Sunday, May 23, 2021

Wk.17- Crisp Coco Conquers Clay

Is the Future about to be Now all over again?








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*WEEK 17 CHAMPIONS*
PARMA, ITALY (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Coco Gauff/USA def. Wang Qiang/CHN 6-1/6-3
D: Coco Gauff/Caty McNally (USA/USA) def. Darija Jurak/Andreja Jurak (CRO/SLO) 6-3/6-2
BELGRADE, SERBIA (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Paula Badosa/ESP def. Ana Konjuh/CRO 6-2/2-0 ret.
D: Aleksandra Krunic/Nina Stojanovic (SRB/SRB) def. Greet Minnen/Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL/BEL) 6-0/6-2


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Coco Gauff/USA
...Nearly half (15) of Gauff's 32 matches this season have gone three sets, but all her work in figuring out how to win most (11-4, after going 3-6 in '20) of those momentum-shifting affairs all came to a head in Parma. And that wasn't a good thing for the field. Rather than just be content with claiming her second tour title, and first on clay, the 17-year old picked up her third doubles crown alongside Caty McNally, as well.

The week started with Gauff's usual rollercoaster ride leaving the gate against Kaia Kanepi, but the teenager managed to subdue the Estonian vet in two TB sets and avoid going the distance. It set her on her true course. Next Camila Giorgi and Amanda Anisimova went down in straights as Gauff extended her non-three setter streak to six matches. Her three consecutive straight sets MD wins was a first-time occurrence in her WTA career. One poor 2nd set against Katerina Siniakova in the SF put the only "smudge" on the Bannerette's record for the week, but she still advanced to her second tour singles final with a dominating 6-2 3rd set handling of the Czech. The form carried over to the final (her first as a pro on clay), where Gauff easily defeated Wang Qiang 6-1/6-3, becoming the youngest singles champ on tour this season and improving her '21 clay court record to 12-3.



At a new career high of #25 on Monday, thereby securing her seed for Paris, Gauff now stands at 5-0 in career WTA finals (2-0 WS/3-0 WD) and is one of the players riding a wave of momentum into Paris to face off against a field now *without* Simona Halep and *with* a handful of contenders dealing with inactivity and/or injury, or lack of slam or RG success, who are just hoping for things to line up perfectly for them to make a deep second week run.

At the start of the season, Backspin's Prediction Blowout included a slam singles semifinal and a slam title for Gauff in 2021. The thinking was that the semi might come at Wimbledon, with the slam crown chances most likely in doubles (WD/MX). Those assumptions *might* still be leading the charge as the season nears its midway point, but after seeing the progress of Gauff on the dirt this spring... ummm, maybe the terre battue -- aka "the stage for first-time slam champs" (including the last five RG from 2016-20) -- will give rise to an entirely different story.

via GIPHY

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RISERS: Paula Badosa/ESP and Coco Gauff/Caty McNally, USA/USA
...Badosa has been one of the key WTA movers of this clay season. The 23-year old Spaniard came into the spring ranked in the #70's and coming off a three-week COVID quarantine in Australia. With her result this week in Belgrade, all Badosa has done on the clay is go 13-2, reach back-to-back-to-back semis, her first tour-level singles final and, with Ana Konjuh's retirement in their match-up this weekend in the Serbian Open final, claim her maiden WTA title.

Wins over Andrea Petkovic, Mihaela Buzarnescu, Rebecca Peterson and Viktoriya Tomova set up the triumphant (if a bit anticlimactic) end to her week, but make no mistake that Badosa's place in the upcoming Roland Garros draw will be of keen interest to anyone hoping to avoid the sort of opening round slam loss that dumps a bucket of cold water on what might have been a promising spring. Badosa won't be seeded in Paris, but she's set to crack the Top 40 for the first time this week.



One wouldn't have thought that Gauff's week could have gotten any better than winning her first clay court singles crown in Parma, but it did when she re-teamed with regular partner Caty McNally and rode the combination to the third tour-level title in the "McCoco" oeuvre, self-serving up a bit of sweet dessert following her solo championship.

The teens, the #4 seeds, lost no sets en route to the title, taking out the #1 (Guarachi/Krawczyk, SF) and #2 (Jurak/Klepac, Final) seeds along the way.

Both have had recent success with other partners, as McNally won the Charleston 250 title with Hailey Baptiste and Gauff reached the Rome QF with Veronika Kudermetova, but their longtime synergy as partners (they won the U.S. Open juniors in '18) make them one of the few consistently dangerous duos on tour in a moment where few long-time doubles partnerships are still in an "active phase" and Olympic considerations, not to mention injuries, pregnancies and retirements, have served to further scuttle the doubles team landscape.
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SURPRISES: Katerina Siniakova/CZE and Viktoriya Tomova BUL
...a few years ago, Siniakova seemed set to be the next Czech star.

