Sunday, August 04, 2019

Wk.31- Where the Buffalo (and the puppies) Roam

Some say that the summertime weather is "for the dogs." Well, this week, it sorta was.





*WEEK 31 CHAMPIONS*
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA (Premier/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Zheng Saisai/CHN def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-3/7-6(3)
D: Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke (USA/CZE) def. Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara (JPN/JPN) 6-4/6-4
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Int'l/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Jessica Pegula/USA def. Camila Giorgi/ITA 6-2/6-2
D: Coco Gauff/Caty McNally (USA/USA) def. Maria Sanchez/Fanny Stollar (USA/HUN) 6-2/6-2
KARLSRUHE, GERMANY (WTA 125/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Patricia Maria Tig/ROU def. Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL 3-6/6-1/6-2
D: Lara Arruabarrena/Reneta Voracova (ESP/CZE) def. Han Xinyun/Yuan Yue (CHN/CHN) 6-7(2)/6-4 [10-4]
PAN AMERICAN GAMES; LIMA, PERU (Hard Court Outdoor)
WS G: Nadia Podoroska/ARG def. Caroline Dolehide/USA
WS B: Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR def. Carolina Alves/BRA
WD G: Usue Arconada/Caroline Dolehide (USA/USA) def. Veronica Cepede Royg/Montserrat Gonzalez (VEN/VEN)
WD B: Carolina Alves/Luisa Stefani (BRA) def. Alexa Guarachi/Daniela Seguel (CHI)
MX G: Alexa Guarachi/Nicolas Jarry (CHI) def. Noelia Zeballos/Federico Zeballos (BOL)
WD B: Anastasia Iamachkine/Sergio Galdos (PER) def. Kirsten-Andrea Weedon/Wilfredo Gonzalez (GUA)


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jessica Pegula/USA
...though a bit belatedly, add Jessie Pegula's name to the list of young Bannerettes making their marks on the WTA tour. The 25-year old daughter of a football franchise-owning family, the Buffalo-born Pegula has had to weather a storm of injuries during her career: a knee (2014), a leg (2016) and a hip (2017). In 2015, though, she flashed at the U.S. Open, qualifying and posting a 1st Round win before pushing Dominika Cibulkova to three sets. She finished inside the Top 165 in both 2015 and '16. But, promise aside, winning a singles title -- of any kind -- has been a tough nut to crack.



Heading into the week, Pegula was a combined 0-8 in pro singles finals: 0-6 in ITF competition (including a $100K in February vs. Caty McNally), 0-1 in WTA 125's (January vs. Bianca Andreescu) and having lost in Quebec City in her maiden tour-level final last September. So Pegula had her own personal history going against her when she worked her way into the Washington final after having posted wins over Katerina Siniakova, Iga Swiatek, Lauren Davis and Anna Kalinskaya. But her streaky/enigmatic final opponent, Camila Giorgi, as she often has when playing in big matches, failed to get her game fully engaged with the moment on Sunday. Pegula won 6-2/6-2, becoming the third different first-time U.S champ on tour in '19, and the second Bannerette (Sloane Stephens '15) to lift the D.C. title trophy in the nine-year old women's competition in the event.

Pegula will rise 25 spots to a new career high of #54 on Monday.
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RISERS: Zheng Saisai/CHN, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR and Maria Sakkari/GRE
...Zheng always seems to slip in unnoticed to the party even during the week of her best career results, and her maiden tour title run in San Jose was no exception. The 25-year old was the only unseeded semifinalist, having taken out Heather Watson and a pair of Bannerettes, Danielle Collins and Amanda Anisimova, on home soil to get there. A semifinal win over Maria Sakkari, who became a local favorite at the event during her '18 final run and had staged a huge comeback vs. Elina Svitolina a round earlier, sent the Chinese woman into her second career tour final (the '18 Nanchang final from which she retired against Wang Qiang at the start of *her* great late 3Q/4Q run). Zheng downed Sabalenka in straights to record her first Top 10 win in over two years, becoming the tour's tenth singles champion from China.

She'll be at a career-best #38 in the new rankings.



Meanwhile, Zheng's final opponent Sabalenka is having a devil of a time pulling everything together in 2019. After her '18 results, this seemed like a season in which she'd *truly* break out with big results, and maybe develop into something special. It hasn't happened, but she's still managing to hang around and hold onto her Top 10 ranking as we near mid-August. As always in '19, her San Jose final run wasn't always pretty, just as her Week 1 title in Shenzhen was hardly a showcase of the Belarussian at her best. She got wins over the returning CoCo Vandeweghe, Carla Suarez-Navarro and Donna Vekic to reach the final and rebound from what was a poor (2-4) grass campaign. Too many errors and a poor second serve helped doom her vs. Zheng, but Sabalenka remains an intriguing bundle of potential should she ever pull it all together. It *is* a long summer, though, and who would have thought at this point *last* year that Naomi Osaka would soon win the U.S. Open? Remember, her toughest match in New York came in that "Boom-Shaka-Osaka" Round of 16 clash against Sabalenka, so maybe catching that wave *isn't* an impossibility for her before she heads off for the tour's Asian swing (where she won her biggest career title last year in Wuhan).



A year after living the "Spartan" life and reaching the final in the tournament's first year in San Jose (most recently after 20 years in Stanford), Sakkari returned to the semifinals. Not that it was easy. After wins over Ekaterina Alexandrova and Mayo Hibo, the Greek trailed Elina Svitolina 6-1/5-2 in the QF, but overcame the double-break disadvantage and saved 4 MP en route to victory. She lost to Zheng Saisai, but it's her third SF-or-better result of the season, following in the footsteps of her Rabat title run and Rome semi.


