Sunday, January 26, 2020

AO.7 - Call Her Kenin

On Australia Day weekend, a young U.S. star has smashed through a career barrier in Melbourne! No, not *that* Bannerette, *this* one...





=DAY 7 NOTES=
...with Australia Day celebrations in full swing (and jets -- dangerously??? -- crisscrossing the skies above Melbourne), #7 Petra Kvitova opened *actual* play (there was an exhibition doubles outing, featuring the McEnroes, up first) on Laver on Sunday against #22 Maria Sakkari and the usual Greek-Australian contingent that always show for the players with similar heritage at this event.

Kvitova lost twice to Sakkari and her famous bun in '19, and was made to work -- especially in the 1st set -- today, but the Greek would ultimately not get any satisfaction by the end of the match as the Czech seized more and more control with each passing moment of the contest.

Sakkari had opened the match with a break of serve. Kvitova gradually found her footing as the set progressed, but since Sakkari's level of play didn't falter she managed to keep ahead on the scoreboard. Well, until she served at 5-4. Two long unforced errors put her down 15/40, and Kvitova's return winner knotted the set. Sakkari got the break back and served again for the 1st at 6-5, but Kvitova's wickedly-angled crosscourt backhand winner put her up 15/40 again. After the Czech stepped away for a moment after what appeared to be a wartime dogfight took place above the stadium, she ripped a return off the baseline to break and force a tie-break. Sakkari, having likely not anticipated that she could play any better than she had in the 1st, *still* found herself dangling over the proverbial edge with the possibility of *losing* it.

Kvitova held an early 2-0 lead, but a DF at 4-4 gave Sakkari, serving two, a third chance to serve out the set. A long Kvitova return was followed by a big Sakkari service winner, and the Greek won the breaker 7-4.

Six of the nine games in the 2nd set were breaks of serve, but Kvitova's hold from love/40 down for 2-2 proved to be the moment that prevented Sakkari from grabbing a lead, picking up steam, and making the crowd an even bigger factor from which she could feed. A Kvitova break for a 4-3 lead, then an easy hold, brought the set win within reach. Winning a 16-shot rally gave her two BP/SP on Sakkari's serve a game later, and the Greek's DF on the second gave the Czech a 6-3 set. In the 3rd, Kvitova broke for 2-0, and never really looked back, overpowering Sakkari down the stretch. Up 5-2, she took a love/40 lead on Sakkari's serve, and closed out the match with a break to win 6-7(4)/6-3/6-2.



While Kvitova heads to her twelfth career slam quarterfinal, and fourth at the Australian Open (two in a row), Sakkari at least will leave Australia having erased that 0-7 record in the 3rd Round of majors (becoming the first Greek woman since '05 to reach the second week of a slam), and will appear it the Top 20 rankings for the first time at the end of the tournament.

...in the second women's Round of 16 match to start on Sunday, #14 Sofia Kenin and Coco Gauff faced off on Melbourne Arena in something of a Bannerette tennis version of The Hunger Games featuring the highest-ranked member of the new contingent of U.S. stars vs. the 15-year old phenom that everyone greedily wants a piece of before she gets "too expensive." Time may indeed be on their side, but in this first meeting of their young careers, as well as the first deep-in-a-slam all-U.S. Gen PDQ face-off ever, only one would survive to reach her first career major quarterfinal.

Kenin started things off with a break of serve, and held the advantage until mid-way through the 1st, setting the stage for Gauff to utilize a full variety of shots (from big serves to volleys and drop shots) while climbing back into the set against her opponent's scrambling defense and consistent groundstrokes. The teenager finally got the break to get back on serve at 4-4. In game #9, Kenin grabbed a love/30 lead on Gauff's serve, reaching BP with a drop shot off the net cord. Her wide forehand let the chance slip, but Gauff's DF gave her a second opportunity. The 15-year old saved it with an impressive volley, and held for 5-4. Kenin fought off a SP three games later to force a TB. There, Gauff grabbed the early lead, moving forward to put away another volley for a 4-2 edge. Kenin's second DF of the TB put her behind 5-2, then Gauff's big first serve and forehand winner combo gave her quadruple SP. Kenin saved three, but a wide backhand allowed the teenager to take the 1st set with a 7-5 win.



