally (and mercifully) dispense with the longtime tradition of reigning champions being honored with a mural of their "likeness" the following year? Considering what resulted has very rarely even remotely resembled the players in question, the art has often been the target of criticism.

I couldn't find anything that mentioned an unveiling ceremony for 2025, nor any photos or even any announcement that quietly noted a change. There *was* a new Champions Luncheon this year, though, that featured the '24 winners, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz. Did it replace the old unveiling ceremomy as the pre-event media event for the reigning champs?



Granted, Swiatek and Alcarez both were already multiple I.W. champions (Alcaraz in 2023-24, Iga '22 & '24) and already had two previous murals unveiled, so another wasn't necessary. Still... well, I guess we'll see next year.

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Meanwhile, the tournaments social media teams are often almost always more creative than that of the WTA...






















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*DEFEATED #1/#2 PLAYERS IN EVENT - since 2010*
2010 SYD: #5 Dementieva = #2 Safina, #1 S.Williams
2010 WTA: #4 Clijsters = #2 Zvonareva, #1 Wozniacki
2012 MAD: #9 S.Williams = #2 Sharapova, #1 Azarenka
2012 WTA: #3 S.Williams = #1 Azarenka, #2 Sharapova
2017 CIN: #6 Muguruza = #1 Pliskova, #2 Halep
2018 CIN: #17 Bertens = #2 Wozniacki, #1 Halep
2022 WTA: #7 Sabalenka (L) = #2 Jabeur, #1 Swiatek
2023 DUB: #30 Krejcikova = #2 Sabalenka, #1 Swiatek
2023 IW: #10 Rybakina = #1 Swiatek, #2 Sabalenka
2024 WTA: #3 Gauff = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka
2025 AO: #14 Keys = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka
2025 IW: #11 M.Andreeva = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2025*
3 - ARYNA SABALENKA (1-2)
2 - Madison Keys (2-0)
2 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (2-0)
2 - McCartney Kessler (1-1)
2 - Elise Mertens (1-1)
2 - Jessie Pegula (1-1)
2 - Clara Tauson (1-1)

*WTA TITLES WON BY TEENAGERS in 2020s*
6 - Coco Gauff (2021,2023-24)
3 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (2024-25)
3 - Iga Swiatek (2020-21)
2 - Leylah Fernandez (2021-22)
2 - Clara Tauson (2021)
1 - Linda Fruhvirtova (2022)
1 - Ashlyn Krueger (2023)
1 - Linda Noskova (2024)
1 - Camila Osorio (2021)
1 - Emma Raducanu (2021)
1 - Diana Shnaider (2024)
1 - Maria Timofeeva (2023)

*LONG WTA (MD only) WINNING STREAKS - 2025*
16 - Madison Keys (January-March; ended by Sabalenka)
12 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (February-active)
11 - Aryna Sabalenka (January; ended by Keys)

*LONG WTA (MD only) WINNING STREAKS - 2020s*
37 - Iga Swiatek (2022; ended by Cornet)
21 - Iga Swiatek (2024; ended by Putintseva)
18 - Iga Swiatek (2023-24; ended by Noskova)
17 - Simona Halep (2020; ended by Swiatek)
16 - Coco Gauff (2023; ended by Swiatek)
16 - MADISON KEYS (2025; ended by Sabalenka)
15 - Danielle Collins (2024; ended by Sabalenka)
15 - Aryna Sabalenka (2024; ended by Muchova)
13 - Liudmila Samsonova (2022; ended by Tomljanovic)
13 - Bernarda Pera (2022; ended by Samsonova)
13 - Aryna Sabalenka (2023; ended by Krejcikova)
13 - Elena Rybakina (2023; ended by Kvitova)
--
NOTE: M.Andreeva on an active 12-match streak after I.W.

*ALL-TIME WTA FINALS - active*
55 - Caroline Wozniacki
42 - Petra Kvitova
41 - Victoria Azarenka
34 - Karolina Pliskova
34 - ARYNA SABALENKA (2 in '25)
30 - Vera Zvonareva
26 - Iga Swiatek
--
ALSO: 83-V.Williams

*2025 - MOST TOP 10 WINS*
5 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (3 in I.W.)
5 - Madison Keys
4 - Iga Swiatek (1 in I.W.)
3 - Liudmila Samsonova (1 in I.W.)
2 - Belinda Bencic (1 in I.W.)
2 - Linda Noskova
2 - Alona Ostapenko
2 - Elina Svitolina (1 in I.W.)

