Wednesday, September 09, 2020

US.10 - #39 at 38

When you're going up against the very "embodiment of 2020" at this year's U.S. Open, it helps to be THE Serena Williams.



Even after witnessing Tsvetana Pironkova come back after a three-year absence and immediately begin to do Tsvetana Pironkova sort of things all over again during the first week of this major -- i.e. knock off seeds -- the prospect of the 32-year old Bulgarian coming face to face today with #3 seed Williams felt like it *probably* meant her story would now come to an end, for in this meeting of tennis mothers the 38-year old stood a far better chance of reigning supreme and moving one round closer to tying the women's career slam singles title mark. While Pironkova, an oft-vexing-for-opponents Wimbledeon semifinalist a decade ago, had three slam wins over sister Venus in her past, Serena was 4-0 against her (though their last meeting was in 2015), and while Williams has seemed to slowly begin to pull her championship self together since the Restart, Pironkova had to struggle past Alize Cornet one round ago, was playing with a strapped thigh and had already complained of exhaustion.

But, in case you haven't noticed, 2020 has proven to be very adept at laughing in the face of our expectations. So one had to wait, just to see if "the crazy" was going to get another foothold in this reality.

At times it looked like it might, too.

While Williams opened the match with a service winner and back-to-back aces, it was Pironkova who arrived on Ashe fully ready to play her brand of tennis. It was the Bulgarian who took a break lead after firing a winner on break point to take a 3-2 lead. Come game #9, with Pironkova up 5-3, Serena had to save a pair of BP to avoid dropping the set then and there, finally securing the hold with an ace. Now serving for the set, Pironkova had an early double-fault (her first of the day), but followed it up with an ace one point later. A crosscourt winner allowed her to hold and win the 1st at 6-4.

If Williams was going to win she was going to have go to three sets for the eighth time in ten Restart matches, and for the third straight round at Flushing Meadows.



Pironkova again grabbed the lead in the 2nd, getting a BP chance with a backhand down the line and then seeing a shot skip off the net cord and elicit a long forehand response from Williams to end game #1. Williams immediately broke back, though, and while she had to struggle to hold in her next service game, taking a 40/15 lead but needing three aces to finally secure it, she managed to do so.

As Williams, much like Roger Federer, has reached her late thirties, it's no longer a given that a slow start from Serena will eventually be turned around en route to victory. Pressure and inconsistency, as well as supertalented young upstarts on the New York stage (of course), are large reasons why she's been stuck on 23 major titles for over three years now, after all. But even as Williams can see age 40 approaching just around the bend, there's still enough of the *other* Serena within her to far more often than not push the more recent (*somewhat* less dominant and competitively intimidating) version of herself out of the picture.

We saw that occur again today.

Seeking to attack Pironkova's second serve, Williams moved in for a return at 30/30 in game #4, but fired her response long. She did it again at deuce and reached BP. But a loose forehand shot let the moment slip away, as the Bulgarian held serve. Williams then held at love, and escaped a potentially sticky situation two games later when Pironkova failed to challenge at 30/30 what would have been a Serena DF. The resulting GP, rather than a BP, allowed Williams to quickly hold for 4-3. A game later, Williams' grip-the-throat-of-the-racket, lefty return reach shot surprisingly crossed the net and led to a Pironkova miss, giving Serena a love/30 lead.



On her second BP, Williams won a 24-shot rally that ended with another Pironkova error and service break that gave Serena the chance to serve out the set. She did, closing with an ace up the "T" to win 6-3.



The 3rd set likely turned in Serena's favor in the very first game. After Pironkova had saved a pair of BP, she reached game point. In another point extended with a lefty return from Williams (she often was caught leaning the wrong way on the Bulgarian's hard-to-read first serves during the match), Serena got to a lob and fired back a shot to the waiting Pironkova at the net, but she wasn't able to quite stretch far enough to complete a successful volley put-away. She ended up on her back, looking at the sky. Williams then broke serve on BP #3 with a Pironkova error.



Williams held the break lead throughout the set, then doubled it with a backhand crosscourt winner on BP #2 of the seventh game. Serving at 5-2, she held at love to win 4-6/6-3/6-2, denying Pironkova (and 2020, I guess) yet another win on this Wednesday.



