Wednesday, January 29, 2020

AO.10 - The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Mugu

Garbine Muguruza climbs another mountain. An even larger one awaits.





=DAY 10 NOTES=
...with Ash Barty and Sofia Kenin waiting to meet each other on the other side in tomorrow's semifinals, two more women would win their way through the quarterfinals today.

First up was former AO finalist #4 Simona Halep and first time slam quarterfinalist #28 Anett Kontaveit. While such a deep run in a major is by now something close to "old hat" for the two-time slam winning Romanian, Kontaveit's act of becoming Estonia's second-ever slam quarterfinalist (after Kaia Kanepi) has made this Australian Open the 24-year old's long-awaited breakthrough run in a major. It comes after quite the opposite experience in her last slam, when she withdrew from her 3rd Round U.S. Open match with a viral illness, spent two weeks in a New York hospital and had surgery to remove an abscess. After a career history of *not* being able to follow up big wins in majors, Kontaveit's dominant win over #6 Belinda Bencic last week was finally backed up with her slugfest victory over Iga Swiatek one round ago, even if she *did* nearly a blow a 5-1 3rd set lead while doing it.

It's hard to know what Kontaveit was *planning* on doing in the biggest match of her career so far, but we *do* know that she ended up not really knowing what hit her.



The Estonian faced off on Wednesday with a preeminent version of Halep not that different from the one who produced her career-best performance in last year's Wimbledon final against Serena Williams. Halep altered her tactics from her Round of 16 match-up vs. Elise Mertens, when she played well behind the baseline and allowed the Belgian the room to fire winners that led to moments of frustration that were ultimately alleviated by the Waffle's inconsistency, which in turn opened doors for Halep that she willingly (and winningly) walked through to get here. But if Mertens had been a bit more on target, things could have been very different. Against Kontaveit, Halep didn't leave so much to chance, playing with aggression from the start and never relenting, driving balls deep and stepping inside the baseline to put pressure on the on-her-heels Estonian, effectively thwarting much of her power and running her from side to side along the baseline.

Halep was on top of Kontaveit's service games from the start, as well, taking love/30 (game 3), love/40 (game 5) and 15/40 (game 7) leads in the 1st set, breaking on all three occasions while taking control and outlasting the Estonian in the set's long rallies. Her service game was just as dominant, as she faced just one BP in the set, and that came only after she'd missed an open down-the-line forehand with one of her few loose errors on the day. No matter, she ended up holding for 5-1 with a game-ending ace. She took the set at 6-1 in 29 minutes.

The 2nd set went ever faster. Halep seized control in game #2 after taking a love/40 lead, breaking for 2-0 and extending her lead to 5-0 before Kontaveit managed to get on the board. Halep held for another 6-1 set (this time in only took :24 minutes) to reach her second career AO semifinal.



The stat sheet told much of the story of Halep's dominance. 78% of her first serves found the box, and she won 78% (25/32) of them. Only facing one BP all match, 48% of her serves went unreturned.

Now, Halep has unfinished business to attend to in Melbourne. Two years ago, she was the "performer of the tournament," winning a series of epic marathon matches while injured and exhausted before yet another three-setter in the final vs. Caroline Wozniacki proved to be too much to overcome. She's conserved her energy this time around, having won all ten sets she's played (averaging 2.4 games allowed in the last nine, after a TB opening set of the 1st Round), and is coming off one of the best matches she's ever played on a grand slam stage.

We'll soon see if her perfect Romanian storm allows her to write a different ending to her latest Australian Open story.

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Semifinal Simona ✨ #AO2020 | #AusOpen

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...in the day's other quarterfinal match, Garbine Mugurza was made to face her past, present and future all in one tidy encounter with #30-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Spaniard has won a pair of slam crowns in her career, one with coach Sam Sumyk by her side in Paris in 2016, and another a year later in London with Conchita Martinez filling in for the temporarily absent Sumyk. Ever since then, Muguruza has often looked adrift on the court, sometimes never more so than when Sumyk would arrive on the scene for on-court coaching sessions that usually devolved into arguments that only made the care-free smile and confidence she'd displayed at Wimbledon with Martinez in her corner seem further and further away from her troubled ongoing reality.

