Sunday, March 07, 2021

Wk.6- The Czech Stands Alone

For the first time in nearly two years, Petra Kvitova is a WTA singles champion.










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*WEEK 6 CHAMPIONS*
DOHA, QATAR (WTA 500/Hardcourt Outdoor)
S: Petra Kvitova/CZE def. Garbine Muguruza/ESP 6-2/6-1
D: Nicole Melichar/Demi Schuurs (USA/NED) d. Monica Niculescu/Alona Ostapenko (ROU/LAT) 6-2/2-6 [10-8]
LYON, FRANCE (WTA 250/Hardcourt Indoor)
S: Clara Tauson/DEN def. Viktoriya Golubic/SUI 6-4/6-1
D: Viktoria Kuzmova/Arantxa Rus (SVK/NED) d. Genie Bouchard/Olga Danilovic (CAN/SRB) 3-6/7-5 [10-7]


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Petra Kvitova/CZE




...the 30-year old Czech's Doha title run ends a drought that extended back to April 2019 (Stuttgart), as her nine-year run of at least one tour title in a season (tied for ninth-best in WTA history) came to an end in 2020. Doha has been a site of success for Kvitova before, as she'd already had won a previous title in the event (2018) as well as reached another final (a '20 loss to Sabalenka).

After a tournament opening win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Kvitova defeated Anett Kontaveit in three sets for her first three-set victory since *last* year's Doha semis (over Barty, her third going-the-distance win that week). The victory ended a rare four-match losing streak in three-set matches (0-2 in '21) for Kvitova (aka "P3tra"). She followed up the win by not losing another set all week, taking out Jessica Pegula in the semis and Garbine Muguruza in her 38th career tour final (a rematch of the '18 Doha championship match) in straight sets.

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RISER: Jessica Pegula/USA
...AO quarterfinalist Pegula had to go through qualifying to reach the Doha MD, getting her final win over Anastasia Potapova in an 8-6 3rd set TB after the Russian had rallied from 3-0 and GP down in the final set to take a 5-3 lead. Once on safe ground, the 27-year old Bannerette produced her biggest career semifinal run in the 500 level event, knocking off Wang Qiang, Alona Ostapenko and #6 Karolina Pliskova, the latter her Top 10 victory follow up to her biggest career win over #5 Elina Svitolina in the Round of 16 in Melbourne.

Pegula lost in the semis to Petra Kvitova, matching her defeat (though she won eight games this time, rather than seven) at the hands of the Czech in their only previous meeting in last year's U.S. Open 3rd Round. Pegula will break into the Top 40 for the first time on the back of this result.

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SURPRISE: Viktoriya Golubic/SUI
...a week after fellow Swiss Belinda Bencic reached the Adelaide final and Jil Teichmann the semis, Golubic followed suit in Lyon with a qualifier-to-finalist run in Doha, her first on tour since reaching the Linz final (indoors just like this week) in 2016.



The 28-year old, who hadn't recorded a tour-level MD win since her September '19 Guangzhou semifinal result (she hadn't even reached a WTA QF), posted MD wins this week over Vera Lapko, Caroline Garcia, and Greet Minnen before winning a 3rd set TB over Fiona Ferro to reach the final.

Golubic had arrived in Lyon having gone 12-2 in 2021 ITF events (and 1-1 in AO qualifying), a stretch that included semifinal, runner-up and champion results in a trio of $25K challengers this year. She'd opened her season by reaching the final of an event in Fujairah, UAE where she'd faced (and lost to) a young Dane named Clara Tauson. Wouldn't you know it that Tauson would be waiting for Golubic in the final in Lyon, as well.

Their January meeting produced a three-set win for Tauson, while this one was claimed by the teenager in quicker fashion, 6-4/6-1, though it took the Dane six MP to finally put Golubic away to claim her maiden tour title.

Coming in at #129, Golubic will nearly climb back into the Top 100 this week, landing at #102. The Swiss' last Top 100 ranking was in February of last year.
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VETERAN: Garbine Muguruza/ESP
...Muguruza has been in fine form for much of 2021, but thus far has little to nothing to show for it.

The Spaniard reached the final of the Yarra Valley event in Melbourne without dropping a set, taking out her '20 AO final conqueror Sofia Kenin along the way, only to lose there in straights to Ash Barty. In the Australian Open, Muguruza came as close as anyone to ending Naomi Osaka's run, only to fail to secure either of two MP in their Round of 16 meeting. This week in Doha, even with coach Conchita Martinez quarantined due to a positive COVID test, she posted wins over Veronika Kudermetova, defending champ Aryna Sabalenka (in a 3-set thriller) and Maria Sakkari (a breezy 3 & 1) to reach the SF, where she got a walkover from the injured Victoria Azarenka to reach her fourteenth career WTA final.