Williams' 20 aces on the day are her most in eight years (yes, she won the U.S. Open in 2012, in case you were wondering).

Seventeen days from her 39th birthday, Serena will next play in her 39th career slam semifinal (the third most all-time in women's tennis, but still well behind Chris Evert's mark of 52). A 34th final would tie Evert's all-time standard, and Williams' eleventh U.S. Open final would break an all-time event tie with Molla Mallory, who stands two titles ahead of her (8 to 6, with Helen Wills in between w/ 7) for the overall U.S. national record.

But all of those would surely pale in comparison to that *other* number. You know.



=DAY 10 NOTES=
...in today's women's doubles semi, #3 Nicole Melichar & Xu Yifan defeated Asia Muhammad & Taylor Townsend in a 9-7 3rd set tie-break to reach the final. They'll face Laura Siegemund & Vera Zvonareva in an attempt to claim the first slam title of their careers. Melichar reached the 2018 Wimbledon WD final with Kveta Peschke, while Xu played in the SW19 '19 final alongside Gaby Dabrowski. New partners for 2020, Melichar/Xu won Adelaide in January, and played in the Western & Southern Open final in NYC just before the U.S. Open.



...tonight, the Vika Virtual Radio Silence continues as Victoria Azarenka gets the night match on Ashe against #16 Elise Mertens.

It's been *seven* years since Vika reached a slam semifinal. That was when she played in her second straight U.S. Open final in 2013, a moment which came at the end of a ten-slam stretch that saw her win two titles, play in two other finals and three semis. In all, she was 47-8 in those majors, accounting for 36% of her career wins in a now 50-major career.

Azarenka lost both those U.S. Open finals in three-set matches to Serena. The two met in Indian Wells a year ago, with Williams winning in straight sets in their first match since Azarenka's win over her in the Indian Wells final in 2016 in the first half of Vika's "Sunshine Double." Serena is 18-4 in the series, with ten meetings in slams (SW 10-0, with five three-setters).

Both semifinals are scheduled to be played on Thursday *night* (during the NFL opener and, on this end, also partially during a Nationals game), so we'll see how long it'll take me to get a post (the only one tomorrow, BTW) up about those tomorrow night. I'm guessing sometime around midnight (give or take).

...the wheelchair draw has been made, with play starting tomorrow.



While #1 seed Diede de Groot has been the overwhelmingly dominant women's WC star the last couple of years, she's actually *not* won two of the last three slam singles titles. She fell in the Wimbledon final to countrywoman Aniek Van Koot (who's not playing this U.S. Open) to end a 25-match s/d slam winning streak, and was shockingly upset in her opening match in Melbourne by Zhu Zhenzhen in her slam debut. Zhenzhen isn't in New York, either.

De Groot hasn't actually won an *official* wheelchair match in 2020, though she did take the crown at the Dutch National WC Championships in August in her return to the court.

De Groot opens with Brit Jordanne Whiley, finally making her first Open appearance since winning her only WC slam singles crown (she has ten in doubles) in New York in 2015 (pregnancy, the Paralympics and not getting a wild card spot last year have kept her out of each draw since). In the semis de Groot could face countrywoman and doubles partner Marjolein Buis, likely playing in her final U.S. Open after originally having been scheduled to retire at the end of '20 due to the ITF's change in WC eligibility rules to line up with the new guidelines installed by the Paralympics. Although, with the Paralympics delayed until 2021, I suppose it's possible that *everything* will be pushed back and that Buis could have the chance to carry out her career an additional season if she chooses. Buis faced de Groot in the Dutch Nationals singles final, and won the doubles with Michaela Spaanstra over de Groot & Jiske Griffioen. Neither Spaanstra nor Griffioen are in this Open.



AO champ Yui Kamiji is the #2 seed, and with a seemingly better draw than de Groot she might have an even *better* shot to reach the final. Like de Groot (2018-19), Kamiiji is a two-time U.S. Opens singles winner (2014,'17). De Groot leads their career series 16-14, including 5-2 in slams (all finals, the last two in NYC). De Groot is 12-3 vs. Kamiji since the start of 2018.

I'm not exactly sure how the WC rankings work, especially with the shutdown likely altering things, but de Groot enters this Open 1000 points ahead of Kamiji on the ITF computer. I'm *thinking* there's a chance Kamiji could reclaim the top ranking if she wins the title (and certainly if defending champ de Groot doesn't reach the final).

