AO 12 - In Melbourne it's Serena, Angie... and Steffi

The match-up is set... and Steffi Graf, even in absentia, will be a "co-star" in a grand slam final nearly seventeen years after she played in her last.

It will be a 26th Grand Slam final appearance for @serenawilliams on Saturday... #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/pfOPLpBw9b

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2016

Once again, Serena Williams will be playing for history (when doesn't she these days?) in the Australian Open women's singles final, this time with her twenty-second career slam singles crown finally within reach four months after Roberta Vinci shut the door on Williams' last attempt in New York. A win would tie her with the German great for the most major titles in the Open era, with Margaret Court's all-time record of twenty-four lingering around the corner, often overlooked in the "Open era" talk that makes records more accessible and, supposedly, "fair."

*MOST SLAM SINGLES TITLES*
[Open era]
22...Steffi Graf
21...Serena Williams *
18...Chris Evert
18...Martina Navratilova
11...Margaret Court
9...Monica Seles
8...Billie Jean King
7...Evonne Goolagong
7...Justine Henin
7...Venus Williams *
[all-time]
24...Margaret Court
22...Steffi Graf
21...Serena Williams *
19...Helen Wills Moody
18...Chris Evert
18...Martina Navratilova
12...Billie Jean King
9...Maureen Connolly
9...Monica Seles

Regarding Serena, Court and the comparisons of her total (w/ many AO wins when mostly only she and her countrywomen competed for the title) and overall career is a discussion for a bit later down the line. First up for Williams is Steffi. Oh, yes, and another German, as well.

Angelique Kerber's mission is to win her first major and preserve Steffi Graf's record https://t.co/auiumUdH8v pic.twitter.com/tU4xc8oiKD

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) January 28, 2016

Angelique Kerber's first foray into a major final comes with her very own links to Graf. A win and she'd be the first woman from Germany to lift a slam trophy since Graf won her #22 at Roland Garros in 1999 just months before her retirement at age 30 (defeating a young Martina Hingis after the Swiss Miss' regrettable emotional meltdown after leading Graf by a set and a twice going up a break in the 2nd). Early last season, while questioning her tennis confidence, Kerber went to Las Vegas to talk and hit with her idol Graf. She left inspired and went on to have the best season of her career, though her slam results were lacking. She's already made up for THAT just a few weeks into 2016. Kerber has remained in contact with Graf, who continues to give encouragement and act as a sounding board. She'll surely be watching what happens on Saturday night in Melbourne.

Will Kerber hear from Steffi Graf before the final? "I hope so," she says. "Write me, Steffi!" #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/2cBf0lZQvn

— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) January 28, 2016

Now, it's Kerber who stands in the way -- even if only as a delaying agent -- of Williams finally catching Graf to end a 17-year chase that began when she won her first slam title at the U.S. Open in '99 at age 17, just a few weeks after Graf's retirement.

“The Germans must be together,” a smiling Kerber said following her semifinal win over Johanna Konta yesterday.

(No, I'm not going to make a joke about a German saying such a thing. Nope. Not gonna do it. We have no reason to be skittish.)

No matter whether Williams draws even on the virtual history scoreboard in about twenty-four hours, or Kerber finds a way to keep her at bay for at least a few more months, Graf will be the silent "third player" on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night.

There is no doubt about that her shadow is still a long one. Very long indeed. Just as Serena's will be twenty years from now, too.


=DAY 12 NOTES=
...interestingly, the shadow of Graf is so long that it actually extends beyond the women's singles final at this AO. It it extends all the way to the women's doubles, where on Friday a 35-year old Hingis -- more than five years the senior of the German about which the then-teenage Swiss Miss said, "She is old now. Her time has passed" not long before losing to her in the final in Paris in '99.

That loss, which included Hingis' long argument over a line call when leading 6-4/2-0, her losing and squandering another break lead in the 2nd and coming within three points of winning the Roland Garros title, then breaking down later and having mother Melanie Molitor leave the stands to comfort and calm the 18-year old.


While the win gave Graf her final slam title (she also reached the Wimbledon final a month later, losing to Lindsay Davenport, before retiring in August), giving her one final great moment -- it was her first slam title in over two and a half years -- to close out a Hall of Fame career, then-#1 Hingis was never really the same as a singles player. She went to Paris having won her third straight AO title five months earlier, but after that loss to Graf she never won another slam singles crown (going 0-4 in finals, after being 5-2 before the '99 loss), with the RG title forever remaining the only slam crown she never won. She was upset in the 1st Round at Wimbledon by Jelena Dokic a few weeks later.

