Sunday, February 02, 2020

All for Now, Australia

Well, that's a wrap for the maiden slam event of the new decade, so it's time to see where everyone ranks through the first month of the 2020's.






1. Sofia Kenin, USA - the latest in the lengthening line of first-time slam champs (8 in 12 majors) on tour, Kenin's AO title run makes her the new U.S. #1 and forces her to focus on an entirely *new* tennis dream now that's lived her first one.
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2. Garbine Muguruza, ESP - she came up one set short of glory in Melbourne, but if Garbi is *really* back and can stay that way, well, she may get *another* shot at major #3 by year's end
3. Yui Kamiji, JPN (WC) - 16-0 in '20 (11-0 singles, 5-0 doubles), Kamiji has taken advantage of Diede de Groot's pre-AO absence (winning two early season tournaments) and disappointing trip to Melbourne (sweeping the s/d at a major for the first time since the rise of the Dutch #1)
4. Elena Rybakina, KAZ - the Kazakh opened her season by reaching back-to-back singles finals, then notched her first career slam MD wins in Melbourne, reaching the 3rd Round
5. Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA - the first duo to take the AO crown without dropping a set since 2004, they've won two titles in three years in Melbourne. Since reuniting as regular WD partners in '18, they've won a third of the titles at the last nine majors *and* two WTAF crowns.


6. Ash Barty, AUS - followed up her Adelaide title run by becoming the first Aussie to reach the AO semis since 1984. She didn't reach the final, but with how she peformed Down Under this year the hoped-for "Barty Championship Party" looks more and more like a legit "go" at some point in the next few years.
7. Simona Halep, ROU - through derailed by an in-form Muguruza in the semis, Halep was the most impressive player in the draw up to that point, just as she was when she reached the '18 final before coming up short again in Melbourne. Back up to #2, with her head clear and Darren Cahill aboard, the Romanian can't help but look forward to what the rest of 2020 has in store for her.
8. Serena Williams, USA and Karolina Pliskova, CZE - both had disappointing AO performances (3rd Rd.), but opened the season with title runs in Week 1, respectively, in Auckland and Brisbane


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RISERS: Anett Kontaveit/EST, Maria Sakkari/GRE, Wang Qiang/CHN, Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS and Jessica Pegula/USA
SURPRISES: Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN (WC), Barbora Krejcikova/CZE (singles), Greet Minnen/BEL and Martina Trevisan/ITA
VETERANS: Alison Riske/USA, Caroline Wozniacki/DEN and Zhang Shuai/CHN
COMEBACKS: CiCi Bellis/USA, Sania Mirza/IND and Zarina Diyas/KAZ
FRESH FACES: Coco Gauff/USA, Iga Swiatek/POL, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS and Coco Gauff/Caty McNally (USA/USA)
JUNIORS: Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND, Weronika Baszak/POL, Alexandra Vecic/GER and Polina Kudermetova/RUS
ITF: Nadia Podoroska/ARG
DOWN: Sloane Stephens/USA, Aryna Sabalenka/BLR, Diede de Groot/NED, Elina Svitolina/UKR, (WC) and Belinda Bencic/SUI
MOST IMPROVED: Ons Jabeur/TUN, Jennifer Brady/USA, Ann Li/USA and Priscilla Hon/AUS

1. Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA - AO champs again
2. Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE - title run in Brisbane, runners-up in Melbourne
3. Barbora Krejcikova (and Katerina Siniakova), CZE/CZE - winners in Shenzhen and semifinalists at the AO, where Krejcikova defended her MX crown
4. Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR (WC) - picked up slam title #10 as a duo, their first together since Whiley became a mother


5. Asia Muhammad/Taylor Townsend, USA/USA - already an ITF force, they got their first WTA title together in Auckland


1. Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND - at 14, she became tiny Andorra's first junior slam champ


