Monday, January 27, 2020

AO.8 - Romanian Rumble

Smooth as Simona.

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=DAY 8 NOTES=
...on Australia Day Monday, with the big men's grudge match set to takeover the nighttime, all the remaining four women's Round of 16 matches were *scheduled* to be scattered throughout the day session. ("Scheduled" being the key phrase, but more on that later.)

First up on Laver was something of a Wozniacki 2018 Reunion Party, as both players that the Dane defeated in the semifinals (#16 Elise Mertens) and final (#4 Simona Halep) two years ago en route to her only slam title faced off for a birth in this year's quarterfinals. Both had mostly had their way to this point, with Halep only having to weather a tight 1st set TB in her opening round (plus a 10-minute blink while closing out Harriet Dart a round later) while Mertens had dominated her opponents in her service games through her first three matches, allowing just six games in six of her seven total sets (and squandering a 4-2 2nd set lead in the seventh, resulting in a lost TB vs. CiCi Bellis in the previous round).

On the first point of the match, both women pulled off dueling angled shots from the forecourt that skimmed the net, with Mertens ending the short rally by blocking a volley into the open court. It symbolized what would happen over the course of most of the match, as both went about their business with little regard for the need to alter their approach in response to her opponent's gameplan. The two-time slam winning Halep often parked herself deep behind the baseline, leaving the door open for Mertens to move toward the net behind her bigger groundstrokes and put away balls to end long rallies. But the Romanian maintained her consistency throughout while taking an opportunistic approach, content to wait for her shot to take advantage of the Belgian's risk-for-reward strategy. While Mertens often seemed in control of rallies, she *never* had any real advantage on the scoreboard, and her inability to avoid the occasional mistake that opened the door for Halep proved to be her undoing.

Throughout the 1st set, the Belgian often seemed a step ahead with her more aggressive play. But Halep was having none of Mertens' dominating service games from this AO's first week, as the Romanian made her work hard to hold as she turned back the chances that Halep had managed to carve out for herself. In game #3, after Mertens had faced just five BP all tournament, Halep held a total of four, finally getting the break for a 2-1 lead. Mertens was unbowed, through, breaking back to level things at 3-3 and maintaining a pattern of winning the longer rallies as she pulled ahead on the stats page (W/UE). Halep wasn't dictating play, but she never seemed troubled by her situation beyond a momentary pique of varying degree (some hotter than others, but never lingering). She simply waited.

In the seventh game, Mertens rallied from love/30 down, saving two BP to go up 4-3. But her DF put her down 15/40 two games later, and Halep seized her opportunity, cracking a forehand winner to break for a 5-4 lead. Up 40/15 a game later, the Romanian didn't immediately put away the set, but continued to not dwell on the delay for more than a moment. Finally, Mertens went for *too* much on a big return, missing badly and giving Halep a third SP. Again, she couldn't convert. But an ace gave her one more chance, and the Belgian's netted forehand return wrapped up a 6-4 set.

Halep carried over her momentum, racing to a double-break lead at 3-0 in the 2nd. This time it was Mertens' turn to keep her head in the game, as her comeback from a set and 4-2 deficit vs. the Romanian last year in Doha likely played on *both* their minds. She got one break back, the held at love for 3-2 as she continued to stack up her net approaches, resulting in any number of volley winners or lobs over Halep after she'd raced to reach one of the Belgian's blocked-back shots. Another break tied the set at 4-4. But Mertens again wasn't able to maintain her surge. In game #9, Halep carved out five more BP chances, gave a lethal, lengthy death glare to her box (she wasn't staring daggers... it was more like machetes) after she'd been urged to incorrectly challenge a line call (hey, it's just another donation for the bushfire relief fund, right?), and fired a forehand passing shot attempt that forced Mertens to push a backhand wide, getting the break for a 5-4 lead. Halep quickly went up 40/love when serving for the match, and this time she didn't have to wait. A love hold closed out a 6-4/6-4 win to advance her into her 14th career slam QF.