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SURPRISES: Varvara Gracheva/RUS and Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
...having made her tour-level MD debut last month in Lausanne (a 1st Rd. loss after qualifying), 19-year old Gracheva impressively improved upon the performance in Washington. After qualifying once again (def. Francesca Di Lorenzo), the world #211 recorded her first WTA win over countrywoman Anna Blinkova and then gave veteran Hsieh Su-wei all she could handle a round later. Gracheva nearly rallied from 5-2 down to steal the 1st set, then after that effort failed still pushed things into a 3rd set and forced Hsieh to win a tight 8-6 final set TB to advance. She'll set a new career high of #182 this week, with her debut making her the seventeenth teenager in the Top 200.




Another Hordette, 20-year old Kalinskaya, has found doubles success in 2019, reaching a pair of WTA finals this (1-1) with Viktoria Kuzmova. But she arrived in Washington having lost twelve straight MD singles matches at tour level, and had only three under her belt for her career. After qualifying (def. Fanny Stollar), Kalinskaya (whose underhand serve caught the eye of Nick Krygios during the week, so much so that he eventually showed up in her player's box) doubled her career win total, posting victories over Nao Hibino, Monica Puig and Kristina Mladenovic en route to her maiden WTA singles semi.


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VETERAN: Renata Voracova/CZE
...Voracova, 35, has been a significant doubles competitor at all levels in 2019. She's won on the challenger level ($60K title & $100K finals w/ Cornelia Lister, and a $25K final w/ Veronica Cepede Royg), at tour level (a Palermo win and semis in Acapulco & Lausanne w/ Lister, and the Shenzhen final w/ Duan Yingying) and even in between (two WTA 125 finals with Lister, as well as a semi). This week in Karlsruhe, Voracova added a 125 title to her season mix, teaming with Lara Arruabarrena to triumph in the three-round competition, winning back-to-back match TB's vs. Cristian/Ruse (SF) and Han Xinyun/Yuan Yue (F) to grab the crown.


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COMEBACKS: Patricia Maria Tig/ROU and Nadia Podoroska/ARG
...Tig's spring/summer rumble has added another title, this time in the WTA 125 event in Karlsruhe, Germany. The 25-year old Romanian, having recently reached the tour-level Bucharest final and won a pair of small challenger events after returning in April from an injury/pregnancy break, posted wins over Barbora Krejcikova, Gabriela Ruse, Ekaterine Gorgodze, Jasmine Paolini (all in straights) and Alison Van Uytvanck (in a three-set final) to claim her biggest career title. The results improve her record since Wimbledon to 14-2, and 32-6 since the middle of May. Having not yet been given a WTA ranking a few weeks ago, Tig will jump from #223 to #148 on Monday.

A few years ago, Podoroska looked to be a candidate to be South America's top player by now. As a teenager, she posted an 8-2 record in challenger singles finals and ended 2016 inside the Top 200. She went 8-1 in Fed Cup play in 2016-17 and climbed as high as #158 in the spring of '17, but a summertime wrist injury took her out for eight months. She finished 2017 & '18 outside the Top 300. The Argentine has had a hard time picking up any momentum this season, but this spring won and reached the semis of a pair of $25K challengers in the span of a month. This week at the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru she may have found the confidence-building result she was looking for.



Podoroska, now 22 and ranked #287, was the #7 seed in the regional international event, but found a way to take out three of the top four seeds en route to Gold. She reached the final without dropping a set, defeating #3 Usue Arconada 4 & 4 in the QF, then #1 Veronica Cepede Royg 3 & 4 in the semis. In the final against #4 Caroline Dolehide, she dropped the 1st set but forced the match into a 3rd. There, serving down 2-5, she staved off a MP, then rallied from 0-4 down in the deciding TB, taking the final seven points of the breaker to win 2-6/6-3/7-6(4) and deny the Bannerette a sweep of the singles and doubles Golds in the competition.

Podoroska's week, barring another setback that prevents her movement back up the rankings, stands a good chance of securing her an Olympic berth for next year in Tokyo.


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FRESH FACES: Caty McNally, Coco Gauff and Hailey Baptiste (all USA)
...Attack of the Teen Bannerettes!

While 15-year old Gauff garnered the early week attention, making it through qualifying before losing in the 1st Round to Zarina Diyas, 17-year old Washington native Baptiste made her tour debut a memorable one, upsetting #2-seed Madison Keys in the 1st Round. Already a two-time ITF singles champ in '19, last season Baptiste reached the U.S. Open girls doubles final with Dalayna Hewitt, falling to Gauff & McNally.


Speaking of which...

17-year old "Federling" aficionado McNally had staying power in the nation's capital. The wild card got a win over Zhu Lin, outlasted Christina McHale (even as she was 5-of-19 on BP chances and took 5 MP to put away the victory), handled tricky Hsieh Su-wei in straights, and in her maiden tour semifinal frustrated (for a while) Camila Giorgi as she staged a comeback from 5-2 down in the 1st (w/ the Italian serving at 5-3) to force a TB before ultimately falling in straight sets. She'll be at #124 in the new rankings.



A short while after the singles semifinal, the aforementioned Gauff/McNally took center stage. The combo had won the U.S. Open juniors in their only previous pairing a year ago, and now the same thing has happened in their first pro outing. "McCoco" didn't drop a set en route to the title, defeating the #3 (Kalinskaya/Kato) and #4 (Sanchez/Stollar) seeded duos while grabbing the first WTA title for both.



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DOWN: 2017 U.S. Open semifinalists
...was it just two years ago that the U.S. Open had its first all-U.S. group of women's semifinalists for the first time since 1981? A year later at Flushing Meadows in 2018, the foursome posted SF-QF-3r-1r results at the Open. All four opened their summer hard court campaigns this week, and went a combined 1-4.

The only win? From CoCo Vandeweghe (thereby exempted from this award), who was playing in her first match of the season after ending '18 on a nine-match losing streak ahead of what turned out to be a long road back from injury.



As for the rest, Washington #1 seed Sloane Stephens fell in straights to Rebecca Peterson, while on the other side of the draw #2 Madison Keys lost to 17-year old D.C. native Hailey Baptiste in her tour-level debut. Keys won just one more game (8) vs. the newcomer than Stephens did against the Swede. Meanwhile, in San Jose, in her first match since falling to 15-year old Coco Gauff at Wimbledon, Venus Williams lost to 34-year old Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who was playing her first singles match since the Australian Open and who hadn't notched a solo win since the 2018 Roland Garros.

