Friday, August 30, 2019

US.4 - Climbing Mountains in the Empire State

The U.S. Open has a tradition of first week stories wrapped in red, white & blue at Flushing Meadows in which young women flash great talent in their home slam and become sudden (albeit often short-time) stars, from the likes of Melanie Oudin to Beatrice Capra and Mallory Burdette, as well as CiCi Bellis in just the last few years.

Qualifier Taylor Townsend's win on Thursday over reigning Wimbledon champ Simona Halep is not one of those instances. In many ways, it's an ever *better* story.



The 23-year old's road to a 2nd Round upset victory over the #4 seed at Arthur Ashe Stadium was no easy one, despite (or maybe because of) her early success. You see, seven years ago Townsend was often the main subject of the same sort of "next hope" for Bannerette tennis success talk that is currently being spread around to at least half a dozen U.S. teenagers today (from Amanda to Caty to Coco to Whitney and all points in between). In 2012, she swept the Australian Open junior singles and doubles titles, and won three of the season's four doubles majors, as she became the first U.S. player to top the year-end girls rankings since 1982. Yet, still, the USTA controversially decided to stop funding her tennis expenses, citing concerns about her health because of "excess weight," thereby denying her a wild card into U.S. Open MD women's qualifying draw.

As the #1 seed, Townsend ultimately reached the girls quarterfinals before falling to Anett Kontaveit, and the rightfully assailed USTA decision was soon reversed, accompanied by a transparently face-saving attempt to absolve the organization of guilt that dubbed the original decision a "miscommunication." (Yeah, okay.) Seeing through the tall tale, Townsend and her family soon split from the USTA, and she was coached by former Wimbledon finalist Zina Garrison until 2015. She found immediate success on tour, reaching the 3rd Round of Roland Garros in her slam debut in '14, and then climbing into the Top 100 a season later.

But it wouldn't be that easy. Her results took a bad turn and she fell outside the Top 300. Taking up with Donald Young Sr. (father of the ATP player and a family friend, he'd worked with Townsend when she was just an elementary school-aged child), the climb back began. Winning various ITF titles from 2016 forward, she reached a career high of #61 last season and was even named the Female MVP of World Team Tennis for 2018. Four months ago, Townsend won her biggest career title in a $100K challenger in Charleston, but the lefty was soon disappointed by not being able to convert a MP in the 2nd Round vs. world #4 Kiki Bertens at Wimbledon.

The #116 ranked player, Townsend qualified to reach the Open women's draw last week (winning back-to-back three-setters to do it), then posted a 1st Round win over Kateryna Kozlova to set up a 2nd Rounder with Romanian superstar Halep, the same player she'd lost to (badly) in Miami earlier this year, then -- with her heart beating loudly within her chest -- approached in the locker room after the match looking for some advice, or at least some sort of reassurance that what she was feeling was "correct." She got it.



And then came Day 4. What turned out to be *her* day. At long last.

After dropping the 1st set 6-2, Townsend decided to change things up. "When I played her before... I think I played not to lose. Today I just played to win. I said, 'Eff-it.'"

In essence, Townsend began to channel the player she'd previously stated was her tennis idol: Martina Navratilova. She became a net charger. A serve and volleyer. An aggressive force of nature seeking to surprise and confuse the two-time slam winner and former #1 and, well, just see if anything stuck to the proverbial wall.

Boy, did it.



In all, Townsend ended up making 106 (!!) net approaches (though that wording seems too tame) on the day. Somewhat shockingly, Halep never adjusted. A few well-placed lobs might have thwarted Townsend's "Plan B" attack and allowed her to survive, but the Romanian insisted on aiming too many shots directly into her opponent's strike range in the middle of the court, or went with flat passing shots that she often simply cut off for volley winners.

Townsend won the 2nd set 6-3, and held from love/40 down for 4-2 in the 3rd. But then she very nearly blinked on the big stage again. Up 40/love in game #8, back-to-back DF put her service game in jeopardy, though Townsend *did* hold for 5-3. Serving at 5-4, she had double MP at 40/15... then DF'd again. Halep followed with a skipping-off-the-net winner, then Townsend netted a volley. She saved a BP when (again) Halep passed up what would have been an easy lob winner, but when Townsend missed on another volley Halep got the break to even the set at 5-5.

Uh-oh.

