Thursday, October 08, 2020

RG.12- The Polish Octopus

What are they gonna do about Iga Swiatek? Well, at this Roland Garros, at least, maybe nothing. In fact, it's possible that they *can't* do anything.



Like a Polish octopus clad in all white, the 19-year old Swiatek has spent the last two weeks adroitly patrolling the baseline at this slam as if she's been doing it her entire life. With her limbs effortlessly stretching in all directions, seemingly no ball out of her reach, she's been firing back winning shots from all angles against all opponents from the outset. Five matches in, as she prepared to play her first career slam semifinal today in Paris against Argentinian qualifier Nadia Podoroska, she'd yet to lose a set and sent home both the #1 and #3 seeds in the event.

Swiatek has had it covered not only on the outside, but from the inside, as well, employing a sports psychologist who, based on the results, seems to have a pretty good idea about how to keep a teenage tennis player focused and on point in the very location where she'd failed to be either a year ago in her very first career big stage opportunity at Roland Garros, in the Round of 16 vs. Simona Halep. Swiatek won just one game that day. When she faced the top-seeded Romanian again in Paris two rounds ago, she allowed her '19 tormenter only three.

Swiatek hasn't looked back since. And she didn't today, either.

Right from the jump, even as Podoroska did anything *but* embarrass herself, Swiatek joined the proceedings in mid-stride. She broke serve for 2-0 lead, and comfortably held for 3-0. Podoroska managed to hold a BP chance in game #5, but Swiatek erased it to take a 4-1 lead. While the Argentine was able to hold off the Pole for a bit on serve in game #8, Swiatek finally broke on her third chance in the game to take the 1st set 6-2.



The beat continued in the 2nd, the same as the 1st. Swiatek broke for 2-0, and led 3-0. Podoroska got a rare break of the teenager's serve to pull within 4-1, but Swiatek immediately broke back a game later to give herself a chance to serve out the match. On MP, Podoroska couldn't get back Swiatek's big serve, ending the 6-2/6-1 match to send the teenager into her maiden slam final.



Swiatek is the first Pole to reach the final in Paris in the Open era, the first since Jadwiga Jedrzejowska in 1939, and just the third woman ever (w/ Aga Radwanksa, '12 Wimbledon) from Poland to do it. None have ever won, but Roland Garros' history as the "birthplace" of new champions says that that could change on Saturday. The last teenager to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen was Iva Majoli in 1997.



Eighteen first-time women's champions have been crowned in the Open era in Paris, including in each of the last four years (Muguruza, Ostapenko, Halep & Barty). Swiatek could make it five, while also trying to track down even more history if she could win in straight sets to become the first to do so since Justine Henin did it for a *second* straight year in 2007.



Well, they *do* have the white cap in common.





=DAY 12 NOTES=
...in the second semifinal, #4 Sofia Kenin and #7 Petra Kvitova faced off for the right to be the true "surprise" finalist at this Roland Garros (i.e. an honest-to-good *seeded* player, as seemingly none of the other 30 who began this Roland Garros had all that much staying power). The Czech was likely the "favorite" heading in, but it didn't take long for Kenin to upend that notion by doing, well, what she does.



Having determined the best way to challenge her opponent, namely try to avoid too much damage on her own second serves while taking the early initiative in rallies and trying to exploit Kvitova's movement on the clay by dragging her around the court as much as possible, Kenin was the better player throughout in the windy conditions on Chatrier, lifting her game on the match's biggest points and taking advantage of very nearly every small opportunity she was presented with.



On her first BP chance of the day, Kenin converted to take a 2-1 lead on the Czech, then broke serve again on her second BP chance two games later to take a double-break lead. Kvitova finally found a way into the set in game #6, getting one of the breaks back, then two games later saw a frustrated-with-herself Kenin miss on a short ball (she banged her racket on the net) to give the Czech a BP to get back on serve. But Kenin set the miss aside and went right back to work, saving the BP and holding for 5-3. Serving for the 1st set, Kenin fell behind love/30 but surged back to get the hold for 6-4. While Kenin was 2-for-2 in BP chances in the 1st, Kvitova was 1-for-4.



