Monday, January 21, 2019

AO.8 - Serena & Simona Give Us What We Want

And on Day 8, Serena Williams and Simona Halep met in Melbourne... and played the best slam match they've ever played against one another.

As a certain swaggering Hall of Famer once said, "This is what they want."

Yes. Yes, it is.



Two days after besting her older sister Venus, world #1 Simona Halep found another member of the Williams clan on the other side of the net for her Round of 16 match in Melbourne on Day 8. With Serena having arrived at this Australian Open with daughter Olympia (and Qai Qai, of course) in tow, looking to add another slam crown to the one she won "with" her two years ago, it was never going to be an easy task for the Romanian. Though both women are still in the process of removing *all* the rust from their games in the season's opening passages, Halep was still seen as the "underdog" in the contest. As should be the case, really. I mean, unless Serena is playing with a rollerskate on one foot and a ski on the other. And even then, well... who knows, she might just create a whole new game on the spot that'll be all the rage by the weekend..

After seeing Serena open the match looking "off" in her first service game, falling down love/40 and double-faulting to hand the game to Halep, the Romanian failed to take advantage of Williams' slow start. Needing her serve to be better than average, it was instead not up to par. What resulted was a 20-minute blitz of brilliance from Serena, and what in the past might have been a disheartening stretch for Halep. After seizing upon Halep's second serves, seeing her DF and then firing a return winner down the line to break for 1-1, Serena never let the world #1 up for air in the opening set, winning it 6-1 in sometimes-brutally efficient fashion.

But Halep didn't go away, once more proving that the anvil that used to exist on her back is no longer quite the nagging problem it used to be. Winning a major really *can* be a grand relief, apparently.

Halep held serve to open the 2nd set, and it felt like a HUGE deal. And it was. But not necessarily because anyone thought she was going to bet back into the match. It was good for her, because who wants Simona to feel bad, right?



This is, she took the opportunity of NOT suddenly being down to finally find her footing while the ground stopped shaking beneath her. As the night wore on, Halep pulled her game together. She carved out a pair of BP chances on Serena's serve in game #5. Williams' backhand error delivered the break for 2-2. Halep had shown that she wasn't dead yet. Employing her usual defense, she was also landing her shots deeper in the court and improving her serve. At the same time, Williams' game saw the errors that were nonexistent early on begin to introduce themselves in the match. The breaks of serve of the 1st set became holds for Halep in the 2nd, and she was suddenly a game away from leveling the match.

After holding for a 5-4 lead, the Romanian took at love/30 lead on Williams' serve, and with a backhand down the line reached SP. A long backhand shot from Serena gave the set to Halep, who double fist-pumped her way to the changeover area in a match that was now a one-set-for-your-AO-life tussle.



Up 40/15 in the opening game of the 3rd, Halep was forced to save a BP, but did so to take the 1-0 lead. Up 3-2, her defense carved out a BP opportunity on Serena's serve.

It would be the opening plot point for what would turn out to be the game of the match.

Serena saved the BP with a big serve, but a Halep forehand down the line got second BP. Williams saved that with a deep shot that pushed Halep back and caused an off-balance forehand to be yanked wide. Another big serve gave Serena a GP, but the ensuing rally went to Halep, who won it by firing a shot behind Williams in the backcourt. Halep's inside-out backhand return winner gave her a third BP chance, but Williams again pulled out a big serve as a life preserver. Halep denied a GP with a net cord dribbler, but a Serena ace and forehand winner past Halep at the baseline finally got the hold in the five-deuce game for 3-3.

Halep had a GP in game #7, but missed on a few first serves and saw Williams' firepower take its measure of her. Reaching BP, Williams grabbed the lead when the Romanian netted a forehand, going up 4-3. Serena took a 40/love lead on serve a game later, holding for 5-3, then served for the match at 5-4.