In a year and a half (between July '16 and January '18), she reached five WTA singles finals, winning two in '17, when she recorded her first three Top 10 wins. By the end of '18 she was on the cusp of the Top 30 (#31), and she ended that year by taking her turn in her nation's Fed Cup spotlight by being the star of the Czech Republic's win in the final over the U.S., going 2-0 in singles and getting the title-clinching win over Sofia Kenin.

Since then, though, Siniakova has become one of the more perplexing disappointments on tour (in singles), as she's spent all of the last year and a half-plus ranked outside the Top 50, even while being one of the most successful doubles players on tour as she's teamed with Barbora Krejcikova to win two majors and reach the #1 ranking. In March, the 25-year old's singles ranking slipped to as low as #70, her worst standing since August 2016.

Siniakova came into Parma at #68, with a 4-8 tour-level mark on the season, and suddenly -- and surprising -- caught fire. After opening with a victory over Clara Tauson, the Czech upset Serena Williams. It was her sixth career Top 10 victory (4 have come vs. former/then #1's, with additional wins over Halep, Wozniacki and Osaka). A straight sets win (her third of the week) over Caroline Garcia put Siniakova into her first WTA SF since her Bronx Open run in the late summer of '19, and just her second in two years. She battled back against Coco Gauff in the semis to force a 3rd set, only to see the teenager surge past her and win in 6-2. Still, it was her most productive solo week of work in years.

After seeming to be the NextGen answer for the Czechs, Siniakova still only finds herself as the eighth-ranked woman in her country, with the *next* next generation (i.e. one or both of the Fruhvirtova sisters) already peeking around the corner. But with the bulk of the longstanding Czech stars either retired (Strycova) or entering their thirties (Kvitova, Pliskova), there is a spot alongside the likes of Muchova, Krejcikova and Bouzkova to be filled by the likes of Siniakova when it comes to continuing the Czech tradition of national depth and (maybe) BJK Cup crowns. Might this be the start of her reclaiming of what once seemed her destiny?



A few weeks ago, Tomova had her breakout moment with a semifinal run in Bogota. This week in Belgrade she had her Act II.

The 26-year old Bulgarian fell to Ana Konjuh in qualifying, but took advantage of her lucky loser spot in the MD by posting wins over the likes of Leylah Fernandez and Reka-Luca Jani (coming back from a break down in the 3rd) to reach another semi, the best result by any LL thus far in 2021.

Tomova didn't get her rematch in the final against Konjuh, falling a stage short of such a rare moment with her loss to Paula Badosa, but the journey she's gone on this season is no less remarkable because of it. Consider, she started the season competing exclusively in challengers, losing in January to Kathinka von Deichmann in Adrezieux-Boutheon, then Suzan Lamens in Poitiers in February.

On Monday, Tomova will climb to a new career high of #108 and assume the Bulgarian #1 spot, pushing former slam semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova down to #2.

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VETERANS: Reka-Luca Jani/HUN and Sara Errani/ITA
...it was quite a week of feats on the tennis court for Hungary's Jani.

Before her qualifying run last weekend in Belgrade (def. Aleksandra Krunic and Jaqueline Cristian), Jani hadn't played a MD tour-level match since April 2019 in Lugano. A career-long ITF warrioress (22 WS and 32 WD titles dating back to '09), when she finally put away Tereza Martincova in her third attempt to serve out the match Jani had notched her first MD WTA win since since May '18 in Strasbourg, and just her third ever. Another win over Anna Kalinskaya, which took three days to complete because of weather delays, put the 29-year old into her first career WTA QF.

Next, With her first career tour-level SF on the line, Jani took a 2-0 3rd set lead over Viktoriya Tomova before the Bulgarian staged a comeback and finished off the match by taking the set at 7-5.

Jani will jump 36 spots in the new rankings, climbing to #184. It'll be her highest ranking since July '12, the same year she set what is still her personall career-best ranking standard (#147).



Errani, the last remaining active member of the famed Italian Quartet generation, was always most in her element on the clay, and at 34 and in her latest (what, second, or is it third?) comeback surge of recent seasons she rode her Parma wild card into the QF, her second final eight result (w/ Bogota) this spring. The world #108, and former #5 (2013) and RG finalist (2012), posted wins over Ana Bogdan and Sara Sorribes Tormo, overcoming a set and 3-1 deficit against the latter and then seeing the Spaniard retire four games into the 3rd set. It was her second win over Sorribes this year, as she also was one of her victims in Bogota.

Errani was hustled out a round later (3 & love) by Sloane Stephens, but remains the sort of player many wouldn't want to draw in the opening round in Paris (though the Italian will likely have to make her way through qualifying to play in her 13th RG MD, boosting a resume that includes at RU-SF-QF-QF stretch between 2012-15).

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COMEBACKS: Ana Konjuh/CRO and Wang Qiang/CHN
...Konjuh's comeback from four elbow surgeries and missing most of three years on tour found its way into the 2021 conversation a few months ago when the former Top 20 player reached the Miami Round of 16 (getting a win over Iga Swiatek) in the same week she recorded her first tour MD win since 2018 and her first Top 20 victory since '17. She followed up with a QF in Istanbul.

