Wednesday, June 30, 2021

W.3- Alizé is Life

With all else being equal, you'd probably rather be Alizé Cornet.




French veteran Cornet hasn't had a Hall of Fame career, but she's often been as memorable as any who have. And, dramatic to her core, she's had a lot of fun doing it, too.

Throughout her career, the now 31-year old Cornet hasn't generally played with the sort of joie de vivre one might often associate with a stereotypical "French tennis player." She's never had the grace of a champion like Amélie Mauresmo, nor flashed the overwhelming athletic brilliance-to-spare (or waste) displayed by many of her contemporary countrymen and women for whom style points have almost always outdistanced actual victories. No, Cornet's brand has always been more grit, grind, slip, slap, dash, dodge, poke, and hope... and then act surprised when things turn out as crazy as they often do. Alizé has been living in something of a bubble long since before bubbles were "cool." I mean, she could write a book on all her drama. Which, in fact, she did... fittingly, she titled it Sans Compromis (Without Compromise).

Even while her "antics" -- innocent reactions, surely, from her view -- have often served to rile others, her heart has always seemed in the right place whenever the "fog of competition" has lifted. She survived "Kiki Gate" a few years ago, remember? (LOL) Even her lone run-in with the sport's testing authorities proved to be a dramatic venture, boiling down to bad timing and a broken intercom. In the end, as usual, Alizé was declared to have been nothing worse than briefly misunderstood.

Call her dramatic, in that oh-so-Lenglen sort of way, as a term of endearment or consternation. Cornet has never been the sort of player to be ignored, by opponents or fans alike, and when she brings along her top-level game to go along with, umm, "all the rest," she's been one of the most entertaining players of her generation, from ball one until the final curtain comes down.

Today on Court 2 on the grounds of the All-England Club, a facility said to have been built to house the hordes of fans who clamored to gather and watch countrywoman Lenglen play a hundred years ago, Cornet brought all that and more.

Poor Bianca Andreescu. The #5-seeded Canadian was simply at her mercy in their 1st Round match, a "re-do" of the typically dramatic (for both women) clash in the Berlin 2nd Round two weeks ago. Cornet won 7-6/7-5 then, downing the former U.S. Open champ on her 21st birthday and setting the rocky course for what has been a forgettable (at best) grass court campaign for the injury-plagued star who in recent months has also dealt with COVID issues, the release of a coach and even undertaking new off-court representation.

Today, though, the unsettled Andreescu's biggest issue of concern, other than her own inability to adapt her game to a surface on which she's barely played in her career, was Cornet herself.

2021 has been a tough season for Cornet. Before the grass court season began, injuries, bad draws and close losses saw her standing at 10-14 on the year. But in recent weeks she's finally started to hit her stride, beginning with her semifinal run in Berlin and, perhaps, reaching her peak on Day 3 of Wimbledon against Andreescu.



Cornet never let Andreescu breathe in their match-up today. While the Pastry was streaking around the court, keeping her feet and directing shots with expert precision, Andreescu was never comfortable on the AELTC lawns in her first appearance in the tournament since her 2017 debut. She seemed to have learned nothing about how to play Cornet since her last loss to her, was far from confident in her footing, and committed 22 unforced errors in the opening set alone. After Cornet took the 1st at 6-2, she roared to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd. A frustrated Andreescu fell in game #5, and her butt-down, head-down reaction to her plight was easily understandable to even anyone who had no clue about any of her recent distractions.



Naturally, Cornet couldn't leave the stage without something dramatic. She found the perfect exclamation point for her win on MP, as she sent a running lob over a helpless Andreescu's head into the far corner of the court. The Canadian could only shake her head at the audacity of the shot, while Cornet reveled in the "Did I do that?" moment.



In the end, Andreescu had 34 UE in the fifteen games, falling to 1-3 on the grass this summer while still seeking her maiden Wimbledon match win (from the looks of things today, it's going to take some work). While the Canadian has often won big (Indian Wells, Toronto, U.S. Open) or come close (Miami final), other than her title run in New York the fact remains that she is 3-5 (w/ a walkover loss) in all her other slam appearances (1-3 in '21), with three 1st and three 2nd Round exits on her ledger. Of course, staying healthy is -- as always -- the key. This Wimbledon was *still* only her eighth event back since her knee injury in the WTA Finals to end her '19 season.