At 2-2 in the 2nd, on Kvitova's serve, a GP for the Czech was denied with Kenin's sneaky drop shot winner off a second serve return. Kenin soon reached BP, the first of the set. Her service return took Kvitova wide to her left, leaving an open court for Kenin to place her forehand to get the break. A game later, after the chair umpire called a let in the middle of a rally (with Kenin seemingly in good position) after a mid-point gust of wind blew a piece of paper across the backcourt, the game turned into something of an adventure, lasting twelve minutes and seeing Kenin save four BP (making Kvitova 1-for-9), the last with a flicked crosscourt winner off a drop shot from the Czech, before holding for 4-2.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Kenin fell down love/40. Kvitova finally converted for just the second time on eleven BP chances on the day to knot the set. With the prospect looming that the Czech might push the match to a 3rd, Kenin took a love/30 lead on Kvitova's serve, only to miss an easy shot that would have given her triple BP (she dropped her racket on the clay in response). But a deep shot at Kvitova's feet forced an error that gave Kenin double BP moments later. On the second BP, Kvitova's wide backhand gave Kenin (4-of-5 on BP) another shot to serve her way into the final.

Hitting multiple lines in a single rally, Kvitova reached BP in game #12, but an error off her racket soon wasted the chance. A pulled forehand gave Kenin a MP, and then another errant forehand (wide) ended the 6-4/7-5 match.



At the start of this Roland Garros, Kenin was nowhere near "the list" of potential winners of the title. She'd never reached a clay event QF, and was coming off a love & love loss in Rome (if you'd been told that *one* of the players in that match would definitely be in the RG final, what are the odds you'd have given Victoria Azarenka anything less than a 99% chance, if not more, of being the one?).

But here Kenin is. A "doer" in a field of what turned out to be mostly "don'ts."

Four years ago in Paris, Kenin (the #10 girls seed) and Swiatek (a qualifier) met in the 3rd Round of the RG junior competition. Swiatek won, by the same 6-4/7-5 score by which Kenin won today. Now they'll meet in the final at, respectively, 21 and 19 years of age, in the youngest women's championship match in Paris since a 21-year old Justine Henin defeated her 19-year old fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters for her very first RG title, and the first in any slam since 20-year olds Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic met to decide the 2008 Australian Open. Already with wins at this RG over the #1 seed (Halep) and '19 finalist (#15 Vondrousova), Swiatek now gets at shot at the Australian Open-winning #4, who'll try to make 2020 a *two*-major year for herself. One way or the other, the average age of this season's slam winners -- either 21.3 or 20.7 -- will be the lowest it's been in decades.

Yep, Generation PDG has got it goin' on.

...the junior semifinals were set today, with three of the Top 4 seeds advancing in very "un-2020" like fashion.

#2 Alexandra Eala (PHI), #3 Elsa Jacquemot (FRA) and #4 Polina Kudermetova (RUS) won, as did unseeded Hordette Alina Charaeva. Jacquemot is looking to the become the first Pastry to reach (or win) the RG girls final since Kristina Mladenovic in 2009, while a Russian hasn't won the juniors in Paris since Dasha Kasatkina in 2014. No player from the Philippines has ever won a girls junior slam crown.



...sure, it sounds like a broken record, but 2020 has been a low-down, no good, rotten year. But in this case I'm talking about the '20 campaign of Diede de Groot rather than about, well, you know, everything else.

After the most dominant non-Vergeer season in women's wheelchair history in 2019, the roller #1 (for now, at least) came into the season having heard the news that her mentor, the aforementioned Esther Vergeer, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Whether that played on her mind when she arrived Down Under or not, after nearly sweeping *all eight* slam titles a season ago, de Groot was shockingly dumped out by Zhu Zhengzhen in her WC slam debut at the Australian Open. Then de Groot failed to defend her doubles title, too.

