Thursday, November 29, 2018

2018 BSA's: WTA Year in Review, Pt.2



Hmmm, let's see. Rankings Round-up, Ms. Backpin, Regional Honors and MVP's. And now... oh, yeah, the year's top performances and matches.




First, 2018's memorably brilliant moments of glory (along with a few notable near-misses)...




#1 - THE GREAT WAVE ARRIVES
Over two weeks in New York, Naomi Osaka road the wave of her tennis (and cultural) potential to her maiden slam title at the U.S. Open, becoming the first Japanese major champion, and at 20 the youngest winner in New York since 2006. She dropped just a single set, closing out the event with a pair of 6-2/6-4 victories over '17 finalist Madison Keys and seven-time U.S. champion Serena Williams in the final, overcoming the tremendous pressure of her first deep slam run as well as the distraction of all the nonsense stirred up by Williams during the match after the icon was correctly assessed a series of penalties by the chair umpire. Osaka's win thus completely alters the future course of her career (both on and off court, as her win at Flushing Meadows could prove to be arguably the most lucrative match victory in tennis history, as she's already started stacking up major endorsement deals in Japan), and quite possibly women's tennis, as well.

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#2 - THE TRIUMPH OF THE RESILIENT ROMANIAN
Simona Halep's longtime career quest for a slam title finally came to an end in her fourth major final, and her third in Paris in five years. Naturally, after having previously lost leads during her unsuccessful attempts, she dropped the 1st set vs. Sloane Stephens in the Roland Garros final and then staged a comeback from a break down in the 2nd to win in three. Befitting her star-crossed journey into the winner's circle, Halep is the first maiden slam winner who was already the reigning #1 player in the world when she finally achieved her breakthrough. The Romanian is the first from her nation in forty years to be crowned a major champion.


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#3 - SIMONA THE WARRIOR
Has a player ever given so much, or come so close, finding a way to fight and survive until the very bitter end... yet still come away with nothing tangible to show for it than Simona Halep at this year's Australian Open? While Halep's eleven-match winning streak to start the season, highlighted by her ankle-rolling-and-heart-in-throat start and eventual five-MP-saving-in-two-different-matches path to the final in Melbourne left her in the position of being the latest hard-luck Fan Favorite without a slam title, her perseverance earned her the respect and admiration of her peers that few ever enjoy over the course of a career, as well as the backing of anyone who enjoys seeing a good story (eventually) get the grand ending it deserves. Halep won her first event (Shenzhen) as the world #1 in January, and only went down in the AO when the forces of seven kingdoms (plus or minus a couple of flying dragons) converged as one against her -- or at least it seemed that way -- in her first slam as the top seed, falling to Caroline Wozniacki. With her Melbourne warrior run in her back pocket, Halep confidently went to Paris four months later and won her aforementioned maiden slam crown at Roland Garros.
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#4 - CLAY QUEEN KIKI OF OHIO
Kiki Bertens, former "clay court specialist," erased any remaining doubts about her hard court bona fides in Cincinnati. The Dutch woman notched four Top 10 victories in all, as defeats of U.S. Open semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe and Anett Kontaveit were strung together with connective wins in Ohio over #2 Caroline Wozniacki (retired), #7 Elina Svitolina and #6 Petra Kvitova to reach her first tour-level hard court final. There she faced down a MP in the 2nd set vs. #1 Simona Halep, found the belief within herself to "go for it," increased her aggression and walked off with the biggest title of her career. Boom. An *all-surface* star was officially born. Bertens' wins over the world #1 and reigning RG champ, the world #2 and reigning AO champ, the '18 tour title leader (Kvitova) and what would ultimately be the WTAF champ (Svitolina) all IN THE SAME WEEK make this the most impressive non-slam title run of the entire season.
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#5 - A SINGAPOREAN SONG OF SVITOLINA
Once Elina Svitolina finally qualified for the eight-player WTA Finals field, she was determined to silence her critics and prove beyond a doubt that she *did* indeed deserve to be there, as well as re-write the thumbnail, spare-no-feelings, less-than-ideal descriptions of her career thus far, by winning on a truly big stage.

The only thing the Ukrainian doesn't own is a slam title and the long-term respect that comes with it. Or even a major semifinal. Not that she hasn't been close. In fact, she's squandered numerous opportunities, not the least of which was an epic collapse in the Roland Garros quarterfinals two years ago against Simona Halep. Singapore wasn't a slam, but it's about as close as it gets outside of Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.

After her results slipped in the second half of the season, Svitolina desperately needed a boost. A good memory to call upon this offseason and in times of future trouble. After searching for the table-turning moment for over two years, she seemed to collect a whole bushel of them in her final event of the season, going undefeated while building one confidence-building moment upon another, upon another, and upon another, gradually elevating the Ukrainian's prospects in clutch moments -- even in her own mind, where it's most important but is sometimes corrupted by negative emotions and frustration -- to another realm.

Petra Kvitova fell in straights in round robin play followed by four straight three-set victories over Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Wozniacki (from a set down), Kiki Bertens and, in the final, Sloane Stephens. Suddenly, after fighting through lingering moments of doubt as the week wore on, being "positive" seemed easier for her to pull off come the final match. When Svitolina should have been physically dragging after a series of tough, intense in-match situations, she was bouncing around the court for two hours vs. Stephens, coming back from a set down once again and sending herself off into '19 (and beyond) on a sky-high note.

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#6 - THE MONTH(s) OF SuperPETRA
In February, Kvitova won 14 straight matches, leading the Czechs back to the Fed Cup semis and claiming titles in Saint Petersburg and Doha, resurrecting the gasps of awe and possibilities of "SuperPetra" first experienced during her SW19 runs in 2011 and '14. She delivered a second dose of dominance in the spring, winning 13 straight on clay, claiming back-to-back titles in Prague and Madrid, as well as leading the Czechs back to the Fed Cup final with a 2-0 mark (in Germany) against Kerber and Goerges. She reached five titles by June, enough to lead the tour for '18 even while going title-less during the final five months of the season.
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#7 - GIMME AN "A!" GIMME AN "N!" GIMME A a "G-I-E!"
Angelique Kerber wins her first Wimbledon title, defeating a string of NextGen stars and then ending with 23-time slam champ Serena Williams in the final. She loses just one set the entire fortnight. Three-quarters of the way to a Career Slam, she's the first German to win at SW19 since 1996, the first to win a third major since 2011, and just the second (w/ Venus) to defeat Serena in *two* slam finals.


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#8 - THE DAY OF THE DANE
Expelling Jana Fett's name to the annals of slam "What If...?" scenarios, Caroline Wozniacki overcomes 2 MP at 5-1, 40/15 deficit in the 3rd set of the Australian Open 2nd Round, then turns the Croat's squandered lead into her personal moment of destiny, going on to outlast #1 Simona Halep in a three-set final and finally claim her maiden slam title in Melbourne and briefly return to the top ranking after a tour record six-year absence.
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#9 - MEET THE NEW DOUBLES BOSSES?
Reigning Roland Garros champs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova followed up their first slam title by winning a second at Wimbledon, becoming the first duo since 2003 to pull off the RG/SW19 sweep. Of course, the Czechs have traveled this road before. In 2013, they won RG, Wimbledon and U.S. Open's girls doubles crowns. The run provided much of the fuel for what led to the Maidens becoming the doubles co-#1-s by the end of the season, ending 2018 sharing the top spot.


Come 2019, maybe they'll brush up on their old dance routine, too...

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#10 - THE ROAD TO OSAKA
After an early career filled with promise but weighed down by inconsistency, Naomi Osaka finally "scratches the surface" of her talent by finding her way to her maiden tour title in Indian Wells with a previously unseen level of between-the-lines equilibrium maintained while stacking up victories over the likes of Maria Sharapova, Aga Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and Dasha Kasatkina. The youngest I.W. champ in a decade, and the first unseeded winner since Kim Clijsters in '05, Osaka is also the first Japanese player to reach a Premier Mandatory final, and the lowest-ranked (#44) Premier Mandatory champion.


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#11 - SIMONA DOES MONTREAL (and nearly Cincy, too)
Simona Halep battled blisters, fatigue, scheduling issues, and battles with negativity... but, in the end, was raising her arms in victory to close out the week. Yes, it was everything -- and more -- that we've come to expect from Halep, who in '18 transformed before our eyes from tough luck contender to beloved (and gusty) grand slam champ, stable #1-ranked player in the world and quite possibly the last player on The Most Interesting Tour that anyone wants to face off with when tennis death is on the line.

In her first tournament since Wimbledon, where she followed up her RG win with an acceptable 3rd Round result ended by the bedeviling game of Hsieh Su-wei, it wouldn't have been shocking for Halep to take her time finding her footing in Montreal. Instead, she jumped feet first into the North American summer fire. In a two-day match vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, she overcame a 4-2 3rd set deficit and won in 3:07, then came back later in the night and defeated Venus Williams in straight sets. She won nine of ten games under the lights to finish off Caroline Garcia after trailing 5-4 in the 1st set, knocked off Ash Barty in straights early in the afternoon on Saturday to reach the final, then won an instant-classic three-set final over Stephens to finish off her second straight Rogers Cup title run in Montreal, having won the last time it was played there in '16.

A week later, she nearly became the first player to sweep the titles in Canada and Cincinnati in back-to-back weeks, coming up a converted MP short in the final vs. Kiki Bertens from making history yet again.
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#12 - BACK TO THE FUTURE SLOANE
Having survived an eight-match losing streak after her U.S. Open title run last year, Sloane Stephens regains her "Future is Now" form in Miami, handling the likes of Garbine Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Vika Azarenka (coming back from a set and a break down) and Alona Osapenko (so, four straight slam winners, two of them reigning champs, and three former #1's). The title run finally lifted Stephens into the Top 10 for the first time, making her the third Bannerette to break the barrier in the last three seasons after what had been a 17-year drought of U.S. newcomers following the rise of the Williams Sisters.
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#13 - ELI'S ROMAN HOLIDAY II
Elina Svitolina's Rome run, her second succesful title defense of '18, saw her lose just one set, defeating three eventual RG quarterfinalists -- Kasatkina (after dropping a love 1st), Kerber (her sixth straight win over the German, three when she was still ranked #1) & Halep (in a rematch of last year's Italian Open final), as well as Paris Round of 16er Anett Kontaveit. Her love & 4 victory over the Romanian was her sixth over a world #1 since her upset of Serena Williams at the Rio Olympics in the summer of '16.
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#14 - TO WANG WITH LOVE
During this season's 4Q Asian swing, Wang Qiang assumed the mostly-vacant position (since Li Na's '14 retirement) as China's #1 tennis star. After defending her Asian Games Gold Medal and knocking the First Seed Out of the U.S. Open to close out the summer, Wang went 21-6 (18-5 in China) in a season closing SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU stretch on the continent that included three Top 10 wins (and five more Top 20) as well as her first Top 20 ranking to close out the season.