Her ascent had slowed in recent weeks, as Konjuh fell in Madrid qualifying and lost in the QF of a $25K challenger to Dalma Galfi. But the 23-year old reclaimed the narrative of her comeback in Belgrade, qualifying (w/ a win over eventual semifinalist Viktoriya Tomova) and then taking down Alison Van Uytvanck, Yulia Putintseva and Nadia Podoroska in the MD. In her first WTA semi in four years (Rosmalen), Konjuh defeated Maria Camila Osorio Serrano in two TB sets to reach her first final since Auckland in January '17.

Of course, when it comes to Konjuh, success and injury often go hand in hand. After battling to her best tour-level result in years and with her first title since 2015 just one win away, the Croat's run ended in the final not simply because she was schooled by Paula Badosa but because she was slowed by a hip injury that ultimately prompted her retirement down a set and 2-0 down

Konjuh will jump 44 spots in the new rankings, climbing from #188 to #144, her best ranking since 2018.



Meanwhile, in Parma, Wang re-emerged from something of a two-plus year vanishing act that essentially began soon after her astounding multi-event surge to close out her 2018 campaign. You remember. Wang, who'd reached (and won) her first WTA final during the summer in Nanchang, put together a 21-6 4Q that saw her post SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU results in consecutive events. After being ranked #91 in May, Wang had climbed all the way into the Top 20 by the end of the season. Before her points from that stretch began to fall off, she climbed as high as #12 in September '19 though she posted just four QF+ results over the course of that season. It helped that two were at *big* events: Miami and the U.S. Open.

Still, Wang has sort of slipped off the radar a bit since. Of course, it didn't help that, like most of the Chinese players, she didn't play the rest of 2020 once the pandemic began and the tennis tour was shut down. She joined up with coach Pat Cash in December, but arrived in Parma with little tangible evidence of progress. She was ranked #48 and had just a 4-11 mark on the season. After an opening win over Misaki Doi, Wang followed up with a victory over Italian qualifier Martina Di Giuseppe to reach her first QF since Hua Hin early last season (her follow-up event after her career-first slam Round of 16 at the AO, which included a 3rd Round win over Serena Williams). With momentum for the first time in ages, Wang defeated Rome semifinalist Petra Martic to reach her first SF since August '19 (Bronx Open), just her second since her late '18 run. After winning the 1st set over Sloane Stephens, Wang rallied from 5-1 down in the the 2nd to put away the former RG finalist in straights to reach her first WTA final outside of China.

Wang put up little resistence against a very in-form Coco Gauff in the final, but will jump back into the Top 40 due to her week's work. She now becomes a true RG wild card as a player who has shown she can sustain a great run for multiple weeks, but who also might just disappear all over again.
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FRESH FACE: Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL
...19-year old Osorio Serrano, a junior U.S. Open winner on hard court two years ago, has quickly climbed the tour ladder this spring on the clay. Still with just six tour-level MD in her career, in recent weeks alone the Colombian has won her maiden tour title in Bogota and reached two additional SF.

One of those final four results came this week in Belgrade. After qualifying, Osorio rallied from 4-0 down in the 3rd set against Zhang Shuai to record her first career Top 50 victory, then turned an overnight break into another comeback against Kamilla Rakhimova. After losing the 1st set on day one of her meeting with the Russian in rainy Serbia, Osorio swept the 2nd and 3rd sets a day later. A win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich (another Top 50 victim) rewarded her with a third straight WTA semifinal berth. She lost to Ana Konjuh, but improved to 13-2 on clay this spring and will crack the Top 100 for the first time on Monday, joining Argentine Nadia Podoroska as the only two South Americans to currently rank so high.

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DOWN: Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP
...Sorribes Tormo was a hard court revelation in the early months of '21, going 15-5 while cracking the Top 50 and putting up a string of impressive results that included an Abu Dhabi QF, Guadalajara title, Monterrey SF and Miami QF. But while she was thought to be an even bigger threat on clay, the Spaniard has had a hard time finding traction since the schedule changed surfaces.

In Parma, Sorribes lost a 6-4/3-1 lead in her 2nd Round match to Sara Errani, then ultimately retired with a thigh injury at 2-2 in the 3rd. Now 2-4 on clay in '21, and carrying an injury with Roland Garros just a week away, one has to wonder if all her marathon early season work is now coming back to haunt her. This week's Errani loss (her second to the Italian this spring) was the tenth time she's gone to a 3rd set this season, and came a week after her season-long 3:51 effort in a win over Camila Giorgi in Rome. It was already quite clear the Spaniard wouldn't arrive in Paris in top form, but now it seems possible that she'll get there at something less than 100% physically, as well. And for a grinding, the-fight-always-goes-on player like Sorribes, that doesn't sound like a particularly good formula for success.

