Sunday, April 24, 2016

Wk.16- Sign o' the WTA Times


Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
2 get through this thing called life...
on the Most Interesting Tour in the World

You'd think that the reigning Australian Open champion defending a title for the first time in her career... in Germany... against a fellow German... and picking up a second brand new Porsche -- not exactly the kind you'd find in a second hand store -- for her personal collection would be THE biggest story on the WTA tour in Week 16.

You'd think so.




But, for Turkey, that was but a footnote to an historic weekend where not one...



...but TWO players rose to the occasional in the tour's only stop in their country to produce a series of chapters that won't easily ever be topped in the nation's ever-expanding tennis biography...

Wuhuuuu Istanbul Cup WTA Çiftler Şampiyonluğu!!! 🎉💪

A photo posted by Ipek Soylu (@ipek_soylu) on



...nor on tour this entire season by too many other nations along for the ride along Route WTA's gloriously scenic journey through 2016.

For once, the Turks got to say, "let's go crazy" and party like it's 1999.


Of course, on the Most Interesting Tour in the World, these sort of things are to be expected. On this trip, the persistent question isn't "Are we there yet?"

It's "What's next?"



*WEEK 16 CHAMPIONS*
STUTTGART, GERMANY (Premier $694K; RCI)
S: Angelique Kerber/GER def. Laura Siegemund/GER 6-4/6-0
D: Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic (FRA/FRA) d. Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza (SUI/IND) 2-6/6-1 [10-6]
ISTANBUL, TURKEY (Int'l $227K; RCO)
S: Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR def. Danka Kovinic/MNE 3-6/6-2/6-3
D: Andreea Mitu/Ipek Soylu (ROU/TUR) w/o Xenia Knoll/Danka Kovinic (SUI/MNE)


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Angelique Kerber/GER
...all right, Take 2? Last spring, Kerber began the clay court season by looking for all the world like a potential Queen of Clay. She won in Charleston, then backed that title run up by picking up her first career crown in Stuttgart. While a possible run in Paris ultimately fizzled out for the German, as she went 1-2 in the Rome/Madrid swing, pulled out of the Nurnberg semis and then lost in the 3rd Round of Roland Garros to Garbine Muguruza, Kerber's early clay court spring turned out to be the opening salvo of what has been a remarkable year. Since her title in South Carolina just over a year ago, she's won six times, claimed her maiden slam crown and climbed as high as #2 in the rankings. After winning in three sets in her opening match last week over Annika Beck, Kerber's superior standing in the draw became clearer and clearer with each outing as she knocked off Carla Suarez-Navarro, Petra Kvitova and then Laura Siegemund in the final to defend a singles title for the first time in her career. Will such a result lead to her first real run for the Couple Suzanne Lenglan in Paris, where she's only reached one QF (2012)? Stay tuned. But, as of today on the clay, Nothing Compares to U, Angie.

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RISERS: Laura Siegemund/GER & Danka Kovinic/MNE
...Kerber was ultimately crowned champion for the second straight year in Stuttgart on Sunday, but it was another German who drove the story all week long. Siegemund, 28, became the first qualifier to reach the final (without losing a set through seven matches) as she rode a game style with very Radwanskian and Vinci-like undertones to a career week that included an opening round win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova that was followed by back-to-back-to-back Top 10 victories over Simona Halep and, incidentally, BOTH Vinci and Radwanska. Siegemund had never advanced past the QF in a tour-level event before this week, and her only Top 10 victory had come last fall over Timea Bacsinszky in Luxembourg, when the Swiss was forced to retire with a knee injury. Ironically, Bacsinszky's recent "second career" rise, when she went from beginning to plan out her after-tennis life to finding one-more-try success once she's shed all the pressurized baggage that had doomed her young career, in many ways resembles that of Siegemund.



Siegemund was a successful junior, winning the Orange Bowl 12s title in 2000 but soon finding it difficult to live up to German tennis' post-Graf expectations in a "baby you're much too fast" example of pressure and hype clashing with reality. She made her WTA qualifying debut in 2003, but didn't play in her first tour-level main draw until 2010. A knee injury in 2012 left her questioning a full-time tennis future. During her time out, she studied for a psychology degree (she finished #1 in her class a year later) and got her trainer certification, eyeing a potential future in coaching. Slowly, though, the success arrived once she returned to the court, armed with the knowledge that hard work is often its own reward (and sometimes just a prelude to something even greater). In 2014, she finished in the Top 200 for the first time. Last year, she put up her first Top 100 season, qualifying for her first slam MD (Wimbledon), winning her biggest title ($100K), reaching two tour-level QF, picking up three WTA doubles crowns and getting that first Top 10 win over Bacsinszky. This season, she's upset Kiki Bertens and #19-seed Jelena Jankovic for her first slam match wins in Melbourne en route to the 3rd Round, qualified for Indian Wells (losing to Serena in the 2nd Rd.) and recently advanced to her first Premier QF in Charleston.

Not that any of ALL that -- some of it highlighted here -- prevented Tracy Austin and Ted Robinson from acting on Tennis Channel this weekend as if the German had been dropped from the sky by aliens, never before heard from or seen by anyone until the last few days in Stuttgart. If your only connection to any coverage of the sport came this weekend from TC, you would have wondered how a player who has "only played in the lower level events" had somehow managed to climb to even #71 heading into this past week, let alone the notion that, while Siegemund's name hasn't exactly been written by skywriters above Route WTA over the past year, she HAS been making progress for quite some time now (I picked her to reach her maiden tour final in my preseason predictions, so her results were attention-worthy if anyone chose to pay attention -- and, hey, now I can at least check that one off my list!).




Of course, the lack of actually bothering to do even the slightest bit of background research won't be an excuse from tennis commentators regarding Siegemund now. The German will jump up to a new career high of #42 on Monday, and that post-playing career future (just throwing something against the wall here -- might it possibly one day include a stint as Germany's Fed Cup Captain?) looks like it'll definitely be pushed back a few additional years now.

In Istanbul, Kovinic became the third player this season to reach both the singles and doubles final in the same event. Unfortunately for her, she became the second player in '16 to fail to walk away with a title in either, as the Montenegrin lost out to Turkey's Cagla Buyukakcay in three sets in a final that was assured of the winner becoming the very first WTA singles champ in her respective nation's history. Kovinic put up successive wins over Kurumi Nara, Tsvetana Pironkova, Maria Sakkari and Kateryna Kozlova en route to her second career tour final ('15 Tianjin). She'll jump from #60 to #47 on Monday, one off the career-high she set in February.

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SURPRISES: Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR and Kateryna Kozlova/UKR
...Cagla has simply owned this category this season. This week, during which she knocked down a handful of still more career and Turk-best moments, is already the fourth time she's been listed as a "Surprise" in 2016. This time, though, it comes after something truly special, as she pulled off what will go down as one of most heartwarming accomplishments this season.



Playing in her Istanbul hometown, Buyukakcay rode the wave of her own tennis momentum and the support of the crowd to her first career tour singles semifinal, final and maiden title with wins over Marina Melnikova, Sorana Cirstea, Nao Hibino, Stefanie Voegele and Danka Kovinic in a 3-6/6-2/6-3 final. She's the first Turkish woman to accomplish any of those feats in WTA history. The 26-year old now rises into the Top 100 for the first time and is assured of appearing in her first slam main draw in Paris. Now everyone has to learn how to spell her name. Ha -- I got a head start on that one!

B-U-Y-U-K-A-K-C-A-Y. ✓

22-year old Ukrainian Kozlova hasn't let her brief suspension last season hold her back. Since her return to action last August, she's qualified for the U.S. Open, reached a WTA QF in Tashkent, a $100K semi, a 125 Series QF (which included a win over Danka Kovinic) and a '16 QF in St.Petersburg (MD wins over Barbora Strycova and Elena Vesnina, and a Q-win over Laura Siegemund). The world #129 was at it again in Istanbul, reaching her first career tour-level SF with victories over Alexandra Dulgheru, Kirsten Flipkens and Anastasija Sevastova.


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VETERAN: Aga Radwanska/POL
...no player on tour has been more consistent since last fall than Radwanska. Already back to #2, her semifinal run in Stuttgart -- which included wins over Andrea Petkovic and Karolina Pliskova -- was her ninth SF-or-better result in her last eleven tour events. But she's developing a bit of glass ceiling for herself, it seems. Since winning the title in Shenzhen in Week 1, she's lost four straight semifinals, has often found herself unable to follow-up a hard-fought win (see Vinci in Miami, Pliskova this past week) with another victory, and sometimes appears physically tired and/or is "out-Radwanska'd" by the likes of a Timea Bacsinszky (Miami) or Laura Siegemund (Stuttgart). If she's going to find a way to ever slip into the dream winner's circle at a slam -- and considering her ongoing form, the next two majors might be the last best chances she'll ever have -- she's going to have to find a way to maintain her earlier level of play at the end of the week when the matches and stakes are that much bigger.
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COMEBACKS: Petra Kvitova/CZE and Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...since she seems to be pertually bursting in through the out door, then going back the way from which she came soon after, you take signs of resurgence wherever you can get them with Kvitova. The Czech's first semifinal result of 2016 will officially be more remembered for a nice three-setter vs. Angelique Kerber and a three-set takedown of Garbine Muguruza (which included a dominant love 3rd set that had the Spaniard and Sam Sumyk once again in an exasperating public exchange during a coaching visit) than that she opened the week by dropping a 6-2 1st set vs. Monica Niculescu (arriving after a tough Day 2 loss on FC weekend) and having to save three MP to avoid another one-and-out disaster. At least Petra is learning to "embrace the rollercoaster experience"... and isn't that the first step in recovery?



Somewhat under the radar, Cirstea is looking like she'll be in the running for the honor of producing one of 2016's best season-long ranking climbs. The 26-year Romanian fell all the way to #244 at the end of 2015, and she'll have already climbed over a 100 spots come Monday when she comes in at approximately #131. The comeback has been fueled by a 15-3 run in ITF/WTA events held in Brazil earlier this year (she reached back-to-back $25K finals, winning one, and reached a tour semi in Rio), as well as a $50K semifinal earlier this month. Last week, Cirstea made it through qualifying and opened MD play with a win over Istanbul defending champ Lesia Tsurenko.
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FRESH FACES: Maria Sakkari/GRE and Ipek Soylu/TUR
...20-year old Sakkari has finally given Greek tennis its first legitimate threat since the career peak of Eleni Danillidou in the early 2000's. She continued to rise up the tour ranks in Istanbul, making it through qualifying and then posting main draw wins over top-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Hsieh Su-wei to reach her first WTA singles quarterfinal. Earlier this season, Sakkari qualified in Melbourne (her second straight successful slam Q-run) and notched her first career MD win in a major (then pushed Carla Suarez-Navarro to three sets in the 2nd Round), extending a steady incline in results that has included eleven ITF singles finals in 2014-15 (she won seven, including a 3-0 mark last season), a semifinal result in the WTA 125 Series event in Carlsbad last November and a $50K Osprey semifinal run earlier this year which included a win over Francesca Schiavone. Having already reached a career-high singles ranking earlier this month, Sakkari is set to do so again on Monday as she jumps from #127 to inside the Top 120.