While Mertens' aggressive play (36 winners, 23/29 at the net) put her in position to win, her 38 UE (many poorly timely) didn't help her cause. At the same time, Halep committed just 8 UE on the day (and it wasn't because she was only retrieving balls), and converted as many of her 14 BP chances (5) as the Belgian's first three opponents had had total BP opportunities at this AO.




...in a match-up to determine who'd join Sofia Kenin and Ons Jabeur as first-time slam quarterfinalist at this event, #28 Anett Kontaveit and Iga Swiatek participated in a match that, if it was boxing match, could easily be described "a slugfest." It had one participant playing injured (Swiatek, w/ a wrapped leg that required in-match attention), both firing enough winners that the stat sheet resembled a miniature version of some of the Latvian Thunder outings in Paris three years ago, with one woman nearly squandering a *huge* 3rd set lead while the other's fierce battle back ultimately proved to have been in vain.

In the 1st set, the two exchanged breaks in games 2 and 3. Swiatek had three BP each in games 4 and 6, only to see Kontaveit hold on both occasions and then take a 4-3 by breaking the serve of the 18-year old Pole. A game later, Swiatek finally got her break to get the set back on serve. Serving to stay in the match at 5-4, Kontaveit held and then got a break a game later to gave her the chance to serve for the set. Naturally, *that* didn't happen and things went to a tie-break, won by Swiatek 7-4.



The 2nd set proved to be another back-and-forth affair, as the two exchanged five more breaks of serve, the last coming when Swiatek served to try to send things to another TB, only to see the Estonian jump out to a 15/40 lead and break to win the set 7-5. In the 3rd set, it looked as if the physically ailing Swiatek was going to be bundled out of the tournament in a flash. Kontaveit broke for a 2-0 lead and soon led by double-break at 5-1. Serving for the match at 5-1 and 5-3, though, she saw Swiatek turn her away and hold to knot the score at 5-5. Two games later, for the second set in a row, the teenager served to send things to another TB, this time of the deciding 10-point variety. She got within 30/30 of doing so, but again it didn't happen. Kontaveit ended the match with yet another break of serve, winning 6-7(4)/7-5/7-5 in 2:42 to finally reach her first career slam QF in her fourth Round of 16 attempt.



In the end, the two combined for a free-wheeling 71 winners (Kontaveit 29, Swiatek 42) and 87 UE (Kontaveit 36, Swiatek 51), and converted 16 of the day's 33 BP opportunities (Kontaveit 9/14, Swiatek 7/19).

...next up was #9 Kiki Bertens, in her first career hard court slam Round of 16 after having not yet dropped a set at this event (which is actually a satisfying result, especially when combined with her season-opening two Top 30 wins and Brisbane QF, no matter how much the ESPN commentators seemed to want to act as if the Dutch woman had suddenly become a major disappointment since getting married in November), and two-time major champ Garbine Muguruza, looking more and more with every outing like the scary (in a good way) Garbi of old with new coach Conchita Martinez in her corner. On this day, the Spaniard continued her personal trend, again essentially making a straight sets win over a Top 10 player (ala her 3rd Rounder vs. Elina Svitolina) look "easy."

After the two opened the 1st set with breaks of serve, Muguruza broke for a 4-2 lead and matter-of-factly held her advantage throughout. No drifting in the breeze. Without any sort of inconvenient walkabout. But *while* flexing her muscles and powering through her opponent, winning the set 6-3 while serving at a 72% clip and winning 89% of her first serves (16/18). The 2nd set saw more of the same. Again, the first two games featured breaks of serve, but then Muguruza grabbed an advantage (3-2) and never looked back, winning 6-3/6-3 to reach her first major QF since the '18 Roland Garros, and her second ever at the Australian Open (w/ '17).



Her final service numbers were astounding, as she finished with a 90% (28/31) first serve winning percentage, and totaled nineteen winners in the match's eighteen games.

...having originally been scheduled for late afternoon on MCA, due to a very long men's match, the final remaining women's Round of 16 between #17 Angelique Kerber and #30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova eventually turned in a match that wouldn't start until the time that a usual night session match would begin (and will end up taking place while the Nadal/Kyrgios contest is also going on over at Laver).