The defeat by #313 Gauff had been Williams' worst career loss by ranking (aside from an unranked, coming-out-of-retirement Kim Clijsters a decade earlier), but the loss to #674-ranked BMS topped it. With her Auckland loss in January to then-#152 Bianca Andreescu, three of Venus' four worst career "losses by ranking" have come in 2019.
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ITF PLAYER: Kim Da-bin/KOR
...in Lexington, Kentucky, 22-year old South Korean Kim made it through qualifying and went on to win her third career challenger crown, claiming a pair of three-setters (including over #8 Katie Swan in the QF) while having two opponents retire (1st Rd. over #1-seed Jessika Ponchet, and in the SF over #4 Han Na-lae), then defeating #2-seeded Bannnerette Ann Li 6-1/6-3 in the final.
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JUNIOR STAR: Wong Hong Yi Cody/HKG
...a year after winning the Grade 1 Nanjing event, the top-seeded Wong defended her title the hard way, winning three straight three-setters (def. the #4 and #5 seeds) to return to the final, then getting "a break" when she outlasted Indonesian #2-seed Priska Madelyn Nugroho (Nottingham SF/Wimbledon QF), who retired down 6-1/1-0, to claim the title. A year ago, as the #4 seed, Wong defeated #1-seeded Joanna Garland when *she* retired in the final, though in the 3rd set on that occasion.

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DOUBLES: Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke, USA/CZE
...in San Jose, a year after Peschke won the title with Latisha Chan, the 44-year old Czech defended her crown with Melichar by her side. Picking up their second title of the season (w/ Brisbane), and fourth overall as a pair, the duo won a 10-3 match TB in the semis over Liang En-shuo & Zheng Saisai, then topped Shuko Aoyama & Ena Shibahara (the latter ex-UCLAer just switched from representing the U.S. to Japan last month) 6-4/6-4 in the final. It's Melichar's fifth WTA win (along w/ 1 MX), while Peschke's 33 ranks her third behind Sania Mirza (41) and Katarina Srebotnik (39) amongst active women, one ahead of Chan.


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WHEELCHAIR: Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN
...Zhu's incredible 2019 run continued at the Belgian Open, as the 30-year old increased her singles winning streak to 30 matches with a win in the final over world #4 Marjolein Buis. Zhu also combined with Huang Hui Min to take the doubles, defeating Buis & Michaela Spaanstra in the final. With the two losses, Buis has dropped eight straight s/d finals this season, including the deciders at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Zhu finally climbed into the Top 10 in the WC rankings last week for the first time, and her win over Buis gives her five Top 10 wins during her current 30-match run. In all, 18 of the wins have come vs. the Top 20.
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Laura Robson Update...




If that Webley-Smith Instagram post is having issues (it was for me earlier, and was showing up in *this* post), here's what she wrote in it...

"Yesterday during the last round of qualifying for Lexington 60k tournament the coolest thing happened to me. Spencer, who is 9 years old, was a ball boy on my court and in super humid conditions was doing a great job with only 2 others on the court to help him. I won the 1st set 6-4 and was 6-5 down in the 2nd when it started to rain but we were told to stay on the court and Spencer to put the umbrella up. It was tricky so I asked if he needed help and told him he could sit on my bench under the umbrella with me to stay out of the rain. So he did. And as we were there a little while I said if it gets too heavy we can take turns to hold the umbrella. So I’m sitting there, feeling pretty sad and frustrated at the way I’m playing, and thinking that I really don’t want to have to play a super tiebreak 3rd set to decide this match. I can feel that Spencer is watching me and with my head in the towel he looks up at me and says: “I hope you know you’re a really good tennis player.” Clearly I must have looked like I did not think that, and the perception of this little boy to say such a thing at that time, was incredible. I almost cried, then I smiled and said thankyou. The umpire said the court was ready to play and as I helped him put the umbrella down he said: “You can win”. And looked at me so earnestly that I had no choice but to say yes I can. I took the balls, I held serve, and I won the tiebreak to win the match in 2 sets. And I learnt 3 life lessons from Spencer. Firstly, a little positivity goes a long way, even when it’s the hardest thing in the world to stay so with ourselves, or to take the time to encourage others. Secondly, in a sport where you never ever feel good enough, from one point, one day, one week to the next, whatever you think about yourself is just your own perception. Because in Spencer’s eyes, I was good at tennis, and right there in the present moment, that was all that mattered to him to let me know that, because I looked sad. Lastly, a reminder that every action has an impact, and our attitude is an example to those around us at all times. Stay strong, you never know who you may be inspiring. Spencer, you are a hero. Thankyou"




1. San Jose QF - Maria Sakkari def. Elina Svitolina
...1-6/7-6(3)/6-3. Playing for the first time since her Wimbledon semifinal, some truth was set to be known about Svitolina this week when her opponents wouldn't be a string of broken down and/or exhaustion players gasping for air. After a 1st Round bye, she posted a win over Dasha Kasatkina (fine, but really, who hasn't this year?). She led Sakkari 6-1/5-2 and held four MP here... yet somehow found a way to lose. Again. Crumbling down the stretch. Again. Gaining nothing from her best career result in a major. Again (see Singapore for the *last* career-changing, confidence boosting outing... or not).

Credit goes to Sakkari coach Tom Hill for kick-starting Sakkari when all hope seemed lost...



But, really, we've seen this before from Svitolina. We've seen it for years. If actual success can't change the pattern, you wonder if anything ever will.
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2. Pan American Singles Gold Match - Nadia Podoroska def. Caroline Dolehide
...2-6/6-3/7-6(4). Dolehide was on the cusp of becoming the first woman to sweep the singles and doubles Golds at the Pan American Games since 1991 (Pam Shriver), holding a MP on Podoroska's serve at 5-2 in the 3rd. The Argentine took things to a deciding TB, when staged another comeback after falling behind 4-0. She won the final seven points of the match.


