Sunday, January 13, 2019

Wk.2- A Little Bit of Petra in Our Lives

It's almost time for the Australian Open. But...

via GIPHY



Okay, first this...



*WEEK 2 CHAMPIONS*
SYDNEY, AUS (Premier/Hard Court)
S: Petra Kvitova/CZE def. Ash Barty/AUS 1-6/7-5/7-6(3)
D: Aleksandra Krunic/Katerina Siniakova (SRB/CZE) d. Eri Hozumi/Alicja Rosolska (JPN/POL) 6-1/7-6(3)
HOBART, AUS (International/Hard Court)
S: Sonya Kenin/USA def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK 6-3/6-0
D: Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan (TPE/TPE) d. Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson (BEL/SWE) 6-3/3-6 [10-6]



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...well, Kvitova, still has *it.* At least as far as winning tour titles goes. In Sydney, the Czech picked up career title #26. 26-7 in finals, she hasn't lost one since October 2016, winning eight in a row and all seven since her return from hand surgery. Straight sets wins over Aryna Sabalenka, Hsieh Su-wei, Angelique Kerber and Aliaksandra Sasnovich allowed her to have just enough gas (barely enough) to get past Ash Barty in three sets in the final, coming back from 3-0 down in the 3rd, twice failing to serve out the match but still pulling enough from herself to close things out in a deciding TB even while clearly exhausted and beginning to cramp up. It's her second title at the tournament, having previously won in 2015.



But will it matter in Melbourne, as she tries to escape the seasons-long slam rut she's found herself in since winning her most recent major at Wimbledon in 2014? Kvitova has reached just a pair of QF (U.S. Open 2015 & '17) in the sixteen slams she's played since she won that title. In the previous fifteen, she won two, reached three semis and three quarterfinals.

Astra Sharma/AUS
...in Melbourne, 23-year old Sharma, last year's NCAA singles #1 while playing for Vanderbilt, proved to be the star performer of the qualifying rounds. Having come one win short of winning Tennis Australia's wild card tournament in December, she was forced into the Q-rounds. She opened by knocking Q-#1 seed Vera Zvonareva, followed up with a win over Russian Varvara Flink, then finished off a third straight Hordette by saving three MP vs. #25 Irina Khromacheva to assure her slam MD debut. She'll open vs. fellow Aussie Priscilla Hon, with the winner facing the Ostapenko/Sakkari survivor in Round 2.



===============================================
RISERS: Ash Barty/AUS and Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR
...for the second straight year, Barty came up a match short of winning Sydney in front of the Aussie fans. But twelve months after her first final run at the event the 22-year old took quite a few more significant moves up the tour ladder. Stringing together wins over Alona Ostapenko, Simona Halep (her first #1 win), Elise Mertens ('18 AO semifinalist) and Kiki Bertens (#9) ranks close to her '17 Wuhan result as the most productive (though title-less) week of her singles career. The run in last '17 included three Top 10 wins (Konta/Pliskova/Ostapenko) and another over Aga Radwanska. The event in China ended with Barty losing a set lead and falling to Caroline Garcia in the final. This week was similar, as she lost to Petra Kvitova in three after having won the 1st and led 3-0 in the 3rd. The loss ended Barty's two-event/two-final tour stretch which began with her title run at the Elite Trophy to end '18 (she went 2-1 in Week 1 at the Hopman Cup). A year after her second straight AO 3rd Round result, she'll open play on Night on MCA vs. Luksika Kumkhum. Let another Barty Party commence.




