Sunday, May 12, 2019

Wk.19- The Unbearable Brightness of Bertens

Kiki Bertens on hard courts... better than ever.
Kiki Bertens on grass courts... better than you realize.
Kiki Bertens on clay courts... priceless.

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*WEEK 19 CHAMPIONS*
MADRID, SPAIN (Premier Mandatory/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Kiki Bertens/NED def. Simona Halep/ROU 6-4/6-4
D: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (TPE/CZE) def. Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan (CAN/CHN) 6-3/6-1




PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kiki Bertens/NED
...all hail the new Queen of Clay, same as the *old* Queen of Clay?



Bertens made her mark in tennis early in her career due with her proficiency on clay, starring in Fed Cup on the dirt and winning five tour-level clay titles and playing a Roland Garros semifinal (2016). But as she's dedicated herself to overall improvement she's become nearly as dangerous on other surfaces (notably hard courts) as she's improved her fitness and utilized a strong service game en route to big wins in Cincinnati (2018) and Saint Petersburg (2019) on hard courts, as well as reaching the QF on the Wimbledon grass last summer. Before this week, Bertens had played in just one final on red clay (last year in Madrid, losing to Petra Kvitova) since July 2017. But the Dutch woman woke up her personal echoes in Spain.

Much as she did en route to winning her biggest hard court crown last year, when she knocked off four Top 10 players and denied Simona Halep a bit of history (back-to-back Rogers Cup/Cincinnati titles, after having help MP vs. Bertens) in the tournament's final moments, she did the same this week. While early-event victims Katerina Siniakova, Alona Ostepenko and Anastasija Sevastova aren't currently ranked in the Top 10, Bertens' straight sets win over them set the tone for what followed. World #2 and defending champ Kvitova fell in the QF, followed by #8 Sloane Stephens ('18 RG finalist) in the semis, both in two-setters. Then, with a return to #1 on Halep's racket in the final after being up a break mid-way through the opening set, Bertens took control and bossed the '18 RG champ the rest of the way.

After having taken a break lead early in the 2nd set, she staved off a potential rally by Halep in a way that perfectly showed how nearly everything was managing to go her way. Serving up 4-3, but down 15/30, Bertens sailed an overhead beyond the baseline, but the ball managed to collide with the thigh of a chasing Halep, denying her a double-break chance to get back on serve in the set. She would ultimately reach BP, but Bertens saved it with a wide ace, then got the hold with a service winner moments later. She served out the win on her third MP to win 6-4/6-4, finishing with 25 winners as she joined Kvitova as the only multiple title winner in '19 by becoming just the second (Kenin in Hobart) singles champ this season to win without dropping a set all tournament. She's the first to *ever* do it in Madrid. While her win in the final denied Halep a return to the #1 ranking, it also pushes Bertens up to a career-best #4, a distinction which could prove vital in the draw for Roland Garros... the virtual cradle for would-be first-time major winners this decade, as in five maiden champions crowned in the first nine years, with just one more left to play.

I'm just sayin'.


===============================================
RISER: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...no need to *call* Bencic these days. She just arrives on her own, with her personal #1-swatter holstered and ready to be employed whenever the opportunity arrives.



While she was among the tour's Comeback Player of the Year nominees for 2018, Bencic has *truly* returned to prominence *this* season. Finally healthy and in form again, she's won her second career Premier 5 title in Dubai (her first tour WS title since she won her last P5 in Toronto in 2015), returned to the Top 20, recorded seven Top 10 wins (two over the world #1 and another over #2), knocked out two tournament defending champs and two top seeds while reaching additional Premier Mandatory semis at Indian Wells and this week in Madrid.

Her week in Spain began with wins over Alison Van Uytvanck, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Kateryna Kozlova, then reached its zenith with her second win over #1 Naomi Osaka since the Japanese woman rose to the top spot after the Australian Open. It was Bencic's third career #1 victory, and it made her 5-0 vs. Top 5 in '19 as she stepped into the semis. She was the first to take a set off Simona Halep once she got there, forcing a 3rd against the Romanian, but was eliminated after being overwhelmed at love in the decider.

Bencic's ranking will get a three-spot bump on Monday, lifting her to #15.
===============================================
SURPRISES: Ash Barty/AUS and Kateryna Kozlova/UKR
...for someone who professes to not particularly like clay (every match brings her one day closer to grass season, after all), Barty put forth a pretty impressive showing in Madrid. Heading into her first clay court tournament of the season, the Aussie could make a strong case for being the Player of the Year for everything that had come *before* this week in 2019. Opening with wins over Dasha Gavrilova (1 & 2), Danielle Collins (6-1 sets in the 1st/3rd) and Yulia Putintseva (1 & 2 after dropping the 1st), her match winning streak hit eleven in a row (just one off Petra Kvitova's season's best). She then lost to Simona Halep in the QF, but in an impressively competitive 7-5/7-5 contest. Barty's good start to this clay season, much like so many other aspects of her results, continues to show reliable growth. Before her sabbatical from the sport, she was a combined 5-5 on the surface in 2014. Since returning, she's gone from 3-3 in '17 to 7-5 in '18 (5-4 on red clay), and now stands at 3-1 so far this season.