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#15 - THE FIELD(s) -- save two -- FEAR THE KASATKINA
Dasha Kasatkina saves five MP over two matches -- 2 vs. Johanna Konta in the 2nd Rd., 3 vs. Garbine Muguruza in the SF -- to reach her third career tour final in Dubai, finally cracking the Top 20 (she'd later reach the Top 10) for the first time in her career, though she lost to Elina Svitolina in the final when the Ukrainian did just about everything a little better than her. In Kasatkina's next event, she was at it again, showing nearly every shot in the book and staging yet another value-your-lives run that saw a handful of top-ranked players made to look anything but when placed on the opposite side of the net from the Russian. She knocked off four straight previous slam champions in Sloane Stephens, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, and Venus Williams (in 2:48) before coming up short once more when she finally seemed to hit the wall against the consistent power of Naomi Osaka in the final (though only after having performed in the role of unofficial "tweener coach" to her eventual opponent a few weeks earlier).


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#16 - THE BRACELET RULES ROSMALEN
25-year old Serb Aleksandra Krunic claimed her maiden tour title in raging comeback fashion at Rosmalen. Reaching into her bag and pulling out far too many amazing shots to recount, Krunic saved a MP against #1-seed and two-time champ CoCo Vandeweghe in the semifinals, erasing a set and 4-2 deficit, saving a MP in the 3rd, to reach her second tour-level singles final. Once there, after dropping the 1st set (via a love TB) despite having led 5-3 and served for it vs. Kirsten Flipkens, Krunic came back again for the victory, this time from another set and a break (twice, in fact) hole. Flipkens served for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, only to see Krunic get the break and proceed to take nine of the final ten games en route to the win.


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#17 - THE DEVONSHIRE DANE
Caroline Wozniacki opened what became her first grass court title-winning experience in nine years with a victory over eventual Wimbledon quarterfinalist Camila Giorgi, came back a set down to defeat '17 Wimbledon semifinalist Johanna Konta and handled Nottingham champ Ash Barty in two sets. In the semifinals, she battled eventual Wimbledon champ Angelique Kerber for three sets, saving a MP on a 24-stroke rally and dominating when it came to collecting the match's most important points (including 3-of-4 BP opportunities). In the final, her second straight at Devonshire Park, she overcame Aryna Sabalenka serving for both the 1st and 2nd sets, and holding a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set TB, to win 7-5/7-6 and claim her second career title at Eastbourne. It was the second '18 title won after Wozniacki came back from MP down, having done so (vs. Jana Fett) during her maiden slam title run in Melbourne in January.
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#18 - THE MOST INTERESTING STORY ON THE MOST INTERESTING TOUR IN THE WORLD
In San Jose, 30-year old Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu became the tour's latest thirtysomething maiden champ, finally winning her first tour title after reaching her seventh QF, sixth SF and third final of the season. Wins over Sachia Vickery, Amanda Anisimova, Ajla Tomljanovic and Elise Mertens set up a battle for a first career title between Buzarnescu and Maria Sakkari. It was no contest. Buzarnescu coasted to a 6-1/6-0 win. Fittingly, she sealed the deal with an ace. In a season chocked full of stories, Buzarnescu's may be the "craziest." After being a top junior, injuries wrecked her career. She missed nearly two full years in 2013-14, but found her way back to the sport after she suddenly felt no more pain after having filled her time earning a Ph.D. in sport science. The Swarmette only made her MD tour debut last summer (at the U.S. Open) after more than a dozen failed qualifying attempts. She got her maiden MD win in Linz in October '17. Since then, she's recorded five Top 20 wins (3 Top 10), reached a slam Round of 16 in Paris, won her first tour title and made her Top 20 debut.
"Interesting" doesn't really do her justice.

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#19 - THE LUCKY WINNER
17-year old Serb Olga Danilovic was a Top 5 junior who grabbed three junior doubles slam crowns in 2016-17, earlier in '18 won $60K and $25K ITF challengers, as well as having a starring Fed Cup turn in her February debut when she led the Bracelettes in zone play (she got a win over Anastasija Sevastova). But it wasn't so overwhelming a rise by the big-hitting lefty that anyone arched an eyebrow *too* high when she lost in the final round of Moscow Open qualifying to Spain's Paula Badosa. But when Danilovic entered the main draw (her first on tour) due to Petra Martic's withdrawal, the stage was set for history to be made.

Wins over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Kaia Kanepi, world #10 Julia Goerges and Aliaksandra Sasnovich made Danilovic the first LL to reach a tour final since CoCo Vandeweghe did it in Stanford in 2012. Her 2:20 win in the final over Anastasia Potapova (with both age 17, it was the youngest tour final since Vaidisova/Golovin in '05), during which she battled nerves and a sometimes-wonky second serve with grit and teenage verve, she forged ahead from a break deficit in the 3rd set to become the first LL to ever win a WTA title and the first player to claim the crown in her maiden tour MD event since 2001 (Angelique Widjaja in Bali).
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#20 - ONCE MORE, WITH RADWANSKIAN FEELING
2018 turned out to be Aga Radwanska's final season on tour, but before she left for retirement (and hotel ownership... yes, "Radwanska Abbey" is now a *real* thing!) she gave us one final extended bit of magical brilliance this past summer, even if we didn't fully realize it at the time.

Over the past two seasons, injuries and inconsistency pulled Radwanska from the ranks of a long-time Top 10 player to battling to just be seeded at the majors (she was #32 at Wimbledon). She ultimately ended '18 ranked at #75. But the grasscourt-loving Pole, back in Eastbourne after being out for two months, looked as much like her old master magician self all week long as she had in quite some time. A surprisingly easy win over Timea Babos gave her a welcome return moment, then she went deep into her bag of tricks (and maybe got a little "extra" help from her "old friend") against Dasha Gavrilova. The Aussie held two MP in the 2nd set in their match-up, but Gavrilova DF'd twice. Radwanska took the resulting TB, then won the 3rd set at love. Oh, and that match just happened to occur on June 26, the annual "Radwanska Remembrance" day for that crazy, upset-filled afternoon at Wimbledon back in 2013.

A round later, Radwanska got a walkover from Petra Kvitova (hamstring), then defeated Alona Ostapenko to reach her first semifinal since New Haven nearly a year earlier (and just her third since her Week 2 final in Sydney in January 2017). Aga was tripped up in three sets by Aryna Sabalenka in what turned out to be her final career semifinal, and the win over Ostapenko her last over a Top 20 player. Radwanska went just 2-5 the rest of the season before announcing in November that a foot injury would end her career.

A few of her oh-so-Aga points vs. Gavrilova...






(for now)

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==TOP PERFORMANCE==
2003 Justine Henin-Hardenne (U.S. Open)
2004 Maria Sharapova (Wimbledon)
2005 Kim Clijsters (North American hardcourts)
2006 Maria Sharapova (U.S. Open)
2007 Justine Henin (U.S. Open)
2008 Venus Williams (Wimbledon)
2009 Serena Williams (Wimbledon)
2010 Serena Williams (Wimbledon)
2011 Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon)
2012 Serena Williams (Olympics)
2013 Serena Wiliams (Roland Garros)
2014 Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon)
2015 Belinda Bencic (Toronto)
2016 Monica Puig (Olympics)
2017 Alona Ostapenko (Roland Garros)
2018 Naomi Osaka (U.S. Open)



=OH, CANADA...A SCRAMBLE FOR SURVIVAL, AND A TRIUMPH AGAINST THE ODDS...=
In the craziest Fed Cup tie of 2018, and one of the wildest in years, Canada prevailed 3-2 over Ukraine. But it wasn't that simple.



The big news coming in was that the Canadian squad for the nation's Fed Cup World Group II Playoff tie in Montreal vs. Ukraine included Genie Bouchard, on board after a three-year absence following her "I'll pass" on handshakes, disastrous 0-2 weekend in Montreal vs. Romania in 2015. Oddly enough, "Curse of Genie" aside, Bouchard turned out to be the *only* stable thing about the Canadian roster, the youngest in World Group play that April weekend, at the end of which nearly everyone representing the Maple Leaf (l'Unifolié) was also a member of the walking wounded. A club which Bouchard only barely managed to avoid joining herself.



First, Franckie Abanda was pulled from Match #1 at the last minute after a pre-match fall (periorbital contusion/black eye), replaced by 17-year old Bianca Andreescu. Andreescu was dominating Ukraine roster #1 (and recent Monterrey champ) Lesia Tsurenko, then cramped up, lost nine straight games, and collapsed in tears on the court. She stayed there for ten minutes, retiring and eventually being taken off in a wheelchair. With the score knotted at 1-1 after a Bouchard win, then 2-1 up after another, Abanda was pulled yet again on Sunday from Match #4 due to whiplash from the previous fall. She was replaced (again) by Andreescu, who then was replaced by doubles specialist and singles #364 Gaby Dabrowski.

At the time, it was legitimate to wonder if Captain Sylvain Bruneau might consider giving UKR a singles walkover so that a well-rested doubles specialist Dabrowski could then team with Bouchard in the deciding doubles, avoiding having the one rested and healthy roster player being too tired to play back-to-back matches. But Dabrowski played, and amazingly stunned Kateryna Bondarenko by taking the 1st set, but was then dominated in sets 2 and 3. Still, Dabrowski was enlisted to come out *again* for the doubles, but not with Bouchard (who was willing to go). Instead, it was Andreescu in yet another lineup shuffle.

Maybe even more shockingly, it all worked out for the home team, with Andreescu/Dabrowski clinching the tie with a 6-3/4-6/6-3 win over Bondarenko & Olga Savchuk, but only after failing to serve things out at 5-2 in the 3rd and holding MP. They broke serve to secure the win.

So, you know... easy-peasy.




1. Australian Open SF - Simona Halep def. Angelique Kerber
...6-3/4-6/9-7. Two warriors, brought to their knees by the never-say-die competitiveness of the other. Halep served at 5-3 in the 3rd set, but Kerber saved two MP. Then it was Simona's turn, saving two Kerber MP. Nearly half an hour after she'd had a chance to finish off the match the first time around, Halep won on her fourth MP of the day to reach her third career slam final. Credited with 50 winners in the match, the Romanian admitted to being proud of herself for persevering beyond reason for what seemed to be just about the millionth time over the span of two weeks in Melbourne.

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2. Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Lauren Davis
...4-6/6-2/15-13. Halep did not ultimately win the Australian Open. But she definitely left in her wake a few spray-painted "Simona was Here" tags strategically placed all over Melbourne Park. Another example came on the middle Saturday -- nearly ALL that Saturday, in fact -- when she and Davis spent their time coating Rod Laver Arena with a blood-and-sweat (but no tears) masterpiece in The Match That Ate Day 6.