Finally, after putting herself through the situation for far too long (while other players cut ties with coaches after great seasons, Mugu seemed to keep Sumyk in the fold hoping for a miracle to happen, or maybe for some sort of time machine to take them back when their relationship didn't seem as torturous as it'd become), the Spaniard cut ties with Sumyk after a 1st Round exit at last year's Wimbledon. After the season ended, she received an unexpected career gift when Karolina Pliskova (after finishing with her best year-ending rank ever at #2) parted ways with Martinez. Muguruza grabbed up the Spanish Fed Cup captain (just elected to the Tennis Hall of Fame this week -- so when I called her a "Hall of Famer" during Garbi's '17 Wimbledon run I wasn't wrong, I was just ahead of the times... yeah, that's it), and everyone who'd watched her circle the drain the last two years smiled a little inside, then hoped for the best.



After an offseason that saw her climb Mount Kilimanjaro (entertainingly chronicled on her Instagram last fall), a newly clear-headed Muguruza has made a practice in 2020 of resembling the cool, confident and domineering player between the lines who *looked* as if she might be the game's *total* package a handful of years ago. A viral illness just prior to the start of this tournament nearly took her out, as she barely made it through her 1st Round match in Melbourne (a love set lost, and a doctor/trainer visit that looked like it may lead to a retirement), but she found her way through it. She's been building on that success ever since. Unseeded at a major for the first time since 2014, she came into today's QF match having dominated back-to-back Top 10 opponents (#5 Elina Svitolina and #9 Kiki Bertens), only to see Pavlyuchenkova -- Sumyk's new charge -- waiting for her there.

The Hordette has been around since the mid-2000's, when she was the world's top junior and a three-time girls slam champion who was thought to be about to have a major presence on the WTA tour. But her pro career has been stunted by frustrating inconsistency, often due to questionable fitness. The AO has been her best slam, though. She won two of her junior majors in Melbourne, completed her Career QF slam there in 2017, and this final eight appearance is her third Down Under in the last four years. Looking fitter than she has in years, or maybe as fit as she's ever been has as a pro, Pavlyuchenkova arrived in fine form for this match-up, having upset Pliskova (she'd been 0-6 vs. the Czech) and outlasted Angelique Kerber in three sets, firing off 70 winners vs. the German.

There was a seemingly legitimate question heading into the match about whether the presence of Sumyk might send Muguruza off course, or whether it might actually prove to give her the opportunity to fully put her past behind her and embrace the "new" Mugu and whatever that may mean for her tennis future. Over the course of the 1st set, we got out answer.

While the Spaniard wasn't in *top* form, she hung in during tight situations that may have turned dark over the past two years. Every time she was knocked back a step, her response was to step forward. She dropped serve at love to fall behind 2-1. But slow starts on serve at this tournament aren't new for her, as it's something she'd done early in multiple sets at this AO only to shrug it off and come back strong. She did it again here, winning a volley duel at the net wtih Pavlyuchenkova to break back a game later. After double-faulting to face a BP in game #5, Muguruza held serve. When the Russian took a break lead at 4-3, the Spaniard responded again with an immediate break back with a backhand winner down the line on a second serve return.

Deep in the set, at 30/30 on Pavlyuchenkova's serve, it seemed as if Muguruza stepped back again. The Russian raced to reach a net cord ball, and when she got it back over the net Muguruza hadn't prepared for a response. She couldn't retrieve the short ball, and rather than have a BP chance she saw Pavlyuchenkova hold for 5-5.



Again, Muguruza took another step forward, holding at love to take a 6-5 lead, then reaping the benefits of the Russian's DF-strewn game (three in game #12) to get the set-winning break of serve when Pavlyuchenkova fired a forehand long to close things out at 7-5..



Muguruza dropped serve to open the 2nd set, as well. But she got the break back in game #2 with an assist from another Pavlychenkova DF that had given her a BP chance. The Spaniard then surged ahead with a break to lead 4-2, which she followed up with a quick hold of serve. Serving for her first major hard court semifinal berth at 5-3, Muguruza finished up with a no-drama game. After taking a 40/love lead, she put away the 7-5/6-3 win with a pretty volley on her second MP.