Meanwhile, 25-year old Ukrainian Kozlova's upward momentum continued in Madrid as she made it through qualifying in her third straight clay event this spring (after Charleston and Istanbul) -- defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova and Aliona Bolsova -- and them posted MD wins over Zhang Shuai and Karolina Pliskova. The latter upset was her second career Top 5 win, matching her 1st Round shock of defending champion Alona Ostapenko (for her first and still only slam MD win) at Roland Garros last year. Kozlova fell to Belinda Bencic in the 3rd Round, but her week only adds to a growing '19 resume that had already seen her defeat Katerina Siniakova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Indian Wells, Kristyna Pliskova (Charleston) and an injured Anastasia Potapova (Istanbul), while pushing the likes of Arna Sabalenka (C'ston) and Viktoria Kuzmova (AO) to three sets. With a career high of #62, Kozlova now finds herself within striking distance of another big moment, as she'll rise from #85 to #66 in the new rankings.


===============================================
VETERAN: Simona Halep/ROU
...as well as she's played in 2019, even while having to deal with both recovering from an inadequate offseason training regimen due to her recuperation from a back injury *and* trying to set up a workable new coaching arrangement on the flay after the departure of Darren Cahill, Halep *still* doesn't have any tangible accomplishments to show for it. She *has* picked up a legitimate nemesis, though, in Kiki Bertens. Ten months after the Dutch woman denied her the historic back-to-back Rogers Cup/Cincinnati two-fer last summer, Halep saw her push her around in the Madrid final to deny her a return to the #1 this week.

Really, Halep's frustrations with Bertens can be encapsulated in one single moment from their Saturday match, when even when things looked as if they'd go the Romanian's way, well, they *still* didn't...



Up until she ran into Bertens, things had decidely fallen almost perfectly for Halep all week in Spain. Wins over Margarita Gasparyan and Johanna Konta set up double-bagel mastering of Viktoria Kuzmova (Halep said it was pretty much a "perfect" performance for her) and a tight two-set win over Ash Barty. She finally dropped a set (in a TB) against Belinda Bencic in the semis, but overcame that frustration (with the "assistance" of the well-scolded-in-bristling-Romanian ear of coach Daniel Dobre) to deliver the Swiss a love set in the 3rd. With Naomi Osaka's QF loss to Bencic, a return to the #1 ranking was a third career Madrid title away for Halep. She held a break lead mid-way through the second, but Bertens raised her game to a big-hitting level that the Swarmette couldn't match.



Thus, Osaka holds onto #1, while Halep remains title-less since her Montreal win, going 0-3 in finals, with two of those defeats coming at the hands of Bertens. She *will* swap ranking positions with Petra Kvitova, though, and return to the #2 spot.
===============================================


COMEBACK: Sloane Stephens/USA
...the pattern of Stephens' career is that of an inevitable ebb-and-flow as she drifts between lethal and listless, with the eventual arrival of both assured. At some point, no matter how glorious or dire -- or blah -- the *current* situation may be. With a new fiancé (Jozy Altidore) and coach (Sven Groeneveld) in place, Sloane appears have officially regrouped and refocused and is ready to rise once again.



Stephens' week in Madrid saw her ride wins over Polona Hercog, Victoria Azarenka, Zheng Saisai and Petra Martic to her first semifinal since Montreal last summer. With her Roland Garros runner-up defense coming in two weeks, Sloane's short-term future (again) seems set to be a productive one. As expected. With Stephens, it's always just a matter of when, and *never* if.
===============================================
FRESH FACE: Eleonora Molinaro/LUX
...the 18-year old from Luxembourg picked up career title #4, and her second this year, at the $15K in Antalya, Turkey. A girls quarterfinalist last year at Roland Garros, top-seeded Molinaro defeated 17-year old Turk Zeynep Sonmez, seeking her first title, in a 7-5/6-4 final. She also reached the doubles final with Yulia Kulikova.


===============================================
DOWN: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
...the Czechs are still ranked in the top two spots in the doubles rankings, but with their dual Roland Garros and Wimbledon title defenses coming up fast that condition surely feels to be a temporary one considering Krejcikova & Siniakova's stretch of results since the end of last year.

Since reaching the WTA Finals championship match last fall, the duo haven't won a title and in February also suffered the deciding doubles loss that ended the Czech Republic's Fed Cup reign. They have continued to defeat the teams they likely *should*, but in comparatively "equal" match-ups against established, veteran or star-powered duos they have consistently come up short of late. Losses to Babos/Mladenovic (WTAF), Melichar/Peschke (Brisbane SF), Stosur/Zhang (AO QF), Begu/Niculescu (FC), Mertens/Sabalenka (IW F), Azarenka/Barty (Miami 1r) and Dabrowski/Xu (Madrid QF) have left the Czechs -- highly successful junior partners who later picked up their partnership as pros -- at maybe not a potential "crossroads," but maybe a "moment of truth." One wonders whether if this patterns continues, doubles partnerships (no matter how tight) and their longevity being what they are on the WTA tour, what their future might hold. Add in that Siniakova *did* win a doubles title with Aleksandra Krunic this season, while Krejcikova has dipped her toe rather significantly back into singles play (winning three ITF titles) in recent weeks.

Is it an early sign of the two beginning to drift apart, or one or both setting new career priorities? We'll see. At any rate, with a 1-3 mark in their last four matches, and 5-5 in their last ten, along with everything else, the results of their pair's matches over the next few months could bear some watching.
===============================================
ITF PLAYERS: Lauren Davis/USA and Marcela Zacarias/MEX
...in the last of the tournaments involved in the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, Davis did a virtual end run (with a little help from her friends) around the leading contenders for the berth and ended up walking away with the MD slot -- her first at a major since that marathon 3rd Round loss to Simona Halep in Melbourne in 2018 -- in Paris two weeks from now.

