Sunday, April 04, 2021

Wk.10- (Still) Atop from Down Under

Sometimes the answer to your question was staring you in the face all along.

With world #1 Ash Barty installed as the top seed, the majority of the WTA tour showed up in South Florida two weeks ago, with the underlying topic of conversation being about how *this* event would finally make it *official* who was *really* (hint, hint...wink, wink) the best player in the world.

Two weeks later, the last woman standing was... umm, Ash Barty. Just like she was the *last* time the Miami Open was held two years ago.

Whoops.





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*WEEK 10 CHAMPIONS*
MIAMI, FLORIDA USA (WTA 1000 Mandatory/Hardcourt Outdoor)
S: Ash Barty/AUS def. Bianca Andreescu/CAN 6-3/4-0 ret.
D: Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara (JPN/JPN) def. Hayley Carter/Luisa Stefani (USA/BRA) 6-2/7-5


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ash Barty/AUS
...already the defending (2019) Miami Open champ and #1-ranked player on the WTA computer, Barty nonetheless came to South Florida tasked with silencing her doubters after having stayed in Australia for most of the past pandemic year while (for one) #2 Naomi Osaka was busy winning two majors and gathering up all the she's-the-best-and-you'll-never-convince-me-otherwise-so-the-rankings-are-meaningless stands often reserved for Serena Williams over the years.

Granted, the argument against the Aussie was pandemic-rankings fueled, as the tour's altered system allowed Barty to remain atop the heap even while being inactive.

But, lest one forget, Barty got to the #1 ranking by putting together a marvel-of-versatility-and-consistency campaign during a 2019 season that saw her win Roland Garros, the Miami Open, the WTA Finals and events held on three different surfaces. She reached a Premier Mandatory final in Beijing, and posted twelve Top 10 wins (three over #1-2). Showing her wide range, she also reached the U.S. Open doubles final, won the WD in Rome and rode Australia -- on her back -- all the way to the Fed Cup final, coming within a deciding doubles match of bringing the title Down Under for the first time in 45 years. She earned her initial position. What's happened since was beyond her control.

But, still.

With Osaka seemingly in perfect position to assume the #1 spot, Barty nearly lost in her opening match. She had to battle back in the 2nd Round against Kristina Kucova to avoid the massive upset, saving a MP. She then proceeded to handle Alona Ostapenko, Victoria Azarenka and Arnya Sabalenka, the latter two in three sets. It was at that point that a listless Osaka was shipped out in straight sets in the QF by Maria Sakkari, putting an end (for a hot minute) to the #1 debate.

With her top ranking secure, and a win away from a return to the Miami final, the Aussie blitzed Elina Svitolina in the SF, making the Ukrainian's previous (and deceiving) 5-1 head-to-head career advantage over her look like a misprint (which it was, in large measure, as Barty hadn't lost in the match-up since back when Svitolina looked destined to win a major -- wow, has that assessment changed -- and before Barty herself cracked the Top 10 after her career trajectory changing win in Miami two years ago).



In a hotly-awaited final match-up with Bianca Andreescu, everyone ended up being served a helping of cold stew, as the brilliant Miami Open women's event (we won't even go into the "other side" of it... I hear the men were playing, too, but don't hold me to it) ended with a thud. Literally, as the injury-prone Canadian's fall behind the baseline early in the 2nd set presaged her retirement two games later.

Barty's win over Andreescu, no matter how it ultimately came, gives her six straight Top 10 victories and a 13-3 mark in her last sixteen such match-ups. The Aussie now has ten career titles, winning in seven of her last eight tour singles final appearances (beginning with her '19 Miami run), improving to 18-3 in her last 21 three-setters, and becoming just the sixth different woman to successfully defend the Miami Open title (the others were named Graf, Seles, Sanchez Vicario and Williams... Hall of Famers all, or destined to be).



In it for the long haul in 2021, Barty's reputation by the end this season will have sunk or swum based on what she accomplished on the court, not where the WTA pandemic rankings deems to place her. She's committed to being a world traveler until at least the U.S. Open, if not longer, and won't return home to Australia until the end of the season.

After consistently overcoming expectations both before, (now) during, and (maybe??) after the worldwide health crisis, one has to wonder where Barty will stand at this time next year when she attempts to three-peat in South Florida in 2022. If the Aussie's "new normal" holds up, probably in a position not *too* different from where she stands now.
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RISERS: Maria Sakkari/GRE and Ons Jabeur/TUN
...Sakkari rebounded from her disappointing post-quarantine turn at the AO (1r/Mladenovic) and in the Middle East (3 & 1 loss to Muguruza in Doha, followed by a 1st Round exit in Dubai vs. Krejcikova) by posting one of the best results of her career in Miami. The 25-year old Greek's semifinal run was her biggest yet, with the Miami Open's elite status placing this finish above her previous WTA 1000 SF finishes in Wuhan (2017) and Rome (2019).

Sakkari's performance was anything but skin deep, though, as she followed up early wins over Arantxa Rus and Liudmila Samsonsova with aggressive, career-defining victories over Jessica Pegula (against whom she saved 6 MP, five with clean winners) and #2 Naomi Osaka, with the latter dominant triumph topping her previous best career singles win (over #4 Kenin in Abu Dhabi in January). In her third semifinal of the season (tied w/ Muguruza for the tour lead), Sakkari took Bianca Andreescu to three sets before finally falling to the Canadian.