Next came the shutdown, meaning that de Groot went into August without having posted even one singles victory in 2020. She won the Dutch National Championships event that was staged in August, then (even while fighting her own serve and error-prone game) *did* defend her U.S. Open singles title in New York (but lost in doubles again). Yesterday, de Groot barely escaped her 1st Round match with Jordanne Whiley in Paris, but today she wasn't so lucky.



In her semifinal match with Momoko Ohtani, de Groot was *again* knocked out of a slam competition before the singles final, losing 7-5/6-4. Not unexpectedly, she again had a high (though lower than last round) DF count of 9, and her 36% first serve win percentage (w/ 25% on her second) pretty much tells a story on its own. De Groot dropped serve ten times in the match.

#2-seeded Yui Kamiji, who won the AO when de Groot went out (but lost to her in the U.S. final), didn't have such difficulty, defeating Aniek Van Koot 6-2/6-2 to set up the first all-Japanese slam final in wheelchair tennis history.

(via ITF website) “I’m very excited for her,” Kamiji said of Ohtani. “Her second time playing a Grand Slam and she is already in the final. And I’m very excited to play against her – we’ve already played a few matches, and she always does well. She makes many balls and hits deep, so it will be fun to watch I think.”

They've yet to begin the doubles, and now that competition will once again have to serve as a possible consolation prize for de Groot. But with Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley, who've already won the AO and U.S. titles, in the draw *that* is far from a given, and probably isn't even likely.

Meanwhile, to give an example of the lacking (and often tardy) social media accounts being run by the tournament at this slam, the official RG Instagram posted this hours *after* de Groot had lost to Ohtani, never even mentioning the result (leading at least one commenter to offer DdG "good luck" in the event in which she'd already lost).






=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
Iga Swiatek/POL v. #4 Sofia Kenin/USA


=WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF=
#14 Guarachi/Krawczyk (CHI/USA) v. Melichar/Swiatek (USA/POL)
#4 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) v. #2 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)


=GIRLS SINGLES SF=
Alina Charaeva/RUS v. #4 Polina Kudermetova/RUS
#3 Elsa Jacquemot/FRA v. #2 Alexandra Eala/PHI


=GIRLS DOUBLES SF=
Bouzas Maneiro/Grant (ESP/URU) v. #6 M.Bondarenko/Shnaider (RUS/RUS)
Alvisi/Pigato (ITA/ITA) v. #2 Bartone/Selekhmeteva (LAT/RUS)


=WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
Momoko Ohtani/JPN v. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN


=WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES=
#1 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot (NED/NED) v. KJ Montjane/Momoko Ohtani (RSA/JPN)
Marjolein Buis/Charlotte Famin (NED/FRA) v. #2 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley (JPN/GBR)






...So, we're supposed to be "shocked" by any of this at this point? Hardly... ON DAY 12:


...LIKE ON DAY 12:


...JEFF GOLDBLUM (or "BrundleFly") FOR PRESIDENT ON DAY 12:





...OH, NADIA ON DAY 12:


...LIKE ON DAY 12:


...LIKE ON DAY 12:







Suzanne Lenglen (LOC)