Davis, 25, needed to see losses from race leader Whitney Osuigwe in the $100K challenger in Bonita Springs, Florida, as well as Bernarda Pera in the $80K in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. Oh, and Davis had to win the Bonita Springs title, too. Well, Pera fell in the 1st Round to Christina McHale, who went on to win that title; while Osuigwe lost a 6-0/4-2 semifinal lead over 18-year old Ann Li and was then left hoping for a Li title run to hold onto the #1 WC spot. Davis advanced to the final to play Li with a SF win over Francesca DiLorenzo, who was playing her second match of the day (and her first had been a three-hour QF match vs. Louisa Chirico in which she'd saved two MP, so...).

With the title and WC on her racket, Davis rallied from a 1st set deficit to defeat Li 7-5/7-5 and finish off her eleventh hour heroics, winning her first singles title since taking her lone tour-level crown in Auckland in 2017. Ranked #132, she'd played but lost recent finals in November (WTA 125 vs. Peng Shuai) and April ($80K Dothan vs. Kristina Kucova). Her long-awaited victory will push her up to #122 this week, and she'll soon be headed off to Paris, where she last won a MD singles match in 2012.



Zacarias' comeback from her overturned suspension has produced a remarkably dominant stretch on the ITF circuit by the 25-year old from Mexico over the last month. Her singles/doubles sweep at another $15K Cancun event is her third straight, as her 6-3/6-1 Sunday win over Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez in the WS final followed her win in doubles with countrywoman MJPR on Saturday (her third different title-winning partner in recent weeks, along with Victoria Rodriguez and Andrea Renee Villarreal). After beginning 0-2 when she returned in March, Zacarias has now gone 15-0 in singles (winning all thirty sets) and 10-0 in doubles (16-1 in sets).


===============================================
JUNIOR STAR: Natasha Subhash/USA
...the 17-year old Virginia native (verbally committed to U-Va.) grabbed her first pro singles title this weekend, taking a home state $15K crown in Williamsburg with a win the final over Nina Stadler, 6-2/6-3. Subhash, a doubles winner at the Grade 1 International Spring Championships junior event in Carson in April, had already won a pair of $15K doubles titles over the last two seasons. Last month she took Louisa Chirico to three sets in the Charlottesville $80K.



Fellow Bannerette juniors Savannah Broadus and Vanessa Ong, 16 and 17 years old, respectively, claimed their maiden pro titles by winning the doubles at the Williamsburg event, as well.
===============================================
DOUBLES: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
...Hsieh and Strycova don't play often, but when they do they prefer to win big.


Six times over the past fifteen months the two 33-year olds have teamed up, and so far they have as many titles as they do losses. They've gone 17-3 overall, and their Premier Mandatory title this week in Madrid is their second (w/ Indian Wells '18) to go along with a Premier 5 (Dubai) they won earlier this year. Winning a pair of match tie-breaks along the way -- vs. Mitu/Panova in the 1st Round, then Kudermetova/Voskoboeva in the SF -- the duo notched additional straight sets victories over Stosur/Sh.Zhang and, in the final, Dabrowski/Xu to wrap up the title. It leaves Hsieh an impressive 9-1 in career PM/P5 doubles finals (and an additional 3-1 in slam/WTAF chsp. matches), and 22-11 overall at tour level. Strycova has now won 25 career WTA titles in 42 finals, and will move up to a career-best #3 ranking on Monday.


===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN
...Zhu, 29, took home both the singles and doubles titles at the Series 2 Israel Open event, giving her eight straight singles wins (with two consecutive titles, along with the Futures Series event in Malaysia in March) as well as eight in a row in doubles (three titles). Unseeded, she knocked off four seeds en route to the title: #8 Charlotte Famin, #4 Dana Mathewson, #1 Lucy Shuker and #6 Jordanne Whiley in a 6-0/6-7(6)/6-2 final. Also unseeded in doubles, she and Huang Hui Min upset the top 3 seeds: #1 Katharina Kruger/Shuker, #2 Mathewson/Manami Tanaka (in the final) and #3 Louise Hunt/Whiley.



Though she entered the week ranked #42, Zhu was as high as #11 in 2016. That season and over the last two, she's had wins over a virtual who's who of WC slam winners in recent years, including Diede de Groot (2016/17), Aniek Van Koot (2018) and Sabine Ellerbrock (2016/18). She's never appeared in a slam MD, but did win singles Silver at last October's Asian Para Games, falling to Yui Kamiji in the final, and won Gold in doubles with Huang.
===============================================







1. Madrid Final - Kiki Bertens def. Simona Halep
...6-4/6-4. With Halep playing for Madrid title #3 and the #1 ranking, Bertens took charge from a break down in the 1st set, firing 25 winners (and even winning a point on which she overcooked an overhead that missed the court entirely) to claim her first red clay crown in almost two years.



