Sunday, May 19, 2019

Wk.20- Shall a Czech Sit on the Clay Throne?

With the inevitable approach of the concluding battle to determine who will sit on the Clay Throne for the following twelve months, yet another contender injected her name into the conversation. She hails from the House of Czech, and her name is Karolina.



It's been thirty-eight years since one of her kind ruled the kingdom from Paris for as far as the eye can. Could *she* be the next?




*WEEK 20 CHAMPIONS*
ROME, ITALY (Premier 5/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Karolina Pliskova/CZE def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-3/6-4
D: Victoria Azarenka/Ash Barty (BLR/AUS) def. Anna-Lena Groenfeld/Demi Schuurs (GER/NED) 4-6/6-0 [10-3]


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Karolina Pliskova/CZE
...before Rome, Pliskova's blazing start to '19 seemed to have hit a snag just as the clay season began. She skipped a week with a potential injury and was just 1-2 on the surface (w/ all three matches going three sets) heading into the week after having opened by playing at a 21-5 clip on hard courts.

While she never played anyone ranked in the Top 35 all week long, Pliskova emerged as the most consistent player in an Italian Open draw ravaged by rain, retirements and walkovers, likely often due in large part to precautionary actions with Roland Garros just a week away. No matter, Pliskova will take her wins over Ajla Tomljanovic, Sonya Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sakkari and Johanna Konta and reap the benefits. For one, they got her her 13th career tour-level title, the third (and biggest) on clay in her career. After eighteen champions were crowned in the season's first eighteen events, she's the third woman (after Petra Kvitova and Kiki Bertens) in recent weeks to record a second title run in '19. It'll lift her five spots in the rankings all the way to #2, setting up the '17 semifinalist on the opposite end of the RG draw from world #1 Naomi Osaka (who exited Rome via a walkover after waking up with an injured thumb after playing two matches the day before).

Pliskova is the first Czech to win the Rome title since 1978. Which woman won it then, you ask...? [see below]



Probably not anyone you might have been thinking: it was Regina Maršíková.




The last Czech to win Roland Garros? That's be Hana Mandlikova in 1981.
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RISERS: Maria Sakkari/GRE and Kiki Bertens/NED
...while the list of potential Coach of the Year candidates is pretty well populated, from the likes of Sylvain Bruneau (Andreescu), Raemon Sluiter (Bertens), Craig Tyzzer (Barty) and Wim Fissette (Azarenka) to maybe even Conchita Martinez (Pliskova), Dimitri Zavialoff (Konta) and Sascha Bajin (Osaka/Mladenovic), save a spot in the conversation for Tom Hill, who Sakkari may have finally landed on as the perfect choice after much recent trail and error.

Or, you know, unless it was the bird. Said Sakkari, "It’s funny, a bird s**t on my bag before the tournament in Rabat so I was like, good things are going to happen. So I haven’t cleaned my bag since then. I think I’m not going to wash it."

Whether the Greek's biggest help sports feathers or not, she's certainly taken some major steps since going 1-2 in Indian Wells and Miami. With her week in Rome, she's gone 14-4, winning her maiden title in Rabat, notching two Top 6 wins, and reaching her biggest tour semi this past week after qualifying (def. Zvonareva and Petkovic) and posting MD victories over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Anett Kontaveit and Petra Kvitova (on the same day, w/ the Czech retiring), and then rallying in the QF from 7-5/2-1, 40/love down vs. Kristina Mladenovic. A SF loss to Pliskova ended Sakkari's week, but her ten-spot ranking bump will lift her back into her career-high position (#29) and get her a seed at Roland Garros.




Well, a Madrid/Rome sweep probably *was* too much to ask from Bertens, right? At least now she won't head to Paris riding a double-digit winning streak that would cast her as quite possibly the #1 favorite to take her maiden title. Of course, she'll *still* be in the conversation as a title contender at the slam that has so often played host to a first-time major winner.

Bertens' week in Rome produced her third straight SF+ finish this clay season, but she didn't dominate like she did in Madrid. After a 1st Round bye, she went to a 7-5 3rd set vs. LL Amanda Anisimova and followed up later in the day with another win over Carla Suarez-Navarro square in the middle of the tournament's rain-delayed, backlogged schedule. After getting a walkover from Naomi Osaka, Bertens lost in three sets to Johanna Konta. Karolina Pliskova's title run allowed the Czech to leap over Bertens (who could have risen to #2 this week) and Simona Halep to capture RG's #2 seed.
===============================================
SURPRISE: Dalma Galfi/HUN
...a week after maintaining her spring momentum with a singles QF and double title (w/ Jana Fett) in the Monzon $25K, the 20-year old Hungarian finds herself in position to sweep the titles at a Spanish $60K challenger in La Bisbal d'Emporda. Galfi qualified and then recorded MD wins over Sabine Lisicki, Marie Bouzkova and Maryna Zanevska, the last two from a set down, to reach the semis. Rain delayed the semifinals until Sunday, where Galfi did it again, coming back from a set down to defeat Paula Badosa via a 7-5 deciding tie-break to reach her first singles final since 2016.

