RG.13- Those Extraordinary Finalists *
The women's final is one day away. What's at stake?
If Williams wins she will...
* - win her 20th career slam singles crown, two behind Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 (and within reach of Margaret Court's all-time mark of 24)
* - join Steffi Graf as the only player in the Open era with at least three singles titles at all four grand slams
* - become the sixth woman to win three Roland Garros titles in the Open era (Court, Evert, Graf, Henin & Seles)
* - become the first woman to open a season by winning both the Australian Open and Roland Garros since 2001 (Jennifer Capriati)
* - head into Wimbledon with chance at "Serena Slam II." Williams was the last player to win four straight majors in 2002-03.
* - have won seven slam titles since turning thirty, more than doubling the next two players (Navratilova & Court, with three each) on the list
* - become the second oldest woman to ever win the RG title at just under 33 years, 8 months, 2 weeks (1958: Zsuszi Kormoczy - 33 years, 10 months)...though she'd be the oldest in the Open era
If Safarova wins she will...
* - become the first Czech to win Roland Garros since Hana Mandlikova in 1981
* - become the fifteen woman in the Open era to win her maiden slam crown in Paris, and the third (Schiavone '10, Li '11) since 2010
* - become the player who took the third-most (41) number of slam main draw appearances to win a major (Bartoli 47, Novotna 45)
* - at 28 years, 4 months would become the sixth oldest first-time slam champ
* - become just the second player to defeat both Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova (4th Rd.) in the same tournament (Dementieva '09 Toronto)
* - become the fourteenth woman to defeat both the #1 (Serena) & #2 (Sharapova) ranked players in the same slam, and just the second (Kuznetsova '09 U.S.) to do so at a major since 2006
* - become the eleventh active woman (counting current doubles specialist Martina Hingis) with a slam singles title
* - rise to #6 in the rankings. Otherwise, she'll rise to #7 from her pre-RG standing of #13. At worst, she'll be tied as the sixth highest-ranked Czech in tour history (#1 Navratilova, #2 Novotna, #2 Kvitova, #3 Mandlikova, #4 Sukova and #7-Vaidisova).
* - if she defeats Williams in straight sets, become the first woman to win RG without dropping a set since 2007 (Henin)
To the winner go the spoils.
=DAY 13 NOTES=
Had a friend text me "B-B-B-Bethieee and the Czechs" HA!!! #Bucie @luciesafarova #HotAsBalls @rolandgarros #FINALS ?? pic.twitter.com/9BLFvX5UOY
— Bethanie MattekSands (@BMATTEK) June 5, 2015...Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands' amazing trip to Paris continues. BMS won the mixed doubles crown with Mike Bryan yesterday, hours after Safarova had reached the singles final. Today, the Dynamic Duo defeated The Maidens (Hlavackova/Hradecka) to reach the doubles final, giving them a chance to add the RG title to the one they won in Melbourne in January. They'll face the all-Asian/Pacific "Team Venture" combination of Aussie Casey Dellacqua & Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova in the final. They defeated "Hordettes I" (Makarova/Vesnina) in the other semifinal.
In case you noticed, I've realized that the "Dream Team" of Hingis/Mirza is just the start with some of the current top doubles combos when it comes to identifiable team nicknames. The "Amazing Race-like" line-up:
The Dream Team: Hingis/Mirza
The Dynamic Duo: Mattek-Sands/Safarova
Hordettes I: Makarova/Vesnina
The BFF's: Babos/Mladenovic
The Maidens: Hlavackova/Hradecka
The Spaniards: Muguruza/Suarez-Navarro
Team Venture: Dellacqua/Shvedova
Hordettes II: Kudryavtseva/Pavlyuchenkova
The Replacements: Hsieh/Pennetta
Of course, I'm leaving out a few. But still. I'll try to only use them liberally to avoid any sort of overload.
In the girls doubles, top-seeded AO champs Miriam Kolodjiekova & Marketa Vondrousova advanced to the final. The all-Czech Maiden duo will face #6-seeded Caroline Dolehide & Katerina Stewart (so her crazy Paris adventure DOES continue!) of the United States.
...Vondrousova's luck didn't hold up in the singles, as the #1-seed lost to Spaniard Paula Badosa (#12) in the girls semifinals. In the other semi, #16 Anna Kalinskaya defeated #4 CiCi Bellis. Badosa will be looking to become the first Spaniard to win a junior girls singles slam since Lourdes Dominguez Lino in Paris in '99 (she reached the 2nd Round as a qualifier at RG this year), as she's the first girl from Spain to reach a slam final since Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez at the AO in 2000. Meanwhile, Kalinskaya would be the second consecutive Russian to win the RG girls title (Darya Kasatkina '14) and the third Hordette champ in the last six slams (w/ Elizaveta Kulichkova AO '14). Hmmm, is another Revolution coming?