===============================================
2. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Victoria Azarenka
...6-4/2-6/6-2. Stephens has now won four straight over Azarenka in 2018-19. Vika was 3-0 in their previous meetings, all at the Australian Open in straight sets from 2013-15.
===============================================


3. Madrid 3rd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Viktoria Kuzmova
...6-0/6-0. In :44, Halep records her fifth career double-bagel in a pro event (not surprisingly, four have come on clay):

2008 $25K Kristienhamn Q2 - Hilda Melander (RC)
2009 $50K Makarska QF - Anne Schaefer (RC)
2012 Dubai Q1 - Alla Kudryavtseva (HC)
2016 Bucharest Final - Anastasija Sevastova (RC)
2019 Madrid 3rd - Viktoria Kuzmova (RC)

===============================================
4. Madrid QF - Kiki Bertens def. Petra Kvitova
...6-2/6-3. Bertens wins out over the first player to win two titles in '19 en route to winning her own second title of the season, evening their career head-to-head at 3-3 after losing her two previous clay matches vs. the Czech, both in three-setters in last year's Madrid final and this season's Stuttgart semi. Since that Madrid loss, Bertens has won three of four vs. Kvitova.


===============================================
5. $25K Monzon ESP Final - Nadia Podoroska def. Christina Bucsa
...6-2/4-6/6-2. The 22-year old Argentine, after suffering an injury setback (she was out from July '17 to March '18) after showing early promise, wins her first title since 2016. Podoroska was 8-2 in ITF finals between 2013-16 and qualified for her only career slam MD at the U.S. Open three years ago.


===============================================
6. $80K Cagnes-sur-Mer FRA Final - Christina McHale def. Stefanie Voegele
...7-6(4)/6-2. The 26-year old Bannerette opened play by downing Bernarda Pera's chances to win the USTA's RG WC spot in the 1st Round, then put away back-to-back Swiss opponents (Timea Bacsinszky in the semis before Voegele) to win her first singles title since taking a tour-level crown in Tokyo in 2016.
===============================================
7. Rome Q2 - Kristina Mladenovic def. Amanda Anisimova
...6-1/6-4. For the KarmicKiki record: 7-2 since winning Fed Cup doubles with Garcia, after previously being 6-10 this season.

Her 1st Round opponent? Garcia.
===============================================
8. $60K Fukuoka JPN Final - Heather Watson def. Zarina Diyas
...7-6(1)/7-6(4). The Brit's first singles title since claiming her third WTA crown in Monterrey in 2016.


===============================================
9. Madrid 1st Rd. - Pauline Parmentier def. Elina Svitolina
...6-4/7-6(6). So much for that Singapore bounce. Following up her WTAF title run, Svitolina is battling a knee injury and title-less into a season's fifth month for the first time since 2014. After fighting to a brighter end (winning four three-setters in five matches) to finish '18, four of her seven losses in '19 have come in three-setters (vs. Sasnovich, Halep, Bencic and Andreescu). This was her third straight loss, there's been no talk this season of "trusting the process," and she's often seemed more worried about joint Instagram accounts than building on her career moment from last November as so many previous WTAF winners (most recently, Caro Wozniacki) have done. And now comes her Rome title defense a year after she impressively (even more so now) took out, in order, Martic, Kasatkina, Kerber, Kontaveit and Halep, losing just one set.

It has to be asked... is Gael Monfils, who has often looked decidedly *more* focused on the court this season, a tennis energy vampire or what?
===============================================
10. $25K Monzon ESP Final - Jana Fett/Dalma Galfi def. Despina Papamichail/Nina Stojanovic
...7-6(2)/6-2. 2017's co-"Players Whose Name You'll Know..." picks team up for maximum effectiveness. It worked.


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









1. Madrid QF - Belinda Bencic def. NAOMI OSAKA
...3-6/6-2/7-5. After finding her way with wins over Dominika Cibulkova, Sara Sorribes Tormo (in 2:35, via a love 3rd) and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Osaka appeared lost at times during her match with Bencic. Still, she came within two points of the win, but later admitted to thinking about the stakes (a win would have protected her #1 ranking from Halep, though the Romanian ultimately came up short of the title and reclaiming the top spot anyway).



This gave Bencic a tour-leading two #1 wins this season (both over Osaka, though she also had a win over Halep in Dubai right *after* she lost the top spot), and also gave her a pair of wins (both vs. Osaka) over a tournament's top seed (tops in the WTA) to go along with her two wins over defending champs (tied w/ Sakkari for the tour's best, with her Dubai upset of Svitolina her previous mark).
===============================================
2. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Kateryna Kozlova def. KAROLINA PLISKOVA
...5-7/6-2/6-4. It's clay court season, so Top 5 players beware. Kozlova's other Top 10 win was over then-#5 Ostapenko at last year's RG.


===============================================
3. $25K Obidos POR Final - Pemra Ozgen def. URSZULA RADWANSkA
...7-5/3-0 ret. Radwanska, 28, was playing for her second title of the season (w/ January $25K) after having not won any since 2012. Her 2nd set retirement allowed 32-year old Turkish vet Ozgen to pick up career title #15.
===============================================















