Buis & de Groot head up the four-team doubles draw, with AO champs Kamiji & Whiley the #2 seeds.

...in the tour-level event in Istanbul, qualifier Genie Bouchard got a 1st Round win over Viktoriya Tomova, and next faces #1 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. 2004 U.S. Open champ Kuznetsova begged off coming to New York, but she *is* ranked #34 on the computer (I really had no idea where she stood until I checked). If the Canadian (#272) were to win it'd be her biggest match victory (ranking-wise) since October 2018.



Also in Turkey, some 2020 U.S. Open achievers are in the MD. Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who saved MP in the 1st Round against Francesca Di Lorenzo before upsetting #12 Marketa Vondrousova and pushing #23 Yulia Putintseva to three sets in the the 3rd Round, defeated another Kazakh (Zarina Diyas) in the 1st Round in Istanbul. Meanwhile, Caroline Garcia, who toppled #1 seed Karolina Pliskova at Flushing Meadows, defeated Cagla Buyukakcay in her opening match in the tournament.






=WOMEN'S SINGLES QF=
#28 Jennifer Brady/USA def. #23 Yulia Putintseva/KAZ
#4 Naomi Osaka/JPN def. Shelby Rogers/USA
#3 Serena Williams/USA def. (PR) Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL
Victoria Azarenka/BLR def. #16 Elise Mertens/BEL

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF=
#3 Melichar/Xu (USA/CHN) def. Muhammad/Townsend (USA/USA)
(PR) Siegemund/Zvonareva (GER/RUS) def. Blinkova/V.Kudermetova (RUS/RUS)

=WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED v. Jordanne Whiley/GBR
Marjolein Buis/NED v. Dana Mathewson/USA
Angelica Bernal/COL v. (WC) Lucy Shuker/GBR
Momoko Ohtani/JPN v. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES=
#1 Buis/de Groot (NED/NED) v. Ohtani/Shuker (JPN/GBR)
Bernal/Mathewson (COL/USA) v. #2 Kamiji/Whiley (JPN/GBR)




LIKE ON DAY 10:

There was a great discussion between wheelchair legends today, but since it took place while Williams/Pironkova and the women's doubles semi were going on few people saw it live. It includes Brad Parks, the creator of competitive WC tennis, Aussie great David Hall and the incomparable Esther Vergeer.

Vergeer, after a very personal introductory message from Martina Navratilova (Banks' came from Billie Jean King, and Hall's from John Newcombe), specifically talks about being paralyzed at age 8 after surgery on blood vessels in her back, her decision to choose tennis over basketball when she went to college, when her tennis dreams truly took hold, and a discussion she had with Roger Federer regarding her 270-match winning streak, when her success was largely being taken for granted because it had become expected and everyone seemed to simply be "waiting for her to lose." Later, Hall (who tells some great, wonderfully descriptive stories throughout) calls Vergeer the greatest wheelchair player ever, and says she forever will be as such.




LIKE ON DAY 10:




WHEN THE WTA TOUR ENGAGES IN CLICKBAIT POSTS ON DAY 10:

(For now, until there's an actual *reason* to chronicle the (re)rise of Bouchard.)



This was the last of *seven* tweets the tour social media account posted on Twitter today during and after Bouchard's match. During a major, when you'd think they might have wanted to call a bit more attention to, you know, the day's upcoming U.S. Open quarterfinal matches.


REMINDER ON DAY 10:






Meanwhile, dangerous whackadoos are given credibility by association...




HISTORY & SHOES ON DAY 10:




HISTORY & BRAS ON DAY 10:




ORIGINAL 9 HISTORY ON DAY 10:




Hmmm... ON DAY 10:

And this means *what* exactly? As if we don't know.




CORNET DRAMA IN PRINT ON DAY 10:

[translated] "September 9, 2002 - Today, another of my childhood dreams comes true. I am so happy and proud to present my book "Without Compromise" now available in bookstores! I wrote it with all my heart, hope you like it"




WHEN THE SPORTS "COURTS" ALWAYS GET THINGS WRONG ON DAY 10:




(CLEARS THROAT) ON DAY 10:



Also (just sayin', since the links are always there)...