But once there, with the potential for claiming her biggest title since Cincinnati in 2017 (and first win of any kind since Monterrey nearly two years ago), Muguruza proved to be little match for Petra Kvitova in a rematch of the '18 final (also won by the Czech), losing 2 & 1.

Already with a tour-leading twelve wins (12-4) in '21, Muguruza is so far title-less, *just* missed out on her biggest win in ages and hasn't even managed to improve her ranking (she ended '20 at #15, and fell to #16 last week after Iga Swiatek moved ahead of her with her Adelaide win). She's seemed in command of her game, and her nerves (mostly), and maybe that'll result in the sort of tangible accomplishments that will make her current campaign a truly sparkling one. Ultimately.

A week into March, though, her season has "Mugu-ed" one way (and then the other, often at the last moment) just enough to continue to make "to Mugu" a thing that is both exhilarating *and* frustrating for all those who've Mugu-ed along with Muguruza for what now seems like too many seasons to count.
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COMEBACKS: Paula Badosa/ESP and Vania King/USA
...2021 is finally looking up for the 23-year old Spaniard. After opening her season in Abu Dhabi with wins over Anastasija Sevastova and Alize Cornet (then losing in three to V.Kudermetova), Badosa was stuck in a 21-day hard lockdown in Melbourne after testing positive for COVID. Once she "escaped," she lost in the AO 1st Round to another Russian, Liudmila Samsonova in a 6-7/7-6/7-5 match.

In Lyon, Badosa saw her luck turn when (first, no Russians, then...) she outlasted wild card Harmony Tan in her opening match, winning despite blowing a 3-1 lead in the 3rd set and actually being out-pointed by the Pastry (by 14 points!) for the match. Wins over Stefanie Voegele and Kristina Mladenovic got Badosa into her third career tour semifinal (first not on clay), where she became the latest victim of Danish teen Clara Tauson.

Badosa will inch up three spots to #70 in the new rankings, just three away from her career high.



Meanwhile, in a week in which Elena Vesnina (for the first time since 2018) and Sania Mirza (for the first time since early last year) both made their returns to the doubles court, so did the recently-retired Vania King in the $25K Newport Beach challenger. Though the success included just a few wins for the other two returning vets, King actually went home with a title.

2020 was supposed to include King's farewell tour as she headed into retirement after having recovered from ankle surgery. She'd announced that Charleston would be her final tournament, with her playing with old friend Yaroslava Shvedova (which whom she won two WD slams in '10). Then COVID happened. During the shutdown, with the future uncertain, she announced her official retirement.

But it's 2021, and it appears that King is going to give her planned farewell one more try. Teaming up with Maegan Manasse, the 32-year old appeared in her first doubles draw since last March. After winning a match tie-break to advance in the 1st Round, the duo never lost, finally taking the title with a 6-4/6-2 win over Emina Bektas & Tara Moore.

This doesn't appear to be any sort of open ended comeback (King said she's back "for a quick minute"), but this (and maybe a WC in a tour event in the U.S., possibly w/ the also returned Shvedova, for a belated *real* goodbye to the sport?) is at least one more chance to remember King's underappreciated career, which included those two majors, a WTA singles title (back in '06) at age 17 (she reached #50), and fifteen tour-level doubles crowns (she ranked as high as #3).

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FRESH FACES: Clara Tauson/DEN and Clara Burel/FRA
...it was a virtual Clara Party for a pair of former junior #1's in Lyon.



Already a two-time winner on the ITF circuit in '21, 18-year old Tauson stepped things up quite a bit with her maiden tour-level title run in Lyon, an accomplishment pulled off in just her third career WTA MD (her first since last year's RG) and done so without losing a set. The Dane won all fourteen sets she played while making her way through qualifying all the way to the trophy ceremony, joining the short list of Iga Swiatek (RG/Adelaide) and Jennifer Brady (Lexington) as tour champions who've posted spotless marks since the start of 2020.

Tauson's MD run began with an upset of top-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in the 1st Round. It was her second Top 50 win, joining her star-turn performance as a "Danish Pastry" last fall in Paris when she opened her slam career by knocking off the seeded U.S. Open semifinalist (and soon-to-be AO finalist) Brady. Rather than fall off after that result, the big-hitting Tauson only got stronger. Down went Timea Babos next, with an ace on MP, to reach her first WTA QF, then Camila Giorgi (another Top 100 win, sealed with another ace on MP) to reach her maiden SF, and Paula Badosa (*another* Top 100 victory, though w/o the MP ace) to reach the final and then, on Sunday, fellow qualifier Viktoriya Golubic in the championship match to join retired fellow Dane Caroline Wozniacki as a tour-level singles champion. Tauson had also defeated Golubic in the final to win a $25K crown in January. With her Lyon run combined with a challenger win in an indoor ITF event in mid-February, Tauson's winning streak is currently at eleven matches.