Jabeur finally tapped out in the Miami Open 4th Round with a three-set loss to Sara Sorribes Tormo, but only after surviving in "warrioress" style in a marathon 2nd Rounder against Paula Badosa in which the Tunisian threw up during play and was surrounded by doctors after sinking to the court after converting MP and sweeping the final four games of the match. She followed up, after having lost all four meetings with the '20 AO champ in straights, with another three set win over Sofia Kenin. Jabeur took the 1st set over Sorribes Tormo, but the Spaniard (even more of a three-set monster in '21 than Jabeur) prevailed in the end.



Jabeur is already a groundbreaking idol in Arab sport. Her 2011 Roland Garros girls title (she'd reached the final in '10) made her the first Arab player to win a junior slam since 1964. She went on to become the highest ranked Arab woman ever (#30 this January) and the first to reach a slam QF ('20 AO). Jabeur has yet to win a tour title, though, reaching her lone final in 2018.
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SURPRISE: Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP
...the likes of Iga Swiatek aside, no player's journey has covered more ground since last year's Restart than that of Sorribes Tormo. A year ago, the now 24-year old Spaniard had yet to break into the Top 80 during her career, had opened the 2020 season at 4-6, and exited both tour-level events in Mexico (Acapulco and Monterrey) in the 1st Round. Her Fed Cup upset of Naomi Osaki spoke to the potential for more, but Sorribes had yet to find a way to crack the code of her tennis career.

During the shutdown, though, she continued to play in the numerous exhibition events that were held, winning multiple titles in the Mapfre League competition in Spain. Just before the Restart, Sorribes brought aboard Silvia Soler Espinosa, a countrywoman and recent tour player, as her coach. To say it's been a good match would be a wild understatement.

Sorribes went 13-7 in the Restart, winning her biggest pro title (an $80K challenger) and reaching a QF in the tour-level event in Ostrava as a qualifier, posting a win over Anett Kontaveit and then leading Aryna Sabalenka 6-0/4-0 before the Belarusian staged a miraculous comeback surge that didn't abate until early in '21, after she'd won 15 straight matches and three consecutive singles titles (intriguingly, Osaka didn't lose in her next *23* matches after her loss to Sorribes, winning two slams in the stretch).

But that was only the beginning for Sorribes, as well. A player who lists former/current grinding pros such as Justine Henin, Sara Errani and David Ferrer as inspirations, the Spaniard has come to cut a similar figure on the court in '21. A year after her 0-2 turn in WTA events in Mexico, Sorribes won her maiden tour title in Guadalajara and then reached the semis in Monterrey. She carried over her momentum to Miami, winning four straight three-set matches over Bernarda Pera (from 5-1 down in the 3rd, saving 2 MP), Jennifer Brady, Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur to reach her first WTA 1000 level QF. There, in a fifth three-setter, she battled Bianca Andreescu tooth-and-nail in one of the most physical matches seen on tour this season. The marathon Spaniard ultimately lost to one of the tour's *ultimate* marathon winners, but she earned the respect of her Canadian opponent and likely that of every other who'll soon blanch (at least for a moment) at the prospect of facing Sorribes the rest of the season, especially in the coming months on the clay courts that she says are her favorite.

16-5 this season (12-2 in North America), and 29-12 under the tutelage of Soler Espinosa, Sorribes will break into the Top 50 in the next rankings, with nary a hint evident in her stride that she's going to be looking back anytime soon.
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VETERAN: Anastasija Sevastova/LAT
...the 30-year old Latvian's best WTA 1000 result since 2018 (Beijing RU, shortly after she'd reached the U.S. Open semis) didn't come easily. Sevastova had to rally from 5-2 down in the 3rd set against Olga Danilovic in the 1st Round, then from a 3-1 deficit against Coco Gauff in the deciding set in the 2nd (she also def. the teen in the 1st Rd. last year at Flushing Meadows). After a walkover from the injured Simona Halep, she ended Ana Konjuh's comeback run in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.

Sevastova's week came to an end with a straight sets loss to Elina Svitolina, but her Miami run is a big turnaround compared to her recent results. Not only had she gotten off to a 4-6 start in '21, but she was just 2-10 in 2020 (1-6 before the shutdown, then 1-4 in the Restart) and ended her season early (skipping Roland Garros, seemingly not due to injury) after a 1st Round exit in Rome. Before her three wins in Miami, Sevastova had gone just 9-22 since she won (in July '19) her fourth tour-level singles crown at the Baltic Open, held on home soil in Jurmala, LAT.

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COMEBACKS: Bianca Andreescu/CAN and Ana Konjuh/CRO
...Bianca Andreescu is special. But like so many truly remarkable things, natural or otherwise, she is as delicate as she is strong.

Oh so strong, and yet oh so delicate. Her entire career, wherever it inexorably goes, appears to be destined to feature a continual battle to see which trait proves to be the *most* dominate. At this point, it's hard to imagine either ever going into any sort of permanent hiberation.

So while the Canadian's ability in Miami over the past two weeks to so quickly recapture the form, flair and boldness that made her amazing breakthrough 2019 season possible made her trip to the Miami Open final one of the most exhilarating journeys of this young season, the resurrection of St. Bibi, at the eleventh hour, also came with a built-in reminder of what is quickly making her the tour's ultimate unicorn, equally able to thrill the masses with her tennis brilliance as she is to break your heart with her body's almost preternatural fragility.

In just her third event back in '21 after missing all of last season recovering and rehabbing the knee she injured at the '19 WTAF (as well as a foot injury that occurred *during* that recovery period... because, of course it did), Andreescu battled and brawled her way in the heat through a series of opponents in a fashion that magically transported anyone who watched back to the heriocs she displayed two seasons ago while winning in Indian Wells, Toronto and Flushing Meadows. After seeing Tereza Martincova serve for the opening set in the 2nd Round, Andreescu dispatched the Czech in straights sets like the appetizer she was always meant to be.