To date, Sorribes has never advanced past the 2nd Round at any major, with her '19 2nd Round her best effort at RG. That said, her draws in Paris have left a lot to be desired, as all four of her early round losses have been at the hands of seeded players, including Pavlyuchenkova, Bacsinszky (in the year she reached the RG SF), Stephens (a QF run) and Halep ('nuff said).
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ITF PLAYERS: Rebeka Masarova/ESP and Weronika Falkowska/POL
...at the $25K challenger in Plata d'Aro, Spain, 21-year old Masarova, a former junior star (won '16 RG final over Anisimova, lost '17 AO final to Kostyuk) picked up the biggest title of her career.

In her eighth career final, the Basel-born Masarova (after representing Switzerland, she switched to ESP in '18) added to her two $15K wins (2018-19) by going 8-0 on the week, winning three qualifying matches (including a 10-8 match TB in the final round) before winning five straight in the MD, finishing up with a 6-3/3-6/6-2 win in the final over countrywoman Irene Burillo Escorihuela (a $60K winner back in January).



In Tbilisi, Georgia, Falkowska swept the singles and doubles titles at an event for the second time this year. The Pole defeated Valeriya Olyanoskaya 6-3/7-6(1) in the final, and teamed with Swiss Jenny Durst in doubles.

Falkowska leads the ITF with four singles crowns this season, and has compiled a 23-2 mark, including a current 21-1 run. With an additional three WD titles, the 20-year old leads the circuit with seven total wins on the season.

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JUNIOR STARS: Petra Marcinko/Natalia Szabanin (CRO/HUN)
...in the $15K Sibenik (CRO) challenger, Marcinko & Szabanin both collected their maiden pro titles with their doubles run, defeating Daryna Astakhova/Ekaterina Makarova to take the win. 15-year old Croatian Marcinko, who also reached the singles QF, is the #24-ranked girl and won a grade 1 crown in Labare in February. Szabanin, 17, is currently a Top 10 junior (#9) with a pair of grade 1 singles titles (Porto Alegre and Salinas) on her resume in 2021.

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DOUBLES: Aleksandra Krunic/Nina Stojanovic, SRB/SRB
...the Serbian duo of Krunic & Stojanovic didn't get the chance to play a match with meaning last month in the nation's Billie Jean King Cup playoff tie vs. Canada in Kraljevo (the Canadians swept the singles, as The Bracelet watched from the sideline), but they made all of them count this week in Belgrade as they rushed to their first tour title as a pair. The #4 seeds, they outlasted Marozava/Mitu in a 10-6 match TB in the QF, then bounced #2 Babos/Zvonareva in the semis to reach the final. There they allowed just two games to Belgians Greet Minnen & Alison Van Uytvanck in a 6-0/6-2 match. The run gives Stojanovic her second tour doubles title, while Krunic picked up #5 (and improved to 5-1 in WTA WD finals since '14).

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WHEELCHAIR: Diede de Groot/NED
...finally, the big-name wheelchair stars returned to action this week and -- wouldn't you know it -- it resulted in yet another match-up between #1-ranked de Groot and #2 Yui Kamiji in the final of the Barcelona Open.

After a surprisingly inconsistent '20 campaign, de Groot's results so far in '21 have more closely resembled the dominant figure the Dutchwoman had been in previous seasons. In Barcelona, de Groot swept the singles and doubles crowns, teaming with Chilean Macarena Cabrillana to win the doubles (de Groot had won her last two events alongside Aniek Van Koot) and then improving her season singles mark to 11-1 with a 6-4/6-1 win over Kamiji in the final.

The meeting was the fourth already in '21 between the top two WC players in the world, with de Groot winning for the third time, including in a three-set thriller to decide the AO championship (de Groot's ninth singles major) their last time out.

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1. Belgrade 1st Rd. - Maria Camila Osorio Serrano def. Zhang Shuai
...6-2/1-6/7-6(4). The 19-year old Bogota champ scales a 4-0 3rd set deficit to upend #43 Zhang (who served for the match at 5-3), recording her first career Top 50 victory.

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2. Parma Final - Coco Gauff def. Wang Qiang
...6-1/6-3. A week after losing to Iga Swiatek, Gauff does her best impression of the Polish teen in the Parma final, sweeping through her Chinese opponent to pick up her first career clay court crown.

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3. Parma 1st Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Kaia Kanepi
...7-6(6)/7-6(7). The sudden shifts of momentum of Rollercoaster Coco ("RoCoco?") return, but the teen finds her way through it all and wins again.

Up 5-1 in the 2nd, it appeared as if the 17-year old was going to have a quick, drama-free day against her 35-year old opponent. Gauff served at 5-2, and 5-4, getting within two points of the win only to be broken both times. At 5-5, she had 5 BP shots on Kanepi's serve, but converted none. She led 4-2 in the 2nd set TB, but saw Kanepi reach SP at 6-5, then again at 7-6. Kanepi DF'd on the first, lost the second, and then saw Gauff put away her first MP to win 9-7.

In other words, just your typical RoCoco kind of day... but pretty much the only one of it's kind that she'd have all week.