The former junior #1 and girls slam champ ('19 AO), who came into the week at #139, will burst into the Top 100 this week at #96.

Meanwhile, former junior #1 Burel, 19, will break into the Top 200 (#181) with her maiden tour-level QF result. The French wild card upset the likes of Alize Cornet and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the latter via a love 3rd set, to set up a clash with countrywoman Fiona Ferro in their first career match-up. Ferro won in three, staging a comeback after Burel had claimed the 1st. It was Burel's 17th three-set match in her 29 outings since last year's Restart. She's gone 10-7 in those matches, winning the opening set twelve times (going 7-5).

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DOWN: Amanda Anisimova/USA and Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...Anisimova has played just one match since October, in a $25K challenger in Orlando in February (a three-set win over Robin Montgomery, which was followed by a walkover). She tested positive for COVID in Abu Dhabi in January, causing her to miss that season-opening event *and* the Australian Open, but had been scheduled to play this week in Doha. But a fall on the stairs injured her ankle, leading to her withdrawal from the event, leaving her still without a tour match in 2021.

The former RG semifinalist (2019), still just 19, started her '20 season with a semifinal result in Auckland, but was just 8-8 (w/ no QF) the remainder of the year.

Meanwhile, Rybakina fell in three sets in the 1st Round in Doha to Laura Siegemund, losing a pair of tie-breaks to the German vet. Rybakina is 0-3 in TB/MTB this season after having gone 8-6 in her breakout '20 campaign.

At this time last year, Rybakina was already 21-4 with four final appearances. So far in '21 she's 4-4, has lost four of her last five matches, and is 5-7 overall since reaching the Strasbourg final (her tour-leading fifth last season) in September.
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ITF PLAYER: Weronika Falkowska/POL
...20-year old Falkowska claimed her third straight challenger title in the $15K event held in Monastir, Turkey, running her winning streak to fifteen matches and her consecutive sets won string to twenty-two. The Pole has gone 34-7 since mid-October, reaching five finals. This week, Falkowska knocked off three seeds -- including #1 Laura Pigossi in the semis -- en route to the title, taking the crown with a 6-3/7-6(1) victory over Austrian Sinja Kraus in the final.

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JUNIOR STARS: Oceane Babel/FRA and Erika Andreeva/RUS
...French junior tennis has been producing new champions like macarons in a Paris pastry shop, and now Babel has added her name to the menu.



At the Grade A Banana Bowl in Brazil, a tournament put into "supersonic" mode when it was declared that the event's 32-player Q-tournament *and* main draw would have to be completed from Monday to Friday due to local lockdown rules that would prevent weekend play, 17-year old Babel (girls #18) grabbed her biggest career title by far (two Grade 5 wins), winning a pair of 3rd set match tie-breaks (2nd Rd./SF) before defeating Slovakia's Bianca Behulova 7-6(3)/6-4 in the final. Babel had lost in the SF last week to Diana Shnaider (def. by Behulova in the semis this week) in last week's Porto Alegre J1 tournament.

Babel also reached the doubles final alongside Argentina's Solana Sierra, falling to Shnaider and Kira Pavlova.

Meanwhile, 16-year old Hordette Andreeva (jr.#31) went home with her third career pro singles crown in the Sharm El Sheikh (EGY) $15K challenger. Andreeva dropped just one set all week, a 2nd set TB in the final again Swiss Jenny Duerst, then finished off her title run with a love 3rd set.

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DOUBLES: Nicole Melichar/Demi Schuurs, USA/NED
...a new regular doubles duo since late last season, Melichar & Schuurs picked up their second title together (w/ Strasbourg '20) in Doha, closing out the week with a pair of match tie-break wins over Andreja Klepac/Sania Mirza (SF) and Monica Niculescu/Alona Ostapenko (F) as Schuurs picked up her thirteenth career title and Melichar her ninth.



Perhaps her teaming with Melichar will finally allow Schuurs to attain the slam success that has thus far eluded her. The Dutch woman has won more titles, ranked higher (#7 vs. #11), and claimed more than twice as many titles in a single season (a tour-leading 7 in '18 vs. Melichar's 3 in '19) than Melichar, but the Bannerette has taken home a slam MX crown and reached two major finals while Schuurs has yet to reach any slam final (though she did reach the final of all four junior majors in '11, with four different partners, winning AO/US crowns).

Schuurs' career best slam result (so far) was her SF run in Melbourne last month with Melichar.