What followed that win were four consecutive three-set thrillers that would help to push the Canadian's final combined hours on court in the tournament to over twelve, as she streaked ahead, surged from behind, and blasted baseline rally-enders with the same cold-blooded effectiveness as she executed mid-rally drop shots and how-did-she-even-get-her-racket-on-that-one-anyway winners from all areas of the court, leaving opponents flat-footed (I see you, Garbi) and without a reasonable idea about how they could have done anything to prevent their fate from becoming reality in the face of the magic Andreescu was bringing to the court. It was simply a case of Bianca doing Bianca things. Sometimes there's just nothing one can do about it.



Down went Amanda Anisimova, then Garbine Muguruza, who'd won more matches than anyone this season. Sara Sorribes Tormo has been a demon in '21 in both North America and in three-setters. Well, then the Spaniard gotta load of St. Bibi. In the semis, Maria Sakkari, fresh off the biggest victory of her career, didn't fare any better. The wins put Andreescu into the final, her third in six career WTA 1000 MD appearances, and gave her the chance to become just the eighth woman in tour history to win Indian Wells, Miami and a hard court slam.

But then the dark side of Andreescu fate flexed its muscles once more. Score one for it in this career-long tussle. The Canadian appeared tired and struggled with her timing throughout the 1st set vs. #1 Ash Barty, but anyone who has seen Andreescu at all knows that that could change at a moment's notice. But a turn of her foot, and resulting fall, behind the baseline early in the 2nd set spelled her doom. After taking a medical timeout, she retired down 6-3/4-0 in the 2nd set.

Hopefully, it's not the sort of injury that will keep Andreescu tied up for long. The way it occurred, it *seemed* like it easily could have been worse than it was. But, with this one, no matter how young she is (still only 20), we've already been trained to know (and fear) that the latest big injury could be just around the *next* baseline. It's best to appreciate what we get from Bianca when -- and while -- we can.

Even with this loss, Andreescu's record in North America is 28-2 in her last thirty matches (both losses came via retirement, and both came about in Miami). Going back to late 2018, when she played challengers into the late fall (after having struggled with various ailments that had caused her to exit four events with injuries that year) before closing her season with an ITF title run in Oklahoma, she's 41-3 on the continent.



Meanwhile, though she didn't last long into the second week in Miami, Konjuh reminded everyone during the Miami Open just what they've been missing for most of the past three-plus seasons as the Croat has drifted in and (mostly) out of the sport while undergoing four elbow surgeries (including a recent ulnar ligament reconstruction) and experiencing several stalled comeback attempts.

Maybe this one will stick, maybe not. But make no mistake what Konjuh is capable of. A quick reminder: she was two-time junior slam champ at 16, and soon after the youngest WTA singles title winner in nine years in '15. A year later, she reached the Top 20 and upset Aga Radwanska to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals. By the end of the next year, her injury troubles began after she'd played with pain for several years as a junior (and had had an early elbow surgery in '14).

Now 23, and ranked #338 (after season-ending rankings of #418, #1270 and #538 the last three years), Konjuh took her wild card into the Miami MD and proceeded to "wake up the echoes" of her pre-surgery career. A semi-encouraging, just because she was still playing, 6-5 on the season coming in (mostly in qualifying rounds in both ITF and WTA events), the Croat recorded her first tour-level MD win since 2018 with a victory over Katerina Siniakova. Her triumph over Madison Keys was her first over a Top 20 player (well, more like "Top 20" with the pandemic rankings) since the '17 Wimbledon. Then all Konjuh did was take down even *bigger* prey in Iga Swiatek, giving her back-to-back Top 20 victories for the first time since February '17 to post her best WTA 1000 result since a Dubai QF that same season, her last full campaign on tour. This year's Dubai event in February had been her first 1000 level appearance since her surgery parade began.

Konjuh lost in straights in the 4th Round to Anastasija Sevastova, but was still *the* uplifting story of 2021's first huge non-slam tournament.

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FRESH FACE: Jodi Burrage/GBR
...the 21-year old Brit picked up her fourth career challenger title at the $25K in Dubai, putting a stop to the run of Belarus' Yuliya Hatouka in a 6-4/6-3 final. Hatouka was seeking her third win this year, which would have tied her with Weronika Falkowska and Nuria Parrizas-Diaz for the circuit lead through the 1Q of the season.

#258 Burrage's last title came in May 2019.

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DOWN: Naomi Osaka/JPN
...Osaka, who hadn't lost a match on court in over a year, came to Miami with a chance to exit town as the new #1 ranked player in the world. If Kristina Kucova had been able to convert MP vs. Ash Barty in the Aussie's opening match, she would have, too.

But that didn't happen, as Barty managed to remind everyone how she got to #1 in the first place -- any "naysayers" or "doubters" about her legitimacy as a top-ranked player either had her '19 season wiped from their memories or were operating w/ other agendas in mind, as any appropriate questioning about her position *should* have been *only* about the fact that she'd barely played over the past year due to the pandemic -- while Osaka was ultimately blitzed out of the Miami Open by a very in-form Maria Sakkari (assisted by Osaka's own serving issues) in the QF, the reigning AO champ's first in five MD appearances in Miami.