And, by the way, the announcer calls Gauff "Cori" here. I mean, really? Yes, that *is* her birth name, and for some reason she's still listed as that on the WTA's website, but has *anyone* called her anything other than Coco the last three years?
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4. Parma 2nd Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Dasha Kasatkina
...1-6/6-4/7-5. Three years after they met in the RG quarterfinals, Stephens puts together a signature bad set to open the match, only to rally from a break down three times in the 3rd -- at 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 -- to pull out the victory.
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5. Parma 2nd Rd. - Sara Errani def. Sara Sorribes Tormo
...4-6/7-5/2-2 ret. The Italian vet, a player Sorribes has said was one of her inspirations, downs the Spaniard for the second time this clay season (7-5/7-5 in Bogota 1st Rd.). Sorribes led 6-4/3-1 before Errani pushed things to a 3rd, where everything came to an end with Sorribes' retirement with a thigh injury.
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6. Parma QF - Coco Gauff def. Amanda Anisimova
...6-3/6-3. Gauff levels her record at 1-1 in her second Chapter One edition of would-be future rivalries, following up her loss to Iga Swiatek in Rome with a win over Anisimova in the very first meeting of the teen Bannerettes -- who faced off for the U.S. Open girls title four years ago -- on the WTA tour.

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7. Belgrade 2nd Rd. - Viktoriya Tomova def. Leylah Fernandez
...6-3/4-6/6-2. Despite having reached the 3rd Round of Roland Garros (her best slam result) last fall, Monterrey champ Fernandez hasn't carried over her '21 hard court success to the clay season. Her three-set loss to Tomova dropped the Canadian to 2-4 this spring.
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8. Parma SF - Coco Gauff def. Katerina Siniakova
...7-5/1-6/6-2. Shockingly, this was Gauff's *first* three-setter of the week, though the swings in momentum were more "normal" and not of the "RoCoco" variety.

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9. Barcelona Open WC Final - Diede de Groot def. Yui Kamiji
...6-4/6-1. De Groot is now 9-1 vs. Kamiji in their last ten meetings, and leads 20-15 overall (18-4 in the last 21). The world #1 is 17-8 vs. #2 in singles finala (17-3 in the last 20).
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10. Belgrade Final - Paula Badosa def. Ana Konjuh
...6-2/2-0 ret. Badosa becomes the seventh first-time champ of '21, while even at the end of a great week Konjuh still can't fully escape the hurdles that her physical condition (this time a hip) throws in front of her.

Twenty-three events into the season, three-set WTA singles finals (5) hold just a slim lead over the combination of finals that ended in a retirement (3) or weren't played at all (1). Championship matches of the straights sets variety hold a commanding edge, with 14 so far.
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11. Parma SF - Wang Qiang def. Sloane Stephens
...6-2/7-6(3). What had been a good week for Stephens ended in a straight sets loss to a hot Wang. On it's face it wasn't anything resembling a week-sullying result. But what if you add to the mix that Stephens led Wang 5-1 in the 2nd set?
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12. Strasbourg Q1 - Evita Ramirez def. Jessica Pieri
...3-6/6-4/7-6(4). The 18-year old wild card Pastry, in the Strasbourg qualifying draw for the second time (w/ '19), records her first career win at a WTA event.

Ramirez lost in the next round to Yuliya Hatouka but, you know, don't cry for her. The truth is this win will never leave her.
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13. Sahin Kirbiyik Open (WC) Final - Jiske Griffioen def. Saki Takamuro
...5-7/6-2/6-1. Defeating the #1, #3 and #4 seeds in the tournament, former wheelchair #1 Griffioen claims her first singles title since her comeback in late '19, perhaps finally giving her some momentum as the wheelchair tour rolls back around to Wimbledon in a few weeks.

Griffioen, remember, was the very first Wimbledon WC singles winner back in 2016. She's only ranked #29, but perhaps she'll receive a wild card into the field of eight from the AELTC?

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14. NCAA D-1 Women's Team Final - Texas def. Pepperdine
...4-3. Texas wins a third NCAA women's championship, the school's first since 1995, as it comes down to the final match against first-time finalists Pepperdine.

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15. $15K Sibenik CRO Final - Dea Herdželaš def. Darja Vidmanova
...6-2/3-6/6-4. The 24-year old Bosnian picks up career title #7 (second in '21) with a three-set win over the 18-year old Czech (yes, another one). Vidmanova, the #29-ranked junior, was playing in her second pro final. She reached the girls 3rd Round at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2020.
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1. Parma 2nd Rd. - Katerina Siniakova def. Serena Williams
...7-6(4)/6-2. Siniakova hands Williams her second loss in three clay court matches this spring, recording her sixth career Top 10 win (but just her third since she had three in '17).

#68 Siniakova is the second-lowest ranked player to defeat Williams since January 2017, topped only by the then-#116 Shelby Rogers in the QF of Lexington last summer at the beginning of the Restart.