In 3:44, the third-longest AO women's match ever (tied for the most ever in total games) and tied for the longest of the 2018 season, Halep wins her Warrior masterpiece against a game Davis in a battle that, quite literally, was decided by a toenail. In the 2:22 3rd set, Halep faced triple MP at love/40, escaping with a combination of her own guile and Davis' toenail coming off at just about the WORST MOMENT EVER ("Atta boy!," said the ball that rolled under Ana Konjuh's feet vs. Aga Radwanska at Wimbledon in 2016, from it's current home at the end of a dangling string in a garage outside London). On her fourth attempt to serve out the match, Halep finally prevailed. Afterward, she said, "I'm almost dead."


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3. Rome QF - Maria Sharapova def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-7(6)/6-4/7-5. One of those situations where all the hype was worth it. In their first meeting, the two RG champions, one past and one reigning, battled for 3:11 in a back-and-forth battle that was in question until the final game. Ostapenko nearly blew a 5-2 1st set lead, failing to secure four SP on Sharapova's serve and ultimately seeing the Russian serve for the set at 6-5, then held a SP at 6-5 in the TB before the Latvian (who'd twice DF'd when up 3-1 and 4-3) took the breaker 8-6. Ostapenko threatened to erase Sharapova's break lead in the 2nd, only to hand it back after getting things back on serve at 4-3. Sharapova maintained a similar break lead at 4-2 in the 3rd, and got within two points of the win at 5-3 while Ostapenko dealt with a leg injury that occurred when she did a rare (for her, at least) end-of-point split. The 20-year old saved two MP down 5-4 and managed to get things to 5-5, only to see Sharapova get the break to close the match two games later. In the end, Sharapova won 128 points to Ostapenko's 126, while the Latvian led 34-32 in winners (and had 61 UE's to the Russian's 49). While '17 RG champ Ostapenko would go on to suffer a 1st Round upset in Paris, Sharapova advanced to her first slam QF since her return from suspension.

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4. Montreal Final - Simona Halep def. Sloane Stephens
...7-6(6)/3-6/6-4. Halep and Stephens came together for another classic final. Halep led 4-1 in the 1st, but as both players jumped on the poor second serves of their opponents things got tight rather quickly. Halep served for the set at 5-4, but soon had to hold at 5-6 just to reach a TB. She saved a pair of SP to get there, then quickly fell behind 4-0. After getting one mini-break back, the Romanian DF'd to fall into a 5-1 hole. Back-to-back errors from the serving Stephens turned a 5-2 lead into a suddenly-close 5-4. Another Halep DF gave Stephens two more SP, but she failed to convert either, with her fourth of the set going away via a net cord shot that sailed beyond the baseline. Halep won a 20-shot rally with a backhand winner into the corner to reach her first SP, which she got with a Stephens return error to win 8-6.



Up 4-2 in the 2nd, Stephens saved two BP and forced a 3rd set when she converted on her fourth SP (after being 0-for-7 in the match).
Halep led 2-0 in the 3rd, but Stephens got back to even at 2-2, only to see Halep break to reclaim the lead as the two continued to trade off breaks of serve. Serving at 5-3, Halep DF'd on MP, and saw Stephens save two more on her own serve in game #9. Finally, serving for the match at 5-4, Halep fired an ace up the "T" to secure the title.
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5. Moscow Final - Dasha Kasatkina def. Ons Jabeur
...2-6/7-6(3)/6-4. A match between friends and training partners turned into a battle of highlight reel shots...





Featuring a comeback from 6-2/4-1 down by the Russian, who not for the first time during the week called upon her coach to light a fire under her racket. She stormed back and took control, serving for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd. Jabeur broke Kasatkina for 5-4, but leg cramps in her final service game led to the sort of unfortunate end this match didn't deserve. Though the concern and sportswomanship shown by Kasatkina for her friend/competitor *did* shine a welcome light on the finish.


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6. Fed Cup Final Match #3 - Katerina Siniakova def. Sonya Kenin
...6-7(4)/6-2/7-6(1). Oh, 2018... you little devil.



Naturally, the official '18 season would end with a FC-clinching, 3:44 drama that saw a new generation Maiden and a new Generation Bannerette face off in a back-and-forth affair with as many swings of emotion and momentum as rackets. With the Czechs up 2-0 after Day 1, there was no wiggle room for the defending champion U.S. squad. It was do (now!) or see their title defense die in Prague. For a bit, it looked as if the latter would happen in short order. Siniakova took a 5-3 1st set lead, but held off the late surge of Kenin, who got within two points of forcing a TB. The Czech broke to win the set 7-5.

Up 3-0 in the 2nd, and holding two BP for 4-0 at 15/40 on Kenin's serve, Siniakova lost her place in the battle. The Bannerette held and broke back a game later. Two games later, she broke the Czech from 30/love and took a 4-3 lead. Siniakova pushed back, breaking Kenin from 30/love, only to see Kenin soon respond by breaking *her* at love to lead 6-5. She then sent things to a 3rd set, serving out the 2nd by converting on her fourth SP opportunity.

Siniakova led 3-0 again in the 3rd, and saved five BP in a 19-minute hold to take a 4-1 lead. She had a GP for 5-2, but again Kenin, even while battling a thigh injury, had only begun to fight. She got the break to pull the match back from the edge and won three more games in a role. Serving up 5-4, 40/15 she held two MP to send the tie to a fourth singles match (Danielle Collins had already been tapped to finally join the fray after being held back on Day 1). But Siniakova had a final act of her own. She saved the first MP on a 25-shot rally, and got the break to keep the Czechs' hopes of a sweep alive. She held from love/40 down to take a 6-5 lead. Kenin had a GP in game #12, but couldn't get the set back to even. She saved a MP, but after retrieving a ball in the forecourt only to fire it beyond the baseline, Siniakova had a second chance. A wide Kenin forehand ended it, and the Czechs were champions. Again.


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7. Indian Wells SF - Dasha Kasatkina def. Venus Williams
...4-6/6-4/7-5. In their third three-setter in three career matches (this one went 2:48), Kasatkina physically wore down Venus (17 years her senior) beneath the nighttime sky in an instant desert classic. After dropping the 1st set, the Russian led 3-1 in the 2nd, but had to hold a key 13-minute, 22-point game for 5-3 to avoid giving Venus true hope that she could finish things off in two. Despite showing pretty much all the shots in her arsenal -- slices, solid forehands, jumping backhands, drop shots, backhand flicks down the line and into the corner -- Kasatkina found herself down 4-5 in the 3rd, and love/30 when she flubbed a shot into the net on a short ball. But rather than have her evening be defined in a negative way by the moment, she made it a foundation from which to build a winning exit strategy in the match. She won the next four points to hold, and 8/9 to close out the match. Venus contributed with back-to-back DF to break herself to give the Hordette a 6-5 lead that she didn't relinquish. In the end, Williams' 49/63 winner/UE stats didn't hold up against Kasatkina's (33/35), and the Russian's seventh break (on her 19th BP) to her own six (12 BP) proved to be just enough to get the victory.
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8. Rosmalen SF - Aleksandra Krunic def. CoCo Vandeweghe
...2-6/7-6(4)/7-6(1). Krunic's master class in shotmaking took down the two-time Rosmalen champ and #1 seed, erasing a set and a break deficit and saving a MP in the 3rd. But, really, all you really need to do is watch.




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9. Doha SF - Petra Kvitova def. Caroline Wozniacki
...3-6/7-6(3)/7-5. The Czech and the Dane tangled for 2:35, trading off attempts in the 2nd and 3rd sets to serve out the match. First, Wozniacki served up 6-3/5-4 (suffering a love break), then 6-5, in the 2nd. Kvitova won a TB to force a 3rd set, where she held from 15/30 (even w/ two DF, of the eleven she had on the day) for 4-4, broke a game later, and served for the match at 5-4. She was broken by the Dane, but then broke back a game later and finally served out the match. The win ended Wozniacki's 12-match semifinal unbeaten streak, making it the first time she failed in an attempt to reach a final since the 2016 U.S. Open vs. Kerber.
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10. Wimbledon QF - Angelique Kerber def. Dasha Kasatkina
...6-3/7-5. Pay no attention to the rather "routine" scoreline. A meeting between the two can be expected to have many things, from a large dose of variety, long rallies, the Russian pulling off every shot in the How-To-Tennis guidebook (and a few only available in the "updated" version you can purchase online), the German's defensive scrambles turning into suddenly shocking offense, and several instances when you see sweat glistening off both as they bend over in exhaustion after a particularly exciting adventure caper (complete with its own catchy theme song) and recognize that *this* is what guts and glory look like in a sports setting. And that's what we got, too. In fact, about the only thing we didn't see was a 3rd set. Ah, who knows what we missed out on.



As things played out a pattern developed for the swashbuckling Kasatkina, who'd often fluctuate between being brilliant and frustratingly inconsistent all day. A little more steadiness from the grinding *and* flashy (an intriguing combination, to say the least) Hordette and this could have been a Wimbledon classic. Kerber, by contrast, played a steady game. No big highs, but also no big lows. She staked out the "middle" and maintained it from the first point until the last. It turned out to be her key to victory.

The final game turned out to be a semi-masterpiece of guile and audacity. Kerber actually led 40/15 and it seemed as if it would end quickly, but it turned out to be a 16-point, 7-MP tussle highlighted by a 25-shot rally (to reach MP #6) that saw, just to name a few moments, Kasatkina slip and fall behind the baseline, then recover and race back to the other side of the court, pull off a drop shot, but then see it answered by a point-winning volley from Kerber.



A point later Kerber just missed completing a drop and lob combo to win the match (on MP #6), then finally did on MP #7 when Kasatkina failed to get back the German's forehand as Kerber's win set the stage for what turned out to be her third career slam title run.


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11. Cincinnati Final - Kiki Bertens def. Simona Halep
...2-6/7-6(6)/6-2. Halep seemed ready to embrace the history of becoming the first Canada/Cincy back-to-back champ, but Bertens had other thoughts. The Dutch woman led the 2nd set 4-1, but once the world #1 battled her way back, saved a SP at 5-4 and had a MP at 6-5 in the TB, Halep's first Cincinnati title appeared destined to be hers. But Bertens threw caution to the wind, upped her aggression, and stole the TB 8-6. With Simona frustrated and tiring in the heat after two LONG weeks, Kiki seized her opportunity and turned up the heat just a little more. After Halep broke serve in game #3 after falling behind 2-0, Bertens' immediate break back a game later showed that she wasn't going to wilt. She ended things with an ace. Of course... because that's what a good hard court player like Kiki does, right?