Meanwhile, Buyukakcay wasn't the only Turkish player giving the Istanbul crowd something to cheer about last week. While 20-year old Soylu lost in the 1st Round in singles, she stuck around all week in doubles, teaming with Andreea Mitu to reach her first tour-level final. Like Buyukakcay, Soylu was set to face off with Danka Kovinic, who'd advanced to the championship with Swiss Xenia Knoll. Unlike her Turkish countrywoman, though, Soylu didn't get the "full championship experience," as Kovinic pulled out of the doubles final after losing in singles, handing both Mitu & Soylu their first career tour titles. Of course, I suppose Soylu could have just tried to play two sides of the net in the final, considering she's partnered with BOTH Mitu and Knoll in the city. She and Knoll teamed together to win a previous title in Istanbul, winning on hard court in an ITF $25K challenger in November 2014.

Note: Knoll is playing doubles with The Bracelet in Week 17 in Rabat.
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DOWN: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK and Simona Halep/ROU
...the latest chapter of the Schmiedlova Mystery arrived just a few days after the Slovak picked up her first match win in two months last weekend in Fed Cup play. After a Saturday victory, her only win since the previous FC weekend in February, she was replaced in the singles lineup on Sunday (by Jana Cepelova, who lost) though she apparently wasn't injured. She still celebrated as Slovakia defeated Canada, and the hope was that a successful weekend might finally put an end to her '16 funk. When Victoria Azarenka pulled out of this past week's Istanbul event, The Artist Formerly Known as Schmiedy became the #1 seed... and, unfortunately, she then picked up right where she'd left off before her brief bit of FC-related good news. Schmiedlova's 6-2/6-3 1st Round loss to qualifier Maria Sakkari gives her eight first match losses in her nine WTA appearances this season, including seven in a row. 3-10 overall in '16, she's now 1-9 in tour events, with all her losses being of the straight sets variety. So much for Fed Cup weekend "jump-starting" her season. One suspects that this is what it sounds like when doves cry.

Speaking of a player searching for an elusive boost. I think everyone would like to tell Simona, "I feel for you." But no matter how much support she has, she's going to have to figure this thing out for herself. Halep's opening match 2nd Round loss to Laura Siegemund in Stuttgart, while it doesn't seem so harsh now in retrospect after the German's career-best week, is still another troubling case of the Romanian going out in rather routine fashion. After rolling her ankle but managing a Day 1 win over Andrea Petkovic last week in Fed Cup, Halep played the next day but managed to get just four games off Angelique Kerber. She got just three off Siegemund. And it can't be chalked up to just being "a German thing," either. As she did on FC weekend, she didn't admit to her ankle being a big problem. But something was limiting her movement, and she did leave the court in Stuttgart with a trainer for treatment on some issue. All in all, this is starting to look an awful lot like last spring's clay season, which turned out to be pretty much a wash-out for Halep, and essentially set her up for an injury-filled, angst-ridden and psychologically challenging final six months of the season. Oh, Simona.
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ITF PLAYERS: Paula Ormaechea/ARG, Rebecca Peterson/SWE and Taylor Townsend/USA
...suddenly, Ormaechea is on fire. The 23-year old Argentine, a former Top 60 player currently ranked #341, picked up her third straight challenger title in the $10K event in Baura, Brazil. Incredibly, her 15-0 run comes directly on the heels of a 3-13 stretch and being without a MD victory since July before the first of her trio of title runs. The #1 seed last week, Ormaechea notched wins over the #4 and #8 seeds before defeating fellow Argentinian, #2-seeded 18-year old Julieta Estable, in a 1-6/6-3/7-5 final.


In the $50K challenger in Dothan, Alabama it was 20-year old Swede Peterson who was the last woman standing. Her run to career title #9 -- which matches the one she won in Macon, Georgia in October for her biggest ever -- began with a win over Jovana Jaksic and ended with one against Taylor Townsend in the final. Townsend's recent upswing in results continued, as well, as she followed up her successful Indian Wells qualifying attempt and $25K semifinal with a run that included wins over Claire Liu, Alexandra Panova and Alla Kudryavtseva. She leads the USTA's "Playoff" race for a berth in the Roland Garros main draw. The Bannerette also won her third ITF doubles title of the month with Asia Muhammand, defeating Caitlin Whoriskey & Keri Wong in the final.

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JUNIOR STARS: Rebeka Masarova/SUI, Katerina Zavatska/UKR and Jaimee Fourlis/AUS
...#13-ranked Swiss junior Masarova, the #1-seed at the Beaulieu-sur-mer event in France, is set to meet #15-seeded Ukrainian Zavatska in the final with the ultimate 16-year old winner claiming the first Grade 1 title of her career. Masarova reached two Grade 1 finals last season, and reached the Australian Open girls semis in January before winning a Grade 2 event in March. Her path to the final has included wins over the #9, #10 and #16 seeds at the event. Junior #62 Zavatska is playing in her third consecutive final, having won nine straight matches while winning a Grade 2 title a week ago in the wake of her run to the Grade 1 Perin Memorial final (a loss to Elena Rybakina) earlier this month.

I'm not sure if weather has caused this event's final to be pushed back to Monday or not, as I can't find the results anywhere. So I'll update the post with the winner later.

UPDATE: Zavatska grabbed her first career Grade 1 title with a 6-7(2)/7-6(5)/6-2 win over Masarova on Monday. She's 15-1 in junior action in 2016.

In the Gallipoli Youth Cup, 16-year old Aussie Fourlis claimed the title at the Grade 4 event. The girls' #63 was the #1 seed at the event, where she defeated the #4 and #8 seeds to reach the final, then knocked off #3 Himari Sato of Japan to take the crown. The teenager picked up her first pro title in February with a win at a $25K challenger in Perth.

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DOUBLES: Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic (FRA/FRA)
...at least for the Pastries, the Fed Cup spirit from last weekend lived on in Week 16. Garcia & Mladenovic added the Stuttgart title to the one they won in Charleston two weeks ago, extending their winning streak to eight matches a week after clinching France's berth in the FC final with a deciding doubles victory over the Netherlands. Garcia & Mladenovic's 10-6 match TB win in the final over Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza added the co-#1's names to a list of big-time duos that that have fallen this season to the French women that already included the likes of Mattek-Sands/Safarova, Kasatkina/Vesnina, Groenefeld/Peschke and Dellacqua/Stosur. 2-2 in '16 finals, including a loss in Sydney to Hingis/Mirza, the Pastries are now behind only the world #1's totals in titles (4) and finals (5) this season.



The doubles champions don't win cars. Caroline wasn't too upset about that, though. For now. Just as long as she doesn't expect a little red corvette to ever roll onto the court in Stuttgart.


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The week in Sharapova...



I'm hoping one of these wristbands will give me access to a gym this morning. #Coachella

A photo posted by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) on


The reunion of #GunsNRoses #coachella

A video posted by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) on




Meanwhile...

This weekends memories from the @parkerpalmsprings

A photo posted by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) on



Hmmm, I wonder if Maria talked to that pawn as it sat next to her? Because, you know, she HAS to do that all the time or else she's a low-down, dirty scoundrel who should be blasted for her every move when her back is turned. Or so I've heard.



1. Stuttgart Final - Kerber d. Siegemund
...6-4/6-0. Siegemund led 4-2 before Kerber seized control, becoming the first opponent to frustrate Siegemund all week. After dropping the 1st set, the qualifier left the court with a trainer and when she returned was never able to solve the riddle of her defending champion countrywoman. Kerber sweep the final ten games of the match, ending Siegemund's very long -- but even more rewarding -- week. For she has proven that she can indeed dream of and make a reality a courtyard, an ocean of violets in bloom.
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2. Istanbul Final - Buyukakcay d. Kovinic
...3-6/6-2/6-3. In a first-ever tour final match-up between and a Turk and a Montenegrin -- adding a 19th and 20th different nation represented in WTA singles finals in the first sixteen weeks of 2016 -- Buyukakcay made all her dreams comes true, and by doing so in her hometown probably thought up a few on the fly that hadn't even legitimately occurred to her as being truly possible until sometime late in the week. Of course, with Buyukakcay's emotional completion of her journey when she finally converted her fifth MP, Kovinic was left to lament what might have been.


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3. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Kvitova d. Chirico 6-0/6-0
Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Kvitova d. Niculescu 2-6/7-6(5)/6-2
Stuttgart SF - Kerber d. Kvitova 6-4/4-6/6-2
...you never really knew which Petra you'd get in Stuttgart (so... just like everywhere, I guess). Petra did such a Batdance all over Chirico that she no longer knew up from down, while Niculescu, who upset Kvitova in Fed Cup play in February, very nearly took down the Czech once again. The Romanian held three total MP at 6-2 and 6-5 in the 2nd set before Petra's rollercoaster finally swung back around and left Niculescu stranded while Kvitova hopped off and beat a path to what would be her first SF result of '16, where Kvitova was finally overtaken down the stretch by the eventual champ.
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4. Stuttgart QF - Kvitova d. Muguruza
...6-1/3-6/6-0. Kvitova's wild swings of fortune on match day are hardly foreign agents to the Spaniard, who can seemingly go from a happy-go-lucky future slam champ one moment to a sullen, cranky, back-talking brat the next. Just ask Sam Sumyk, who got to publicly live out his personal coaching nightmare in the changeover area in yet another "session" with Muguruza. Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if he dropped "act your age not your shoe size" on her, you know, just to see what would happen?

Sam just didn't know how good he had it with Vika. Seriously, this relationship can't last much longer, can it?
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5. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Siegemund d. Halep
...6-1/6-2. Sigh, Simona. Here we go again? On the bright side: to Siegemund is now a thing.


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6. Stuttgart Q1 - Ankita Raina d. Tena Lukas
...6-7(4)/7-6(2)/7-5. India's highest-ranked singles player -- hint, hint -- saves a MP. She'd go on to lose to Kristyna Pliskova one Q-round later.
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7. Stuttgart Q3 - Chirico d. Giorgi 6-3/6-3
Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Beck d. Giorgi 6-4/6-2
...first the hot war with the Italian tennis federation, and now this.
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8. Stuttgart Final - Garcia/Mladenovic d. Hingis/Mirza
...2-6/6-1 [10-6]. Hingis/Mirza are now 13-2 in finals. The previous loss was also on clay (in Rome), and Mladenovic (only w/ Babos by her side) was on the other side of the net THAT day, as well.
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9. Istanbul 1st Rd. - Cirstea d. Tsurenko 6-3/6-4
Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Petkovic d. Mladenovic 6-2/6-4
Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Niculescu d. Garcia 6-2/6-2
Istanbul 1st Rd. - Mitu d. Wickmayer 7-5/6-4
Istanbul 1st Rd. - Pironkova d. Sasnovich 6-2/6-2
Istanbul 1st Rd. - Sevastova d. Krunic 6-0/6-0
Prague Q1 - Kuzmova d. Golubic 7-5/6-4
...the first match after a Fed Cup weekend can be a real you-know-what for some players. Et tu, Golubic?
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10. Istanbul 1st Rd. - Kozlova d. Dulgheru
...6-7(4)/7-6(2)/6-1. Kozlova's SF run almost wasn't. She blew a 5-0 1st set lead, dropping the opening set to the Romanian and then having to win a tie-break to push things into a 3rd.
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11. $10K Sharm El Sheikh Final - Katie Boulter d. Anastasia Pribylova 4-6/6-3/7-5
$10K Heraklion Final - Freya Christie/Chanel Simmonds d. Valeria Savinyk/Alyona Sotnikova 6-4/6-0
...more entries in Britain's New Power Generation! 19-year old Boulter, a former Top 10 junior, wins her second career ITF title (first since '14), while 18-year old Christie grabs doubles title #4.
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12. Prague Q1 - Amandine Hesse d. Klara Koukalova
...6-4/0-6/7-6(3). Is the Czech's career about to take a very long nap under the cherry moon? At 34, Koukalova is now down to #117, and she hasn't finished any season ouside the Top 120 since 2001. This loss gives her six straight defeats, and she's without a tour-level MD win since July.
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HM- Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Friedsam d. Konta
...6-3/6-3. It wasn't a great week for EVERY Brit, though. For Konta, it was just another Manic Monday.
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Beyonce. Serena. And since it was Saturday night. I guess that makes is ALL right. 'Nuff said.







