Friday, June 09, 2017

RG.13- The Day Before the Day





=DAY 13 NOTES=
...a day before the women's final will crown the latest first-time slam singles champ, the finals of all the other disciplines were being set for this Roland Garros on Friday.

In the women's doubles, #1-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova will go for their third straight major title after downing #3 Chan Yung-Jan & Martina Hingis 4 & 2, ending the pair's thirteen match winning streak.

?????? @lucie.safarova @rolandgarros #Finals on Sunday #RG2017 ???????? #TeamBucie #EyesOpen ?? #Tennis

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They'll face off with unseeded Ash Barty & Casey Dellacqua. The Aussies downed #6 Lucie Hradecka/Katerina Siniakova 7-5/4-6/6-3 to advance to their fourth career slam final as a pair, but their first at RG. They're still looking for their first major title together (they have four on the regular tour, and another ITF win), having gone 0-3 in slam finals in 2013 in Melbourne, London and Flushing Meadows.



Of course, that means...




...the junior girls singles final will be the first all-U.S. face-off for the RG title since 1980, and the first at any major since 1992.

#6 Claire Liu knocked off unseeded Russian Marta Paigina 2 & 0 in one semifinal, while the same Bannerette/Hordette dynamic played out in the other when #7 Whitney Osuigwe took out #11 Elena Rybakina 4 & 4. The last U.S. girl to win the junior title in Paris was Jennifer Capriati in 1989.



In doubles, AO champs Bianca Andreescu & Carson Branstine, all-Canadian now after Branstine was still representing the U.S. in Melbourne, will get the chance to make it two-for-two in 2017. The #1 seeds, they'll face the #2-seeded Russian duo of Olesya Pervushina & Anastasia Potapova.



...the wheelchair final will be a match-up of previous RG champs. Japan's #2-seeded Yui Kamiji ('14 winner) defeated defending champ Marjolein Buis today (6-3/6-3), and will get 41-year old German Sabine Ellerbrock ('13), who defeated Aniek van Koot in two tie-breaks, in the final.




The doubles final will be a clash of the top two seeded teams, with #1 Jiske Griffieon & van Koot taking on #2 Buis & Kamiji. They four have combined to win at least a share of every RG doubles crown since 2012 (and seven of nine years), with the Dutch duo taking home the title in 2013 and '15.


...AND, ON DAY 13, SHE'S OFF...:



...LIKE ON DAY 13: Sightseein' with coach...



...ANOTHER OFFSHOOT OF THE WHOLE KIKI THING ON DAY 13: I now find it even easier to defend CoCo...





And, really, why *wouldn't* Vandeweghe be a legitimate "best U.S. hope" at Wimbledon? Sure, Venus is in the running (and Keys, too, IF she's healthy), but CoCo is right there on grass. And, come on, one commenter on that thread even called it the magazine's "worst cover ever"... I guess they've never seen any of the stupid racket and/or equipment review covers of Tennis magazine, which essentially just dare a reader to not bother looking inside the covers.

...LIKE ON DAY 13: Simona's smart. Who wouldn't rather be on Chatrier than at the press conference with the Romanian and Russian presidents at the White House?



...LIKE ON DAY 13: Simona 2.0



...Hmmm... ON DAY 13: Imagine if Trump was trying to pull off that high-five.



...AND, REMEMBER... ON DAY 13: Karolina knows something about eventual #1's...




...and, finally... if he wins on Sunday, Stan Wawrinka might turn out to be the most intriguing figure of the current era of tennis. I mean, he'd have won four slams in the Federer/Nadal/Djokovic/Murray era, and been 7-0 against the "Big 4" en route to all of those slam wins, topped off by defeating Rafa in Paris. Sheesh. Wawrinka will never be declared the "best" of his generation, but, with all his major titles coming from age 29-32, he could very well rank as the greatest men's "thirtysomething" player ever. Serena, of course, long ago established the *overall* tennis #1 spot in that category.







*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
Jelena Ostapenko/LAT vs. #3 Simona Halep/ROU

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#1 Mattek-Sands/Safarova (USA/CZE) def. #3 Y.Chan/Hingis (TPE/SUI)
Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS) def. #6 Hradecka/Siniakova (CZE/CZE)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#7 Dabrowski/Bopanna (CAN/IND) def. Groenefeld/Farah (GER/COL) 2-6/6-2 [12-10]

*GIRLS SINGLES SF*
#6 Claire Liu/USA def. Marta Paigina/RUS
#7 Whitney Osuigwe/USA def. #11 Elena Rybakina/RUS

*GIRLS DOUBLES SF*
#1 Andreescu/Branstine (CAN/CAN ) def. Carle/F.Jones (ARG/GBR)
#2 Pervushina/Potapova (RUS/RUS) def. Miyamoto/X.Wang (JPN/CHN)

*WC SINGLES SF*
Sabine Ellerbrock/GER def. Aniek van Koot/NED
#2 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Marjolein Buis/NED

*WC DOUBLES SF*
#1 Griffioen/van Koot (NED/NED) def. Ellerbrock/Famin (GER/FRA)
#2 Buis/Kamiji (NED/JPN) def. de Groot/Whiley (NED/GBR)

















#TBT Just want to go for a run ??