Now comes Osaka's most challenging section of her season, as she heads off to the EuroClay circuit. Thus far in her career, she's never advanced past the 3rd Round at Roland Garros, has no Top 10 wins on clay and just one tour-level semifinal ('19 Stuttgart, which she abandoned via a walkover) on the surface. The four-time (all on hard courts) slam champ claimed earlier this year that she has "everything that I need to do well on clay and on grass."

Now comes her chance to prove it.
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ITF PLAYER: Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...the $25K in Villa Maria, ARG was the site of Haddad's latest post-suspension triumph.



After having served a 2019 ban for having ingested a contaminated supplement, the 24-year old Brazilian returned to action last September. She hit the ground running, winning four ITF titles in five final appearances, going 27-2 the remainder of the year. She reached a $25K semi in Newport earlier in March, but her run this past week got her her maiden '21 crown. After knocking off top-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg in the 2nd Round, Haddad downed Francesca Jones in a 5-7/6-4/6-2 final completed in 3:12 to take the title.

It's #342 Haddad's 13th career challenger crown, and her week's work improves her combined 2020-21 comeback mark to an impressive 44-6.


"Beatriz Haddad Maia, from #Brasil , was consecrated in the W25 of #VillaMaría ,#Córdoba , by defeating the British Francesca Jones 5-7, 6-4 and 6-2, in 3h12m. Through tears and moved, she dedicated the triumph to the deceased by #COVID19 in his country."


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JUNIOR STAR: Liv Hovde/USA
...at the Easter Bowl Grade B1 event in San Diego, 15-year old Bannerette qualifier Hovde claimed her first 18s title at the junior level by winning a total of *nine* matches over the course of the week, defeating three of the top four seeds in the MD en route to the title. After having knocked off #1 Madison Sieg in the semis, Hovde outlasted #3 Elvina Kalieva in a 4-6/7-5/6-1 final.

This is just Hovde's fifth 18s event on the ITF circuit, with her previous best results having been a pair of 2019 semis in Grade 4 tournaments in Haverford (PA) and Atlanta (though she did reach a UTR $18K pro final last November, losing to Savannah Broadus).

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DOUBLES: Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara, JPN/JPN
...the Japanese duo officially took the lead as the most successful WD pair in 2021 with their third title (and biggest in the career of either woman) of the season in Miami. After a 10-6 1st Round match TB win over Klepac/Zidansek, victories over Garcia/Podoroska (a new duo that looked like they were really having fun together), Mattek-Sands/Swiatek (via a 10-2 MTB after having to win a 2nd set TB to avoid elimination) and Carter/Stefani in the final landed the crown. It was yet another final featuring a slew of former NCAA players (Shibahara/UCLA, Carter/North Carolina and Stefani/Pepperdine).

Aoyama/Shibahara, 3-0 in '21 finals (including another win over Carter/Stefani in Abu Dhabi), have now won six straight title matches over the last 19 months (counting the time elapsed during the shutdown) and are 6-1 overall. All of the younger (23 yr.) Shibahara's tour wins (and all but one final, w/ Carter two years ago) have come alongside Aoyama, while the 33-year old vet is now 15-10 in WTA championship matches.

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=4th Round through Final=
1. Miami 4th Rd. - Maria Sakkari def. Jessica Pegula
...6-4/2-6/7-6(6). Sparta lives to fight another day.



With Pegula serving for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd, things looked grim for Sakkari. But a last-gasp break of serve, followed by a 15-minute hold during which the Greek woman's frontal attack saved five MP (four via clean winners, including one line-scraper) put the Bannerette on her heels. In the deciding TB, Sakkari led 5-2 only to see Pegula stage a late counteroffensive that pushed her into winning position again at 6-5 with MP #6. Sakkari saved it with a fifth winner, then struck at the heart of the New York state native with a conclusive blow that settled things on her own maiden MP.

Sometimes it's just that close.
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2. Miami 4th Rd. - Bianca Andreescu def. Garbine Muguruza
...3-6/6-3/6-2. With more time on court, and with her back more comfortably against the wall, Andreescu's "St.Bibi" side truly shined against Muguruza.



The Canadian turns things on in the 3rd, registering her first Top 20 win since her '19 U.S. Open run, with her special brand of shots from nowhere, stunning head-turners, and guile-runneth-over rally enders reminding everyone once again that no lead -- and no match -- is safe from Andreescu when she's (mostly) healthy and (fully) zoned-in.

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3. Miami QF - Bianca Andreescu def. Sara Sorribes Tormo
...6-4/3-6/6-3. When "tireless" is a trait common to *both* players on the court, this exhaustive and glorious superior-rally-heavy contest is what you get, and everyone "wins." Even the "losing" player.

While Sorribes didn't advance to the semifinals, she proved her North American heroics over the past month are her "new reality" and not just a fluke of the early spring. As for Andreescu, well, her ability to almost immediately return so early in her comeback to the sort of routinely dramatic and grinding wars that were the hallmark of her breakout '19 campaign is a truly remarkable thing (even if your heart *does* navigate to your throat every time she bends over after a partucularly long and physical exchange of shots).



The Canadian took the 1st set right out of the hands of the Spaniard, surging back from a double-break deficit and then breaking Sorribes to win 6-4. Andreescu never held serve in the 2nd set, yet still managed to stay in the set until the closing moments as Sorribes took things to what was her *fifth* straight three-setter at this Miami Open.

Perhaps no stretch better captured the inherent drama of an Andreescu match than late in the sixth game of the deciding set. Up a break at 3-2, the Canadian looked exhausted as she fell behind love/40. Surely, she'd finally hit her physical wall, right? Umm, no. She simpy reeled off five straight points to hold for 4-2. Andreescu failed to serve out the match at 5-2 (she fell behind love/40 again, and when she got to 30/40 you *know* everyone more than half-expected her to find a way to hold), but quickly rebounded and broke Sorribes to close out the victory.