The final will be contested on Monday vs. China's Wang Xiyu, while Galfi and Georgina Garcia Perez are set to face off with Aussies Arina Rodionova & Storm Sanders in the WD final. Heading into the finals, the Hungarian is on a 13-3 singles run since April, and is 7-0 in doubles the last two weeks.
===============================================
VETERANS: Johanna Konta/GBR and Victoria Azarenka/BLR
...we'll soon see how Konta handles the elevated-once-again level of expectations after what has turned out to be a surprisingly productive clay court spring that has included her first tour-level semifinals and finals on the surface (in Rabat and now in Rome). This week she added a pair of Top 10 wins to her resume over #8 Sloane Stephens ('18 RG finalist) and #4 Kiki Bertens (she trailed the Madrid champ 7-5/5-4) *and* additional victories over Vens Williams and Marketa Vondrousova. She lost in the final to Karolina Pliskova, but it was still her biggest week of results since she won Miami and reached the Wimbledon semis two years ago. She'll jump back into the Top 30 with the result, going from #42 to #26 on Monday and slipping into the seeds for RG.




Thus far, she's 0-4 at Roland Garros, though, and lost in the 2nd Round at last year's Wimbledon after her '17 semi and climbing into the Top 10 soon afterward. In fact, since winning five matches at SW19 to reach her second major semi in a year and a half, Konta has gone a combined 3-6 in slams.

The spring has turned out to provide the setting for an Azarenka reawakening. Since her tearful 1st Round exit in Melbourne, she's continued her hard work on and off the court. And it's paid off, to the tune of a pair of doubles titles (including this week's in Rome w/ Ash Barty), her first singles final (Monterrey) in three years, and a significant rise in the rankings (up seven more to #44 on Monday). This week, her comeback from 5-2 down in the 3rd set (and MP) in the 2nd Round vs. defending champ Elina Svitolina led to a retirement win over Garbine Muguruza a round later and a QF berth for her third final-eight-or-better result in her last four events. Though she fell short against eventual champion Karolina Pliskova, with her now routinely flashing some newly-tuned doubles skills at the net Vika has posted three Top 6 wins in recent weeks and cast her as maybe *the* unseeded player no one wants to draw in the early rounds in Paris a week from now.


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COMEBACKS: Kristina Mladenovic/FRA and Marcela Zacarias/MEX
...is Sascha Bajin on his way to a *second* straight Coach of the Year award? As much as Karmic Kiki has helped herself out in recent weeks, the difference between Mladenovic's results before and after hiring Bajin is stark (and, lest we forget, he's also steered a player to a slam title this season).

Kiki came to Rome having already gone 5-2 in singles (and won a doubles title) since the most recent Fed Cup weekend, and after winning Rome qualifying matches over Anastasia Potapova and Amanda Anisimova, Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia *finally* met on opposite sides of the net for the first time since the publicly nasty (at least on one side) break-up of their doubles partnership in 2017. Since then, Garcia has risen high (and lately come back down a bit and leveled off), while Mladenovic has mostly fallen. Partly because of injury, with some sizable does of a lack of confidence and maybe even karmic justice thrown in. But the Pastries made up (or at least learned how to civilly deal with each other) during last month's Fed Cup semifinal, teaming in doubles to send France to the final, and the dark cloud (which had already shown some signs of brightening since she was seemingly reprimanded and maybe even barred from FC play by French Captain Julien Benneteau in February) almost immediately lift from atop Mladenovic's game.

With much of the old tension set aside in recent weeks, the Kiki/Caro meeting was far less headline-worthy than it might have been had it come over the last two-plus seasons, when the two were a match away from such a moment on multiple occasions before one (or both) lost and avoided the match-up. Mladenovic (on her birthday, no less) handled Garcia 1 & 2, and the countrywomen met at the net with a cordial, and appropriately solid, handshake and double-kiss greeting. Wins over Belinda Bencic and Ash Barty (on the same day) followed, before the Pastry squandered a 7-5/2-1, 40/love lead in the QF vs. Maria Sakkari, missing on a forehand shot on GP that might have put the match out of reach. Afterward, Mladenovic lauded Sakkari for her great play. If she's not a "new" Kiki, she's surely doing a good job of holding up an elaborate mask to hide her true self.

Of course, Mladenovic's hiring of ex-Osaka coach Bajin essentially coincided with all this (which could also be viewed as part of the karmic cloud-parting, if one would choose to do so). Her 10-3 mark since Fed Cup is also her mark in tour events with Big Sascha, which is a remarkably quick turnaround for a player who was 5-10 in '19 before her first official tournament with her new coach.

This article is a little old, but it's a good explanation for why Bajin chose that from Mladenovic over the many offers he apparently received after his dismissal from his last job after leading the company to "record profits." I sure hope he can keep the winning "fun" with Kiki, since that was apparently the official explanation for what got him sent packing a few months ago.



Meanwhile, Zacarias is *really* enjoying her time in Cancun, and it has nothing to do with the beach.



Zacarias' dominant stretch on the lower end of the ITF circuit continued this week as she swept the singles and doubles titles in a $15K challenger for the fourth straight week. After winning her second straight WD title with Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez, the 25-year old defeated Patricia Maria Tig 6-3/6-1 to claim the singles crown. She's now won thirty-three straight matches -- twenty in singles (40-0 sets) and thirteen in doubles.
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FRESH FACES: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE and the Stanford Women's Tennis Team
...while she still doesn't have any trophies to back it up, Vondrousova has been on fire since leaving Melbourne. The Czech lost in the 2nd Round in Melbourne to Petra Martic, but has only tasted defeat five times since while winning twenty-one singles matches. Her QF run in Rome was her fifth straight, a stretch which has included finals in Budapest and Istanbul, back-to-back QF in IW/Miami, an undefeated Fed Cup weekend and her only two career Top 10 wins, both against #2 Simona Halep (three-setters on hard court and clay).