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3. Washington 1st Rd. - Rebecca Peterson def. #1 Sloane Stephens 6-2/7-5
Washington 1st Rd. - Hailey Baptiste def. #2 Madison Keys 7-6(4)/6-2
...there was to be no '17 U.S. Open final reunion in Washington.


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4. San Jose QF - Zheng Saisai def. Amanda Anisimova
...5-7/7-5/6-4. 17-year old Anisimova didn't get in on all the teenage Bannerette fun this week, falling here in nearly three hours despite winning the points edge (113-110) against an opponent who got just two games off her the last time they played last year in Osaka.

While Anisimova was 8-of-16 on BP chances, Zheng was 9-of-11.


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5. Washington Final - Jessica Pegula def. Camila Giorgi
...6-2/6-2. So, Giorgi loses in a final. Does this mean we get *five* or *six* more weeks of summer hard court weather?

The Italian didn't win her third tour title (2-5 career mark in finals, having held MP in two losses), but this *is* her first non-European WTA final. Six of her seven finals have come on hard court.

While Giorgi remains an entity all to herself, in the "Unofficial Battle to Be the Current Face of Italian Women's Tennis," in Karlsruhe, Jasmine Paolini followed up her Palermo semi with a QF in this week's clay court WTA 125 event.
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6. Karlsruhe 1st Rd. - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Greet Minnen
...6-4/1-6/6-1. It was bound to happen at some point...


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7. San Jose 2nd Rd. - Kristie Ahn def. Elise Mertens
...6-3/6-3. Qualifier Ahn opened with a victory over Ajla Tomljanovic, then posted her first career Top 20 win here.

And she made a four-legged buddy, too...



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8. San Jose Final - Zheng Saisai def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-3/7-6(3). Sabalenka picked up enough points to hold onto her Top 10 ranking for a little while longer, but she *does* have her New Haven title points coming off soon.
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9. Washington 2nd Rd. - Anna Kalinskaya def. Monica Puig
...2-6/7-6(5)/6-4. By this time next year, we'll know how well Puig's defense of her 2016 Olympic Gold went. The tennis event in Tokyo is set to wrap up on August 2, 2020.
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10. Pan American Games Bronze Medal Match - Veronica Cepede Royg/VEN def. Carolina Alves/BRA 6-3/6-4
Pan American Games Mixed Doubles Bronze Match - Anastasia Iamachkine/Sergio Galdos (PER) def. Kirsten-Andrea Weedon/Wilfredo Gonzalez (GUA) 7-5/6-1
...VCR picked up two medals in Lima, the Bronze here and the Silver in WD after losing (w/ Montserrat Gonzalez) the doubles final. Alves lost out on a Bronze here, but grabbed one in doubles along with Luisa Stefani.

Iamachkine (Pepperdine) & Galdos got host nation Peru one of its two tennis medals at these Games (Galdo also won the MD Bronze).

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Una semana inolvidable ???? #panamericanos2019

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11. San Jose 1st Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Mihaela Buzarnescu
...6-2/6-2. One of the Russian's best wins of the season. Of course, Buzarnescu is *only* #58, but that's actually the third-highest ranked player that Kasatkina (who finished last year in the Top 10) has beaten in 2019. Also, San Jose defending champ Buzarnescu (she was injured in Montreal days wining the '18 title) is only 10-25 since she was crowned the champion at this event last year while riding a 23-7 run to her maiden WTA crown. Oh, yeah... and Kasatkina has only won *eight* matches all year, so I guess *any* win would rank pretty high on her season's list of accomplishments.
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12. $25K Nonthaburi THA Final - Yuki Naito def. Wang Xinyu
...2-6/7-6(4)/6-3. In a "GenPDQ: Asian Edition" match-up, 18-year old Naito wins title #4 of '19 over 17-year old Wang, who was also going for #4.
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13. Washington QF - Camila Giorgi def. Zarina Diyas
...6-3/6-2. Nope, no *third* different Kazakh champion in 2019. No yet, anyway.
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14. Washington 2nd Rd. - Lauren Davis def. Sonya Kenin
...5-7/6-3/6-4. Davis lost a round later to Pegula, but this still set up her first QF result of the season.
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15. $25K Grodzisk Mazowiecki POL Final - Maja Chwalinska def. Dejana Radanovic
...7–6(7–5), 6–4. The 17-year old Pole wins her second straight challenger crown.

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2 weeks= 2 titles ?????? #25k #stepbystep

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16. Toronto Q1 - Anastasia Potapova def. Gaby Dabrowski 6-4/3-6/6-3
Toronto Q1 - Alison Riske def. Carol Zhao 6-2/6-1
Toronto Q1 - Christina McHale def. Ariana Arseneault 7-5/6-2
Toronto Q1 - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Louise Kwong 6-0/6-1
Toronto Q1 - Mihaela Buzarnescu def. Carson Branstine 7-6(4)/6-3
Toronto Q1 - Ons Jabeur def. Franckie Abanda 6-4/6-3
Toronto Q1 - Rebecca Peterson def. Catherine Leduc 6-0/6-0
Toronto Q1 - Tatjana Maria def. Layne Sleeth 6-2/6-2
...on the heels of going 0-8 in qualifying, the Canadian contingent will have two of the three Canadian women in the MD face off against each other in the 1st Round, as Bianca Andreescu returns to the court vs. Genie Bouchard. Hey, at least Canada is assured of not going winless. Wild card Leylah Annie Fernandez will face qualifier Marie Bouzkova in the 1st Round, as well.

(Maybe it's just me, but Osaka looks like she's going undercover to investigate "this whole tennis business I'm hearing about"... from the *inside*)




Drama, queens.
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17. World Team Tennis Final - Springfield Lasers def. New York Empire
...20-19. The Lasers defend their title, and Robert Lindstedt won the MVP. I'm sure those serves into the back of his head by Alona played a part in this, right?