*2020-25 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
23 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/3/5/2)
14 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/1/0)
12 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/2/3/0)
11 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/2/3/0)
10 - Desirae Krawczyk (2/2/1/3/1/1)
10 - DEMI SCHUURS (2/2/1/2/2/1)
10 - Laura Siegemund (1/0/3/5/1/0)

*INDIAN WELLS LISTS*
=SINGLES=
[recent finals]
2018 Naomi Osaka def. Dasha Kasatkina
2019 Bianca Andreescu def. Angelique Kerber
2020 DNP
2021 Paula Badosa def. Victoria Azarenka
2022 Iga Swiatek def. Maria Sakkari
2023 Elena Rybakina def. Aryna Sabalenka
2024 Iga Swiatek def. Maria Sakkari
2025 Mirra Andreeva def. Aryna Sabalenka
[Most Finals]
6 - Lindsay Davenport (2-4)
3 - Victoria Azarenka (2-1)
3 - Steffi Graf (2-1)
3 - Maria Sharapova (2-1)
3 - Serena Williams (2-1)
3 - Martina Hingis (1-2)
3 - Caroline Wozniacki (1-2)
3 - Svetlana Kuznetseva (0-3)
2 - Kim Clijsters (2-0)
2 - Mary Joe Fernandez (2-0)
2 - Daniela Hantuchova (2-0)
2 - Martina Navratilova (2-0)
2 - Iga Swiatek (2-0)
2 - Ana Ivanovic (1-1)
2 - Jelena Jankovic (1-1)
2 - Monica Seles (1-1)
2 - Amanda Coetzer (0-2)
2 - ARYNA SABALENKA (0-2)
2 - Maria Sakkari (0-2)
[Consecutive Match Wins]
10 - Martina Navratilova (1990-91)
10 - Ana Ivanovic (2008-09)
10 - Iga Swiatek (2022-23)
10 - IGA SWIATEK (2024-25)
[Youngest Singles Champions]
17y,166d - Martina Hingis (1998)
17y,169d - Serena Williams (1999)
17y,321d - MIRRA ANDREEVA (2025)
18y,90d - Monica Seles (1992)
18y,274d - Bianca Andreescu (2019)
[Youngest Singles Finalists]
17y,91d - Monica Seles, 1991
17y,166d - Martina Hingis, 1998 (W)
17y,169d - Serena Williams, 1999 (W)
17y,283d - Kim Clijsters, 2001
17y,321d - MIRRA ANDREEVA, 2025 (W)
[9/35 Champions Have Won No Slam Titles]
1989 Manuela Maleeva, BUL
1993 Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
1995 Mary Joe Fernandez, USA (2)
2002 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
2007 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (2)
2009 Vera Zvonareva, RUS
2010 Jelena Jankovic, SRB
2017 Elena Vesnina, RUS
2021 Paula Badosa, ESP
2025 Mirra Andreeva, RUS
[6 Champions Have Never Reached Slam Finals]
1989 Manuela Maleeva, BUL
2002 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
2007 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (2)
2017 Elena Vesnina, RUS
2021 Paula Badosa, ESP
2025 Mirra Andreeva, RUS
[Only 10 Finalists Have Never Reached a Slam Final]
1989 Manuela Maleeva (best slam: SF)
1989 Jenny Byrne (3rd)
1997 Irina Spirlea (SF)
1993/94 Amanda Coetzer (SF)
2002/07 Daniela Hantuchova (SF)
2018 Dasha Kasatkina (SF)
2021 Paula Badosa (SF)
2022 Maria Sakkari (SF)
2024 Maria Sakkari (SF)
2025 Mirra Andreeva (SF)
=DOUBLES=
[recent champions]
2018 Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova
2019 Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka
2020 DNP
2021 Hsieh Su-wei/Elise Mertens
2022 Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan
2023 Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova
2024 Hsieh Su-wei/Elise Mertens
2025 Asia Muhammad/Demi Schuurs
[MX Champions]
2024 Storm Hunter/Matthew Ebden
2025 Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori

*REACHED AO-IW-MIA FINALS IN SEASON*
1991 Monica Seles (W-L-W)
1994 Steffi Graf (W-W-W)
2000 Lindsay Davenport (W-W-L)
2000 Martina Hingis (L-L-W)
2012 Maria Sharapova (L-L-L)
2023 Elena Rybakina (L-W-L)
--
NOTE: ARYNA SABALENKA (AO and IW finals in '25, 0-2)