In Rome, the 19-year old took out Barbora Strycova, Halep and Dasha Kasatkina (getting some belated revenge after having lost in the RG junior semis in '14 when the Russian then went on to take the girls title, and in the 2nd Round in Paris in '17 in their only other pro meeting). Vondrousova is up to a career-best #38 this week.

At the USTA National Campus in Orlando, #3-seeded Stanford successfully defending its women's team championship by defeating top-seeded Georgia (led by Freshman Meg Kowalski, who'd carried the Bulldogs into the final even while being sick on Saturday and needing to be given an I.V. in her second match) 4-0. The Cardinal end the season on a 23-match winning streak and secure the school's record 20th NCAA title. Playing in a fourth consecutive final, the back-to-back title runs are a first for Stanford since winning three in a row from 2004-06. Janice Shin clinched the title with her singles victory.


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DOWN: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...there were a lot of retirements and/or walkovers in the rain-delayed and subsequently jumbled-up event in Rome, but Ostapenko made it across the imaginary finish line earlier than most, retiring in the 1st Round vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu with the Romanian serving up 6-2/5-4, 15/love.

Of course, the move rankled some (hint: they had monetary stake in it being a *completed* match). Said Alona in her Instagram story afterward, "It really sucks when you have to retire from a match at one of your favorite tournaments. Unfortunately, I felt really bad today out there on court and had a fever (of) 38.1 (degrees C - that's 100.6 F), so I couldn't continue the match. I feel really sad about it, but I will do everything possible to recover as quick as I can."

Of course, that this comes on the doorstep of Roland Garros only add to the Latvian's woes. The defeat drops her to 1-3 on red clay this spring (3-4 if you count her green clay results in Charleston), and she'll drop thirteen spots to #40 on Monday. Two years after she won the title in Paris, she won't be seeded this year. She was #47 when she had her big run in 2017.

Hmmm, Sascha Bajin noted recently that he had numerous offers from some big name players -- some with a bigger salary -- before she signed up with Mladenovic. I wonder if Ostapenko was one of them, and at the moment whether she still *qualifies* as a "big-name" player, too, for that matter? Things can change quickly on the WTA tour.
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ITF PLAYER: Bernarda Pera/USA
...while she missed out on getting the USTA's RG wild card berth, the 24-year old rebounded in Slovakia by claiming her biggest career title at the $100K challenger in Trnava, becoming the fourth Bannerette (after Caty McNally, Taylor Townsend and Lauren Davis) to win the first four $100K events of 2019 (they've filled seven of the eight finalist spots, as well). Wins over Cornelia Lister, Jana Cepelova, Laura Siegemund, Veronica Cepede Royg and Anna Blinkova (in the 7-5/7-5 final) allowed her to complete her title run without dropping a set, and she'll make a huge 32-spot leap in the rankings on Monday, going from #115 to #83. Pera's career best is a #67 standing last October.


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JUNIOR STAR: Daniela Shnaider/RUS
...the 15-year old Hordette (jr. #86) put to rest her slow (1-4) start to 2019, collecting her first career Grade 1 singles crown in Santa Croce, Italy. Shnaider, once again sporting her signature polka dot headgear, didn't drop a set. She defeated Ecuador's Mell Elizabeth Reasco Gonzalez 7-6(5)/6-2 in the final.



Shnaider was a big part of Russia's 14s World Junior team title last August, as well, teaming with Erika Andreeva in the deciding doubles to defeat the Czechs in the final.


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DOUBLES: Victoria Azarenka/Ash Barty, BLR/AUS
...most of Barty's doubles partners turn out to be a pretty good much to the Aussie's skills (which currently have her in the Top 10 in both singles and doubles, the only player to appear on both lists), and her partnership this season with Azarenka has proven to be no different. The unseeded duo won their first title together in Rome, dropping just one set along the way on a path that included wins over #5-seeded Hsieh/Strycova, #1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (in the semis, after having previously defeated the Czech pair in the 1st Round on hard court in Miami) and defending champ Demi Schuurs (w/ Anna-Lena Groenefeld) in a 4-6/6-0 [10-3] final. Schuurs had teamed with Barty to take last year's title, so the win gives the Aussie another feather for her 2019 cap: she's the first player to successfully defend a WD title this season.

For Azarenka, it's her second title of the year, having previously won Acapulco with Zheng Saisai. Azarenka's singles QF run featured a win over defending champ Elina Svitolina in the 2nd Round, a victory which helped preserve Barty's Top 8 seed for Roland Garros. Both Barty and Azarenka are hardly favorites to truly contend for the singles title in Paris, though they've shown themselves this spring capable of pushing (and defeating) almost anyone on a given day even on a surface that isn't ideal for their games, but the same might not be the case for them as a doubles duo once WD play begins soon at RG.