Halep saved a BP and held to take a 6-5 lead, then recovered from a 30/love deficit on Townsend's serve, reaching 30-all. The Bannerette then missed an overhead to give the Romanian a MP. But Halep's return sailed long. Townsend held to force a deciding tie-break, taking a 2-0 lead. A Halep DF put her down 3-2, and a long forehand edged Townsend closer to the "magic number" at 5-4. Finally reaching her third MP, Townsend saw Halep net a backhand return to end the match, as she won 2-6/6-3/7-6(4), recording her first career Top 10 win and reaching the 3rd Round of a major for the first time since her Paris debut five years ago.



For Halep, the U.S. Open once again fails to provide a nice way to close out her summer. She's won just one match in her last three visits to Flushing Meadows. But with the SW19 title in her back pocket, and especially if Naomi Osaka doesn't defend her title two weekends from now, she still stands a shot to complete a third straight #1 season. Only Serena Williams (2013-15) has accomplished the feat in women's tennis over the last two decades.

While Townsend's name isn't a new one, her hard-earned experiences are.



As we speak, the rise of her 15-year old fellow Bannerette Coco Gauff is proving to be both sudden and (possibly) earth-shattering, but who can't embrace a player making her way through adversity to find the success she always dreamed of, but didn't quite know precisely *how* to achieve?

While Townsend quoted the words of Drake -- "I’m buying the building of every door that closed on me" -- after the match, one could just as easily step into a quote from another musical genre...

"There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb..."

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=DAY 4 NOTES=
...it was a come one, call (almost) all Thursday at Flushing Meadows, as Wednesday's rain pushed the vast majority of Day 3's 2nd Round schedule onto a very crowded Day 4 slate.

While the exit of Halep was the headlining loss, she wasn't the first Top 10 seed to fall. That was #6 Petra Kvitova, ousted 6-4/6-4 by Andrea Petkovic. It truth, it was hardly a surprise, what with even the Czech's availability for action at this slam in question right up until the opening day due to the lingering forearm injury that cost her Roland Garros and limited her to Wimbledon and one summer hard court event (a 1st Rd. loss in Cincinnati) in the months heading into the Open.



On the other side of the equation, this was Petko's first Top 10 win in nearly a year and advanced her into her first 3rd Round in New York since 2015.



Other seeds went by the wayside, as well, including #9 Aryna Sabalenka, who failed to follow up her win over countrywoman Victoria Azarenka and lost in straights to Yulia Putintseva. #29 Hsieh Su-wei went down at the hands of Karolina Muchova, one year after the Czech reached the 3rd Round at Flushing Meadows in her career slam MD debut.

Muchova very nearly squandered a huge would-be final game lead, as Hsieh served down triple MP at 5-6, love/40 before five consecutive (bad) UE's off the Czech's racket handed the game to Taiwanese veteran, and then a 1-0 lead in the deciding TB. But Muchova proceeded to run off six straight points of her own to lead 6-1, and won the breaker 7-2 to advance. Up next: someone named Serena.

Two seeded players -- #5 Elina Svitolina and #10 Madison Keys -- who played yesterday found out who their 3rd Round opponents will be, and they're familiar faces. Svitolina will get a fellow Ukrainian, #32 Dayana Yastremska, while Keys will see another Bannerette in Sonya Kenin. Keys defeated Kenin in the Cincinnati semifinals two weeks ago.

The winners will face each other in the Round of 16.

Meawhile, after a karmically good 1st Round win over Angelique Kerber, Kristina Mladenovic couldn't follow up with a another. After rallying from a 6-4/5-3 (30/love) deficit vs. fellow Pastry Fiona Ferro to force a 3rd set, Mladenovic fell 6-3 in the decider to the 22-year old, who reached a slam 3rd Round for the first time in her career. Kiki defeated Ferro in the 2nd Round at Roland Garros in the spring.

...in the night session on Ashe, #19 Caroline Wozniacki once again dropped the 1st set, this time against Danielle Collins, but once again she also rallied to emerge with the victory, winning 4-6/6-3/6-4 to reach the 3rd Round of the Open for the first time since her 2016 semifinal. Since winning in Australia in 2018, the Dane has yet to reach another major QF, posting 4r-2r-2r-3r-1r-3r-(into 3r) results over the past year and a half.



Wozniacki will next face #15 Bianca Andreescu, who defeated lucky loser Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets. It'll be the second meeting between the two, as Andreescu won 6-4/6-4 in the 2nd Round in the season-opening tournament for both woman in Auckland, sending both into opposite directions for much of the '19 season. Andreescu stands at 40-4 (all levels) with a 7-0 record vs. the Top 10, while Caro is 16-12 (and 0-1). It'll either be the continuation of a trend, or an abrupt change of direction.