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12. Australian Open 4th Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Hsieh Su-wei
...4-6/7-5/6-2. Faced with an opponent in Hsieh who twisted the former #1 into a soft pretzel with her varied series of drop shots, slip-sliding forehand slices, hooks, flat change-of-direction winners down the line, angled brain-twisters, curling hand-cuffers, and, of course, her more "normal" corner-to-corner groundstrokes that served to leave her perpetually out of position for most of two full sets, Kerber was bewitched, bothered and bewildered almost to the point of being on the brink of defeat. Almost. As a tiring Hsieh hit the physical wall in the 3rd, Kerber finally hit *her* stride and pulled away.
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13. Strasbourg Final - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Dominika Cibulkova
...6-7(5)/7-6(3)/7-6(6). The Russian wins a crazy one in 3:35, saving two MP down 5-4 in the 3rd. After trailing 4-2 in the deciding TB, Pavlyuchenkova won four straight points to reach her own double MP. She didn't get either, but then took the final two points to secure the title. She had 73 winners on the day, 13 aces and 49 UE's, edging Cibulkova 136-134 in total points.
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14. Fed Cup World Group II Match #4 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Anastasia Potapova/RUS
...3-6/6-3/6-4. You can that say you knew her when....

Kuzmova may very well be the future of SVK Fed Cup, but after losing 4 & 2 to Natalia Vikhlyantseva in Match #1, then falling down a set vs. 16-year old Potapova in Match #4, things weren't looking particularly good for the 19-year old in her debut FC singles weekend. But she pulled her big game together and staged a comeback against Russian Captain Myskina's "substitute Anastasia," making her first FC victory a truly historic one, ending her nation's winless history vs. the Hordettes with an epic forehand put-away.

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15. U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Andrea Petkovic
...6-4/4-6/6-4. A match overlooked by most, but still worth remembering.

It was streaky in nature right from the start. Petkovic won the first five points, including a love break of Ostapenko's serve in game #1, until the German hit a double-fault. The Latvian then broke back and won four straight points of her own. Still, Ostapenko dropped her first six service points in the match. When Petkovic broke to take a 3-2 lead, Ostapenko's frustration bubbled just under the surface. By game #6, she'd already committed twelve unforced errors. But she found her groove and, as is the law with the Thunder, it was difficult for her opponent to keep up with her when she did.

The Latvian took the 1st at 6-4 and led 3-0 in in 2nd set, and had break point for 4-0. But after she failed to convert the opportunity, her rising UE total spelled her doom in the set. As that was playing out, a fired-up Petkovic blazed back into contention. With a BP at 4-4, the German absolutely crushed a second serve return for a winner into the corner to get the chance to serve for the set. With the game knotted at 30/30, one final surge did the trick as Petko took the set with an ace.


Again, Ostapenko held an early lead in the 3rd. Up 2-0, she dropped serve in game #3, but broke back and held for a 4-1 advantage. She served for the match (into the sun) at 5-3, and held two match points. Petkovic's defense, though, extended rallies and, as it turned out, the match, as well. MP #2 was saved when a Petko forehand bounced off the tape, caught a line, and resulted in a mistimed Ostapenko forehand into the net. The Latvian then DF'd and, BP down, saw another forehand error hand a break of serve to Petkovic, who pounded her chest as she stalked toward the changeover area with the score at 5-4.

Petkovic held at 15 to level the set, as Ostapenko's UE total edged near sixty for the match. But just when it appeared as if the German might provide Armstrong with another day-opening upset, the Latvian's thunder emerged. She fell behind 15/30 in game #11, and saved two BP, but managed to hold for a 6-5 lead. With Petko serving to stay in the match, the score was 30/30 a game later. On game point, the German double-faulted. On a second GP, Ostapenko ended a rally previously defined by Petkovic's defense with a swing volley winner to drown out what would be her final chance to stay in the match. A point later, Petkovic pulled up her racket on an Ostapenko ball near the baseline, then immediately challenged the call of the shot which had been declared in. When the replay showed that it had indeed caught the line -- by, it seemed, maybe the newly-ruffled fuzz of the ball -- Ostapenko had her third MP. Petko saved it with a service winner, but a running crosscourt forehand winner from the Latvian gave her fourth MP. When the German netted her reply to Ostapenko's backhand return, it was over after nearly 2:30 on the hottest of the early days of this year's Open.


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16. Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. CoCo Vandeweghe
...6-7(3)/6-3/8-6. Vandeweghe battled the Czech for over three hours despite a bum ankle, and a nasty looking fall (she raced forward to reach a ball, slid on the grass and ended up flat on her back, partially under the net and beside the net post on the AD court side). While limping and wincing throughout, she managed to take the 1st set TB from the Czech, then take control in the 3rd set after Siniakova had won the 2nd. She served for the match at 5-3, but failed to seal the deal, then saw Siniakova play her more straight-up without thinking about her injury down the stretch. She pulled even and then ahead for good.


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17. Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Julia Goerges def. Barbora Strycova
...7-6(3)/3-6/10-8. Lost in the Day 5 commotion of both Williams Sisters simultaneously (on Centre and Court One) squaring off with different Kikis at the same time, there was another crazy match taking place out on Court 2. As it turned out, Goerges, after coming to London having lost five straight 1st Round matches at Wimbledon, advanced to her first SW19 Round of 16 (and, later, her maiden slam semi) with a victory in 2:58 over Strycova. The match turned out to have a 3rd set for the ages, as after twelve straight holds of serve it suddenly became impossible for either player to hold at all. Goerges finally got her first break of the day (after 16 previous service holds from Strycova) of the Czech's serve to take a 7-6 lead. But Strycova then continually broke back to stay in the match, forcing Goerges to serve for the the win three different times, at 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8. Finally, she got the hold to win.
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18. U.S. Open 4th Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-2/2-6/6-4. The "Boom-shaka-Osaka" clash at Flushing Meadows that will likely only grow expotentially in stature as the years go on.

The all-20 year old, U.S. Open Round of 16 match-up between #26 Sabalenka and #20 Osaka wasn't just a first-time meeting between a pair of Generation PDQ "Bash Sisters," it was a look into something of the soul of the future of women's tennis. Not all of it, mind you, but a large subsection where power rules, the potential for it to intimidate excites, and individual stardom awaits for those who can corral it all and rise above.

After the ten-minute between-set break, Osaka held at 15 to open the 3rd, looking fresh again after seeing her game take step back in the 2nd. The Japanese player being able to stave off a BP in her last 2nd set serve game allowed her to open the deciding set on serve, preventing her from having to face the constant pressure of serving from behind. Instead, it would be Sabalenka's lot in the 3rd. Sabalenka followed suit on her own service hold at 15 with a down-the-line forehand that painted the side line. In game #3, Osaka found herself in a love/30 hole, causing her frustration to leak out just a bit as she tapped rather forcefully (but never fully slammed) her racket on the court. A netted forehand put her down double BP, then Sabalenka charged the net behind her return and put away a breaking volley to go up 2-1. But rather than Sabalenka taking the wind-in-her-sails moment and carrying it to the finish, it was Osaka who lifted her level in the final games, better controlling her power (and UE) and playing with the sort of consistency that was always going to be necessary for *one* of these two if they were going to have any sort of real say in the outcome of the match.

She got the break back a game later, then followed with a strong hold, ending it with an ace to lead 3-2. A missed backhand down the line put Sabalenka down love/30, then a DF gave Osaka triple BP. But Sabalenka, as she has so often this summer in a series of three-setters, often coming back from MP down to win, managed a final push with her back against the wall. She pulled herself out of the hole with big serves and aggressive play, holding for 3-3 with a game-ending forehand winner. A Sabalenka error on a short ball off an Osaka return put her down love/30 two games later, but she held again for 4-4.

But remember, Sabalenka was the one who was tasked with holding to keep contact in the set, and the pressure to continually do so proved to be too great, and the Great Wave of Osaka too strong to hold back. Feeling the moment and recognizing her time to shine, Osaka held at love, punctuating the game with an ace for a 5-4 lead. Again serving to get even, this time to stay in the match, the Belarusian again fell behind. But this time she couldn't battle her way back. A backhand bounced off the net cord and landed out, leaving her love/30 down. A DF gave Osaka triple MP.

In one final flourish, Sabalenka got the game back to deuce, saving three MP with a wide second serve and forehand winner combo, an Osaka return error and a service winner up the middle. On GP, Osaka fired a big return at Sabalenka's feet and the game continued, with MP #4 soon coming after another large return. This time, rather than pull herself back up, Sabalenka served herself out of the U.S. Open with another DF, giving Osaka a win and her maiden slam quarterfinal result.

Sabalenka's 2nd set win turned out to be the only stanza Osaka would lose the entire tournament, as she claimed her first career slam crown, raising expectations for her future while leaving the Belarusian wondering what might have been.
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19. Fed Cup Americas I Promotional Playoff Match #2 - Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR def. Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...6-7(2)/7-5/7-6(9). Cepede Royg and Haddad Maia saw their match suspended with the Brazilian leading 4-3 in the 1st set. Hours later, after day had turned into night, Haddad took a late break lead in the 3rd, only to see VCR break back and force a deciding TB (with a rule change, the long, drawn out final sets in FC play are now history because, you know, who wants drama?). The Paraguayan held triple MP at 6-3, only to see Haddad save all three and hold three MP of her own. The Brazilian DF'd on #3 up 9-8, leading to VCR finally securing the win and clinching the tie victory on MP #4 to take the breaker 11-9, ending a match that lasted 3:20 between the lines, but much longer when you factor in the rain delay. Naturally, somehow the ITF (months later, of course) saw fit to nominate Haddad for the Americas Zone Fed Cup Heart Award for the weekend, not Cepede Royg, though the Brazilian was out-voted for the honor by... Montserrat Gonzalez, VCR's teammate. Some things boggle the mind.


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20. Moscow Final - Olga Danilovic def. Anastasia Potapova
...7-5/6-7(1)/6-4. Potapova was 2-0 ('16 AO & Roehampton) in their junior head-to-head, winning a pair of straight sets matches. But this match-up of two 17-year olds was a back-and-forth affair. Danilovic came back from 4-1 down (w/ points for 5-1) to win the 1st at 7-5, then DF'd on MP when serving for the title at 5-4 in the 2nd. In the 3rd, it was Potapova who lost a break lead as the Serb's aggression and big groundstrokes finally dragged her across the match's finish line first... and into tour history as she became the WTA's first lucky loser champion.
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=MEMORABLE, BUT FOR THE WRONG REASON...=
Rome 2nd Rd. - Maria Sakkari def. Karolina Pliskova
...4-6/6-3/7-5. A great win for Sakkari, but one that will be remembered for umpire Marta Mrozinska wrongly failing to overturn a clear line call. Still, though she had a right to be frustrated and angry, Pliskova's act of attacking the umpire's chair with her racket following the match, smashing a hole in its side as Sakkari winced and did her best to avoid any shrapnel was a step too far.


=HISTORY MADE, YET AGAIN...=
Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Venus Williams def. Serena Williams
...6-3/6-4. Seventeen years after the controversial semifinal walkover, the Sisters finally meet in Indian Wells in the 29th edition of their historic on-court series. Still early-on in Serena's return, it should have hardly come as a surprise that Venus would prevail over her little sister for the first time in nearly four years (Montreal '14). Of course, Serena *did* manage to delay the "inevitable" a little bit, as Venus failed to serve things out at 5-2 (w/ a MP), stringing together a Serena passing shot/Venus missed sitter/DF stretch to drop serve, then had to stave off another BP in the 5-4 game before finally closing things out.