But rather than pave the way for another big slam stage win for Gauff, the set and Kenin's reaction to it served to show that the 21-year old, nearing the Top 10, is still *currently* a step ahead of the 15-year old on the career success learning curve. Kenin wasn't going to just fade away, as her past performances in big matches (whether she won them or not) had already proved she had the stamina to dig in and close out a match (she defeated Serena in Paris last spring, after all). Instead, she put the pressure on Gauff again, and this time *kept* it on. At the same time, Gauff seemed to tire as the match wore on, and couldn't maintain her high 1st set level of play, throwing in more ill-timed DF and errors without them being accompanied by course-correcting aggressive play and winners to make up the difference.

Game #4 of the 2nd set saw her DF three times and be broken for a 3-1 Kenin lead. She did rise up in game #8, saving a SP and holding serve, but Kenin simply served out the set at 6-3. In the 3rd, Kenin took full control. She went up love/40 in the opening game, and lobbed over the teenager to break for a 1-0 lead. A forehand down the line winner secured a 2-0 edge, precipitating a celebratory double fist-pump. Gauff saved two BP in game #3, but Kenin still managed to work her into an error to go up a double-break. Calming staving off two BP, Kenin held for 4-0, then saw a net cord winner give her a triple-break lead at 5-0.



Alas (and I believe I called this two days ago), as it was all playing out, right on cue, the very-easy-to-read ESPN broadcasting crew was more than a bit muted in their response to what was happening (the AO feed commentary was more in line with how it *should* have been handled). They were clearly more sorry for Gauff than happy for Kenin, who was also on the precipice of a huge career achievement. She held to close out a love 3rd set, but the finish wasn't punctuated by an exhilarating play-by-play call, at least not the sort that surely would have occurred had it been Gauff walking in Kenin's footsteps (this one won't likely be played endlessly on SportsCenter for the next 36 hours). Afterward, there was very little lingering with the on-court post-match (so, no live interview showed), either, as the scene was soon shifted to the Novak Djokvoic match, as Kenin's win was largely greeted by (not an impolite and audible sigh...) but an internalized groan akin to learning that the famous lead actor in tonight's still-fabulous play was unfortunately under the weather and was going to be replaced by a very capable, but not nearly as exciting, understudy.

They *tried* to sneak their disappointment past everyone, but not a single one of them -- well, except for Darren Cahill, who's generally excluded from such shenanigans -- is clever enough to successfully pull off such a caper. Ah, after all these years, you'd think that maybe ESPN would learn from past mistakes. But... no. Not that anyone should be surprised.




...at the same time on MCA, in a match that ESPN did its level best to act as if didn't exist in our current timeline, we found out that, well, you can't always get what you Wang. At least if you're name is Qiang and you're from China.



The #27-seeded Wang, conqueror of Serena Williams, faced off with unseeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur, ender of Caroline Wozniacki's career and the first Arab woman to reach a slam singles Round of 16. After racing to a 4-1 lead, though, the Chinese woman soon began to experience what would seem to be about nineteen nervous breakdowns (figuratively, at least) over what was left of the match. Jabeur's break to get back on serve at 4-3 set the stage for trouble, and when Wang failed to convert a SP at 5-4 on the Tunisian's serve, little did she know that her possible second straight slam QF berth had likely already slipped out of her grasp.

Jabeur held for 5-5, then went on to take a 7-4 tie-break to lock away the 1st set. She took off in the 2nd, as well, gaining steam as she quickly grabbed a break lead and hit her way to a 5-0 lead, eventually winning 7-6(4)/6-1 while firing 29 winners (to 11 for Wang) on the day to glide in her first career slam Final 8. While she may have had mixed emotions about her earlier win over the Dane, Jabeur was easy-going enough after this one to make some jokes about her sister in the post-match interview.



She'll climb into the Top 50 for the first time after this match, and will face off with Kenin for the right for one of them to become the latest first-time slam semifinalist christened in Melbourne. There's been one at the AO every year since 2013, and this year will be no different.