*MIAMI FACTS 1985-present*
=SINGLES=
[recent finals]
2018 Sloane Stephens def. Alona Ostapenko
2019 Ash Barty def. Karolina Pliskova
2020 DNP
2021 Ash Barty def. Bianca Andreescu
2022 Iga Swiatek def. Naomi Osaka
2023 Petra Kvitova def. Elena Rybakina
2024 Danielle Collins d. Elena Rybakina
[Most Singles Titles]
8 - Serena Williams, USA
5 - Steffi Graf, GER
3 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2 - Ash Barty, AUS
2 - Kim Clijsters, BEL
2 - Martina Hingis, SUI
2 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
2 - Monica Seles, YUG
2 - Venus Williams, USA
[Consecutive Titles]
3 - Steffi Graf (1994-96)
3 - Serena Williams (2002-04)
3 - Serena Williams (2013-15)
2 - Steffi Graf (1987-88)
2 - Monica Seles (1990-91)
2 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1992-93)
2 - Venus Williams (1998-99)
2 - Serena Williams (2007-08)
2 - Ash Barty (2019/21)
[Most Finals]
10 - Serena Williams (8-2)
7 - Steffi Graf (5-2)
5 - Chris Evert (1-4)
5 - Maria Sharapova (0-5)
4 - Venus Williams (3-1)
3 - Victoria Azarenka (3-0)
3 - Monica Seles (2-1)
3 - Gabriela Sabatini (1-2)
3 - Jennifer Capriati (0-3)
2 - Ash Barty (2-0)
2 - Kim Clijsters (2-0)
2 - Martina Hingis (2-0)
2 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (2-0)
2 - Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-1)
2 - Elena Rybakina (0-2)
[Consecutive Finals]
5 - Chris Evert (1985-89)
4 - Steffi Graf (1993-96)
3 - Steffi Graf (1986-88)
3 - Jennifer Capriati (2001-03)
3 - Serena Williams (2002-04)
3 - Serena Williams (2007-09)
3 - Maria Sharapova (2011-13)
3 - Serena Williams (2013-15)
2 - Monica Seles (1990-91)
2 - Gabriela Sabatini (1991-92)
2 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1992-93)
2 - Venus Williams (1998-99)
2 - Maria Sharapova (2005-06)
2 - Ash Barty (2019/21)
2 - Elena Rybakina (2023-24)
[Consecutive Match Wins]
21 - Steffi Graf (1994-96,99)
21 - Serena Willians (2002-05)
20 - Serena Williams (2013-16)
[1 Unseeded Champion]
2005 Kim Clijsters
2024 Danielle Collins
[Low-Ranked Champion]
#53 - Danielle Collins (2024)
[Youngest Singles Champion]
16y,111d - Monica Seles (1990)
[Oldest Singles Champion]
33y,190d - Serena Williams (2015)
33y,25d - Petra Kvitova (2023)
[Oldest Singles Finalist]
34 - Chris Evert (1989)
33 - Chris Evert (1988)
33 - Serena Williams (2015) - W
33 - Petra Kvitova (2023) - W
[6 Finalists Have Not a Reached Slam Final]
1990 Judith Weisner
1995 Kimiko Date
1996 Chanda Rubin
1998 Anna Kournikova
2015 Carla Suarez Navarro
2017 Johanna Konta (W)
[10 Finalists Have Never Won a Slam]
1990 Judith Weisner
1994 Natasha Zvereva
1995 Kimiko Date
1996 Chanda Rubin
1998 Anna Kournikova
2008 Jelena Jankovic
2012 Aga Radwanska (W)
2015 Carla Suarez Navarro
2017 Johanna Konta (W)
2024 Danielle Collins (W)
=DOUBLES=
[recent champions]
2018 Ash Barty/CoCo Vandeweghe
2019 Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka
2020 DNP
2021 Shuko Aoyma/Ena Shibahara
2022 Laura Siegemund/Vera Zvonareva
2023 Coco Gauff/Jessie Pegula
2024 Sofia Kenin/Bethanie Mattek-Sands
[Most Titles]
7 - Jana Novotna, CZE
5 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
4 - Martina Hingis, SUI
3 - Nadia Petrova, RUS
3 - Lisa Raymond, USA
3 - Helena Sukova, CZE
2 - Gigi Fernandez, USA
2 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2 - Martina Navratilova, USA
2 - Larisa Savchenko Neiland, LAT
2 - Pam Shriver, USA
2 - Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
2 - Samantha Stosur, AUS
2 - Ai Sugiyama, JPN
2 - Natasha Zvereva, BLR
[Most Titles - duos]
2 - Hingis/Novotna, SUI/CZE
2 - Novotna/Sanchez Vicario, CZE/ESP
2 - Novotna/Sukova, CZE/CZE
2 - Raymond/Stosur, USA/AUS
[Consecutive Titles]
1986-87 Pam Shriver, USA
1989-90 Novotna/Sukova, CZE/CZE
1992-93 Larisa Savchenko Neiland, LAT
1995-96 Novotna/Sanchez Vicario, CZE/ESP
1996-97 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
1998-99 Hingis/Novotna, SUI/CZE
2006-07 Raymond/Stosur, USA/AUS
2012-13 Nadia Petrova, RUS
2014-15 Martina Hingis, SUI

*"SUNSHINE DOUBLE" (IW/MIA) WINNERS*
[WS]
1994 Steffi Graf, GER
1996 Steffi Graf, GER
2005 Kim Clijsters , BEL
2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2022 Iga Swiatek, POL
[WD]
1997 Natasha Zvereva, BLR
1999 Martina Hingis, SUI
2002 Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS
2006 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2007 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2015 Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, SUI/IND
2016 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2019 Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
--
NOTE: Jana Novotna/Helena Sukova won both IW/Mia as non-consecutive events in 1990






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All for now.

Read more...

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:57 PM  4 comments

Sunday, March 09, 2025

Wk.10- Indian Wells Wants Them, and They Can Go Back There













*WEEK 10*
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[IW Through 2nd Round]





RISERS: Jaqueline Cristian/ROU and Caroline Dolehide/USA
...who needs a cape when you're Jaqueline-Freakin'-Cristian, right?

Despite entering Indian Wells with a just a 4-6 mark on the year, the 26-year old Romanian (down to #85 after climbing to a career-best #57 last summer) is putting up her best results on the biggest stages in '25. In Melbourne, she recorded her first career 3rd Round result in a major, and now she's reached the 3rd Round in a 1000 event for the fourth time in the past year.

A masterful 1st Round win over Veronika Kudermetova (6-2/6-3) was followed up on Saturday night with a come-from-behind, 3:16 marathon in which the Romanian overcame a 7-5/3-1 deficit to defeat Leylah Fernandez to chants of "Jack-ie! Jack-ie!" (she was named after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, after all).