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18. Toronto Q2 - Tatjana Maria def. Nao Hibino
...6-2/6-1. Looks like the intense drills Maria was put through in recent days by daughter coach ball machine Charlotte worked out just as intended, as she's headed for the main draw.


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didn’t get to meet @realdonaldtrump kinda upset

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Once again, the overzealous urge of certain areas of the tennis establishment to punish is turned back on itself, though with far less fanfare and condemnation as was given the original (overturned) penalty (example: type in "Tatishvili" on a Twitter search and see how many items refer to the overturned penalty as opposed to the original punishment). The Grand Slam Board ruled that Tatishvili played “professionally from the first to the very last point.”




Now, how about the umpire who started this whole incident being fined or suspended? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Thing is, Tatishvili hadn't played in eighteen months and was facing a very good player in Maria Sakkari in the 1st Round in Paris. Winning just one game wasn't an unexpected result. Rather than attempt to damage a player's reputation with unfounded accusations, some thought could be given to making a rule that a player who has missed that much time might be required to play at least one small event elsewhere (and meet some sort of "acceptable standard" there) before being able to use their protected ranking in order to enter a slam main draw. Tatishvili won a total of five games in her next *two* matches combined after losing at RG. It takes time.


1. San Jose 1st Rd. - Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. VENUS WILLIAMS
...6-7(4)/6-3/6-1. Venus' low-ranked career loss (#674). The two veterans hadn't played in singles since the 2012 U.S. Open (and only once in doubles since the '12 Wimbledon -- in the MX at the Rio Olympics in '16), with BMS having lost eight of nine sets (all in slam competition).



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2. Washington 2nd Rd. - HSIEH SU-WEI def. Varvara Gracheva
...7-5/4-6/7-6(6). Though in defeat, Gracheva added her name to the list of players to watch. If she'd managed to finish off her comeback from 5-2 down in the 1st to take the opening set, this one could have turned out very differently.



It'll likely take a while for her to catch up with Su-wei in other areas, though...


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3. $15K Tabarka TUN Final - ANNA TURATI def. Daria Kudashova
...6-0/6-3. One half of Texas' Turati twins picks up her third straight challenger win.


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4. Pan American Games Doubles Gold Match - USUE ARCONADA/Caroline Dolehide (USA) def. Veronica Cepede Royg/Monserrat Gonzalez (VEN)
...6-0/6-4. Before Dolehide squandered her opportunity to be a TWO-time Gold medalist, she joined forces with Arconada to win the doubles. They're the first U.S. duo to stand atop the medal stand since Donna Faber & Pam Shriver in 1991.


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5. Pan American Games Mixed Doubles Gold Match - Alexa Guarachi/Nicolas Jarry (CHI) def. NOELIA ZEBALLOS/Federico Zeballos (BOL)
...6-1/6-3. Guarachi narrowly missed out on being a double-medalist in Lima, losing the WD Bronze match (w/ Daniela Seguel) to Brazilians Carolina Alves & Luisa Stefani in an 11-9 match TB.


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Florence for 12 hours. And it was magic ??

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*2019 NATIONS w/ MULTIPLE WTA SINGLES CHAMPS*
5...USA - Anisimova,Kenin,Keys,PEGULA,Riske
2...BEL - Mertens,Van Uytvanck
2...CHN - Wang Yafan,ZHENG SAISAI
2...CZE - Kvitova,Ka.Pliskova
2...FRA - Ferro,Garcia
2...KAZ - Putintseva,Rybakina
2...SUI - Bencic,Teichmann

*2019 PLAYERS WITH WTA SINGLES & WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
Ash Barty, AUS (3/1)
Sonya Kenin, USA (2/1)
Elise Mertens, BEL (1/2)
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (1/2)
ZHENG SAISAI, CHN (1/1)

*2019 WTA + WTA 125 FINALS*
Bianca Andreescu, CAN (1-1 / 1-0)
JESSIC PEGULA, USA (1-0 / 0-1)
PATRICIA MARIA TIG, ROU (0-1 / 1-0)
ALISON VAN UYTVANCK, BEL (1-0 / 0-1)
ZHENG SAISAIi, CHN (1-0 / 1-0)
Tamara Zidansek, SLO (0-1 / 1-0)

*2019 WTA SF*
8 - Kiki Bertens, NED (4-4)
5 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (4-1)
5 - DONNA VEKIC, CRO (2-3)
5 - Angelique Kerber,GER (1-3+W)

*VENUS WILLIAMS WORST LOSSES BY RANKING*
NR - Kim Clijsters (2009 U.S. Open 4th)
#674 - BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS (2019 SAN JOSE 1st)
#313 - Coco Gauff (2019 Wimbledon 1st)
#223 - Peng Shuai (2016 Beijing 1st)
#152 - Bianca Andreescu (2019 Auckland QF)
#143 - Petra Kvitova (2008 Memphis 1st)
#140 - Sonya Jeyaseelan (1999 A.Island 2nd)
#125 - Barbara Schwartz (1999 RG 4th)
#119 - Kateryna Bondarenko (2015 Istanbul 1st)
#115 - Nathalie Dechy (1997 Toronto 1st)
#109 - Olga Puchkova (2013 Florianopolis SF)

*FIRST-TIME U.S. WOMEN TITLES - since 1998*
1998: Venus Williams (Memphis)
1998: Tara Snyder (Quebec City)
1999: Serena Williams (Paris Indoors)
1999: Corina Morariu (Bol)
2000: Meghan Shaughnessy (Shanghai)
2001: Meilen Tu (Auckland)
2002: Jill Craybas (Tokyo/Japan Open)
2006: Vania King (Bangkok)
2012: Melanie Oudin (Birmingham)
2014: Vania Keys (Eastbourne)
2014: CoCo Vandeweghe (Rosmalen)
2014: Alison Riske (Tianjin)
2015: Sloane Stephens (Washington)
2016: Irina Falconi (Bogota)
2016: Christina McHale (Tokyo/Japan Women's Open)
2017: Lauren Davis (Auckland)
2019: Sonya Kenin (Hobart)
2019: Amanda Anisimova (Bogota)
2019: Jessica Pegula (Washington)