While Barty's doubles career is more known, it's Azarenka who has the majority of the slam doubles titles between the two. She's won a pair of MX crowns (in 2007-08), while going 0-3 in women's doubles finals (2008-11). Barty finally won her first WD major at last year's U.S. Open with CoCo Vandeweghe after having gone 0-4 with Casey Dellacqua from 2013-17.
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WHEELCHAIR: The NED World Cup Team
...it's hardly an unexpected occurrence that it was the Dutch squad that came out on top in Ramat Hasharon, Israel at the World Team Cup at the wheelchair version of the Fed/Davis Cup competition. But that doesn't mean it was easy.



Facing off with Japan in the final of the week long event, the Netherlands took the early lead in the best-of-3 tie with Aniek Van Koot handling Manami Tanaka 1 & 1. But it was the headliner match-up that everyone was looking forward to, as world #1 Diede de Groot attempted to clinch NED's successful title defense in match #2 against world #2 Yui Kamiji. As it turned out, she wasn't able to. Kamiji defeated de Groot for the second time in four '19 meetings, winning 3-6/6-2/6-1. Kamiji still leads their career head-to-head 14-11, and cut Diede the Great's recent advantage to 9-3 in the last twelve.

In the deciding doubles, the two returned to the court, with de Groot teaming with Marjolein Buis to defeat Kamiji & Monoko Ohtami in a Cup classic, winning the 3:16 affair 7-6(2)/4-6 [10-8] to secure the Netherlands' 31st title in the women's competition's 34-year history. Yep, the Czech FC women have nothing on the Dutch. The only years they didn't win the title: 1994 (USA), 1999 (AUS) and 2017 (CHN).

This result will likely have little bearing on what happens in Paris, as the event was contested on hard court, but Roland Garros is surely set to be the site for potential history in a few weeks. If de Groot can win the RG singles she'll become the first player to have claimed all eight slam crowns in a career (the Wimbledon singles didn't begin until '16, so Esther Vergeer didn't have the opportunity), and if she sweeps *both* the singles and doubles titles she'll be the first to simultaneously hold *all* the available WC slam titles since Vergeer did it in 2011. Of course, de Groot would be the first to concurrently hold *eight*. Kamiji defeated de Groot in last year's RG final, winning her second straight title in Paris.

Aha! But that's not all. If de Groot fails to secure the only slam she hasn't won (RG singles), then when everyone convenes at Wimbledon a month later it will be Kamiji who'd have the chance to make history. *She* only needs the Wimbledon singles to boast of having won all eight major crowns. She lost in the semifinals at SW19 the last two years, while de Groot was the champion in 2017-18. While de Groot leads their slam head-to-head 3-2, they've never met in singles at the AELTC.
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*2019 ROLAND GARROS WILD CARDS*
Audrey Albie/FRA (24) - makes her slam debut; her only previous GS matches came in RG qualifying in '17
Lauren Davis/USA (25) - the eleventh hour winner of the USTA Wild Card Challenge, Davis makes her first slam MD app. since her marathon loss to Halep (15-13 3rd set) in the '18 AO. She has 11 career slam MD wins, but her only one at RG was in 2012.
Priscilla Hon/AUS (21) - receiving a WC into a second straight slam, the Aussie makes her RG debut after receiving Tennis Australia's pass based on overall play (not via the 8-player tournament at RG that was held in recent seasons)
Selena Janicijevic/FRA (16) - the 16-year old makes her slam debut. A Top 30 junior, Janicijevic is 20-5 in junior play in '19, and won a G1 title in March. She's only played two professional MD matches, both the $15K level.
Chloe Paquet/FRA (24) - Paquet is close to becoming "the Rogowska of Roland Garros," garnering her third straight MD Paris wild card from the French Federation. Her only 1st Round win came in '17.
Diane Parry/FRA (16) - the Top 10 junior will make her slam (and tour) MD debut after losing in '18 qualifying (and in the final round of Strasbourg qualifying this weekend). Barring an even younger qualifier, the Pastry will likely be the youngest in the MD draw (she's a few months younger than fellow WC Janicijevic). Parry won a G1 in Brazil (def. Hurricane Tyra Black) earlier this year, and reached a Grade A semi. Late last year, she was an Orange Bowl semifinalist and won a Grade A in Mexico in November with wins over Coco Gauff and Clara Burel.
Jessika Ponchet/FRA (22) - 0-3 in slam MD (2 AO, 1 RG) in the last year and a half, Ponchet has been awarded back-to-back RG wild cards and qualified on her own to reach the AO MD in January.
Harmony Tan/FRA (21) - after falling in the final Q-round in Paris a year ago, Tan gets the nod. Her only other slam MD app. came at the U.S. Open in '18 (also as a WC).








1. Rome 2nd Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Elina Svitolina
...4-6/6-1/7-5. The two-time defending champ, Svitolina came up on the short end of a match ravaged by rain delays. It was suspended with the Ukrainian up 6-4/0-1, then again with Azarenka leading 4-1. In the 3rd, Svitolina led 5-2 and held a MP, but Vika rallied into the night to get her third Top 10 win of the spring. After going 4-0 in three setters en route to winning the WTAF in the fall, Svitolina has exited in five of eight events via a three-set defeat and is *still* title-less in 2019.