In the stands, Venus watched her sister, knowing full well what was to come next. We've *all* seen it so many times, haven't we? Serena has always been a closer, and she was once again on this night. She won a rally to get to 15/15, pulling Halep from side to side on the baseline. A big serve followed. Up 30/15, a blast to the corner, then a winner into the other side of the court brought her to double match point. Finally, a long Halep forehand relieved Serena of the "pressure" of finding yet another way to deliver the final blow off her own racket.



The 6-1/4-6/6-4 victory moves her into her 50th career slam quarterfinal, and her twelfth at the AO, putting her two wins from reaching her third straight slam final, and three wins from tying Margaret Court's record of twenty-four career slam titles. She's 21-1 vs. world #1 in slam match-ups.

(Oh, and, at 37, she broke Venus' record for being the oldest woman to defeat a world #1, and moved to within one such win of tying Martina Navratilova's all-time mark with the seventeenth #1 win of her storied career.)

But, hey, who's counting, right? Well, actually, a lot of people.

Of course, that's just the way it is when it comes to Serena and winning. This is want we want, after all.





=DAY 8 NOTES=
...the early women's Round of 16 matches on Monday were both three set affairs, but they really boiled down to which player won a small section of one of those said sets.

#6 Elina Svitolina jumped on #17 Madison Keys in the 1st set, as the Bannerette (as she sometimes does, no matter how well she's been playing coming in) struggled to find her game. Svitolina raced to a 4-0 lead, and took the set at 6-2. But just as quickly as that had happened, Keys turned around and did the same to her in the 2nd. She went up 5-0, and won the set 6-1.

In the 3rd, game #3 pretty much settled the deal. At 1-1, Svitolina DF'd to hand Keys a BP chance. She didn't get it, and game then proceeded to last more than ten minutes, going to deuce ten times as Svitolina once again called upon her Singaporean success and toughness (or toughness and resulting success) to deflect a total of five BP to hold for 2-1. The result pushed Svitolina skyward, and took the fortunes of Keys down for the final time. The Ukrainian got the break for a 3-1 lead in the next game and never looked back, winning 6-2/1-6/6-1 to reach her second straight QF in Melbourne.



In the other early 4th Round match, #4 Naomi Osaka continued to see how the other half lives. Well, at least how the "other half" lived last summer in New York when she lost just one set en route to her maiden slam crown. Through three rounds at this AO, she'd already lost as many sets (one) in Melbourne as she did the full two weeks at the U.S. Open, and had found herself backed into a corner (down 7-5/4-1) in the 3rd Round against Hsieh Su-wei. She was once again pressed into extended action today in a three-setter against #13 Anastasija Sevastova. But when everything came to head, it was Osaka who won the most important game of the match.

After splitting the first two sets, Osaka began the 3rd with a break of serve. But, serving at 3-2, she found herself down love/40 after netting a short backhand at the net when she tried to drive a flat shot down the line over the high part of the net. Needless to say, it didn't work. After saving five BP, she finally dropped serve as Sevastova evened up the set at 3-3. That *may* have proved to have been the key game here, if not for Osaka immediately breaking back a game later. In game #8, which *did* turn out to be the final turning point, Osaka took a 40/love and seemed ready to coast to an easy hold. But four deuces later, she was in a fight to avoid being back in a late-set dogfight all over again. After having failed to secure her first five game point opportunities, Osaka did so on her sixth to hold for a 5-3 lead. Two games later, she jumped to another 40/love lead as she served for the win. This time, though, she didn't let it slip. She closed Sevastova out for a 4-6/6-3/6-4 win and her first berth in the AO quarterfinals.



As is always the case with an Osaka match, it's worth it to stick around for the post-match on-court interview. You never know what she might reveal (the other day, it was that she thinks she says "Umm" too much). This time her chat with Sam Smith revealed that she can travel in Melbourne without being recognized, and that she came to the grounds today inspired by watching all the "kids" (named Tsitsipas and Tiafoe, who are pretty much her own age) topple big stars yesterday, saying that it's something that every player dreams about and she wanted to follow their lead today. Of course, she left out that, in everyone *else's* mind *she's* the big star that the "kids" are dreaming of having the chance to play, not the other way around. But that the reigning U.S. Open champ didn't even seem to factor in such a reality shows that she's still pretty new to all this, and hasn't changed on the inside even while her reputation and standing have grown exponentially on the outside. And that's a rare, and really nice, thing.