A struggle to maintain her position against power players, a 2002 injury-related retirement, '05 comeback, '07 drug suspension and retirement, '13 Hall of Fame induction and subsequent second comeback that has now blossomed into her returning to prominence as the doubles co-#1, winning multiple slam titles and and becoming the dominant doubles player on the planet thanks to her Dream Team pairings with Sania Mirza and Leander Paes.

Graf's shadow is long... but Hingis has managed to escape it. But, my, has it been a long and strange trip to get there.

On Day 12, Hingis and Mirza will seek to become the first major champions of this Australian Open as they seek their third straight WD slam title in the final against Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka.

I'll be back in a later post to update that final, as well as the championships in the wheelchair and girls doubles.

Also, Day 12 is scheduled to set the mixed doubles and junior singles finals for the weekend.

...HMMM... FROM DAY 12: Why is part of me a little surprised they didn't reverse the order of these TWO "newsworthy" events?

Bouchard announces she'll skip #FedCup, gets trendy haircut at Miami salon. From @JonScott9: https://t.co/mlEZDpB0Kt pic.twitter.com/Z1pbDK1m8v

— TENNIS.com (@Tennis) January 28, 2016

...TELLIN' IT LIKE IT IS ON DAY 12:

Radwanska on Serena: "I was just standing there kind of watching her playing." Transcript: https://t.co/USFq4IEpOx pic.twitter.com/czJNUvkEwd

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2016

...LIKE FROM DAY 12: Barbie's pic selection made me chuckle...

This will be Saturday's final! ?????????????? pic.twitter.com/QGNsUK7GaH

— Kim Clijsters (@Clijsterskim) January 28, 2016

...NOTHIN' AGAINST ANGIE ON DAY 12...: ...but probably accurate

Steffi Graf's got 48 hrs to enjoy being the only woman 2 have 22 Slams. #SerenaWilliams #Serena @rennaestubbs @PHShriver @ChrissieEvert #wta

— tennisroasted (@tennis_roasted) January 28, 2016

*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #7 Angelique Kerber/GER

*MEN'S SINGLES SF*
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB def. #3 Roger Federer/SUI
#13 Milos Raonic/CAN vs. #2 Andy Murray/GBR

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Hingis/Mirza (SUI/IND) vs. #7 Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#7 J.Murray/Soares (GBR/BRA) vs. Nestor/Stepanek (CAN/CZE)

*MIXED DOUBLES SF*
#1 Mirza/Dodig (IND/CRO) vs. #5 Vesnina/Soares (RUS/BRA)
Klepac/Huey (SLO/PHI) vs. Vandeweghe/Tecau (USA/ROU)

*GIRLS SINGLES SF*
(Q) Sara Tomic/AUS vs. #5 Vera Lapko/BLR
#9 Rebeka Masarova/SUI vs. #2 Tereza Mihalikova/SVK

*BOYS SINGLES SF*
Oliver Anderson/AUS vs. #5 Chung Yunseong/KOR
#6 Alex De Minaur/AUS vs. #7 Jurabek Karimov/UZB

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
#6 Yastremska/Zarytska (UKR/UKR) vs. #2 Kalinskaya/Mihalikova (RUS/SVK)

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
#8 Klein/Rikl (SVK/CZE) vs. De Minaur/Ellis (AUS/AUS)

*WOMEN'S WC SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Jiske Griffioen/NED vs. Aniek Van Koot/NED

*MEN'S WC SINGLES FINAL*
Gordon Reid/GBR vs. Joachim Gerard/BEL

*WOMEN'S WC DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Griffioen/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. #2 Buis/Kamiji (NED/JPN)

*MEN'S WC DOUBLES SF*
#1 Houdet/Peifer (FRA/FRA) def. Kellerman/Scheffers (AUS/NED)
Fernandez/Gerard (ARG/BEL) vs. #2 Reid/Kunieda (GBR/JPN)

Yoga, rapping and finding happiness, it's @vika7 in our @Kia_Motors Open Drive hotseat #KiaTennis https://t.co/ZBnrfUuVZN

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2016

*AO WOMEN'S DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 1997*
1997 Martina Hingis / Natasha Zvereva
1998 Martina Hingis / Mirjana Lucic
1999 Martina Hingis / Anna Kournikova
2000 Lisa Raymond / Rennae Stubbs
2001 Serena Williams / Venus Williams
2002 Martina Hingis / Anna Kournikova
2003 Serena Williams / Venus Williams
2004 Virginia Ruano-Pascual / Paola Suarez
2005 Svetlana Kuznetsova / Alicia Molik
2006 Yan Zi / Zheng Jie
2007 Cara Black / Liezel Huber
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 ?