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1. Doha Final - Petra Kvitova def. Garbine Muguruza
...6-2/6-1. Kvitova's 28th career title puts her in sole possession of 20th place on the all time WTA list, with #19 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (w/ 29) and Tracy Austin and Caroline Wozniacki (both w/ 30) next up on the list. The win also makes her the all-time leader when it comes to titles won by a player representing the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia. She had been tied at 28 wins with Hana Mandlikova. (Of note, of course, is that Martina Navratilova won just five titles while officially a representative of TCH before her defection, and would ultimately win 167 in her career.)

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2. Doha 2nd Rd. - Garbine Muguruza def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-2/6-7(5)/6-3. Muguruza loses a 6-2/2-0 lead, but keeps her head up and Mugus her way to a big win over the defending Doha champ, running off four straight games to erase the Belarusian's 3rd set lead and close out the match.

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3. Doha QF - Victoria Azarenka def. Elina Svitolina
...6-2/6-4. The twisted tale of Elina Svitolina continued with this loss, as she somehow managed to lose (and it wasn't really even close, at least until the very end) to a player who nearly retired, and at times could hardly move due to a back injury.



Azarenka came into this one with a 3-0 head-to-head record against Svitolina, having overcome the Ukrainian (stop me if you've heard this before... no it wasn't THAT match, or that OTHER one, either... but yet ANOTHER carbon copy outcome) having held a 5-2 3rd set lead in Rome last fall. Azarenka, who later said she'd felt the injury that morning, seemed on the verge of retirement early on, yet managed to win the 1st set 6-2, and held an early break lead in the 2nd. Svitolina broke back for 2-2, only to give the break right back a game later.



Azarenka didn't sit during changeovers for the bulk of the match, fearing the consequences. The Belarusian got a break of serve to lead 5-2, but failed to convert a MP and dropped her own serve while serving for the match. She held another MP in game #9, but Svitolina managed to hold. With the thought being that if things went to a 3rd they'd *mightily* favor Svitolina, Azarenka was clearly hitting out and trying to end things in the closing moments. Finally, she converted on her third MP to win in straights and maintain her undefeated mark in the series. This was Vika' 70th career Top 10 victory.



To add insult to injury (Elina's psychological one, mostly), Azarenka later pulled out of her semifinal with Garbine Muguruza. It's her second walkover of 2021, having previously done so in the Grampians QF after having saved MP vs. Yulia Putintseva a round earlier.
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4. Lyon Final - Clara Tauson def. Viktoriya Golubic
...6-4/6-1. Little did anyone know that their January match-up in a $25K final would be a preview of a tour-level championship less than two months later, but there you have it. In both meetings between these two, the Danish teenager prevailed in what was the first clash between two qualifiers for a WTA singles crown since Zarina Diyas defeated Miyu Kato in Tokyo in 2017.



It took Tauson six MP, and saving two BP while serving for the match, but she made it back-to-back weeks with teen champions on the WTA tour, winning her maiden title in just her third tour-level MD appearance.

For the record, Caroline Wozniacki's maiden tour title (2008 Stockholm, her 36th tour level MD event) came when she was also 18, though she'd only celebrated a birthday a month earlier. Tauson turned 18 *two and a half* months ago. Wozniacki won the WTA tour's "Newcomer of the Year" that season and finished at #12.

But Tauson has THIS down pretty early...

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5. Lyon 1st Rd. - Clara Tauson def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...6-3/6-4. Tauson opened her MD action with her second MD win -- and second Top 50 victory -- in her fourth career tour-level MD match. Her tour debut came in the 2019 Lugano 1st Round, also as a qualifier, in the form of a three-set loss to Evgeniya Rodina.
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6. Doha 1st Rd. - Madison Keys def. Benlinda Bencic
...6-4/6-1. In her first match since last fall's Roland Garros, and her first since being diagnosed with COVID, Keys records her first victory since last year's U.S. Open 2nd Round (and just her third since the '20 AO) with a straight sets takedown of Bencic, just in from her appearance in the Adelaide final.



Keys lost a round later to Maria Sakkari.
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7. Lyon 1st Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Harmony Tan
...6-4/0-6/7-6(5). Badosa rallies from 4-1 down to win the 1st, then survives after nearly squandering a 3-1 3rd set advantage. Tan still out-pointed her 103-89 for the match.
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8. Doha 1st Rd. - Anett Kontaveit def. Jennifer Brady
...6-1/6-2. Brady's feast-or-famine run continues. In last year's Restart, her results were W-1r-SF-1r-SF. This year it's 1r-SF-RU-1r.
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9. Lyon 2nd Rd. - Camila Giorgi def. Nina Stojanovic
...2-6/6-1/7-6(5). Despite 17 DF and failing to serve out the match, Giorgi wins the deciding TB after staving off two MP chances for the Serb.
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10. Doha 1st Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Kiki Bertens
...6-0/6-2. In Bertens' return from Achilles surgery, Ostapenko ('16 Doha finalist) prevails. She lost in the 2nd Round, but rebounded (def. Krejcikova/Siniakova) with a run to the doubles final in her first teaming with Monica Niculescu.

