Wednesday, January 22, 2020

AO.3 - Holding Out for a Caro

Hold off on the bouquets and well wishes. Caroline Wozniacki is still alive and breathing in Melbourne. And somewhere Jana Fett is shaking her head all over again.





=DAY 3 NOTES=
...in windy conditions that put big hitters who couldn't adjust on high alert for upsets, the AO used Wednesday to get back on schedule as the eight remaining women's 1st Round matches were completed, while the top half of the draw went to work on the 2nd Round.



It didn't take long for the biggest seed to fall so far to go down, as #11 Aryna Sabalenka fell in straight sets to the *other* veteran playing her final Australian Open. Spain's Carla Suarez-Navarro, perpetually overlooked her entire career but who once upon a time burst onto the scene in Melbourne by reaching the 2009 QF in her tournament debut (after she'd reached the QF in Paris in her *slam* debut a season earlier), won't be walking away from the game until the end of the season, but she added another big name to her long list of slam upset victims with a 7-6(6)/7-6(6) victory that made the Belarusian the seventh and final seed to fall in the 1st Round. Sabalenka's 58 UE (vs. CSN's 36) were too much to overcome. *Still* seeking her slam breakthrough, she's now gone out in the 1st or 2nd Round at four straight majors, and in seven of her nine career slam appearances.

A week after reaching the semifinals in Hobart, Heather Watson also added Kristyna Pliskova's name to the list of big hitters to fall by the wayside on Day 3. The Brit defeated the Czech 4-6/6-3/6-1. If the other twin Pliskova, the #2 seeded Karolina, can defeat Laura Siegemund tomorrow she'll win the unofficial "Pliskova Slam Challenge" for the 27th time in the 38 career slams at which both have played (Kristyna has "won" six times, with the pair "tying" in the other five).

...in her first major appearance since her breakout Round of 16 run at last year's U.S. Open, Taylor Townsend won the all-Bannerette battle with Week 1 Auckland finalist Jessica Pegula 6-4/7-6(5). Townsend swept the AO girls singles and doubles titles in 2012.



...with #16 Elise Mertens' win over Danka Kovinic, the 1st Round was finally completed, allowing for at least a few honors to be handed out.

With a 3-0 1st Round mark (already improved to 4-0 on Day 3), things are looking up for the "Revelation Ladies" of Kazakhstan. #29 Elena Rybakina picked up her maiden slam MD win, while Zarina Diyas (def. #21 Anisimova) and Yulia Putintseva (def. Hsieh) also advanced with nice opening round victories. CSN's win today, combined with that of Sara Sorribes Tormo (over V.Kudermetova) means that the Spaniards were 4-0 (w/ previous wins from Muguruza and Badosa) in the 1st Round. Though the nations could easily swap honors, I'll give Spain the "Upset Queens" honor based simply on Sabalenka being the highest seed to fall to this point.

The "Nation of Poor Souls" is yet to be determined. Russia was 4-8 in the opening round, but had multiple wins by young players (and one Original Hordette: Svetlana Kuznetsova) and the losses weren't particular unexpected. So we'll see if anything pops out in the 2nd Round.

=1st Round Won/Lost by Nation=
11-11 = USA
4-0 = ESP
4-3 = AUS
4-2 = CHN
4-5 = CZE
4-8 = RUS
3-0 = KAZ
3-2 = FRA,GER
2-0 = CRO,NED
2-1 = JPN,SLO
2-2 = BEL,GBR,ROU
2-3 = UKR
1-0 = DEN,GRE,TUN
1-1 = EST,LAT,POL
1-2 = SUI
1-3 = ITA
0-1 = CAN,HUN,KOR,MNE,SRB,TPE
0-2 = BLR,SVK,SWE

...defending champ Naomi Osaka was one of the first to test out the afternoon's windy conditions, though even she admitted that since her match with Zheng Saisai was held within MCA she really didn't have reason to complain, considering things were surely worse on the outside courts. While it wasn't an easy go, the #3 seed figured things out, coming back from a break down in the 2nd set to win 6-2/6-4.



On Laver, Osaka's fellow 2019 finalist, #7 Petra Kvitova did her one better, coming back from a break down in *both* her sets (including 4-2, 40/15 in the 1st) against Paula Badosa to win 7-5/7-5.

Meanwhile, the first seed to fall in the 2nd Round was #13 Petra Martic, dropped 4-6/6-3/7-5 by Julia Goerges, who thus reaches the 3rd Round in Melbourne for the first time since 2015.



Matching or bettering her previous result in each major for the sixth consecutive slam, #14 Sofia Kenin downed qualifier Bannerette Ann Li, 6-1/6-3; while Caroline Garcia finally ended her ten-match streak of losing the opening set, taking the 1st vs. Ons Jabeur. Thing is, sometimes change *isn't* good. Jabeur stormed back to take the match, 1-6/6-2/6-3.

Jabuer's 3rd Round opponent will be this slam's unofficial version of Jason from the "Friday the 13th" movies, for Caroline Wozniacki is just not ready to go away just yet. Today, even being a double-break down in *two* -- count 'em, *two* -- sets couldn't prevent her from pulling off a straight sets win that might go down as her last "classic" march to victory.