She'll next face Halep in the semis, with the winner getting the chance in the final to pick up a third major title that would bring her within one more (the U.S. Open for both) of completing a Career Slam. Needless to say, it could be the opportunity of a tennis lifetime.

...meanwhile, the women's doubles final was set today. Top-seeded Hsieh Su-wei & Barbora Strycova (the Czech is really making this retirement thing seem premature, isn't she?) defeated #4 Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, while #2 seeds Timea Babos & Kristina Mladenvoic defeated #7 Hao-ching & Latisha Chan in the other semi.

This is Babos & Mladenovic's third straight AO final, having won in '18 (over Makarova/Vesnina, alas) and lost last year's final to Sam Stosur & Zhang Shuai.

...the wheelchair competition got underway on Day 10 on Courts 7 and 8. It turned out to be an historic day.

South African KG Montjane defeated German veteran Sabine Ellerbrock 6-0/6-1, ending the career of the retiring two-time slam singles champion, and '14 AO winner. At the same time, best friend Yui Kamiji (#2 seed) and Jordanne Whiley met in singles for the third time in three weeks, with Kamiji winning for the third time in '20, 6-2/7-6(5). Marjolein Buis, forced to retire after this season due to a change in the eligibility rules, wrapped up her AO singles career with a loss to countrywoman Aniek Van Koot.

Oh, yeah. And China's Zhu Zhenzhen upset world #1 Diede de Groot.



I noted during the spring and summer of last season how Zhu had caught fire and was ripping through tournament draws for weeks on end, winning 39 straight at one point. But the 30-year old had never played a match at the slam level until today, when she became the first Chinese wheelchair player to *ever* do so. Talk about a great debut.

This was probably the best wheelchair match I've *ever* seen, as world #6's Zhu's hard groundstrokes were on top of de Groot from the start. De Groot showed a lot of fight throughout, but there seemed to be something missing from her game.

Still, it's hard to determine how much of what happened was because Zhu played great (which she did) and much was because this was the very first match the world #1 has played since she ended the season at the Wheelchair Masters nearly two months ago. After all, de Groot defeated Zhu 2 & 2 en route to that title, and had won three straight in their series (though one was in a 7-5 3rd set in the World Team Cup in '18) since Zhu had won the first three vs. a very young de Groot in 2016-17. While de Groot played no pre-AO events, Zhu played four matches (losing to Momoko Ohtani and Kamiji) in the season's opening events in Australia. De Groot certainly seemed rusty, as she had 18 DF and many unforced errors that often left her visibly frustrated. Also something that *might* be thrown into this stew, of course, is that de Groot's mentor, all-time great Esther Vergeer, recently went public with her battle with breast cancer.

Still, no matter the reasons it played out as it did, the drama was fascinating. Zhu took it to de Groot like maybe no one has since she truly became "Diede the Great." She put forth an astonishing fight even while she wasn't playing her best, though, and she very nearly pulled the thing out after climbing from a double-break deficit in the 3rd.

In the 1st, Zhu jumped out to a 3-1 lead, and had a BP for 4-1. But de Groot held on, then got a break to tie things at 5-5. They exchanged two more breaks and went to a tie-break, won by de Groot 7-3 on a Zhu DF. But Zhu kept up the pressure, breaking to lead 2-0 in the 2nd. She had a GP for 3-0, but de Groot broke on her third BP chance, only to see Zhu break back a game later. She won the set 6-3 and things went to a 3rd.

Again, Zhu opened with a break of serve. In game #2, de Groot had four BP chances to get back on serve, but after firing a long backhand to fall behind 2-0 she threw down her racket and yelled something (in Dutch, I think, so maybe she cursed) in disgust. She still managed to get things back on serve two games later, breaking at love, only to again see Zhu surge back to take a 15/40 lead in game #5 and get the break back. Zhu went up a double-break at 5-2, and de Groot's back was firmly against the wall. And not just because she was having to furiously wheel around about as far back in the court as she get to some of Zhu's balls, either.