Cornet's win makes her 5-2 on the grass this summer, with two Top 10 wins (both vs. Andreescu) and another Top 15 (Muguruza). Her appearance today marked her 58th consecutive slam MD, good for third all-time in WTA history and still on schedule to match Ai Sugiyama's women's record of 62 at SW19 next year. Cornet has never reached a major QF, but has come ever so close with Round of 16 finishes at all four slams. The stat goes along quite nicely with her 22 Top 10 wins, six titles and multiple wins over the likes of a handful of players who *will* be enshrined in Newport one day, including Simona Halep, Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams (remarkably, *three* times in 2014 alone).

Wherever Cornet ultimately stands in the history of French tennis, or tennis in general, make no mistake that she'll occupy that space without apology or refrain. To do anything else just wouldn't be Alizé.






=DAY 3 NOTES=
...on Day 3, what has traditionally been known as "Rad Remembrance Day" at Backspin in commemoration of likely the most crazy and chaotic day (June 26, 2013) in the history of the tournament, the craziness that engulged the AELTC this time around was a mad dash to try to complete the 1st Round (and get the 2nd back on schedule) after two days of rain delays.

After seeing on Monday the first action at SW19 in 715 days, it was as if the tournament was seeking to get all the "missing" matches from 2020 in on a single day. With the start of doubles action put off until tomorrrow (and the men's doubles' early rounds cut to best-of-three), 23 women's 1st Round encounters were set to be played or completed alongside courts featuring the first 16 2nd Rounders as well as 41 additional men's singles matches (27 1r/14 2r).

While the slips and falls that led to back-to-back Centre Court retirements yesterday continued (minus the retirements), the day began with the unusual news that a pair of lucky losers -- Astra Sharma and Tsvetana Pironkova -- were being added to the draw three days into the event due to the injury-related (not COVID) withdrawals of qualifier Lesia Tsurenko and Danka Kovinic. Once play began, two Top 5 women's seeds (and a total of three in the Top 10) were ousted, longtime Wimbledon "marathon" man John Isner *lost* a five-setter, and 41-year old five-time champ Venus Williams was defeated a day after her sister left the tournament due to injury (marking just the fourth time in their long slam history that neither reached the 3rd Round of a major, and the first time ever at Wimbledon, where Venus became the first Williams to make her debut 24 years ago).

Neither of the women's *new* lucky losers lasted for long, but they took very different paths to do so. Pironkova, a 2010 semifinalist, was quickly dispensed by Yulia Putintseva 6-3/6-1 early in the day (likely before many people had even discovered that she was *back* in the event). Sharma nearly turned her stroke of luck golden. She led Kristyna Pliskova 4-2 in the 3rd set, only to drop the final four games (being broken at love to end the match) and return to the role of spectator all over again.

...Pliskova (2010) was one of five former girls champions crowned in the last ten Wimbledons who were in action on Day 3. Joining the Czech in the winner's circle were 2018 champ Iga Swiatek, who defeated 2010 Ladies finalist Vera Zvonareva 1 & 3 in a 2nd Round match-up, and 2014 winner Alona Ostapenko. This past weekend's Eastbourne champ continued her momentum with 6-1/6-2 1st Round victory over Leylah Fernandez. It's the Latvian's first SW19 win since reaching the semifinals in '18. She'll next get #31 Dasha Kasatkina (def. Patricia Maria Tig in three today), who she brushed off in three sets in the Eastbourne QF last week.



2017 junior winner Claire Liu fell 6-4/6-4 to #18-seed Elena Rybakina in a 2nd Round match, while #9-seeded '13 girls champ Belinda Bencic saw her once-promising grass season come to a crashing end at the hands of 20-year old Slovenian Kaja Juvan in the 1st Round.

Already a veteran of three successful slam qualifying runs over the last two years, the #102-ranked Juvan has packed a lot of moments into her short pro career even while remaining well under the sport's radar. Two years ago she took Serena Williams to three sets in their 2nd Round encounter at SW19, then in '20 posted an Acapulco win over Venus Williams in which she saved seven MP. At last fall's Roland Garros she ousted #18-seeded Angelique Kerber in the 1st Round, then saw #13 Johanna Konta retire against her in the opener at this year's Australian Open. Prior to that, she'd taken Iga Swiatek to three sets in the pre-AO Gippsland event in Melbourne. Since then, though, Juvan has missed time after a positive COVID test in March. She entered today having lost five straight matches.