=THE GAME THAT'LL CHANGE EVERYTHING?=
WTA Finals rr - Elina Svitolina def. Caroline Wozniacki
...5-7/7-5/6-3. Svitolina's path to the title was made possible not by a win here, but by one set. The 2nd. One *game*, really. THE TWELFTH.

While Wozniacki needed a straight sets win to reach the SF and eliminate Svitolina, the Ukrainian needed only to take a single set. With the moment of truth fast approaching late in the tight 2nd stanza, with the Dane serving down 5-6, Svitolina went up 15/40. She didn't *have* to win game #12 to advance, as she would have gotten another chance in a "winner-takes-the-SF-slot" TB. But this moment can now be viewed through the lens of "before." Before Svitolina battled through her nerves (and some short-landing shots that allowed Wozniacki to battle back and hold two GP). Before Svitolina slayed one of her more lethal personal "can't win in the clutch, can't close out a win on the big stage" demons from her past and secured the game, set and the semis on her fifth BP/SP/Advancement Point. Before whatever follows in the aftermath of this win -- and tournament -- for the Ukrainian becomes a reason to look back on this moment once again. Possibly in 2019.




Svitolina's eventual match win closed out a 3-0 round robin mark, giving her 1st Place in her group, altering what would have otherwise been the semifinal matchups. As it turned out, she faced Kiki Bertens in the SF, who faltered at the end of both the 1st and 3rd sets, and *then* in the final it was Sloane Stephens, who appeared a bit tired at the end of a long week while Svitolina (who'd faced just as many tight situations in long matches) was drinking from a cup filled to the brim with confidence, excitement and redemption.

Would Svitolina have won the title if she'd faced a slightly fresher Stephens in the semis, then either Bertens or Pliskova in the final? Maybe. Maybe not. But she wouldn't have had the chance if not for GAME TWELVE. Thus, it carves out a special place in Svitolina history. The Process is officially a plotline, not a punchline.

Trust the Process... to be continued next season.



==MATCH OF THE YEAR==
2005 Aust. Open SF - Serena Williams d. Maria Sharapova
2006 Aust. Open SF - Justine Henin-H. d. Maria Sharapova
2007 Los Angeles SF - Ana Ivanovic d. Jelena Jankovic
2008 U.S. Open Final - Serena Williams d. Venus Williams
2009 Wimbledon SF - Serena Williams d. Elena Dementieva
2010 Brisbane Final - Kim Clijsters d. Justine Henin
2011 Aust. Open 4th - Francesca Schiavone d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2012 Miami 4th - Victoria Azarenka d. Dominika Cibulkova
2013 Cincinnati Final - Victoria Azarenka d. Serena Williams
2014 Indian Wells QF - Aga Radwanska d. Jelena Jankovic
2015 R.Garros 2nd - Francesca Schiavone d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2016 Wimbledon 4th - Dominika Cibulkova d. Aga Radwanska
2017 Madrid 2nd - Genie Bouchard d. Maria Sharapova
2018 Aust. Open SF - Simona Halep d. Angelique Kerber




1. Australian Open 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Jana Fett
...3-6/6-2/7-5. The escape that made her eventual maiden slam title run possible. Early on, 2014 AO girls finalist Fett (in just her second career slam MD match) controlled the flow and direction of the match, dictating play with her power, and serving big while Wozniacki was seemingly forgetting about her new, more forward, aggressive style of play. The Dane's 2nd set moment of truth presented her with the chance to show that she *could* diagnose her difficulties and change course. In the aftermath of dropping the 1st, she began to move forward and take balls earlier, knotting the match. But rather than go away herself, Fett stood up. Not holding back, she regained control of the match in the 3rd. Hitting and serving big, she pressured the once-again-off-message Wozniacki into more producing more errors. The frustrated Dane's fifth double-fault of the match broke her own serve and she was down 5-1. Fett took a 40/15 lead on serve and held double match point. And then she finally started to show her nerves. Fett continued to go for big first serves, but started missing them. Her deep groundstrokes started landing shorter in the court, and Wozniacki began to take advantage, allowing her experience advantage to take hold. With the Croat starting to resemble the big stage newcomer she was, Wozniacki knew what she needed to do: hit the ball deep in the court to prevent Fett's power from bailing her out of a rally, and try to never fire a ball outside the lines. Luckily for Wozniacki, she's always been expert at both. Refusing to miss, Wozniacki saw the match come right back to her, and served out the win to produce a result that turned out to be the biggest Houdini-esque escape of the entire women's competition.

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2. Sydney 1st Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Lucie Safarova
...6-7(3)/7-6(8)/6-2. As was the case with her career-transforming Australian Open title run in '16, Kerber's appearance in Sydney was almost over before it'd hardly even begun. With the ghost of Misaki Doi surely floating by, the German scratched out tangible early evidence of her turnaround after a forgettable '17 campaign, surviving two rain stoppages, going a set and a break down, and saving two MP in the tie-break vs. the Czech in her opening match, then going on to win the title.


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The Rad's series of loving goodbye kisses to Aga on the grass courts of England...

3. Eastbourne 2nd Rd. - Aga Radwanska def. Dasha Gavrilova
...5-7/7-6(4)/6-0. Like (doomsday) clockwork, the machinations of our favorite malevolent entity seemed to be lingering in the shadows at Eastbourne on the annual Remembrance Day of the original June 26, 2013 "Radwanskian Massacre" at Wimbledon. On Tuesday it felt like old times, as a (briefly) revitalized Aga, after having lost the first set to Gavrilova despite leading it 4-1, saw the Aussie DF on two MP at 6-5 in the 2nd. The Pole then took the 2nd set TB to force a deciding set, and then won it 6-0. Gavrilova had 17 DF in the match, which seemed destined to go way over the three-hour mark before the bagel 3rd. With a 28-minute final set added in, the contest came in at 2:56.

Eastbourne QF - Aga Radwanska def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-2/7-5. Then, a day later, this match happened. The only thing better than Aga's lob might on this point have been Alona's reaction to it:


Not a comeback there, but worthy of inclusion, for old time's sake.

Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Aga Radwanska def. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
...6-3/4-6/7-5. Against #197 Ruse, Radwanska jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 1st. But the Romanian, a qualifier in her slam MD debut, began to find her footing, playing fearless tennis and going for all her shots. She managed to close to within 5-3 in the 1st before Radwanska finally finished off the set, then broke the Pole's serve to take the 2nd. The two were locked in a tight battle in the 3rd, tied at 4-4. Pulling Aga in to the net, then firing passing shots by her, Ruse converted a GP with a net cord shot that ploppped onto Radwanska's side of the court to go up 5-4.

Game #10, with Radwanska serving to stay in the tournament, with her worst-ever Wimbledon result potentially at hand, turned out to be a showcase for all the "murky" things that have always seemed to happen around Radwanska on the AELTC grounds. It wasn't quite of the Konjuh-steps-on-a-ball-and-turns-her-ankle variety, but it was surely memorable in its own right. The game lasted fourteen minutes, had 23 points, went to deuce eight times, saw Ruse hold SIX match points... and then ended when Radwanska, somehow, managed to hold for 5-5. Perhaps the key point, Ruse's 6th and final MP, came when after she'd gotten into position for a career-altering win by hitting out, she tried to drop shot Radwanska to end the match. The ball failed to make it over the net, and the sense of a lost opportunity swept over the windswept SW19 landscape. A game later, Ruse went up 30/love, but soon found herself BP down. An error off the Romanian's racket got Aga the break and the chance to serve out the match.



Aga lost in the 2nd Round, tying for her worst finish (w/ '11) in thirteen SW19 appearances. With ther recent retirement, this ended up being Radwanska's final Wimbledon match win.

Aga may be gone, but the ghost of the Rad still lingers around the AELTC grounds. Nothing ever *totally* leaves this earth. I'm just sayin'.
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Belarusian Boom's wild summer and early fall, during which she deliriously danced along the edge of the "Cliffs of Simona"...

4. Montreal 2nd Rd. - Ayrna Sabalenka def. Caroline Wozniacki 5-7/6-2/7-6(4)
Montreal 3rd Rd. - Elise Mertens def. Aryna Sabalenka 2-6/7-6(1)/6-0
...what a day. A week earlier, Sabalenka fell in the opening round of San Jose qualifying to #258 Maria Sanchez. In Montreal, she saved 3 MP vs. #2 Wozniacki and avenged her loss to the Dane in the Eastbourne final, firing 15 aces and 64 winners en route to the biggest win of her career in the 2:31 contest. Thing is, due to all the rain in Quebec, Sabalenka wasn't finished. She had to play a second match about ninety minutes later vs. Mertens. She held a MP vs. the Waffle, but dropped a 2nd set TB, then lost the 3rd set at love.

Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Karolina Pliskova
...2-6/6-4/7-5. After previously this summer falling to the Belarusian in Eastbourne despite holding a 4-1 3rd set lead, Pliskova failed to close her out in Cincy even after holding two MP at 5-4 in the 3rd. A game later, the Czech DF'd on BP and Sabalenka served out yet another comeback win.

Cincinnati 3rd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Caroline Garcia
...6-3/3-6/7-5. Garcia served at 5-4 and had a MP, but couldn't stop Sabalenka from recording her third win from MP down in back-to-back events. She swept the final four games.

Beijing 3rd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Caroline Garcia
...5-7/7-6(3)/6-0. After winning these sort of matches in the latter stages of '17, Garcia was felled for the second time in a matter of months by the comeback-minded Belarusian. The Pastry led 7-5/5-2, but was unable to stop Sabalenka's momentum once she started to roll late in the 2nd set.
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5. Dubai SF - Dasha Kasatkina def. Garbine Muguruza
...3-6/7-6(11)/6-1. After going 3:00 (and saving 2 MP) vs. Johanna Konta earlier in the week, Kasatkina went "just 2:30" in this one, staging another comeback win despite being down a break twice in the 2nd set. Four straight breaks of serve led into the start of the TB, where the Russian started with a DF before then winning a 38-shot rally and saving three MP, including one with a successful replay challenge. She took the breaker 13-11 to force a 3rd. After failing to close out the win, Muguruza then "drifted" (aka Mugu-ed) toward the finish, dropping serve to open the set, committing too many errors and ultimately notching just a single game in the deciding stanza.

Rome 2nd Rd. - Dasha Gavrilova def. Garbine Muguruza
...5-7/6-2/7-6(6). Garbi's trouble with Dashas continued in the spring.

The Aussie saved two MP (Muguruza DF'd on the first) and overcame 4-0 3rd set deficit to take out the world #3 in 3:08, closing out the match after two o'clock in the morning.