Battle buddies on a Wednesday night, the two shared a nice moment at the net, knowing they'd given their all and forced the other to do the same. Just as it should be.

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4. Miami 4th Rd. - Elina Svitolina def. Petra Kvitova
...2-6/7-5/7-5. Unfortunately, it wasn't something we haven't seen before. No, not another Svitolina late-match collapse (though she tried), but another scenario in which Kvitova wilts in the heat and drops a winnable match on a big stage.



The Czech led Svitolina by a set and late break in the 2nd, only to see the Ukrainian turn things around and take the set 7-5. Svitolina led 3-1 in the decider. Kvitova got things back on serve, but Svitolina had the chance to serve things out at 5-4. She was broken. But rather than another uh-oh head-shaker for one side of the net, on the other it was Kvitova who wilted in the Miami heat down the stretch. At 5-5, she held a GP to extend things to (at worst) a final TB, but instead dropped serve and saw Svitolina quickly put away a match-closing hold of serve.

Svitolina's first top 10 victory since the 2019 WTAF gives her three consecutive wins over Kvitova, after having lost seven straight to the Czech from 2014-18. Kvitova still leads the career head-to-head 7-4.
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5. Miami QF - Ash Barty def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-4/6-7(5)/6-3. While Belarus native Sabalenka battled against the elements during her entire Miami run, Aussie Barty always seemed at home in the Florida heat.

Their abilities to withstand the weather (and the pressure from their opponent) came to a head in this one, as while Sabalenka won the short-term battle to avoid a straight sets defeat, sweeping two Barty serves when the Aussie served two up 5-4 in the 2nd set TB and then winning five of six points to end the 7-5 breaker, it was the reigning world #1 and defending Miami Open champ who emerged as the victor in the overall battle. Barty saved all seven BP she faced on the day, and went on a match-closing 12-point winning streak to put away the victory.

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6. Miami SF - Ash Barty def. Elina Svitolina
...6-3/6-3. Svitolina came in with a 5-1 head-to-head edge on Barty, though the key item there was that none of those wins had come since Barty became a Top 10 player, and the Aussie had won their last meeting at the 2019 WTAF.

TRUTH: when Tennis Channel's Lindsay Davenport said the night before that Svitolina wanted "revenge" on Barty for that loss, I immediately said out loud, "Well, then we know it won't happen. She'll probably lose 6-3/6-3." ;)

As it was, it turned out to be a pretty routine victory for the (still and holding) #1, who quickly took a double-break lead in the 1st, then followed up a tight hold for 5-3 by quickly going up love/40 on Svitolina's serve a game later and getting the break to end the set. In the 2nd, after Svitolina broke Barty to get back on serve at 3-2, Barty immediately got the break back moments later. The rest was elementary.

While the final chapter was a typical one for Svitolina, this Miami Open still serves as a step-up for her '21 prospects. A comeback win over Shelby Rogers and a survival against a wilting Petra Kvitova (for her first Top 10 win since '19) highlighted a QF run that was her best result in seven appearances in the event, and her eleventh career SF+ result in a WTA 1000 event.

Of course, as soon as it looks like she's out...



I'm sure there's a good joke or two that are escaping me at the moment about the "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" items for the wedding that can be connected to wasted talent, lack of focus and career underachievement... but, hey, there's a couple of months left still, so I'm sure some good ones will come to mind.
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7. Miami Final - Ash Barty def. Bianca Andreescu
...6-3/4-0 ret. Not the ending anyone wanted, but not one that is ultimately shocking, either. Even in her breakout 2019 campaign, Andreescu missed multiple months with a shoulder injury.

This injury aside, (the possibly, and understandably, fatigued) Andreescu didn't look quite herself in this match *before* she toppled over behind the baseline (rather than a "rolled ankle" it was more like the tip of her foot caught on the court and she rolled over the top of it and hit the court hard... hopefully that'll make a big difference in how long she had to deal with her latest ailment) down 6-3/2-0, then retired two games later.

Of course, how many times has the Canadian stormed back to win a match she seemed "out" of? Not this time, though. The only other pro final match involving Andreescu that ended with a retirement was when Serena Williams pulled up down 3-1 in the 1st against her at the Rogers Cup in '19, as Bianca won the title after having returned from another injury-related absence.

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8. Bogota Q2 - Nuria Parrizas Diaz def. Marina Melnikova
...7-6(2)/4-6/6-1. The Spaniard will make her tour MD debut at age 29 in Bogota. Parrizas Diaz has claimed three ITF challengers titles this season, and was finally successful in her fifth attempt to qualify for a tour-level event. She'd lost in slam qualifying three times in 2020 (AO/RG) and '21 (AO), as well as in the Lyon 250 last year in her only previous attempts.

At last year's RG...

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=4th Round through Final=
1. Miami QF - Maria Sakkari def. Naomi Osaka
...6-0/6-4. An Osaka performance reminiscent of her "before" days, as the world #2 was unable to corral her serve and, in the face of the pressure of Sakkari's unrelenting offensive attack, followed up a no-show 1st set (zero games won, eight total points in a love set completed in :20) by losing a 4-1 lead in the 2nd, dropping the final five games of the match.