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**WON SLAM TITLE AFTER SAVING MATCH POINT - list from Tennis28.com**
[Open era]
1986 U.S. Open - Martina Navratilova (3 vs. Graf in SF)
1991 Aust.Open - Monica Seles (1 vs. MJ.Fernandez in SF)
2002 Aust.Open - Jennifer Capriati (4 vs. Hingis in Final)
2003 Aust.Open - Serena Williams (2 vs Clijsters in SF)
2004 R.Garros - Anastasia Myskina (1 vs. Kuznetsova in 4th)
2005 Aust.Open - Serena Williams (3 vs. Sharapova in SF)
2005 R.Garros - Justine Henin-H. (2 vs. Kuznetsova in 4th)
2005 Wimbledon - Venus Williams (1 vs. Davenport in Final)
2009 Wimbledon - Serena Williams (1 vs. Dementieva in SF)
2014 Aust.Open - Li Na (1 vs. Safarova in 3rd)
2016 Aust.Open - Angelique Kerber (1 vs. Doi in 1st)
[pre-Open era]
1923 Aust.Open - Margaret Molesworth (1 vs. Sylvia Lance SF)
1935 Wimbledon - Helen Wills Moody (1 vs. Helen Jacobs F)
1946 R.Garros - Margaret Osbourne (2 vs. Pauline Betz F)
1956 Aust.Open - Mary Carter (1 vs. Thelma Long F)
1962 R.Garros - Margaret Smith (Court) (1 vs. Lesley Turner F)
--
NOTE: Halep saved MP in QF vs. Svitolina

**RECENT FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS - since 2010**
2010 Roland Garros - Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2011 Roland Garros - Li Na, CHN
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 U.S. Open - Samantha Stosur, AUS
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2013 Wimbledon - Marion Bartoli, FRA
2015 U.S. Open - Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber, GER
2016 Roland Garros - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
2017 Roland Garros - ??

**2017 WTA YOUNGEST SINGLES FINALISTS**
17 - Marketa Vondrousova,CZE (Biel-W)
19 - Ana Konjuh, CRO (Auckland-L)
19 - Jelena Ostapenko, LAT (Charleston-L)
19 - Daria Kasatkina, RUS (Charleston-W)
20 - JELENA OSTAPENKO, LAT (ROLAND GARROS-x)
20 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE (Shenzen-W)
20 - Ash Barty, AUS (Kuala Lumpur-W)

**RECENT RG CHAMPIONS**
[Women's Doubles]
2006 Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2007 Alicia Molik & Mara Santangelo, AUS/ESP
2008 Anabel Medina-Garrigues & Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP/ESP
2009 Anabel Medina-Garrigues & Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP/ESP
2010 Serena Williams & Venus Williams, USA/USA
2011 Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
2012 Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
2013 Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
2014 Hsieh Su-Wei & Peng Shuai, TPE/CHN
2015 Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE
2016 Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic, FRA/FRA
2017 Mattek-Sands/Safarova (USA/CZE) vs. Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS)
[Girl's Doubles]
1999 Flavia Pennetta & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
2000 Maria Jose Martinez (Sanchez) & Anabel Medina (Garrigues), ESP/ESP
2001 Petra Cetkovska & Renata Voracova, CZE/CZE
2002 Anna-Lena Groenefeld & Barbora Strycova, GER/CZE
2003 Marta Fraga & Adriana Gonzales, ESP/ESP
2004 Katerina Bohmova & Michaella Krajicek, CZE/NED
2005 Victoria Azarenka & Agnes Szavay, BLR/HUN
2006 Sharon Fichman & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, CAN/RUS
2007 Ksenia Milevskaya & Urszula Radwanska, BLR/POL
2008 Polona Hercog & Jessica Moore, SLO/AUS
2009 Elena Bogdan & Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, ROU/THA
2010 Timea Babos & Sloane Stephens, HUN/USA
2011 Irina Khromacheva & Maryna Zanevska, RUS/UKR
2012 Daria Gavrilova & Irina Khromacheva, RUS/RUS
2013 Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
2014 Ioana Ducu & Ioana Loredana Rosca, ROU/ROU
2015 Miriam Kolodziejova & Marketa Vondrouosva, CZE/CZE
2016 Paula Arias Manjon & Olga Danilovic, ESP/SRB
2017 Andreescu/Branstine (CAN/CAN) vs. Pervushina/Potapova (RUS/RUS)