Under the lights on Armstrong, wild card Coco Gauff faced off with a pretty good version of Timea Babos (yes, in *singles*), but still handled whatever pressure she was feeling in the moment with relative ease, defeating the qualifier 6-2/4-6/6-4 to at 15 become the youngest to reach the U.S. Open 3rd Round since Anna Kournikova in 1996.



Watching her full interview (not just that short clip), it brings up the question of whether any player of such an age has ever routinely gone from such outward celebratory actions after a win to such a serene state immediately afterward as this one? That could be a real winning combination over time.

So, the 3rd Round match-up between Gauff and defending champ Naomi Osaka (who def. Magda Linette today) *will* take place on Saturday. At night, one would expect, as Osaka would be playing in the evening hours for the first time at this tournament.

I suspect Carlos Ramos won't be umpiring the match, but it's interesting that he *could* be. Since while the USTA made the decision that last year's women's final chair holder wouldn't do any matches involving Serena (or even Venus) at this Open, no such accommodation was made involving Osaka's matches, which is both interesting as well as telling, I'd say. (Hint: it's not about any questions regarding Ramos' ability to call a fair match.)

...with QF-QF-SF results the last three years at the Open, #12 Anastasija Sevastova has to feel good vibes when she hits the court in New York. Well, she needed them today against Iga Swiatek, as the veteran was forced to stage a comeback from a set down against the Polish teen to win 3-6/6-1/6-3.

Don't look now, but the horrid slam season (three 1st Round losses) of Sevastova's fellow Latvian, Alona Ostapenko, has finally gotten up off the cold, hard floor. The 22-year old won her third straight U.S. Open 2nd Round contest today, defeating Alison Riske 6-4/6-3 even while riding something of a rollercoaster throughout the match. She led 4-0 in the 1st, only to see Riske level things at 4-4 before Ostapenko swept the final two games. Her longtime survival in this slam will surely remain in question, though, as long as her serve continues to put her in a precarious situation. Ostapenko had just a 47% 1st serve percentage today, 17 double-faults (contributing mightily to her 53 total UE's) and faced 17 break points (she saved 13). She had *seven* DF in the first game of the match alone... but held serve anyway.



Oh, Alona. So, that section of the draw that included former slam winners Muguruza, Stephens, Kuznetsova and Ostapenko? Yeah, Alona is the only one to reach the 3rd Round.

via GIPHY


She'll face U.S. wild card Kristie Ahn next, with the winner getting either Petkovic or #25 Elise Mertens for a berth in the quarterfinals. Their section is lined up with that of Cirstea/Townsend and Wozniacki/Andreescu in the fight for a spot in the semis.



...and today's losses by Hordettes Anna Kalinskaya (vs. Ahn), Margarita Gasparyan (vs. #16 Jo Konta), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (vs. #7 Kiki Bertens) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (#33 Sh.Zhang) mean that *all* the Russians have washed out of a major before the 3rd Round. Again. The same thing happened at this year's Wimbledon, ending a 76-slam streak in which at least one Hordette had reached the Final 32 of every slam dating back to the 2000 Wimbledon.





LOOK-WHO'S-BACK ON DAY 4 3 (actually):





LIKE ON DAY 4:

"I'm leaving. I'm embarrassed to know you." (wait for it)




THE OFFSEASON DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IS GOING TO BE SUPER-INTERESTING FOR AT LEAST ONE OF THESE TWO... ON DAY 4:




LIKE ON DAY 4:




I-WOULDN'T-EVEN-KNOW-WHERE-TO-BEGIN ON DAY 4:



But, thumbnail-sketching it:

1) So what if she did say it? It's perfectly reasonable, and it's sort of her job.
2) Serena would have said the same thing, anyway
3) Stop it with the periods
4) And who is the "our" being referring to? Was SW playing doubles?

It's a good thing Serena found her way past Caty McNally. Otherwise, the Serena Trolls would surely have demanded some sort of sacrifice on Maria's part in order to take responsibility for her role in it. You know, something along the likes of those Witch/Not-a-Witch "tests" in Salem that involved a heavy rock and deep lake.