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2. Parma 1st Rd. - Anna Karolina Schmiedlova def. Venus Williams
...5-7/6-2/6-2. AKS led 5-2 in all three sets, and held three SP in the 1st, as she handed Venus her seventh straight three-set defeat. Williams' last go-the-distance win was in Beijing in October '19 (1r vs. Strycova).

Schmiedlova now leads the head-to-head 4-1, with four straight wins, having been fortunate enough to play most of her matches against Venus during the recent (late?) stage of her career.

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3. Parma 1st Rd. - Serena Williams def. Lisa Pigato
...6-3/6-2. 17-year old Italian qualifier Pigato, who last year won the RG girls doubles with Eleonora Alvisi (becoming the first all-ITA duo win a junior slam since Pennetta/Vinci in Paris in '99), makes her tour-level MD debut. She loses to Serena, but has the time of her life.

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And... Backspin HQ officially has cicadas.





=PARMA, ITALY=



=BELGRADE, SERBIA=







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*2021 YOUNG WTA CHAMPIONS*
17y,2m - COCO GAUFF, USA (PARMA - d. Q.Wang)
18y,2m - Clara Tauson, DEN (Lyon - d. Golubic)
18y,6m,2w - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (Monterrey- d. Golubic)
19y,3m - MC.Osorio Serrano, COL (Bogota - d. Zidansek)
19y,9m - Iga Swiatak, POL (Adelaide - d. Bencic)
19y,50w - Iga Swiatek, POL (Rome - d. Ka.Pliskova)

*2021 YOUNG WTA FINALISTS*
17 - COCO GAUFF, USA (PARMA-W)
18 - Clara Tauson, DEN (Lyon-W)
18 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (Monterrey-W)
19 - Maria Camila Osorio S, COL (Bogota-W)
19 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Adelaide-W)
19 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Rome-W)
20 - Ann Li, USA (Grampians-not played)
20 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (Miami-L)

*2021 WTA FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS*
Lyon - Clara Tauson, DEN (18/#139)
Guadalajara - Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP (24/#71)
Monterrey - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (18/#88)
Bogota - MC Osorio Serrano, COL (19/#180)
Charleston - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (23/#38)
Charleston 2 - Astra Sharma, AUS (25/#165)
BELGRADE - PAULA BADOSA, ESP (23/#44)

*2021 WTA FIRST-TIME FINALISTS*
Abu Dhabi - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (#46, 23) = L
Grampians - Ann Li, USA (#99, 20) = DNP
Lyon - Clara Tauson, DEN (#139, 18) = W
Guadalajara - Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP (#71, 24) = W
Bogota - MC.Osorio Serrano, COL (#180, 19) = W
BELGRADE - PAULA BADOSA, ESP (#44, 23) = W

*2021 QUALIFIERS IN WTA FINAL*
Clara Tauson, DEN - Lyon (18, #139) = W
Viktoriya Golubic, SUI - Lyon (28, #129) = L
Viktorija Golubic, SUI - Monterrey (28, #102) = L
ANA KONJUH, CRO - BELGRADE (23, #188) - L

*LOW-RANKED FINALISTS IN 2021*
#188 - ANA KONJUH, CRO (BELGRADE-L)
#180 - Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, COL (Bogota-W)
#165 - Astra Sharma, AUS (Charleston 2-W)
#144 - Genie Bouchard, CAN (Guadalajara-L)
#139 - Clara Tauson, DEN (Lyon-W)
#129 - Viktorija Golubic, SUI (Lyon-L)
#126 - Margarita Gasparyan, RUS (Saint Petersburg-L)
#102 - Viktorija Golubic, SUI (Monterrey-L)

*SINGLES/DOUBLES CHAMPION IN EVENT*
[2018]
Simona Halep, ROU [Shenzhen]
Elise Mertens, BEL [Lugano]
[2019]
Nao Hibino, JPN [Hiroshima]
[2020]
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR [Ostrava]
[2021]
Ash Barty, AUS [Stuttgart]
COCO GAUFF, USA [PARMA]

*2021 SINGLES/DOUBLES FINAL IN EVENT*
Stuttgart - Ash Barty, AUS (W-W)
Istanbul - Elise Mertens, BEL (L-W)
PARMA - COCO GAUFF, USA (W-W)

*BEST LUCKY LOSER RESULTS SINCE 2010*
[W]
2018 Moscow RC - Olga Danilovic
2019 Linz - Coco Gauff
[RU]
2012 Stanford - CoCo Vandeweghe
2018 Elite Trophy - Wang Qiang (rr)
[SF]
2012 Fes - Mathilde Johansson
2012 Linz - Irina-Camelia Begu
2013 Brisbane - Lesia Tsurenko
2013 Paris - Kiki Bertens
2015 Acapulco - Sesil Karatantcheva
2015 New Haven - Lesia Tsurenko
2015 Quebec City - Naomi Broady
2018 Budapest - Viktoria Kuzmova
2019 Palermo - Liudmila Samsonova
2021 BELGRADE - VIKTORIYA TOMOVA