Last season, Cristian reached the 3rd Round at 1000 Madrid, Rome and Beijing, and at the latter recorded her first career Top 10 win (def. Krejcikova).



Elsewhere in I.W., Dolehide hasn't had much singles success in the majors (4-13 career), but she's on occasion sparked in 1000 events. Though she's only had one full season of appearances in 1000-level tournaments (10 in '24, after just 4 MD from 2017-23), as the 26-year old has reached the Guadalajara final in 2023 and twice advanced to the 3rd Round in Indian Wells in tournaments six years apart (2018 and '24).

Ranked #73 and in the MD via a wild card, the Bannerette reached the I.W. 3rd Round again after wins over Kamilla Rakhimova and Eva Lys, before falling on Sunday vs. Marta Kostyuk.
===============================================



SURPRISES: Whitney Osuigwe/USA and Sonay Kartal/GBR
...quietly, the 2017 RG girls' champ has been making progress. Now 22, Osuigwe won a $50K in November, and has reached a pair of challenger finals this season.

She qualified for the I.W. MD, her first ever at the 1000 level and first in any tour-level event since Charleston '21, with wins over Nuria Parrizas Diaz and Kaja Juvan. Osuigwe fell in the 1st Round to Hailey Baptiste.

After nearly cracking the Top 100 in 2019 (topping out at #105), Osuigwe hasn't ranked inside the Top 200 since April 2021. She'll climb into the Top 220 in the post-Indian Wells rankings.

As a far as a player who *didn't* manage to make it through I.W. qualifying, things have still managed to turn out pretty well for Kartal.

Last year, the 23-year old Brit reached the Wimbledon 3rd Round and won her maiden WTA title in Monastir in her only two tour-level MD appearances on the season (she also claimed a $100K crown in October). She was just 3-3 in 2025 heading into the Indian Wells qualifying event, where she lost in the final round to Clervie Ngounoue in a 7-5 3rd set.

But after reaching the MD when Sloane Stephens (foot) withdrew, she has so far posted wins over Varvara Lepchenko and Beatriz Haddad Maia, with the #17-ranked Brazilian accounting for the biggest win of Kartal's career to date.


===============================================
VETERAN: Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...Cirstea turns 35 next month, but the Romanian's late career bloom continues, even if her Indian Wells experience was cut short early.

She's already posted QF results in Dubai and Austin, and has wins over the likes of Dasha Kasatkina, Emma Navarro and Diana Shnaider in her column since her return from a six-month absence. In I.W., Cirstea opened with a win over Maya Joint and had Navarro lined up for a second Top 10 upset of the Merida champion in three weeks.



Cirstea won the 1st set, and served at 5-3 in the 3rd, holding a pair of MP before the Bannerette surged back to win a deciding TB and keep her victory streak alive. Had the Romanian won it would have been her 25th career Top 10 win, coming 17 years after her very first (over Jelena Jankovic in Fed Cup play) in 2008.

Even with the loss, Cirstea has gone 26-15 in 1000 level events over the past three seasons (age 32-34+). It took her eight years to wrap up that many victories prior to 2023, as she was a combined 26-29 in 1000 events from 2015-22.
===============================================



COMEBACK: Lulu Sun/NZL
...after all the sun-related headlines and puns have been collecting dust for most of '25, the Kiwi finally got her second win of the season in match #10, then her third, as well, in Indian Wells.

Sun had been 1-11 since she'd reached her maiden tour final in Monterrey last August. But her first week in I.W. saw her knock off last week's Merida quarterfinalist, Rebecca Sramkova. The Slovak had beaten Sun in the 1st Round in the Week 9 event in Mexico.

Sun then upset Linda Noskova in a 3rd set TB after the Czech had arrived in California off an 8-3 Middle East run that had included SF (Abu Dhabi), QF (Dubai) and 3rd Round (Doha) results.

Sun's last winning streak was about six and a half months ago, in late August in Monterrey. It was a four-win streak that had been ended by Noskova in the final (after Sun had defeated the Czech in the Cincinnati 1st Rd. the prior week).
===============================================



FRESH FACES: Clervie Ngounoue/USA and Polina Kudermetova/RUS
...18-year old Bannerette Ngounoue continues to close in on her Top 250 debut.

Her I.W. qualifying run as a wild card came after her career-best $50K title run (def. Viktoria Hruncakova) last month (she's won two ITF crowns since November, and played in three '25 finals), as she knocked off Rebecca Marino and Sonay Kartal to reach her maiden 1000 MD. She lost in the opener vs. Victoria Azarenka.

Ngounoue won the Wimbledon junior singles just two seasons ago, as well as the girls' doubles at the AO (2022) and RG (2023).

Meanwhile, Kudermetova came to the desert on a slide since her Brisbane RU and AO qualifying run in January. She'd gone 1-5 since, with all five defeats in straight sets, including a love & love loss as a LL to Dasha Kasatkina in her 1000 MD debut in Doha, and *two* L's vs. Alycia Parks in back-to-back events.