Bencic, on the other hand, opened her grass season by reaching the Berlin final in an event in which she also pulled off what may very well be the WTA Shot of the Year come the fall. But that four-game run, ended by a loss to Liudmila Samsonova, has now turned into a 1-3 skid carrying her into the summer hard court season and Olympics. The #9-seeded Swiss dropped the first five games to Juvan today before getting on the board. After giving up a mid-set break in the 2nd, Bencic went out 6-3/6-3 with little fanfare.



Juvan finds herself in the now Serena-less section of the draw effectively headed up by former champ Kerber (#25) and #20 Coco Gauff. The Slovenian will face off with qualifier Clara Burel next, with Gauff (and maybe a great chance to finally register on that aforementioned radar) a potentially significant 3rd Round obstacle.

...one is always on Upset Alert whenever Elina Svitolina takes the court in a major, and the #3-seeded Ukrainian did indeed have the usual sorts of mini-stumbles in her match against Alison Van Uytvanck that made one wonder if the flood gates might open that would wash her out the All-England Club front gate, or at least seem antithetical to any sort of change of pattern that might lead to her changing course and finally truly challenging to take her first major. Svitolina dropped the 2nd set and was forced to a decider. There she broke the Waffle to take a 5-2 lead, only to give back the break a game later when she tried to serve out the win. She broke Van Uytvanck to end the match, though, moving into the 2nd Round two years after walking a fortunate path through the fortnight into her maiden slam semifinal helped along by the well-timed retirement of an opponent at about this very stage in the event (only in a 2nd Round match, not a 1st).



...meanwhile, Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Ana Bogdan 2 & 2, as the #16-seed recorded her first Wimbledon win since 2016. After reaching her maiden SW19 QF the year, the Russian had gone 0-3 at the AELTC until today.



All four of the U.S. women who reached the U.S. Open semifinals four years ago were in action at Wimbledon today. In 2nd Round matches, #23 Madison Keys advanced past Lauren Davis, while Sloane Stephens eliminated lucky loser Kristie Ahn late in the day. In between, CoCo Vandeweghe's summer grass court comeback picked up a little more traction with a straight sets victory over Olga Govortsova in what was the first SW19 appearance by the former two-time quarterfinalist (2015 & '17) since 2018. Wimbledon is by far Vandeweghe's best slam (she's 12-8 there, while being under .500 in each of the other three majors), but her best slam results remain her SF runs in Melbourne and Flushing Meadows in 2017.



Back a day after winning her 90th career Wimbledon match in her 90th career slam MD, Venus Williams (the fourth of the '17 U.S. semifinalists) simply didn't have as much to give today against #21-seeded Birmingham champ Ons Jabeur, falling 7-5/6-0.



...elsewhere, #82 Madison Brengle, who saved four MP against Christina McHale in the 1st Round, eliminated #4-seeded countrywoman Sofia Kenin 2 & 4 today, reaching her sixth career slam 3rd Round. Her lone Round of 16 came in Melbourne in 2015.

In her 1st Round match, #24 Anett Kontaveit did, well, the typical sort of Kontaveit thing. After reaching the Eastbourne final this weekend, the Estonian today fell 2-6/6-4/6-2 to Marketa Vondrousova. It's her first opening round exit at SW19 since 2016 after three consecutive 3rd Round results, as well as a step back after reaching that round or better in six of the last seven majors (including her first slam QF at the '20 AO).

Now, losing to a Czech at Wimbledon, and one who was playing in a slam final two years ago in Paris, wouldn't normally seem like a big disappointment. But consider that Vondrousova was not only 0-2 on grass this month coming into this match, but she was 1-10 in WTA MD matches on the surface in her career. *That's* what makes this sort of result a very head-shaking, albeit unfortunately typical, sort of slam result for Kontaveit, one of the more perplexingly disappointing players on tour in recent years whose stumbles (unlike those of say a Svitolina or Sabalenka) nonetheless slip through the cracks because -- outside of Estonia, I suppose -- she's generally left a very understated footprint (results or social media coverage-wise) on tour since her then-promising U.S. Open Round of 16 run in '16 in just her third career slam MD.

Wild card Liudmila Samsonova kept up her hot streak by defeating #22 Jessica Pegula today, making it 82 of the last 84 majors with at least one Russian in the 3rd Round.