*NORTH AMERICA - 2021 FINALS*
1 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (1-0)
1 - Ann Li, USA (0-0 DNP)
1 - COCO GAUFF, USA (1-0)
1 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (0-1)
1 - Genie Bouchard, CAN (0-1)
1 - Jennifer Brady, USA (0-1)
[SF]
3 - COCO GAUFF, USA (1-2)
2 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (1-1)
2 - Jennifer Brady, USA (1-1)
2 - Ann Li, USA (1-1)
2 - Serena Williams, USA (0-1+L)
1 - Genie Bouchard, CAN (1-0)
1 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (1-0)
1 - Jessica Pegula, USA (0-1)
1 - SLOANE STEPHENS, USA (0-1)

*UNITED STATES - WTA TITLES (active)*
73 - Serena Williams
49 - Venus Williams
6 - Sloane Stephens
5 - Sofia Kenin
5 - Madison Keys
2 - COCO GAUFF
2 - Monica Puig (Puerto Rico)
2 - Alison Riske
2 - CoCo Vandeweghe
1 - Amanda Anisimova
1 - Jennifer Brady
1 - Lauren Davis
1 - Irina Falconi
1 - Christina McHale
1 - Jessica Pegula

*2021 YOUNGEST WTA DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
17 - COCO GAUFF, USA (PARMA)
19 - Caty McNally, USA (Charleston 2)
19 - CATY McNALLY, USA (PARMA)
19 - Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS (Phillip Island)
19 - Hailey Baptiste, USA (Charleston 2)
[combined]
36 - GAUFF(17) & McNALLY(19) = PARMA
38 - Baptiste(19) & McNally(19) = Charleston 2

*VENUS WILLIAMS LOSSES TO #100+*
NR - Kim Clijsters (2009 U.S. Open 4th)
#674 Bethanie Mattek-Sands (2019 San Jose 1st)
#313 Coco Gauff (2019 Wimbledon 1st)
#223 Peng Shuai (2016 Beijing 1st)
#199 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (2020 Monterrey 1st)
#152 Bianca Andreeescu (2019 Auckland QF)
#143 Petra Kvitova (2008 Memphis 1st)
#140 Sonya Jeyaseelan (1999 A.Island 2nd)
#125 Barbara Schwartz (1999 RG 4th)
#125 Kaja Juvan (2020 Acapulco 1st)
#125 ANNA KAROLINA SCHMIEDLOVA (2021 Parma 1st)
#119 Kateryna Bondarenko (2015 Istanbul 1st)
#115 Nathalie Dechy (1997 Toronto 1st)
#109 Olga Puchkova (2013 Florianopolis SF)
[losses to #90+ by year]
1994: 1
1995: 0
1996: 1
1997: 3
1998: 0
1999: 1
2000: 0
2001: 0
2002: 0
2003: 0
2004: 0
2005: 1
2006: 1
2007: 0
2008: 1
2009: 0
2010: 0
2011: 0
2012: 0
2013: 1
2014: 0
2015: 1
2016: 2
2017: 0
2018: 2
2019: 3
2020: 2
2021: 1

*NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS*
[recent team champions]
2010 Stanford
2011 Florida
2012 Florida
2013 Stanford
2014 UCLA
2015 Vanderbilt
2016 Stanford
2017 Florida
2018 Stanford
2019 Stanford
2021 Texas
[most team titles]
20...Stanford
7...Florida
3...Texas
2...Georgia
2...UCLA
2...USC
1...Duke, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt
[recent singles winners]
2010 Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia (USA)
2011 Jana Juricova, California (SVK)
2012 Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA)
2013 Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA)
2014 Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA)
2015 Jamie Loeb, North Carolina (USA)
2016 Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA)
2017 Brienne Minor, Michigan (USA)
2018 Arianne Hartono, Mississippi (NED)
2019 Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (ESP)
2021
[recent doubles winners]
2010 Hilary Barte / Lindsay Burdette (Stanford)
2011 Hilary Barte / Mallory Burdette (Stanford)
2012 Mallory Burdette / Nicole Gibbs (Stanford)
2013 Kaitlyn Christian / Sabrina Santamaria (USC)
2014 Maya Jansen / Erin Routcliffe (Alabama)
2015 Maya Jansen / Erin Routcliffe (Alabama)
2016 Brooke Austin / Kourtney Keegan (Florida)
2017 Francesca Di Lorenzo / Miho Kowase (Ohio State)
2018 Jessica Golovin / Eden Richardson (LSU)
2019 Gabby Andrews / Ayan Broomfield (UCLA)
2021
[overall singles champions by school]
14 - Stanford
4 - Florida
3 - Georgia
2 - California, Duke, Miami, Virginia
1 - Baylor, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Mississippi, San Diego, UCLA, USC, Wake Forest
[most singles titles]
2 - Sandra Birch, Stanford
2 - Danielle Collins, Virginia
2 - Patty Fendick, Stanford
2 - Nicole Gibbs, Stanford
2 - Laura Granville, Stanford
2 - Amber Liu, Stanford
2 - Lisa Raymond, Florida