Paula Badosa - Anna Kalinskaya: el inicio de algo grande http://t.co/o5vFNwMdjR pic.twitter.com/fI0lZdLCxB
— Tenis VAVEL (@Tenis_VAVEL) June 5, 2015In the boys singles, it'll be an all-American affair as #2 Harry Taylor Fritz and #13 Tommy Paul advanced to the first ever all-U.S. junior boys final in Paris. Only three American boys have ever won the title: 1964 Cliff Richey, 1977 John McEnroe and 2011 Bjorn Frantangelo. Paul and William Blumberg, another American, will face Spaniards Alvaro Lopez San Martin & Jaume Munar in the doubles championship.
...in the wheelchair finals, Yui Kamiji's bad week in Paris continued. Yesterday, she lost in the singles semi and today she and Jordanne Whiley were denied their sixth straight slam doubles crown by the Dutch team of Jiske Grifioen & Aniek Van Koot in a 7-6(1)/3-6 [10-8] final. In the singles championship, Griffioen defeated Van Koot 6-0/6-2 to win her second straight 2015 slam singles title.
Wheelchair women's singles No.2 @jiskegriffioen d. dubs partner #VanKoot 6-0 6-2 to become our #RG15 champion! pic.twitter.com/dMSTlZ1PuQ
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2015Japanese WC #1 Shingo Kunieda won his 19th career slam singles crown, as well as his 19th career doubles (w/ Brit Gordon Reid).
...DISLIKE FROM DAY 13: So, when is that Roland Garros roof coming?
Because of an incoming storm, the match has been suspended and the players have been escorted off the court.. #RG15
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2015French Open - Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray to be continued http://t.co/LBhpaOOA2o
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) June 5, 2015...STILL THE "MIND OF MYSKINA" FROM DAY 13:
???? with @conchitamartinz and Anastasia #Myskina! #RGLegendsPerrier pic.twitter.com/tZObrGdWrX
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2015...JUST LIKE VIKA'S IN MELBOURNE, DO STAN'S SHORTS HAVE IT? FROM DAY 13:
Men's SFs: @stanwawrinka burns off #Tsonga to reach first RG final. MORE: http://t.co/ijafKaqq8c #RG15 pic.twitter.com/7b6fGtCnLd
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2015...LA TRUFFLETTE SIGHTING FROM DAY 13:
2013 Wimbledon champion @bartoli_marion w/ partner Iva #Majoli, 1997 Roland Garros champion! ????#RGLegendsPerrier pic.twitter.com/c1pLefMnyo
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2015...A SWAN IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO TOWERS IN THE BUSH FROM DAY 13: Or something like that.
Until next year Paris.. It's been a pleasure?????? @rolandgarros #RG15 pic.twitter.com/wcw8Hom5KU
— Katie Swan (@Katieswan99) June 5, 2015...A GOOD DAY FOR THE FRENCH FROM DAY 13: Or not.
Stan Wawrinka saves 16 of 17 break points to down Tsonga 6-3 6-7(1) 7-6(3) 6-4 to reach @rolandgarros final. #RG15 pic.twitter.com/qRfqj8HNbJ
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) June 5, 2015...SERENA SPEAKS FROM DAY 13:
Serena says she "collapsed" after semifinal win over Bacsinszky yesterday.
Read: http://t.co/uDuKt2oCPV #RG15 pic.twitter.com/bL1XdH1WAI
— TENNIS.com (@Tennis) June 5, 2015...LIKE FROM DAY 13: a 19-slam Serena retrospective... in pictures.
Rewinding Serena Williams' 19 Grand Slam Titles http://t.co/AZtqR3EVOM
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) June 4, 2015...and, finally, Timea says goodbye to Paris.