1. Stuttgart QF - Aga Radwanska d. Karolina Pliskova
...6-2/7-6(8). Aga won in two, winning her eleventh and twelfth consecutive sets vs. the Czech. But game #11 of the 2nd set, and the eventual tie-break, made this match something more than a "routine" victory. Serving at 5-5, Radwanska survived a 15-minute, twelve-deuce game in which she saved seven break points (Pliskova missed on second serve returns more than once) before finally holding on her own seventh game point on, naturally, a net cord dribbler. In the TB, Pliskova's fight was admirable, if too late. On Radwanska's first MP at 6-5, the Czech shot a forehand winner up the line, then she fired a saving ace on MP #2. After Radwanska's return winner on a Pliskova second serve gave the Pole MP #3 at 8-7, Pliskova blasted a backhand winner. Aga's volley winner brought MP #4 at 9-8, where Pliskova finally brought things to a close with a forehand into the net.

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2. Istanbul 1st Rd. - Sakkari d. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2/6-3
Istanbul 2nd Rd. - Sakkari d. Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3/6-4
...the Greek's career-best QF run was built upon the backs of tennis sisters.

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3. Stuttgart SF - Siegemund d. Aga Radwanska
...6-4/6-2. By the time Siegemund had locked away her third straight Top 10 win, and her seventh consecutive straight sets victory of the week, her run was hardly a surprise. Showing no hint of nerves, the German played as if she'd been in these sort of situations her entire tennis life. Of course, even while the continuation of her tennis career wasn't a sure thing not that long ago, such a reaction isn't super shocking from a player working on a sports psychology degree and writing a bachelor thesis about "choking under pressure." Unlike Dinara Safina, who once noted, "The more you know, the less you sleep," Siegemund seems to fall on the, "The more the know, the less you fear" side of the psychological divide.

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4. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Karolina Pliskova d. Safarova
...7-6(4)/4-6/7-5. Not long after Safarova posted U Got the Look-style congratulations to Pliskova and the rest of the Czech Fed Cup team, she was taken out by Karolina, who fired 16 aces and overcame failing to convert a MP and Safarova getting back on serve late in the 3rd set. Safarova, while her doubles success (she reached the semis w/ Sabine Lisicki, making her 10-3 this season) has come swiftly in her return to action, has yet to find her footing in singles. She's now 0-5 on the season, but at least this was her first three-setter of 2016.
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5. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Aga Radwanska d. Petkovic
...1-6/6-1/6-2. Much like Halep after her slip and fall vs. Petko in Fed Cup, the German, while apparently not seriously injured, wasn't quite the same after yet another likely-unsettling brush with injury.


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6. $25K Nanning Final - Liu Chang/Varatchaya Wongteanchai d. Lykina/Webley-Smith
...6-1/6-4. Wongteanchai, 26, picks up her 31st career ITF doubles crown, and her second of '16.
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7. $10K Antalya Final - Shymanovich/Drew d. Tayisiya Morderger/Yana Morderger
...3-6/6-1 [10-2]. No, the Morderger twins aren't the hallway girls from "The Shining" all grown up, they're 19-year old Germans who very nearly came away with their first career ITF doubles title in Antalya. Instead, the event honor when to Iryna Shymanovich (who also won in singles) and Jazzamay Drew, a 21-year old Brit who has to be on the short list for the best first name in the sport.
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Just because why not ??

A video posted by Victoria Azarenka (@vichka35) on







But that doesn't mean she doesn't have a busy schedule.







Airport life ?

A photo posted by Daria Gavrilova (@daria_gav) on





**2016 WTA FINALS**
3 - Victoria Azarenka (3-0)
3 - Sloane Stephens (3-0)
3 - ANGELIQUE KERBER (2-1)
2 - Dominika Cibulkova (1-1)
2 - Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-1)
2 - Genie Bouchard (0-2)
2 - Serena Williams (0-2)

**2016 WTA DOUBLES FINALS - DUOS**
5...HINGIS/MIRZA, SUI/IND (4-1)
4...GARCIA/MLADENOVIC, FRA/FRA (2-2)
2...Chan/Chan, TPE/TPE (2-0)
2...Hozumi/Kato, JPN/JPN (1-1)
2...Mattek-Sands/Safarova, USA/CZE (1-1)
2...Medina-Garrigues/Parra-Santonja, ESP/ESP (2-0)

**2016 YOUNGEST SINGLES FINALISTS**
18y,8m,3w - Jelena Ostapenko (Doha-L)
18y,11m - Belinda Bencic (St.Petersburg-L)
21y,5m,1w - DANKA KOVINIC (Istanbul-L)
21y,5m,3w - Elina Svitolina (Kuala Lumpur-W)

**2016 SINGLES/DOUBLES FINALIST**
Brisbane - Angelique Kerber, GER [L/L]
Doha - Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP [W/L]
Istanbul - DANKA KOVINIC, MNE [L/L]

**2016 BEST QUALIFIER RESULTS**
[lost final]
Sydney - Monica Puig, PUR (22/#94) - Kuznetsova
Charleston- Elena Vesnina, RUS (28/#85) - Stephens
Stuttgart - LAURA SIEGEMUND, GER (28/#71) - Kerber
[SF]
Auckland - Tamira Paszek, AUT (25/#172)
Brisbane - Samantha Crawford, USA (20/#142)
Kuala Lumpur - Zhu Lin, CHN (22/#190)

**2016 WTA CONSECUTIVE DOUBLES FINALS**
4 - Jan-Feb - Hingis/Mirza (W-W-W-W)
3 - Mar-Apr - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (W-W-L) #
2 - Feb - Chan/Chan (W-W)
2 - Feb-Mar - Medina-Garrigues/Parra-Santonja (W-W)
2 - Apr - Mattek-Sands/Safarova (W-L) #
2 - Apr - GARCIA/MLADENOVIC (W-W) #
--
#-active streak

**2016 MATCH WINS OVER CURRENT/FORMER #1-RANKED PLAYERS**
3 - KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE (all 3 over Ivanovic)
2 - Angelique Kerber, GER
2 - Yulia Putintseva, KAZ
2 - Elena Vesnina, RUS

**2016 LOW-RANKED WTA FINALISTS**
#170 Silvia Soler-Espinosa, ESP (Bogota-L)
#132 Francesca Schiavone, ITA (Rio-W)
#131 Shelby Rogers, USA (Rio-L)
#118 CAGLA BUYUKAKCAY, TUR (Istanbul-W)

**2016 - MOST DIFFERENT ITF SINGLES CHAMPIONS**
12...Russia
8...France
6...China
6...Italy
6...United States
5...Czech Republic
4...Germany
4...Great Britain
4...Romania
4...Slovakia


Little did they all know...








PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (Int'l $427K/RCO)
15 Final: Ka.Pliskova d. Hradecka
15 Doubles Final: Bencic/Siniakova d. K.Bondarenko/Hrdina
16 Singles Top Seeds: Kuznetsova/Safarova
=============================
=SF=
#1 Kuznetsova d. #5 Strycova
#3 Ka.Pliskova d. Hradecka
=FINAL=
#1 Kuznetsova d. #3 Ka.Pliskova

...of course, considering the success rate of my picks this season (my Kovinic in Istanbul selection was the latest cut off at the pass in the final), I suspect this is a Kuznetsova Curse situation. Or maybe a secondary jinx will reverse the curse this week?



RABAT, MOROCCO (Int'l $227K/RCO)
15 Final (Marrakech): Svitolina d. Babos
15 Doubles Final (Marrakech): Babos/Mladenovic d. Siegemund/Zanevska
16 Singles Top Seeds: Bacsinszky/Makarova
=============================
=SF=
#1 Bacsinszky d. Parmentier
#8 Putintseva d. #2 Makarova
=FINAL=
#1 Bacsinszky d. #8 Putintseva

...it's about time for Timea to love her job AND pick up some hardware, too, don't you think?


And, finally, the WTA reacts...


RIP Prince??????

A photo posted by Caroline Wozniacki (@carowozniacki) on




RIP #legend #funky #genius #Prince Music will never be the same??

A photo posted by Barbora Strycova?? (@barborastrycova) on





"I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted to one time to see you laughing
I only wanted to see you
Laughing in the purple rain."


All for now.

Read more...

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:08 PM  2 comments

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Could it Be? Would it Be... a Quiz? Amazingly, Yes it Is

The third edition of the Backspin Olympic Quiz will be arriving this summer, so I thought I'd brush up a little on my quiz-making skills and come up with something that focuses on events that have taken place (more or less) during the four-month old 2016 WTA season.

I've posted it here on the old Backspin Quiz Page, officially breaking the seal on the door, clearing out the cobwebs and cracking open a few windows in the old place in order to get that awful musty smell out of the room before there's a bit more of the usual activity there a few months from now.

While you're there, you could even look around. A few of the old quizzes are a little dated by now, but there might be something that sparks at least a smidgen of interest.

Read more...

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:30 PM  5 comments

Monday, April 18, 2016

Wk.15- Dominance vs. Destiny on Deck

In Fed Cup, everyone can hear you scream...

A quick rundown of some stand-outs from 2016's second week of Fed Cup action:

*TEN THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD*
1. When a player goes from "Who?" to "Oh, HER!" in forty-eight hours

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2. When tennis provides us with a real-life example of the old saying about "even a broken clock being correct twice a day"

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3. When a player can be just so darn exciting that it's easy to forgive a few "issues" and enjoy the ride along with her anyway
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4. The Bracelet. Even in defeat.
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5. Captain Mauresmo

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6. When there's a legitimate hope that this might become the first chapter of a new "Battle of the Tennis Generations" rivalry to keep a close eye on

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7. Francoise Abanda. Even in defeat.
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8. A win from Schmiedy!