*RG WILD CARDS*
Oceane Babel, FRA - slam MD debut for the 17-year old; current junior #7
Clara Burel, FRA - second con. RG WC; '21 AO qualifier; '20 RG 3rd Rd.; '18 jr. #1
Oceane Dodin, FRA - 1-5 in RG MD; last slam MD win was at '17 U.S.
Elsa Jacquemot, FRA - second consecutive RG WC for '20 RG girls champ
Chloe Paquet, FRA - five consecutive RG WC (only 1r win was in '17)
Diane Parry, FRA - three consecutive RG WC for 2019 junior #1
Astra Sharma, AUS - reached '20 RG MD as LL; 2 con. slam WC; won Charleston 250 in April
Harmony Tan, FRA - three consecutive RG WC (0-3 in slam MD)





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Lloyd was still playing a daily game of tennis into his 100's, by the way.


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Great catch... but that should really be a home run. Not a single inch of her was in the field of play when she grabbed the ball.




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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 2:28 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Rooftop girls meet and greet is a good idea.

Croatia likes redemption stories. Konjuh's 2021 feels like Lucic 2017.

Indian Wells will play in October! The other thing that slipped through is that Montreal can't afford to skip 2 years. They are open to holding their event in the US if they can't get clearance to hold in Canada.

Hungary will not host BJK Cup. I am curious if they will play. They were given a spot to host, yet rank 18th in the standings. Would their spot be pulled for a new host?

Halep out of RG isn't a surprise. The calf tear is almost like the dreaded high ankle sprain in that if they say 4-6 weeks, it really means 8-10.

Strasbourg-Can Rogers continue the trend of first time clay winners?

FO Seeds- Swiatek moves up to 8 with Halep out, Bertens to 16, Gauff to 24.

Last 4- Kudermetova, Kontaveit, Pavlyuchenkova, Alexandrova. First 5 out- Badosa, Vekic, Kasatkina, Yastremska, Krejcikova.

French Open Q draw is out. Osorio Serrano is #11 seed, but moves up to 98, which puts her 2 spots behind #1 seed Zvonareva.

12th Q is the comeback quarter, with U.Radwanska, Diatchenko and Dulugeru all participating.

Best first round? Gadecki/Gasanova.

Others involved are Konjuh, Tomova, Snigur and Minella.

Stat of the Week- 5- The number of times Spain has had multiple players get their first singles title in the same season.

2021 has been a good year for Spain. Both Badosa and Sorribes Tormo put their name in the history books. But who were the others?

3-2014- Maria Teresa Torro Flor, Garbine Muguruza, Carla Suarez Navarro.
2-2021- Paola Badosa, Sara Sorribes Tormo.
2-2001- Angeles Montolio, Anabel Medina Garrigues.
2-1999- Cristina Torrens, Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.
2-1988- Conchita Martinez, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

With Muguruza also winning a title, they are becoming a BJK Cup threat if healthy.


Quiz Time!

Who was the first Spaniard to win a WTA singles title?

A.Conchita Martinez
B.Virginia Ruano Pascual
C.Maria Jose Llorca
D.Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.


Interlude- With Elena Vesnina playing the French Open for the first time since 2018, here is an older interview-with a guest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SSWq6XZ4Ho


Answer!

There are 3 good guesses, so let's start with the one that isn't. (B)Ruano Pascual isn't close, as she didn't get her frist singles win until 1997. She won 3, but made her name in doubles, where she won 33 titles, and reached #1.

(C)Llorca is wrong, but deserves notice. Her only final was in Barcelona-1988, and that was in doubles. She lost, but was one of the early pioneers. Llorca had a CH of 157 in doubles, 184 in singles.

(A)Martinez is wrong, but just barely. She won her first singles title in August 1988(Sofia) while (D)Sanchez Vicario won in July-Brussels. Arantxa also was the first doubles winner- Athens 1986.

This may seem late for Spain, but we have a country with a current slam winner(Poland) that didn't win a title until 2007(Radwanska).


Sun May 23, 07:55:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I hadn't even seen that about the BJK Cup (and it looks like it was announced a few weeks ago). It seems to have gotten very little coverage (I don't think there's even a story on the Cup site). Which is a problem in and of itself, I guess.

I would hope Hungary wouldn't get that spot. Maybe it'll go to the highest-ranked nation not in the field, which looks to be Romania, or maybe the new host.

Quiz: went w/ Martinez because I wasn't familiar w/ Llorca. :/

Vesnina: "I have no weakness. We are so strong." (flexes muscles) ;)

By the way, today is Suzanne Lenglen's birthday. 122, but she hasn't aged a day over 40.

Mon May 24, 12:18:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Hoergren said...

Well done Coco. Another thing. Well said by Naomi who is NOT attending any presser at FO - bravo and well said:
https://twitter.com/naomiosaka/status/1397665030015959040?s=20

Thu May 27, 04:14:00 AM EDT  

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