In truth, it was nice to see this happen just to cease the trumpeting -- here done one final time by the tour itself -- of a match winning streak that wasn't really such a streak at all as it was bolstered by two walkover exits during Osaka's (oft-brilliant, but unofficial) "undefeated" stretch.
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1. Naomi Osaka, JPN
2. Ash Barty, AUS
3. Garbine Muguruza, ESP
4. Diede de Groot, NED (WC)
5. Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
6. Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
7. Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP
8. Elise Mertens, BEL
9. Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara, JPN/JPN
10. Iga Swiatek, POL
11. Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
12. Jennifer Brady, USA
13. Petra Kvitova, CZE
14. Clara Tauson, DEN
15. Jessica Pegula, USA
16. Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
17. Maria Sakkari, GRE
18. Serena Williams, USA
19. Bianca Andreescu, CAN
20. Leylah Fernandez, CAN
HM- Viktorija Golubic/SUI and Alexa Guarachi/CHI

To be cont'd in the Backpsin 1Q Awards...






Umm, yeah. That's nice. We're a full year into this now. Just get the f'in vaccine.














=MIAMI, FLORIDA=







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*2021 WTA FINALS*
3 - Garbina Muguruza, ESP (1-2)
2 - ASH BARTY, AUS (2-0)
2 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (2-0)
2 - Viktorija Golubic, SUI (0-2)
[2020-21]
5 - 5/0 Elena Rybakina (1-4)
4 - 3/1 Aryna Sabalenka (4-0)
4 - 1/3 Garbine Muguruza (1-3)
3 - 1/2 ASH BARTY (3-0)
3 - 3/0 Simona Halep (3-0)
3 - 2/1 Naomi Osaka (2-0+L)
3 - 3/0 Sofia Kenin (2-1)
3 - 2/1 Elise Mertens (1-2)
3 - 3/0 Victoria Azarenka (0-2+W)

*CONSECUTIVE MIAMI TITLES*
1987-88 Steffi Graf (2)
1990-91 Monica Seles (2)
1992-93 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (2)
1994-96 Steffi Graf (3)
1998-99 Venus Williams (2)
2002-04 Serena Williams (3)
2007-08 Serena Williams (2)
2013-15 Serena Williams (3)
2019-21 Ash Barty (2)

*2021 YOUNGEST WTA FINALISTS*
18 - Clara Tauson, DEN (Lyon-W)
18 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (Monterrey-W)
19 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Adelaide-W)
20 - Ann Li, USA (Melb.Grampians-not played)
20 - BIANCA ANDREESCU, CAN (MIAMI-L)

*2021 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
3...AOYAMA/SHIBAHARA, JPN/JPN (3-0)
3...CARTER/STEFANI, USA/BRA (0-3)
2...Krejcikova/Siniakova, CZE/CZE (1-1)
[2020-21]
5 - 5/0...Hsieh/Strycova (4-1)
5 - 2/3...CARTER/STEFANI (1-4)
4 - 1/3...AOYAMA/SHIBAHARA (4-0)
3 - 1/2...Krejcikova/Siniakova (2-1)
3 - 2/1...Guarachi/Krawczyk (2-1)
3 - 3/0...Melichar/Xu (1-2)

*MOST DIFF. #1's IN A SEASON (CAPS: 1st-time #1)*
1975: 1 = EVERT
1976: 2 = Evert-GOOLAGONG
1977: 1 = Evert
1978: 2 = Evert-NAVRATILOVA
1979: 2 = Navratilova-Evert
1980: 3 = Navratilova-AUSTIN-Evert
1981: 1 = Evert
1982: 2 = Evert-Navratilova
1983: 1 = Navratilova
1984: 1 = Navratilova
1985: 2 = Navratilova-Evert
1986: 1 = Navratilova
1987: 2 = Navratilova-GRAF
1988: 1 = Graf
1989: 1 = Graf
1990: 1 = Graf
1991: 2 = Graf-SELES
1992: 1 = Seles
1993: 2 = Seles-Graf
1994: 1 = Graf
1995: 3 = SANCHEZ VICARIO-Graf-Seles
1996: 2 = Graf-Seles
1997: 2 = Graf-HINGIS
1998: 2 = Hingis-DAVENPORT
1999: 2 = Davenport-Hingis
2000: 2 = Hingis-Davenport
2001: 3 = Hingis-CAPRIATI-Davenport
2002: 4 = Davenport-Capriati-V.WILLIAMS-S.WILLIAMS
2003: 3 = S.Williams-Clijsters-HENIN
2004: 3 = Henin-MAURESMO-Davenport
2005: 2 = Davenport-SHARAPOVA
2006: 4 = Davenport-Clijsters-Mauresmo-Henin
2007: 2 = Henin-Sharapova
2008: 5 = Henin-Sharapova-IVANOVIC-JANKOVIC-S.Williams
2009: 3 = Jankovic-S.Williams-SAFINA
2010: 2 = S.Williams-WOZNIACKI
2011: 2 = Wozniacki-Clijsters
2012: 3 = Wozniacki-AZARENKA-Sharapova
2013: 2 = Azarenka-S.Williams
2014: 1 = S.Williams
2015: 1 = S.Williams
2016: 2 = S.Williams-KERBER
2017: 5 = Kerber-S.Williams-KA.PLISKOVA-MUGURUZA-HALEP
2018: 1 = Halep-Wozniacki
2019: 3 = Halep-OSAKA-BARTY
2020: 1 = Barty
2021: 1 = Barty

*CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE*
73 - Serena Williams, USA
41 - Kim Clijsters, BEL
49 - Venus Williams, USA
28 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
22 - Simona Halep, ROU
21 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
18 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
16 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
15 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
12 - Angelique Kerber, GER
12 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
12 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS
10 - ASH BARTY, AUS
10 - Kiki Bertens, NED