Today, the "WTA Theme Song" idea next heads down the musical path of new arrivals on the scene whose appearance helped to immediately change the environment that had existed before they showed up. You know, sort of like how Generation PDQ has quickly arrived, evolving from Alona Ostapenko stunningly taking Roland Garros in '17 to Naomi Osaka winning in New York a season later en route to #1, followed in '19 by the on-court maturation of Ash Barty, a slam final appearance by Marketa Vondrousova, regular-tour dominance from Bianca Andreescu and a whole slew of teenagers and young twentysomethings popping out from the shadows (w/ names like Coco, Amanda, Caty, Iga, Sonya, Dayana and others) with fearless energy and an impatient desire to win *now*, injecting a newly youthful energy into the tour and knocking down many of those fears and hand wringing about "the future."

Has a new generation of players rushed the tour with such vast numbers, audacity and across the board good results as this one?

So, what's the musical equivalent for today? Well, let's go to the video...


["...Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears, 1998]


Shortly after being part of Disney's 1990's "Micky Mouse Club" (1992-96) during her pre-teen and early teenage years (along with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell), 16-year old Britney Spears' debut helped change the face of teen pop music in the late 1990's and early 2000's, helping to resurrect the notion of (and providing a new prototype for) the teen female pop star, last seen in the late 1980's (Debbie Gibson and Tiffany) but since replaced in the industry by a proliferation of boy bands.

Released in October 1998, "...Baby One More Time" was the debut single off Spears' not-yet-released debut album (January '99). It climbed to #1, leading the album to debut atop the charts soon after en route to becoming the best selling first album by any artist in music history. In 2010, the music video for "...Baby One More Time" was voted the third most influential video in the history of pop music, in a poll held by Jam!.

Spears quickly earned superstar status, then just as quickly began to predictably ride the off-stage rollercoaster of fame that continues today, from a wild marriage to questions about her mental condition, various legitimate controversies (and some just stupid), her finances being placed in a conservatorship (controlled by her father and lawyer), several returns to the stage (including a Las Vegas concert residency) and, in recent months, her father's near-fatal health scare and questions about whether she was being held in a psychiatric facility (#FreeBritney) against her will (yeah, I didn't know anything about all that until doing research for this).


YouTube Research Finds:

["Mickey Mouse Club" videos from the 1990s]



NEXT: the song that truly WOULD be *great* as the centerpiece of a WTA ad campaign. Really... I can see the spots going viral already. Players mouthing the song's hook, while they turn rackets into "guitars" and form impromptu "girl bands" -- with one taking the spot of the lead singer -- while the images flash back and forth between that fun and the on-court whacking of tennis balls and all the other memorable things (some not even Alona-related) that take place between the lines. Trust me, this REALLY would be good, and people would be hearing the song -- and seeing the players -- in their head for days.




City Sights...


















**U.S. OPEN "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS**
2006 Russia
2007 Ukraine
2008 Slovak Republic
2009 Belarus
2010 North America
2011 United States
2012 France
2013 Italy
2014 United States
2015 Japan
2016 Ukraine
2017 Australia
2018 Belarus
2019 United States
[2019]
AO: Teens
RG: Russia
WI: Russia
US: United States

**U.S. OPEN "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING" WINNERS**
=2006=
Eva Birnerova/CZE
Youlia Fedossova/FRA
Kirsten Flipkens/BEL
Varvara Lepchenko/UZB
Aga Radwanska/POL (all 2nd Rd.)
=2007=
Alize Cornet/FRA
Ekaterina Makarova/RUS (3rd Rd.)
=2008=
Anna-Lena Groenefeld/GER (4th Rd.)
=2009=
Anastasia Rodionova/AUS (3rd Rd.)
=2010=
Lourdes Dominquez-Lino/ESP
Mandy Minella/LUX (3rd Rd.)
=2011=
Silvia Soler-Espinosa/ESP (3rd Rd.)
=2012=
Olga Puchkova/RUS (3rd Rd.)
=2013=
Camila Giorgi/ITA (4th Rd.)
=2014=
Aleksandra Krunic/SRB
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni/CRO (4th Rd.)
=2015=
Johanna Konta/GBR
Anett Kontaveit/EST (4th Rd.)
=2016=
CiCi Bellis/USA (3rd Rd.)
=2017=
Kaia Kanepi/EST (QF)
=2018=
Karolina Muchova, CZE (3rd Rd.)
=2019=
Taylor Townsend, USA (in 3rd Rd.)
[2019]
AO: B.Andreescu/CAN, B.Haddad/BRA, A.Sharma/AUS, I.Swiatek/POL, N.Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd)
RG: Aliona Bolsova, ESP (4th)
WI: Coco Gauff, USA (4th)
US: Taylor Townsend, USA (in 3rd Rd.)