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9. Whoever comes up with those Fed Cup Twitter things...
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10. That by this time next year, we could be making legit -- and competitive -- comparisons between Petra Kvitova's past Fed Cup dominance and the current "reign" of Garbine Muguruza

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*FIVE THAT DON'T*
1. When Lindsay Davenport and Mary Carillo can start giddily throwing around the word "genius" while talking about Mary Joe Fernandez after she manages to not sabotage the U.S. team's efforts after they never once uttered a peep the last 3-4 years when pretty much every move she made more resembled the textbook definition of the OPPOSITE of "genius." (See below.)
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2. Watching Sam Stosur once again crumble into a million little pieces under the weight of accomplishing something on a tennis court in Australia. (See above.)
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3. The Polish Fed Cup Team without Aga
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4. The Bracelet. In defeat.
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5. Conceding that sometimes the end of an era isn't pretty. Just ask the Italians.
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*ONE THAT IS SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN*
Simona Halep... or, maybe the latest "Halepology-101" class. This weekend, the Swarmette Queen nearly blew a big lead, but then didn't. She rolled an ankle and injured herself, but played the next day anyway. But she then lost a huge match in swift fashion. Was the biggest issue her opponent, or her? Below the knees, or above the ears?

So... ummm, what does it all mean for her immediate future?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯



And, of course...


FRA Captain Amelie Mauresmo - destined to one day be the last one standing, and now closer than ever
NED Captain Paul Haarhuis - hey, no one's perfect... not even (look above you)
CZE Captain Petr Pala - "What, me worry?"
ESP Captain Conchita Martinez - "2017, here we come!"
RUS Captain Anastasia Myskina - "In Kasatkina I trust. In Kasatkina I trust. In Kasatkina I..."
TPE Captain Wang Shi-ting - chillin', waiting for the Chan sisters
ARG Captain Maria-Jose Gaidano - just honored to be here, and glad to see that Paula O. is winning again

BLR Captain Eduard Dubrou - "Aliaksandra is great, but I can count on you in '17, right, V?"
SUI Captain Heinz Guenthardt - "I didn't just miss out on my best chance to ever knock off the Czechs, did I?"
GER Captain Barbara Rittner - "Now, if we'd done this last year..."
BEL Captain Ann Devries - "Thank you for the gift, Aleks. I like good luck bracelets."
CAN Captain Sylvain Bruneau - seeking cloning technology in order to field an all-Abanda team
DEN Captain Kenneth Carlsen - "If ony Caro hadn't turned her ankle."
UKR Captain Mikhail Filima - See how much fun you could have had, Elina?"

SRB Captain Tatjana Jecmenica - "Where's Ana? What? No... seriously?"
SVK Captain Matej Liptak - "What do you mean, 'Schmiedy wants to talk?'"

ROU Captain Alina Cercel-Tecsor - "Can we get Kiki Bertens to switch countries?"
AUT Captain Jurgen Waber - "Whew! That was far closer than it should have been."

ITA Captain Corrado Barazzutti - "We'll always have the Quartet. Past tense."
AUS Captain Alicia Molik - "Oh, crap."
POL Captain Klaudia Jans-Ignacik - it's hard to be a playing captain when half your team doesn't show up

USA Captain Mary Joe Fernandez - what sort of deal did she make with the Tennis Demons, anyway?




*WEEK 15*

=Semifinals=
Czech Republic def. Switzerland (H) 3-2
France (H) def. Netherlands 3-2
=World Group Playoffs=
Belarus def. Russia (H) 3-2
United States def. Australia (H) 4-0
Germany def. Romania (H) 4-1
Spain (H) def. Italy 4-0
=World Group II Playoffs=
Belgium def. Serbia (H) 3-2
Slovakia (H) def. Canada 3-2
Taiwan def. Poland (H) 4-1
Ukraine (H) def. Argentina 4-0
=Zone II Promotion Finals=
[Europe/Africa]: Bosnia/Herzegovina def. Denmark 2-1
[Europe/Africa]: Austria def. Lithuania 2-0
[Asia/Oceania]: Philippines def. Singapore 2-0
=Zone III Promotion Finals=
[Europe/Africa]: Luxembourg def. Moldova 2-0
[Europe/Africa]: Norway def. Macedonia 2-0

[Semifinals]
France def. Netherlands 3-2 [Trelaze, FRA / RCI]
...in the Destiny vs. Cinderella match-up of the weekend, French Captain Amelie Mauresmo outdueled Dutch head Paul Haarhuis by, essentially, having faith in her original decisions and allowing her Pastry charges to spread their wings and fly unfettered on Day 2... all the way into France's first Fed Cup final since 2005.


Dutch FC legend (it's now official) Kiki Bertens handled her business in singles by putting NED up 2-1 with straight sets wins over both Caroline Garcia (Day 1) and Kristina Mladenovic (in Day 2's "Battle of the Kikis"), but with the Netherlands one win away from a ninth consecutive tie win and the nation's first final since 1997 (a loss to France) Haarhuis replaced Richel Hogenkamp (one day after her birthday loss to Mladenovic) with Arantxa Rus in the #4 singles match vs. Garcia. Mauresmo had remained firm in her choice of Garcia keeping her place in the order after some had wondered whether Alize Cornet might get the call. Her move worked out, while Haarhuis' did not (essentially, he threw up a moonball like he did in his famous U.S. Open match with Jimmy Connors... which only served to play right into the opponent's hands).

Garcia rebounded from her Day 1 stumble with a straight sets win that picked up the momentum that Mladenovic had gotten rolling and carried it into the deciding doubles. There, Garcia & Mladenovic teamed to win their second ('15 1st Rd. vs. ITA) tie-clinching FC doubles match (both also have a third deciding doubles victory with different partners), coming back from a set down against Bertens/Hogenkamp with a thrilling display of shot-making and competitiveness that lit up the partisan crowd in Trelaze.

France's last FC title came in 2003 (led by Mauesmo and Mary Pierce), followed by back-to-back final losses to the most recently dynastic Fed Cup nation -- Russia. Well, that is, until the current Czech run. One year after the Maidens eliminated the Pastries 3-1 in last year's semifinals, the Czechs will be waiting for Mauresmo, Kiki, Caro & Co. once again come November.

[co-MVP's]
Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic, FRA [Overall FC II co-MVPs]
...Olympic year doubles duo (and Charleston champs) Garcia & Mladenovic were always the well-placed ace up Mauresmo's sleeve. Both woman may be questionable clutch players in their WTA singles careers, but they're both totally different beasts in the French colors. Put them together on the same side of the court and you stand a pretty good chance of getting what we saw in the deciding doubles here. An in-your-face, chesty, crowd-stoking, fist-shaking combination of grit, athleticism and French style capable of overwhelming and intimidating an opposing duo while an arena full of supporters have their back at every turn. The Czechs are going to be an angry bear to wrestle to the ground come this fall, but at least the French team will have the benefit of a home court advantage. It just might be enough to fulfill some Fed Cup destiny.
===============================================
[RISER]
Kiki Bertens/NED
...she extended her career FC singles record to a remarkable 15-1, but her second career doubles loss (6-2) proved to be the deciding point in the tie. She'll always have the "Miracle in Moscow," and the scrappy Dutch squad will be back for more in 2017's World Group.
===============================================
Match #5 - Garcia/Mladenovic (FRA) d. Bertens/Hogenkamp (NED)
...4-6/6-3/6-3. The Pastries began to seize control of this match early in the 3rd set. At 1-1, when a Bertens shot went wide and produced a service break, Garcia did a sideways frog hop as the ball hit the dirt. Bertens fired a ball into the stands in frustration. One game later, Mladenovic battled to hold after saving six break points, overcoming colliding with Garcia at mid-court while they simultaneously reached for a high volley on GP #1, before finally backing up the break on GP #2 for a 3-1 lead. Two games later, Hogenkamp's missed overhead at 30/30 caused her to slam her racket to the crowd. Garcia's hold gave France a 4-2 lead, and the Pastries never looked back. Brilliant shots and overflowing emotion ruled the final games of the tie, as the French duo finally put a stake through the heart of the remarkably resilient Dutch team. Finally out on a limb too far, the Dutch pair were broken at love to end the match, with Mladenovic adding the final touch with a crushing forehand put-away at the net... and then the celebration began.
===============================================


Czech Republic def. Switzerland 3-2 [Lucerne, SUI / HCI]
...everyone came to Lucerne expecting to talk about the Czechs, but ended up raving about Viktoriya Golubic. The least conspicuous member of the Swiss team very nearly put the entire effort on her shoulders and brought down the Czech juggernaut. As it turned out, the Maidens advanced to a fifth FC final in six years (they've gone 4-0 in the others). But this particular weekend journey back was hardly one that anyone saw coming.

Playing without Petra Kvitova or Lucie Safarova on the Czech roster, and 1st Round MVP Belinda Bencic absent from that of the Swiss, the pressure seemed to logically shift to the next-highest ranked Swiss player, Timea Bacsinszky. But the charming former Queen of Mexico who included a six-match FC winning streak in her recent comeback story, failed badly in the effort. She went 0-2 on the weekend, dropping to 0-4 in '16 Fed Cup singles, and then was replaced in the deciding doubles by 23-year old Golubic, who'd teamed with her last spring to defeat Poland (in a 9-7 3rd set) and get the Swiss into the '16 World Group. Oh, yeah. About her.

Going into the weekend, the 23-year old world #129 was looked upon as an end-of-the-bench player. But after she took out Karolina Pliskova (who'd led 6-4/4-2) in her FC singles debut, then came back on Day 2 and staved off elimination by defeating Barbora Strycova in three sets to send things to the doubles, we now know that the depth on the Swiss roster might just make the nation a legit title threat next season. Ultimately, with usual doubles "secret weapon" Strycova spent from singles, Czech Captain Petr Pala looked without hesitation to Lucie Hradecka (hardly a slouch herself -- the Czech roster has roots so deep that they seem to reach to the earth's core, as a title contender or two could be put together from the Maidens NOT in Lucerne) for the deciding doubles match. She teamed with Pliskova to defeat Golubic & Martina Hingis by a surprisingly easy 6-2/6-2 score.

While the Czechs have been the Fed Cup's dominant nation of late, they've often been forced to win the final match of the weekend in order to advance. This was their third consecutive 3-2 tie clinched in the doubles, with Pliskova having a hand in all three. Next year, maybe we'll even see a Pliskova/Pliskova combination on tap, what with Kristyna's own improving career standing.

Now the Czechs will attempt to become the first team to three-peat as FC champions since Spain won from 1993-95. The most recent previous three-timer before that was the pre-"Velvet Divorce" run by Czechoslovakia from 1983-85. The last time a team won more consecutive titles than that was when the U.S. won seven in a row from 1976-82.

[MVP]
Viktorija Golubic/SUI
...it's not often that the "MVP" performance comes in what is ultimately a "losing" effort, but this is surely one of those. Anonymous no longer, Golubic is THE reason this tie ultimately became such a close contest. Her comeback from a 6-4/4-2 deficit vs. Pliskova -- who led the Czechs in their last two tie wins while Kvitova and Safarova were either sidelined or out of form -- was a legitimate star turn, while her win over Strycova on Day 2 likely assures that Captain Heinz Gunthardt won't hesitate to call upon her again in the future when the Swiss team has their back against the wall.