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11. Lyon 2nd Rd. - Clara Tauson def. Timea Babos 6-2/6-3
Lyon QF - Clara Tauson def. Camila Giorgi 6-3/6-1
...two aces on MP are better than one.

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12. Doha 1st Rd. - Laura Siegemund/Elena Vesnina def. Victoria Azarenka/Elina Svitolina
...4-6/7-5 [10-8]. Vesnina's first match since the 2018 Roland Garros, and first win since that year's Madrid final, with Makarova over Babos/Mladenovic.



Hmmm, so Svitolina lost after leading 6-4/5-3? Are we sure this wasn't a singles match?

Siegemund/Vesnina lost in the 2nd Round to Niculescu/Ostapenko.

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13. Doha SF - Garbine Muguruza walkover Victoria Azarenka
...this would have been the fifth match-up between these two. The series began in 2016 with a sensational two-TB affair in Miami. Since then, aside from this walkover, Azarenka (Monterrey '19) has retired from one match, and Muguruza (Rome '19) from another. Muguruza won their only three-setter in last year's Rome QF.
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14. Doha 1st Rd. - Misaki Doi def. Zheng Saisai
...6-4/6-3. This was Doi's second consecutive event (Adelaide 1r vs. Blinkova) with a win as a lucky loser. She could make it *three*, as she just lost in Dubai qualifying and will face Polona Hercog this week as (yet again) a LL.
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15. Doha SF - Nicole Melcihar/Demi Schuurs def. Andreja Klepac/Sania Mirza
...7-5/2-6 [10-5]. Mirza (ranked #254 in doubles) reaches the semis in her first outing since last February. In her first event back since 2017, she won the Hobart title last year with Nadiia Kichenok. She and Klepac had defeated Kichenok and her sister Lyudmila in the 1st Round this week in Doha.

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16. Lyon Final - Viktoria Kuzmova/Arantxa Rus def. Genie Bouchard/Olga Danilovic
...3-6/7-5 [10-7]. Kuzmova/Rus win the doubles title in a four-way match-up of former junior stars. Kuzmova reached the 2016 U.S. Open girls final, and won a U.S. girls doubles slam. Rus was the 2008 AO girls champ. Bouchard won the Wimbledon juniors in 2012, as well as a pair of SW19 girls doubles crowns. And Danilovic claimed *three* different girls doubles slams ('16 RG, '17 WI/US).

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17. $25K Newport Beach Final - Danielle Lao def. Claire Liu
...6-2/4-6/6-2. 29-year old Lao, aka "The Little Giant," wins her first singles title since 2015.

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HM- Dubai 1st Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...7-6(4)/2-6/7-6(8). Another event. Another country. Same Coco Gauff adventure.

Gauff led 4-1 in the 1st, but soon saw Alexandrova up a break at 5-4. Gauff broke back, saved a BP in game #11 and went on to take the TB. Alexandrova forced a 3rd set, where Gauff led 5-1 only to then ride the screamingly-steep down slope of her latest up-and-down gameday and have to save a pair of MP before finally winning on her own sixth MP to end her latest 2:41 thriller, her sixth consecutive three-set match (she's 5-1).



Umm, but can it, really? I mean, Gauff pretty much does this *every* time out these days.

Meanwhile, in less than a week, Alexandrova has lost to an 18-year old (Tauson) and a 16-year old. Their combined ages will fit nicely -- with room to spare -- into the 35-year old frame of Alexandrova's countrywoman, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
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1. Doha 2nd Rd. - Karolina Pliskova def. Ons Jabeur
...6-4/4-6/7-5. Pliskova survives, barely. In a match that carried past midnight, and made one wonder whether or not Sascha Bajin would get an extra bump in pay since the possible final moments of his '21 coaching stint had lasted an "extra day," Pliskova loses a 6-4/3-1 lead and is forced to a 3rd set by Jabeur. The Czech served for the win at 5-3, but ultimately had to break Jabeur to finally secure the match-closing game (and maybe preserve Bajin's job, for now) at 7-5.
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2. Doha QF - Jessica Pegula def. Karolina Pliskova
...6-3/6-1. A round later, Pliskova got just four games as Pegula picked up her second career Top 10 win (and second of '21). Needless to day, Bajin would be wise to always keep his bags packed and resume updated (just in case he gets a sudden "surprise" morning text about not really needing to attend Karolina's next scheduled practice).
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=ANNA CHAKVETADZE SIGHTING=
[translation] "Partying face Anna Chakvetadze, a wonderful tennis player and cool Eurosport commentator, is celebrating her birthday today!"