**U.S. OPEN "EARLY-RD. TOP PLAYER" WINNERS, w/ final result**
2002 (Week 1 POW) Serena Williams, USA (W)
2003 (Week 1 POW) Jennifer Capriati, USA (SF)
2004 (Week 1 POW) Serena Williams, USA (QF)
2005 (Week 1 POW) Maria Sharapova, RUS (SF)
2006 Maria Sharapova, RUS (W)
2007 Maria Sharapova, RUS (3rd)
2008 Venus Williams, USA (QF)
2009 Serena Williams, USA (SF)
2010 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (SF)
2011 Serena Williams, USA (RU)
2012 Samantha Stosur, AUS (QF)
2013 (co) Serena Williams/USA (W) & Victoria Azarenka/BLR (RU)
2014 Serena Williams, USA (W)
2015 Simona Halep, ROU (SF)
2016 Serena Williams, USA (SF)
2017 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (4th)
2018 Kiki Bertens, NED (3rd)
2019 Madison Keys, USA
[2019]
AO: Serena Williams, USA (QF)
RG: Karolina Pliskova, CZE (3rd)
WI: Ash Barty, AUS (4th)
US: Madison Keys, USA

**U.S. OPEN "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"**
2011 CZE (2-5 1st Rd., Kvitova loses)
2012 GER (4 of 5 highest-ranked GER out in 1st Rd.)
2013 AUS (1-4, Stosur out 1r, Rogowska 0-6/0-6)
2014 FRA (1-5 1st Rd.; only win in FRA-vs-FRA)
2015 SRB (1-4; Ivanovic/Jankovic/Krunic 1st Rd.)
2016 BEL (0-4 in 1st Rd.)
2017 GER (2-7 1st Rd.; Kerber 2nd U.S. DC out 1st)
2018 SUI (1-4 in 1st Rd.; Golubic 0-6/0-6; Bacsinszky love 3rd)
2019 ESP (1-4 in 1st Rd.; seeded Muguruza and CSN/ret. out)
[2019]
AO: ROU (2-4 in 1st Rd.; losses to two teens)
RG: ITA (0-2; first none in 2nd Rd. since 1982)
WI: BLR (1-3 in 1st Rd.; Sabalenka FSO)
US: ESP (1-4 in 1st Rd.; seeded Muguruza and CSN/ret. out)

**BEST 2019 LUCKY LOSER RESULTS AT SLAMS**
3rd Rd. - Lauren Davis, USA (WI)
2nd Rd. - Marie Bouzkova, CZE (WI)
2nd Rd. - Kirsten Flipkens, BEL (US)

**BACKSPIN 2019 WTA "SURPRISE" WINNERS**
JAN: Kimberly Birrell, AUS
AO: Astra Sharma, AUS
FEB/MAR: Wang Yafan, CHN
I.W./MIAMI: Elli Mandlik, USA
1Q: Wang Yafan, CHN
APR: Astra Sharma, AUS
MAY: Johanna Konta, GBR
RG: Aliona Bolsova, ESP
2Q Clay Court: Astra Sharma, AUS
JUN: Giuliana Olmos, MEX
WI: Lauren Davis, USA
2Q Grass Court: Giuliana Olmos, MEX
JUL/AUG: Katarzyna Kawa, POL
AUG (pre-U.S.): Marie Bouzkova, CZE
[2019 Weekly SURPRISE Award Wins]
2 - Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
2 - Marie Bouzkova, CZE
2 - Harriet Dart, GBR
2 - Polona Hercog, SLO
2 - Kateryna Kozlova, UKR
2 - Magda Linette, POL
2 - Greet Minnen, BEL
2 - Astra Sharma, AUS

**BACKSPIN 2019 WTA "MOST IMPROVED" WINNERS**
JAN: Bianca Andreescu, CAN
AO: Danielle Collins, USA
FEB/MAR: Bianca Andreescu, CAN
I.W./MIAMI: Wang Yafan, CHN
1Q: Bianca Andreescu, CAN
APR: Astra Sharma, AUS
MAY: Jil Teichmann, SUI
RG: Iga Swiatek, POL
2Q Clay Court: Amanda Anisimova, USA
JUN: Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
WI: Karolina Muchova, CZE
2Q Grass Court: Karolina Muchova, CZE
JUL/AUG: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
AUG (pre-U.S.): Caroline Dolehide, USA