===============================================
[VETERAN]
Barbora Strycova/CZE
...usually Strycova doesn't see the court in a live match until the deciding doubles, but she was the first Maiden up in Match #1 on Saturday. She destroyed Bacsinszky 6-2/6-0, but failed to clinch the tie in Match #4 when Golubic forced a 3rd set by winning an 8-6 tie-break and went on to handily take the deciding set 6-1. Oh, well. She still gives a mean tour.
===============================================
[DOWN]
Timea Bacsinszky/SUI
...she left the court in tears after her destruction by Strycova in Match #1 (she's lost four consecutive times to Strycova without winning a set), and didn't hide from her inability to get the job done. She gave a better accounting in Match #3 vs. Pliskova, but still lost in straights. Still, as expected, Bacsinszky was there on the sidelines cheering on Golubic in the deciding doubles.
===============================================
[DOUBLES]
Lucie Hradecka & Karolina Pliskova, CZE
...the Czechs just don't seem to break a sweat when it comes to pushing things to the deciding doubles in a tie. They've "been there, done that" so often in their run that it seems odd when they actually manage to clinch a win in the singles. This time, Pala called upon THIS duo to take the Czech machine one additional round. Who knows who might get the tap on the shoulder come November.
===============================================

Match #2 - Golubic/SUI d. Ka.Pliskova/CZE 3-6/6-4/6-4
Match #4 - Golubic/SUI d. Strycova/CZE 3-6/7-6(6)/6-1
...what a way to make an entrance. Pliskova's own unsteadiness -- 57 UE's, including a dumped overhead that handed the Swiss a MP -- helped in the comeback in Golubic's first match. But the gutsy 8-6 tie-break win to prevent Strycova from clinching the tie stands on its own. Pity she couldn't have had a bit more to give in the doubles, but that loss won't dim the memory of her overall weekend performance one bit.
===============================================




[WORLD GROUP PLAYOFFS]
Belarus def. Russia (H) 3-2 [Moscow, RUS / HCI]
...the marque match-up of this tie was always going to be the first of what is hopefully many match-ups between Victoria Azarenka and Daria Kasatkina, and it turned out to be an intriguing preview of the future. But it was the match that followed it on Sunday that was necessary for Belarus to make Fed Cup history, and Russian tennis to officially move into a "new era."

In February, with Azarenka absent and Olga Govortsova ultimately taking a backseat, Aliaksandra Sasnovich led Belarus past Canada. In Moscow, she was faced with Kasatkina in the 18-year old's FC singles debut. She pushed her to three sets, but ultimately lost. After Azarenka contributed her second of back-to-back weekend points on Sunday with a three-set, 2:14, experience-wins-out victory over the teenager, Sasnovich was called upon to clinch yet another tie win for Belarus. It was hardly easy. Captain Anastasia Myskina opted to stick with Margarita Gasparyan rather than break the glass on Charleston runner-up Elena Vesnina, and the Hordette youngster very nearly rewarded her with a win. She took the opening set from Sasnovich, then battled back from 5-3 down in the 3rd to get back on serve at 5-5 before Sasnovich swept the final two games to send Belarus into the World Group for the first time in its history.

Meanwhile, Russia loses its third straight tie and, less than a year after playing in the Fed Cup final, now falls out of World Group I for the first time since 1997.

[MVP]
Victoria Azarenka/BLR
...Vika did was she had to do, knocking off both of Russia's promising newcomers. She hasn't lost in her last fifteen matches, and has now won twelve straight in Fed Cup. Her last last FC loss came in 2010 to Austria's Sybille Bammer.
===============================================
[RISER]
Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR
...just call her "the Belarusian closer," as the 22-year old was on the court to clinch a second tie in 2016.

===============================================
[FRESH FACE]
Daria Kasatkina/RUS
...the 18-year old took her maiden turn in the #1 singles spot for Team Russia, getting a win in her solo debut vs. Sasnovich, pushing Azarenka to three sets in a loss, and then picking up a "dead rubber" doubles victory to close out the weekend. 2016 has been a devastating FC year for the Hordettes, but Kasatkina has masterfully staked her claim to the #1 singles spot for the next decade. And that's a good foundation upon which to build the next generation of Russian tennis. In this season's two ties, Russia has picked up a total of three points. Kasatkina had a hand in all of them.
===============================================
Match #3 - Azarenka/BLR d. Kasatkina/BLR
...6-2/5-7/6-3. After pulling out a tight 2nd set, Azarenka quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead in the 3rd. So, when do we get Azarenka/Kasatkina II?

Match #4 - Sasnovich/BLR d. Gasparyan/RUS
...4-6/6-1/7-5. The last time Russia played a World Group II tie was 1997. That year, in her SW19 debut, 16-year old Anna Kournikova reached her first and only slam singles semifinal at Wimbledon in just her fourth career slam main draw appearance.
===============================================



United States def. Australia 4-0 [Brisbane, AUS / RCI]
...in a true spread-the-wealth weekend (every team member had a hand in a point), the Bannerettes pulled off a road upset on clay vs. an Australian team that simply refused to get out of its own way. Going in, I'd noted the depth on the squad put together by Mary Joe Fernandez, the second straight tie in which the U.S. Captain hadn't managed to sabotage her own team's efforts via roster decisions made before the first ball had been struck. In Brisbane, she even played a series of not-necessarily-obvious hunches about which players to play. Normally, such a thought would give you shivers and you'd have to avert your eyes to avoid the eventual MJF-inspired carnage, but this time they all worked out in her favor. Believing that the U.S. might find a way to scratch out a win in this tie wouldn't have been a HUGE reach a few days ago. But a 4-0 sweep? Obviously, there was something more at play here. Mostly, it's name was Sam Stosur, the "anti-MVP" of this tie.

Daria Gavrilova made her FC debut against an in-form Madison Keys in Match #1 and was simply outplayed from start to finish. The new Aussie was obviously dealing with a case of nerves, but even if she hadn't she might not have been able to compete against THIS Keys. Match #2 featured MJF's first hunch, going with Christina McHale (playing well, under-the-radar, since January, she'd been left off several rosters by Fernandez in the past and didn't have a Fed Cup win since since '12) vs. Stosur, rather than the higher-ranked CoCo Vandeweghe. Stosur was in command in the 1st set, and was in position late in the 3rd to knot the tie. But McHale remained steady, while the Aussie did what she often does -- begin to misfire in ways that are sometimes painful to watch. As I said after Day 1, you get the feeling that if MJF had put up a cardboard cut-out of Lauren Davis on the other side of the net Stosur STILL would have eventually started firing balls ten feet over "her" head out of bounds. McHale held on as Stosur collapsed in a hail of errors to get her first win in five matches against the veteran. On Sunday, with Stosur in line for Match #3, MJF changed gears again and pulled Keys (supposedly because of the fear that Stosur would attack her backhand -- and injured wrist -- with high-bouncing balls) in favor of Vandeweghe, 0-3 in FC singles in her career. Again, Stosur looked to be in control, only to gradually cede it to her opponent, leading 6-2/2-0, then 5-4 in the 2nd. At 5-5, she went from game point to being broken and her second collapse in a 24-hour period was a "go." Vandeweghe began to fight back (even while missing 1st serves, which Stosur didn't make her pay for), mostly just by keeping balls in the court and allowing Stosur to self-destruct yet again. She more than obliged. Vandeweghe's win clinched the tie without the Aussies putting a single point on the board, then she and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (I.W. champs) combined to finish off the sweep with a doubles win that put a red, white & blue bow on the Brisbane choke-fest.

Before the weekend, I was prepared to not blame MJF for a U.S. loss (for once), but after the way the win played out I'm still not prepared to offer up a great deal more than a light pat on the back. Truthfully, if Stosur hadn't been, well, so Stosur-like, MJF's decision to replace Keys with Vandeweghe could have (and maybe should have) blown up in her face. If Stosur had put away a quick win, which she appeared about to do mid-way through the 2nd set, she would have handed off great momentum to Gavrilova and a pumped-up crowd (which worked well for her in Melbourne), and then a rested and newly-confident Stosur could have returned with Casey Dellacqua for doubles with the score at 2-2. Things might have gone very differently had Stosur held her nerves in check in Match #3.

As it turned out, though, Fernandez rolled the dice and won. Twice. After already having called her longtime friend Mary Joe a "great" FC coach earlier in the weekend (not sure what that was based on other than their friendship), Tennis Channel's Lindsay Davenport and Mary Carillo (who at least admitted to not having initially agreed with MJF's calls on McHale and CoCo) actually used the word "genius" in relation to Fernandez's weekend decisions. Now, while I've come to something of a "truce" with the U.S. Captain as far as criticizing her moves of late (because her '16 rosters have actually given her the versatility to make moves like the ones she made this weekend, which her original picks have made impossible in past seasons), I can still point out a case of going waaaaaay over the line in praise when I see it. MJF deserves credit for making her calls (since they worked out), but it shouldn't really be coming most loudly from people who chose to conveniently ignore her often astoundingly bad decisions in the past because it might have been awkward and uncomfortable when they saw each other soon afterward. Coming from the likes of the many commentating FoM's (Friends of Mary Joe), the praise is more than a little self-serving, hollow and pointless.

I'm just sayin'.

[MVP]
Christina McHale/USA
...choosing McHale for a match on clay probably shouldn't have garnered as many raised eyebrows as it did, but the question remains why MJF never included McHale in the playing mix in recent clay court ties in which the U.S. bench was ridiculously short of players with clay court experience. Still, that's not McHale's fault. She was finally given a chance here and she took full advantage. Her improved results in '16 are one of the season's most under-reported good stories, but her one weekend outing in Brisbane (no matter how her opponent played) at least serves to give her some overdue credit. While MJF didn't single anyone out as an MVP of this tie, I really think McHale fits the bill. Four years after her last FC win, she set the tone -- and planted the latest wicked seed of doubt in Stosur's psyche -- for the U.S.'s best Fed Cup effort in quite a while.
===============================================
[RISERS]
Madison Keys/USA and CoCo Vandeweghe/USA
...in 2014, Keys and Vandeweghe won their maiden tour singles titles on grass on the very same weekend. Once again, they rose to the occasion within hours of each other. Well, Madison did. CoCo just had a nice view of a train wreck.

===============================================
[DOWN]
Samantha Stosur/AUS
...really, what else can be said? Other than that, at age 32, Sam's chances of turning this particularly horrible memory around exist within a decidedly short window. Maybe if the Aussies could ask -- beg -- to never host another tie...
===============================================
Match #2 - McHale/USA d. Stosur/AUS
...3-6/6-1/7-5. At 3-3 in the 3rd, Stosur held in an eight-deuce game in which she saved six BP (McHale was 0-for-8 in the set at that point), only to eventually give away the break that she'd avoided a few games later with a slew of errors that put the Bannerette up 6-5. McHale herself has often had a difficult time closing out big matches, but she easily held her nerve and served things out.


Match #3 - Vandeweghe/USA d. Stosur/AUS
...2-6/7-5/6-4. If anyone was capable of back-to-back chokes on Fed Cup weekend at home it was Stosur. It actually happening, though, is never something you can predict. Well, then again... maybe you can. I wish I had. Drat!
===============================================



Germany def. Romania 4-1 [Cluj-Napoca, ROU / RCI]
...for all the impact that a great Fed Cup crowd can have, it can sometimes have the opposite affect in some cases because of the pressure it puts on players who are not only playing for themselves and their teammates, but the raucous fans in the stands who are living and dying with every point, too. Some players perform better out of a sense of obligation. Others, well, we know what happens to them. Simona Halep has already experienced the bad side of this equation in her FC history, and this tie provided her with the opportunity to balance her ledger (this time with her parents in the stands to lend even more pressure support). But, as seems to so often be the case her these days, the results were a bit inconclusive.