(Here's part of that interview, though I'm not sure why the AO isn't always tweeting full versions the on-court interviews. Instead, it's often going with posting shaved down versions -- sometimes needlessly cutting maybe :25 good seconds out of a 1:57 video so that it up being 1:22 or something -- or only using a clip that features one quick comment. It's really been doing a number of the interviews -- sometimes little gems if seen in full -- a disservice.)




The final day session Round of 16 match looked like it was going to be a high-quality, dramatic affair. #7 Karolina Pliskova and #18 Garbine Muguruza played a good nip-and-tuck 1st set that was decided by a key break of serve from the Czech in game #8. Muguruza, already in the pressure spot of serving second in the rotation and having to match Pliskova's hold (she'd been handling it well, though), blinked at 3-4 and found herself down a couple of break points. On the second, Pliskova fired a deep forehand crosscourt return that appeared to float before seeming to suddenly have its bottom drop out, momentarily freezing the Spaniard, and it settle into the corner to win the game. Muguruza challenged that call, but the shot really *had* managed to catch a line. Pliskova served out the set a game later.

From there, Pliskova was just too good. Ever since bringing aboard Rennae Stubbs (and now still-not-a-Hall-of-Fame-and-it-needs-to-be-rectified Conchita Martinez, too), Pliskova has more and more resembled the take no prisoners player who took control of the North American hard court season in 2016, reached the U.S. Open final, and used that stretch as the foundation for a rise to #1 the following season. That Pliskova was playing for keeps today. After taking an early break lead, she only needed :24 2nd set minutes to put Muguruza away, winning 6-3/6-1.

In the end, Pliskova served at a 78% clip, winning 82% of first serves, as well as 75% of seconds. She had 23 winners to 3 (yes, 3) unforced errors (she was 14/1 in the 1st, 9/2 in the 2nd).

...in Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe), Urszula Radwanska defeated Ana Sofia Sanchez 6-1/2-6/6-1 to win the $25K challenger's singles title, her first of any kind as a pro since 2012.



Meanwhile, Hungary's Anna Bondar swept the $25K Daytona Beach singles and doubles titles. She won the WD with Ulrikke Eikeri, and took a 6-7(3)/7-6(5)/7-5 singles final over Franckie Abanda after the Canadian had served for the match in the 2nd set and held multiple MPs.

On Saturday, India's Ankita Raina defeated Arantxa Rus 6-3/6-2 to win the $25K in Singapore. It's her eighth career title, with three coming in the last ten months.



...in Costa Rica, 17-year old Bannerette Abigail Forbes won the Grade 1 Coffee Bowl event with a three-set win over Canada's Melodie Collard. The RPM Junior Open (G1) in the Czech Republic was claimed by 16-year old Maiden Kristyna Lavickova, who defeated Latvian Darja Semenistaja 6-0/6-1.


...MAKING IT OFFICIAL ON DAY 8:



...LIKE ON DAY 8: The wheelchair draw is out. Diede de Groot takes the microphone at 3:05...



...HOW 'BOUT THAT, HUH? ON DAY 8:




...LIKE ON DAY 8:



Things have been going well for former NCAA stars...



..."YIKES!" ON DAY 8: Whew! Katerina Siniakova came *real close* to "pulling a Halep" when she rolled her ankle in her and Barbora Krejcikova's 3rd Round match vs. Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka. With Krejcikova serving for the match in a long game up 5-3 in the 3rd (they'd already had three MP), Siniakova somewhat hyperextended her knee and rolled her left ankle while lunging into the left sideline for a Aryna Sabalenka smash. She crumpled over for a few moments, but managed to brush it off and play on (though she said after the match she still felt it). The tour's top doubles duo won on MP #4 a few moments later, advancing to the QF, a little bit closer to possibly winning their third *different* slam in the last year.