Meanwhile, Sasnovich hasn't quite finished what she's started so far in '19, but she's proving more and more adept at giving herself multiple opportunities. A week after knocking off Anastasia Potapova and Elina Svitolina in Brisbane (only to put up just two games vs. Donna Vekic in the QF), the 24-year old qualified in Sydney (surrendering just one game to Monica Puig in the final round) and then posted MD wins over Dasha Kasatkina, Priscilla Hon and Timea Bacsinszky to reach the semifinals. Bu when facing Petra Kvitova, the Czech she upset in the 1st Round last year at Wimbledon, she was quickly dispatched, winning just three games. Having won at least one match at five straight slams, and reached her sole major Round of 16 in London last year, Sasnovich will surely be a not-do-dark horse pick as a first week chaos-maker at the AO, opening vs. Kirsten Flipkens in a section that includes #20 Anett Kontaveit and #9 Kiki Bertens, with the survivor there possibly facing #5 Sloane Stephens (though she hasn't won an AO match since 2014) in the 4th Round. The Belarusian *could* get through, but *will* she?
===============================================
SURPRISE: Greet Minnen/BEL
...21-year old Waffle Minnen has recently often made more headlines off the the court for being the girlfriend of tour singles titlist Alison Van Uytvanck
than for her on-field progress, of which there has been a great deal over the past year. She (w/ Van Uytvanck) won a tour-level doubles title in Luxembourg in '18, as well as four of her seven career ITF singles crowns in a season that saw her rise from #828 to #316.
This past week in Hobert, Minnen qualified with wins over Katie Boulter and Fiona Ferro, then posted the first two WTA MD wins of her career over Kateryna Kozlova and Magda Linette before falling in the QF to Alize Cornet. Tennis Channel was lauded by some for showing a bit of the Minnen/Kozlova match live this past week, after which Van Uytvanck was there to offer congratulations. Though I wonder if a few demerits should be issued to TC for Ted Robinson later referring to AVU as Minnen's "good friend" during a highlight package. I'd think we've grown beyond the point of using such a needlessly euphemistic phrase, haven't we?



Harriet Dart/GBR
...the 22-year old Brit has been something of an ongoing revelation since last summer. Back-to-back-to-back $100K SF/QF/QF results earned her a Wimbledon wild card, and she proceeded to upset Kristyna Pliskova at Eastbourne and then push Karolina to three sets at SW19. She then came back out and reached the Mixed Doubles semis. Dart ended 2018 by sweeping the singles and doubles at a $25K challenger, and has carried over the momentum to '19. In Week 1 she qualified in Brisbane (def. Dolehide/Kozlova/Petkovic) and reached the 2nd Round. This past week, she make it through AO qualifying with wins over Chloe Paquet, Xu Shilin and #10 Ivana Jorovic, making her 12-1 overall in singles going back to late October. She'll open in Melbourne vs. Maria Sharapova.

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Into the Main Draw @australianopen ???? ??

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===============================================
VETERAN: Varvara Lepchenko/USA
...the 32-year was the sole Bannerette of the twelve competing in Melbourne to advance through the required three rounds to reach the AO main draw. It'll be something of a return to normal for Lepchenko, who missed last year's U.S. Open and ended what had been a 31-slam MD streak during which she racked up 32 match wins dating back to 2006. Ranked #134, she personally ended fellow U.S. player Christina McHale's 33-slam MD streak this week, winning a final Q-round a 10-3 3rd set super TB (yeah, the new addition to the AO this year) to advance.


===============================================
COMEBACK: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK
...the troubles in recent seasons of AKS are well documented, as she suddenly fell (w/o injury) from nearly being a Top 20 player and 2-time title winner to well outside the Top 200. 2018 marked a real upturn in her results, as she climbed back into the Top 100 and won a WTA crown in Bogota, her first since 2015. She's had only moderate success since, going 18-21 on all levels heading into Week 2. The Slovak's Hobart final run is not only her best result since Bogota, but allows her something to finally *build* a season on in some sort of ordered process (hi, Eli) rather than hoping for lighting to strike like it did last spring in Colombia. Schmiedlova's wins over Evgeniya Rodina, Alison Van Uytvanck, Irina-Camelia Begu and (especially) Belinda Bencic give her a foundation for '19 success. Her 3 & love loss to Sonya Kenin in the final didn't change that. She jumps eighteen spots to #59 this week, her highest standing since August '16.



Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...it wasn't long ago that Haddad was South America's new/best hope in a generation (or two or three) for a legitimate Top 20 contender, and the player who'd take the ball put into played by Maria Bueno in the the 1950's, picked up a few seasons back by Teliana Pereira, and carry it farther along than anyone in decades. She still may do just that, but 2018 served as something of a step-back campaign as her season was pretty much wrecked by an early season wrist injury. The 22-year old recovered in time to reach an $80K final in November. This week in AO qualifying she won three straight matches in a top level event for the first time since her Seoul final (she lost in three to Ostapenko) in September '17. A year after winning a 1st Round match in Melbourne, becoming the first woman from Brazil to do so in the Open era (the first since Bueno played in the 1965 final, actually), Haddad won consecutive matches over Lauren Davis (who held MPs vs. Halep at last year's AO), Kaja Juvan and #16 Jen Brady. She'll open vs. Bernarda Pera.
===============================================
FRESH FACE: Sonya Kenin/USA
...while the 20-year old Bannerette didn't come out on top in last season's Fed Cup final vs. the Czech Republic, Kenin's guts and guile that weekend in Prague were arguably as big a story as the Maiden's sixth title run in eight years. It was clear that big things were in her future. Two weeks into the new season, she's already picked up two titles, winning her first tour doubles (Auckland) and singles (this week in Hobart) crowns and now securing her spot as the youngest player in the Top 50. She'll jump from #56 to a new career high of #37 as play begins in Melbourne... where she could very well soon find herself in the spotlight once again, with a potential 2nd Round match-up with #1 Simona Halep.

Kenin opened play with a bang in Hobart, knocking out #1 seed Caroline Garcia. She never relented, not dropping a set all week while taking down Ons Jabeur, Kirsten Flipkens, Alize Cornet and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on her way to becoming 2019's first maiden WTA singles champion.



Iga Swiatek/POL
...Aga may be gone, but Iga is here. And she's making her presence known. The 17-year old Pole, last year's Wimbledon girls champ (and an undefeated champion in all seven of her pro singles final on the ITF circuit), will make her slam MD debut this week after racing her way through qualifying. After opening with a win over #6-seeded 2018 Moscow champ Olga Danilovic in three sets (1-6/7-6/7-5), she posted straights sets wins over Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov and Danielle Lao.

She'll open at the AO vs. Ana Bogdan. Could Swiatek be this year's Kostyuk, and maybe a future year's Osaka down the road?



===============================================
DOWN: Alona Ostapenko/LAT, Dasha Kasatkina/RUS and Sloane Stephens/USA
...under different circumstances -- or, in Latvian Thunder's case, a different season -- all of these three might be considered contenders in Melbourne. Through two weeks of the new season, though, they've shown little to indicate as much as far the Australian Open goes.

After dropping out of the Top 20 at the end 2018, Ostapenko hasn't exactly (ala, say Kerber, who found herself in similar circumstances a year ago and burst into '18 riding the tip of a rocket) entered the new season swinging a big stick. Instead, she'll head to Melbourne looking to win her first set since October. She'll face Maria Sakkari in the 1st Round. She ended last season nursing a wrist injury, with her low point being a was double-bagel loss to Wang Qiang in Beijing before she ended the year with a three-set Hong Kong defeat by Kristina Kucova. So far in '19, Ostapenko has extended her sets lost streak to six (and 8-of-9 starting with the love & love match), falling 6-0/6-2 to Monica Niculescu in Week 1, then 3 & 3 this week in Sydney vs. Ash Barty.

Meanwhile, January has never been Kasatkina's bag. For all the offseason training she does, she's yet to hit the ground running to start a season. In four years of opening month pro results, she's gone a combined 8-11 on the Dorothy Tour circuit, with just one QF result (Sydney '17). Rather than see an improvement, her season-opening results have gotten worse. 2r-q2-3r-2r-QF-1r results in 2016-17 have been followed (so far) by 1r-1r-2r-1r-1r the last two seasons, including a loss in Week 1 to #283 Kimberly Birrell (after leading 5-3 in the 3rd) and a 1 & 4 exit at the hands of Aliaksandra Sasnovich this week in Sydney.



Stephens, on the other hand, had her first major breakthrough in Melbourne, reaching the AO semis in 2013 (with a 4th Rd. finish in '14). Since then, though, due to injury or lack of form, she's been a total non-factor. After opening her '19 season with a loss to Johanna Konta last week, she *did* finally get her first win on Australian soil in four years this week in Sydney, even if she did have to rally from 6-0/5-3 down to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova. Of course, her squandering of a 6-3/5-4 lead in which she served for the win in a loss to Yulia Putintseva a round later pretty much erased that accomplishment from the books. Since her '14 AO Round of 16 run, Stephens has gone 2-6 in Australia (though she *has* gone 6-1 in New Zealand in the span, winning Auckland in '16).
===============================================


JUNIOR STAR/ITF PLAYER: Dasha Lopatetska/UKR
...there she goes again.