2. Weronika Baszak, POL - on the heels of Iga Swiatek's rise, another Pole reaches a girls slam final
3. Alexandra Vecic, GER - upset the girls #1 seed en route to the semis
4. Polina Kudermetova, RUS - she came up short in Melbourne (QF), but won the tune-up event in Traralgon
5. Bai Zhuoxuan, CHN - the latest in the growing pool of Chinese junior singles stars, she was the second ('18 Wang Xinyu) to reach the final four in Melbourne in three years


1. Yui Kamiji, JPN - Kamiji made the Australian Open her personal throwback event to when *she* was atop the WC rankings, sweeping a pair of tune-up title events then claiming both the AO singles and doubles crowns
2. Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR - back together and slam champs again, they're maybe the biggest obstacle between Diede de Groot and a lot of records in the majors
3. Zhu Zhenzhen, CHN - after ripping through the '19 schedule, she became the first Chinese player to appear in a WC slam single draws... and all she did was upset world #1 de Groot in her opening match
4. Jordanne Whiley, GBR - lost in back-to-back pre-AO singles finals to Kamiji, when joined with her to win the AO doubles
5. Aniek Van Koot, NED - reached both the singles and doubles finals in Melbourne


1. KENIN WINS AUSTRALIAN OPEN
...the Bannerette defeats prodigy Coco Gauff (4r), world #1 Ash Barty (SF) and two-time slam champ Garbine Muguruza (F) to become the latest Generation PDQ slam champ to win in her first major final appearance (following Ostapenko, Osaka, Barty and Andreescu).
===============================================
2. SERENA'S FIRST TITLE IN THREE YEARS
...in Auckland, Williams' 73rd career title (claimed in now *four* different decades) is her first since her Australian Open run while pregnant in 2017. She becomes the fourth oldest singles champion in tour history, while also teaming with the soon-to-retire Caroline Wozniacki to reach the doubles final.


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3. PLISKOVA DEFENDS BRISBANE
...Karolina Pliskova toughs out three-set matches over Ajla Tomljanovic, Naomi Osaka (saving a MP) and Madison Keys (in the final), as well as defeating Alison Riske, to successfully defend her singles crown, and pick up her third career win at the event.
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4. BARTY'S ADELAIDE PARTY
...after falling in the Sydney final the past two Januarys, then coming up short in Perth in last year's Fed Cup final, Barty finally grabs her first tour title on home soil in Australia.
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5. RYBAKINA BREAKS OUT
...Russian-born Kazakh Elena Rybakina blasts out of the starting gates into the 2020 season, reaching the finals of her first two events of the season in Shenzhen and Hobart. After losing in Week 1, Rybakina's fourth tour final in seven months saw her defeat Zhang Shuai to claim her second career title. Since last July, she's climbed from outside the Top 100 to inside the Top 30.


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HM- MELBOURNE MUGU
...with new coach Conchita Martinez in her corner, Garbine Muguruza, unseeded at a major for the first time since 2014, recaptures her past form at the Australian Open, defeating three Top 10 players (Svitolina, Bertens & Halep) en route to her fourth career slam final.
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1. Brisbane SF - Karolina Pliskova def. Naomi Osaka 6-7(10)/7-6(3)/6-2
...both players hit 50+ winners (Osaka 53, Pliskova 52), 15+ aces (16, 15), and saved numerous BP (6/9, 12/13) and MP (2, 1) over the course of the battle, leaving Osaka (who'd saved 2 SP -- via an ace and service winner -- while winning the 1st set) frustrated at herself for maybe not hitting her serve on MP hard enough (then thinking about it the rest of the match in a 3rd set she'd rather not had to play) and Pliskova so energized that she was able to ride the high into the final, where she slugged her way to a successful title defense vs. Madison Keys.