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2. Rome QF - Maria Sakkari def. Kristina Mladenovic
...5-7/6-3/6-0. What a difference a few weeks make. Mladenovic losing to Sakkari after having led 7-5/2-1, 40/love and missing a forehand on GP that would have put her half-way to a 2nd set win would have felt like another fallen brick in a crumbling wall *before* Big Sascha arrived. Now, though, if feels like a near-miss, bump in the road slip on the way to better things. Weird how that works.
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3. Rome 1st Rd. - Kristina Mladenovic def. Caroline Garcia
...6-1/6-2. On her birthday, Karmic Kiki's journey from comeuppance to redemption advances another step toward completion. A short while ago, who would have thought this match would feel anticlimactic?


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4. Rome 1st Rd. - Belinda Bencic def. Anastasija Sevastova
...2-6/6-3/6-2. From 6-2/3-0 down, Bencic wins six straight games to knot the match. She won seventeen straight points in the 3rd, and finished by taking twelve of the final fourteen games.



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5. Rome 1st Rd. - Carla Suarez-Navarro def. Dayana Yastremska
...6-1/1-6/6-3. Yastremska is 3-6 (1-6 in tour-level matches) since winning her maiden title in Hua Hin. Why, it's like the difference between the celebration of her 18th birthday last year...



And her 19th this past week...


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6. Rome 2nd Rd. - Marketa Vondrouosva def. Simona Halep
...2-6/7-5/6-3. So you say your first two career Top 10 wins, within a few months of each other, have come against Simona Halep...

View this post on Instagram

WHAT.A.DAY!!!??????

A post shared by Marketa (@marketavondrousova) on


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7. Rome 3rd Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Garbine Muguruza
...6-4/3-1 ret. Remember when these two met for the first time last year, and what resulted (a 7-6/7-6 Vika win in which Mugu forced a 2nd TB from 5-2, 2 MP down and Azarenka won on MP #4) was maybe the best two-set match of the season? Well, we're still waiting for a sequel. Or even a full match. They met in the Monterrey final, and Muguruza won when Vika retired down 6-1/3-1. This time it was Garbi's turn, with a thigh injury.
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8. $80K Saint-Gaudens FRA Final - Anna Kalinskaya def. Ana Bogdan
...6-3/6-4. The Russian wins the battle to lift the biggest career title for either finalist.


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9. $60K Kurume JPN Final - Rebecca Marino def. Yuki Naito
...6-4/7-6(0). For Marino, it's her first '19 title, but her sixth since the start of her comeback.
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10. $15K Antalya TUR Final - Eleonora Molinaro def. Ines Abbou
...6-2/6-4. Back-to-back titles for the 18-year old from Luxembourg.


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11. $15K Barletta ITA Final - Elli Mandlik def. Oana Georgeta Simion
...6-0/6-2. Mandlik celebrated her 18th birthday by winning her second career title. She's 19-5 on the year in ITF play.


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12. $15K Naples FLA Final - Katerina Stewart def. Belinda Woolcock
...6-4/6-3. The 21-year old former cadet wins her eleventh ITF title in fourteen career finals.


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1. Rome 1st Rd. - VENUS WILLIAMS def. Elise Mertens
...7-5/3-6/7-6(4). Though still rarely serving at full speed due to an unknown malady, Williams still knows how to fight. Up 5-1 in the 3rd, Venus served at 5-2, 40/15 and had six MP in game #8 (one a DF at 40/30), but was broken. With another shot at 5-4, she failed to convert two additional MP and the Belgian forced things to a deciding TB. Finally, on MP #9, Williams won a 7-4 breaker to finish off Mertens in 3:03 (1:21 of that in the 3rd set alone). Alas, her first match-up against Serena in Rome in twenty years never materialized.


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2. Rome 1st Rd. - SERENA WILLIAMS def. Rebecca Peterson
...6-2/6-2. What with her walkover before the 2nd Round due to her lingering knee issues, Serena's first match since the Australian Open final will be her only one before Roland Garros. Hmmm, or will it be the grass season, or maybe Wimbledon?
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3. Rome SF - Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Demi Schuurs def. CHAN HAO-CHING/LATISHA CHAN
...7-5/6-7(6) [10-6]. ALG/Demi get some revenge for the Chans' win over them in the Doha final earlier this year. Angel & Latisha had won back-to-back match TB's to get this far in Rome. Still, in nine tournaments this season the sisters have won two titles, reached another final and four additional semis. They've gone 25-7.
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4. Rome 3rd Rd. - Johanna Konta def. VENUS WILLIAMS
...6-2/6-4. The Brit's win evens the head-to-head at four each, and ends Williams' three-match winning streak (w/ victories on clay, grass and hard courts) in the series.
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5. Rome Final - KAROLINA PLISKOVA def. Johanna Konta
...6-3/6-4. Pliskova's 13th career title ties her with Elina Svitolina amongst active players, now one ahead of the likes of Kerber, Pavlyuchenkova and Zvonareva.
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6. $25K Singapore Final - ABIGAIL TERE-APISAH def. Valeria Savinykh
...6-3/6-2. ATA, 26, becomes Papua New Guinea's first ever professional singles champion, and also reached the WD final with India's Rutuja Bhosale. Her family is all over the sport, with sister Maria also a player, along with nieces Violet and Patricia.