15-year old Ukrainian Lopatetska has won *another* challenger title. That makes two already in 2019, and her fourth in eight pro events since she made her debut last June and promptly won the first seventeen matches of her pro career. Her $25K Hong Kong title this weekend makes her 12-0 in '19 (31-4 in pro events in her career), as she added wins over Wang Xinyu and two seeds (including #1 Mai Minokoshi) before her 1 & 2 demolition of #4-seed Cagla Buyukakcay in the semis, then defeat of Ma Shuyue by a 4 & 3 score to take the title. She'll jump a massive 124 spots to #365 this week, and will be the youngest player in the Top 650 (and change).
===============================================
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The first ??of 2019! Thank you for the support ??

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DOUBLES: Aleksandra Krunic/Katerina Siniakova (SRB/CZE) and Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan (TPE/TPE)
...while things haven't yet gone well in '19 singles for either Krunic or Siniakova, as they've gone 0-2 in MD matches (the Czech *did* post two qualifying wins in Sydney), but their doubles results have at least given then some precious time on the court. Siniakova & Barbora Krejcikova reached the Brisbane semis in Week 1, and this week she and sometimes partner Krunic (their history goes back to their first pairing in Tashkent in '14, when they won the crown) picked up their second title as a pair (as many on the pro level as Siniakova has with Barbora Krejcikova, though their two wins have come in majors).

Krunic/Siniakova knocked off Sydney top seeds and defending champs Dabrowski/Xu in the QF, Kato/Ninomiya in the semis and Hozumi/Rosolska in the final, completing a no-sets-lost week.

While Siniakova is pretty secure in her position at the moment as a rising singles player (she'll break out of a tie with Krejcikova and become the solo WD #1 in the new rankings w/ this week's result), Krunic surely could use the confidence boost this title might provide, as her singles results have tailed off badly since she won her first singles title last summer at Rosmalen. But, with this win, the first official charm has been attained for the 2019 edition of the Bracelet's commemorative BSA bracelet.



In Hobart, the Chan sisters proved once again that blood is thicker than temporary doubles combinations. While the two have broken off and played with other partners over the years (Latisha famously so with Martina Hingis in '17, winning nine titles), they've still won more titles with each other than any other partners in their careers. Tour title #11 (w/ a 125 and 3 ITF crowns, as well) together came this week as they followed up their Week 1 final in Brisbane by going one better. The #1 seeds, they knocked off #3-seeded Niculescu/Yang Zhaoxuan (SF) and then #4 Flipkens/Larsson in a 10-6 3rd set TB in the final. The first title for the siblings since October '17 (Hong Kong) is Latisha's 30th, and Hao-ching's 15th on the WTA tour.


===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Yui Kamiji/JPN or Aniek Van Koot/NED
...Kamiji and Van Koot will face off on Sunday in the final of the Bendigo (AUS) ITF Super Series tournament, with the world #2 from Japan seeking to complete a sweep of the titles (she's already won the doubles with Marolein Buis). While Van Koot advanced with straight sets wins over Katharina Kruger and Kgothatso Montjane, Kamiji was forced to three in the semis by #31 Huang Hui Min. It was the first set taken off Kamiji by the 28-year old from China in three career meetings, and came after Huang had had a spectacular week pulling off a pair of upsets over Top 10ers Sabine Ellerbrock and Buis.

Meanwhile, Buis is currently sporting some pretty funky tan lines after playing with her shoulder taped...


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


I think this qualifies as a triumphant return, no?



Genie knows social media haters...



Not really a surprise...



A look back (and an update)...