=DOHA, QATAR=



=LYON, FRANCE=





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Meanwhile, she's confused about why she's been "lacking focus" on the court? Hmmm.
















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*WTA FINALS - since 2018, active*
12 - Arya Sabalenka, BLR (9-3)
12 - Simona Halep, ROU (7-5)
11 - Ash Barty, AUS (8-3)
11 - PETRA KVITOVA, CZE (8-3)
10 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (7-3)
10 - Kiki Bertens, NED (6-4)
9 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (6-2+L)

*RECENT EARLY-CAREER NON-SLAM BREAKOUTS*
2015: Nao Hibino wins Tashkent (2nd WTA MD, age 20)
2016: Rebeka Masarova to Gstaad SF (WTA MD debut, age 16)
2017: Jana Fett to Hobart SF (WTA MD debut, age 20)
2017: Marketa Vondrousova wins Biel (2nd WTA MD, age 17)
2017: Mihaela Buzarnescu to Linz SF (2nd WTA MD, age 29)
2018: Anastasia Potapova to Moscow River Cup F (3rd WTA MD, age 17)
2018: Tamara Zidansek to Moscow River Cup SF (3rd WTA MD, age 18)
2018: Olga Danilovic wins Moscow River Cup (1st WTA MD, age 17)
2019: Bianca Andreescu to Auckland F (4th WTA MD, age 18)
2019: Iga Swiatek to Lugano F (3rd WTA MD, age 17)
2019: Astra Sharma to Bogota F (3rd WTA MD, age 23)
2019: Martina Di Giuseppe to Bucharest SF (1st WTA MD, age 28)
2019: Katarzyna Kawa to Jurmala Final (1st WTA MD, age 26)
2019: Liudmila Samsonova to Palermo SF (4th WTA MD, age 20)
2019: Coco Gauff wins Linz (5th WTA MD, age 15)
2020: Leonie Kung to Hua Hin F (2nd WTA MD, age 19)
2021: Clara Tauson wins Lyon (3rd WTA MD, age 18)

*CAREER WTA TITLES - representing TCH/CZE*
28...PETRA KVITOVA (2009-21)
27...Hana Mandlikova (1978-87)
24...Jana Novotna (1988-99)
16...Karolina Pliskova (2013-20)
10...Helena Sukova (1982-92)
10...Regina Mariskova (1976-81)
7...Lucie Safarova (2005-16)
6...Nicole Vaidisova (2004-06)
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NOTE: Navratilova won 5 (of 167 career titles) prior to 1975 defection

*2021 WTA FIRST-TIME FINALS*
Abu Dhabi - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (#46, 23; RU)
Grampians - Ann Li, USA (#99, 20; DNP final)
Lyon - CLARA TAUSON, DEN (#139, 18; W)

*2021 UNSEEDED WTA FINALISTS*
Abu Dhabi - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
Melb Gippsland - Kaia Kanepi, EST
Melb Grampians - Ann Li, USA (DNP F)
Melb Phillip Island - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (W)
Doha - GARBINE MUGURUZA, ESP
Lyon - CLARA TAUSON, DEN (W)
Lyon - VIKTORIYA GOLUBIC, SUI (L)

*2021 WTA SF*
2 - Jennifer Brady, USA (1-1)
2 - GARBINE MUGURUZA, ESP (1-0+W)
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (1-0+L)
2 - Maria Sakkari, GRE (0-2)
2 - Serena Williams, USA (0-1+L)
[by nation]
8 - USA
4 - CZE
3 - ESP,RUS,SUI
2 - BLR,EST,GRE,JPN
1 - AUS,BEL,CAN,DEN,FRA,POL,UKR
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NOTE: 16 nations (26 in 2020)
[low-ranked]
#139 - CLARA TAUSON/DEN (LYON -W)
#129 - VIKTORIJA GOLUBIC/SUI (LYON -L)
#99 - Marta Kostyuk/UKR (Abu Dhabi)
#99 - Ann Li/USA (Melb./Grampians -F)
[first-time WTA]
Abu Dhabi - Marta Kostyuk, UKR
Melb.Grampians - Ann Li, USA (F)
Lyon - CLARA TAUSON, DEN (W)

*2021 WTA BEST QUALIFIER RESULTS*
W - CLARA TAUSON, DEN (LYON)
RU - VIKTORIYA GOLUBIC, SUI (LYON)
SF - Coco Gauff, USA (Adelaide)
SF - JESSICA PEGULA, USA (DOHA)