*2019 WTA FINALS*
4 - Petra Kvitova (2-2)
2 - KIKI BERTENS (2-0)
2 - Karolina Pliskova (1-1)
2 - Sonya Kenin (1-1)
2 - Bianca Andreescu (1-1)
2 - Ash Barty (1-1)
2 - SIMONA HALEP (0-2)
2 - Marketa Vondrousova (0-2)
[since 2015]
21 - SIMONA HALEP (10-11)
18 - Karolina Pliskova (9-9)
18 - Caroline Wozniacki (8-10)
17 - Petra Kvitova (13-4)
17 - Angelique Kerber (9-8)
13 - Elina Svitolina (11-2)
13 - Serena Williams (8-5)
10 - KIKI BERTENS (8-2)
10 - Julia Goerges (5-5)
10 - Dominika Cibulkova (4-6)
[match-ups since 2016]
3...S.Williams/Kerber (AK 2-1)
2...Barty/Kvitova (PK 2-0)
2...Kerber/Ka.Pliskova (1-1)
2...Halep/Svitolina (ES 2-0)
2...Ka.Pliskova/Wozniacki (KP 2-0)
2...A.Radwanska/Konta (1-1)
2...Svitolina/Wozniacki (ES 2-0)
2...BERTENS/HALEP (KB 2-0)

*WTA WS TITLE RUNS w/o LOST SET in 2019*
Hobart - Sonya Kenin, USA
MADRID - KIKI BERTENS, NED

*2019 SLAM/PREMIER MANDATORY/PREMIER 5 FINALS*
Australian Open (HC) - #4 Osaka/JPN def. #6 KVITOVA/CZE
Dubai (HC) - #45 Bencic/SUI d. #4 Kvitova/CZE
Indian Wells (HC) - #60 Andreescu/CAN def. #8 Kerber/GER
Miami (HC) - #11 Barty/AUS def. #7 Ka.Pliskova/CZE
Madrid (RC) - #7 BERTENS/NED def. #3 HALEP/ROU
Rome (RC) - ??
[doubles winners]
Australian Open - Stosur/Sh.Zhang, AUS/CHN
Dubai - Hsieh/Strycova, TPE/CZE
Indian Wells - Mertens/Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
Miami - Mertens/Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
Madrid - HSIEH/STRYCOVA, TPE/CZE
Rome - ??

*ACTIVE WTA CAREER TITLE LEADERS*
72 - Serena Williams, USA
49 - Venus Williams, USA
36 - Maria Sharapova, RUS
30 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
27 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
20 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
18 - Simona Halep, ROU
18 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
13 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
12 - Angelique Kerber, GER
12 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
12 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
12 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS
9 - KIKI BERTENS, NED
9 - Sara Errani, ITA
9 - Samantha Stosur, AUS
8 - Dominika Cibukova, SVK
[clay court titles]
13 - Serena Williams, USA
11 - Maria Sharapova, RSU
7 - Sara Errani, ITA
7 - Simona Halep, ROU
7 - Venus Williams, USA
6 - KIKI BERTENS, NED
5 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
--
NOTE: Jankovic (15, 6 CC)

*2019 WINS OVER #1*
Sydney 2nd Rd. - #15 Barty def. #1 Halep
Australian Open 4th Rd. - #16 S.Williams def. #1 Halep
Dubai 2nd Rd. - #67 Mladenovic def. #1 Osaka
Indian Wells 4th Rd. - #23 Bencic def. #1 Osaka
Miami 3rd Rd. - #27 Hsieh def. #1 Osaka
Madrid QF - #18 BENCIC def. #1 OSAKA
[career #1 wins - active]
17 - Serena Williams
15 - Venus Williams
7 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
7 - Maria Sharapova
6 - Elina Svitolina
5 - Dominika Cibulkova
5 - Petra Kvitova
4 - Garbine Muguruza
4 - Caroline Wozniacki
3 - Victoria Azarenka
3 - BELINDA BENCIC
3 - Alize Cornet
3 - CoCo Vandeweghe

*MOST WTA DOUBLES FINALS in 2019*
3...Chan/Chan, TPE/TPE (2-1)
2...HSIEH/STRYCOVA, TPE/CZE (2-0)
2...Mertens/Sabalenka, BEL/BLR (2-0)
2...Babos/Mladenovic, HUN/FRA (1-1)
2...Kalinskaya/Kuzmova, RUS/SVK (1-1)
2...Melichar/Peschke, USA/CZE (1-1)
2...Stosur/Sh.Zhang, AUS/CHN (1-1)
[oldest duo]
68 - Melichar 25/Peschke 43 = Prague (L)
68 - Melichar 25/Peschke 43 = Brisbane (W)
68 - HSIEH 33/STRYCOVA 33 = MADRID (W)
66 - Groenefeld 33/Rosolska 33 = Charleston (W)
65 - Hsieh 33/Strycova 32 = Dubai (W)
65 - Stosur 35/ Sh.Zhang 30 = Miami (L)

*2019 $100K FINALS - 1Q/2Q*
Midland, USA (hci) - Caty McNally/USA (#411) def. Jessica Pegula/USA (#104)
Charleston USA (gco) - Taylor Townsend/USA (#108) def. Whitney Osuigue/USA (#139)
Bonita Springs, USA (gco) - Lauren Davis/USA (#132) def. Ann Li/USA (#218)
Trnava, SVK (rco) - [May]
Surbiton, ENG (g) - [June]
Manchester, ENG (g) - [June]

*USTA RG WILD CARD CHALLENGER WINNERS*
2013 Shelby Rogers
2014 Taylor Townsend
h2015 Louisa Chirico
2016 Taylor Townsend
2017 Amanda Anisimova
2018 Taylor Townsend
2019 Lauren Davis

















All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 3:54 PM 

18 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Anisimova is the LL with Vekic out, may have got a better draw because of it.