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A Grande Esfinge de Tanis! A esfinge é uma criatura fabulosa com corpo de leão e cabeça de rei. Este foi sucessivamente inscrito com os nomes dos faraós Ammenemes II (12ª Dinastia, 1929-1895 AC), Merneptah (19ª Dinastia, 1212-02 AC) e Shoshenq I (22ª Dinastia, 945-24 AC). De acordo com os arqueólogos, certos detalhes sugerem que esta esfinge data de um período anterior - o Reino Antigo (c. 2600 aC). Saiba mais dicas no meu blog! Acesse o post: https://www.roteirosemfamilia.com.br/post/dia-3-roteiro-paris-museu-do-louvre Great Sphinx of Tanis! The sphinx is a fabulous creature with the body of a lion and the head of a king. This one was successively inscribed with the names of the pharaohs Ammenemes II (12th Dynasty, 1929-1895 BC), Merneptah (19th Dynasty, 1212-02 BC) and Shoshenq I (22nd Dynasty, 945-24 BC). According to archaeologists, certain details suggest that this sphinx dates to an earlier period - the Old Kingdom (c. 2600 BC). #sphinx #greatsphinx #greatsphinxoftanis #egipt #history #egipthistory #museum #louvre #louvremuseum #museedulouvre #art #travel #paris #france

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kosova-font

*SLAM WOMEN'S SINGLES FINALISTS - POLAND*
1937 Wimbledon - Jadwiga Jedrzejowska
1937 U.S. - Jadwiga Jedrzejowska
1939 Roland Garros - Jadwiga Jedrzejowska
2012 Wimbledon - Aga Radwanska
2020 Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek

*2020 WTA FINALS*
5 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (1-4)
3 - Simona Halep, ROU (3-0)
3 - SOFIA KENIN, USA (2-0)
2 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (2-0)
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (1-0+L)
2 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (1-1)
2 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (0-1+W)

*2018-20 WTA FINALS*
12 - 6/3/3...Simona Halep, ROU (7-5)
10 - 3/6/1...Ash Barty, AUS (7-3)
10 - 5/4/1...Petra Kvitova, CZE (7-3)
10 - 3/5/2...Karolina Pliskova, CZE (7-3)
10 - 4/5/1...Kiki Bertens, NED (6-4)
9 - 4/4/1...Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (6-3)
8 - 3/3/2...Naomi Osaka, JPN (5-2+L)
7 - 0/4/3...SOFIA KENIN, USA (5-1)
7 - 4/1/2...Elina Svitolina, UKR (6-1)
7 - 0/2/5...Elena Rybakina, KAZ (2-5)
6 - 3/3/0...Julia Goerges, GER (3-3)
6 - 2/3/1...Serena Williams, USA (1-5)

*SLAM SINGLES FINALS - active*
[AO-RG-WI-US]
33 / 23-10...Serena Williams [7-1, 3-1, 7-4, 6-4]
16 / 7-9...Venus Williams [0-2, 0-1, 5-4, 2-2]
8 / 4-4...Kim Clijsters [1-1, 0-2, -, 3-1]
5 / 2-3...Simona Halep [0-1, 1-2, 1-0, -]
5 / 2-3...Victoria Azarenka [2-0, -, -, 0-3]
4 / 3-1...Angelique Kerber [1-0, -, 1-1, 1-0]
4 / 2-2...Svetlana Kuznetsova [-, 1-1, -, 1-1]
4 / 2-2...Garbine Muguruza [0-1, 1-0, 1-1, -]
3 / 3-0...Naomi Osaka [1-0, -, -, 2-0]
3 / 2-1...Petra Kvitova [0-1, -, 2-0, -]
2 / 1-0...SOFIA KENIN [1-0, 0-0*, -, -]
2 / 1-1...Sloane Stephens [-, 0-1, -, 1-0]
2 / 1-1...Samantha Stosur [-, 0-1, -, 1-0]
2 / 0-2...Vera Zvonareva [-, -, 0-1, 0-1]

*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)
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)
2002 Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek

*FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT ROLAND GARROS - Open era*
1971 Evonne Goolagong, AUS
1974 Chris Evert, USA
1976 Sue Barker, GBR
1977 Mima Jausovec, SLO
1978 Virginia Ruzici, ROU
1987 Steffi Graf, GER
1989 Arantxa Sanchez, ESP
1990 Monica Seles, YUG
1997 Iva Majoli, CRO
2003 Justine Henin, BEL
2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2011 Li Na, CHN
2016 Garbine Muguruza, ESP
2017 Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2018 Simona Halep, ROU
2019 Ash Barty, AUS
--
NOTE: Ann Haydon-Jones won first career slam at '61 Roland Garros, before Open era began in '68
NOTE: Ostapenko '17 only unseeded RG champ in Open era