...#4 Kenin and #5 Andreescu aside, what would have been the biggest upset of the day nearly occurred on Centre Court in a match featuring a British wild card.



Katie Boulter came into this day at #219, still plugging away and trying to make up lost ground after her forward (and upward) momentum was severely stalled two years ago when she gave her all in a Fed Cup tie and was "rewarded" with a lower back injury for her troubles. She had nearly cracked the Top 80 at the time, and her road back has been slow and steady (and surely bogged down even more by last year's shutdown).

Boulter was on her game early today against #2-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, not only trying to finally reach a slam QF but also the Wimbledon *3rd Round* for the very first time. She'd been the first player to advance out of the 1st Round on Day 1, and for a time today looked as if she might be the very first ousted in the 2nd.

Boulter claimed the 1st set 6-4, and was holding her own with the Belarusian in the 2nd. She'd held a GP for 3-3 in the set, only to see a Sabalenka return skim the top of the net and the Belarusian deny her the game. Instead she broke for a 4-2 lead. With Sabalenka seeking to serve out the 2nd at 5-3, Boulter took a love/30 lead and held a BP. But Sabalenka held for 6-3 to knot the match, then took an early break lead in the 3rd. But she failed to consolidate her lead and the set was knotted at 2-2.

At 2-2, 40/15 on Boulter's serve, a Sabalenka ball was called long, but the Belarusian challenged the call, saw it reversed, and then went on to get the break with four consecutive points. She held in 1:09 a game later, firing back-to-back aces to end for a 4-2 lead. Two games later, Sabalenka was a bit shaky, DF'ing to start and falling behind 15/40. Ultimately she saved six BP in the game, often with big serves, and held for a 5-3 lead. With a show of strength overwhelming what had been a tight contest, Sabalenka quickly reached MP on Boulter's serve a game later and won 4-6/6-3/6-3.



Three days in, world #4 Sabalenka has already posted her career best Wimbledon result, but she's still got work to do. She remains one of just three players in the Open era (Anna Smashnova, Anabel Medina Garrigues) with ten or more tour singles titles but without a slam semifinal, as well as being one of just two current players ranked in the Top 20 (#20 Rybakina) without a major semi. Additionally, she's the only woman in the Top 30 without at least one slam QF (the others in the Top 50 are #32 Kudermetova, #36 Alexandrova, #38 Yastremska, #44 Linette and #50 Sorribes Tormo).

...at one point today it looked like the Last Brit Standing award might deserve an asterisk. With the rest of the British women who'd played 1st Round matches having gone 0-6, and Boulter losing in her 2nd Round match, 18-year old wild card Emma Raducanu had yet to finish her *1st* Rounder against Vitalia Diatchenko when Sabalenka finally advanced. When the Boulter match ended, Raducanu was tied 5-5 in the 1st with the Russian. Had she gone on to lose, Boulter would have claimed sole possession of the LBS even while the teenager would have been the last Brit *playing* in this women's draw.

But then Raducanu took care of all that and just flat-out won the match, taking a 1st set TB and then bageling the Hordette to close out the 7-6(4)/6-0 win, the first of her slam career. Of the eight players to make their maiden MD appearance at a major in 2021, Raducanu is just the second (Danilovic/AO) to post a first-match victory.



...as it turned out, the only scheduled women's match today that didn't finish was the one between #15 Maria Sakkari and Shelby Rogers, which was called after Rogers took the opening set.

Bravo, everyone!

...in all, with the 1st Round finally complete, the U.S. led the way with thirteen (of 21) women reaching the 2nd Round, followed by the Czech Republic (7), Russia (7), Belarus (3) and Spain (3).

As far the early-round awards, the "Upset Queens" goes to the Czechs (7-2 overall even with Kvitova's loss, and with upsets of seeded #28 Riske and #24 Kontaveit in the 1st Round by, respectively, Tereza Martincova and Vondrousova). While the U.S. women have the numbers, I'm giving the "Revelation Ladies" honor to the South American contingent of Colombia's Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and Argentina's Nadia Podoroska, both of whom (as the only players from the continent in the draw) notched 1st Round victories. Osorio's was her first in a major (she got #2 today over #32 Alexandrova), while Podoroska's was just her second outside of her RG semi last year. She lost today to Martincova, dropping a 2nd set TB after having seemed poised to push things to a 3rd set after rallying from 5-3 down.