*CAREER WTA TITLES - CHN*
9 - Li Na (2004,08,10-14)
4 - Zheng Jie (2005-06,12)
2 - Wang Qiang (2018)
2 - Peng Shuai (2016-17)
2 - Zhang Shuai (2013-17)
1 - Duan Yingying (2016)
1 - Sun Tiantian (2006)
1 - Wang Yafan (2019)
1 - Yan Zi (2005)
1 - ZHENG SAISAI (2019)
[age at first titles]
20 - Yan Zi (2005 Guangzhou)
21 - Zheng Jie (2005 Hobart)
22 - Li Na (2004 Guangzhou)
24 - Zhang Shuai (2013 Guangzhou)
24 - Wang Yafan (2019 Acapulco)
25 - Sun Tiantian (2006 Tashkent)
25 - ZHENG SAISAI (2019 SAN JOSE)
26 - Wang Qiang (2018 Nanchang)
27 - Duan Yingying (2016 Nanchang)
30 - Peng Shuai (2016 Tianjin)

*2019 WTA DOUBLES TITLES - DUOS*
4 - Hsieh/Strycova, TPE/CZE [Dubai,Madrid,Birmingham,Wimb]
3 - Chan/Chan, TPE/TPE [Hobart,Doha,Eastbourne]
2 - Babos/Mladenovic, HUN/FRA [Istanbul,R.Garros]
2 - MELICHAR/PESCHKE, USA/CZE [Brisbane/San Jose]
2 - Mertens/Sabalenka, BEL/BLR [Indian Wells,Miami]

*2019 OLDEST WTA DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
44 - KVETA PESCHKE CZE (SAN JOSE, w/ Melichar)
43 - Kveta Peschke, CZE (Brisbane, w/ Melichar)
36 - Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP (Rabat, w/ Sorribes Tormo)
35 - Renata Voracova, CZE (Palermo, w/ Lister)
34 - Samantha Stosur, AUS (AO, w/ Sh.Zhang)
34 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (Budapest, w/ Alexandrova)
[combo - since 2014]
72 - Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Kveta Peschke (2017 Prague)
71 - Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik (2014 Rome)
71 - Latisha Chan/Kveta Peschke (2018 San Jose)
70 - NICOLE MELICHAR/KVETA PESCHKE (2019 SAN JOSE)
70 - Serena Williams/Venus Williams (2016 Wimbledon)
70 - Abigail Spears/Katarina Srebotnik (2017 Doha)

*2019 YOUNGEST WTA DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
15 - COCO GAUFF (WASHINGTON)
17 - CATY McNALLY, USA (WASHINGTON)
18 - Anastasia Potapova, RUS (Lausanne)
20 - Sonya Kenin, USA (Auckland)
20 - Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (Prague)
20 - Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK (Prague)
20 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Indian Wells)
20 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Miami)
[finalists combo]
32 - Gauff(15) & McNally (17) = Washington (W)
40 - Kalinskaya (20) & Kuzmova (20) = Saint Petersburg (L)
40 - Kalinskaya (20) & Kuzmova (20) = Prague (W)

*2019 WTA FIRST-TIME DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
Genie Bouchard, CAN
Anna-Lena Friedsam, GER
COCO GAUFF, USA
Zoe Hives, AUS
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS
Sonya Kenin, USA
Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK
Cornelia Lister, SWE
CATY McNALLY, USA
Giuliana Olmos
Ellen Perez, AUS
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Astra Sharma, AUS
Yana Sizikova, RUS
Nina Stojanovic, SRB

*PAN AMERICAN GAMES GOLD MEDALISTS*
[singles since 1991]
1991 Pam Shriver, USA
1995 Maria Florencia Labat, ARG
1999 Maria Vento-Kabchi, VEN
2003 Milagros Sequera, VEN
2007 Milagros Sequera, VEN
2011 Irina Falconi, USA
2015 Maria Duque Marino, COL
2019 Nadia Podoroska, ARG
[doubles since 2011]
2011 Maria Irigoyen/Florencia Molinaro, ARG
2015 Gaby Dabrowski/Carol Zhao, CAN
2019 Usue Arconada/Caroline Dolehide, USA
[mixed doubles]
2011 Ana Paula de la Pena/Santiago Gonzalez, MEX
2015 Maria Irigoyen/Guido Andreozzi, ARG
2019 Alexa Guarachi/Nicolas Jarry, CHI

*PAN AMERICAN GAMES - recent singles medal stands*
[2007]
G: Milagros Sequera, VEN
S: Mariana Duque Marino, COL
B: Betina Jozami, ARG
[2011]
G: Irina Falconi, USA
S: Monica Puig, PUR
B: Christina McHale, USA
[2015]
G: Mariana Duque Marino, COL
S: Victoria Rodriguez, MEX
B: Monica Pug, PUR
[2019]
G: Nadia Podoroska, ARG
S: Caroline Dolehide, USA
B: Veronica Cepede Royg, VEN