Ice, ice, baby.



What's this? Ah, yes. The 2014 Australian Open...


==NEWS & NOTES==
Li Na's first Australian Open crown finally came in her third final in four years in Melbourne.


After opening play vs. two 16-year olds (1st-Konjuh/2nd-Bencic), Li saved a MP vs. Lucie Safarova in the 3rd Round (the Czech challenged the call that went against her, as eventual history truly did hang, frozen, in the balance for a few moments). It would be Li's last Australian Open (unless you count her return for Legends competition play in '19), as she'd retire in September after not having played since Wimbledon due to a knee injury. Her final match was at Wimbledon that year, a 3rd Round loss to Barbora Strycova.
===============================================
Victoria Azarenka's two-year reign as the AO women's champ was brought to a close in the QF with a loss to Aga Radwanska, ending the Belarusian's 18-match Melbourne winning streak. 3-12 vs. Azarenka coming in, with seven straight losses (and 10 of 11) in the series, Radwanska had total games won stats of 6-2-4-6-6 in each of her previous five encounters with Vika. But the Pole brought fourth a "classic" Radwanska performance in the 3rd set in Melbourne, showing every shot in the proverbial tennis handbook en route a 6-0 route.


Up to that point, Azarenka had been the only quarterfinalist not to have lost a set in the tournament (and only lost a four sets during her long AO win streak), a week that included a 4th Round rematch of her so-called "controversial" SF match vs. Sloane Stephens from a year earlier. She defeated Stephens 6-3/6-2, giving up the same number of games (5) to her as she had in 2013.
===============================================
Dominika Cibulkova faced Li in the final, having become the first Slovakian woman to reach a slam singles final after recording four Top 20 wins (two Top 5 vs. Radwanska and Maria Sharapova, as well as wins over future #1 Simona Halep and former RG champ Francesca Schiavone). Her two-year RU/QF stretch at the AO in 2014-15 (10-2) stands out in her career at the event, as she was just 7-6 in Melbourne before then, and has gone 2-4 since. Had Cibulkova won the title she would have tied the record -- held by Nancy Richey (1968 RG) and Mima Jausovec (1977 RG) -- as the shortest slam winner ever, at five-foot-three.
===============================================
19-year old Genie Bouchard, in her fourth career slam MD, reaches the semifinal for the best major result by a Canadian woman since Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open. She'd go on in 2014 to reach the Roland Garros semis and Wimbledon final.

Meanwhile, Bouchard's Australian fans formed the "Genie Army."

===============================================
Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci defend their women's doubles title, joining the Williams Sisters as the only duo to do so at the AO in twenty years. The Italians defeated Makarova/Vesnina in the final, coming back from 5-2 in the 3rd set to snatch the crown. The #1-ranked duo would lose the top ranking to Peng Shuai in February, but reclaim it later in the summer after completing their Career Doubles Slam by winning the WD at Wimbledon.
===============================================
Kristina Mladenovic wins the Mixed Doubles with Daniel Nestor, picking up her second career MX title. She hasn't added a third such win since, but *has* picked up Roland Garros (w/ Garcia) and Australian Open (w/ Babos) women's doubles crowns.
===============================================
Germany's Sabine Ellerbrock wins the women's wheelchair title, adding to her first career major won at RG in '13. She won the title with a victory in the final over Japan's Yui Kamiji, appearing in her first career slam singles final at age 19. She's since won six, including RG and the U.S. Open later in the '14 season. Along with Brit Jordanne Whiley, Kamiji claimed her first slam doubles crown. The duo would go on to complete a Doubles Grand Slam that season. Kamiji now has fourteen slam WD titles.