Remember, Norway was the nation Trump desired there to be more immigration from, rather than the "sh**hole countries."



A little more lighthearted with the music today.

First with "The Heart of Rock and Roll" from Huey Lewis and the News from 1983. I still know all the lyrics to this, with all the U.S. cities that get called out throughout.

"New York, New York, is everything they say
And no place that I'd rather be
Where else can you do a half a million things
All at a quarter to three"

Lewis and the band recently released what could be their final album due to his 2018 diagnosis with Meniere's disease, which affects the inner ear and can cause dizziness and hearing loss. He can no longer hear his own music as it actually sounds.



"DC, San Antone and the Liberty Town, Boston and Baton Rouge
Tulsa, Austin, Oklahoma City, Seattle, San Francisco, too
Everywhere there's music, real live music, bands with a million styles
But It's still that some old rock and roll music
That really, really drives 'em wild

They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating
And from what I've seen I believe 'em
Now the old boy may be barely breathing
But the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beating, yeah">


From 2010, Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A."...

"So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA"










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Vika is still Vika ?? @vichka35 #USOpen

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A new night & another name being highlighted.

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*2020 U.S. OPEN SEMIFINALISTS*
[by career slam SF]
39 - Serena Williams
8 - Victoria Azarenka
3 - Naomi Osaka
1 - Jennifer Brady
[by career US SF]
14 - Serena Williams
3 - Victoria Azarenka
2 - Naomi Osaka
1 - Jennifer Brady
[w/ consecutive slam SF]
none
[w/ consecutive US SF]
3 - Serena Williams (2018-20; 11 con. in 11 app. 2008-20)
[2020 slam SF - unseeded]
AO - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
US - Victoria Azarenka
[2020 1st-time GS SF]
AO - Sofia Kenin, USA (W)
US - Jennifer Brady, USA
[2020 slam SF]
2 - none
1 - AO (4): Barty,Halep,Kenin,Muguruza
1 - US (4): Azarenka,Brady,Osaka,S.Williams
[2020 slam SF - by nation]
3...USA (2) - Brady,S.Williams
1...AUS (0)
1...BLR (1) - Azarenka
1...ESP (0)
1...JPN (1) - Osaka
1...ROU (0)

*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMEN IN US OPEN SF, since 2000*
Unseeded - 2000 Elena Dementieva, RUS
Unseeded - 2009 Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
Unseeded - 2011 Angelique Kerber, GER
Unseeded - 2013 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
Unseeded - 2014 Peng Shuai, CHN
Unseeded - 2015 Roberta Vinci, ITA (RU)
Unseeded - 2016 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
Unseeded - 2017 Sloane Stephens, USA (W)
Unseeded - 2020 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Wild Card - 2009 Kim Clijsters, BEL (W)
#28 - 2020 Jennifer Brady, USA
#28 - 2011 Serena Williams, USA (RU)
#26 - 2015 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (W)
#20 - 2018 Naomi Osaka, JPN (W)
#20 - 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
#19 - 2018 Anastasija Sevastova, LAT
#19 - 2006 Jelena Jankovic,SRB
#17 - 2018 Serena Williams, USA (RU)
#17 - 2014 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
#15 - 2017 Madison Keys, USA (RU)
#15 - 2019 Bianca Andreescu, CAN (W)
#14 - 2018 Madison Keys, USA
#13 - 2019 Belinda Bencic, SUI
#12 - 2005 Mary Pierce, FRA (RU)
#12 - 2007 Venus Williams, USA

*RECENT US OPEN WOMEN'S SEMIFINALISTS*
10: Clijsters (W), Zvonareva (RU); V.Williams/Wozniacki
11: Stosur (W), S.Williams (RU); Kerber/Wozniacki
12: S.Williams (W), Azarenka (RU); Errani/Sharapova
13: S.Williams (W), Azarenka (RU); Li/Pennetta
14: S.Williams (W), Wozniacki (RU); Peng/Makarova
15: Pennetta (W), Vinci (RU); Halep/S.Williams
16: Kerber (W), Ka.Pliskova (RU); S.Williams/Wozniacki
17: Stephens (W), Keys (RU); Vandeweghe/V.Williams
18: Osaka (W), S.Williams (RU); Keys/Sevastova
19: Andreescu (W), S.Williams (RU); Bencic/Svitolina
20: Brady/Osaka; Azarenka/S.Williams

*U.S. OPEN "KIMIKO CUP" VETERAN WINNERS*
2015 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2016 Angelique Kerber, GER
2017 Venus Williams, USA
2018 Serena Williams, USA
2019 Serena Williams, USA
2020 Serena Williams, USA and Victoria Azarenka, BLR



I like this "unnamed semifinalists" bit... it worked a lot better than how it *usually* goes.