...in juniors, a few top seeds were told by unseeded foes to get off their clouds. #5 seeded Czech Linda Fruhvirtova fell to Indonesia's Weronika Baszak, while #7-seeded Hordette Oksana Selekhmetova was upended by Germany's Angelina Wirges.

Meanwhile, Alona Ostapenko won *twice*, in doubles (w/ Gaby Dabrowski) and mixed (w/ Leander Paes).

...in the night session, #1 seeded Ash Barty finally makes her return to the under-the-lights tennis on this Aussie holiday weekend, as she'll try to start things up against #18 Alison Riske, the same Bannerette who knocked her off in the Round of 16 at last year's Wimbledon to live out her Last Eight dream at the AELTC. Will the Australian now return the favor to extend a dream of her own?




...DISLIKE ON DAY 7:

If this one turns out like I suspect I did, then the "winner" is total BS. IMHO. ;)



The checkerboard was "a thing." Nadal is more known for his early career long shorts capri pants, sleeveless shirts and biting trophies than his rather ordinary-looking headband, anyway. It's hardly "iconic."


...REALIZED ON DAY 7:

On ESPN, there was (at least it seems) an increasingly rare on-air commentating combination of Pam Shriver & Mary Joe Fernandez during the Kvitova/Sakkari match. While I didn't notice anything particularly horrible in their on-air banter, I *do* remember them nearly always bringing out the worst in each other when doing matches back in the day. When I was (especially) monitoring ESPN's coverage of Jelena Dokic matches at the time, I came to refer to them as "Heckle and Jeckle."


One thing they talked about that *did* catch my ear, but not in a bad way, was when they noted the Swedish fans in the 1980's (when the event was held at Kooyong) painting their faces in the heyday of all the big-time ATP players of the time. That'd be, following in the footsteps of Bjorn Borg, the likes of Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Andres Jarryd, Mikael Perfors, Jonas Bjorkman, Thomas Enqvist, Thomas Johansson, Magnus Norman, etc. Robin Soderling came in a while later, but he hasn't played in years. Anytime those guys get mentioned I always openly wonder what the heck happened to Swedish men's tennis? That generation was *so* good and deep, but little has come in their wake. The only one I can think of now isn't even a singles player (Robert Lindstedt, the one who was plunked on the head by Ostapenko's serve at last year's Wimbledon).


...AS SUSPECTED ON DAY 7:

After the S.Williams/Wozniacki match didn't come about for today, I figured that the Jabeur/Q.Wang one that "replaced" it would barely get a sniff of attention on ESPN. It didn't even get that. Taking placing during Kenin/Gauff, when the "Tournament Update" list of scores came up in the corner of the screen during coverage it wasn't included in the queue (even when the box appeared as Chris Evert was *talking about* the winner in the match next facing the Jabeur/Wang winner). When the match was over, it wasn't clear that Evert knew the other match was even being played at the same time -- not that she got any reminder from her colleagues -- since she mentioned it as if it was a *future* event.

Finally, after the match was over, during Pam Shriver's (recorded, or delayed... whichever it was didn't really matter since there was little urgency displayed when it came to hearing from Kenin as quickly as possible after her win) off-court interview with Kenin, that the match was being played at all was *finally* mentioned. Afterward, the crew then revealed that the match they'd never mentioned had started was actually *over*, and the U.S. player most of the on-air talent didn't *prefer* to see win was next playing Jabeur, an opponent that someone had decided didn't even warrant a legitimate mention for the 1:17 running time of her biggest-career win.

Hey, but other than all that...


...A LOOK BACK ON DAY 7:

Even in defeat, Wang's connection to her late coach, Peter McNamara, is worth remembering...





The Super Bowl is a week away, but while looking up the Bowie videos on YouTube I kept noticing I was also being referred to things from Prince. Next week in Miami, I guess Jennifer Lopez (and Shakira) will be *okay* (though I sort of doubt it... I've never quite gotten the whole J-Lo thing over the years, at least as a musical/dance performer, since every single one of her performances looks and sounds *exactly* like the last one, and it wasn't that good itself), but they'll never have anything on Prince's greatest-ever Super Bowl halftime show (also in Miami) when he sang, among other things, "Purple Rain" in a driving rainstorm...


