ITF Backspin (Wk.47)- Another Date with History, eh

The regularly-scheduled WTA season is over, but the comebacks keep chugging along.


ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN
...tennis' favorite almost-fortysomething was at it again over the weekend, winning a $75K challenger in Tokyo with victories over Marina Erakovic, Ksenia Lyskina, Tamarine Tanasugarn and Bojana Jovanovski in the final. It's Date-Krumm's second ITF singles title this season, to go along with her WTA crown in Seoul. She's one of five players to pick up titles on both circuits this year.
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RISER: Olivia Rogowska/AUS
...a week ago, 18-year old Rogowska defeated Alicia Molik in the finals of a challenger in Esperance, Australia. This weekend, she reached another ITF singles final in Kalgoorlie (love the Aussie city names) and found Molik there once again. The teen didn't get the best of her elder this time, losing in straight sets in their fourth meeting in their last four tournaments, but she's certainly working up some fine late-year momentum to carry into 2010.
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SURPRISE: Marina Erakovic/NZL
...last season, Erakovic put on a spirited push to raise her ranking while fighting to earn a spot on the New Zealand Olympic team. She got an early season win over Melanie Oudin in Memphis this February, but then her season hit the skids as hip and ankle injuries put her off the tour from April until early October (causing her season-ending rank to drop from #60 to #232 between 2008 and '09). In Tokyo, the 21-year old lost in the 1st Round to Date-Krumm, but she rebounded to win the doubles title (in her first doubles action since March) with Tamarine Tanasugarn. She even got a small measure of revenge against the Japanese vet, as Erakovic and Tanasugarn knocked off Date-Krumm and her fellow "didn't-you-used-to-be?" comeback star Yayuk Basuki (by the way, today is her 39th birthday) of Indonesia in the SF.
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VETERAN: Alicia Molik/AUS
...Molik has reached the singles finals of five of the six events (with a SF in the other) so far in her Down Under comeback, winning two. Her Kalgoorlie $25K win came courtesy of a 7-6/6-3 victory over Rogowska, which was made possible by previous wins over two more young Shielas -- Jessica Moore and Sally Peers, the latter of which Molik defeated in the final of her first post-retirement singles tournament.
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FRESH FACES: Naomi Broady/GBR & Amanda Carreras/GBR
...the British are coming! The British are coming! Or at least, recently, it seems that way. The Lass Brigade isn't confined to Laura Robson and Heather Watson, either. This weekend, 19-year old Naomi Broady won the $25K in Puebla, Mexico with a win in the final over Ajla Tomljanovic; while Carreras, also 19, reached the $10K singles final in Vallduxo, Spain (losing to Pastry Laura Tharpe) and won the doubles title with Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino.
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DOWN: Serena Williams/USA
...I mean, you know, theoretically. The Holmsian investigation into the "mystery" of what happened at the U.S. Open in September finally yielded a punishment -- an $82,500 fine and a two-year behavior probation at the slams (if she has another major infraction in 2010-11 she'll be suspended from the next U.S. Open and have her fine doubled). Much like the Dubai "fine" earlier this year, this set a WTA monetary record when it comes to punishment. But it should be noted that Williams earned $350,000 at the Open for her singles SF result alone and just set a tour record for single season prize money. So, of course, that $82K fine is REALLY gonna hurt. Ouch.
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JUNIOR STAR: Lauren Davis/USA
...the 16-year old American won the G1 Yucatan World Cup, defeating Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski in the final, 6-7/7-5/6-1. Davis was one of the surprise unseeded Girls singles quarterfinalists at the U.S. Open this summer.
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1. $25K Puebla Final - Broady d. Tomljanovic
...7-6/6-3. This was the first ITF final for the 16-year old Croat, currently the #10-ranked junior in the world.
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2. $75K Tokyo 1st Rd. - Date-Krumm d. Erakovic
...6-4/6-2. With Sacha Jones' recent accomplishments, New Zealand suddenly has TWO young players to watch now that Erakovic has finally gotten off I.R..
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3. $25K Kalgoorlie Final - Molik d. Rogowska
...7-6/6-3. Molik is 3-1 against Rogowska in her round of challenger appearances the last couple of months.
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HM- $10K Lima Final - Carla Lucero d. Veronica Cepede Royg
...5-7/6-3/7-5. In Peru, the 19-year old Argentine took out the 17-year old from Paraguay. It was a virtual cornucopia of tennis, South American style.
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**WTA & ITF SINGLES TITLES IN 2009**
KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM, JPN - 1 WTA/2 ITF
Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU - 1 WTA/3 ITF
Andrea Petkovic, GER - 1 WTA/1 ITF
Yanina Wickmayer, BEL - 2 WTA/1 ITF

**PLAYERS WITH WTA & ITF TITLES IN SAME SEASON**
2003 - 2
2004 - 5
2005 - 2
2006 - 2
2007 - 5
2008 - 3
2009 - 4

**RECORDS vs. ALICIA MOLIK IN 2009 SINGLES FINALS**
2-0...Sacha Jones
1-1...Olivia Rogowska
0-1...Sally Peers


All for now.



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