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6. Charleston SF - Kiki Bertens def. Madison Keys
...6-4/6-7(2)/7-6(5). After dropping the 1st set, Keys led the 2nd 5-3, only to see Bertens win three straight games and hold two MP at 6-5. Bertens failed to convert either, though she had a chance on #2 and hit the ball almost directly to Keys at the net for the put-away volley rather than going for an outright winner that likely would have ended the match. Keys took control in the TB, and raced to a lead in the 3rd. She served for the match and held a MP at 5-4, but was broken, then failed to serve things out again at 6-5. The Dutch woman won the deciding TB 7-5 to prevent Keys from reaching her second Charleston final in four years, then went on to take the title herself.
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7. Eastbourne SF - Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber
...2-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Wozniacki's second 2018 title after having staved off a MP was nearly lost here against the eventual Wimbledon champ in a seesaw match in which the Dane was out-pointed (101-95), out-winnered (42-34) and had more unforced errors (24-19). Wozniacki saved the MP by outlasting Kerber in a massive 24-shot rally in the 2nd set. She went on to take the TB to force a 3rd, where she led 4-0 before things got tight again in the end. Ultimately, Wozniacki's big point prowess won out, as she saved break points in both of her last two service games (Kerber was 4-of-12 on the day), while she converted three of her own four BP chances in the match.


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8. Tashkent 2nd Rd. - Margarita Gasparyan def. Tatjana Maria
...6-2/3-6/7-6(2). The Russian's title run wouldn't have happened had she not overcome being two breaks down (0-4, love/30) in the 3rd vs. the German. She finished off Maria with a MP lob, and the rest was history.
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9. Acapulco Final - Lesia Tsurenko def. Stefanie Voegele
...5-7/7-6(2)/6-2. Having won sixteen straight sets (and led 5-0 when her opponent retired in another) over a two-year span in Acapulco, Tsurenko dropped the opening set in the '18 final vs. first-time tour finalist Voegele, and trailed 7-5/4-2. She broke the Swiss and served for the 2nd set at 5-4, only to see her opponent get back on serve and eventually get within three points of the title. But the Ukrainian took a 7-2 2nd set TB, then took a 3-1 lead in the 3rd. Again, Voegele broke to get back on serve in game #5, but Tsurenko turned it on late to successful defend her title. The result: "Sombrerenko II!"


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10. Dubai Q3 - Sara Errani def. Aryna Sabalenka 6-2/1-6/7-6(4)
Budapest Q1 - Roberta Vinci def. Anna Kalinskaya 3-6/6-4/7-6(3)
...this could very well be the last time we see two original members of the Italian Quartet come back from MP down to win in the same week. Errani impressively staged a comeback from 4-1 and 5-3 down in the 3rd vs. Sabalenka, who served for the match and held a MP at 5-4. In Budapest, Vinci saved a MP at 5-4 in the 3rd vs. Kalinskaya, winning and then reaching the MD with a 2:30 Q2 victory over Vera Lapko. While Errani topped one Belarusian, Vinci then lost to the other, falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the 1st Round.
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11. Roland Garros 2nd Rd. - Dasha Gavrilova def. Bernarda Pera
...5-7/7-5/6-3. After coming back from a set down to win a dramatic 1st Round match over Sorana Cirstea, Gavrilova did it again in a seesaw contest with Pera. Leads meant little in this one, as the Bannerette was up a break at 2-1 in the 1st, only to see Gavrilova win four in a row to lead 5-2, then Pera counter with a five-game run of her own to take the set 7-5. In the 2nd, Pera led 3-1, went up a double-break and held a MP at 5-2 before it was Gavrilova who won five straight to take a 7-5 set to send things to a 3rd after the Bannerette's unfortunate collapse. Again, the U.S. player, who reached the 3rd Round as a lucky loser in Melbourne in January, took an early break lead and was up 2-0 in the 3rd, only to see the Aussie again win five straight to lead 5-2. Then Pera won five straight... err, no, wait... sorry, force of habit. *This* time the player with the lead actually held onto it as Gavrilova closed out a victory in 2:35 to reach the Final 32 for the first time in Paris.
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12. Miami Q1 - Tereza Martincova def. Sara Errani
...6-4/5-7/7-6(2). Lost in the shuffle of the early stages of qualifying in Miami was what arguably goes down as the biggest squandered lead of the season, as Errani led Martincova 5-0, Ad-up in the 3rd. The MP ball was called out, but overruled by the umpire. The Italian should have known then and there that the Tennis Gods were dead set against her in 2018.
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13. Rosmalen QF - CoCo Vandeweghe def. Alison Riske
...7-6(6)/3-6/7-6(12). It says something about the matches in Den Bosch that one where the winner saved SEVEN match points got lost in the shuffle in the end. Well, that happened here. Vandeweghe won the 1st set on her sixth SP. In the 3rd, she failed to convert at MP before Riske forced things to a TB. Ultimately, CoCo saved seven MP before finally winning on her own fifth MP... then went on to squander a MP in the SF vs. Aleks Krunic, who then took the title a day later.
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14. Australian Open 4th Rd. - Carla Suarez-Navarro def Anett Kontaveit
...4-6/6-4/8-6. Seeded for the first time (#32) at a major, Kontaveit showed why she's a player to watch, only to falter when things mattered the most. With her maiden slam QF within reach, she led 6-4/4-1, with a double-break advantage, only to see the aggression she'd used to take the lead wane and her error total climb as CSN reeled off five straight games to even the match. Kontaveit managed to carve out another opportunity in the 3rd, breaking the Spaniard for 5-4 and serving for the match. But, again, she played a bad game as Suarez-Navarro mostly simply played steady shots (that one-handed backhand is always reliable and a joy to watch) and allowed her to err. CSN got the break, backed it up with a love hold for 6-5, then forced Kontaveit to hold to stay alive again two games later. Finally, a long Kontaveit forehand on CSN's third MP completed the comeback, sending her to her sixth career slam QF.
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15. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Yulia Putintseva def. Wang Qiang
...1-6/7-5/6-4. Putintseva finally put an end to the career slam run of Wang in Paris, but she had to come back from a 6-1/4-1 deficit, then climb out of a 3-0 hole in the 3rd, as well, before ultimately getting the win to reach her second career slam Round of 16 (w/ '16 RG QF, which she'd go on to match)). She then celebrated the way only she can...

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HM- U.S. Open Q3 - #24 Vera Zvonareva def. #12 Zhu Lin
...6-2/4-6/7-5. The former finalist (2010) comes back from 5-2 down in the 3rd, saving three MP, to reach her first Open MD in seven years. She got a win, her first since '15 (and in NYC since reaching the QF in '11).
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=THE ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON AND NEW YORK...=
...before she was a Fed Cup queen, Siniakova was rising from the dead on the grand slam stage, staging comebacks after seeing her opponent serve for the match in the 1st AND 2nd Rounds of BACK-TO-BACK slams this summer.

Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7(3)/6-3/8-6
Wimbledon 2nd Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Ons Jabeur 5-7/6-4/9-7
...first, the Czech Maiden escaped her 1st Round match with Vandeweghe. The Bannerette was nursing an ankle injury and took a bad spill at the net, but still led Siniakova 5-2 in the 3rd set and served for the match at 5-3. Three days later, Siniakova experienced a very vivid case of deja vu against Jabeur.

She likely began the day feeling good about her chances. She held a 4-0 head-to-head lead (2 WTA/2 ITF) over the Tunisian, having never lost a set against her. Jabeur won a tight 1st set at 7-5, then Siniakova served out a 6-4 2nd. In the 3rd, Jabeur took a 5-2 lead (she had a MP), then served for the match at 5-3. Sound familiar? She couldn't do it, and in the blink of an eye Siniakova was serving for the match at 6-5 (she fell behind 15/40), then again at 7-6 (she fell behind 15/40), then again at 8-7. She finally won it on 2:27. She needed every last one of the 117 points she won (vs. Jabeur's 115) on the day.



U.S Open 1st Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Anett Kontaveit 6-7(3)/6-3/7-5
U.S. Open 2nd Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3/6-7(7)/7-6(4)
...by this time, "imminent danger" was Siniakova's best friend. Kontaveit served for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd in New York, but the Czech prevailed again. Siniakova served for the match in the 2nd against Tomljanovic, only to see the Aussie get *her* chance to serve things out at 6-5 in the 3rd. Again, though, Siniakova was the last woman standing.

Such drama didn't ultimately lead to deep slam runs, though both results match her career best major finish. At Wimbledon, Siniakova lost in the 3rd Round to Camila Giorgi after leading the Italian 6-3/4-2, and holding a MP at 5-4. At the Open 3rd Round, she lost 4 & love to Lesia Tsurenko.






1. Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Kateryna Kozlova def. Alona Ostapenko
...7-5/6-3. What a difference a year makes. Back in Paris for the first time since her maiden slam run at RG, Ostapenko had trouble holding serve right from the start. The Latvian would continually get the break back but would be unable to avoid giving it away again almost immediately. After leveling things at 4-4, she was broken for 5-4 in the 1st. She denied Kozlova when she served for the set once, only to then drop serve again and see the Ukrainian secure the lead with a hold for 7-5. After taking a 2-0 lead, Ostapenko fell behind a break in the 2nd at 3-2. The two traded breaks again in games 6 and 7 until Kozlova finally pulled away, even while dealing with a nasty blister on her heel. For Kozlova, in just her second tournament back after cracking cartilage in her right knee at Indian Wells, it was her first career Top 30 win, and her second slam MD victory (w/ '17 U.S.). Ostapenko's loss made her the first defending RG champ to exit in the 1st Round since Anastasia Myskina in 2005 (and it happened on Day 1 on the opening Sunday...NONE have ever exited so quickly). Ostapenko would go on to lose 1st Round matches in WD and MX, as well.
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2. Indian Wells 3rd Rd. - Amanda Anisimova def. Petra Kvitova
...6-2/6-4. The recipe for eliminating a Petra with a 14-match winning streak included, other than (understandable) fatigue on the Czech's side of the net, a big-hitting 16-year old wild card thoroughly enjoying her first experiences on a big stage. Anisimova failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the 2nd, but then broke Kvitova to close the door, becoming the first 16-year old to reach the Round of 16 in the desert since 2005.

what.just.happened

A post shared by Amanda (@amandaanisimova) on


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3. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Sachia Vickery def. Garbine Muguruza
...2-6/7-5/6-1. In Vickery's first event as a Top 100 player, she got the biggest win of her career, becoming the second straight Muguruza opponent to come from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the Spaniard. In Dubai, Muguruza twice held a break lead vs. Dasha Kasatkina in the 2nd set and had three MP in the TB, only to lose it 13-11 and then "wander off" while the Russian ran away with the 3rd. Against Vickery, she led by a set and 3-0, and had six points for a 4-0 lead, but she failed to convert any, and saw Vickery storm back and level the match. Back-to-back DF in game #4 of the 3rd handed Vickery a 3-1 lead, and she never looked back. Muguruza, as per usual, seemed, umm, something less than interested in Sam Sumyk's coaching advice during a changeover visit late in the match. For all intents and purpose, it was already over.