*UNSEEDED RG FINALISTS IN OPEN ERA*
1971 Helen Gourlay, AUS
1976 Renata Tomanova, TCH
1977 Florenta Mihal, ROU
1983 Mima Jausovec, YUG
2017 Alona Ostapenko, LAT (W)
2019 Marketa Vondrousova, CZE
2020 Iga Swiatek, POL

*RECENT EARLY-CAREER SLAM BREAKOUTS - SF+*
2014: Bouchard to AO SF (4th career GS MD, age 19)
2014: Bouchard to WI Final (6th career GS MD, age 20)
2017: Ostapenko wins RG (8th career GS MD, age 20)
2018: Osaka wins U.S. (11th career GS MD, age 20)
2019: Collins to AO SF (6th career GS MD, age 25)
2019: Anisimova to RG SF (4th career GS MD, age 17)
2019: Vondrousova to RG SF (9th career GS MD, age 20)
2019: Andreescu wins U.S. (4th career GS MD, age 19)
2020: Kenin wins AO (12th career GS MD, age 21)
2020: Podoroska to RG SF (2nd career GS MD, age 23)
2020: Swiatek in RG Final (7th career GS MD, age 19)

*RECENT TEEN SLAM CHAMPS*
1997 Martina Hingis, SUI - AO (16) - W
1997 Iva Majoli, CRO - RG (19) - W
1997 Martina Hingis, SUI - WI (16)
1997 Martina Hingis, SUI - US (16)
1998 Martina Hingis, SUI - AO (17)
1999 Martina Hingis, SUI - AO (18)
1999 Serena Williams, USA - US (17) - W
2004 Maria Sharapova , RUS - WI (17) - W
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS - US (19) - W
2006 Maria Sharapova, RUS - US (19)
2019 Bianca Andreescu, CAN - US (19) - W
[teen slam finalists since 2000]
2000 AO - Martina Hingis, SUI (19)
2001 RG - Kim Clijsters, BEL (18)
2001 WI - Justine Henin, BEL (19)
2001 US - Serena Williams, USA (19)
2003 RG - Kim Clijsters, BEL (19) (19y,364d)
2004 WI - Maria Sharapova, RUS (17) - W
2004 US - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (19) - W
2006 US - Maria Sharapova, RUS (19) - W
2007 AO - Maria Sharapova, RUS (19)
2009 US - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (19)
2019 RG - Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (19)
2019 US - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (19) - W
2020 RG - Iga Swiatek, POL (19)

*FRENCH RG GIRLS CHAMPIONS*
1953 Christine Brunon
1954 Beatrice De Chambure
1956 Elaine Launey
1960 Francois Durr
1963 Monique Salfati
1964 Nicole Seghers
1966 Odile De Roubin
1983 Pascale Paradis
1988 Julie Halard
1995 Anne Cocheteux
1996 Amelie Mauresmo
2000 Virginie Razzano
2007 Alize Cornet
2009 Kristina Mladenovic
[finalists]
1953 Beatrice De Chambure
1954 Colette Monnot
1955 C.Baumgarten
1956 Janine Lieffrig
1957 C.Seghers
1958 S.Galtier
1960 Francois Durr
1961 F.Courteix
1963 Monique Salfati
1964 Nicole Seghers
1966 Marion Cristiani
1969 Anne-Marie Cassaigne
1971 Florence Guedy
1999 Stephanie Foretz