Over the final games, things got crazy. Zhu served for the match at 5-2 and 5-4. De Groot got one break back, then had to save two MP on serve before holding, barely. Serving at 5-4, Zhu had couldn't convert on four *more* MP and de Groot got the break to pull back to level in the set. She seemed to have taken away the momentum, and one expected she'd pull away. But she didn't. Instead, a DF put de Groot down 15/30. She had three GP chances to take the lead in a long, seesaw game, but saw Zhu get the break to serve for the match again at 6-5. She took a 40/love lead on the back of a string of de Groot errors, only to see the seven-time slam champ save MP's #7 and #8 before a netted backhand return on MP #9 finally ended the 6-7(3)/6-3/7-5 match.

De Groot, the 2018-19 AO winner, had won five of the last six singles slams, and was one set from completing a singles Grand Slam last season (when she *did* win a Doubles Grand Slam). She'd appeared in the last twenty slam singles/doubles finals. In her twelve previous career slam appearances, de Groot had only failed to reach the final in the first two of her career, at the AO and Roland Garros in 2017.

Suddenly, the door swings wide open for someone. Kamiji is clearly the favorite now, but the always underappreciated Van Koot (teamed with de Groot in doubles) now finds herself in position to possibly sweep the s/d at a second major in the last three, having done so at Wimbledon last summer when she upset de Groot in the singles final.




...NEWS FROM DAY 9:



Naturally, Tennis Australia wasn't happy, releasing a statement that read: "We embrace diversity, inclusion and the right for people to have a view, as well as their right to voice that view. But the Australian Open has regulations and protocols with respect to how any fan, player or guest can use our facility, the event and the global stage it provides. This is to ensure the integrity of our event. Two high-profile guests have breached these protocols and we are working through this with them."

Although, one can make a case that when you have a building named after an individual who does *not* embrace similar diversity, *they* are the ones "breaching protocol." And, thus, is Tennis Australia's problem in this whole thing. Cutting the EuroSport feed, too, works against TA's entire argument, as well. The only message that can be interpreted from the decision is that TA's official stand is that Court can express any derogatory, anti-inclusive statement she wishes (as long as she doesn't hold a rally on their property) without repercussions from the organization *and* still have her accomplishments officially commemorated on the grounds, while anyone who publicly opposes such actions within the very same space must be reprimanded and their views stifled.

Not a good look.


...GOODBYE ON DAY 10:

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Dear friends! I have important news for you today. I made a difficult decision to end my professional career in tennis. Today I want to thank everyone who has been with me shoulder to shoulder all these years. Who took part in my sports career, starting from my childhood and ending with it. I was lucky enough to work with the best team of professionals. My favorite coaches, sparring, massage therapists, and osteopaths. My team has always been my mainstay and support. I would like to thank my lovely family and friends who have always been there for me. I always feel your love and support. My family is my source of energy and inspiration. My dear, faithful fans! You have always supported me anywhere in the world. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Your faith in me, gave me strength and helped me move forward to victories! I am very happy and proud of my sports career. It's time to move on and start a new stage in my life. Your Kate? ??????? ??????! ??????? ? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ???????. ? ??????? ????????? ??????? ? ?????????? ???????????????? ??????? ? ???????. ??????? ? ???? ????????????? ???????, ??? ??? ?? ???? ????? ? ????? ??? ??? ????. ??? ???????? ??????? ? ???? ?????????? ???????, ??????? ? ?????? ??????? ? ?? ?? ??????????. ??? ??????????????? ???????? ? ?????? ???????? ??????????????. ??? ??????? ???????, ?????????, ??????????, ?????????. ??? ??????? ?????? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ? ??????????. ????? ??????? ????????????? ? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????, ??? ???????, ??? ?????? ???? ?????. ? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ? ?????????. ??? ????? - ??? ???????? ??????? ? ???????????. ??????? ???, ????????? ??????! ?? ?????? ???? ???????????? ? ????? ????? ??????? ????. ????????? ??? ?? ???? ????! ???? ???? ? ???? ????????? ??? ??? ? ???????? ????????? ??????, ? ???????! ? ????? ???????? ? ??????? ????? ?????????? ????????. ????????? ????? ????????? ?????? ? ???????? ????? ???? ? ????? ?????. ???? ??????