**RECENT GIRLS SLAM CHAMPIONS**
[2010]
AO: Karolina Pliskova, CZE
RG: Elina Svitolina, UKR
WI: Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
US: Daria Gavrilova, RUS
[2011]
AO: An-Sophie Mestach, BEL
RG: Ons Jabeur, TUN
WI: Ashleigh Barty, AUS
AO: Grace Min, USA
[2012]
AO: Taylor Townsend, USA
RG: Annika Beck, GER
WI: Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
US: Samantha Crawford, USA
[2013]
AO: Ana Konjuh, CRO
RG: Belinda Bencic, SUI
WI: Belinda Bencic, SUI
US: Ana Konjuh, CRO
[2014]
AO: Elizaveta Kulichkova, RUS
RG: Darya Kasatkina, RUS
WI: Jelena Ostapenko, LAT
US: Maria Bouzkova, CZE
[2015]
AO: Tereza Mihalikova, SVK
RG: Paula Badosa, ESP
WI: Sofya Zhuk, RUS
US: Dalma Galfi, HUN
[2016]
AO: Vera Lapko, BLR
RG: Rebeka Masarova, SUI
WI: Anastasia Potapova, RUS
US: Kayla Day, USA
[2017]
AO: Marta Kostyuk, UKR
RG: ?

**ROLAND GARROS GIRLS FINALS - since 1998**
1998 Nadia Petrova/RUS def. Jelena Dokic/AUS
1999 Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP def. Stephanie Foretz/FRA
2000 Virginie Razzano/FRA def. Maria-Emilia Salerni/ARG
2001 Kaia Kanepi/EST def. Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS
2002 Angelique Widjaja/INA def. Ashley Harkleroad/USA
2003 Anna-Lena Groenefeld/GER def. Vera Dushevina/RUS
2004 Sesil Karatantcheva/BUL def. Madalina Gojnea/ROU
2005 Agnes Szavay/HUN def. Raluca Olaru/ROU
2006 Aga Radwanska/POL def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2007 Alize Cornet/FRA def. Mariana Duque-Marino/COL
2008 Simona Halep/ROU def. Elena Bogdan/ROU
2009 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA def. Daria Gavrilova/RUS
2010 Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Ons Jabeur/TUN
2011 Ons Jabeur/TUN def. Monica Puig/PUR
2012 Annika Beck/GER def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK
2013 Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Antonia Lottner/GER
2014 Daria Kasatkina/RUS def. Ivana Jorovic/SRB
2015 Paula Badosa Gibert/ESP def. Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
2016 Rebeka Masarova/SUI def. Amanda Anisimova/USA
2017 Claire Liu/USA vs. Whitney Osuigwe/USA

**ALL-U.S. JUNIOR GIRLS SLAM FINALS**
[Australian Open]
1989 Kim Kessaris def. Andrea Farley
[Roland Garros]
1980 Kathy Horvath def. Kelly Henry
2017 Claire Liu vs. Whitney Osuigwe
[Wimbledon]
1977 Lea Antonpolis def. Mareen "Peanut" Louie
1979 Mary-Lou Piatek def. Alycia Moultron
[U.S. Open]
1979 Alycia Moulton def. Mary-Lou Piatek
1980 Susan Mascarin def. Kathrin Keil
1981 Zina Garrison def. Kate Gompert
1982 Beth Herr def. Gretchen Rush
1986 Elly Hakami def. Shaun Stafford
1992 Lindsay Davenport def. Julie Steven

**RECENT WC SLAM SINGLES FINALS**
2013 AO - #1 Aniek Van Koot/NED def. #2 Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
2013 RG - Sabine Ellerbrock/GER def. #2 Jiske Griffioen/NED
2013 US - #2 Aniek Van Koot/NED def. #1 Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
2014 AO - #1 Sabine Ellerbrock/GER def. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN
2014 RG - #1 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Aniek Van Koot/NED
2014 US - #1 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. #2 Aniek Van Koot/NED
2015 AO - Jiske Griffioen/NED def. #1 Yui Kamiji/JPN
2015 RG - #2 Jiske Griffioen/NED def. Aniek Van Koot/NED
2015 US - Jordanne Whiley/GBR def. Yui Kamiji/JPN
2016 AO - #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED def. Aniek Van Koot/NED
2016 RG - Marjolein Buis/NED def. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
2016 WI - #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED def. Aniek Van Koot/NED
2016 PA - #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED def. #4 Aniek Van Koot/NED
2017 AO - #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. #1 Jiske Griffioen/NED
2017 RG - #2 Kamiji vs. Ellerbrock