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7. Rome QF - Kiki Bertens walkover Naomi Osaka (thumb)
... Thus, Osaka heads into RG *still* #1, and with a 7-1 record on clay this season, but with two walkovers. She reached the 3rd Round in Paris in 2018.
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Mashona Washington's Wild Kingdom...




Fed Cup re-enactment...?







View this post on Instagram

... Roma ??????

A post shared by Simona Halep (@simonahalep) on

















So, Angie stole the "process" concept from Svitolina? Geez... such a drama queen, right?












The take from the WTA's "meh" #ItTakes campaign...



Lorena Popa alternate take (bless her)...



[more commentary on #ItTakes in the comment section of last week's post]






*2019 WTA FINALS*
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2-2)
3 - KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE (2-1)
2 - Kiki Bertens, NED (2-0)
2 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (1-1)
2 - Ash Barty, CAN (1-1)
2 - Sonya Kenin, USA (1-1)
2 - Simona Halep, ROU (0-2)
2 - JOHANNA KONTA, GBR (0-2)
2 - Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (0-2)

*2019 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#3 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Stuttgart)
#4 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (Australian Open)
#7 - Kiki Bertens, NED (Madrid)
#7 - KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE (ROME)
#8 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (Brisbane)
#8 - Kiki Bertens, NED (Saint Petersburg)
#9 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Sydney)
#12 - Ash Barty, AUS (Miami)
#13 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Shenzhen)
#14 - Julia Goerges, GER (Auckland)
#18 - Madison Keys, USA (Charleston)
#19 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (Monterrey)
#21 - Elise Mertens, BEL (Doha)
#40 - Petra Martic, CRO (Istanbul)
#45 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (Dubai)
#47 - Dayana Yastremska, UKR (Hua Hin)
#50 - Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL (Budapest)
#51 - Maria Sakkari, GRE (Rabat)
#56 - Sonya Kenin, USA (Hobart)
#60 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (Indian Wells)
#65 - Wang Yafan, CHN (Acapulco)
#76 - Amanda Anisimova, USA (Bogota)
#89 - Polona Hercog, SLO (Lugano)
#146 - Jil Teichmann, SUI (Prague)

*2019 WTA CHAMPIONS BY AGE*
30 - Goerges
29 - Kvitova
28 - Hercog,Kvitova,Martic
27 - Bertens (2), KA.PLISKOVA
26 - Ka.Pliskova
25 - Muguruza
24 - Keys,Van Uytvanck,Wang Yafan
23 - Mertens,Sakkari
22 - Barty
21 - Bencic,Osaka,Teichmann
20 - Kenin,Sabalenka
19 - Yastremska
18 - Andreescu
17 - Anisimova

*2019 ACTIVE 2+ EVENT TITLE STREAKS & result*
[WTA + WC]
=5 years=
Yui Kamiji - Wimbledon WC WD 2014-18 (d) = TBD
=3 years=
Johanna Larsson - Linz 2016-18 (d) = TBD
=2 years=
Elise Mertens - Hobart 2017-18...DNP
Elina Svitolina - Dubai 2017-18...SF
Lesia Tsurenko - Acapulco 2017-18...DNP
Raquel Atawo - Stuttgart 2017-18 (d)...QF
Kveta Peschke - Prague 2017-18 (d)...RU
ELINA SVITOLINA - ROME 2017-18...2nd Rd.
Yui Kamiji - Roland Garros WC WS 2017-18 = TBD
Petra Kvitova - Birmingham 2017-18 = TBD
Diede de Groot - Wimbledon WC WS 2017-18 = TBD
Yui Kamiji - Wimbledon WC WD 2017-18 (d) = TBD

*2019 WTA SEMIFINALS*
5 - KIKI BERTENS, NED (2-3)
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (4-0)
4 - KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CZE (3-1)
3 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (2-1)
3 - Simona Halep, ROU (2-1)
3 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (1-2)
3 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (1-1+L)
3 - Angelique Kerber,GER (1-2)
3 - Donna Vekic, CRO (1-2)
3 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (0-3)
[2015-19]
33...Halep [9/6/7/8/3]
32...KA.PLISKOVA [8/6/8/6/4]
30...Kerber [8/11/3/5/3]
27...Svitolina [6/7/6/5/3]
25...Wozniacki [7/4/8/5/1]
23...Kvitova [5/6/2/6/4]
22...Muguruza [5/3/7/6/1]
20...A.Radwanska [8/9/2/1] (ret)
19...BERTENS [1/5/3/5/5]
19...Goerges [0/4/7/7/1]
18...S.Williams [9/6/1/2/0]
16...Garcia [2/4/7/3/0]

*MOST WTA DOUBLES FINALS in 2019*
3...Chan/Chan (2-1)
2...Mertens/Sabalenka (2-0)
2...Hsieh/Strycova (2-0)
2...Stosur/Sh.Zhang (1-1)
2...Babos/Mladenovic (1-1)
2...Melichar/Peschke (1-1)
2...Kalinskaya/Kuzmova (1-1)
2...GROENEFELD/SCHURRS (0-2)

*PLAYERS WITH WTA S/D TITLES in 2019*
Sonya Kenin, USA = Hobart + Auckland
Elise Mertens, BEL = Doha + Indian Wells,Miami
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR = Shenzhen + Indian Wells,Miami
ASH BARTY, AUS = MIAMI + ROME