*2020 WTA SF*
4 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (4-0)
3 - Simona Halep, ROU (2-1)
3 - JENNIFER BRADY, USA (1-1) *
3 - NAOMI OSAKA, JPN (1-1) *
3 - Ash Barty, AUS (1-2)
2 - Sofia Kenin, USA (2-0)
2 - SERENA WILLIAMS, USA (1-0) *
2 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1-0+L)
2 - Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS (1-1)
2 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (1-1)
2 - Elise Mertens, BEL (1-1) [TO PLAY QF]
2 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (1-1)
2 - Heather Watson, GBR (1-1)
2 - Johanna Konta, GBR (0-2)
2 - Petra Martic, CRO (0-2)
2 - Kristyna Pliskova, CZE (0-2)
--
TO PLAY QF: Azarenka (1-0)

*CAREER SLAM SF - active*
39 - SERENA WILLIAMS (33-5) *
23 - Venus Williams (16-7)
16 - Kim Clijsters (8-8)
8 - Simona Halep (5-3)
7 - Victoria Azarenka (4-3) [to play QF]
7 - Angelique Kerber (4-3)
6 - Petra Kvitova (3-3)
[6 - Jelena Jankovic 1-5]
5 - Svetlana Kuznetsova (4-1)
5 - Garbina Muguruza (4-1)
5 - Samantha Stosur (2-3)
4 - Vera Zvonareva (2-2)
4 - Madison Keys (1-3)
3 - NAOMI OSAKA (2-0) *
3 - Sloane Stephens (2-1)
3 - Genie Bouchard (1-2)
3 - Sara Errani (1-2)
3 - Johanna Konta (0-3)
3 - Karolina Pliskova (1-2)
2 - Ash Barty (1-1)
2 - Sabine Lisicki (1-1)
2 - Alona Ostapenko (1-1)
2 - Timea Bacsinszky (0-2)
2 - Elina Svitolina (0-2)
2 - CoCo Vandeweghe (0-2)
1 - W=Andreescu, Kenin, Vondrousova
1 - BRADY (0-0) *
1 - L=Anisimova, Bencic, Bertens, Collins, Goerges, Flipkens, Mertens [to play QF], Peng, Petkovic, Pironkova, Sevastova, Strycova, Wickmayer

*ALL-TIME SLAM SF*
52 - Chris Evert
44 - Martina Navratilova
39 - SERENA WILLIAMS *
37 - Steffi Graf
36 - Margaret Court
26 - Billie Jean King
26 - Doris Hart
25 - Louise Brough
24 - Helen Jacobs
23 - Venus Williams

*ACTIVE SINGLES PLAYERS - FIRST SLAM FINAL*
1997 U.S. Open - Venus Williams
1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (W)
2001 Roland Garros - Kim Clijsters
2004 U.S. Open - Svetlana Kuznetsova (W)
[2008 U.S. Open - Jelena Jankovic]
2010 Roland Garros - Samantha Stosur
2010 Wimbledon - Vera Zvonareva
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova (W)
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka (W)
2012 Roland Garros - Sara Errani
2013 Wimbledon - Sabine Lisicki
2014 Roland Garros - Simona Halep
2014 Wimbledon - Genie Bouchard
2015 Wimbledon - Garbine Muguruza
2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber (W)
2016 U.S. Open - Karolina Pliskova
2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko (W)
2017 U.S. Open - Madison Keys
2017 U.S. Open - Sloane Stephens (W)
2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka (W)
2019 Roland Garros - Ash Barty (W)
2019 Roland Garros - Marketa Vondrousova
2019 U.S. Open - Bianca Andreescu (W)
2020 Australian Open - Sofia Kenin (W)

*FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT U.S. OPEN*
[Open Era]
1968 Virginia Wade, GBR
1979 Tracy Austin, USA
1990 Gabriela Sabatini, ARG
1998 Lindsay Davenport, USA
1999 Serena Williams, USA
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2005 Kim Clijsters, BEL
2011 Samantha Stosur, AUS
2015 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2017 Sloane Stephens, USA
2018 Naomi Osaka, JPN
2019 Bianca Andreesu, CAN
[reached first slam final at U.S., active players]
1997 Venus Williams, USA - 1st US MD
1999 Serena Williams, USA (W)
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (W)
[2008 Jelena Jankovic, SRB]
2016 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2017 Madison Keys, USA
2017 Sloane Stephens, USA (W)
2018 Naomi Osaka, JPN (W)
2019 Bianca Andreescu, CAN (W) - 1st US MD

*U.S. OPEN "LADY OF THE EVENING" WINNERS*
2010 Venus Williams, USA
2011 Samantha Stosur, AUS
2012 Serena Williams, USA
2013 Serena Williams, USA
2014 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2015 Serena Williams, USA & Venus Williams, USA
2016 Madison Keys, USA
2017 "The Late Show starring Madison Keys"
2018 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
2019 Serena Williams, USA
2020 Naomi Osaka, JPN

*PROTECTED RANKING in SLAM QF+ IN 32-SEED DRAW*
[began w/ 2001 Wimbledon]
2011 US - Serena Williams (#28 seed) [RU]
2017 WI - Magdalena Rybarikova [SF]
2017 US - Sloane Stephens [W]
2018 WI - Serena Williams (#25 seed) [RU]
2020 US - Tsvetana Pironkova [QF]

*RECENT WD SLAM CHAMPIONS*
[2017]
AO: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova (USA/CZE)
RG: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova (USA/CZE)
WI: Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina (RUS/RUS)
US: Latisha Chan/Martina Hingis (TPE/SUI)
[2018]
AO: Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)
RG: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (CZE/CZE)
WI: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (CZE/CZE)
US: Ash Barty/CoCo Vandeweghe (AUS/USA)
[2019]
AO: Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai (AUS/CHN)
RG: Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)
WI: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (TPE/CZE)
US: Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka (BEL/BLR)
[2020]
AO: Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)
US: ?

*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
US: ?



TOP QUALIFIER: DNP
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): Victoria Azarenka/BLR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #28 Jennifer Brady/USA
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: DNP
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Varvara Gracheva/RUS def. #30 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA 1-6/7-6(2)/6-0 (trailed 6-1/5-1, 4 MP)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): Nominee: 4r-Rogers d. #6 Kvitova 7-6(5)/3-6/7-6(6) - 4 MP saved
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: Nominee: 4r-Azarenka d. #20 Muchova 5–7/6–1/6–4 (Armstrong)
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #12 Marketa Vondrousova/CZE (def. Minnen/BEL)
FIRST SEED OUT: #32 Rebecca Peterson/SWE (1st Rd.-lost to Flipkens/BEL)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Bonaventure/BEL, Fernandez/CAN, Gracheva/RUS, Scott/USA, Tig/ROU
UPSET QUEENS: United States
REVELATION LADIES: Belarus (5-0 in 1st Rd.)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (0-5 1st Rd.; #1 Barty and former U.S. champ Stosur DNP)
CRASH & BURN: #1 Karolina Pliskova/CZE (2nd Rd.-Garcia; tied for second earliest exit by U.S. Open #1 seed)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Varvara Gracheva, RUS (2nd Rd.: down 6-1/5-1, 4 MP at 5-2 vs. Mladenovic)
IT ("TBD"): Nominees: tennis moms (Serena, Vika, Pironkova, Zvonareva, Whiley), (WD), (wheelchair)
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Brady, Azarenka, (wheelchair)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: DNP Q
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: CiCi Bellis/USA, Katrina Scott/USA and Sachia Vickery/USA (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: in SF: Brady, S.Williams
COMEBACK PLAYER: Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL (first event since '17 Wimb; to QF)
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Serena Williams/USA and Victoria Azarenka/BLR
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: Siegemund/Zvonareva, Melichar/Xu, (WC)
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Jennifer Brady/USA
BROADWAY-BOUND: "Three Moms and the QF" (Serena, Vika & Tsvetana in QF; first time three mothers in slam QF)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Naomi Osaka/JPN
JUNIOR UNDER 18 BREAKOUT: Katrina Scott/USA (16; slam debut as wild card, 1st Rd. win)
RG "Légion de Lenglen" HONOREE: U.S. OPEN SPECIAL: Madison Brengle/USA (chugs wine after 2nd Rd. victory)




Be Safe. All for Day 10. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:08 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

I was going to ask if Mertens is still looking for the license plate of the truck that hit her, but she gave a better performance than the score indicated.