The 21-year old, in her second career 1000 MD (this time via automatic entry w/ the larger draw) and first in Indian Wells, got wins over Claire Liu and Linz champ Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening week. With big sister Veronika having lost in the 1st Round, Polina is just 52 points from re-taking the family's top ranking slot in the post-I.W. standings.


===============================================
ITF PLAYERS: Valentina Ryser/SUI and Victoria Mboko/CAN
...in Trnava (SVK), 23-year old Ryser won her second '25 crown and biggest of her career, going from qualifier to champion with a 6-4/3-6/7-6(4) victory in the final over Czech Tereza Valentova (the '24 RG s/d girls' winner).

In fact, of the Swiss' seven career ITF wins, the last three have come via wins over Crushers in the final, after having twice defeated Nikola Bartunkova for a crown since the start of 2024.

@valentinaryser


Yes, 18-year old Mboko has added another title to her stellar '25 ITF campaign.

After having finally seen her 22-match season-opening winning streak end in a $50K in Macon, Georgia (US) against Raluca Serban, the Canadian rebounded to take a $75K title in Porto (POR), defeating Harriet Dart 6-1/6-1 in the final to win her fifth tournament this season and improve to 27-1 on the year.


===============================================



JUNIOR STARS: Luna Maria Cinalli/ARG and Iva Jovic/USA
...in Medellin (COL), 16-year old Argentine Cinalli (jr.#22) won the South American Regional Championships (J300), closing the deal after a recent stretch in which she reached the J300 Asuncion F, J300 Porto Alegre SF and Banana Bowl J500 SF.

In those three previous events, Cinalli lost to the eventual champion, Laima Vladson, on both occasions before finally defeating the Lithuanian in the Banana Bowl QF, only to then lose a round later to Thea Frodin, who'd then go on to claim the crown.

The #1 seed, Cinalli defeated Brazil's Nauhany Vitoria Leme da Silva, 14, in a 6-4/6-2 final.



Jovic continues to show signs that she's going to be a player of note. Last year, she reached the girls' SF at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as the junior doubles final at three different slams (winning in Melbourne and London).

The current junior #4, the 17-year old arrived in Indian Wells off back-to-back ITF final results, a DNP (rain) in a $50K and a RU in a $35K. After notching 1st Round slam wins in New York in Australia as a wild card over the past seven months, Jovic was a WC entrant in Indian Wells, too.

She trailed Julia Grabher 6-2/1-1 in the 1st Round when play was stopped for the night, but she returned the following day to force a 3rd set vs. the veteran Austrian and won it at love for her maiden 1000 MD victory. Against #6 seed Jasmine Paolini on Saturday, Jovic took the Italian to a 1st set TB (but lost 7-3), then won the 2nd at 6-1 before finally falling in three.

Jovic will be close to cracking the Top 150 after Indian Wells.
===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Lizzy de Greef/NED
...Dutch women's wheelchair tennis does not sleep. Even with Diede de Groot still sidelined after hip surgery (she's done some traveling, and the rehab appears to be going well!), the veterans and young stars of the nation's contingent continue to win. At the Georgia Open (not the country) in Rome (not Italy, in Rome, Georgia in the U.S.), 20-year old de Greef won her second Series 1 crown of the season, and the first of her career on hard court.

After defeating Jiske Griffioen in a final in Rotterdam last month, de Greef ran off wins over Lucy Shuker, Kgothatso Montjane and Aniek Van Koot in a 6-1/3-6/7-5 final to claim the crown.

The youngster was seen as the possible "next generation" Dutch star as a junior, and in de Groot's absence she is finally starting to make her way up the ladder with wins over some of the top-ranked veteran women. So far, though, that list does not include either de Groot (they've never faced off in singles) nor Yui Kamiji (she's 0-3).

@alphenvitaal

===============================================





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[IW Through 2nd Round]



1. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Emma Navarro def. Sorana Cirstea
...3-6/6-1/7-6(3). Navarro's North American heater continues, as she escapes what would have been a second loss to Cirstea in three weeks (w/ a title run in Merida sandwiched in between), overcoming 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 final set deficits (w/ 2 MP on the Romanian's serve) to get her fifth straight victory.
===============================================
2. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Moyuka Uchijima
...6-4/3-6/7-6(4). Without a post-AO win, with three straight losses since her 9-0 start to '25, Gauff began her I.W. '25 experience after improving her lot in each of the last three editions (3r-QF-SF from 2022-24) in the desert.

Uchijima, who knocked out Emma Raducanu in the 1st Round, took Gauff to the edge in this one. Playing a deciding 3rd set, Gauff led 4-0 and twice served for the win (at 5-4 and 6-5), holding a MP in both game 8 and 9 before the Japanese player took things to a TB. Gauff eventually got the job done, but it took MP #5 to finally do it despite having *21* DF on the day.

Also, is Coco wearing the tour's new "rebrand" color?


===============================================
3. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Sofia Kenin
...3-6/7-5/6-4. With a Doha 3rd Round and Dubai QF (w/ wins over Vekic, Kostyuk and Paolini) in her back pocket, Kenin presses another Top 20 foe, rallying from 5-2 (and a MP, followed by Kasatkina serving at 5-3) down in the 3rd to get back on serve at 5-4.