*SLAM GIRLS SINGLES FINALS - ASIAN NATIONS*
1952 Wimbledon - Rita Davar, IND (RU)
1969 Roland Garros - Kazuko Sawamatsu, JPN (W)
1969 Wimbledon - Kazuko Sawamatsu, JPN (W)
1983 Wimbledon - Patricia Hy, HKG (RU)
1993 US Open - Yuka Yoshida, JPN (RU)
1994 Wimbledon - Jeon Mi-ra, KOR (RU)
1995 Wimbledon - Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA (RU)
1998 Australian Open - Wynne Prakusya, INA (RU)
1999 Wimbledon - Iroda Tulyagnova, UZB (W)
2002 Roland Garros - Angelique Widjaja, INA
2008 Wimbledon - Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA (RU)
2009 Wimbledon - Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA (W)
2010 Wimbledon - Sachie Ishizu, JPN (RU)
2018 Australian Open - Liang En-shuo, TPE (W)
2018 US Open - Wang Xiyu, CHN (W)

*SOVIET/RUSSIAN JUNIOR SLAM WINNERS*
[USSR]
1965 Wimbledon - Olga Morozova
1971 Roland Garros - Elena Granatourova
1971 Wimbledon - Marina Kroshina
1975 Wimbledon - Natasha Chmyreva
1975 US Open - Natasha Chmyreva
1976 Wimbledon - Natasha Chmyreva
1986 Wimbledon - Natalia Zvereva
1987 Roland Garros - Natalia Zvereva
1987 Wimbledon - Natalia Zvereva
1987 US Open - Natalia Zvereva
[Russia]
1998 Roland Garros - Nadia Petrova
1999 Wimbledon - Lina Krasnoroutskaya
2002 Wimbledon - Vera Dushevina
2002 US Open - Maria Kirilenko
2006 Australian Open - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2006 US Open - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2007 Australian Open - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2009 Australian Open - Ksenia Pervak
2010 US Open - Dasha Gavrilova
2014 Australian Open - Elizaveta Kulichkova
2014 Roland Garros - Dasha Kasatkina
2015 Wimbledon - Sofya Zhuk
2016 Wimbledon - Anastasia Potapova





TOP QUALIFIER: Mayar Sherif/EGY (first EGY woman in slam MD)
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #25 Amanda Anisimova/USA (lost 4 games)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Iga Swiatek/POL (no sets lost; def. #1 Halep)
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: #17q Barbara Haas/AUT def. Diana Snigur/UKR 6-0/5-7/7-5 [Haas led 6-0/5-0 40/30, then DF; won on 4th MP on 5th attempt to serve out match]
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd.- (Q) Clara Tauson/DEN def. #21 Jennifer Brady/USA - 6-4/3-6/9-7 (17/slam debut; saved 2 MP, wins on MP #5)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - Caroline Garcia/FRA def. #16 Elise Mertens/BEL - 1-6/6-4/7-5 (night match on Chatrier)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Kamilla Rakhimova/RUS (def.Rogers/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #17 Anett Kontaveit/EST (1st Rd./Garcia)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Bara/ROU, Burel/FRA, Paolini/ITA, Podoroska/ARG, Rakhimova/RUS, Tauson/DEN, Trevisan/ITA, Zarazua/MEX
UPSET QUEENS: Australia
REVELATION LADIES: Romania
NATION OF POOR SOULS: United States (4 of 7 seeds failed to reach 3r, Serena w/d 2r, US QF/SF Rogers & Brady 1r, Venus 1r, Gauff 2r w/ 19 DF)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Nadia Podoroska/ARG (SF) [LL Sharma-2nd Rd.]
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Genie Bouchard/CAN, Clara Burel/FRA, Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL (all 3rd Rd.)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Gavrilova/AUS (2r), AK.Schmiedlova/SVK (3r)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Fiona Ferro and Carolina Garcia (4th Rd.)
Mademoiselle OPPORTUNITY: Iga Swiatek/POL
IT "New Dane on the Block": Clara Tauson/DEN
COMEBACK PLAYERS: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK (had 12 con slam MD L; def. Venus & Vika) and Alona Ostapenko/LAT (had zero RG wins since '17 title; def. #2 Ka.Pliskova 2nd Rd.)
CRASH & BURN: 2020 U.S. Open semifinalists (Osaka DNP; Brady out 1st Rd., Serena w/d 2nd Rd., Azarenka upset 2nd Rd. within 24 hrs. on Day 3/4)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: Kiki Bertens/NED (2nd Rd.: injured; Errani up a break 5 times in 3rd, served for match 3 times, 1 MP at 6-5; 3:11; collapses and wheeled off court after 9-7 win)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYERS (KIMIKO CUP): Laura Siegemund/GER (32; first slam QF) and Petra Kvitova/CZE (30; first RG semi since '12)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Martina Trevisan/ITA
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
Légion de Lenglen HONOREE: Court Chatrier roof (+night tennis) debuts
Coupe LA PETIT TAUREAU: Simona Halep/ROU [not able to be awarded on LPT Day/June 1, Justine Henin's birthday -- but Halep wins on Day 1 on *her* own birthday]