*SLAM WC DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 2013*
=2013=
AO: Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
RG: Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
WI: Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
US: Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
=2014=
AO: Yui Kamiji / Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
RG: Yui Kamiji / Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
WI: Yui Kamiji / Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
US: Yui Kamiji / Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
=2015=
AO: Yui Kamiji / Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
RG: Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
WI: Yui Kamiji / Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
US: Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
=2016=
AO: ?

*AO GIRLS DOUBLES WINNERS - since 2001*
2001 Petra Cetkovska / Barbora Strycova, CZE/CZE
2002 Gisela Dulko / Angelique Widjaja, ARG/INA
2003 Petra Cetkovska / Barbora Strycova, CZE/CZE
2004 Sun Sheng-Nan / Chan Yung-Jan, CHN/TPE
2005 Victoria Azarenka / Marina Erakovic, BLR/NZL
2006 Sharon Fichman / Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, CAN/RUS
2007 Evegniya Rodina / Arina Rodionova, RUS/RUS
2008 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova / Ksenia Lykina, RUS/RUS
2009 Christina McHale / Ajla Tomljanovic, USA/CRO
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 ?

*CAREER SLAM MIXED DOUBLES TITLES - active*
5 - Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
4 - Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
4 - Martina Hingis, SUI
3 - Sania Mirza, IND
3 - Samantha Stosur, AUS
2 - Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
2 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2 - Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
2 - Serena Williams, USA
2 - Venus Williams, USA
--
ALSO: Cara Black (5), Liezel Huber (2)

*AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS FINALS - since 2001*
2001 Jelena Jankovic/SRB def. Sofia Arvidsson/SWE
2002 Barbora Strycova/CZE def. Maria Sharapova/RUS
2003 Barbora Strycova/CZE def. Victoriya Kutuzova/UKR
2004 Shahar Peer/ISR def. Nicole Vaidisova/CZE
2005 Victoria Azarenka/BLR def. Agnes Szavay/HUN
2006 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS def. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
2007 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS def. Madison Brengle/USA
2008 Arantxa Rus/NED def. Jessica Moore/AUS
2009 Ksenia Pervak/RUS def. Laura Robson/GBR
2010 Karolina Pliskova/CZE def. Laura Robson/GBR
2011 An-Sophie Mestach/BEL def. Monica Puig/PUR
2012 Taylor Townsend/USA def. Yulia Putintseva/RUS
2013 Ana Konjuh/CRO def. Katerina Siniakova/CZE
2014 Elizaveta Kulichkova/RUS def. Jana Fett/CRO
2015 Tereza Mihalikova/SVK def. Katie Swan/GBR
2016 ?





TOP QUALIFIER: Naomi Osaka/JPN
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #14 Victoria Azarenka/BLR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #1 Serena Williams/USA
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - Virginie Razzano/FRA d. #6 Francesca Schiavone/ITA 6-1/4-6/6-1 (ends streak of 61 con. slam MD)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): #7 Angelique Kerber/GER d. Misaki Doi/JPN 6-7(4)/7-6(6)/6-3 (saved MP)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - Daria Gavrilova/AUS d. #28 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA 6-4/4-6/11-9
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx
TOP LAVER/MCA NIGHT MATCH: 3rd Rd. - Daria Gavrilova/AUS d. #28 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA 6-4/4-6/11-9
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #6 Petra Kvitova/CZE (def. Q/Kumkhum, THA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #17 Sara Errani/ITA (lost 1st Rd. to Gasparyan/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: China
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-8 in 1st Rd.; only AUS-born in 2nd Rd. is a Brit)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Zhang Shuai/CHN (QF)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Han Xinyun/CHN (2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Daria Gavrilova/AUS (4th Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Johanna Konta/GBR
IT (??): Nominee: Sh.Zhang/CHN, S.Tomic/AUS, T.Mihalikova/SVK
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Sh.Zhang/CHN, Hlavackova/Hradecka, V.Azarenka/BLR
CRASH & BURN: #2 Simona Halep/ROU (lost 1st Round to Q/Zhang Shuai, CHN - first Top 2 AO seed out in 1st since Ruzici/ROU in '79)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Monica Puig/PUR (2nd Rd. - saved 5 MP vs. Kr.Pliskova/CZE, who set WTA record w/ 31 aces in match)
KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM VETERAN CUP (KDK CUP): Angelique Kerber/GER
LADY OF THE EVENING: "The Dasha Show"
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: Hingis/Mirza, S.Mirza, C.Vandeweghe, A.Klepac, E.Vesnina, Griffioen/Van Koot (WC)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominees: S.Tomic/AUS, V.Lapko/BLR, Masarova/SUI



All for Day 12. More later.