1. Sydney Final - Petra Kvitova def. Ash Barty
...1-6/7-5/7-6(3). Might this be the "regular" tour match that will foreshadow another early exit in Melbourne for Kvitova? If so, at least Petra will always have Sydney. Pushing herself to the physical limit in the heat, Kvitova responded in a dramatic 3rd set. Down 3-0 to Barty in front of an Aussie crowd, Petra battled back and served for the title at 5-4 and 6-5 while fighting exhaustion. Bending over between points (and reminding everyone of her asthma and long time issues with humid conditions), the Czech began flailing shots. Two DF allowed the set to reach a deciding TB. Again, she tapped into her competitive reservoir and took a 3-1 lead. DF #10 knotted things at 3-3. Up 5-3, Kvitova began to show recognizable signs of cramping, but she had one last surge in her and won 7-3, causing Barty (who led 98-97 in total points) to come up one win short of the Sydney title for the second straight year. Kvitova has now won in eight straight tour finals, as well as eight straight at the Premier (w/ Elite Trophy '16) level.


===============================================
2. Sydney 1st Rd. - Ash Barty def. Alona Ostapenko 6-3/6-3
Sydney 2nd Rd. - Ash Barty def. Simona Halep 6-4/6-4
...not an insignificant trick to pull off back-to-back straight sets win over the last two Roland Garros champs, even if Ostapenko doesn't resemble her major winning self at the moment and Halep was very obviously tentatively testing the limits of her body in her first match of the season after missing six weeks of offseason training waiting out the recuperation from her back injury.


===============================================
3. Sydney 1st Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Ekaterina Alexandrova 0-6/7-6(3)/7-6(3)
Sydney 2nd Rd. - Yulia Putintseva def. Sloane Stephens 3-6/7-6(4)/6-0
...after rallying from 6-0/5-3 down to defeat Alexandrova and notch her first win in Australia since 2015, Stephens lost a 6-3/5-4 (and serving) lead vs. the Kazakh a round later. The symmetry of opening and closing her week in Sydney by losing a love set, though, is, well, something.


===============================================
HM- Hobart 1st Rd. - Zoe Hives def. Johanna Larsson
...7-6(1)/7-6(2). A wild card for Melbourne, the 22-year old Hives (#211) makes her tour MD debut and notches victory #1.

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


And another..




1. Hobart Final - Sonya Kenin def. ANNA KAROLINA SCHMIEDLOVA
...6-3/6-0. Kenin in the seventeenth U.S. woman to win her maiden tour singles title since a Williams (Venus in Memphis) first won a maiden title in 1998.


===============================================
2. Hobart Final - CHAN HAO-CHING/LATISHA CHAN def. Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson
...6-3/3-6 [10-6]. Second all-time, the Chans are now *half-way* to the tour record of doubles titles (22) won by an all-sister duo. I don't really need to say which siblings are #1, do I?
===============================================


1. AO Q1 - #12 Sofya Zhuk def. Jana Fett 5-7/6-2/6-4
AO Q1 - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Lauren Davis 6-3/6-3
...what a difference a year can make.


===============================================
2. AO Q1 - Astra Sharma def. #1 Vera Zvonareva
...6-3/6-2. I believe this was a sign of good things to come.


===============================================
3. AO Q3 - Astra Sharma def. #25 Irina Khromacheva
...5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10). See? She saved three MP.


===============================================
4. AO Q1 - Iga Swiatek def. Olga Danilovic
...1-6/7-6(4)/7-5. The Serb has lost six straight matches, and gone just 2-7 since her title run in Moscow as a lucky loser.
===============================================
5. AO Q2 - (PR) Olga Govortsova def. #2 Mandy Minella
...6-1/1-6/7-5. A match-up of recent WTA moms. Govortsova failed to add yet another Belarusian to the MD, falling in the final Q-round.
===============================================
6. AO Q3 - #22 Misaki Doi def. (PR) Olga Govortsova
...7-6(2)/6-4. Speaking of *that* match, it got Doi into the MD. Doi, remember, held MP vs. in the AO 1st Round in '16 vs. Kerber before the German rallied and went on to win the title and have a career year.
===============================================
7. AO Q1 - #19 Caroline Dolehide def. Rebecca Marino
...6-2/6-2. But it was still Marino's first slam match in six years, and that's something to feel good about.