*RECENT EASTER BOWL CHAMPS (18s)*
2008 Melanie Oudin
2009 Christina McHale
2010 Krista Hardebeck
2011 Kyle McPhillips
2012 Taylor Townsend
2013 Mayo Hibi (JPN)
2014 CiCi Bellis
2015 Claire Liu
2016 Alexandra Sanford
2017 Claire Liu
2018 Katie Volynets
2019 Emma Navarro
2020 DNP
2021 Liv Hovde
[recent 16s]*
2013 CiCi Bellis
2014 Katerina Stewart
2015 Samantha Martinelli
2016 Angelica Blake
2017 Emma Navarro
2018 Anessa Lee
2019 Vivian Ovrootsky
2020 DNP
2021 Theodora Rabman
[recent 14s]*
2003 Alexa Glatch
2004 Denise Dy
2005 Lauren Embree
2006 Beatrice Capra
2007 Lauren Herring
2008 Sachia Vickery
2009 Brooke Austin
2010 Gabrielle Andrews
2011 Maria Shishkina
2012 Emma Higuchi
2013 Jaeda Daniel
2014 Rachel Lim
2015 Whitney Osuigwe
2016 Ava Hrastar
2017 Charlotte Owensby
2018 Eleana Yu
2019 Tsehay Driscoll
2020 DNP
2021 Iva Jovic
[recent 12s]*
2007 Sachia Vickery
2008 Hayley Carter
2009 Tornado Alicia Black
2010 Katerina Stewart
2011 Sofia Kenin
2012 Nicole Conrad
2013 Amanda Anisimova
2014 Kacie Harvey
2015 Gabriella Price
2016 Katrina Scott
2017 Priya Nelson
2018 Clervive Ngounoue
2019 Thea Latak
2020 DNP
2021 Shannon Lam

*2021 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#1 - Ash Barty (Yarra Valley Melb.)
#1 - Ash Barty (Miami)
#3 - Naomi Osaka (Australian Open)
#10 - Aryna Sabalenka (Abu Dhabi)
#10 - Petra Kvitova (Doha)
#16 - Garbine Muguruza (Dubai)
#18 - Iga Swiatek (Adelaide)
#20 - Elise Mertens (Gippsland Melb.)
#61 - Dasha Kasatkina (Saint Petersburg)
#71 - Sara Sorribes Tormo (Guadalajara)
#75 - Dasha Kasatkina (Phillip Island Melb.)
#88 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
#139 - Clara Tauson (Lyon)
-
vacant - Kontaveit (#23) vs. Li (#99) [Grampians Melb. not played]

*2021 WTA CHAMPIONS BY AGE*
18 - Clara Tauson (Lyon)
18 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
19 - Iga Swiatek (Adelaide)
22 - Aryna Sabalenka (Abu Dhabi)
23 - Dasha Kasatkina (Phillip Island Melb.)
23 - Dasha Kasatkina (Saint Petersburg)
23 - Naomi Osaka (Australian Open)
24 - Ash Barty (Yarra Valley Melb.)
24 - Ash Barty (Miami.)
24 - Sara Sorribes Tormo (Guadalajara)
25 - Elise Mertens (Gippsland Melb.)
27 - Garbine Muguruza (Dubai)
30 - Petra Kvitova (Doha)
-
vacant - Kontaveit (25) vs. Li (20) [Grampians Melb. not played]

*2021 TITLES FROM MATCH POINT DOWN*
Australian Open - Naomi Osaka, JPN (2 MP vs. Muguruza, 4r)
Miami - Ash Barty, AUS (1 MP vs. Kucova, 2r)



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Catch Diane here (at around 3:32:00)!


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Stay the course.
All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:09 PM 

7 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

*Correction- Madrid will have a 64 player draw. Badosa got WC, which she would not have needed with an expanded field. Tournament will however, start on a Thursday.*

Will add thoughts about Backspin 1Q when you post, but have Muguruza at 2. She has had every big match imaginable, plus has lost to the eventual winner 3 times this year. Andreescu almost made it 4. Add her title, and she has only played one event this year where the victor didn't reach final-Sakkari in Abu Dhabi.

Rankings purge has begun. Doubles of note- Hsieh-1, Groenefeld-17, Krawczyk-24, King-81, Bertens-101.

Singles of note- Bertens-10, Keys-24, Yastremska-30, Pavlyuchenkova-40, Wang Q.-50, Stephens-57, Tauson-102, Puig-150, Konjuh-240.

We weren't going to see Andreescu until Madrid, but the treadmill starts all over again.

Chile has someone in a main draw. Seguel qualified for Bogota. Not the first time, as she reached QF after doing so in 2018.

Stat of the Week- 38- The number of players in the Top 100 with a clay title.

From rankings of 3/22. First the raw numbers, then the notes.

Top 10 Clay Titles:

13- S.Williams
9 - V.Williams
9 - Halep
6 - Bertens
5 - Svitolina
5 - Kvitova
4 - Cornet
3 - Pliskova
3 - Kanepi
3 - Kerber
3 - Kuznetsova
3 - Pavlyuchenkova
3 - Sevastova
3 - Hercog

14 listed due to ties.

Looking at this list, you would think that these are the threats for the French Open. It is the opposite, as most won't be factors there, but in 500 events.

Kvitova's numbers seem low, especially since she won Madrid 3 times. Same with Kuznetsova, but more on her later.