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4. Miami QF - Danielle Collins def. Venus Williams
...6-2/6-3. Collins' mad March dream not only carried over on the opposite coast from her Round of 16 result in Indian Wells, but it actually got even better as the two-time NCAA champ won seven total matches while going from qualifier to semifinalist, the first such climb in the history of the tournament. The former University of Virginia star knocked off Irina-Camelia Begu, CoCo Vandeweghe, Donna Vekic, Monica Puig and then childhood idol Venus Williams (!!) in the QF.

Respect to a tennis legend. #MiamiOpen

A post shared by ?? Miami Open ?? (@miamiopen) on


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5. Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Vitalia Diatchenko def. Maria Sharapova
...6-7(3)/7-6(3)/6-4. The Russian qualifier's win in 3:08 in the final moments of the day's light gave her her first Wimbledon MD victory, and just her third ever at a slam. Sharapova, who lost in the opening round at SW19 for the first time, served for the match at 7-6/5-3. But Diatchenko would never go away, and Sharapova, as has been the case since she returned from suspension, often seemed tight in the big moments and had a hard time not only putting her opponent away, but just keeping hold of an advantage on the scoreboard when she got it. Diatchenko won a 7-3 TB to knot the match. She then saw Sharapova obtain, then give away, a pair of break leads in the 3rd set. Her last came after she'd taken a 4-3 lead, only to drop serve herself moments later. She wouldn't win another game after that, and ultimately double-faulted on MP. Diatchenko hadn't played a slam MD match since 2016, while Maria was 49-3 in the 1st Round of majors alone. Not only that, but Sharapova has a long history of beating up on her fellow Russians inside the lines of the court. She came into the day with a nearly 80% win percentage vs. her countrywomen for her career and had gone 35-4 against them since early 2010, 27-3 since 2011, and had been 2-0 the last two seasons.


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6. Fed Cup WG Playoff Match #2 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-2/2-6/7-6(5)
Match #4 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR 6-1/7-6(3)
...and here it seemed as if Kuzmova's big win to clinch Slovakia's first ever win over Russia back in February was going to be her Fed Cup season highlight. Even with the doubles loss, this double-barreled blast may have left that one in the dust in short order. Unfortunately for her and the other Slovaks, it wasn't enough to take the tie from '17 FC finalist Belarus, which won 3-2.

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Signs of things that would soon come...

One of the key advances necessary for Osaka's career to take an upturn was always her ability to be more consistent, which is surely tied into her not allowing negativity to slip into her thought process. Whether it's because of the presence of new coach Sasha Bajin or Osaka's own maturation process, or some combination of the two, there was something different about her ever before she claimed the biggest titles of her career in 2018.

7. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Maria Sharapova
...6-4/6-4. It was quickly apparent in her first step toward what turned out to be a title run in Indian Wells. Her quick leads in both sets over Sharapova were impressive, but what was even more so was how she held on and claimed both after the Russian had twice leveled things at 4-4. Even Osaka noted how in the past she'd likely had been unable to halt either slide.

Fresh off her win in the desert, Osaka traveled east to the opposite U.S. coast...

Miami 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Serena Williams
...6-3/6-2. I.W. champ Osaka, just days after flying as high as she ever had (but not as high as she soon would), was called upon to face none other than Serena Williams in Miami. With both players experiencing totally foreign circumstance, no one knew what to expect. As it turned out, Osaka managed to avoid being overwhelmed, not to mention starstruck (at least until the handshake at the net), as she handled a less-than-average version of Serena in a rather unfortunate, far-too-early encounter.

Sometimes body language tells the story all on its own...




As it turned out, their second meeting -- also won by Osaka -- had its rather unfortunate aspects, as well. The body language displayed at Flushing Meadows, both in the heat of and after the match, was pretty telling, too.
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8. Australian Open Q1 - Marta Kostyuk def. Arina Rodionova 4-6/6-3/6-3
Australian Open 1st Rd. - Marta Kostyuk def. Peng Shuai 6-2/6-2
...Kostyuk's AO ride began with a Q-round victory over veteran Aussie Rodionova, who got *her* first career slam MD wins at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, only to fall in her hometown to the 15-year old, who'd gotten a Q-round WC due to winning the '17 AO Girls title. After winning two more three-setters to reach the MD (becoming the first player born in 2002 to do so), Kostyuk knocked off a seed, #25 Peng, and advanced all the way to the Round of 16 (the youngest since 1996), where she lost to countrywoman Elina Svitolina.


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9. Fed Cup Europe/Africa I Pool A Round Robin Match #2 - Cagla Buyukakcay/TUR def. Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...6-2/3-6/6-3. No matter what happened by the end of the weekend, as Latvia scrambled to win a Promotional Playoff and advance to the WG Playoffs, the most significant result in Tallinn was this one. Buyukakcay has racked up a series of "first player from Turkey to..." honors the last couple of seasons, though her results have leveled off over the last year or so. For one match, though, that changed when she opened up round robin play with a 6-2/3-6/6-3 win over the reigning Roland Garris champ, recording the first Top 10 win of her career.
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10. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Mihaela Buzarnescu def. Elina Svitolina
...6-3/7-5. A year ago, Svitolina held MP on Simona Halep in the RG quarterfinals, only to crumble. This year, Halep won her first major title in Paris, while Svitolina, one of the pre-tournament favorites, fell to ANOTHER Romanian (who'd come to Paris w/o a MD win at a major in her career) in the 3rd Round. The 30-year old Swarmette lefty has been one of the best stories in the sport over the past year, coming back from injuries and after deciding to pursue a Ph.D while she was out of action. She was #377 when Roland Garros was being played last spring, and this year managed to be seeded at a major for the first time. Playing with aggression and confidence worthy of someone with a bushel of slam MD wins (and maybe more), Buzarnescu jumped on Svitolina and dared her to fight back. She tried, but it was never enough. The Romanian took the 1st set 6-3, holding a 14-3 edge in winners, winning 72% of first serve points (to Svitolina's 50%), and even 60% of her second, while converting both of her BP chances. Svitolina mostly righted her problems in the 2nd set, but still found herself in a dogfight. Buzarnescu led 17-8 in winners, but Svitolina's late break for 5-4 after displaying great defense and seeing the Romanian miss an overhead gave her a chance to serve out the set. She held a SP, but was broken and soon found herself serving two games later just to STAY in the match while down 6-5. The Ukrainian went up 40/15, but squandered the lead and was MP down. Her rally-ending backhand error secured the win, Buzarnescu's first career Top 5 victory and one that got her into her first slam Round of 16 result.
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11. Saint Petersburg 2nd Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Caroline Garcia
...4-6/7-6(6)/7-6(5). The Garcia 2.0 that we saw in the closing weeks of 2017 wasn't in evidence here, as the Pasty twice led by a set and a break, failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, couldn't convert a MP and dropped a TB she led 3-0 and 4-1 as the #450-ranked Russian teen (who switch to KAZ by the end of '18) forced a 3rd set and won it in another TB to notch her first career Top 10 win.


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12. U.S. Open 2nd Rd. - Karolina Muchova def. Garbine Muguruza
...3-6/6-4/6-4. In a match that ended after 1 a.m. on Armstrong, the #202-ranked Czech qualifier picked up her first slam MD win in just her second tour-level MD event. Muguruza led 2-0 in the 3rd, and had a BP for 3-0.
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Before her triumphant Asian swing, Wang Qiang was a 1st Round slam sniper...



13. Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Wang Qiang def. Venus Williams
...6-4/7-5. Wang secured the first Top 10 win of her career, defeating Williams after overcoming a 3-0 2nd set deficit to hand Venus her first 1st Round loss at a major since the '15 RG. Williams was the First Seed Out at Roland Garros. It was just her eleventh one-and-done in her Open era record 78 career major appearances, but along with her AO 1st Round exit at the hand of Belinda Bencic in January this was her first career back-to-back such results at majors.

U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Wang Qiang def. Magdalena Rybarikova
...6-2/6-2. Hardly experiencing a hangover from her successful Asian Games Gold medal defense, Wang came to New York and made it TWO 2018 slams at which she'd sent the first seed packing, in this came #31 Rybarikova. Come January, it'll be Wang who'll be seeded (for the first) at a major in Melbourne.
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14. Charleston 2nd Rd. - Kristyna Pliskova def. Petra Kvitova
...1-6/6-1/6-3. A sure-fire resume-building result for Pliskova, who ended Kvitova's 5+ year, 24-match, 19-set streak of success vs. fellow Czechs. Of course, it wasn't "easy." She led 5-2 in the 3rd, and with a history that includes such high profile losses as her own vs. Monica Puig in Melbourne in '16 (Kristyna had 31 aces and 5 MP) and Dominika Cibulkova in Indian Wells last year (she led 6-2/4-2 and served for the match w/o having faced BP all day, only to lose the match in three, failing to convert a MP), *no* match is *ever* over until it, you know, actually is. Kvitova saved six MP before Pliskova finally converted on #7 when Petra sailed a return long.
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15. Acapulco 1st Rd. - Renata Zarazua def. Kristyna Pliskova 6-3/6-4.
Acapulco 1st Rd. - Ana Sofia Sanchez/Renata Zarazua def. Kristyna Pliskova/Stefanie Voegele 4-6/6-4 [10-8]
...the 20-year old Mexican (#253) notches her first WTA MD win and her maiden career Top 100 victory over Pliskova in front of a home crowd, then returned later in the day (w/ Ana Sofia Sanchez) and, not showing much hospitality, beat her in doubles, too. "...and don't come back, either."


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16. Fed Cup World Group II - Marta Kostyuk/UKR def. Dasha Gavrilova/AUS
...7-6(3)/6-3. Gavrilova's "favorite" surface is grass. 15-year old Kostyuk (the '17 AO Jr. champ) admitted her leeriness of it during the week. Yet, in her FC debut, the Ukrainian, fresh off a breakout AO performance and ITF title run in Australia, hit double the number of winners (20-10) as Dasha, adding yet another wonderful experience to Australian memory wall.
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17. Hong Kong 1st Rd. - Kristina Kucova def. Alona Ostapenko
...5-7/6-3/6-2. The 21-year old, suffering from a wrist injury, lost matches to the world #122 and #317 in a span of four events, as well as pulling off the the rare Kristina Kucova (HK) and Kateryna Kozlova (RG 1st Rd. upset) exacta this season.
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18. Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Hsieh Su-wei d. Simona Halep
...3-6/6-4/7-5. Armed with two-handed swings from both sides, Selesian angled shots, and an array of magical weapons that included slices, drops, superior anticipation and movement, Hsieh once again flashed her upset skills vs. a top player in a major. The 32-year old Taiwanese vet defeated both Muguruza and Radwanska in Melbourne, and very nearly Kerber, early in the season.