TOP QUALIFIER: Peng Shuai/CHN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #10 Madison Keys/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: Isabella Shinikova/BUL def. Sachia Vickery/USA 6-1/4-6/7-6(6) - Shinikova MTO down MP at 6-5 in 3rd set TB, then comes back and wins 3 con. pts. to advance. Shinikova limps to net for her handshake, then Vickery airs out her frustrations on Twitter after the leaves the court.
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - (Q) Taylor Townsend/USA def. #4 Simona Halep/ROU 2-6/6-3/7-6(4)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: Nominee: 1st Rd. - #8 S.Williams d. (WC) McNally - 17-year old takes Williams to three sets in Ashe debut
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Ana Bogdan/ROU (def. Dart/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (1st Rd. - lost to Jabeur/TUN)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: United States
NATION OF POOR SOULS: ESP (1-4 in 1st Rd.; seeded Muguruza and CSN/ret. out)
CRASH & BURN: #11 Sloane Stephens/USA (1st Rd. - '17 champ lost to qualifier A.Kalinskaya on Ashe for first career slam MD win)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Nominees: Townsend (2nd Rd. - 1 MP vs. Halep), Goerges (1st Rd. - 1 MP vs. Vikhlyantseva)
IT ("??"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Taylor Townsend/USA (in 3rd Rd.) (LL: Flipkens-2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Ahn, Gauff
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Ahn, Gauff, Kenin, Keys, Townsend, S.Williams
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Nominees: Townsend (Q; def. Halep), Ahn
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominees: McNally (vs. Serena on Night 3), Kalinskaya (upsets Stephens for first slam MD win), Gauff
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: S.Williams (2-0)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 4. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:29 AM 

5 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

With apologies to POD, "Boom!Here comes the boom! How you like me know?" is what came to mind when Townsend knocked out Halep.

In a day that started with Petkovic taking out a compromised Kvitova, and it think it will come out that her arm is worse than reported, then ended with Gauff taking out Babos, in a match in which at times she resembled the seeded player in singles she once was, Townsend was the story.

With college football's Week 1 upon us, yes, last week was officially Week 0, Townsend/Halep felt like Georgia Tech/Florida State 2015. Florida State came in having won 29 straight ACC matchups, and ran a pro style offense, while Georgia Tech runs the fun to watch, but antiquated triple option.

Georgia Tech won on a blocked field goal, having rushed 49 times, and throwing the forward pass only 10 times, completing 4! Townsend going 65/103 at net is something seen 40-50 years ago, but is almost insane to try. Only works at a slam, because you assume a good coach would have changed Halep's tatics, which never happened.

Petkovic has put on weight, and that seems to be good. Movement was better that I have seen from her in a long time. Mladenovic seems to have gone the other way.

Stat of the Day- 3- Women in the final 32 that reached a career best 3rd rd of any slam here.

Before I tell you who, I will show you how many of each career best are left.

5-W
2-F
7-SF
6-QF
5-4th
7-3rd

Phenom Gauff already has a 4th rd on her resume. The 4 that had previously reached a 3rd rd and are looking to better it are Sakkari, Wang, Jabeur, and Townsend. The three newbies? Ferro, Ahn, and drum roll please......Andreescu.

Fri Aug 30, 09:29:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

That Andreescu graphic is wickedly good!

And the rock-lake comparison says it all.

Fri Aug 30, 10:16:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Yeah, Simona single handedly made a case for both *having* coaching and *not* having coaching during a major. I don't know if her inability to adjust was why she kept poking herself in the head with her fingers or not... but it should have been.

You know, I wonder if Mladenovic has some sort of injury. She had such a good stretch, and then it just kind of stopped. Hmmm.

I don't think I can remember a player in a slam quite like Andreescu, with so little slam experience, yet so many big wins and titles under the belt (esp. while still a teenager -- until next *June*, by the way).

Fri Aug 30, 10:18:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

D-
Yeah, that thing for BA was the result of some trial and error (and I only use it every time -- or so -- I have something there for her, as I have that other one, too), but I think that version *does* sort of bring her to mind. ;)

Fri Aug 30, 10:21:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Regarding Andreesu's "unusual" record: I think that it kind of suits her since she is different from everyone else in just about every way. My only concern for Bianca is her health. If she can keep that under some kind of control, I think she's too fearless, too instinctive and too talented to let anything get in her way.

Fri Aug 30, 12:13:00 PM EDT  

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