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2. Australian Open SF - Garbine Muguruza def. Simona Halep 7-6(8)/7-5
...Muguruza reaches her first slam final in two and a half years, raising her game in the closing stages of both the 1st and 2nd sets to defeat Halep, who'd entered having not lost a set all tournament. It was a groundstroke exhibition filled with countless hard-hitting (and very loud) rallies. After breaking Muguruza when she'd served for the 1st at 5-4, Halep held two SP at 6-5. In the TB, the two exchanged SP as both reeled off points streaks. Muruguza had two SP, then Halep had her third and fourth of the set. Finally, Muguruza converted on her fourth SP. In the 2nd, she staged an unrelenting comeback after trailing 5-3 down and with Halep serving at 5-4 to become the first Spaniard to reach the AO final since 1998 (her coach, Conchita Martinez).
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3. Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Wang Qiang def. Serena Williams 6-4/6-7(2)/7-5
...when they met in last year's U.S. Open not long after the death of Wang's coach, Peter McNamara, Williams allowed one game and won in 44 minutes. This time around, Wang had something to prove. After taking the 1st set with a remarkably clean run of play, Wang lost a 4-2 lead in the 2nd, during which she'd served for the match at 5-4. Rather than go away in the 3rd, Wang recaptured her momentarily lost momentum, hanging with Williams throughout before breaking Serena's serve on her third MP to become one of a handful of players with slam wins over *both* Williams sisters during a career.


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4. Brisbane 2nd Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Sofia Kenin 6-7(3)/6-3/6-1
...this offered another chance for Osaka to show her mettle against a fellow Gen PDQer nipping at her heels (ala her late '19 win over Andreescu), and for Kenin (who saved 4 SP in the 1st) to show how close she was to something far bigger.



Osaka got the win here, but Kenin eventually replaced Osaka as the reigning Australian Open champion.
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5. Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Ons Jabeur def. Caroline Wozniacki 7-5/3-6/7-5
...ending Wozniacki's career, Jabeur becomes the first Arab woman to reach a slam Round of 16 (and, ultimately, the QF). Wozniacki led 3-0 in the 1st, but the Tunisian's late surge broke the Dane in game #11 and she served out the set with her forehand leading the way. After the Dane tied the match, Jabeur rode an early 3rd set break advantage to an historic victory, firing 16 winners in the stanza (and holding a final 43-9 edge in the match).
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6. Australian Open 4th Rd. - Anett Kontaveit def. Iga Swiatek 6-7(4)/7-5/7-5
...in a slugfest that saw the two combined for 71 winners and 87 UE, while converting 16 of 33 BP chances, Kontaveit reaches her first slam QF despite nearly squandering a 5-1 3rd set lead vs. an injured Swiatek. After taking the 1st in a TB, the Polish teen served to force a TB in both the 2nd and 3rd sets, as well, only to be broken and not get the chance to play either.
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7. Australian Open Final - Sofia Kenin def. Garbine Muguruza 4-6/6-2/6-2
...Kenin wins her maiden slam title, becoming the first women's finalist to come back from losing the 1st set to win the AO since 2013. The key moment may have proven to come mid-way through the 3rd set, when a seemingly tiring Muguruza staged one final pressure campaign, taking a love/40 lead on Kenin's serve at 2-2. The Bannerette responded by winning five straight points, firing four winners (2 forehands, 2 backhands) and an ace to hold. Kenin never lost another game, becoming the youngest (at 21) AO winner since 2008.