"The Nation of Poor Souls" ceremony will have to wait, at least for a day or two. Even with Boulter's near-upset, the British women seemed to have that one locked up. Heather Watson's earlier loss after holding MP vs. LL Kristie Ahn seemed like icing on the proverbial cake. But then Radacanu won, improving the overall GBR 1st Round performance to a more respectable 2-6 (not accounting #27-seed Johanna Konta's withdrawal on Sunday). If Juvan hadn't knocked off Bencic, Slovenia would have then gotten the nod with a 0-3 mark one slam after both Zidansek and Hercog reached the 3rd Round in Paris and the former became the first from the nation to reach a slam semifinal. But Juvan won. Canada might be an alternate choice, with both Andreescu and Fernandez losing while Bouchard is out for quite a while with an injury. Meanwhile, China is 1-3, but not much was expected there.

The Brits might still get it, but I'll hold off for until the 2nd Round is complete.





...LIKE ON DAY 3:

The simple Wimbledon Twitter header...





...UMMM... ON DAY 3:

If only they could have imported the Geico gecko for this it might have worked...





...FIRST UP ON THE POST-TOURNAMENT AELTC AGENDA MEETING... ON DAY 3:




...DAY 2 POSTSCRIPT... ON DAY 3:







SW 19 Memories...


Aga Radwanska loses in three sets to Serena Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final




June 26, 2013 (Day 3) - "The Radwanskian Massacre"




Radwanska, the highest seed remaining in the semis, loses to Sabine Lisicki




Marion Bartoli defeats Lisicki in the 2013 Ladies final























kosova-font














kosova-font

*BOTH VENUS & SERENA OUT BEFORE SLAM 3rd ROUND*
2012 Roland Garros - Serena 1r/Razzano; Venus 2r/A.Radwanska
2014 Roland Garros - Serena 2r/Muguruza; Venus 2r/AK.Schmiedlova
2020 Roland Garros - Serena 2r walkover/Pironkova; Venus 1r/AK.Schmiedlova
2021 Wimbledon - Serena 1r ret./Sasnovich; Venus 2r/Jabeur

*FIRST SLAM MD WINS*
=AO=
Olga Danilovic, SRB
Liudmila Samsonova, RUS
Mayar Sherif, EGY
Nina Stojanovic, SRB
=RG=
Hailey Baptiste, USA
Tereza Martincova, CZE
Harmony Tan, FRA
=WI=
Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, NED
Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, COL
Emma Raducanu, GBR

*WIMBLEDON "CRASH & BURN" WINNERS*
2008 Maria Sharapova, RUS (2nd Rd.)
2009 Maria Sharapova, RUS (2nd Rd.)
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA & Samantha Stosur, AUS (1st; RG finalists)
2011 Jelena Jankovic, SRB (1st Rd.)
2012 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (1st Rd.)
2013 Nadia Petrova, RUS (1st Rd.)
2014 Sloane Stephens, USA (1st Rd.)
2015 Genie Bouchard, CAN & Simona Halep, ROU (both 1st Rd.)
2016 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (RG champ; 2nd Rd.)
2017 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (1st Rd; 7 MP)
2018 Petra Kvitova, CZE (1st Rd.)
2019 Naomi Osaka, JPN (1st Rd.)
2021 Serena Williams, USA & Petra Kvitova, CZE (6/11 Wimb. titles; both 1st Rd.)

*WIMBLEDON "REVELATION LADIES" NATIONS*
2006 Serbia
2007 France
2008 Russia
2009 Italy (veterans)
2010 Romania
2011 Great Britain
2012 Netherlands
2013 Australia/New Zealand
2014 Czech Republic
2015 Switzerland
2016 Russia
2017 Great Britain
2018 Great Britain
2019 Russia
2021 South America

*WIMBLEDON "UPSET QUEENS" NATIONS*
2004 Great Britain
2005 United States
2006 Great Britain
2007 Austria
2008 Russia
2009 Germany
2010 Czech Republic
2011 Russia
2012 United States
2013 Czech Republic
2014 United States
2015 United States
2016 Germany
2017 United States
2018 United States
2019 Slovenia
2021 Czech Republic