A post shared by Ekaterina Makarova | ???????? (@katemakarova1) on



Thus, Makarova and Elena Vesnina, 0-2 in Australian Open WD finals, will remain one AO title short of becoming the only doubles duo in tennis history to win all four majors, their tour's season-ending championship and Olympic Gold. Which duos potentially will have kept the Russians out of the Hall of Fame? Well, Errani/Vinci won the '14 AO final in a 7-5 3rd set, while Babos/Mladenovic won in straights in '18.


...LIKE ON DAY 10:




..."IN RINALDI WE TRUST: Season 4" FIRST EPISODE CAST ON DAY 10:




...WELL, YES ON DAY 10:

Seems a simple thing but, no matter how long it took, at least it's actually happening. Play extending until it's taking place under the (new) lights in Paris is going to add to a whole new (and cool) aspect to Roland Garros.






Hmmm, if it turns out that Mugu *does* come all the way back at this Australian Open, is it too early to put in a request for her to do a Julie Andrews-inspired "The Sound of Music" spin (I won't way "twirl," because we remember how *that* went at this tournament a few years ago) in the middle of Laver court, with the fan-filled stands serving as a stand-in for the Swiss Alps/Mount Kilimanjaro?


Askin' for a friend.




=SINGLES SF=
#1 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #14 Sofia Kenin/USA
#4 Simona Halep/ROU vs. Garbine Muguruza/ESP

=DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Hsieh/Strycova (TPE/CZE) vs. #2 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)

=MIXED DOUBLES QF=
Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR) def. Sai.Zheng/Vliegen (CHN/BEL)
Swiatek/Kubot (POL/POL) vs. (WC) Sharma/JP.Smith (AUS/AUS)
#6 L.Chan/Dodig (TPE/CRO) vs. #3 Dabrowski/Kontinen (CAN/FIN)
#5 Krejcikova/Mektic (CZE/CRO) vs. N.Kichenok/Bopanna (UKR/IND)

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES SF=
Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN vs. Aniek Van Koot/NED
KG Montjane/RSA vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SF=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Buis/Zhu (NED/CHN)
Kamiji/Whiley (JPN/GBR) vs. #2 Ellerbrock/Montjane (GER/RSA)

=GIRLS SINGLES QF=
Alexandra Vecic/GER vs. #12 Ane Mintegi del Olmo/ESP
#16 Wong Hong-yi Cody/HKG vs. Weronika Baszek/POL
#8 Polina Kudermetova/RUS vs. #13 Bai Zhuoxuan/CHN
#9 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND vs. #2 Robin Montgomery/USA

=GIRLS DOUBLES SF=
#1 Bartone/L.Fruhvirtova (LAT/CZE) vs. #4 Eala/Nugroho (PHI/INA)
Broadus/Colemnan (USA/USA) vs. Falkner/Mutavdzic (SLO/GBR)

=LEGENDS DOUBLES FINAL=
x/x vs. x/x






















kosova-font

*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMEN IN AO SF, since 2010*
Unseeded - 2010 Zheng Jie, CHN
Unseeded - 2015 Madison Keys, USA
Unseeded - 2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
Unseeded - 2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO
Unseeded - 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
Unseeded - 2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
Unseeded - 2019 Danielle Collins, USA
Unseeded - 2020 Garbine Muguruza, ESP
Wild Card - 2010 Justine Henin, BEL (RU)
#30 - 2014 Genie Bouchard, CAN
#29 - 2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
#21 - 2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
#20 - 2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (RU)
#16 - 2010 Li Na, CHN
#14 - 2020 Sofia Kenin, USA
#13 - 2017 Venus Williams, USA
#11 - 2012 Kim Clijsters, BEL
#10 - 2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS

*WTA "CAREER SF SLAM" - active*
[with slam at which completed]
Victoria Azarenka - 2013 RG (30th)
Kim Clijsters - 2003 US (18th)
Simona Halep - 2018 AO (31st)
Maria Sharapova - 2007 RG (18th)
Serena Williams - 2003 AO (18th)
Venus Williams - 2001 AO (15th)
Vera Zvonareva - 2010 US (31st)