*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) - #7 Ka.Pliskova/CZE def. #42 Konta/GBR
[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 - Azarenka/Barty, BLR/AUS

**2019 TOP JUNIOR EVENT CHAMPIONS**
TRARALGON AUS G1: Clara Tauson/DEN
COFFEE BOWL BRA G1: Abigail Forbes/USA
RPM JUNIOR OPEN CZE G1: Kristyna Lavickova/CZE
AUSTRALIAN OPEN JUNIORS: Clara Tauson/DEN
COPA BARRANQUILLA COL G1: Savannah Broadus/USA
MUNDIAL JUVENIL DE TENIS ECU G1: Abigail Forbes/USA
ASUNCION BOWL PAR G1: Charlotte Chavatipon/USA
BANANA BOWL BRA G1: Diane Parry/FRA
PORTO ALEGRE BRA G1: Ane Mintegi Del Olmo/ESP
YELTSIN CUP RUS G1: Anna Charaeva/RUS
NONTHABURI, THA G1: Bai Zhuoxuan/CHN
CASABLANCA MAR G1: Selena Janicijevic/FRA
SARAWAK MINISTER'S CUP MAL G1: Joanna Garland/TPE
VILLENA JUAN CARLOS FERRERO ESP G1: Alexandra Vecic/GER
INT'L SPRING CHAMPIONSHIPS USA G1: Hurricane Tyra Black/USA
PERIN MEMORIAL CRO G1: Daria Frayman/RUS
BEAULIEU-SUR-MER FRA G1: Elsa Jacquemot/FRA
SANTA CROCE ITA G1: Diana Shnaider/RUS

*WHEELCHAIR WORLD TEAM CUP WINNERS, w/ host nation*
2019 [ISR] - Netherlands
2018 [NED] - Netherlands
2017 [ITA] - China
2016 [JPN] - Netherlands
2015 [TUR] - Netherlands
2014 [NED] - Netherlands
2013 [TUR] - Netherlands
2012 [KOR] - Netherlands
2011 [RSA] - Netherlands
2010 [TUR] - Netherlands
2009 [GBR] - Netherlands
2008 [ITA] - Netherlands
2007 [SWE] - Netherlands
2006 [BRA] - Netherlands
2005 [NED] - Netherlands
2004 [NZL] - Netherlands
2003 [POL] - Netherlands
2002 [ITA] - Netherlands
2001 [SUI] - Netherlands
2000 [FRA] - Netherlands
1999 [USA] - Australia
1998 [ESP] - Netherlands
1997 [GBR] - Netherlands
1996 [AUS] - Netherlands
1995 [NED] - Netherlands
1994 [GBR] - United States
1993 [AUT] - Netherlands
1992 [BEL] - Netherlands
1991 [USA] - Netherlands
1990 [USA] - Netherlands
1989 [USA] - Netherlands
1988 [USA] - Netherlands
1987 [USA] - Netherlands
1986 [USA] - Netherlands

*NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS*
[recent singles winners]
2009 Mallory Cecil, Duke (USA)
2010 Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia (USA)
2011 Jana Juricova, California (SVK)
2012 Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA)
2013 Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA)
2014 Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA)
2015 Jamie Loeb, North Carolina (USA)
2016 Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA)
2017 Brienne Minor, Michigan (USA)
2018 Arianne Hartono, Mississippi (NED)
2019 ?
[recent doubles winners]
2010 Hilary Barte / Lindsay Burdette (Stanford)
2011 Hilary Barte / Mallory Burdette (Stanford)
2012 Mallory Burdette / Nicole Gibbs (Stanford)
2013 Kaitlyn Christian / Sabrina Santamaria (USC)
2014 Maya Jansen / Erin Routcliffe (Alabama)
2015 Maya Jansen / Erin Routcliffe (Alabama)
2016 Brooke Austin / Kourtney Keegan (Florida)
2017 Francesca Di Lorenzo / Miho Kowase (Ohio State)
2018 Jessica Golovin / Eden Richardson (LSU)
2019 ?
[overall singles champions by school]
14 - Stanford
4 - Florida
3 - Georgia
2 - California, Duke, Virginia
1 - Baylor, Georgia Tech, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi, San Diego, UCLA, USC, Wake Forest
[most singles titles]
2 - Sandra Birch, Stanford
2 - Danielle Collins, Virginia
2 - Patty Fendick, Stanford
2 - Nicole Gibbs, Stanford
2 - Laura Granville, Stanford
2 - Amber Liu, Stanford
2 - Lisa Raymond, Florida
[recent team champions]
2010 Stanford
2011 Florida
2012 Florida
2013 Stanford
2014 UCLA
2015 Vanderbilt
2016 Stanford
2017 Florida
2018 Stanford
2019 Stanford
[most team titles]
20...Stanford
7...Florida
2...Georgia
2...UCLA
2...USC
2...Texas





















All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 9:32 PM 

6 Comments:

Blogger tennisings said...

Hey Todd, can you add in some love for Abigail Tere-Apisah, who won the singles and doubles titles in $25k Singapore? She’s the first Papua New Guinean player to win a pro tournament. https://postcourier.com.pg/png-tennis-queen-wins-first-international-pro-title/

Mon May 20, 05:36:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Find it amusing that Bertens, Kvitova, and Pliskova are the only repeat winners this season. I was planning to use them to point out Pliskova's clay prowess, as they are the only 3 women to have won events on clay in both 2018 and 2019.