TOP QUALIFIER: Ana Konjuh/CRO
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - Lesley Pattinama Kerhkove/NED def. Jule Niemeier/GER 6-4/2-6/9-7 (saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR (def. Niculescu - first official match at AELTC in 715 days)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Petra Kvitova/CZE (1st Rd.-Stephens)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove/NED, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL, Emma Raducanu/GBR
UPSET QUEENS: Czech Republic
REVELATION LADIES: South America
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2r: Burel, Kerkhove (L), Liu (L), Osorio Serrano (W); (LL in 2r: Ahn)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 2r: Boulter (L), Raducanu, Samsonova (W)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: In 2r: Petkovic, Vandeweghe, Vesnina
LAST BRIT STANDING: In 2r: Boulter (L), Raducanu
Ms./Miss OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "...": xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: #6 Serena Williams, USA & #10 Petra Kvitova, CZE (both 1st Rd;. won 6 of last 11 Wimbledon; Williams ret. for second career 1r slam exit)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (early-round): Nominees: Ahn (LL; 1r saved MP vs. Watson); Brengle (1r-McHale 4 MP and served for match three times)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (mid/late-round): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREES: xx
RAD REMEMBRANCE DAY malevolent activity notes...
=June 26 official=
All quiet, but on 25th Ula Radwanska loses in final qualifying round and on 27th top-ranked Brit Konta w/d due to COVID quarantine
=Day 3 observed=
After two days of rain following a 715-day break since the last Wimbledon, the Day 3 schedule includes 39 women's (23 1r/16 2r) and 41 men's (27 1r/14 2r) singles matches. Slips and falls that led to back-to-back Centre Court retirements (including S.Williams) on Day 2 continued, and the day began with the unusual news that a pair of lucky losers -- Astra Sharma and Tsvetana Pironkova -- were being added to the draw three days into the event due to injuries (both former semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova and Astra Sharma lost, the latter after holding a 4-2 3rd set lead). In all, three Top 10 women's seeds (#4 Kenin, #5 Andreescu and #9 Bencic) were ousted, longtime Wimbledon "marathon" man John Isner *lost* a five-setter, and 41-year old five-time champ Venus Williams was defeated a day after her sister left the tournament due to injury (marking just the fourth time in their long slam history that neither reached the 3rd Round of a major, and the first time ever at Wimbledon, where Venus became the first Williams to make her debut 24 years ago).






All for Day 3. More tomorrow.

Read more...

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 9:38 PM  5 comments

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

W.2- Venus' 90/90 Vision

And on Day 2, Wimbledon caught up with an old a longtime friend.




Twenty-four years ago, a 17-year old Venus Williams made her much-anticipated debut at the All-England Club. It took a while. Rain dominated the first week and she didn't play her 1st Round match until the weekend, losing to Poland's Magdalena Grzybowska. No matter, she'd go on to become a dominant force at the event. Overall, over two-plus decades, she's reached nine singles finals, lifted the (appropriately named) Venus Rosewater Dish five times while also taking home the doubles crown six more (and again at SW19 in the 2012 London Olympics). From 2000-09, Williams was 56-5 in singles, and has compiled a 45-3 mark in doubles (w/ Serena) on the grounds in her career.

If not for her little sister, against whom she lost three times in finals, Venus may have gone down as *the* dominant figure in the tournament's history. Twenty years after making her debut, she reached the women's final in 2017, coming up short against Garbine Muguruza.

While Williams' days of being a title threat appear to be a thing of the past, Venus carries on. Now 41, Williams made her 23rd 1st Round appearance today at Wimbledon with her 1st Round match against Mihaela Buzarnescu on Court Three (?!?!). Currently ranked #111, she'd initially been given a wild card into the MD by the All-England Club, but eventually made it into the field via her ranking due to the early withdrawals of others.

The match proved to be a close affair, with the score knotted at 5-5 in the 1st set before Williams held and broke the Romanian to take the lead in the match. Buzarnescu took the 2nd, making one wonder if Williams would again exit a major after just one match, as she had lost her last eight three-set matches (her last win came in September '19 vs. Strycova). But the former champion rose up and prevailed, finally serving things out in a long final game (3 BP saved) to win 7-5/4-6/6-3, ending a career-long six-match losing streak. It's just the third match won by Venus in her last nine slam appearances (and just her third win overall in the '21 season). Like a blast from the past, Williams fired ten aces on the day.