*AO "LADY OF THE EVENING" WINNERS*
2011 Andrea Petkovic, GER
2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (W)
2013 Laura Robson, GBR
2014 Li Na, CHN (W)
2015 Genie Bouchard, CAN
2016 "The Dasha Show" (Gavrilova)
2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
2019 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (3:12am)
2020 Garbine Muguruza, ESP

*AO "MIDDLE-ROUND TOP PLAYER" WINNERS - w/ slam result*
2007 Serena Williams, USA [W]
2008 Maria Sharapova, RUS [W]
2009 Elena Dementieva, RUS [SF]
2010 Serena Williams, USA [W]
2011 Li Na, CHN [RU]
2012 Maria Sharapova, RUS [RU]
2013 Maria Sharapova, RUS [SF]
2014 Li Na, CHN [W]
2015 Maria Sharapova, RUS [RU]
2016 Serena Williams, USA [RU]
2017 Serena Williams, USA [W]
2018 Madison Keys, USA [QF]
2019 Petra Kvitova, USA [RU]
2020 Garbine Muguruza, ESP


kosova-font




kosova-font







TOP QUALIFIER: #31 Ann Li/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Serena Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Garbine Muguruza/ESP
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - #5 Anna Kalinskaya/RUS def. Wang Xiyu/CHN 4-6/7-6(2)/6-2 (down 6-4/5-3, MP at 5-4)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki/DEN def. #23 Dayana Yastremka/UKR 7-5/7-5 (double-break down in both sets, 5-1 in 1st; staves off retirement)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - #27 Wang Qiang/CHN def. #8 Serena Williams/USA 6-4/6-7(2)/7-5 (first first week HC slam loss since '06)
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./WC/Doub.): Nominee: WC QF - Zhu def. #1 de Groot 6-7(3)/6-3/7-5 (on 10th MP; first match by CHN in WC slam history)
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Paula Badosa/ESP (def. Larsson/SWE)
FIRST SEED OUT: #32 Barbora Strycova/CZE (1st Rd. - lost to Cirstea/ROU)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Paula Badosa/ESP, Barbora Krejcikova/CZE, Ann Li/USA, Greet Minnen/BEL, Elena Rybakina/KAZ
UPSET QUEENS: Spain
REVELATION LADIES: Kazakhstan
NATION OF POOR SOULS: BLR (0-2 1st Rd., #11 Sabalanka highest seed out, Azarenka absent)
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Harriet Dart/GBR, Nao Hibino/JPN, Barbora Krejcikova/CZE, Ann Li/USA, Caty McNally/USA, Greet Minnen/BEL (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARDS STANDING: Patricia Hon/AUS and Arina Rodionova/AUS (both 2nd Rd.) [PR: CiCi Bellis/USA - 3rd Rd.]
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Ash Barty (in SF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Sofia Kenin/USA Nominee: Zhu Zhenzhen (WC)
IT (Arab): Ons Jabeur, TUN (first Arab in slam QF)
COMEBACK PLAYER: CiCi Bellis/USA
CRASH & BURN: #8 Serena Williams/USA (3r/Q.Wang - out of first week of HC slam for first time since 2006)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Coco Gauff (2nd Rd. - down 3-0 in 3rd vs. Cirstea/ROU)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: Hsieh/Strycova, Halep, Mattek-Sands
LADY OF THE EVENING: Garbine Muguruza/ESP (announced return to form w/ dominating 3rd Rd. win over #5 Svitolina)
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: Aces for Bushfire Relief program
DOUBLES STAR: Nominee: Babos/Mladenovic, MX-WC-Jr. duos
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx





All for Day 10. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 3:45 AM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Thiem takes out Nadal. Thiem or Zverev will play Djokovic. Yes, I know what I just did.

Time for a look at the Final Four, so here we go.

3 former #'1's plus Kenin.

3 former French Open winners plus Kenin.