At SW19, newly-minted RG champ Halep didn't give a particularly admirable accounting of her in-match problem-solving skills, while her own form was off, and her serve wasn't up to par. Lured into a series of cross court rallies that made her opponent's game plan even "easier" to implement, when she wasn't off balance or fooled so well that she couldn't even offer a stab at a defensive get, Halep often found herself racing in vain to chase down shots.

Even after Hsieh had pushed things to a 3rd, though, Halep held a seemingly commanding lead (5-2) there, and served at 5-3. A game later, she held a MP on Hsieh's serve. Halep's worst mistake may have been to allow Hsieh back into a match she appeared to have on her racket in spite of everything Hsieh had thrown at her. After Halep didn't convert her MP, she never saw another. In fact, she didn't win another game. Hsieh converted a BP and served for the match at 6-5. She fell down 15/40, but then Hsieh proceeded her pull Halep around the court as if she were on the end of a string. Side to side, up and back. Essentially, at times, the Romanian looked like a fidget spinner in all-white tennis gear. Every stroke was a scramble since she didn't really know where any were going, a situation made worse by the ever-present fear that Hsieh might just suddenly step in and pull off a hard down the line shot. The BP's squandered in game #11 left Halep just 7-of-23 on the day, 2-of-10 in the 3rd. Hsieh served out third career slam Round of 16 result, her second this year alone. #1 Halep's exit was the nineth by a Top 10 seed in the first three rounds, an all-time record.
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HM- Wimbledon 2nd Rd. - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Garbine Muguruza
...5-7/6-2/6-1. The Belgian, a big hitter with a good serve, used those weapons to take advantage of the surface. Van Uytvanck was on Muguruza from the start, taking a 4-2 lead. Muguruza immediately broke back, and served for the set at 5-4, but failed to secure the hold. She still won the set 7-5, and took a break lead at 1-0 in the 2nd. But from there Van Uytvanck played with the steady belief that she did while taking the title in Budapest in February. After falling down 7-5/1-0, Van Uytvanck wouldn't be broken again, winning twelve of fourteen games en route to her first career Top 10 win and best Wimbledon result. She sealed her win with a service winner that wrapped up a 3rd set in which she didn't face a single BP and won 16 of 20 points on serve in her victory over the Wimbledon defending champion.


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=LEST WE FORGET...=
San Jose 1st Rd. - Johanna Konta def. Serena Williams
...6-1/6-0. In the middle of the night (back home), Konta strung together twelve consecutive games to hand Serena the worst full-match loss of her career.

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U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Kaia Kanepi def. Simona Halep
...6-2/6-4. Sure, veteran Kanepi has been a second week slam player in the past, including a quarterfinalist in NYC in '17, but her win over Montreal champ/Cincinnati finalist Halep (she'd been a MP away from becoming the first to ever win the events in back-to-back weeks) made the Romanian the first world #1 to exit the Open in the 1st Round in the Open era.
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=IN THE ABSENCE OF SANIA...=
It was Ankita Raina who made the most news on the court for Indian women's tennis in '18, including being the protagonist is yet another messed-up Fed Cup Heart Award incident.

Thus, when the TRUE Fed Cup Heart Award "winner" upset the player who would somehow win the ACTUAL Fed Cup Heart Award...

Fed Cup Asia/Oceania I Pool A Round Robin Match #2 - Ankita Raina/IND def. Yulia Putintseva/KAZ
...6-3/1-6/6-4. Fed Cup is often shunted aside and ignored, but for the vast majority of the players involved on all levels of the competition it provides some of the most memorable moments of their entire tennis lives. Raina's win over Putintseva was such a moment, as she notched the biggest win over her career in her nation's longest-ever FC match (2:53), in front of a home crowd that included her mother.


A month later, Raina maintained her feel-good Fed Cup momentum...



And by the end of the year...




Of course, the WTA Yearbook still remains on the official 2018 To-Do list (mine, not Elina's). Luckily the Backspin Academy School for the Performing Arts has stepped up and is again fully committed to participating in the production, and the works of our most creative students will once more be exclusively honored in this year's edition, along with the announcement of the individuals scheduled to take part in our regular offseason "Carl Talks" lecture series that has become a December tradition on campus.

(Pssst.... there's even a rumor that Carl himself might be in town for the festivities this year.)


So, be on the lookout!

And, finally, without further ado, to sign off... here's the top ranked player from Belarus doing, umm, doing *this*.




All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:28 PM 

6 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...



Stat of the Week-669- The number of singles wins for Patty Schnyder.

669 is a big number. Not only does that her the most is Swiss history, as Hingis has 548, it makes her 12th in Open history.

Now Schnyder accumulated her stats similar to baseball's Jim Kaat. Kaat, the de facto 1966 AL Cy Young winner when he went 25-13, won close to 300 games because he played in 4 decades. Never the best in his era, he didn't win the Cy Young as it went to Sandy Koufax, who went 27-9. If you are confused, because Koufax was in the NL, 1966 was the last year that the gave out one award to cover both leagues. In 1967, both the NL and AL winner took home the hardware.

Schnyder fits this theory. Counting her as the 12th person, she has the lowest winning percentage of the 12. And 9 of the 11 above her are in the Hall of Fame, the other two will be, as they are Serena and Venus. Significantly, not Sharapova. To show how long you have to be around, the tour leader in wins this season had 49. If you take an average season of 40 wins, then do that for 15 years, that still leaves you only at 600. She may not be a Hall of Famer, she she brought a lot of people joy for a long, long, time.

Quiz Time!

Martina Hingis is the only #1 Switzerland has had on the women's side. After her, who was the highest ranked Swiss player? Multiple answers accepted because.....

A.Timea Bacsinszky
B.Patty Schnyder
C.Manuela Maleeva
D.Belinda Bencic
E.Petra Jauch Delhees











Answer!
This was fun, as I learned some stuff I did not know.

(E)Jauch Delhees is the obvious wrong answer, but is in the poll to spotlight who different things are for Switzerland. After having 2 women at the 1968 French Open, they then had a 11 year drought until Jauch Delhees played in 1979. And if you think-didn't Hana Strachnova play in 1978? She did, but for Czechslovakia, not representing Switzerland until 1980.

(B)Schnyder is the reason for the question, and you get partial credit as sh made it all the way to #7 in her first career. The clear #2 to Hingis, she was a worthy adversary.

(A)Bacsinszky is not correct. Even though she has reached the French Open SF twice, her 2015 run only gave her enough points in May 2016 to become #9.

(D)Bencic is also partially correct. The 2 time title winner has made it has high as #7, same as Schnyder. Whether she makes it back there is a story for another time.

So that leaves us with (C)Maleeva, who puts a twist on top of a twist, on top of another twist. Confused? Her story is GOOD. You see, Maleeva retired at the top of her game in 1994, pulling the plug in February after a 12-2 start. The 2 is significant, as she played three tournaments, not only winning, but winning the last tournament she ever played in Osaka. Combined, her last 52 week stretch she went 42-15, which was not as impressive as the 48-13 stretch she had back in 1984-85, which got her to 3 in the world.

However, the Swiss by marriage, was still representing her birth country of Bulgaria at the time she was 3. So Schnyder/Bencic still lead. Or do they? If that last streak was close to the one that got her to 3, where did the other one get her?

The win in Osaka got her to 9. But with that win and a stack of points from the previous year, two months later she moved up to 7. Two weeks after that, she re-entered the Top 5 at 5. So three months after her last match she removed her name from the rankings, eternally ending her career as a Top 5 player.

So Maleeva is highest,but not as an active player, hence why other answers were accepted. Then again, it is the Swiss way, as just this year, Hingis managed to become #1 in doubles after she retired.

Fri Nov 30, 01:03:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Ran out of space, so other stuff here.

Chock full o' stuff!

Interesting how Muguruza seems to be so many peoples biggest win.

My Top 5 matches for 2018, and let's be honest, I could have picked 5 of Halep's matches, she was that involved.

1.Kvitova/Bertens-Madrid. Kvitova won, but even more than the US match vs Venus, this was Bertens at an elite level. You knew this would be a good year.
2.Kasatkina/Muguruza- Dasha won in 3, after a 7-6(11) second set. These two bring out the best in each other.
3.Osaka/Sabalenka-Sabalenka won Connecticut, and was expected to run out of gas in week 2 of the Open. Still would have beaten 90% pct of the field that day.
4.Kerber/Osaka- Of the 4 signature Osaka matches(Sabalenks/Serena/Halep/Kerber) this was the only one she lost.
5.Wozniacki/Halep-Had to have one slam final, and why not the one that set the tone for the season. Two hard luck veterans who never give up, both gave so much of themselves that one is now battling arthritis, while the other has back issues.

AO-Asia Pacific Playoff is this week. 16 players from 7 nations are going for the title, led by Peng, who is working with Carlos Rodriguez.

Fri Nov 30, 01:04:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

That 40 wins for 15 years stat really put that in perspective. :)

Quiz: I was going to go with Maleeva because I know her SUI representation was at the end of her career, and I thought she had a Top 10 season with it. But I went with Bacsinszky because I though her recent high rank was probably higher than end-of-the-line Maleeva. But with the way you explained it I guess even if I'd been right off the bat, I'd also been partially wrong. ;)

Yeah, as Kerber and Halep loaded up in the Matches of the Year, Muguruza was WAY too present on the Upsets. I probably left a few Ostapenko ones out because they came late when she was hurt, or she'd had quite a few more, too.

You've mentioned Kvitova/Bertens in the past, but for some reason it didn't register for me at the time. Don't know why, but I don't have much for it in my notes (I did have that that it went 2:51, Petra won an 8-6 1st set TB -- and an unseeded Bertens def. Sakkari, Sevastova, Wozniacki, Sharapova and Garcia for a nice run). That's why I didn't include it.

Ah, haven't seen Carlos Rodriguez for a while. Since Hantuchova retired, I guess.

Fri Nov 30, 05:57:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Hmmm, the WTA put Halep/Kerber at #1 on the Match list for '18, too. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. :/

I will say that I considered putting Halep's AO runner-up run at #1 on the Performance list, ahead of Osaka/U.S. and Halep/RG. I didn't, but I probably should have. :|

Sun Dec 02, 06:03:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Like a 747, time flies. 6 weeks out from the Australian Open, which means we are starting to tie up some loose ends. One of them is Vandeweghe, who probably needs to send Radwanska a Christmas card, as she is last one in. This means Safarova will need WC. Zvonareva and Pegula(Go Sabres) are within 10 out. Kuznetsova was, but isn't on the list.

Bacsinszky, Siegemund and Mattek-Sands are in with SR. Plus Peng won the playoff, so she's in too.

Wed Dec 05, 09:34:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Considering they didn't give one to Schiavone when she had the consecutive slam record on the line, I'd suspect Lucie will have to play her way in.

Wed Dec 05, 09:49:00 AM EST  

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