Safarova said that she wants to play in Paris. Might have to be doubles, as she would need a WC for singles MD.

Bertens will now be referred to as the toaster. Well, she's not Stove, but she's heating up quick on clay.

Barty's match vs Halep felt like Cincinnati. Almost the same score too, as Cinci was 7-5, 6-4, instead of 7-5, 7-5. But just as that match signified that barty was close on hard, this feels the same on clay. With a shorter clay season, she may not win a title on the surface until next year, but the improvement is evident.

Last week to move for French Open seeding. Due to Kerber withdrawing, she may not have a quarter. Osaka, Halep, Bertens, Kvitova are most likely.

With Svitolina defending title points, she may be in the 9-16 bracket. Bencic should be at the tail end of that.

Andreescu at 23 is where the mess starts. Probably unlikely, and right behind her is Vekic, who was up a set and 2-1 on Martic, then injured her hip(looked like leg), and pulled out of Rome. Hsieh and Tsurenko move up if they don't make it.

Before the Rome points come off, Buzarnescu, Collins, Suarez Navarro, and Sasnovich are the last 4 in. First 4 out are Cibulkova, injured Giorgi and Sharapova, then Pavlyuchenkova, Kenin, Putintseva, and Sakkari.

Everybody down to Vondrousova at 44 has a chance at a seed with a QF or better.

Stat of the Week-7- The number of Russians seeded at the 2009 French Open.

10 years ago, Russia ruled France. So much so, that that final was an all Russian one, as 2 of those 7 in Kuznetsova and Safina contested it.

Dementieva, Zvonareva, Petrova, Kleybanova, and Chakvetadze were the others.

Contrast this to today, where Kasatkina will probably be their only seed. Sharapova would need those above her to withdraw, while Pavlyuchenkova could play her way in.

This is rare, as they had 5 of the Top 7 seeds in 2005, but haven't had a run like this since 2000 and 2001, when Kournikova and Dementieva were the only seeds each year in the last two years of a 16 seed draw.

Quiz Time!
After the breakup of the USSR, who was the first Russian to be seeded while playing for Russia?

A.Leila Meskhi
B.Natasha Zvereva
C.Anna Kournikova
D.Elena Dementieva



More Up/Down side with back to back premiers.



Answer!
There weren't many options, because there wasn't much that happened initially.

(A)Meskhi is wrong, because although she was the first woman to be seeded after the breakup, it was not for Russia. Nor was it for Georgia, whom she would later represent. It was under the commomwealth flag(CIS) back in 1992.

(D)Dementieva was wrong. Seeded at #7 in 2001 she was the highest seed. Or at least tied with the other incorrect answer in (B)Zvereva who was #7 back in 1994 while representing Belarus. Zvereva also was seeded in 1995, making her the only ex Russian to be seeded multiple times before a current one did so.

That turned out to be (C)Kournikova in 1998. The shooting star was seeded once more in 2000, but the proverbial candle in the wind blew out long before the legend ever did.

Sun May 12, 06:17:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- The Serena's Back Edition.

1.Vondrousova- Has a tough draw, but has already beaten Halep, who probably will be at 80% this week. Missed Madrid, so may have fresher legs than the field.
2.Yastremska- Another tough draw, but the 1-5 record since her Hua Hin title belies the fact that she has been playing well. Just one loose game here and there. May play a coming off of a high Bertens, who lost first round here last year.
3.Mladenovic- Put her here before she got placed in the draw. Gets Garcia(popcorn ready). I don't know if this is a Sascha thing or not, but no Babos/Mladenovic in Madrid or Rome, first time since 2012 that she has not played doubles in either. If this is a focus on singles thing, we saw how Garcia reached the YEC. Not out of the realm of possibility that with more focus, her singles same goes back to her 2015 level.
4.Strycova- Is she on a most wanted poster? Safarova wants to play with her, Vondrousova did in Australia, and Hsieh keeps winning with her. So who does she play the French with? The answer to that may mean the difference between a career high #3, or a run at #1.
5.Putintseva- Another with a tough draw, as she probably gets Kvitova. But better on clay, as she is one of the 17 people in the current French Open draw with 2 or more QF runs there. That list includes Sharapova for now, but not Bertens, though that may change in 3 weeks.

Sun May 12, 06:29:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Osaka- There are 2 things that are absolute in tennis-Sharapova when reaching a 3rd set, and Osaka when she wins the 1st one. Well, not anymore. After going almost 3 years without a loss as a frontrunner, she becomes number 1 and cant close out a match. This is all mental. The twist is that a loss to Bencic isn't a bad loss, and she has improved on clay. But she is fighting herself to the point that although she could put up results in France anywhere from the 2nd rd to QF, it is easier for a 17 yr old with more belief than common sense to take her out, than it is for the 30 yr old vet that knows that this her best chance to knock off a reigning #1. This may just be a blip, but it is frustrating to watch.
2.Halep- Rome-Mania? Doubtful. Unlike the Romanian second home in Madrid, they are like Russia in Miami. Between Ruzici(3), and Halep(2), they are 5 time final losers without a win. Plus Halep is expected to play it safe and pull out at any sign of distress. The one thing that might change it is that she is still looking for a title.
3.Svitolina- Current 2 time champ won't win a third. Looking like a veritable traffic cone last week(getting passed on both sides), she literally is Serena. Meaning that we want to see her win, then see how she recovers and plays her next match. The one silver lining for her? She is in the MASH unit that is the 3rd qtr, which also includes Azarenka, Muguruza, Wozniacki, Keys, and Pliskova(virus). Section most likely to have a random SF.
4.Bencic-One match or two, and taking the rest of the week off is a good thing. But she is on this list because she doesn't have a bye. But don't Madrid SF get a bye in Rome? No, 10 years ago, when Rome was before Madrid, the Rome SF got the bye. And due to Kerber's withdrawal, Barty gets a bye, leaving Bencic as the only one having to play a 1st rd match.
5.Cibulkova- Trying to hold on to a French Open seed. And she needs it, as she has more wins this year in Fed Cup-2, than she does on tour-1. Really feeling that this will be her last season.