[Prince Super Bowl halftime show retrospective - 2007]



A referral from the Prince video... (I'd never seen this before, but it's kinda fun and interesting):

[Mick Jagger inducts Beatles into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - 1988]

>


Spinning the YouTube referral wheel off that...

["You Can't Always Get What You Want" - Rolling Stones, 1968]
...if you watch it to the end, you'll see a surprise audience member



Who'd think that, over fifty years later and pushing 80, he'd still be walking and dancing like Jagger across stages?





=SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #18 Alison Riske/USA
#7 Petra Kvitova/CZE def. #22 Maria Sakkari/GRE
#14 Sofia Kenin/USA def. Coco Gauff/USA
Ons Jabeur/TUN def. #27 Wang Qiang/CHN
#28 Anett Kontaveit/EST vs. Iga Swiatek/POL
#16 Elise Mertens/BEL vs. #4 Simona Halep/ROU
Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. #9 Kiki Bertens/NED
#17 Angelique Kerber/GER vs. #30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS

=DOUBLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Hsieh/Strycova (TPE/CZE) def. Jurak/Stojanovic (CRO/SRB)
Arruabarrena/Jabeur (ESP/TUN) vs. Brady/Dolehide (USA/USA)
#4 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. #16 Kenin/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA)
#6 Dabrowski/Ostapenko (CAN/LAT) def. Carter/Stefani (USA/BRA)
#7 Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE) vs. Doi/Niculescu (JPN/ROU)
#13 V.Kudermetova/Riske (RUS/USA) vs. #3 Mertens/Sabalenka (BEL/BLR)
Gauff/McNally (USA/USA) vs. #10 Aoyama/Shibahara (JPN/JPN)
#15 Kuzmova/Sasnovich (SVK/BLR) vs. #2 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)

=MIXED DOUBLES ROUND OF 16=
Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR) vs. (WC) Ostapenko/Paes (LAT/IND)
Sai.Zheng/Vliegen (CHN/BEL) vs.#8 Hsieh/Skupski (TPE/GBR)
#4 H.Chan/Venus (TPE/NZL) vs. Swiatek/Kubot (POL/POL)
(WC) Sharma/JP.Smith (AUS/AUS) vs. #7 Stosur/Rojer (AUS/NED)
#6 L.Chan/Dodig (TPE/CRO) vs. Klepac/Roger-Vasselin (SLO/FRA)
(WC) Moore/Ebden (AUS/AUS) vs. #3 Dabrowski/Kontinen (CAN/FIN)
#5 Krejcikova/Mektic (CZE/CRO) vs. Anisimova/Kryrgios (USA/AUS)
Melichar/Soares (USA/BRA) vs. N.Kichenok/Bopanna (UKR/IND)






















kosova-font

*RECENT BEST U.S. WOMEN'S AO RESULTS*
2011 Venus Williams (3rd)
2012 Serena Williams (4th)
2013 Sloane Stephens (SF)
2014 Sloane Stephens & Serena Williams (4th)
2015 Serena Williams (W)
2016 Serena Williams (RU)
2017 Serena Williams (W)
2018 Madison Keys (QF)
2019 Danielle Collins (SF)
2020
-
NOTE: Kenin in QF, Riske to play 4th Rd.

*FIRST-TIME SLAM SEMIFINALISTS AT AO SINCE 2013*
2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
2014 Genie Bouchard, CAN
2015 Madison Keys, USA
2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
2019 Danielle Collins, USA
2020 ?
--
NOTE: Kenin/Jabeur QF winner will be first-timer

*WTA "CAREER QF SLAM" - active*
[with slam at which completed]
Azarenka - 2012 US (28th)
Clijsters - 2002 AO (11th)
Halep - 2015 US (22nd)
Kerber - 2016 AO (33rd)
Keys - 2018 RG (23rd)
Konta - 2019 US (24th)
Kuznetsova - 2006 RG (16th)
Kvitova - 2015 US (30th)
Pavlyuchenkova - 2017 AO (37th)
Sharapova - 2005 US (12th)
Stephens - 2018 RG (25th)
Svitolina - 2019 US (29th)
S.Williams - 2001 RG (12th)
V.Williams - 1998 WI (6th)
Zvonareva - 2010 US (31st)