Azarenka dancing again.

Azarenka is not the most dangerous unseeded player. Close, but I will put Vondrousova ahead of her, and the perennial one, Kuznetsova also. She's made a career out of reaching the second week of a slam unseeded.

On clay, you used to hope that Konta could hit winners, now you believe it.

Unofficial list of women in doubt for the French Open. Seeds plus Giorgi, as she is close enough to move up with enough withdrawals.

In order of threat to miss:
Andreescu-Hasn't played since Miami
Vekic-Retired in Madrid and played 1 1/2 sets after her hip injury
Giorgi-Hasn't played since Miami
Williams-Walkover in Rome
Kerber-Walkover in Madrid
Wozniacki-Retirement in Rome
Svitolina-0-2 since return, will she need more time off?
Goerges-Retirement in Rome, withdrew from Nurnberg.

High on Friedsam in Nurnberg, and Han in Strasbourg.

Stat of the Week-8- Career finals for Johanna Konta.

When it comes to the Mount Rushmore of British tennis on the women's side, there are three absolutes-Ann Jones, Virginia Wade, and Sue Barker. Then there is Jo. But do I mean Jo Konta, or Jo Durie?

At this point, they are about equal. Durie won 2 out of 6 finals, while Konta has won 3 of 8. Durie reached 5 in the world, while Konta made it to 4. But the fact that Konta reached her first 2 career finals on clay this month leads me to believe that there are bigger things in store. And the fact that 2017-18 Nottingham finalist now has as many finals on clay as grass is something that should change in the next month.

Quiz Time!
British women haven't traditionally done well on clay in WTA events. Who was the last one to win a title?

A.Heather Watson
B.Sara Gomer
C.Virginia Wade
D.Sue Barker


French Open Qualifying draw out later today.



Answer!
Sometimes I surprise myself with what I find, and this is a stretch of futility that mercifully gets ended soon.

(B)Gomer is wrong, though she seems so random that you might have thought she was the correct choice. No, her claim to fame as that her one title(Aptos 1988) was the last won for a British woman for 24 years, until (A)Watson won in Japan in 2012. All 3 of Watson's titles have been on hard, so she is not the one.

(C)Wade is wrong, but with a technicality. The Kerber of her generation, which surprisingly would be a slight to Kerber, as Wade only reached #2, Wade won 3 slams, like Kerber winning 3 of the 4 once. Both struggled at the French as the best result for each is the QF, which both did twice.

Wade lost to the winner in 1972, but the one that got away was 1970 when she loss to Karen Krantzke.

Coming off of her Wimbledon high in 1977, Wade won a clay event. Titled as the World Invitational Tennis Classic, she defeated Goolagong Cawley in the final, but there were only 4 players in the event. So that doesn't count.

That means that 15 time title winner, and 5 time winner on clay (D)Barker is the answer. The quirk of that is Barker's 1976 French Open title was the last of those 5, meaning that it just hasn't been 43 years since a British woman has won the French, it has been 43 years since any British woman has won on clay.

Mon May 20, 10:05:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

T-
Yep, I should have included that. I saw that she'd won, but didn't realize in the moment that she was the first. I added her match to the Sister Watch list. ;)

C-
Hmmm, you may be right with Vondrousova. Although, I *will* say that while she only has two Top 10 wins in her career (granted, they're over Halep), Azarenka has put up three (vs. three different players) in recent weeks. Given her experience, if both drew a Top 10er in the 1st/2nd Round I still might think Vika was more likely to get the early upset. Maybe.

Quiz: thought maybe you were going the tricky route and I went with Watson. Overthought it. :\

Mon May 20, 12:05:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Quick add-on thought about WTA marketing campaigns just from seeing this photo posted by Tatiana Golovin. How about just using something like that as a starting point?

Example: a current player "as a kid," looking out over a court and dreaming big. Whoosh-whoosh. All the real moments of her career -- good and bad -- flash in and out. Whoosh-woosh. We're back to the same court, only the player is now an adult and rather than dreaming of what's to come she's reflecting on what's happened as she looks out over the same court. Hashtag... Take the Journey, or The Journey Starts Here, or something like that.

Rather than a pretty photo, or a word that identifies a quality, it hits on the thing that helps to build and sustain a fan base. The journey of watching a player seek out and accomplish their dreams, or maybe not but still appreciating the experience of taking the shot. It's sort of the reason why fans are drawn to a certain player over time, and stick with them over their careers. It gives meaning to what each player accomplishes and/or goes through, and can be viewed via the POV of either the player or those who cheer them on. The tour rarely ever tries to hone in on that aspect, which can make new fans long-term ones.

Just a spare thought off one photo.

Mon May 20, 05:04:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

I totally agree. A campaign has to tell a story in order to resonate on an emotional level. That’s why I love the LPGA’s “It’s Different Out Here”—you get to see the players as real people, often goofy people. The sad part is that the WTA has so much with which to work.

Mon May 20, 10:35:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I suppose I should say that the WTA: My Story videos are a step in the right direction, but the thing with those is that they're sort of presented to people who are already fans as "extras" rather than as a centerpiece of something and a way to open doors to new eyes. Still, it shows that they *are* capable.

Tue May 21, 12:45:00 AM EDT  

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