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8. Auckland 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Lauren Davis 6-1/4-6/6-4
...Wozniacki (who also upended two-time DC Julia Goerges en route to the singles semis) rallied from 3-1 down in the 3rd.
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1. Australian Open Girls 3rd Rd. - Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva def. Melania Delai 3-6/7-6(7)/7-6(7)
...the Andorran 14-year old saves three MP, then goes on to become her nation's first junior slam champ.
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2. Australian Open 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Dayana Yastremska 7-5/7-5
...the Dane's final victory, and what a memorable one it was. Against the #23 seed, the retiring Wozniacki fell down a double-break at 5-1 in the 1st before winning six straight games to take the set, then faced a double-break deficit again in the 2nd, as well. With Yastremska serving down 4-5, the Ukrainian (as has become her pattern in tight matches) took a medical timeout before returning to action, then saved three MP in game #10. Wozniacki finally won MP #6 two games later, allowing her career to be extended for one more match.
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3. Australian Open 1st Rd. - Zhang Shuai def. Sloane Stephens 2-6/7-5/6-2
...two years after upsetting Stephens in the 1st Round in Melbourne, Zhang did it again. Stephens served for the match in the 2nd set, only to suffer her fourth opening match exit in the nine majors she's played since winning the U.S. Open in 2017.
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4. Hobart 1st Rd. - CiCi Bellis def. Marie Bouzkova 3-6/7-6(4)/6-3
...Bellis recovers from a set and 4-1, two-break deficit, saving a MP vs. the Czech before winning in 2:50 to record her first post-wrist/arm surgeries (4 in all) WTA MD win since Indian Wells '18.
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5. Australian Open 2nd Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Sorana Cirstea 4-6/6-3/7-5
...the 15-year old stages yet another spirited comeback in slam play vs. a veteran. After the pair had just one break each in the first two sets, Gauff rallied from 3-0 down in the 3rd, coming within two points of defeat at 4-5 down before sweeping the final three games en route to the Round of 16.


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1. Australian Open Wheelchair QF - Zhu Zhenzhen def. Diede de Groot 6-7(3)/6-3/7-5
...making her slam debut (as the first CHN player ever in WC competition at a major), Zhu upsets dominant world #1 de Groot in her opening match. Giving de Groot all she could handle, Zhu pushed the Dutch player to all corners of the court to retrieve her hard groudstrokes. The game of the champ, who came within one set of sweeping all four singles *and* doubles slam titles in '19, was uncharacteristically sloppy (18 DF, 46 UE) in her season debut, yet still nearly clawed all the way back from a double-break deficit in the 3rd. Zhu served for the match at 5-2 and 5-4, only to see de Groot save six MP while evening the set score at 5-5. But again, though she held 3 GP to take the 3rd set lead, de Groot couldn't avoid the UE that caused her to drop serve again in game #11. Zhu served out the match, converting on her ninth MP.



De Groot had won five of the last six singles slams, and came within one set of 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. De Groot did reach the doubles final, only to see her streak of seven consecutive slam WD titles end at the hands of Kamiji/Whiley.
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2. Brisbane 1st Rd. - Liudmila Samsonova def. Sloane Stephens 6-4/2-6/6-3
...last season, Stephens suffered defeats at the hands of players ranked #172 (Haddad), #153 (Kuznetsova), #127 (Kalinskaya), #109 (Voegele), #91 (Bouzkova), #70 (Peterson) and #62 (Maria). She opened 2020 with a loss to the world #129...
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3. Adelaide 1st Rd. - Arina Rodionova def. Sloane Stephens 6-2/6-2
...and followed up with another defeat at the hands of the world #201, her worst loss since 2011. At the AO, Stephens lost her 1st Round match after having served for the win in the 2nd set.
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4. Hobart 1st Rd. - Lizette Cabrera def. Caroline Garcia 4-6/6-4/6-2
...every January, a young Aussie pulls off some big early-season upsets. This year it was #129 Cabrera, who backed up this one with a win over Kristyna Pliskova a round later.


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5. Australian Open 2nd Rd. - CiCi Bellis def. Karolina Muchova 6-4/6-4
...at #600 and playing with a protected ranking after missing 20 months with injury, the former junior #1 and '17 WTA Newcomer of the year added to her 1.0 list of slam upsets (Cibulkova in her '14 debut at the U.S. Open at age 15, then Kiki Bertens in New York two years later), knocked out #20-seeded Muchova to record her first slam MD win since the '17 Roland Garros.


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Auckland 2nd Rd. - Alize Cornet def. Petra Martic 3-6/6-4/6-4
...Cornet's Week 1 journey ended with a QF retirement, but her unquestioned highlight of the month was ending *this* one with back-to-back-to-back aces from 15/30 down to seal a win.