So, I guess this post will have to go without (other than an update tomorrow of a few lists later in this post). At any rate, this slam is pretty much the most important in the careers of both women, as Kerber is the last remaining former champ in the field (it's where she got her maiden slam crown in '16), while Pavlyuchenkova is a two-time AO girls champ, as well as having completed her Career QF Slam in Melbourne three years ago and last year making this the only major where she's reached the Final 8 *twice*.

This is the fourteenth meeting between the two, with Kerber holding a 7-6 edge.

**UPDATE**
...Kerber overcame a 5-2 1st set deficit, saw Pavlyuchenkova serve for the set at 5-4, and fell behind 4-2 in the tie-break but managed to steal the opening stanza from the Russian with a 7-5 TB win. But Pavlyuchenkova didn't fold up her stuff and go home. Instead, after failing to convert 2 SP on Kerber's serve at 5-4 in the 2nd, she pushed things to another TB and knotted the match with a 7-4 win. She then took control in the 3rd, winning 6-2 to reach her third QF.



...in juniors, #1 seeded Pastry Elsa Jacquemot was upset by Germany's Alexandra Vecic.



...in weekend ITF circuit action, another South American-born player (ala Caracus, VEN native Muguruza) picked up her *second* singles title of the season. Argentina's Nadia Podoroska, who'd nearly reached the Top 150 in '17 before slipping down the ranking ladder prior to her Gold Medal turn at last year's Pan American Games, picked up the crown at the $25K Petit-bourg, France challenger a week after she'd also won a title in Malibu, California.



22-year old Podoroska's 7-5/7-5 win over Pastry Harmony Tan improves her career ITF final mark to 13-2, returns her to the Top 200 and makes her the new Argentine #1. It seemingly could go a long way toward getting her into the Tokyo Olympic draw, as well, as the rules of last year's Pan Am Games stated that as the winner she'd qualify for inclusion as long as she's in the Top 300 on June 8, meets eligibility rules (Fed Cup participation) and her nation hasn't already used up its maximum number of Olympic team choices (it's ARG, so that's not happening).




...MORE IN ONE TWEET THAN ESPN EVER SAID IN AN ENTIRE BROADCAST ON DAY 8 7:





...NEWS ON DAY 8:



And I have *zero* problem with this at all. As I've said before, I don't really understand the reasoning in steadfastly believing that tennis should be the only sport where athletes who have coaches can't truly be coached when they're playing. Why not? Why wouldn't you want the players to have a better chance to play their *best* tennis on gameday?

And this doesn't make the WTA players look "mentally weak," it just makes the defiant stance of the ATP (and certain all-time great players who benefit from facing opponents who aren't as good as them and *also* can't be coached during a match) look stupidly stuck in the past. Wouldn't be the first time.


...TENTACLES ON DAY 8:






On a day when a U.S. -- and world -- sports superstar suddenly passes in a tragic accident, there felt like a need to change up this section for today. As the news of what happened to Kobe Bryant today in California broke, many of the stars of tennis posted their shock and sadness at the turn of events, so it *is* the sort of thing that is so jolting in its immediacy (much like, say, the death Princess Diana was) that it can't help but cross the sort of invisible "boundary lines" that separate all different areas of culture and society.

While none of these songs are basketball or Kobe Bryant related, I did feel as if there is a melancholy sound and feel to them that sort of fits the mood of the sports world (and others) today.


["A Day in the Life" - Beatles, 1967]
...while I've used the Rolling Stones quite a bit in this space over the years, I've always been far more of a Beatles fan. The fascinating qualities of "A Day in the Life" still resound more than fifty years after its release. The deceptive "ordinariness" of the lyrics exist alongside aspects that are dream-like in quality, and then combine within the extraordinary musical framework of the song itself. I guess all that is why some consider it the band's masterpiece.

[from Wikipedia]: Musicologist Walter Everett states that... "the most monumental piece on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was Lennon's." He identifies the track's most striking feature as "its mysterious and poetic approach to serious topics that come together in a larger, direct message to its listeners, an embodiment of the central ideal for which the Beatles stood: that a truly meaningful life can be had only when one is aware of one's self and one's surroundings and overcomes the status quo."