Melichar is another player that played Team Tennis.

Wheelchair ranking probably won't change. Best 8 ranking, and only 800 pts for title. de Groot's AO result isn't counted since it was an early loss.

Ostrava(CZE) will get a Premier event in October. Was used in Fed Cup last year when Romania defeated them.

Time for Final Four numbers.

Rankings:
Osaka will be 3 with title, 4 with final.

Williams will be 4 or 5 with title.

Azarenka will be 11 with title, 14 with final.

Brady will be 13 with title, 17 or 18 with final.

3 former #1, and 3 former AO winners.

2 former USO winners, 3 finalists.

Brady would be the first US woman to win the Open since Stephens in 2017. First American since Kenin- 2020 Australian Open.

Williams would win her first slam since 2017 Australian Open. Would be her first US Open since 2014.

Osaka would be first Japanese woman to win Open since herself in 2018. Also last Japanese woman to win slam- 2019 Australian Open.

Azarenka would be first woman from Belarus to win US open. Would be first to win slam since herself- 2013 Australian Open.

H2H

Williams- Azarenka 18-4/11-4 on Hard
Osaka-Williams 2-1 all on Hard
Osaka-Azarenka 2-1/1-0 Azarenka on Hard
Brady-Osaka 1-1/1-0 Brady on Hard

Brady- Williams 0-0
Brady-Azarenka 0-0

Total wins on hard- last 3 years:

77-27 Osaka
73-40 Brady*
40-12 Williams
36-20 Azarenka

6-3 Brady ITF

Top 10 wins last 3 years:

11 Osaka
4 Williams
4 Azarenka- 2 on Hard
2 Brady

Brady's wins are both this year. 21 Top 10 wins, and Pliskova/Svitolina are 9 of those.

Going by current numbers, Osaka/Williams, but picking Osaka/Azarenka.

Osaka 60/40 over Brady. Osaka struggles more against players like Hsieh and Bencic than Brady and Williams. Brady can come to net, but would she be willing to do it 30 times? Unlikely, so Osaka is the favorite.

Azarenka 51/49 over Williams. Going on current form, Vika, though Serena's backhand looked better today than it has during the restart. Similar to last year's final vs Andreescu, a fast starting player vs someone who has been starting slow. As we know, even if Vika wins the first set, you have to be up two breaks in the second to be somewhat safe.



Thu Sep 10, 12:21:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Stat of the Day- 19- Amount of years since four slam winners reached US Open SF.

We had 3 this year, and it probably doesn't shock you that when it happened in 2001, the name Williams was involved.

8 former champs were in the draw, with Hingis, Capriati, Serena and Venus being the 4. If you looked at Todd's list of recent USO SF, you see the name Williams everywhere. Since 1997, either Serena or Venus has made the semi finals every year except 2003-2006. And they both missed 2003, plus Venus missed 2006.

Will there ever be another family, um, never mind, there won't be.

Thu Sep 10, 12:28:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Yeah, I wasn't sure about the WC rankings, or what their decisions were. Plus, they don't play nearly as many tournaments in a season as the average WTA player in even a normal year.

It would be "interesting" if de Groot is still #1 while being only the reigning champ at one major -- RG, with Kamiji possibly holding two titles if she were to win this week, and Van Koot one -- and maybe heading to Paris shockingly needing to win to avoid a singles slam title-less year.

Since I finally revealed by pre-Open final pick it surely won't happen now. :/

You might see a sibling dynamic similar to the McEnroes. One does all the "heavy lifting" in majors, while the other has one big run so they "combine" for a lot of SF/F. :)

Oh, and I saw that Barty isn't going to Europe, so I guess that answers that question. :/

Thu Sep 10, 10:42:00 AM EDT  

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