After a near miss vs. the Czechs in the 1st Round, the Swarmettes were looking to hold onto their position in the '17 World Group, while the Germans were trying to do the same after consecutive disappointments after reaching the semifinals last year. Halep's February come-from-ahead loss to Karolina Pliskova ultimately was the key in a 3-2 loss that went to deciding doubles, and she avoided a repeat on Day 1 vs. Andrea Petkovic this time out. After leading 6-4/3-1, Halep served for the match in the 2nd set and fired back-to-back DF and was broken. She battled back to lead 5-3 in the 3rd, as well, but squandered a 30/15 lead and was broken again. But her immediate break back saved the day, as she won in 2:49 to knot the tie after Angelique Kerber has opened things with a win over Irina-Camelia Begu. Halep turned her ankle during the Petkovic match, but was back for Match #3 vs. Kerber, rather than possibly being substituted for by, say, Alexandra Dulgheru. When she quickly went down 6-2/6-2, whether her injury or the moment played as big a part in the result as Kerber was, as we've come to expect with the Romanian over the last two seasons, simply the price of doing business. With Kerber already 2-0 on the weekend, Petkovic needed to avoid going 0-2 in her attempt to clinch the tie vs. Monica Niculescu. Heading into Sunday having lost four of her last five FC matches in singles/doubles, things didn't look good for Petko. The tricky Niculescu was on fire early, taking the 1st at love, then held two MP at 6-5 in the 2nd set. But the German pushed things to a tie-break, won it 7-1 and took an early break lead in the 3rd en route to a win that erases at least a few lingering bad FC memories.

As for Halep, to be continued...

[MVP]
Angelique Kerber/GER
...the German seems to have found a way to maneuver her way through her post-Melbourne funk. Her Miami semifinal was followed up with another in Charleston (ended by illness), and now a sterling FC weekend in which she dropped just nine games in two matches in what was arguably the "best performance" of the entire weekend.
===============================================
[COMEBACK]
Andrea Petkovic/GER
...after fighting back but losing to Halep, another loss to Niculescu would have been an additional layer of disappointment to add to the introspective German's set of life experiences. As it is, she turned it into an affirming situation by the time she was through. Of course, she'll take the good with the bad and ultimately be all the better for it. "I've had a lot of setbacks in my career, a lot of injuries," she said. "I've always fought back and it's what makes me as a character. I find a lot of energy in these situations..."
===============================================
Match #2 - Halep/ROU d. Petkovic/GER 6-4/6-7(5)/6-4
Match #4 - Petkovic/GER d. Niculescu/ROU 0-6/7-6(1)/6-3
...like the tide, Petko sometimes recedes, but she soon returns to shore, often more powerful than ever.

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


Spain def. Italy 4-0 [Lleida, ESP / RCO]
...what might have been optimistically viewed as a case of Italy getting the old gang back together for one final celebratory weekend eventually turned into a case of "you can't go home again."

Camila Giorgi's hot war with the Italian tennis federation left her out of this tie (and many, many more for quite a while), but the offshoot was that the roster's Quartet number was three strong, with Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani and Francesca Schiavone appearing together for the first time since the 2012 semifinals. But then Errani was pulled from Day 1 with a leg injury. Schiavone replaced her and took Garbine Muguruza to a 1st set tie-break, but was then stung in the face by an insect, dropped the TB and never won another game. Charged with righting the Italian course, Vinci was then crushed 1 & 1 in sixty-three minutes by Carla Suarez-Navarro, then opened Day 2 by losing 2 & 2 to Muguruza. Just like that, the party was over. Things didn't get any better in the "dead rubber" doubles, as that match (w/ Karin Knapp & Schiavone) ended via retirement after just two games. Italy thus drops to World Group II for the first time since 1998. It'd be easy to say that this truly IS the end of Italy's competitve FC era, with Vinci and Schiavone both near retirement, Errani within sight of 30, Giorgi's future unclear and seemingly little in the way of young up-and-comers in the pipeline. The ranking drop-off from #105 Schiavone is steep, with the next Italian registering in the #260's, and only one Italian is in the girls Top 100 (though #102 Ludmilla Samsonova recently won back-to-back Grade 2 titles). Still, good results could persist for the few more years if Giorgi eventually returns to the fold.

Of course, this sort of blowout really isn't anything new to Spain's opponents in FC play the last two years. This is the third straight 4-0 win for the Spaniards, who will return to World Group I next February with a very real chance to be title contenders as long as Muguruza & CSN are committed to playing all season long.

[MVP]
Garbine Muguruza/ESP
...her sweep of Schiavone and Vinci give Muguruza a 6-0 career Fed Cup singles mark, and the dominating nature of these two wins fits in rather nicely with her other victories. She's yet to lose a set in FC singles play, and her TB vs. Schiavone was the first time an opponent won more than four games in a set. And it isn't as if she's racked up wins vs. virtual "lightweights" in zone play, either. Her wins have come against the likes of a slam winner (Schiavone), finalists (Vinci, Halep and Jankovic) and a former world #1 (JJ), as she surely looks like she could play the role of "Petra" in a Spanish title run.
===============================================
[VETERAN]
Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP
...and if Muguruza is "Petra," then she needs her "#2," ala Lucie Safarova. CSN only played one match this weekend, but her destruction of Vinci was the most impressive performance in the entire tie.
===============================================
[DOWN]
Roberta Vinci/ITA
...with her 0-2 weekend, Vinci is now 5-7 in career FC singles. At least she didn't have to play doubles and further damage her 18-1 mark there.
===============================================
Match #1 - Muguruza/ESP d. Schiavone/ITA
...7-6(4)/6-0. The moment when your weekend begins with being stung in the face by an insect, and things only get progressively worse from there.
===============================================


[WORLD GROUP II PLAYOFFS]
Belgium def. Serbia 3-2 [Belgrade, SRB / RCI]
...the good luck powers of the Serbian Good Luck Charm were already going to be tested vs. the deep Belgian team, and that was before an injured Jelena Jankovic joined the "Fed Cup retired" (rolling eyes and shaking head, in case you can't tell) Ana Ivanovic on the sidelines. Still, Aleksanda Krunic's dogged ability to give her all on the court still gave the Serbs a decent chance vs. the Waffles. And, boy, did The Bracelet give it a go. It looked like she was going to singlehandedly carry the Serbian squad (at least) into the deciding doubles. But then it all went horribly wrong.

In the opening match of the tie, Krunic defeated Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets, coming back from 4-1 down in the 2nd and saving two SP before winning 6-4/7-6(6) to run her FC singles winning streak to six matches, and her overall FC mark in singles and doubles to 8-1 in her last nine outings. After Jovana Jaksic fell to Yanina Wickmayer in straights, Krunic returned in fine form. She jumped out to a 6-1/3-0, two-break lead on Wickmayer. She led 5-3 and served for the match at 5-4, with the chance to give Serbia a 2-1 lead and force Flipkens, with a horrible career FC mark, to win to keep Belgium alive. But then it all came tumbling down. Wickmayer changed her tactics and forced Krunic out of her game by forcing her to hit high-bouncing balls, and the comeback began. Krunic got to BP at 5-5 in the 3rd, but failed to get the break. Ultimately, the Waffle wore her down and claimed the 2:32 match 1-6/7-5/8-6. "I played very well for a long time in this match but when Yanina upped the tempo, I started to struggle,” said Krunic. “Obviously, I have to be more consistent. There is no use firing on all cylinders for a set and a half and then running on empty when it’s time to wrap up the match. It will be a very useful experience as I have rarely played several matches in a row at this level. At 6-1/3-0 down, she started playing as if she had nothing to lose, and she didn’t. She was stronger and braver at crunch points and won the match deservedly.”

But the Serbs weren't finished yet. 18-year old Ivana Jorovic still had a shot to force the deciding doubles with a win over 30-year old Flipkens (10-19 in singles, 1-8 in doubles in her FC career). Jorovic held two SP in the 1st vs. the vet, but lost an 18-point TB as Flipkens clinched the win. The Serbs got a "dead rubber" doubles win to tighten up the final score.

[MVP]
Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
...Wickmayer was simply the best player in the tie, though it still took a drastic mid-match correction to stem the nearly-overwhelming Krunic tide. Add Alison Van Uytvanck to this team in '17, and the Waffles might have a decently solid 1-2 punch that could have them contesting the WG Playoffs at this time next year.
===============================================
[RISER]
Aleksandra Krunic/SRB
...she ultimately blew a lead in a key home match that would have put the Serbs up 2-1 in the tie, but the smallest Serb shouldn't have to pull the ENTIRE weight of the Serbian Fed Cup team, should she? JJ at least tries to help, even if her body isn't always willing. That's more than can be said for others. Even with her first major defeat, Krunic's career FC mark now stands at 6-3 in singles, 5-3 in doubles.
===============================================
[VETERAN]
Kirsten Flipkens/BEL
...her win over Jorovic to secure Belgium's spot in WG II next February is Flipkens' biggest FC victory since defeating Barbora Strycova in the 2011 semifinals to force a deciding doubles vs. the Czechs. Being the "Secret Weapon," of course, Strycova then joined Iveta Benesova to send the Maidens to the final, where they won the first of their four titles in the last five years.
===============================================

Match #3 - Wickmayer/BEL d. Krunic/SRB
...1-6/7-5/8-6. So close, but yet so far. Long live The Bracelet.
===============================================


Slovakia def. Canada 3-2 [Bratislava, SVK / RCI]
...once Genie Bouchard's abdominal injury forced her out of this tie, Canada's weekend was just about maintaining some semblance of competitiveness against the far more experienced (Aleksandra Wozniak excluded, of course) Slovak squad.

19-year old Francoise Abanda did her part, once again showing herself to be worth keeping an eye on as she took Katowice champ Dominika Cibulkova to three sets in Match #1. Canada's all-time FC leader Wozniak also extended Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to three sets, but AKS got a much needed win to put the Slovaks up 2-0. One would have thought that this would be reason for the Slovak team to celebarte -- Schmiedy is back! But, no. Instead, Captain Matej Liptak replaced her in Match #3 on Sunday with Jana Cepelova. Unlike with MJF, this hunch didn't out so well. Rather than clinch the tie, Cepelova lost in straights to Abanda, giving Cibulkova the chance to finish Canada off with a 2 & love win over Wozniak.

[MVP]
Dominika Cibulkova/SVK
...a week after winning a singles title, Cibulkova went 2-0 in Bratislava to notch career FC wins #19 and #20 and extend her current winning streak to seven matches.
===============================================
[COMEBACK]
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK
...Schmiedlova's win over Wozniak was her first victory since her Day 1 win vs. Australia back in February. Not only that, but her 1st set win over Wozniak ended her twelve-set losing streak and was the first time she'd won the opening set of any of her twelve singles matches in 2016. Of course, her reward was to take a seat on the bench on Day 2. Maybe that's why she looked a little bit distracted in the post-match photo?
===============================================
[FRESH FACE]
Francoise Abanda/CAN
...unlike another Canadian, Abanda is the picture of reliability at Fed Cup time. This is the third straight tie in which she's won a singles match. She's put up wins over Cepelova, Irina-Camelia Begu and Olga Govortsova the last two years, but has been THIS CLOSE to so much more. She's gone three sets with Cibulkova, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Alexandra Dulgheru, and even held her own vs. Karolina Pliskova in a 6-2/6-4 loss in her FC debut.