===============================================
Russia's Elizaveta Kulichkova becomes the fourth consecutive junior to sweep both the singles and doubles titles in Melbourne. Defeating Croatian Jana Fett in the singles final, the Hordette becomes the first Russian girl to win a slam title since Dasha Gavrilova (now AUS) at the 2010 U.S. Open, and the first to do so at the AO since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's back-to-back crowns in 2006-07.


Kulichkova's pro career never took flght, as she was often injured. She won seven career ITF titles, and ranked as high as #87 in 2016. Having not played since failing to qualify at the 2017 U.S. Open, she retired in 2018.
===============================================
A year after setting an AO record by posting a MD singles win at age 42, 43-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm lost in the 1st Round to 16-year old qualifier Belinda Bencic, who was making her slam debut.
===============================================

The Aussie summer heat made its presence known in 2014: Jelena Jankovic burned herself on an uncovered chair, while Caroline Wozniacki's water bottle melted on a hot court

===============================================
Ekaterina Makarova defeated Venus Williams in the 1st Round, staging a comeback from 3-0 down in the 3rd set. The win, combined with her victory over Serena at the '12 AO, makes the Russian one of the rare (and, as of 2019, one of just two) players with slam wins over both Sisters in a career in which they've never been ranked #1 in singles. Of course, Makarova *has* been ranked #1 in doubles.

Only Sloane Stephens currently resides on that oddball list along with Makarova, but three other players were once there only to remove themselves by eventually rising to #1: Angelique Kerber in '16, and both Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza in '17
===============================================
Wild card Aussie Casey Dellacqua, six years after her first thrilling Round of 16 run in Melbourne (where her grandma became a sudden star), pulls off another. Defeating former world #2 Vera Zvonareva, #18-seeded Kirsten Flipkens and former AO semifinalist Zheng Jie, she reaches the 4th Round, where she falls to Genie Bouchard. She'd go on to reach her third career slam Round of 16 at the U.S. Open later that year, but would only play one more year of singles before becoming a doubles specialist.
===============================================
Also at the 2014 AO: Simona Halep defeated Jelena Jankovic to reach her first career slam QF. With the result, she became the third Romanian woman to reach the Top 10, and first to make her debut there since Irina Spirlea in 1996. She'd go on to reach her first slam final at Roland Garros later in 2014, become #1 in 2017, and win her maiden slam in Paris in '18 while completing her second of back-to-back #1 seasons.
===============================================


==QUOTES==
* - "When I think of power I think of Serena. When I think of focus I think of Sharapova. When I think of heart and guts I think of Azarenka." - Chris Evert

* - "She's a genius!" - Pam Shriver, on Aga Radwanska

* - "Make me rich!" - Li Na, after winning the women's title, to her agent

* - [To husband Dennis, after the final] "Thanks a lot. You're a nice guy. And also you are so lucky... (you) found me!" - Li Na



=WOMEN'S SINGLES QF=
#16 Serena Williams/USA vs. #7 Karolina Pliskova/CZE
#4 Naomi Osaka/JPN vs. #6 Elina Svitolina/UKR
#8 Petra Kvitova/CZE vs. #15 Ash Barty/AUS
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS vs. Danielle Collins/USA

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF=
#1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. Stosur/Sh.Zhang (AUS/CHN)
Strycova/Vondrousova (CZE/CZE) vs. #5 Klepac/Martinez Sanchez (SLO/ESP)
#7 Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE) vs. Brady/Riske (USA/USA)
#9 Atawo/Srebotnik (USA/SLO) vs. Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)

=MIXED DOUBLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Dabrowski/Pavic (CAN/CRO) vs. H.Chan/Rojer (TPE/NED)
Martinez Sanchez/Skupski (ESP/GBR) def. (WC) Moore/Whittington (AUS/AUS)
#3 Krejcikova/Ram (CZE/USA) vs. (WC) Swiatek/Kubot (POL/POL)
(WC) Stosur/Paes (AUS/IND) vs. #5 Groenefeld/Farah (GER/COL)
(WC) Sharma/JP.Smith (AUS/AUS) def. Klepac/Roger-Vasselin (SLO/FRA)
Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR) def. Mladenovic/Lindstedt (FRA/SWE)
#6 Spears/Cabal (USA/COL) def. Schuurs/Middelkoop (NED/NED)
Babos/Fucsovics (HUN/HUN) vs. #2 Melichar/Soares (USA/BRA)

=GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
Manon Leonard/FRA vs. (Q) Veronika Pepelyaeva/RUS
(Q) Lisa Pigato/ITA vs. #4 Leylah Annie Fernandez/CAN
#7 Lulu Sun/SUI vs. (Q) Federica Rossi/ITA
Victoria Allen/GBR vs. Anastasia Tikhonova/RUS

=WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S SINGLES=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. Lucy Shuker/GBR
Marjolein Buis/NED vs. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
Aniek Van Koot/NED vs. Kgothatso Montjane/RSA
Giulia Capocci/ITA vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S DOUBLES=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Capocci/Kamiji (ITA/JPN)
Montjane/Shuker (RSA/GBR) vs. #2 Buis/Ellerbrock (NED/GER)
















*2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL 8*
[by career slam QF]
50 - Serena Williams, USA
11 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
7 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
5 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
4 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN
1 - Ash Barty, AUS
1 - Danielle Collins, USA
[by career AO QF]
12 - Serena Williams
3 - Petra Kvitova
3 - Karolina Pliskova
2 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2 - Elina Svitolina
1 - Ash Barty
1 - Danielle Collins
1 - Naomi Osaki
[w/ consecutive slam QF]
3 - Serena Williams
2 - Naomi Osaka
2 - Karolina Pliskova
[w/ consecutive AO QF]
3 - Karolina Pliskova
2 - Elina Svitolina
--
NOTE: Serena Williams 4 in last 4 appearances (DNP 2018)
[WTA career slam QF - active]
50...Serena Williams, USA
39...Venus Williams, USA
25...Maria Sharapova, RUS
16...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
16...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
11...Simona Halep, ROU
11...Petra Kvitova, CZE
10...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
9...Angelique Kerber, GER
8...Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
8...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
7...Sara Errani, ITA
7...Garbine Muguruza, ESP
7...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
7...Samantha Stosur, AUS
7...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
6...Kaia Kanepi, EST
6...Madison Keys, USA
6...Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
6...Vera Zvonareva, RUS
5...Sabine Lisicki, GER
5...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
5...Sloane Stephens, USA
[WTA slam QF in 2010's - active]
22...Serena Williams, USA
14...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
12...Maria Sharapova, RUS
11...Simona Halep, ROU
11...Petra Kvitova, CZE
10..Angelique Kerber, GER
9...Venus Williams, USA
9...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
7...Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
7...Sara Errani, ITA
7...Garbine Muguruza, ESP
7...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
6...Madison Keys, USA
6...Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
6...Samantha Stosur, AUS
6...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP

*ALL-TIME WINS OVER WORLD #1*
18 - Martina Navratilova
17 - Serena Williams
15 - Venus Williams
15 - Lindsay Davenport
11 - Steffi Graf
[active]
18 - Serena Williams
15 - Venus Williams
7 - Maria Sharapova
7 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
6 - Elina Svitolina

*OLDEST PLAYER WITH WIN OVER WORLD #1*
37 - Serena Williams (#16) -def. Halep (2019 Aust.Open 4r)
36 - Venus Williams (#12) - def. Kerber (2017 Miami QF)