*RECENT WTA NO-MULTIPLE-TITLES STREAKS TO OPEN SEASON*
2015 - 8 events (#9: Simona Halep - Shenzhen/Dubai)
2016 - 10 events (#11: Sloane Stephens - Auckland/Acapulco)
2017 - 8 events (#9: Karolina Pliskova - Brisbane/Doha)
2018 - 8 events (#9: Petra Kvitova - Saint Petersburg/Doha)
2019 - 18 events (#19: Petra Kvitova - Sydney/Stuttgart)
2020 - 11 events (#12: Sofia Kenin - AO/Lyon)
2021 - 9 events (so far)...8 completed events+1 DNP final

*RECENT BANANA BOWL (Grade A) CHAMPIONS*
2017 Whitney Osuigwe, USA
2018 Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, COL
2019 Diane Parry, FRA
2020 Elvina Kalieva, USA
2021 Oceane Babel, FRA

*REACHED DOHA/DUBAI FINALS IN SEASON*
2001 Martina Hingis = Doha W, Dubai W
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova = Dubai RU, Doha RU
2007 Justine Henin = Dubai W, Doha W
2009 Venus Williams = Dubai W, Doha Chsp RU
2011 Caroline Wozniacki = Dubai W, Doha RU
2017 Caroline Wozniacki = Doha RU, Dubai RU
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NOTE 1: 2008 two Doha events (Feb/Oct); 2009-10 Doha only as WTA Chsp. (Oct)
NOTE 2: Hingis also AO F in '01 (W)





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And that was before the fake outrage about Dr.Seuss, Neaderthals, etc.




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#ItsAboutPerspective would have been a decent jumping off point for a WTA marketing campaign At least it might have had more staying power than the 36-hour relevant lifespan of the most recent one.




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Don't display Neanderthal-like tendencies.
All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 8:03 PM 

10 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Well, we said that Tauson needed 250 pts. She took care of that in one felt swoop.

ATP is tinkering with the rankings again, and leaving some 2019 points on. Hopefully the WTA does not follow. Case in point-

Points last 12 months
438- #12 Bencic
628- #96 Tauson

Svitolina's pic is interesting.

Keys/Sakkari had 4 challenges within a 9 pt span in the same game.

There will be 12 125K events this year. 3 will be played the second week of a slam. Sadly, none are on grass, as the split is 6/6 hard/clay.

WTA will have an event in Poland-Gdynia in July.

Stat of the Week- 3- Number of events it took for Iga Swiatek to win after her slam title.

These days, we look at current performance of first time slam winners to project the future. In the 80's this wasn't needed, as there was an expectation that if you won one, that you would win more. After all, every women's slam winner in the 80's won multiple slams.

WTA slam winners 1980's

15- Navratilova
9- Evert
8- Graf
4- Mandlikova
1- Austin
1- Goolagong
1- Sanchez Vicario

1- 1986 AO not played.

Pretty impressive. So why not take a look at the last 10 first time slam winners, and how long it took to get that next title.

10 First Time Slam Winners*

1- Barty
2- Halep
3- Swiatek
3- Kenin
5- Osaka
5- Kerber
6- Ostapenko
8- Stephens
9- Wozniacki
23-Muguruza

Normally, most winners get that title within 8 tournaments. Wozniacki isn't a red flag as she was in the latter half of her career. Muguruza had one the worst stretches for a first timer, then ended the streak at a different slam.

Also, Andreescu has only played 4 events since her title.

The other thing to look at, is how a player did in the 12 months after a slam.

12 Months After Slam

55-21 Kerber
38-11 Barty
38-14 Halep
36-18 Osaka
33-18 Wozniacki
33-22 Muguruza
31-21 Ostapenko
29-20 Stephens
21-11 Kenin
9-2 Swiatek
7-5 Andreescu

Interestingly enough, none of these first timers won Wimbledon, yet the last 3 winners in Muguruza, Kerber and Halep have since won. I guess Swiatek will win it in a couple of years.

The other thing to notice, is that being over 50% in that first year normally means continued success. The players that have already played a full year and have the worst percentages are Ostapenko and Stephens, who showed flashes, but not consistency.

Swiatek's early numbers project 2 or 3 more titles this year.




Sun Mar 07, 09:24:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Quiz Time!

Iva Majoli only won one title after her 1997 French Open. Where was it?

A.Kuala Lumpur
B.Quebec City
C.Charleston
D.Bol


Interlude- Carling Bassett back in the day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAHqsQJOWNE


Answer!

Majoli had a streak longer than Muguruza's 23. Not a little longer, but a lot longer. And her record in that 12 month period? 30-23.