*AUSSIES IN AO QF+ - since 7-round event in '87*
1987 QF - Elizabeth Smylie
1988 QF - Hana Mandlikova
1988 QF - Anne Minter
2005 QF - Alicia Molik
2009 QF - Jelena Dokic
2019 QF - Ash Barty
2020 ? [Barty to play 4th Rd.]
--
MOST RECENT SF: 1984 Wendy Turnbull
MOST RECENT CHAMPION: 1978 Chris O'Neil


kosova-font





kosova-font






TOP QUALIFIER: #31 Ann Li/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Serena Williams/USA
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): 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): Nominee: 3rd Rd. - #27 Q.Wang d. #8 S.Williams
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: 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 4th Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Jabeur, Riske, Kenin, Pavlyuchenkova, Muguruza, Bertens
IT (??): Nominees: Jabeur (first Arab in slam 4r), Swiatek
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: Kvitova, Riske, Kerber, Pavlyuchenkova
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Barty, Halep, Muguruza
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: Nominees: Barty (plays on despite leaky Laver roof in Rd.1; sick of seeing her own face around AUS); Aces for Bushfire Relief program
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 7. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 3:04 AM 

3 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Regarding your thoughts on Pliskova yesterday, she admitted that the match is on Giorgi's racket when she plays her. She is in the same situation when she plays Bertens. For someone with as good of a serve as she has, she is at the mercy of other players way too often.

Hoping Jabeur offers a walkover in doubles. She is one of 3 still alive in singles and doubles, along with Kenin and Mertens. Swiatek alive in mixed.

Swedish men=Argentine women. No good reason why either disappeared.

With Russia sliding in the rankings, Russian born Kazakh Rybakina is higher ranked than any Russian. So are women from Ukraine and Belarus, but that isn't new.

Both Barty/Kvitova and Kenin/Jabeur should be good. Jabeur is 0-3 vs Kenin, but has a chance if she can dial in her game early, lest it turn into a Vondrousova/Barty matchup. Took Jabeur 4-5 games vs Wang to find her spin/touch.

Stat of the Day- 6- Women from Arab League countries in the Top 1000.

3-Egypt- Mayar Sherif, Sandra Samir, Lamis Alhussein Abdel Aziz.
1- Tunisia- Ons Jabeur.
1- Algeria- Ines Ibbou
1- Oman- Fatma Al Nabhani

Sherif you will know sooner than later, Al Nabhani is the player infamous for getting WC to Doha and Dubai every year.

This is where I should point out that there are 22 Arab League members.

0- Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestinian Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Literally a road game every week for Jabeur.

Sun Jan 26, 10:52:00 AM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

I was never able to get into Jennifer Lopez's music, either, though I was always very drawn to her persona (loved her as a Fly Girl), and think that she's an excellent--and underrated--actor. Her performance in Hustlers--her first truly good role--is luminous.

Sun Jan 26, 01:52:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-
Yeah, I was going to mention the Argentine women in the wake of Sabatini, Suarez and Dulko. Or, for that matter, South American women's tennis as a whole. But the Swedish men were just so numerous, with multiple slam winners in the mix (and the rabid fan following that PS/MJF mentioned), it's even more difficult to understand.

Yeah, the *top* level Russians have fallen, but that mini-revolution is repopulating the second tier landscape, at least, with Alexandrova, V.Kudermetova and Blinkova likely all being Top 40 (at least) in '20, and with Gracheva and any number of teens (Potapova), risers (Samsonova) and juniors coming right behind them.

Sherif (an ex-NCAA player along with her sister) had a great ITF year in '19.

Well, except for February when Jabeur can at least maybe play in Dubai and Doha. Still more tournaments than, say, Latvia.


D-
I've always been much more impressed (or at least encouraged) by Lopez as an actress. I thought she was great in the Elmore Leonard adapted movie "Out of Sight" way back when. (I always refer to that as where George Clooney actually learned to act, and not just do the charming smile-and-drop-his-chin act from "ER" ;)

Sun Jan 26, 02:20:00 PM EST  

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