===============================================
8. AO Q1 - Kaja Juvan def. #17 Yanina Wickmayer
...4-6/6-4/7-5. In her first pro slam match, "Name You'll Know..." #1 for 2019 (yeah, because Swiatek and Andreescu had already been talked out too much, but still) Juvan notches a win over a seed after trailing 5-3 in the 3rd set. It's a good start for the Slovak.



Oh, and look who makes a special appearance in the third photo here...


===============================================
HM- AO Q3 - #4 Bianca Andreescu def. #26 Tereza Smitkova
...6-0/4-1 ret. After all the matches she's played already in 2019, it was Andreescu's *opponents* who physically broke down against her in AO qualifying. Smitkova was the second of her three foes (after Katie Swan in the opening match) to do so in Melbourne. It'll still allow the 18-year old Canadian (and Auckland finalist) to make her AO MD debut in her first slam 1st Round contest since the '17 Wimbledon.





Maybe the Tennis Gods finally like her?
===============================================


*AO QUALIFIERS*
Bianca Andreescu, CAN (18/#107)
Paula Badosa Gibert, ESP (21/#142) - slam debut
Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL (24/#158) - slam debut
Harriet Dart, GBR (22/#132)
Misaki Doi, JPN (27/#133)
Viktorija Golubic, SUI (26/#104)
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (22/#176)
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (20/#167)
Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (21/#111) - slam debut
Varvara Lepchenko, USA (32/#134)
Karolina Muchova, CZE (22/#141)
Jessika Ponchat, FRA (22/#240)
Astra Sharma, AUS (23/#230) - slam debut
Iga Swiatek, POL (17/#178) - slam debut
Natalia Vikhlyantseva, RUS (21/#135)
Zhu Lin, CHN (24/#118)

























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?????CM

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**U.S. WOMAN WINS MAIDEN WTA TITLE - since 1998**
1998: Venus Williams (Memphis)
1998: Tara Snyder (Quebec City)
1999: Serena Williams (Paris Indoors)
1999: Corina Morariu (Bol)
2000: Meghann Shaughnessy (Shanghai)
2001: Meilen Tu (Auckland)
2002: Jill Craybas (Tokyo JO)
2006: Vania King (Bangkok)
2012: Melanie Oudin (Birmingham)
2014: Madison Keys (Eastbourne)
2014: CoCo Vandeweghe (Rosmalen)
2014: Alison Riske (Tianjin)
2015: Sloane Stephens (Washington)
2016: Irina Falconi (Bogota)
2016: Christina McHale (Tokyo JWO)
2017: Lauren Davis (Auckland)
2019: Sonya Kenin (Hobart)

**AUSTRALIAN OPEN "Q-PLAYER OF THE WEEK" WINNERS**
2006 Ashley Harkleroad, USA
2007 Julia Vakulenko, UKR
2008 Julia Schruff, GER
2009 Elena Baltacha, GBR
2010 Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
2011 Vesna Manasieva, RUS
2012 Paula Ormaechea, ARG
2013 Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
2014 Belinda Bencic, SUI
2015 Renata Voracova, CZE
2016 Naomi Osaka, JPN
2017 Elizaveta Kulichkova, RUS
2018 Marta Kostyuk, UKR
2019 Astra Sharma, AUS

**YOUNGEST AO...**
=WC=
16 - Whitney Osuigwe, USA
17 - Clara Burel, FRA
18 - Destanee Aiava, AUS
20 - Kimberly Birrell, AUS
20 - Priscilla Hon, AUS
=Q=
17 - Iga Swiatek, POL
18 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN
20 - Anna Kalinsakya, RUS

**OLDEST AO...**
=WC=
33 - Peng Shuai, CHN
=Q=
32 - Varvara Lepchenko, USA
27 - Misaka Doi, JPN

**LOW-RANKED AO QUALIFIERS**
#240 - Jessika Ponchat, FRA
#230 - Astra Sharma, AUS
#178 - Iga Swiatek, POL
#176 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
#167 - Anna Kalinsakaya, RUS
#158 - Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL

**SLAM QUALIFIERS MAKING SLAM MD DEBUTS**
AO - Paula Badosa Gibert, ESP
AO - Ysaline Bonaventure, ESP
AO - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
AO - Astra Sharma, AUS
AO - Iga Swiatek, POL