Her comeback stalled there, though, as she quickly fell behind love/40 before finally dropping serve in a three-deuce game in which Kasatkina held six more MP before finally getting the win.


===============================================
4. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Varvara Gracheva def. Petra Kvitova
...4-6/6-3/6-4. Kvitova is 0-2 so far in her post-maternity leave comeback, but she's claimed the 1st set in both losses. Give her time.


===============================================
5. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Robin Montgomery def. Jule Niemeier
...3-6/7-5/6-2. A grand comeback for Montgomery, who gets a MD win at a third different 1000 event over the past three seasons.

The 20-year old trailed Niemeier 6-3/5-2, with the German twice serving for the match before Montgomery went on to win 11 of the final 13 games.

Montgomery reached the 2nd Round in Miami in '23, and the 3rd Round last year in Madrid.


===============================================
6. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
...6-7(5)/6-4/7-5. It was hardly a work of art (75 UE), but Potapova recovered from squandering a 5-3 1st set lead (w/ 4 SP) by overcoming a 5-3 deficit in the 3rd as Bouzas Maneiro lets another almost-had-it match slip through her fingers.


===============================================
7. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Madison Keys def. Anastasia Potapova
...6-3/6-0. Keys finally returns for the first time since winning the AO, and promptly adds to her career-best winning streak with her 13th straight victory. #34 Potapova is the 11th Top 50 player Keys has defeated in the run (five have been Top 10ers, w/ eight in the Top 20).


===============================================
8. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Clervie Ngounoue
...6-4/7-6(7). Leo doesn't want to be a pro tennis player, but maybe he'll someday be an in-studio commentator?


===============================================



9. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Camila Osorio def. Naomi Osaka
...6-4/6-4. In her first action since her 3rd Round retirement in Melbourne, Osaka goes out in straights.

In 2018, Osaka's big event breakout came with her title run in Indian Wells, after which she'd sweep both the U.S. and Australian Open crowns over the following ten months.


===============================================
10. $35K Helsinki FIN Final - Sofia Costoulas def. Lily Miyazaki
...6-3/7-5. The 19-year old Belgian was a junior slam singles finalist at the AO in 2022. This week, Costoulas picked up her first pro title since December '23 with a straight sets win over the Brit.


===============================================
11. $15K Sharm El Sheikh EGY Final - Anna Siskova def. Elena-Teodora Cadar
...6-0/6-3. Another week, another Crusher champ as 23-year old Siskova picks up her third challenger crown of the season.
===============================================
12. $35K Solarino ITA Final - Joanna Garland vs. Weronika Falkowska
...TBD. Rain pushed this final back to Monday morning, when Taiwan's Garland (born in Stevenage, England before moving to TPE at age 10) will be looking to add to an ITF haul that started last October.

Since then, Garland has won seven ITF titles and reached another final (in addition to this one), in one stretch winning 29 straight matches. Heading into the final vs. Falkowska, she's gone 47-5 over the past five months.
===============================================






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1. $75K Trnava SVK Final - Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge def. Cho I-hsuan/Cho Yi-tsen
...0–6/7–6(4) [10–8]. The Jorge sisters take down the Cho sisters, as the Portuguese pair claims their third title of the year and 19th at the ITF level since the spring of 2022 (they also won a WTA 125 last April).
===============================================





All right, I haven't emptied the bucket on this *quite* yet. I've been chipping away at more thoughts on the rebrand (and the WTA's inability to market itself creatively) all week long, so here's one final (I hope) go-around with some new thoughts about the whole situation, built (of course) upon no actual marketing or branding expertise other than that I (and so many others) know a dead carcas lying on the side of the road when we see it and understand that poking it with a stick won't suddenly bring it back to life.

This caught my eye (and ear) the other day: I think Volynets confused #WTARallyTheWorld with #WTAItTakes (listen until the end of the video). Understandable.



This is maybe *the* best example so far of the carbon copy nature of this campaign in relation to previous attempts. It literally could have been lifted directly from the #WTAItTakes collection (an approach which was then later regurgitated in the #WTAForTheGame campaign).

It really would be interesting and informative to know if the WTA's marching orders on these things is to take this approach, and/or whether the people that came up with the latest campaign -- so-called "branding specialists" ChapterX and Nomad Studio (both based in GBR) -- ever actually took a look back at the previous "rebrand" and marketing attempts to avoid just repeating past mistakes.

Apparently, what resulted came after a "year-long collaboration" with the WTA, which is in ways both hilarious and sad. Here is the Nomad Studio work page regarding the rebrand (here is the same thing from ChapterX). I mean, the presentation *looks* nice, but I think if you investigate past the bright colors and cliched marketing phrases it feels more "surface" than anything, especially since what we've seen (so far, at least) to date in the new "strategy" has been a head-to-head competition to determine whether it's more boring, or rather actually just more pretentious. And, hey, it's 2025 so "cringe" should probably be an option on the board, too. Needless to say, it's an intense pitched battle worthy of the newly "powered-up" and "bold" WTA logo and colors, I will say that for it. (Wink.)