["Purple Rain" - cast of The Color Purple, tribute to Prince upon his 2016 death]



["Hallelujah" - Kate McKinnon, on "Saturday Night Live", November 2016]
...McKinnon's cold open performance of Leonard Cohen's song on the first episode of SNL following the 2016 Presidential election will likely continue to stand as one of the more remarkable moments in the show's history. Even while essentially in costume as Hillary Clinton, she expressed an overwhelming feeling of dread welling up from within a large portion of the audience about what had just happened and what could follow in its wake.

Nearly four years later, it still carries the same underlying sadness, even though with every day it seems to become more and more difficult to remember what things *used* to be like, or maybe whether *that* was a false reality, as well. Maybe we can no longer recognize the difference. Viewed through the prism of the last three years, must such sentiments now be viewed as having been terribly naive? An overreaction? Has the sincere feeling that nothing would ever quite be the same again become a reality almost *too* accurate to fully contemplate in real time, as events continue to give it foundation and life on a daily basis? Maybe some sort of "innocence" and/or "moral center" *was* lost, but maybe neither ever existed beyond mere theory in the first place.

Maybe we'll know some of the answers by the end of the year. Or maybe (probably?) not.






=SINGLES QF=
#1 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #7 Petra Kvitova/CZE
#14 Sofia Kenin/USA vs. Ons Jabeur/TUN
#28 Anett Kontaveit/EST vs. #4 Simona Halep/ROU
Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. #30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS

=DOUBLES QF=
#1 Hsieh/Strycova (TPE/CZE) vs. Brady/Dolehide (USA/USA)
#4 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. #6 Dabrowski/Ostapenko (CAN/LAT)
#7 Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE) vs. #3 Mertens/Sabalenka (BEL/BLR)
Gauff/McNally (USA/USA) 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) def. #8 Hsieh/Skupski (TPE/GBR)
Swiatek/Kubot (POL/POL) def. #4 H.Chan/Venus (TPE/NZL)
(WC) Sharma/JP.Smith (AUS/AUS) def. #7 Stosur/Roger (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)
N.Kichenok/Bopanna (UKR/IND) def. Melichar/Soares (USA/BRA)














































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*2020 AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL 8*
[by career slam QF]
14 - Simona Halep
12 - Petra Kvitova
8 - Garbine Muguruza
6 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
3 - Ash Barty
1 - Ons Jabeur
1 - Sofia Kenin
1 - Anett Kontaveit
[by career AO QF]
4 - Simona Halep
4 - Petra Kvitova
3 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2 - Ash Barty
2 - Garbine Muguruza
1 - Ons Jabeur
1 - Sofia Kenin
1 - Anett Kontaveit
[w/ consecutive slam QF]
none
[w/ consecutive AO QF]
2 - Ash Barty
2 - Petra Kvitova
2 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
[unseeded]
Ons Jabeur, TUN
Garbine Muguruza, ESP
[by nation]
1...AUS - Barty
1...CZE - Kvitova
1...ESP - Muguruza
1...EST - Kontaveit
1...ROU - Halep
1...RUS - Pavlyuchenkova
1...TUN - Jabeur
1...USA - Kenin
[WTA career slam QF - active]
52...Serena Williams, USA
39...Venus Williams, USA
25...Maria Sharapova, RUS
19...Kim Clijsters, BEL
16...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
16...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
14...Simona Halep, ROU
12...Petra Kvitova, CZE
[10...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN]
9...Angelique Kerber, GER
[8...Jelena Jankovic, SRB]
8...Garbine Muguruza, ESP
7...Sara Errani, ITA
7...Madison Keys, USA
7...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
7...Samantha Stosur, AUS
7...Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP

*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, as would Kontaveit or Pavlyuchenkova

*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
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
#13 - 2017 Venus Williams, USA
#11 - 2012 Kim Clijsters, BEL
#10 - 2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
--
QF NOTE: #14 Kenin vs. (un) Jabeur; (un) Muguruza vs. #30 Pavlyuchenkova; #28 Kontaveit in QF