#RolandGarros2015 #TimeaBacsinszky pic.twitter.com/mxgD7N0qa7
— MiniPeople.ch (@SwissMinipeople) June 4, 2015Merci Paris ?? https://t.co/DJ0duy21P6
— Timea Bacsinszky (@TimiBacs) June 4, 2015=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #13 Lucie Safarova/CZE
=MEN'S SINGLES SF=
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB vs. #3 Andy Murray/GBR
#8 Stan Wawrinka/SUI def. #14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA
=WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#7 Mattek-Sands/Safarova (USA/CZE) vs. #12 Dellacqua/Shvedova (AUS/KAZ)
=MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) vs. #3 Dodig/Melo (CRO/BRA)
=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
#2 Mattek-Sands/M.Bryan (USA/USA) def. Hradecka/Matkowski (CZE/POL) 7-6(3)/6-1
=GIRLS SINGLES FINAL=
#12 Paula Badosa Gibert/ESP vs. #16 Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
=BOYS SINGLES FINAL=
#13 Tommy Paul/USA vs. #2 Taylor Harry Fritz/USA
=GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Kolodziejova/Vondrousova (CZE/CZE) vs. #6 Dolehide/Stewart (USA/USA)
=BOYS DOUBLES FINAL=
Lopez San Martin/Munar (ESP/ESP) vs. #4 Blumberg/Paul (USA/USA)
=WC WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#2 Jiske Griffioen/NED def. Aniek Van Koot/NED 6-0/6-2
=WC MEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Shingo Kunieda/JPN def. #2 Stephane Houdet/FRA 6-1/6-0
=WC WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#2 Griffioen/Van Koot (NED/NED) def. #1 Kamiji/Whiley (JPN/GBR) 7-6(1)/3-6 [10-8]
=WC MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#2 Kunieda/Reid (JPN/GBR) def. Fernandez/Peifer (ARG/ARG) 6-1/7-6(1)
*DEFEATED WORLD #1 & #2 AT SAME SLAM*
1979 U.S. Open - Tracy Austin
1985 U.S. Open - Hana Mandlikova
1999 Roland Garros - Steffi Graf
1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams
2000 Wimbledon - Venus Williams
2000 U.S. Open - Venus Williams
2001 Australian Open - Jennifer Capriati
2002 Roland Garros - Serena Williams
2003 Roland Garros - Justine Henin-Hardenne
2005 Australian Open - Serena Williams
2005 Wimbledon - Venus Williams
2006 U.S. Open - Maria Sharapova
2009 Roland Garros - Svetlana Kuznetsova
*ROLAND GARROS GIRLS FINALS - since 1998*
1998 Nadia Petrova/RUS def. Jelena Dokic/AUS
1999 Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP def. Stephanie Foretz/FRA
2000 Virginie Razzano/FRA def. Maria-Emilia Salerni/ARG
2001 Kaia Kanepi/EST def. Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS
2002 Angelique Widjaja/INA def. Ashley Harkleroad/USA
2003 Anna-Lena Groenefeld/GER def. Vera Dushevina/RUS
2004 Sesil Karatantcheva/BUL def. Madalina Gojnea/ROU
2005 Agnes Szavay/HUN def. Raluca Olaru/ROU
2006 Agnieszka Radwanska/POL def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2007 Alize Cornet/FRA def. Mariana Duque-Marino/COL
2008 Simona Halep/ROU def. Elena Bogdan/ROU
2009 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA def. Daria Gavrilova/RUS
2010 Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Ons Jabeur/TUN
2011 Ons Jabeur/TUN def. Monica Puig/PUR
2012 Annika Beck/GER def. Anna Schmiedlova/SVK
2013 Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Antonia Lottner/GER
2014 Darya Kasatkina/RUS def. Ivana Jorovic/SRB
2015 Paula Badosa Gibert/ESP vs. Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
*RG "DOUBLES STAR" WINNERS*
2006 Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2007 Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
2008 Anabel Medina-Garrigues & Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP/ESP
2009 Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP
2010 Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
2011 Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
2012 Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
2013 Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
2014 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
2015 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
*WHEELCHAIR SLAM CHAMPIONS, post-Vergeer era*
[SINGLES]
=2013=
AO: Aniek Van Koot, NED
RG: Sabine Ellerbrock, GER
US: Aniek Van Koot, NED
=2014=
AO: Sabine Ellerbrock, GER
RG: Yui Kamiji, JPN
US: Yui Kamiji, JPN
=2015=
AO: Jiske Griffioen, NED
RG: Jiske Griffioen, NED
[DOUBLES]
=2013=
AO: Griffioen/Van Koot, NED/NED
RG: Griffioen/Van Koot, NED/NED
WI: Griffioen/Van Koot, NED/NED
US: Griffioen/Van Koot, NED/NED
=2014=
AO: Kamiji/Whiley, JPN/GBR
RG: Kamiji/Whiley, JPN/GBR
WI: Kamiji/Whiley, JPN/GBR
US: Kamiji/Whiley, JPN/GBR
=2015=
AO: Kamiji/Whiley, JPN/GBR
RG: Griffioen/Van Koot, NED/NED
TOP QUALIFIER: Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #11 Angelique Kerber/GER
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #13 Lucie Safarova/CZE
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Wang Yafan/CHN d. #15 Richel Hogenkamp/NED 2-6/7-6(7)/8-6 (saved 4 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Francesca Schiavone/ITA d. #18 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS 6-7(11)/7-5/10-8 (3:49; saved MP; third-longest RG match)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #1 Serena Williams/USA d. Sloane Stephens/USA 1-6/7-5/6-3
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: (Q) Teliana Pereira/BRA (def. WC Ferro/FRA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Caroline Garcia/FRA (lost 1st Rd. to Vekic/CRO)
UPSET QUEENS: The Croats
REVELATION LADIES: The New Australians
NATION OF POOR SOULS: United States (most players in draw w/ 17, but tied for 4th w/ just 4 1st Round winners)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP, Paula Kania/POL, Sesil Karatantcheva/BUL, Teliana Pereira/BRA (2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Virginie Razzano/FRA & Amandine Hesse/FRA (2nd Rd.)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Alize Cornet (4th Rd.)