TOP QUALIFIER: Astra Sharma/AUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #16 Serena Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-4/6-7(3)/7-5 (ended at 3:12 a.m.)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU)
FIRST SEED OUT: #14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA)
UPSET QUEENS: United States
REVELATION LADIES: Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska; Anisimova and Yastremska reach 3rd Rd.
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Kimberly Birrell/AUS (3rd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Ash Barty (in QF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Nominee: Barty, Collins, Pavlyuchenkova
IT (Teen): Amanda Anisimova/USA (first player born in 2000s to reach slam 4th Rd.)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Kvitova (in slams), Sharapova
CRASH & BURN: #10 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (after leading 3-0 in 1st set, loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominees: Osaka (3rd Rd. - down 7-5/4-1 vs. Hsieh); Svitolina (3rd Rd. - down double-break 3-0 in 3rd vs. Sh.Zhang; MTO's); Collins (1st Rd. - Goerges served for match); S.Williams (4th Rd. - Halep 3 BP for 4-2 lead in 3rd set)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: S.Williams, Kvitova
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Halep, Muguruza, S.Williams
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx





All for Day 8. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:16 AM 

3 Comments:

Blogger Hoergren said...

BATTLE OF #1 is heating up
1 Simona Halep 5582
2 Naomi Osaka 5460 QF
3 Petra Kvitová 5420 QF
4 Sloane Stephens 5307
5 Angelique Kerber 4965
6 Elina Svitolina 4940 QF
7 Karolína Plíšková 4750 QF

If Naomi or Petra wins the next match it's certain that Halep loses the #1 ranking

Mon Jan 21, 06:40:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Since Leif handled #1, I will take the other side. Sabalenka is trying to make her Top 10 debut, but if Williams or Barty win their next match, that will have to wait. If both win, Wozniacki is out of the Top 10.

People might think that the Williams/Halep match was the final. I actually think it will be the Williams/Pliskova match. Pliskova probably has been the best player so far, with her movement improved, and her serve clutch again. Almost fitting that the recent Ace Queen has to face the Eternal One.

One thing that is interesting about Serena's game is that I think she has gone the Vince Carter route and made concessions due to age. She's not moving at full speed as much, and is taking choppier steps toward her backhand, which is more reliable than it has been in the past.

AO Seed History
4-Osaka-last won 2014-Li
6-Svitolina-last won 1939-Emily Hood Westacott
7-Pliskova-last won 2016-Kerber
Unseeded-Pavlyuchankova/Collins-last won 2007-S.Williams
8,15,16 seeds have never won.

2019 AO QF-Champions League
Williams-23x Slam Champion
Kvitova-2x Slam Champion
Osaka- Slam Champion
Pavlyuchenkova-3x Jr Slam Champion
Pliskova- Jr Slam Champion
Svitolina- Jr Slam Champion
Barty- Jr Slam Champion
Collins- 2x NCAA Champion

Stat of the Day- 108- Number of career WTA wins for Michelle Larcher de Brito.

It would have made for a cleaner transition if the number was 180, because her career is a 180 away from the person who inspired this post- Danielle Collins.

You see, when Collins beat Kerber the other day, it was reminiscent of the Larcher de Brito/Sharapova match at Wimbledon, in which everything Michelle hit went in. Historically, one of the standout performances that becomes more of an outlier by the day.

Larcher de Brito was a phenom. Winning her first WTA match at 14, having her career high in wins(8) at 15, and reaching her career high of 76 at 16, by the time of the Sharapova match she was a huge underdog. And she should have been. Not only ranked outside of the Top 100, the Sharapova win was only 1 of 3 at WTA level all year. Oudin and Daniilidou were the others.

The 108 number included qualies, without that she only had 30, but 11 of them were on grass, a reason that she made the 3rd rd of Wimbledon both in 2013 and 2014.

She is taking a break from playing but hasn't retired, leaving her as a small part of WTA history, but a big one of Portugal's.

One final note-for as long as she was on tour, she is only 10 months older than Collins.

Mon Jan 21, 08:43:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Leif-
I have a feeling this could be theme all season, with a few exchanges of the #1 ranking along the way.

Colt-
Ah, I really like the "2019 AO QF-Champions League" list!

Hmmm, considering the ages and states of Larcher de Brito and Collins' career at just age 25, one might say that it's a big checkmark in the column (for all but a few) of the path that DC took to get here.

Mon Jan 21, 11:38:00 AM EST  

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