Sun May 12, 06:44:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

I think Lucie's plan, all along, was to play just doubles in Paris.

Sun May 12, 07:36:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Quiz: went with Meshki :\

"That turned out to be (C)Kournikova in 1998. The shooting star was seeded once more in 2000, but the proverbial candle in the wind blew out long before the legend ever did." :D

(Speaking of Elton John... I wonder if it's possible for the movie to be as well done as that Christmas commercial last year that recreated his entire life in two minutes. I'm thinking probably not.)

I hope the singles focus is a thing for Mladenovic... at least a little because I want to hear her explain it after what she said about CG when *she* made that decision. :)

Mladenovic vs. Garcia has to be so much less stressful (for both of them) now than had it happened the three or four other times it *almost* did the last couple years.

Sun May 12, 09:34:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Day 1 update regarding French Open seeds:

Kerber is still 3, but Bertens and Kvitova are a couple of wins away from dropping her to 5.

Svitolina is the only player between 9-16 that can get to 8.

Wang at 16 lost, but others behind her would need to win multiple matches to pass her.

Andreescu, Vekic, Garcia 22-24, with Hsieh and Tsurenko gunning for those spots.

Last 4 in are Suarez-Navarro, Sasnovich, Cibulkova, Collins. First 5 out, since Giorgi isn't playing are Giorgi, Pavlyuchenkova, Kenin, Putintseva, and drum roll please.....Ostapenko.

Mon May 13, 05:40:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Oh, Alona. :(

Mon May 13, 10:22:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

KarmicKiki Update: Mladenovic (on her birthday, no less) finally plays against and handles Garcia 6-1/6-2, then they exchange, though not one of the superduperfriends4ever variety, a solid handshake and double kiss at the net.

Now 8-2 since Fed Cup (w/ Sascha).

Maybe Caroline should think about emulating Kiki and finding a new coach. The impact of her father as last season went on seemed to be more negative than positive.

Tue May 14, 12:35:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Immediate reaction to the tour's first new marketing campaign (#ItTakesWTA) in four years: meh.

Essentially, it seeks to "showcase the sprit, authenticity and diversity" of the WTA, and attempts to tie "It Takes..." to inspirational words like courage, heart, humility, bravery, etc. paired with many of the tour's athletes. On it's face, it's not horrible or condescending, and the message is a good one, albeit a bit bland and thematically far too similar to any number of campaigns put forth by *other* organazations and/or movements. And, really, the WTA itself.

What's new and successfully makes the WTA stand out? That's easy. Nothing. Rarely has something with so much to offer so routinely failed to shine a spotlight on it. It's become a WTA tradition. Would anyone *not* believe that successful international athletes have more than a modicum amount of courage, heart, dedication, spirit, etc? I mean, does anyone think "It Takes..." the likes of cowardice, indifference, apathy, lethargy and arrogance to succeed in these parts?

This campaign, like all the others, will play to the attention span of a gnat. People will take a look at it once, and never think about it again... until comparing it against the *next* half-hearted marketing campaign.

While the glossy glamour shots in tennis gear days are gone, I'm not really confident that a series of ID badge-like B&W images or inspiring videos set to music (and look like a Nike/Gatorade empowerment ad or something) with Mary Carillo (?) doing the voiceover really cuts the mustard, if you will.

In the end, this campaign isn't really all that different from all the other underwhelming and interchangable ones from the past. The concept is a dead end from the jump. Where is the real insight into the styles and personalities of the players? Where's the fun? Where's the humor? Is this supposed to be a *marketing* campaign designed to get attention, promote the top players and the sport in general, and cast it all as a product worth sampling and getting invested in, or is just a time-worn list of motivational words (go ahead, look at that list and you'll see a few of those used in this campaign, or could be) with images of tennis players attached? Need I even answer that one?

They should have asked Andrea Petkovic for pointers. Her little aside was far funnier and something that could be played off in a way that allowed people to get to know the individuals that drive the sport, not simply hone in on the qualities that one looks to improve via a self-help program.

Even better, LorenaPopa has it on lockdown -- her string of improved "It Takes..." tweets on her Twitter feed are sometimes a scream, and immediately turn the actual campaign into the nonentity that it is. A personal favorite: with Strycova, #ItTakes... to teach people how to do a handshake. :D

Tue May 14, 02:27:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7T9LAH-g3g

So Todd, do you want something like that?

I don't hate the It Takes campaign, but I understand where you are going with this. You have a number of well spoken multilingual women that play in places where the architecture is flawless. There should be something more inspired.

Speaking of uninspired, the FO WC are out, and as usual, they make Wimbledon look better by comparison. True to tradition, Gauff as junior winner got QWC.