Also, I finally read about what Sarah Swanson, Chief Brand Officer for WTA Ventures and apparently the "first hire" by WTAV CEO Manager Marina Storti, was involved with in her time with the NFL. It was the "Helmets Off" campaign, which focuses on players off the field. So, if Swanson had any hand in the final direction of #RallyTheWorld (and she was front and center in the WTA announcement article), what resulted is no surprise.

Thing is, while this article (from 2022) hits at some of the work that that NFL campaign has been involved in when it's come to reaching new potential fan bases -- and is clearly something the WTA would like to try to replicate -- the WTA isn't really in the same position as the NFL. "Helmets Off," as described in the above article, has done a lot of good revenue-producing work that has attracted new business partners, generated good P.R. by highlighting charitable work, and helped establish individual players an entities aside from their teams and league (though one can argue whether it can take any credit for Super Bowl-winning players earning major endorsements and ads, as the article seems to throw into the mix), helping to carry out an "everywhere all the time" strategy that just adds to the NFL's ongoing success.

But that NFL marketing arm doesn't also have to worry about promoting the *league* and game itself, unlike the WTA. The two are on two totally different planes of existence. Aside from taking football to markets outside the U.S., and maybe the push to make flag football a thing (hey, they got it into an upcoming Olympics), the NFL doesn't need to promote the *game* in the U.S., as its broadcast partners do all that *for* it since the NFL is already established as the #1 sport/league in the country and *everyone* fights each other to get even a sliver of the action.

The WTA has no such advantageous partnerships, and needs to do much more work itself to sell the *tour* and sport, as well. The WTA seems to want to do almost anything *other* than promote what happens between the lines, and while the players' individuals personalities *should* play a huge part in any winning strategy that the tour would come up with the recent attempts have in no way followed in the footsteps of the sort of campaigns that have been highlights of the branding of many NFL players off the field, ala commercials and spots that use humor as part of the package to get attention along with the sort of "inspirational" aspects that the WTA harps on again and again.

The ATP tried some of that last year with its new (brief) it's-all-a-story campaign, but seemed to give up on it without much follow through even after it got the sort of immediate attention that the WTA craves for any of its efforts (which usually only attract derision, for good reason).

Thing is, even if someone would come up with a reasonable campaign, the confidence is pretty low when it comes to the tour's ability to actually effectively implement it, which ultimately makes this all a practice in "busy work." A week in, and the social media team connected to the #RallyTheWorld effort already seem to be over the whole thing (maybe because they already realize that it's D.O.A.?). Not to mention the early technical difficulties and other questionable decisions.



It's noted in the promotions that Billie Jean King was amongst those consulted for the rebrand but, with all due respect, that needs to stop. The ideals that BJK stood for during the founding of the WTA tour have little relation to what the tour, as a business, is in 2025. Honoring the past is a good thing, but trying to act as if time has not passed is not a winning formula for the WTA when it comes to presenting itself to the "outside world." The tour athletes don't need to be "validated" by pushing that they stand for something *more*... let them stand as the best at what they do, with a few twists and turns, and see how that goes. This time around, the campaign's "new" strategy seems to just be to have the players say the same tired phrases rather than simply put similar sentiments in graphics under their photos, as was the case in past efforts.

Of course, none of it has anything to do with what anyone gets on a *daily* basis when following the WTA tour, and tennis in general (a sport with action *every* day from January through November).

Another example. Love Dasha, but, seriously, MY TENNIS GODS. "I want to inspire the next generation, especially kids." Really, that's the cliched script they have Saville -- one of the funniest and most creative souls in the sport -- reading from in this video.



Guess what the WTA campaign was named that came *before* both "For the Game" and "It Takes." It debuted in 2015, and was called "Power to Inspire." Truthfully, I can't even recall it, which says a lot, though I guess one can guess its direction from the jump. So this same effort has now entered its second decade, and fourth different nearly identical marketing strategy. Shouldn't going 0-for-4 get you cut, or at least benched for a while to give someone and/or something else a chance (or, you know, "change coaches" or something)?

The most recent campaign prior to 2015 was "Strong is Beautiful" in 2012, another "nice photos" effort (but the best version of it that the WTA has come up with to date, and one that some at least a little staying power). More interesting was "Looking for a Hero?" in 2009. It was at least an attempt at something different, casting the players as undercover "superheroes," even if the execution might not have taken the natural route that could have made it an epic campaign. Why not give that, or something creative in similar ways, a chance sixteen years later?



It feels like that campaign was a bit ahead of its time. It could be done so much better now (and would likely be well received from the players on down, too), and not just as far as technology. Remember, the WTA didn't debut on then-Twitter until *late* 2008, so it didn't likely push the social media angle like it could so much more naturally now. The idea of utilizing the sort of cool animated content that has been so well done by some of the majors' social media accounts in recent years is certainly intriguing (spend some money on finding someone to do *that*), and if done well would get some initial attention in the age of Marvel and superhero movies galore.

Aside from the three "fake marketing campaign" themes I've utilized here in recent seasons, I even took a stab (as far as I could) with a few things with a similar vibe a few years ago...