*UNSEEDED/WC/Q in AO QF IN 32-SEED DRAW - began in 2002*
2002 Adriana Serra-Zanetti/ITA
2003 Meghann Shaughnessy/USA, Virginia Ruano-Pascual/ESP
2006 Martina Hingis/SUI (wc)
2007 Serena Williams/USA, Lucie Safarova/CZE
2009 Jelena Dokic/AUS (wc), Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP
2010 Zheng Jie/CHN, Maria Kirilenko/RUS, Justine Henin/BEL (wc)
2012 Ekaterina Makarova/RUS, Sara Errani/ITA
2013 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS
2015 Madison Keys/USA
2016 Johanna Konta/GBR, Zhang Shuai (q)
2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni/CRO, CoCo Vandeweghe/USA
2018 Elise Mertens/BEL, Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP
2019 Danielle Collins/USA, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2020 Ons Jabeur/TUN, Garbine Muguruza/ESP
--
[W]=won title; [RU]=reached final

*AO "IT" WINNERS*
2006 Samantha Stosur, AUS
2007 Shahar Peer, ISR
2008 Casey Dellacqua, AUS
2009 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
2010 Maria Kirilenko, RUS
2011 An-Sophie Mestach, BEL (jr.)
2012 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
2013 [Fortysomething] Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
2014 [Teen] Genie Bouchard, CAN
2015 [Madisons] Madison Keys/USA & Madison Brengle/USA
2016 [NextGen Belarusian] Vera Lapko, BLR
2017 [Party] (Ash) "Barty Party"
2018 [Teen] Marta Kostyuk, UKR
2019 [Teen] Amanda Anisimova, USA
2020 [Arab] Ons Jabeur, TUN

*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 Sofia Kenin (in QF)

**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 ?? - Ash Barty [in QF]
--
MOST RECENT SF: 1984 Wendy Turnbull
MOST RECENT CHAMPION: 1978 Chris O'Neil


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Someone isn't going to be happy about this. Et tu, Foxte?




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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 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./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 QF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Kenin, Pavlyuchenkova, Muguruza, Kontaveit
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: Kvitova, 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 8. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 3:06 AM 

4 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Olympic doubles race heating up with Gauff/McNally and Brady/Dolehide still alive. Melichar still US #1.

There will be a first time AO winner.

So many good matches so far that we seem overdue for a clunker.

Stat of the Day- 11- The number of slam QF lost by Manuela Maleeva to open her career.

Pavlyuchenkova has a ways to go. Now reaching her 6th, 3rd in Australia, she has a chance to end that streak.

Another streak that may end is Estonia's. Ukraine took themselves off the list last year, and after Kanepi fell at the QF hurdle 6 times, Kontaveit gets her first chance to clear.

Maleeva's 11 sounds awful, but in the Chris/Martina era, ending up 2-12 is admirable, especially with a bunch of women housed in Newport.

11 Loss Streak:
3- Evert
2-Navratilova
2-Seles
1-Sabatini
1-Graf
1-Sanchez Vicario
1-MJ Fernandez

There is honor in making the QF, as many women never reach that dream. One who struggled was Maleeva's sister Magdalena, who lost in the 4th round in 14 of her 15 tries. In a cruel twist of fate, the only time she made it, she played Manuela, who ended her 11 match losing streak.

Mon Jan 27, 09:25:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Pavlyuchenkova is also one win away from, in a shocking development, *never* ending up being included on that 13+ titles and no slam SF list. She's been stuck on 12 titles since mid-2018.

The Maleeva sisters (all *three* of them) are almost lost to history these days. You never really ever hear about them anymore. Though I guess Magdalena has played in that Wimbledon legends competition on occasion, but not since '16.

Mon Jan 27, 11:29:00 AM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

Do you remember the nickname for the older two? "The Weeping Maleevas" :)

Mon Jan 27, 01:08:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I don't know if I've ever heard that before. I like it! ;)

Mon Jan 27, 03:16:00 PM EST  

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