When the draw came out, the Dane's 2nd Round match-up with #23 Dayana Yastremka seemed a likely exit point for her career as she heads off into retirement following this tournament. For a while, it looked like the expected might just happen, too. Wozniacki fell behind a double-break at 5-1 in the 1st set. Maybe she felt the breath of The End on her neck, or maybe Yastremska's lingering issues with nerves is still something the young Ukrainian (and her coach, Sascha Bajin, who formerly worked with Wozniacki) needs to work on before she can finally live up to her full potential.

Whatever the ultimate root cause was, the result was the Dane's controlled game holding firm while Yastemska's slipped enough to let her back into the set. Before you knew it, Wozniacki had won six straight games to steal the set like a thief in broad daylight while, perhaps, she reminisced about the *last* time she recovered from a 5-1 set deficit in a 2nd Round match in Melbourne. You remember, two years ago when she climbed out of a 5-1, 40/15 3rd set hole vs. Jana Fett to win the match... and then go on to forever burnish her career by winning the AO title.



Yastremska took a double-break lead in the 2nd set, as well. But Wozniacki climbed right back again, knotting the score at 4-4 and then holding to take a 5-4 lead. It was then that the teenager, as has been her pattern in the past in similar situations, took a "well-timed" MTO just before she served to stay in the match. It helped, for a bit. She saved three MP and held, but soon after had to serve to stay alive again down 5-6. Finally, on her 6th MP, Wozniacki prevailed 7-5/7-5 to advance to the 3rd Round for the 34th time in her 50 career appearances in majors.



Will this win prove to be the Dane's finally career calling card? Maybe. Or mabye not. Just ask Fett about that.




...not long after Wozniacki had successfully staved off the end of her career, 15-year old Coco Gauff was busy adding another early big stage chapter to her own. In a nip-and-tuck affair with veteran Sorana Cirstea, the pair split the first two sets, with a single break of serve in each being the difference. The Romanian quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead in the 3rd, only to see Gauff get back on serve two games later. Serving at 4-5, the Bannerette found herself two points from defeat. But that was when she upped her aggression, closing on the net behind her shots, and planted several good first serves to hold for 5-5. She then broke Cirstea a game later, and served out the win to improve her career mark in majors to 7-2.



Next up for Gauff will be Osaka, as the two meet for the first time since their celebrated U.S. Open match (and dual on-court interview) last summer.

...doubles action began on Day 3, and a high seed has already been sent packing as #4 Nicole Melichar & Xu Yifan, new '20 partners who won a title this past weekend in Adelaide, fell to the all-U.S. duo of Jennifer Brady & Caroline Dolehide. Meanwhile, the #7-seeded Chan sisters finally posted their first win of the new season after going 0-2 in the opening weeks.

...Night 3 will be made for Bannerettes. Well, and that Federling guy, as well as Flavia's husband Fabio.

#8 Serena Williams will meet Tamara Zidansek on Laver, while #10 Madison Keys faces off on MCA with Arantxa Rus. It'll be the second match up, so maybe an on-location edition of Keys' Flushing Meadows-based "Late Night with Madison" show could be in order? We'll see.




...NOTE ON DAY 3:

For all the attacks his on-court behavior brings on, does any player step up to defend fellow players -- male or female -- or speak up for doing what's "right" (as was the case with fire relief prior to the AO) as often or as sincerely as Nick Kyrgios? I mean, aside from Andy Murray, of course.




...EYE-ROLLS ON DAY 3:

How long has it been since Li Na won her first major? Answer: nine years. So, Tennis Channel's Ted Robinson really doesn't need to explain to the viewers during the Osaka/Zheng match that in "Chinese culture the family name is always spoken first," and then continue by sayng they call her "Saisai" because there are other players named Zheng on tour.

Of course, this is coming a day after ESPN's Pam Shriver's consistent mispronunciation of Amanda Anismova's name made it so sound like she was calling her "Anna Simova" that co-commentator Bethanie Mattek-Sands (who *surely* knows better) started called her "Anna" during their in-match discussions until, finally -- in seemingly mid-sentence at one point -- she realized what she was doing and then *stopped doing it.*

As always, Pammy's afflictions tend to be contagious.

Of course, this seems to have been "a thing" for a while, and not just on ESPN. See?.




Meanwhile, is there such a thing as Twitter tweet plagiarism? This is literally the *exact* same tweet by two different people ten days apart last year on this very subject...




...MORE EYE-ROLLS ON DAY 3:

Yeah, and however one feels about it, she's been doing it on big-time stages for about *seventeen* years now. Get over it. Or, you know, just don't watch and shut the hell up rather than whine and complain like an impeached president or something.