=DAY 14 NOTES=
...the Australian Open began the day by crowning the final women's champion of this slam.

In the wheelchair singles final, rescheduled from yesterday due to rain, #2-seeded Yui Kamiji defeated Aniek Van Koot 6-2/6-2 to complete her third career sweep of the titles at a single slam event (w/ '14 U.S. and '17 RG). She now has 22 career slam wins, 7 in singles and 15 in doubles, behind only Esther Vergeer in the sport's history. Both she and Van Koot had won the AO title once before -- Kamiji in '17, Van Koot in '13 -- but this was their first meeting in a slam singles final since doing so Paris and New York in 2014. Two days ago, Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley defeated Van Koot and Diede de Groot in the doubles final.



Later this year, Kamiji will get another chance to try and join de Groot as the only players to have all eight WC slam disciplines at least once. The 25-year old from Japan is missing only the Wimbledon singles on her resume. To date, she's yet to reach the final in London. Meanwhile, Van Koot needs only the Roland Garros singles to have collected them all. She was runner-up in Paris in 2012, '14 and '15.



...AS NOTED... ON DAY 14:

A Kenin photo for every occasion...





...AT LEAST *SOMEONE*... ON DAY 14:

...managed to bother to identify Dinara Safina in Kenin's box during the final.



ESPN never did, even with the dozen or more in-match shots of Alex Kenin in the front row, with the former #1 Russian sitting directly behind him. Jelena Dokic also went unmentioned from her courtside position, sitting beside Mary Joe Fernandez while performing the same duties for Australian television.


...HARD TO SEE HOW THIS COULD HAVE BEEN EFF'D MORE IF ANYONE TRIED ON DAY 14:




...LIKE ON DAY 14:

How many people get elected to *two* sports Hall of Fames?








=SINGLES FINAL=
#14 Sofia Kenin/USA def. Garbine Muguruza/ESP 4-6/6-2/6-2

=DOUBLES FINAL=
#2 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA) def. #1 Hsieh/Strycova (TPE/CZE) 6-2/6-1

=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
#5 Krejcikova/Mektic (CZE/CRO) def. Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR) 5-7/6-4 [10-1]

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#2 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Aniek Van Koot/NED 6-2/6-2

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
Kamiji/Whiley (JPN/GBR) def. #1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) 6-2/6-4

=GIRLS SINGLES FINAL=
#9 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND def. Weronika Baszak/POL 5-7/6-2/6-2

=GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL=
#4 Eala/Nugroho (PHI/INA) def. Falkner/Mutavdzic (SLO/GBR) 6-1/6-2

=LEGENDS DOUBLES=
Hantuchova/Navratilova (SVK/USA)
















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*2020 FED CUP FINAL NATIONS - 12*
[4 = 2019 qualifying nations]
Australia (2019 final)
Czech Republic (wild card)
France (2019 champion)
Hungary (host nation)
[8 = 2020 qualifying round winners, Feb.7-8]
United States vs. Latvia (Everett, Washingtn - HI)
Netherlands vs. Belarus (The Hague, NED - RCI)
Romania vs. Russia (Cluj-Napoca, ROU - HI)
Brazil vs. Germany (Florianópolis, BRA - RCO)
Spain vs. Japan (Cartagena, ITA - RCO)
Switzerland vs. Canada (Biel/Bienne, SUI - HI)
Belgium vs. Kazakhstan (Kortrijk, BEL - HI)
Slovakia vs. Great Britain (Bratislava, SVK - RCI)

*WC SLAM SINGLES FINALS - since 2013, post-Vergeer*
15 - YUI KAMIJI, JPN (7-8)
10 - Diede de Groot, NED (7-3)
10 - ANIEK VAN KOOT, NED (3-7)
6 - Jiske Griffioen, NED (4-2)
6 - Sabine Ellerbrock, GER (2-5)
1 - Marjolein Buis, NED (1-0)
1 - Jordanne Whiley, GBR (1-0)