===============================================
[JUNIOR]
Charlotte Robillard-Millette/CAN
...sure, the match was a "dead rubber" doubles contest, but at least it provided the opportunity for 17-year old CRM to make her Fed Cup debut. Teaming with Sharon Fichman, the teenager defeated Jana Cepelova (oh, the indignity for poor Jana after she'd already lost once on Sunday) and Tereza Mihalikova (also making her debut) 6-3/0-6 [10-8]. Speaking of Mihalikova, I guess we sort of knew before the start of play that she wasn't going to hit the court quite yet in a match that truly counted. Call it an educated guess.
===============================================
Match #2 - AK.Schmiedlova/SVK d. Wozniak/CAN
...6-4/4-6/6-1. It's been so long since I've seen Schmiedlova's name BEFORE "d." that that really doesn't look right.
===============================================


Taiwan def. Poland 4-1 [Inowroclaw, POL / HCI]
...while the Taiwanese team was completely turned over from the one that had advanced out of zone play in February into the World Group Playoffs for the first time since 2007, the Polish roster was virtually overturned just a few days before the start of play in Inowroclaw. And in the Land of Opportunity, there was no Aga to be a Polish queen.

Injured Aga Radwanska and Magda Linette's replacement on the Polish roster last week by the debuting twosome of Magdalena Frech and Katarzyna Kawa opened the door wide for Taiwan, itself sporting a roster of singles players -- Hsu Ching-wen and Lee Ya-Hsuan -- without a FC win between them heading into this tie. Poland's #1 singles slot was filled by Paula Kania, an underrated tour player but one without a Fed Cup win to her credit. Ummm, it didn't work out so well. World #151 Kania opened with a straight sets loss to #353 Hsu in the 19-year old's FC debut. #485 Frech, 18, picked up the slack with a Match #2 victory over #186 Lee, who then turned around and dueled with Kania in the first match of Day 2. In 2:35, Kania saved a MP at 6-5 in the 3rd set, then had two MP of her own before 20-year old Lee battled back to win a decisive 9-7 set. With Poland now officially on the ropes, Frech was called back into action. Still smarting from her three-set match from Saturday (she needed leg massages during changeovers to get through the contest), the teen was taken out by Hsu in another three-setter that clinched the win for Taiwan, sending the nation into World Group in '17 for the first time ever... where, one would expect, the Chan sisters will reunite with the squad that will attempt to follow in the Netherlands' footsteps as Fed Cup's reigning Cinderella squad.

Meanwhile, Poland has low lost four straight ties since playing in the 1st Round at the start of the 2015 season.

[MVP]
Hsu Ching-wen/TPE
...Hsu notched two key wins in her Fed Cup debut -- the a-win-here-is-now-officially-in-play upset of Kania in Match #1, and then the clincher over Frech a day later.

===============================================
[RISER]
Lee Ya-Hsuan/TPE
...while Hsu collected two points, Lee orchestrated her one in the most memorable match of the tie, the 2:35 upset of Kania in which she saved two MP and won a 9-7 final set.
===============================================
[FRESH FACE]
Magdalena Frech/POL
...in a matter of a few days, Frech went from spectator to very nearly Poland's saving grace.
===============================================
[DOWN]
Paula Kania/POL
...perhaps it was far too much to ask of Kania to lead the entire Polish team to victory, but one might have expected at least one victory from the highest-ranked player in the tie.
===============================================
Match #1 - Hsu Ching-wen/TPE d. Kania/POL
...5-7/6-1/6-2. Hsu lost to Kania 1 & 1 in a $50K challenger in January. This one went a bit differently.

Match #3 - Lee Ya-Hsuan/TPE d. Kania/POL
...2-6/6-3/9-7. Lee held a MP at 6-5 in the 3rd, then Kania had two at 7-6. Finally, Lee prevailed in 2:35 in the longest final set (16 games) of the FC weekend.

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


Ukraine def. Argentina 4-0 [Kiev, UKR / HCO]
...this tie was always going to be a tough sell, and it turned out to not even be as close as all that. Through four matches, the Ukrainian team dropped a total of fourteen games on the weekend, just ten of those coming in the three singles match-ups.

Elina who?

[MVP]
Lesia Tsurenko/UKR
...Tsurenko has led the way for Ukraine in Fed Cup action this saeson. Her two singles victories this weekend gives her a perfect 5-0 FC mark in 2016 after having previously been just 4-9 in her career.
===============================================
[VETERAN]
Kateryna Bondarenko/UKR
...having not played Fed Cup since 2012, Bonderenko has returned in '16 with a vengeance. Her tie-opening singles win over Maria Irigoyen and "dead rubber" doubles victory makes her 7-0 in FC this season (4-0 singles, 3-0 doubles). 10-9 in singles, she's now 12-0 in career doubles matches.
===============================================
Match #2 - Tsurenko/UKR d. Podoroska/ARG
...6-1/6-4. As it turned out, Podoroska winning four games in a set WAS an, "Oh, Nadia!!" moment. Or as close to it as Argentina got in this tie.
===============================================



[EUROPE/AFRICA II ZONE - Cairo, EGY / RCO]
=Promotional Playoffs=
Bosnia/Herzegovina def. Denmark 2-1
Austria def. Lithuania 2-0
[MVP's]
Barbara Haas/AUT & Dea Herdzelas/BIH
...Haas went 3-1 in singles for the week, including defeating Dea Herdzelas in singles, then joining with Sandra Klemenschits in doubles to finish off a come-from-behind 2-1 Pool win over Bosnia/Herzegovina that provided just enough for Austria to slip into the Promotional Playoff ahead of Liechtenstein. Once there, the Austrians swept Lithuania.

#337 Herdzelas, 18, defeated Stephanie Vogt in the key 2-1 win over Liechtenstein that allowed BIH to win Pool B. In the Promotional Playoff, Bosnia/Herzegovina came from 0-1 down to defeat the Caro-less Danes, with Herdzelas winning back-to-back matches in singles and doubles. She was 3-1/2-1 for the week.

===============================================
[SURPRISE]
Ema Bugic Bucko/BIH
...the world #657's win over Kathinka von Deichmann (LIE) in the first tie of Pool play set the stage for BIH's 2-1 win that both allowed the nation to win the Pool AND allow the Pool's deepest team -- Austria -- to advance to the PP over that same Liechtenstein squad.
===============================================
[VETERAN]
Tamira Paszek/AUT
...Paszek went 2-1 in singles play, notching her first singles win in Fed Cup competition since 2007 when she -- get this, you just can't make this stuff up -- defeated Sam Stosur and Alicia Molik in straight sets in the FC quarterfinals in a tie held in, yep, Australia.

===============================================
[FRESH FACE]
Emilie Francati/DEN
...the Danish team didn't have the services of the injured Caroline Wozniacki, but 18-year old Francati very nearly led them to a win in the Promotional Playoff anyway. Ranked #745, her win over Burgic Bucko gave Denmark a 1-0 lead over the Bosnians in what turned out to be a 2-1 loss. She's a combined 6-1 (3-0/3-1) in career FC action.
===============================================
Pool B RR Match #1 - Von Deichmann/LIE d. Haas/AUT 1-6/6-4/6-3
Pool B RR Match #2 - Vogt/LIE d. Paszek/AUT 2-6/6-1/6-3
Pool B RR Match #3 - Vogt/von Deichmann (LIE) d. Grabher/Klemenschits (AUT) 7-5/6-7(5)/6-4
...if Vogt and von Deichmann had played like THIS all week, when they swept the best team in the entire Europe/Africa II zone, then #2-seeded Liechtenstein maybe wouldn't have finished 4th in Pool B.
===============================================


[ASIA/OCEANIA II ZONE - Hua Hin, THA / HCO]
=Promotional Playoff=
Philippines def. Singapore 2-0
[MVP]
Katharina Lehnert/PHI
...the 22-year old German-born Filipino never lost a set while guiding the Philippines into the Promotional Playoff vs. Singapore. Once there she defeated Stefanie Tan in 2:32 to clinch a 2-0 victory. 4-0 in singles for the week, Lehnert is now 7-0 in singles in her FC career, as well as 3-1 in doubles.
===============================================
PP Match #2 - Lehnert/PHI d. Tan/SIN
...3-6/6-3/6-4. Tan was a 2015 Big 12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for TCU.
===============================================


[EUROPE/AFRICA III ZONE - Ulcinj, MNE / RCO]
=Promotional Playoffs=
Luxembourg def. Moldova 2-0
Norway def. Macedonia 2-0
[MVP's]
Mandy Minella/LUX and Melanie Stokke/NOR
...Minella, 30, led Luxembourg's advancement out of Zone III with singles wins over Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari, as well as two key deciding doubles matches (w/ Claudine Schaul) over Tunisia and Greece to secure two of the nation's three Pool play wins.

#victoryjump

A photo posted by Mandy Minella (@mandyminella) on



Stokke, 19, went 4-0 in singles and teamed with Ulrikke Eikeri in a deciding doubles win over Montenegro that allowed Norway to slip into the Promotional Playoff. She's a combined 19-6 in singles(10-4)/doubles(9-2) in her FC career.
===============================================
[COMEBACK]
Ulrikke Eikeri/NOR
...in her first Fed Cup action since 2012, she went a combined 6-1 in singles/doubles for the week, losing only to MNE's Danka Kovinic. Along with Stokke, Eikeri provided the deciding doubles win over Montenegro that propelled Norway into the Promotional Playoffs.
===============================================
[DOUBLES]
Claudine Schaul/LUX
...the 32-year old who once defeated Lindsay Davenport to win a WTA title in Strasbourg back in 2004 (in her only tour-level singles final) teamed with Minella for two deciding doubles matches for Luxembourg. 39-38 in her combined Fed Cup career, she's behind only current Captain Anne Kremer (61-57) in the nation's all-time FC stats.
===============================================
Pool D RR Match # 3 - Eikeri/Stokke (NOR) d. Kovinic/Veselinovic (MNE)
...7-5/4-6/7-6(6). The reason the host Montenegrins failed to play in the Promotional Playoffs.
===============================================


**2017 FED CUP**
=World Group=
Belarus
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
Switzerland
United States
=World Group II=
Australia
Belgium
Italy
Romania
Russia
Slovakia
Taiwan
Ukraine

**RECENT FED CUP FINALS**
2004 RUS d. FRA 3-2
2005 RUS d. FRA 3-2
2006 ITA d. BEL 3-2
2007 RUS d. ITA 4-0
2008 RUS d. ESP 4-0
2009 ITA d. USA 4-0
2010 ITA d. USA 3-1
2011 CZE d. RUS 3-2
2012 CZE d. SRB 3-1
2013 ITA d. RUS 4-0
2014 CZE d. GER 3-1
2015 CZE d. RUS 3-2
2016 Czech Republic vs. France





Yeah, there was other tennis going on in Week 15. But let's make this short 'n sweet, okay?