TOP QUALIFIER: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #23 Samantha Stosur/AUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #3 Simona Halep/ROU
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Quirine Lemoine/NED def. Arantxa Rus/NED 2-6/7-6(3)/6-3 (down 6-2/5-3, saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #13 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA def. Jennifer Brady/USA 3-6/6-3/9-7 (back injury; down 3-0 in 3rd; on third attempt to serve out match)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #3 Simona Halep/ROU def. #5 Elina Svitolina/UKR 3-6/7-6(6)/6-0 (down 6-3/5-1, Svitolina served twice for match and had MP in TB)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Petra Kvitova/CZE (def. Boserup/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Roberta Vinci/ITA (1st Rd.-lost to Puig/PUR)
UPSET QUEENS: South Americans (Duque Marino/COL & Cepede Royg/PAR)
REVELATION LADIES: Muslim woman (LL Jabeur/TUN first Arab in 3rd Rd.; Buyukakcay/TUR 1st Rd. win for second straight year)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Germany (2-5 in 1st Round; Kerber first #1 out so early)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Petra Martic/CRO (4th Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Chloe Paquet/FRA (2nd Rd.)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Kristina Mladenovic/FRA and Caroline Garcia/FRA (both QF)
MADEMOISELLE OPPORTUNITY: Simona Halep/ROU and Karolina Pliskova/CZE
IT "Teen": Jelena Ostapenko/LAT
COMEBACK PLAYER: Petra Kvitova/CZE
CRASH & BURN: #1 Angelique Kerber/GER (first #1-ranked woman to lost RG 1st Rd.; first at any slam since '01)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: Kristina Mladenovic/FRA (1st Rd.- down 3-0 in 3rd to Brady, wins 9-7; 3rd Rd. - down 5-2 in 3rd, wins 8-6 vs. Rogers)
DOUBLES STAR: Gaby Dabrowski/CAN
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Nominees: Dellacqua (also late "Légion de Lenglen" nominee), Bacsinszky
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominees: Andreescu/Branstine, C.Liu, Osuigwe
Légion de Lenglen HONOREE: Caroline Garcia/FRA
LA PETIT TAUREAU TROPHY: Elina Svitolina/UKR




Artist: Paul Thurlby


All for Day 13. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:46 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

I am picking Halep, mainly because if Ostapenko dumps as many forehands into the net as she did the other day, Halep will dictate. Just hoping Ostapenko, and Halep, bring their best.

Stat of the Day-1*-Number of titles for Florenta Mihai.

Asterik is because there is a second listed, that seems to be the 70's version of a 125k. Mihai has relevance to both players here, as she is one of the few unseeded to have reached the final similar to Ostapenko. Also, she is Romanian like the favorite Halep.

Known for reaching the 1977 French final, she wasn't a one slam wonder, but two. She also reached the SF in 1976, the first time she finished a season in the top 50 at 47. Then finished 1977 at 33.

So what happened? First off, she was known mainly as a clay courter. Never played down under. But once she reached #29 in 78, she had on court injuries, then a car accident that changed the course of her WTA career. In fact, after that 1977 season, she only played 4 more slams.

Where she made her name the second half of her tennis life was being involved in Romanian tennis. So much that she was a non playing Fed Cup captain, to the point that although she was on the roster 15 years, she only played 6.

The other spinoff was the she ended up coaching fellow Romanians Irina Spirlea, Ruxandra Dragomir and Irina Camelia Begu.

One thing from yesterday's list was that every woman from Romania that has reached a slam final has done it at the French. And although I would be nice to see Mihai there, it isn't possible. After an illness, she passed in 2015 at age 60, sadly becoming the first slam finalist from the Open Era to have done so.

Fri Jun 09, 08:49:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Well, if someone were to ask me who from the USA has the best shot at Wimbledon, I'm pretty sure I would say CoCo. Venus is winding down and Madison is too physically unreliable. And even if she weren't, I might still say CoCo. I realize that a lot of fans don't care for her, but that has nothing to do with her grass court potential. So, yeah, CoCo, if you're dealing with reality.

Fri Jun 09, 10:20:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Hoergren said...

Well Ostapenko did it. Youngest player in 20 years winning RG. Only Pam shriver did win a slam quicker - Ostapenko used 17 matches. First unseeded player in open era to win RG and you must way back to find one. She made 299 winners in the tournament and I guess as many UFE - today 56-56. If this player gets a better control she can beat any player on tour - so Ostapenko is the next gen player to follow - bravo.

Sat Jun 10, 01:22:00 PM EDT  

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