*RECENT WC SINGLES SLAM FINALS*
[2017]
AO: Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Jiske Griffioen/NED
RG: Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
WI: Diede de Groot/NED def. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
US: Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Diede de Groot/NED
[2018]
AO: Diede de Groot/NED def. Yui Kamiji/JPN
RG: Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Diede de Groot/NED
WI: Diede de Groot/NED def. Aniek van Koot/NED
US: Diede de Groot/NED def. Yui Kamiji/JPN
[2019]
AO: Diede de Groot/NED def. Yui Kamiji/JPN
RG: Diede de Groot/NED def. Yui Kamiji/JPN
WI: Aniek Van Koot/NED def. Diede de Groot/NED
US: Diede de Groot/NED def. Yui Kamiji/JPN
[2020]
AO: Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Aniek Van Koot/NED

*AO "KIMIKO CUP FOR VETERAN ACHIEVEMENT" WINNERS*
2015 Venus Williams/USA & Martina Hingis/SUI
2016 Angelique Kerber, GER
2017 Venus Williams/USA & Serena Williams/USA
2018 Hsieh Su-wei, TPE
2019 Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai, AUS/CHN
2020 Jordanne Whiley, GBR (WC)


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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): #14 Sofia Kenin/USA and #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN (WC)
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.): 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 (first Aussie in SF since '84)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Sofia Kenin/USA
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: Jordanne Whiley/GBR (WC)
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: Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND




All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 2:04 AM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

January was packed!

Wimbledon final 2020- Riske vs Muguruza? Muguruza has played Americans in each of her 4 slam finals.

Regarding old Junior Fed Cup photo-It was easier to spot Bellis.

Budapest/Debrecen is a mess. Used to this happening with ITF events, not WTA ones.

Finally caught up to Baszak/Jimenez Kasintseva final. They are both more raw than I am used to seeing at this stage. Unlike Swiatek, who looked like a pro when she won Wimbledon, both are 2-3 years away.

Baszak- Projects to be a better pro. Cross between Kuzmova and Rybakina. Has a good serve, that will probably be her biggest weapon. Her backhand probably will be her best stroke. Forehand not the best, but shouldn't be a liability. Needs to learn how to construct points.She is 17, so maybe tops out between 50-80.

Jimenez Kasintseva- Only 14, so she may revamp her game. Trains in Spain, but another clay girl like Osorio that won on hard. That bodes well for her future. Cross between Robson and Kerber. Idolizes Kvitova, but not that style of player. Probably will top out with an 85-90 mph serve. Has good, but loopy shots. Needs to work on movement. Right now, only projects between 80-100, but her junior results show great progress in a short time. Don't expect her to move up as quick as another lefty in Fernandez, but real curious about her learning curve.

Stat of the Day- 69- Projected ranking for Jil Teichmann, which would make her the last Olympian by automatic entry.

Unclear if Wozniacki is keeping her name on the rankings, Cirstea benefits if not.

Being that the cutoff is 56, that means that 13 women right now qualify by ranking, but are out by country cutoff.

Unlucky 13:
Anisimova
Strycova
Stephens
Collins
Gauff
Brady
Blinkova
Siniakova
Bouzkova
Davis
Pera
V.Williams
Kr.Pliskova

Blinkova is the last in the original 56, the rest are replacements that would be ineligible.

Strycova is a lock in doubles, Siniakova not so as Krejickova also in mix.

With only 4 months, and one slam left, the race will be interesting.

Sun Feb 02, 09:41:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Wimbledon '20. The ways things have been going... maybe Mugu vs. Coco? Worth considering.

As far as Debrecen, it sounds like they just *assumed* an awful lot without any good reason. Of course, the tour seems to make a habit of half-assing things that require a bit more attention to detail (i.e. all those *great* marketing campaigns... sorry, couldn't resist).

On the bright side: everyone got out Shenzhen just in the nick of time a few weeks ago. :\

Sun Feb 02, 02:25:00 PM EST  

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