Meanwhile, after almost painfully stressing at the introduction of this campaign to say that the WTA wants to put the players "front and center" in "get to know them" ways, #RallyTheWorld's second week saw the standard of going with *two* posts per player (the first which identified the individual, the second which just included a video), which was the practice through the opening weekend, reduced to just one (w/ only the video, and without even an identification of the player involved), so the withering away has already started. I mean, surely the best way to highlight the athletes as individuals -- including not-exactly-familiar-faces such as those of Magdalena Frech, Ann Li and Asia Muhammad -- is to make everyone outside of a relatively small group of fans have to take wild guesses about just which player is being highlighted, right? Nothing like leaving the "work" to some random fan to *hopefully* identify the player in the replies.

Finally, by the end of the week, the WTA's social media seemed to grudgingly (i.e. only on occasion, as in the following posts, which went up within an hour of each other) begin to identify the spotlighted players, but hardly in an easy-to-see fashion.

NOTE: the Taylor Townsend post includes her name, but is cut off when embedded in this post, while the Zheng Qinwen post did not include her name. All the more reason to identify the players within the body of the post (as they do the photographer).




The hit-and-miss identification continued, often in the positively "groundbreaking" #WTAOffCourtFits series. This one did *not* include a name. How many people likely could identify her?



Pssst.... it's Robin Montgomery.

Kinda makes you wonder if the people doing the actual posting on the WTA's social media pages have any idea who the majority of the players are that they're posting photos of, you know?

This Adweek "article" is money well-spent, I guess, since it's really just a press release posing as a positive critique (you know, just like the pretty much identical "news" on SI.com and other sites). Not that much of anything it says has much veracity. It *does* note that WTA Ventures increased revenue by 25% in 2024, so it looks like that arm is doing well attracting business behind the scenes. Good for them, as well as the increases in other areas. Of course, all that would seem to be totally separate from the rebrand itself, and the complete wrongheaded notions about what will break through and garner the tour the attention that for decades it has been unable to figure out a way -- beyond just letting its stars do all the work on the court -- to turn into positive vibes when it comes to the marketing side of the WTA.

Again, I point to past situations with the Washington Commanders franchise, where during the last regime the group leading the business side of the organization *did* manage to increase revenues and make new deals and partnerships that had eluded the franchise previously due to inept and arrogant practices, but those were things the public didn't *see* on a daily basis. What *was* seen -- the "branding" and marketing -- was still atrocious, sometimes comical (misidentifying players in promotions, mispelling legendary players' names and generally coming off as a "Mickey Mouse organization" when it came to selling itself and, you know, looking the slightest bit competent), and *that* played a larger part in the overall public image of the team. Revenues and common sense don't necessarily operate shoulder-to-shoulder on a 24/7 basis.

So, when this campaign finally disappears, the logos/colors become background noise, the latest campaign goes "poof," and the defining opinion on the changes is merely "indifference" (countdown, in 3...2...1...), while revenue also (hopefully) increases from deals made by people who had nothing to do with the latest "strategy," I fully expect the WTA to act as if this was a rousing "success." I mean, until they go through this process again in three years (w/ something "brilliant" like #WeAreTheWTA, or maybe #WTAAllForOne) and reintroduce the same well-worn ideas as somehow "new."

Really, just telling an agency to start with Li Na's timeless "Welcome to the crazy women's tennis tour" line (which would key on the WTA's unpredictability and excellence) and to go from there could hardly produce something as "damp washcloth"-like as resulted this time around, even while all the accompanying bright colors and flash of the rebrand seems to promise so much more.

Thankfully, the Most Interesting Tour in the World, full of players who've Got the Beat, continues to be a Simply Irresistible product for those who know and see the WTA for what it is and has the capacity to be. Good luck on getting a high number of *new* converts to recognize it, though, when the WTA itself refuses to see the forest for the trees.


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Meanwhile, in better off-court developments...



The source of the money is "questionable" (to be generous), but at least it's being put to good use here. Tip of the hat (I guess), for this smoke and mirrors move. Still, I believe this is what might be called something of a "Faustian" arrangement.

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Elsewhere, the life of a pickleballer...



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Guess who the WTA was using to help promote the tour during the #StrongIsBeautiful campaign back in 2012...



















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*LONG WTA (MD only) WINNING STREAKS - 2020s*
37 - Iga Swiatek (2022; ended by Cornet)
21 - Iga Swiatek (2024; ended by Putintseva)
18 - Iga Swiatek (2023-24; ended by Noskova)
17 - Simona Halep (2020; ended by Swiatek)
16 - Coco Gauff (2023; ended by Swiatek)
15 - Danielle Collins (2024; ended by Sabalenka)
15 - Aryna Sabalenka (2024; ended by Muchova)
13 - MADISON KEYS (2025, through I.W. 2nd Rd.)
13 - Liudmila Samsonova (2022; ended by Tomljanovic)
13 - Bernarda Pera (2022; ended by Samsonova)
13 - Aryna Sabalenka (2023; ended by Krejcikova)
13 - Elena Rybakina (2023; ended by Kvitova)

*2025 ITF SINGLES TITLES*
5 - Victoria Mboko, CAN
3 - Eva Guerrero Alvarez, ESP
3 - Anna Siskova, CZE
3 - Eliska Tichackova, CZE
--
NOTE: Joanna Garland/TPE (2) in Monday final






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Or, as the WTA might say, "dog inspires puppies to challenge expectations." #RallytheWorld




All for now.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:35 PM  5 comments