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: Timea Bacsinszky/SUI & Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL (play for spot in first slam SF)
IT "??": (Swarmette) Andreea Mitu/ROU (last Romanian standing)
COMEBACK PLAYER: #7 Ana Ivanovic/SRB (1st RG QF since '08 title)
CRASH & BURN: #2 Simona Halep/ROU (lost 2r to Lucic-Baroni/CRO)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: #19 Elina Svitolina/UKR (2nd Rd. vs. Putintseva - down 6-1/3-0, then 4-1 in 3rd; won 9-7 deciding set)
JOIE DE VIVRE: Francesca Schiavone/ITA
DOUBLES STAR: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA
KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM VETERAN CUP (KDK CUP): #13 Lucie Safarova/CZE
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominees: Vondrousova/Kolodziejova (CZE/CZE), Kalinskaya/RUS, Badosa/ESP
* - a nod to Mark Twain's Those Extraordinary Twins (1892)
...born Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910). American author, lecturer and humorist. Writer of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). Twain's writing and large personality made him a public figure and, ultimately, an American icon. A renowned traveler, Twain entertained fans around the world with his opinionated wit.
All for Day 13. More tomorrow.
posted by Todd.Spiker @ 4:56 PM
5 Comments:
I think Game Set and Mats is really informative. Just check the first 10-15 minutes of this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80ba6nJH1MQ. We would never see such good quality information on ESPN. They just use the analytics provided by IBM and SAP (which are bunk or so totally obvious) because they are sponsored by those companies.
---------
The Eurosport commentators that I like are Jo Durie and Chris Brown (or Brandon?). They are very knowledgeable about all players and the gam and most importantly, neutral. But they are both big fans of the game, which I think is important.
I also like their accents.
I love it when Jo Durie goes, "Scary!" after Serena shows her intensity.
That is a really interesting presentation, even if it is from the AO final... though I didn't realize it for a second since Wilander started talking about Serena being sick during the week. :)
I've always liked Wilander.
I don't think ESPN even has someone who could present that sort of information in an intelligent way. They pretty much program their tennis coverage to (mostly) fans who only know the names of the very top players, and likely don't think people would bother to pay attention to something like that. Unfortunately. If it's presented right before a match, or during it in small doses, it really would cause someone to watch things more closely and in a different way.
(That's a very interesting set they have with the rails with the leaning pads -- I guess they must take those to all the slams because I believe I've seen Twitter posts during this RG with scenes with that same set up.)
Re: the rails....Europeans just gotta be different...
I personally think they're awkward. They're supposed to be for leaning...but every has a different height. Sometimes I feel like it's at an odd place for Barbara Schett.
Yea sorry that the clip wasn't from the French Open. (I just really needed a fix of intense tennis tonight...and you can't get more intense than Serena v. MaSha....well, maybe a match with Vika.) RG is so vigilant about taking clips down so I haven't caught much Eurosport feed. I don't know why they do that. Clips on youtube get new fans and spread awareness of the sport. It's not like people go and buy the RG DVDs each year. I mean you're doing something wrong if Wimbledon is less uptight about something than you are.
In one word, Eric: copyright. TV coverage is copyrighted, and copyright in continental Europe is the strictest.
(If you're interested in delving into these issues, theoretically speaking, copyright (droit d'auteur) in continental Europe is philosophically inspired by Hegel, whereas copyright in common law jurisdictions (UK, US, Canada, Australia) is closer to utilitarian principles, and to Locke to a lesser degree. Let these differences ferment over several centuries and voilà, you get different legal and social standards about how people around the only Slam in continental Europe deal with copyright issues vs. how people around the other three Slams, all in common law jurisdictions, deal with the same issues.)
I'm lucky Bouchard lost in the first round. Otherwise, I would have been off on all of my predictions for this tournament! :o
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