**NOTABLE Q/WC STREAKS - 2019 AO**
Destanee Aiava, AUS - 3 consecutive AO wild cards
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS - 2 consecutive AO qualifying runs
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS - 2 consecutive slam qualifying runs
Karolina Muchova, CZE - 2 consecutive slam qualifying runs
Whitney Osuigwe, USA - 2 consecutive slam wild cards
Jessika Ponchet, FRA - 2018 AO wild card + 2019 AO qualifier
Zhu Lin, CHN - 3 consecutive AO qualifying runs

**WTA FINALS - since 2015**
19 - Simona Halep, ROU (10-9)
17 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (9-8)
17 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (8-9)
16 - Angelique Kerber, GER (9-7)
14 - PETRA KVITOVA, CZE (12-2)
13 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (11-2)
13 - Serena Williams, USA (8-5)

**WTA SF - since 2015**
30 - Simona Halep, ROU
29 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (1 in '19)
27 - Angelique Kerber, GER
24 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
24 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
21 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
20 - PETRA KVITOVA, CZE (1)
20 - Aga Radwanska, POL
19 - Julia Goerges, GER (1)

**WTA ALL-TIME SINGLES TITLES**
167 - Martina Navratilova
154 - Chris Evert
107 - Steffi Graf
92 - Margaret Smith-Court
72 - Serena Williams *
68 - Evonne Goolagong
67 - Billie Jean King
55 - Virginia Wade
55 - Lindsay Davenport
53 - Monica Seles
49 - Venus Williams *
43 - Justine Henin
43 - Martina Hingis
41 - Kim Clijsters
36 - Maria Sharapova *
33 - Conchita Martinez
30 - Tracy Austin
30 - Caroline Wozniacki *
29 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
27 - Gabriela Sabatini
27 - Hana Mandlikova
25 - PETRA KVITOVA *
25 - Amelie Mauresmo
24 - Jana Novotna
21 - Pam Shriver #
20 - Aga Radwanska #
20 - Victoria Azarenka *
==
* - active; # - without major title

**WTA ALL-TIME DOUBLES TITLES BY SISTER DUOS**
22 - Serena & Venus Williams
11 - CHAN HAO-CHING & LATISHA CHAN
3 - Karolina & Kristyna Pliskova
3 - Alona & Kateryna Bondarenko
3 - Lyudmyla & Nadiia Kichenok
1 - Chris & Jeanne Evert
1 - Katerina Maleeva/Manuela Maleeva-F.
1 - Cammy & Cynthia MacGregor
1 - Aga & Urszula Radwanska
1 - Adriana & Antonella Serra-Zanetta

**MOST RECENT FIRST-TIME CHAMPS IN JANUARY**
=2014 Week 2=
Tsvetana Pironkova (Sydney), Garbine Muguruza (Hobart)
=2017 Week 1=
Katerina Siniakova (Shenzhen) and Lauren Davis (Auckland)
=2019 Week 2=
SONYA KENIN (HOBART)













All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 12:30 AM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Doubles draw is out. Current as of this writing, though there always is a late withdrawal.

Barty replaces Vandeweghe with Azarenka.

Like Peng and Mladenovic before her, injured Ostapenko stays in doubles with Cirstea.

Larsson/Flipkens means Bertens will have laser focus in singles.

Top 20 in singles and doubles draws are Sevastova, Barty, Kontaveit, Kasatkina, Mertens, Sabalenka. The latter two are partners.

Both Rodionova's play, but with different partners, but only N.Kichenok is playing here.

Wasn't that long ago that Garcia/Mladenovic won a slam. Kazakhstan(Diyas/Putinseva/Voskoboeva) has as many women in the draw as France(Mladenovic/Cornet/Parmentier).

Sun Jan 13, 08:17:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Hmm, wouldn't have expected Ash/Vika. Interesting.

All-KAZ duo with Diyas & Putintseva, too. One of 22 all-nation duos. It's like an Olympic year. ;)

Well, that or maybe the women are pretending they have their own "WTA World Cup" coming up and getting ready... must be something about the Aussie air. Or not. :\

Sun Jan 13, 11:00:00 AM EST  

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