*WORLD TeamTennis (WTT) CHAMPIONS*
1974 Denver Racquets
1975 Pittsburgh Triangles
1976 New York Sets
1977 New York Apples
1978 Los Angeles Strings
1979-80 PLAY SUSPENDED
1981 Los Angeles Strings
1982 Dallas Stars
1983 Chicago Fyre
1984 San Diego Buds
1985 San Diego Buds
1986 San Antonio Racquets
1987 Charlotte Heat
1988 Charlotte Heat
1989 San Antonio Racquets
1990 Los Angeles Strings
1991 Atlanta Thunder
1992 Atlanta Thunder
1993 Wichita Advantage
1994 New Jersey Stars
1995 New Jersey Stars
1996 St.Louis Aces
1997 Sacramento Capitals
1998 Sacramento Capitals
1999 Sacramento Capitals
2000 Sacramento Capitals
2001 Philadelphia Freedoms
2002 Sacramento Capitals
2003 Delaware Smash
2004 Newport Beach Breakers
2005 New York Sportimes
2006 Philadelphia Freedoms
2007 Sacramento Capitals
2008 Kansas City Explorers
2009 Washington Kastles
2010 Kansas City Explorers
2011 Washington Kastles (undefeated)
2012 Washington Kastles (undefeated)
2013 Washington Kastles
2014 Washington Kastles
2015 Washington Kastles
2016 San Diego Aviators
2017 Orange County Breakers
2018 Springfield Lasers
2019 Springfield Lasers
[active franchises]
6 - Washington Kastles
2 - Newport Beach/Orange County Breakers, Philadelphia Freedoms, Springfield Lasers
1 - San Diego Aviators
0 - New York Empire, Orlando Storm, Vegas Rollers
[past franchises]
6 - Sacramento Capitals
3 - Dallas/New Jersey Stars, Denver/San Antonio Racquets, Los Angeles Strings
2 - Atlanta Thunder, Charlotte Heat, Kansas City Explorers, San Diego Buds
1 - Chicago Fyre, Delaware Smash, New York Apples, New York Sets, New York Sportimes, Pittsburgh Triangles, St.Louis Aces, Wichita Advantage

*2019 SLAM/PREMIER MANDATORY/PREMIER 5 CHAMPIONS*
Australian Open - Naomi Osaka, JPN
Dubai - Belinda Bencic, SUI
Indian Wells - Bianca Andreescu, CAN
Miami - Ash Barty, AUS
Madrid - Kiki Bertens, NED
Rome - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
Toronto -
Cincinnati -
Wuhan -
Beijing -
[doubles]
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
Toronto -
Cincinnati -
Wuhan -
Beijing -



























All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:22 PM 

11 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

*Disclaimer-Due to the ITF finally adding those retroactive ranking points, the rankings I am using don't match Todd's*

Cramping dude's handshake better than Sabalenka's yesterday.

Love Maria and child's workout, complete with lob.

Regarding Sabalenka's title defense: Since it moved, both the location and part of the schedule, the only way she could defend those points would be to play in the Bronx. Won't affect USO seeding, as it comes off the week after the draw.

What can be said about the mercurial mess that is Giorgi. A lost season due to injury, she came into Washington on a 6 match losing streak, not having won since the Australian Open. Then after raiding Viktoria Kutuzova's closet, she goes out and reaches the final.

Since Washington beat Buffalo in Super Bowl XXVI, Buffalo has won 5 of 6. So almost a home court for Pegula.

Olympic/Pam Am Games news-
291- #2 ARG- Nadia Podoroska
263- #30 USA-Caroline Dolehide
154- #1 PRG- Veronica Cepede-Royg
345- #4 BRA- Carolina Alves

With Top 300 being the standard, Podoroska needs to raise her level just a bit to lock down an Olympic spot. Dolehide would need a career year, and seems likely to lost spot to Cepede Royg.

On the Gracheva train. Plays a little like Kasatkina.

McNally's game has changed somewhat. Formerly Vandeweghe lite, her hardcourt game now resembles Goerges on grass in that she closes a bunch of points at net, and uses the big serve to good advantage.

Stat of the Week- 20- Career high win for Polish player Katarzyna Piter.

First off, Polish Katarzyna Piter and also Polish Katarzyna Kawa are different people. But due to Kawa losing the Jurmala final to #11 Sevastova, Piter still has the highest win.

Piter's best win was way back in 2013, vs Flipkens. Kawa's best? Also in 2013, as she beat #58 Hradecka. The highest she beat last week was Pera at 74.

Next on the 26 yr old Kawa's list, to crack the Top 100, which the 28 yr old Piter, now at 365, did years ago.

Quiz Time!
At 17, Cate McNally won her first doubles title, and reached the SF in singles. Which one of these ladies had not won both a singles and doubles title by the time they turned 18.

A.Venus Williams
B.Vania King
C.Amy Frazier
D.Serena Williams


More Up/Down next post, and next week too, with Cincinnati.




Answer!
I expect people to get this one right, but for the wrong reason.

First, lets take out the best no guess. (A)Venus is wrong, and she took care of it in one felt swoop. After losing her first 2 singles finals, the 17 yr old Venus went to the US National Indoor, and grabbed her first one. At the very same tournament, she won her first doubles title with Serena.

This eventually makes (D)Serena the wrong answer. Only 16 then, she had to wait another year for her first singles title(Suez), then winning 5 that year, including the 1999 US Open.

Only 2 options left. (B)King is the wrong answer, but worth looking into. 17 yr old King got her first doubles title at the Japan Open, making that the first of her 15 doubles titles. The same month, she went to Bangkok and won both singles and doubles.

13 years later, it is still her only singles title, out of 3 finals.

(C)Frazier is correct, but not a slacker by any means. Just as King had won Japan, Frazier made it her own personal playground during her career. Picture Riske in China, and that is Frazier in Japan.

She won Japan in 1991 for her first doubles title. At the ripe old age of 18, then one it again the next year for the second of her 4 career doubles titles(4-9).

After that, she focused on singles more, reacing the Japan Open final 6 times(2-4). The last was in 2000, a loss vs Julie Halard Decugis, the only match vs a non Japanese player, as she went 1-1 vs Ai Sugiyama and 1-2 vs Kimiko Date.

An 8 time winner on tour(8-7), her first win was at the now defunct Wichita event when she was 16.






Mon Aug 05, 10:50:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side-Border Edition.