*WEEK 15 CHAMPIONS*
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (Int'l $227K; RCO)
S: Irina Falconi/USA def. Silvia Soler-Espinosa/ESP 6-2/2-6/6-4
D: Lara Arruabarrena/Tatjana Maria (ESP/GER) d. Gabriela Ce/Andrea Gamiz (BRA/VEN) 6-2/4-6 [10-8]


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Irina Falconi/USA
...the #92-ranked Bannerette became 2016's maiden first-time finalist, and picked up career title #1 with weekend wins over a pair of Spaniards, Lara Arruabarrena (SF) and Silvia Soler-Espinosa (F). The 25-year old, who burst onto the radar with a 3rd Round effort at the U.S. Open in 2011, hit a career-high of #64 last season and had her first season-ending Top 100 (#73) finish in four years. Prior to last week, her best tour results were a SF in Washington in 2011, and two QF in Birmingham ('12) and last year in this same Bogota event, where she also reached the doubles final in '15. Falconi jumps to #67 in the new rankings.

===============================================
RISER: Alexandra Panova/RUS
...always a tennis landmine waiting to explode on an unsuspecting opponent, Panova blew up #1-seeded Elina Svitolina's trip to Colombia. The '12 Bogota finalist, the Russian took out the Ukrainian in a rain and darkness-delayed 1st Round match that took place over two days and saw Panova save five MP. She ultimately reached the QF.

===============================================
SURPRISES: Paula Cristina Goncalves/BRA and Catalina Pella/ARG
...world #238 Goncalves, a doubles champ in Bogota last year, returned and reached her first tour-level singles semi this time around with wins over Veronica Cepede Royg, Tatjana Maria and Alexandra Panova.



23-year old Pella made it through qualifying and then knocked off #2 seed and defending champ Teliana Pereira in the 1st Round to notch her first career tour win in her maiden main draw. She went on to reach her first tour QF.
===============================================
VETERAN: Silvia Soler-Espinosa/ESP
...28-year old Soler-Espinosa, who came in ranked #170, was a tour finalist in Strasbourg in 2014. She reached her second career final in Bogota with wins over Tereza Martincova, Anna Tatishvili, Amra Sadikovic and Paula Cristina Goncalves.
===============================================
COMEBACK: Amra Sadikovic/SUI
...in her first WTA main draw since 2013, the Swiss who retired in 2014 and spent fourteen months as a coach, put up a QF result in Bogota and notched wins over Patricia-Maria Tig and Rebecca Peterson.
===============================================

FRESH FACES: Sachia Vickery/USA and Dalma Galfi/HUN
...20-year old Floridian Vickery reached her third career tour QF with a win over veteran Lourdes Dominguez-Lino in Bogota.

17-year old reigning U.S. Open girls champ Galfi reached the singles SF at the $10K challenger in Heraklion (she already has five ITF titles), and won the doubles with Cristiana Ferrando in a 14-12 match tie-break to claim career title #3.
===============================================
DOWN: Elina Svitolina/UKR and Teliana Pereira/BRA
...Svitolina didn't play Fed Cup for Ukraine this past weekend, but it turned out that she ended up being available after being upset as the #1 seed in the 1st Round in Bogota by Alexandra Panova, squandering five MP in the oft-interrupted, two-day match in the process.

Last year in Bogota, Pereira became the first Brazilian to win a tour singles title in twenty-seven years. This year, as the #2 seed, she was dumped out in the 1st Round by #274-ranked qualifier Catalina Pella to fall to 1-9 in 2016.
===============================================
ITF PLAYERS: Wang Qiang/CHN and Barbora Stefkova/CZE
...Wang, 24, didn't lose a set all week while coasting to her twelfth career ITF title at the $50K challenger in Shenzhen. 7-1 in finals since 2014, Wang defeated Japan's Mayo Hibi 6-2/6-0 in the final.

In Instabul, Czech Barbora Stefkova swept the singles and doubles at the $50K challenger. The 21-year old is 8-2 in career singles finals, and ran off wins last week over Basak Eraydin, Ivana Jorovic, Alexandra Cadantu, Lina Gjorcheska and Anastasia Pivovarova in the final. Stefkova lost to Pivovarova in a $25K final in March, winning a total of exactly fifteen games from the Russian in both encounters.

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JUNIOR STARS: Georgia Andreea Craciun/ROU and Olesya Pervushina/RUS
...#23 junior Craciun, 16, won the Grade 2 Plovdiv event in Bulgaria, her second G2 title in '16 in her third such final this season. The #1 seed, the Swarmette defeated qualifier Maryna Chernyshova in the final. The 16-year old qualifier from Ukriane, the #344-ranked girl, defeated the #4, #5 and #2 seeds en route to the final. A finalist in a Grade 4 event in August, Chernyshova had gone 1-4 since before putting together seven straight victories in Plovdiv.

Pervushina, 15, won her second career ITF singles title at the $10K Pula challenger, defeating Kristina Schmiedlova (sister of AKS) and Bianca Turati en route. The Russian won her other title in a $10K in November, and this was her first pro event since then, so she's actually won two straight stretched out over about five months. After winning Grade 1 junior events in Ecuador and Venezuela in Jauary, Pervushina reached the Yeltsin Cup girls semis in February, losing there to eventual champ Elena Rybakina.
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DOUBLES: Lara Arruabarrena/Tatjana Maria (ESP/GER)
...the top seeds in Bogota, Arruabarrena and Maria combined for their first title as a duo, winning match tie-breaks over Nicole Melichar/Rebecca Peterson in the QF and South American pair Gabriela Ce & Andrea Gamiz in the final. It's the sixth career title for Arruabarrena, while it's Maria's second. Arruabarrena also reached the singles semifinal.

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


1. Bogota 1st Rd. - Panova d. Svitolina
...7-5/1-6/7-6(6). In a 2:40 match that was actually stretched out over two days, with stoppages for both rain and darkness on Day 1, Panova takes out the #1 seed after returning for Day 2 leading Svitolina 7-5/1-5. The Ukrainian battled back to hold two MP at 6-5, 40/15 on Panova's serve, then three more up 6-3 in the deciding tie-break. The Russian swept the final five points.
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2. Bogota Final - Falconi d. Soler-Espinosa
...6-2/2-6/6-4. Three different Bannerettes have won a total of five singles titles this season, but none of them have been claimed by anyone named Serena.
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3. $25K Pelham Final - Grace Min d. Bernarda Para
...6-4/6-4. Min wins her second straight title, defeating Indy De Vroome, #1-seed Alla Kudryavtseva and Lauren Albanese.
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4. $10K Lins Final - Paula Ormaechea d. Harmony Tan
...6-3/6-2. The Argentine's comeback continues with her second title in two weeks.
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5. $25K Pelham Q1 - Gail Falkenberg d. Rosalyn Small 6-0/6-1
$25K Pelham Q2 - Taylor Townsend d. Gail Falkenberg 6-0/6-0
...69-year old Falkenberg, known on the ITF circuit as "The Legend," defeats 22-year old Small, ending her own 32-match losing streak at the expense of a player who'd already lost twenty-two straight, setting up a match with 19-year old old Townsend that lasted just thirty-six minutes as Falkenberg won twelve points.


A walk-on player at UCLA in the 1960's, Falkenberg, a college coach at Central Florida in the 1990's who turned pro at age 38, last won a match in 1998. She won a qualifying match at the Australian Open in 1988, and once lost to a 13-year old Jennifer Capriati. "And my game gives the kids more trouble than the older players, believe it or not," she said. Retirement isn't on the immediate horizon, either. "I'd love to be playing -- and win -- at 70," she told the Wall Street Journal. "I'm six months away from that."
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Bogota 1st Rd. - Catalina Pella d. Pereira
...3-6/6-3/7-6(3). In her tour MD debut, #274-ranked qualifier Pella -- sister of ATP player Guido, a finalist in Rio earlier this year -- knocks out the defending champ in 2:20. This is why Brazilian women's tennis just can't have nice things.
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Sharing is caring, in this case stealing #bigfork

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Beach waves ????

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Have a good week everyone ?? #Monday

A photo posted by Daria Gavrilova (@daria_gav) on





**2016 WTA FINALS w/ TITLE-LESS PLAYERS**
Rio - Shelby Rogers/USA
Acapulco - Jelena Ostapenko/LAT
Bogota - IRINA FALCONI/USA (W)
Bogota - SILVIA SOLER-ESPINOSA/ESP

**2016 LOW-RANKED FINALISTS**
#170 SILVIA SOLER-ESPINOSA/ESP - Bogota
#132 Francesca Schiavone/ITA - Rio (W)
#131 Shelby Rogers/USA - Rio
[low semifinalists]
#238 Paula Cristina Goncalves - Bogota
#199 Sorana Cirstea/ROU - Rio
#190 Zhu Lin/CHN - Kuala Lumpur
#172 Tamira Paszek/AUT - Auckland
#170 SILVIA SOLER-ESPINOSA/ESP - Bogota (RU)

**2016 #1 SEEDS - WTA TOURNAMENT RESULTS**
CHAMPION - 2 (A.Radwanska,V.Williams)
FINALIST - 3 (Bencic,S.Williams-2)
SEMIFINAL - 2 (Halep,Kerber)
QUARTERFINAL - 1 (Gavrilova - WTA 125)
4TH ROUND - 1 (S.Williams)
2ND ROUND - 4 (Azarenka,Errani,Halep,Kerber)
1ST ROUND - 4 (Pereira,Svitolina,Vinci,V.Williams)

**2016 DIFFERENT CHAMPIONS - By NATION**
3...ITA (Errani,Schiavone,Vinci)
2...USA (FALCONI,Stephens,V.Williams)
1...BLR, ESP, FRA, GER, GBR, POL, RUS, SVK, UKR






STUTTGART, GERMANY (Premier $694K/RCI)
15 Final: Kerber d. Wozniacki
15 Doubles Final: Mattek-Sands/Safarova d. Garcia/Srebotnik
16 Singles Top Seeds: A.Radwanska/Kerber
=============================
=SF=
#1 A.Radwanska d. Pavlyuchenkova
#3 Muguruza d. #2 Kerber
=FINAL=
#3 Muguruza d. #1 A.Radwanska

...if this past weekend tuned up Garbi and Angie for dueling great clay court runs, the fun could begin right here.



ISTANBUL, TURKEY (Int'l $227K/RCO)
15 Final: Tsurenko d. U.Radwanska
15 Doubles Final: Gavrilova/Svitolina d. Buyukakcay/Jankovic (Svitolina 2014-15 champ)
16 Singles Top Seeds: AK.Schmiedlova/Wickmayer
=============================
=SF=
#5 Kovinic d. Larsson
#2 Wickmayer d. #3 Tsurenko
=FINAL=
#5 Kovinic d. #2 Wickmayer

...if all things were "normal," circa 2015, this would be a good spot for #1 seed AKS to finally right her season and take a title. Maybe she will do just that, but I'll follow the trend and say she'll just get a win or two (which would still represent her best outing of '16), and go with Kovinic to become a first-time champ.


And, finally, after a long weekend, it's time for yoga. Caroline...



All for now.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 12:05 PM  6 comments