3 women that have won in Australia plus Ke.. sorry, Halep as Muguruza(Hobart 2014), Kenin(Hobart 2019), and Barty(Adelaide 2020) fit the criteria.

Rankings- Barty will be 1 no matter what happens.

Halep will be 2.

Kenin would be 8 with title.

Muguruza would be 12 with title.

Barty would be first Aussie to win AO since Chris O'Neil in 1978. First at any slam since her own French Open win last year.

Kenin would be first American to win AO since Serena Williams in 2017. First at any slam since Sloane Stephens- US Open 2017.

Halep would be first Romanian to win AO. First to reach final since herself- 2018. First to win slam since herself- 2019 Wimbledon.

Muguruza would be first Spaniard to win AO. First to reach final since Sanchez Vicario in 1995. First to win slam since herself- 2017 Wimbledon.

H2H
4-1 Barty leads Kenin/2-1 Hard.
4-2 Muguruza leads Halep/4-0 Hard.
3-1 Halep leads Barty/2-1 Hard.
1-1 Muguruza ties Barty/1-0 Hard Muguruza.
1-0 Kenin leads Muguruza/1-0 Hard.
1-0 Halep leads Kenin/1-0 Hard.

Top 10 wins last 3 years
18- Barty
17- Halep- 9 Hard
15- Muguruza- 12 Hard
7 - Kenin- 5 Hard.

This has never happened before, but Barty managed to win a slam on clay, yet has no Top 10 wins on clay in that span.

Muguruza only had 3 Top 10 wins last year, but has 2 in Bertens, and Svitolina in this tournament.

Hard- Last 3 Years
103-52 Kenin*
99-30 Barty
77-33 Halep
76-43 Muguruza

71-38 Kenin WTA only.

There are two distinct tracks here. Barty/Kenin is the de facto final on paper as the hardcourt queens. On the other hand, both Halep and Muguruza have turned around some troubling numbers as Halep ended her season on hard going 7-7, while Muguruza ended 1-7.

Stat of the Day- 8- Slam finals reached by Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1994-96.

During Seles' absence, Graf took advantage. The other player that did so was Sanchez Vicario, the player Graf did much of her damage against. In fact, ASV only played 2 different women in that stretch, going 1-5 vs Graf, and 1-1 vs Mary Pierce.

Wed Jan 29, 09:41:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

In a sense, we're getting an early preview of women's majors in the post-Serena era. Maybe not necessarily with all these four players, but with a group of players (3 of 4 in this case) with a chance to begin to add to (and begin to stack up) their major title totals since one player isn't winning the majority of them. Either Halep or Muguruza will be going for a third (different) slam, and Barty has a shot at being a multi-winner young enough to get many more. Though she's on the back third of her career at this point, Kerber has three. Osaka already has two, and we'll see what Andreescu does when she gets her chance later this year.

Numbers back up a lot, and having multiple generational players (older end, younger end... and then the GenPDQ group) adding slam titles to their resume every year makes it a lot easier to argue the depth, quality and competitiveness of the group as a whole than it has been with Williams in a dominant role. As great as Serena's career has been, it also prevented a huge group of players from gathering such ammunition since they couldn't help but appear hopelessly "lesser" in comparison.

It should prove to be a fascinating horse race over the span of 5-10 years. You could have at least half a dozen players having won 5+ major titles at some point. Since Serena won her first in '99, only three woman (Venus, Henin and Sharapova) other than Williams have done that, and none but Sharapova in the last 16 years.

Sorry, just thinking how great -- and fluid -- the running lists of "active career slam titles" might look. ;)

You know, I think after she won Wimbledon, Halep just almost punted the rest of the season she was so satisfied with what she'd done in London. That's why I never really thought her back-half of '19 really meant much. It was almost like Serena has traditinally been between slams: everything else was "glorified practice sessions" and meeting appearance requirements. Plus, she knew Cahill was coming back, so she was already thinking about '20, Tokyo, etc.

Also, if you really wanted to overturn the lists, Muguruza could be the first South American-born AO champ ever (from what I can tell), and the first finalist since Bueno in 1965. ;)

Wed Jan 29, 02:54:00 PM EST  

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