All for Day 12. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:50 PM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Swiatek's doubles match is second?

Kenin/Pliskova was a high quality match. Seemingly, Pliskova had 8 or 9 chances to even the match, but Kenin kept winning those points.

Swiatek/Podoroska had a different feel. Felt like it was 3-0 before Podoroska got into the match. Still wasn't enough.

Picking Swiatek, but match should feel like Kenin/Collins. Lots of grinding and break points saved.

Winning 2 slams in any year is big. If Kenin does this pre and post pandemic? She would go on the potential 6-8 slam list.

Even though it is about translation, seeing simple dames on the scoreboard seems weird.

This is Swiatek's 17th WTA MD. So her ranking is almost pure.

Wimbledon 2021 will be nuts. Due to injurys, and a pandemic, we will have 3 recent slam finalists (Andreescu, Vondrousova, Swiatek) with a total of 1 MD win on grass.

Andreescu is guaranteed a seed with US Open points still on, Swiatek & Vondrousova won't as both will lose their points in June, if RG plays in normal spot.

Kenin has already won an event on grass.

Serena-107, plus Venus-96, may have more grass wins than the other 126 combined.

Stat of the Day - 386 - Career high ranking for Francesca La'o.

If you don't know who she is, you probably eventually will hear of her because of somebody else. She achieved the highest ranking in history for a woman from the Philippines.

That seems low, but there isn't much history. Mainly a regional player in Asia, her career highlights include reaching a 25K QF in Vancouver, plus winning a round in Auckland qualifying back in 1994, losing to Mercedes Paz, who went on to win doubles with Patricia Hy.

She also has 17 Fed Cup(BJK) wins, leaving her 5th on their list. Their leader Anna Clarice Patrimonio has 30, and currently plays, but doesn't have a WTA ranking.

Why is this relevant? Even in a shortened season, Tauson, Fernandez, and Snigur have moved up the rankigs. And if Alexandra Eala wins the juniors, it is likely she, even with limited opportunities, could top than ranking.

A lefty in the mold of Fernandez, it will be interesting to see her development.

Thu Oct 08, 08:05:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

That is kind of strange. Maybe it has something to do with Mladenovic being in the other semi (at 11am), and them not wanting it to still be active when the men's semis start at 250pm, maybe?

But, then again, I haven't understood much of the scheduling at this RG, from so many of the women's matches through the QF opening the day's schedule, including having both Kvitova and Pliskova having "dueling Czech" matches to start a day last week, etc.

I don't remember any other major continuing to start so many big matches so early in the day as late in the tournament as this one has. Usually it's just the first few rounds, then a doubles match is inserted in the first slot in the day's order of play. But this slam *is* dealing with different weather, at a different time of the year, and with a different fan situation to consider.

Haha on the "dames." ;)

Fri Oct 09, 01:54:00 AM EDT  

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