Svitolina in a 3rd set, the question if she will need to recover is still up in the air, not so for Serena, as she pulls out, denying the first matchup vs Venus on clay since the 2002 French Open.

Not much seed movement, Suarez Navarro wins, so last 4 now are Buzarnescu, Sasnovich, Collins, Cibulkova. First 5 out- Giorgi, Pavlyuchenkova, Kenin(still playing), Putintseva(still playing), Ostapenko.

Listing 5 as it is fair to say that Kerber, Serena, Andreescu, Vekic, Giorgi are all questionable.

Not affecting seeding but officially out is Makarova.

Tue May 14, 04:54:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

For what it’s worth, the “It Takes...” posters were on display in Charleston, and they’re quite dramatic and attractive. Having said that, I agree with you that the campaign is blah. Though it’s better than “Powered By” (I liked my own versions, though: JJ—Powered By Glitter, Aga—Powered By Cheesecake).

“Get inTouch with Your Feminine Side” is probably still my favorite. I wish I still had the t-shirt. Which brings up another issue: Why did the WTA stop selling gear??!

I like the LPGA’s “It’s Different Out Here” theme a lot. The TV spots are funny and clever, and they introduce you to so many tour personalities.

Tue May 14, 07:29:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-
Haha. That's sort of along the lines of the old SportsCenter ads that used all sorts of European and Asian players where even language barriers weren't an issue because they were (shocking) being creative. That sort of thing might not play everywhere, but it'd be a hoot where it does.

Monfils: Tennis Energy Vampire. I think I'm onto something there.

At 16, I've got to think Diane Parry (slightly younger than fellow WC Janicijevic) is going to be the youngest MD player, right? Well, unless there's a younger qualifier, I guess.

Secret wish: 1st Round - Serena vs. Selena (Janicijevic). Just for the potential verbal miscues. ;)


D-
I can see the images looking good, but even that sort of touches on the problem I'm talking about. Is it a marketing campaign or a photography exhibit? Who exactly are they marketing *to*? A campaign that looks good at tournament sites is playing to a crowd -- fans and sponsors -- the tour already has.

Haha -- see, even their bad campaigns can be propped up and made enjoyable with a little dose of humor, something TPTB making the decisions are without on any level.

(Ah, that alternate slogan made me miss JJ.) :(

Really, any campaign that is undertaken in this day and age should be able to generate attention on social media, and this one is D.O.A.. There are so many great personalities that should be highlighted, but the notion is too often discarded in place of photos and words.

Think of those great videos put together in recent years (was it for New Haven? The last one had Kvitova "teaching" about the eclipse), and how good those were. Anything that would allow the players to be seen as individuals to like and root for would be a good place to start.

Of course, I say that knowing it will NEVER happen. Ever. The WTA has had a hard enough trouble in recent years even finding ways for people to just WATCH matches without the whole apparatus looking incompetent.

Oh, well.

Tue May 14, 09:23:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Yeah, Petra as an astronomer, and Jules with "Nein!" Those are great videos, and that's the kind of thing the LPGA does (though not as well). When I showed my trainer those New Haven videos, he said "Those women are funny, like, they could do comedy for a living!"

Exactly, There is SO much personality on the tour. JJ and Aga are gone (more or less), but they still have a whole lot of funny, video-worthy players. The players do a lot of fashion-shoot kinds of things in print, which is fine, and Maria does the business mags, but there's so much more they could do (I'm speaking as a former P.R. specialist)--so many interviews that could be in non-sports venues.

Tue May 14, 10:14:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Tomorrow could be good, or a nightmare. With almost everybody on the schedule playing twice, there may be some odd results.

Survival of the fittest!

No way Azarenka/Barty stays in doubles.

And even though we were 99% sure, it is official, Sharapova out of French Open.

Wed May 15, 05:56:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Hmmm, is the clock ticking on Serena for Paris? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Wed May 15, 07:04:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

4 retirements on the day.

Seeds moved quite a bit. Bertens goes up to 3, is assured of a Top 4 seed. Kerber at 4 can only be bumped by Pliskova.

32nd spot had lots of movement. Last 4 in are Martic, Sasnovich, Collins, and for the time being, Kenin. First 5 out are Cibulkova, Sakkari, Giorgi, Palvyuchenkova, Vondrousova.

Lots of potential first timers in there, but we are not done. If Konta beats Vondrousova, she moves up to 32nd. Plus the mathematical longshots in Azarenka and Mladenovic are still alive.

Thu May 16, 05:59:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Daily update.

Was wrong about Azarenka/Barty, they stayed in and are in SF.

If Bertens wins her next match, she goes to #2.

If Pliskova wins her next match, she goes to #4, but can be #2 if she wins title.

On the bottom end, Sakkari jumps to 28, so last 4 in are Buzarnescu, Martic, Sasnovich, and Konta. First 5 out are Collins, Kenin, Cibulkova, Giorgi, and Pavlyuchenkova.

Svitolina did a good thing regarding Lopatetska.

Fri May 17, 06:12:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Small update.

Pliskova bounces Kerber, so Osaka, Halep, Bertens, Pliskova will each have a quarter.

Haven't talked about the 17-24 bracket because there has been very little movement, but if Konta wins, she moves up, and Garcia goes down to 25 before withdrawals.

Sat May 18, 08:27:00 PM EDT  

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