...LIKE ON DAY 3:





...UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS ON DAY 3 NIGHT 2:




...LIKE ON DAY 3:





This AO's game of "Six Degrees of Michael Hutchence" continues, swerving from Jordis Unga & David Bowie to... well, I *was* going to go one direction today, but ended up calling an audible and going another. As in following up on the mentions yesterday of "The Voice" (w/ Unga) and "American Idol" with a few performances that *I've* particularly enjoyed from the latter competition show over the years. Just because, well... just because I wanted to look them up, I guess.


[2003 - Clay Aiken, "Solitaire"]



[2004 - Fantasia Barrino, "Summertime"]



[2009 - Adam Lambert, "Mad World"]



[2015 - Jax, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" audition]



[2019 - Alejandro Aranda, “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word”]




















kosova-font

*AO "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS*
2004 Hungary
2005 Russia
2006 Spain
2007 Czech Republic
2008 Russia
2009 France
2010 Russia
2011 Russia
2012 Russia
2013 Russia
2014 Australia
2015 Germany
2016 Russia
2017 United States
2018 Ukraine
2019 United States
2020 Spain

*AO "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS*
2006 Italy
2007 Belarus
2008 Poland
2009 Kazakhstan
2010 Germany
2011 Czech Republic
2012 Germany
2013 United States
2014 Romania
2015 France
2016 China
2017 Australia
2018 Estonia
2019 Teens (6 in 2nd Rd.)
2020 Kazakhstan

*SERENA WILLIAMS at THE SLAMS - Rd.-by-Rd.*
73-1...1r ['12 RG: Razzano]
70-2...2r ['98 AO: Venus; '14 RG: Muguruza] * - to play
61-9...3r
52-8...4r [w/ '18 RG walkover to Sharapova]
38-14...QF
33-5...SF [Venus '00, Henin-H. '03, Clijsters '09, Vinci '15, Ka.Pliskova '16]
23-10..F [Venus '01, Sharapova '04, Venus '08, Stosur '11, Kerber '16, Muguruza '16, Kerber '18, Osaka '18, Halep '19, Andreescu '19]


kosova-font




kosova-font




Somehow, I bet the resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will come to the defense of the accused. Just a hunch.




TOP QUALIFIER: #31 Ann Li/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
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): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx
=============================
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: Nominee: RUS (4-8 in 1st Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: Dart, Hibino(L), Krejcikova(L), A.Li(L), McNally(L), Minnen(L)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: Hon, Ar.Rodionova (PR: Bellis)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: Barty(W), Hon, Ar.Rodinova, Tomljanovic
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT (??): xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominees: #11 Sabalenka (1r/CSN; 4th con. slam 1r/2r, and 7/9 career); #24 Stephens (1r/Zhang; 4th 1st Rd. exit in 9 slams since won '17 U.S.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominees: Sh.Zhang (1st Rd. - Stephens served for match in 2nd); Wozniacki (2nd Rd. - down double-break in 1st/2nd sets vs. Yastremska, wins in straights on MP #6)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Barty, Halep, Sh.Zhang
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx





All for Day 3. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 2:11 AM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Field should be scared. Rus had a good gameplan, but Keys was on cruise control. Felt like an old Serena match.

Yastremska probably would have won with an extra days rest. Wasn't really impressive even with the early lead.

Nation of Poor Souls would be Canada if you included the men since Shap and FAA are out, but it should be Belarus hands down. No Azarenka or Lapko,then Sasnovich and Sabalenka out 1st rd.

Sabalenka going out brings up a couple of things. One is that a loss to Suarez Navarro is a huge red flag, as Carla struggles with power players that can keep her pinned behind the baseline. The other is unfortunately we know why Sabalenka isn't prepared for the start of the season, which brings up the question-will she play Fed Cup?

Belarus has gone from a potential title winner, to going in vs the Netherlands with Sasnovich, Govortsova, Shymanovich, Marozava as their 4.

Tears For Fears version of Mad World is almost 40 years old.

Stat of the Day- 63- The amount of matches played by Dayana Yastremska since her last retirement.

It is no secret that Yastremska has had some of the more questionable timeouts in recent memory. At least she hasn't continued with her trend on questionable retirements, the last two which were down a set and 1-5 in 2019, after having done so in the 3rd set down 0-5 in 2018.

Assuming peer pressure will break the habit sooner than later.



Wed Jan 22, 10:41:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Andreescu's absence, and Bouchard's qualifying loss, would give CAN some ammunition, too. Dabrowski being left w/o her old partner (Xu, who's already out) could put *her* out in doubles, too. She's playing with Ostapenko, though, so hopefully not.

You might have something there with BLR. Now, if Sabalenka loses early in doubles, too, it'll be *easy*.

I like the Lambert (and, before his, that of Gary Jules, though Lambert's voice allows him to do so much *more* with it) version so much better than the original. Tears for Fears' was too upbeat, while the more haunting take fits the lyrics better, I think.

Also, I sort of flubbed the Pliskova thing because I got the whole 1st/2nd Round matches confused. So Karolina has *already* won the Twin Challenge for this AO.

Yeah, Yastremska's reputation precedes her now. Just ask Kiki Bertens, who's seen it all play out more than once. :\

Wed Jan 22, 02:43:00 PM EST  

Post a Comment

<< Home