The numbers don't tell the whole story, because things went wacky once Ostapenko won. That is also a lie, as the trend started the prior year with Muguruza. If you notice, Muguruza, Ostapenko, Barty and Swiatek are not on the top part of this list. Each won both their first clay title and slam at Roland Garros, and even the one expected to eventually win there in Halep, picked up her first slam there.

Most likely, another first timer reaches the final.

Sun Apr 04, 11:09:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Quiz Time!

Svetlana Kuznetsova went 62-16 on clay between 2006-09. To whom did she have the most losses during that time? Multiple answers accepted.

A.Francesca Schiavone
B.Justine Henin
C.Alona Bondarenko
D.Ana Ivanovic
E.Dinara Safina

Interlude- Petkovic dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFhM2Ks9IHA


Answer!

Kuznetsova was dominant during that stretch, winning the French Open title in 2009. The mild surprise is that she only came away with 3 titles, losing 9 finals.

(B)Henin only beat her twice, the 2006 French Open final being one. She would have been a good guess, but her retirement midway through that stretch takes her out.

(A)Schiavone is also wrong, but she also won twice, no surprise that Fed Cup was one of those.

(D)Ivanovic is also wrong, but to continue the running theme, also beat her twice. 12 of her 16 losses came to the 5 choices.

(E)Safina is correct. Safina lost 3 times, most famously the 09 French Open.

(C)Bondarenko is an option, because this isn't Jankovic. Bondarenko opened her career 0-9 vs Jankovic, then won Hobart, and riding that wave, beat Jankovic at the Australian Open in 2010. She finished 1-13 vs Jankovic.

But she was a different player vs Kuznetsova, with a 3-2 career record, 3-0 on clay. She was the lowest ranked player to win at 46, with the other two at 40 and 25.

Only 2 other losses were outside the Top 20- Cornet-34, Schiavone-44.

Sun Apr 04, 11:29:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- The Tectonic Plate Edition.

Like a tectonic plate, the tour will shift as it moves to clay. Even the self described volcano(Cornet) will be in Charleston.

1.Vondrousova- Charleston pick as she went 13-3 in the last full clay season. 4 year anniversary of her winning Biel, which was played the same week as Bogota. Speaking of Bogota...
2.Paolini- 38 clay titlists in the Top 100. None of them are in Bogota, so why not a first time winner? 2 of her 3 career QF are on clay, plus Pennetta-2005, Vinci-2007, and Schiavone-2017 have walked away with the title.
3.Kenin- Why not Barty, who won her last event on clay? Well, Kenin reached the final of her last clay event, and seems to be ahead of schedule in regards to her health.
4.Kalinskaya- The Muguruza match was fun. So why pick someone who hasn't has a MD win on clay in almost 4 years? That was Gstaad-Masarova in 2017, but along with the rest of the AO Q losers(Golubic, Tauson, Bouchard, Konjuh) they have found a way to raise their game.
5.Sorribes Tormo- Has a brutal draw. Fun stat- 20 matches, 6 aces. That shows that she gets no free points. Already willing to grind on clay, she did so on hard, and people took notice. Plus obligated to put a Spaniard on this list as they have had one reach final here 11 times(5-6) in 22 years. One of those was her coach, Silvia Soler Espinosa in 2016.

Sun Apr 04, 11:42:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Errani- The most accomplished clay courter(7 titles) in Bogota, she opens with the hottest player in the draw in Sorribes Tormo. Should she win, she probably gets the only other player directly in the draw with a clay title in Schmiedlova. Errani's last clay title? 2015 Rio over Schmiedlova. Schmiedlova's first clay title? 2015 Bucharest over Errani. Note- 2 time winner Arruabarrena made it through Q.
2.Osorio Serrano/Arango- Unlikely that Colombia gets it's first winner here since Duque Marino in 2010, or finalist anywhere since 2016 Nuremberg, also Duque Marino. Both are former QF here-Arango in 18, Osorio in 19, but it is time to put up good results elsewhere. Arango is the clay courter out of the two, so if healthy, she would be the better guess.
3.Petkovic- Not a threat, as the 4 time clay winner hasn't won on the surface since 2014, which is a shame, as she might be the one player to actually dance the Charleston if she won.
4.Podoroska- Had to pull out of Bogota because of her hip. Said she will try to be ready for BJK Cup next week. A missed opportunity, as this is an event that Argentina has done well at. Also one where she won doubles.
5.Osaka- Won't be on this list long, but that was a clunker vs Sakkari. Funny thing is that she follows Serena's playbook for everything, and even she has had some losses that were just as mystifying. Said she won't be back until Madrid or Rome, which brings up the question-does she have enough time to play herself into form before the French?

Sun Apr 04, 11:57:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I can see Muguruza at #2, but Barty with *two* titles and w/ one being the biggest non-slam in the mix was the tipping point. If Muguruza had reached the final rather than Andreescu, I'd probably flipped them even with a Barty win.

Quiz: I was tempted to say Schiavone because of all their long matches, or maybe Bondarenko because she seemedaon odd inclusion. But I went with Henin because I knew Sveta had MP on Justine en route to one of her RG titles. Didn't event think about the retirement playing a part. Figures it was a Russian thing, I guess. ;)

I've always hoped that one day Petko would do the Charleston in Charleston. ;)

Mon Apr 05, 12:27:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

They did have someone dance the Charleston one year. I'm pretty sure it was Keys, which makes no sense because she should dance the Madison!

Mon Apr 05, 12:48:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I just realized that I listed Leylah Fernandez as "Clarisa Fernandez" on the 1Q Players list.

Geez... talk about pulling something up from the recesses of one's mind.

Mon Apr 05, 11:26:00 PM EDT  

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