1.Halep-Bethpage Black. Shinnecock Hills. Both are US Open courses, but aren't the same. Montreal and Toronto are both in Canada, but not the same. Even with that said, the 2 time Montreal winner, and 1 time Toronto finalist is the slight favorite in an extremely balanced draw.
2.S.Williams- Has the best draw she has had since her return. Possible matchups with Wozniacki and Osaka(Putintseva) could be interesting. Plus a 3 time winner of this event, all 3 in Toronto.
3.Tig- As much as I have been pushing Rybakina, Tig deserves a USO WC. Ranking now up to 140, hopefully she can keep her form for another month and play her way in, as she is obviously playing like a Top 128 player.
4.Bouzkova- Tough match with Fernandez, but results are odd. Playing up to the level of her opponents, meaning that her recent WTA results are better than her ITF ones. That may mean lack of focus. Also a bit on the slight side, but has a solid enough game to be Top 50.
5.Riske- Newly married Riske has 2 weeks in which she can gain enough points for a USO seed. With Strycova out, that is one less person who can gain points. Also, a long way to go, but she is the #2 American in the Olympic race. Her drawback is that she has no grass court events left in which to earn points.

Mon Aug 05, 11:03:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Bouchard- 8 match losing streak, no Top 50 wins on the year, though she beat Teichmann, who has 2 titles. Always awkward, she looked awful last week, lunging and a step late on everything, then doubled down and only won 2 games in doubles. Canada needed her to be on a roll. She is, but on a negative one.
2.Canada- Even slumping, Bouchard is still a draw. Really unfortunate to have Bouchard and Andreescu meet 1st rd, when both could fill the stadium on their own. Andreescu is the favorite, but then another matchup vs Kerber is probable.
3.Muguruza- Has only played this event 1 of the last 4 years, and with next year being an Olympic one, probably one in 5. Interestingly enough, the year she played she won Wimbledon. Then went to Stanford, Toronto, Cincinnati. Also won Cinci. You would think that that positive stretch, when she played some of the best tennis of her career, would bring her back.
4.Strycova- Not really a down, as she earned some time off whit her summer. But it might cost her a US Open seed. One of the 6 Top 50 players(Kvitova, Vondrousova, Wang, Strycova, Muguruza, Muchova) that hasn't played since Wimbledon. Muchova gets a pass because her ranking was too low before Wimbledon to get into Toronto/Cinci directly.
5.V.Williams- She's playing, so not really a down, but if she has any hope of making the Olympics, she needs to double down, and play doubles. Melichar isn't a lock, but is a front runner. Mattek-Sands, depending on health may have the inside track at the last spot. Singles looks like a pipe dream.

Mon Aug 05, 11:18:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Haha. Yeah, that was a "yeah-yeah-whatever" handshake from Aryna, wasn't it? ;)

Oh, yes! I forgot about New Haven's demise. Well, then she needs to pick up big points before then to avoid the loss. I slightly tweaked that line to reflect that.

Hopefully the Pan Am Gold will be the boost Podoroska needs, and Top 300 will be well over her shoulder (say Top 200?). She was moving up consistently before the injury, so this should help a lot.

"The Gracheva Train"... I like that one. Toot-toot (or some train sound). :)

QUIZ: Got that one right! Also, until recently, Frazier's 71 slam MD appearances was a tour record, then she was passed by both Venus and Serena (and tied by Schiavone).

Mon Aug 05, 03:28:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Rogers Cup has done well. Feels like a slam.

8 matches have finished 6-4 or longer in 3.

This is the best I have seen Bouchard, Sharapova, and Kasatkina play all year.

Still surprised that Kerber lost after winning the first set 6-0.

Cinci news-Bellis and Vondrousova out, V.Williams and Alexandrova in.

No Pegula, but the other 3 finalists from Sunday(Giorgi, Zheng, Sabalenka) are already out.

Wed Aug 07, 09:54:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Last Canadian winner and finalists were in the same year. 1969 when Faye Urban defeated fellow Canadian Vicky Berner.

Elite Eight matchups are all about winners.

2019 Mallorca(Kenin) vs 2017 Toronto(Svitolina).

2019 Indian Wells(Andreescu) vs 2019 Eastbourne(Pliskova).

2019 Wimbledon(Halep) vs 2019 ITF Nur Sultan(Bouzkova).

2019 Australian Open(Osaka) vs 2013 Toronto(Williams).

Fri Aug 09, 08:25:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

So far, the return of Andreescu has been worth the wait. She just never seems to be bothered when she's down or with her back against the wall on the scoreboard, and just buckles down and plays her game and finds a way to figure it out. You don't see that sort of thing in a teenager too often these days.

Though by going to three sets in every round, especially vs. Bertens when it really shouldn't have, you wonder if she's tied her hands as far as going as deep as she *could* go in Toronto. What is it so far, about 7 1/2 hours on court through three rounds? Hope her shoulder holds up.

Fri Aug 09, 10:30:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Rybakina is 5 out of USO MD. Lost in Cinci Q, and is 64th in live ranking. Sadly, Bouzkova might be in the same situation. 3 out, she is now 53rd in live rank.

How do we bill tomorrow's match?
We The North vs We The North America?
2001 Indian Wells Champ vs 2019 Indian Wells Champ?
The current drama queen vs the original(drama) queen?
The talented mommy vs the talented mummy?

Add possible MTO's, endless come on's, dramatic hair tying, and the fighting spirit of each, and this could be a classic.

51/49 match in which Serena should be the favorite. Serve is working well enough to force Andreescu to run, and Andreescu's slices will force Serena to move, what she doesn't like. If rain doesn't play a factor, Serena in 3.

If this is as good as it should be, it will feel like a Williams/Azarenka match, with grudging respect.

Sat Aug 10, 08:18:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Wouldn't you know, it happens while I'm en route to Cincinnati. I'll start watching it on the plane, but then I have to be interrupted by my layover landing and all that that entails (find the gate, find food, etc.). So I'll miss some of the drama, then I can resume watching at the Atlanta airport. I hate it when that happens.

And definitely "The current drama queen vs the original(drama) queen"!

Sat Aug 10, 09:47:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-
Haha - "The talented mommy vs the talented mummy?" Good one! :)

Favorite sign in the crowd: "[Sting like a Bee-anca!]"

D-
Well, the way things have been going all week you might end up seeing the 3rd set live. ;)

Sat Aug 10, 10:15:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Ha! I paid for really trashy Gogo wireless, and it didn't matter that it kept going out because--Serena went out.

Sun Aug 11, 09:40:00 PM EDT  

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