(D)Bol is wrong, but she did reach the final of her home country's event in 2002. This was her last career final, losing to Asa Svensson, who also beat her at the French Open in 2000.

After injury, Majoli's ranking dropped to 466. When she got back up to 109, she rached the final in Kuala Lumpur, losing to Henrieta Nagyova in 2000.

With only two choices left, let's continue the theme of defunct events. That would be (B)Quebec City, where she lost to Meghan Shaughnessy in 2001.

The event that ended the 91 match title-less streak(including ITF) was (C)Charleston in 2002, a mild surprise as after going 0-4 vs Patty Schnyder, without ever winning a set, she pulled off her first, and last title after her French Open win.

Sun Mar 07, 09:37:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- First 1000 Event Edition.

1.Jabeur- Dubai pick, no, not just because we are in the Middle East. Swiatek and Tauson won the last two weeks, so why not another junior champ? The other reason? The Monfils Theory. I see Jabeur with the jumping backhands, the between the legs shots, and it reminds me of Monfils. He has won 10 ATP events, and none of the Big 3 have been in the field for any of them. With Barty, Osaka and Halep out, this is her chance.
2.Fernandez- Guadalajara pick because I am continuing with the junior slam theme. Also, because the best 2 results of her career have been in Mexico. Not playing at the level of last year, but a softer filed gives her a chance.
3.Kontaveit- Expected to have a good week in Dubai, because the surface suits her. Kind of reminds me of Vesnina at IW in 2017, where the results aren't as good as you would like, but is worth watching.
4.Juvan- Has been in qualifying much longer than expected due to the pandemic. Has a good match vs Bolsova. If she gets by that, she could reach her first career WTA QF.
5.Mladenovic- Going singles only has gotten her better results. Has won 2 MD matches in 2 of last 3 events. Next step? Get her first Top 10 win since beating Bertens in Moscow-2019.

Sun Mar 07, 09:49:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Pliskova- Has a good draw, so SF would not be a total shock. With that said, she has a boatload of points to defend. Last year, her best event was Rome, which isn't even being used as she won the prior year. No elite player has more 2019 points propping up their ranking. She has about 1800 to defend before Rome. If she continues at her current level of play, by then she may fall out of the Top 10 for the first time since Aug 2016.
2.Wang Q.- Already lost. Ended her WTA 6 match losing streak, but the red flag comes with her BJK Cup duty. Including that, the last 8 matches she has won have been against players ranked outside the Top 100.
3.Pavlyuchenkova- One year after Sumyk, and the only time she has won back to back matches was at Yarra Valley. Not getting the breaks Wang is, as her last 28 matches have been vs the Top 100.
4.Zheng- Has a 5 match losing streak. 1/3 of her points are from San Jose and Zhuhai in 2019. She also loses Kunming 125K next month, and will probably go from MD to qualifying if she can't break slump.
5.Bertens- Looked rusty last week. Silver lining is that she is healthy enough to play doubles and will do so again this week. Low expectations for another month.

Sun Mar 07, 10:00:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I'll always think of John Bassett as a USFL owner (Tampa Bay Bandits). To his credit, he stood up to Trump and wouldn't go along with the fall schedule idea and pulled the team from the league. Of course, though he wanted to start *another* league, and tried to join the CFL, both the Bandits and rest of the USFL were destroyed and never played another game. Who says we can't (but don't) learn from history?

Quiz: I went with Bol just because of the Croatian angle. :\

I fear Ostapenko's name is looking like it'll be included in a lot of slam champion retrospectives along with that of Majoli, for obvious reasons. She's still got time to change that, but...

Big Sascha (10...9...8...7...6....). If this were an action TV show episode, Bajin would be in the passenger's seat of the speeding car... with a cliff dead ahead. [insert commercial break] Maybe he should just open the door and jump out (i.e. compliment one of Pliskova's opponents or something)?

Mon Mar 08, 01:47:00 AM EST  
Blogger Hoergren said...

little comment from Clara

https://twitter.com/markalannixon/status/1368714027321458688?s=20

Mon Mar 08, 03:06:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

7-2 in tour-level qualifying matches (5-1 in the last six, with her only loss coming in this year's AO Q-rounds) in her career. 👍

Mon Mar 08, 12:19:00 PM EST  
Blogger Hoergren said...

Now 11 aces and 1 perfect tweener (again) in two qualifying matches - The Tauson Tweener is rather unique Both tweeners in Lyon and now Petersbourg has been won - how many players can say that.

Sun Mar 14, 05:56:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Hoergren said...

The new tweener
https://twitter.com/tennis_gifs/status/1371067038454677505?s=20

Sun Mar 14, 10:10:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

She really gets some sting on that thing. ;)

Sun Mar 14, 04:31:00 PM EDT  

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