In her 90th slam MD appearance (a record), the victory gives Venus 90 MD wins at SW19, making her the fourth woman to crack that particular barrier, following in the footsteps of Martina Navratilova, Serena and Chris Evert. With overall slam win #271, Williams is just seven wins behind Steffi Graf for fourth place on the all-time Open era women's list.

While her numbers at Wimbledon don't look quite as imposing over the past decade, it's still a remarkable feat that *since* turning 30 she's posted a far-more-than-respectable 26-9 mark even while her days of dominating the field (save one) were getting smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror.

Still a draw after all these years (after being part of a WD team in Paris with Coco Gauff, she'll likely be part of *the* MX duo to watch at SW19 alongside Nick Kyrgios), Williams' future in the game will continue to play out on her own timetable. Thankfully, we seem to have passed through the period where she's being incessantly questioned about the "r" word and seemingly being rushed out the door to make room for others. It's become clear that, win or lose, Williams will persist for as long as she wishes. Just a little -- even a single win, especially in her forties -- goes a long way when it comes to pleasing fans and bolstering her legendary status.

This is all quite simply because she's still, and will forever be, Venus. And, by this point, that's a lot.






=DAY 2 NOTES=
...while Venus continues to bull her way through, later in the day her sister Serena had less say in the matter. Wrapping up the day on Centre Court, following a match ended via retirement when a men's player had slipped on the slick surface behind the baseline, Williams ultimately met the same fate, ending her most recent quest for slam #24. Whatever else it might end, or change the course of, will have to be determined later.



Already playing with a large wrap on her leg, Williams stumbled behind the baseline at 3-1 against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. She immediately went off court for a medical time out, later returning with halting footwork. Then, serving in the 3-3 game, Serena went down to her knees screaming in agony at the baseline. It was immediately clear that the match would end right there, and she tearfully (and gingerly) walked to the net to shake the Belarusian's hand.

Williams soon after left the court with a trainer to warm applause from a crowd that no doubt wondered if an era may have unceremoniously come to an end right before their eyes.



As far as history goes, it's just Serena's second 1st Round exit at a major in her career, joining the 2012 Roland Garros upset at the hands of Virginie Razzano. It's her second in-match retirement, coming twenty-three years after the other (vs. Virginia Ruano Pascual) in the 3rd Round of her Wimbledon debut.

One hopes this won't prove to be an unfortunate pair of bookends to her career at the event.



...earlier in the day, with rain continuing to wreak havoc with the schedule, the AELTC organizers were busy trying to keep one step ahead of the reaper. On that theme...

#8 Karolina Pliskova allowed coach Sascha Bajin to breathe a sigh of relief that will last at least a few more days, as the Czech rallied from an early 1st set deficit against Roland Garros surprise semifinalist Tamara Zidansek to win in straight sets on Tuesday. The Slovenian led 5-2 in the 1st, and seemed prepared to challenge for a second consecutive slam with an opening round Top 20 upset. Zidansek has especially shined in slam opening round matches of late, defeating Bianca Andreescu in Paris and two years ago at Wimbledon knocking off Genie Bouchard (8-6 3rd set) in her SW19 debut.

But the Czech strung together five straight games to take the opener today, and went on to win 7-5/6-4. Pliskova didn't advance past the 2nd Round in her first six Wimbledon appearances, but reached the Round of 16 in her last two in 2018-19.

...aside from Pliskova, Day 2's early action saw a flurry of vets take the court. Most soon exited the draw, as #28 Alison Riske's injury-plagued '21 campaign failed to be ignited by the grass as the '19 quarterfinalist lost to the ever-improving Tereza Martincova (she of the now 7-2 grass record this season, with two tour-level QF this month) 6-2/4-6/6-1. I'm sure Riske will still make a visit to the Last Eight Club, though, before she leaves... if it's actually open this year, that is.

Meanwhile, wild card (and Berlin champ) Liudmila Samsonova defeated 36-year old Kaia Kanepi 6-4/6-2, extending her winning streak to eight matches. Kanepi's SW19 history, of course, goes all the way back to her 2006 debut and includes a pair of QF runs, including one in '10 vs. Petra Kvitova in which she held 5 MP against the Czech, who'd go on to lose to Serena Williams in the SF a year before picking up her maiden crown at the AELTC in '11.

Shelby Rogers defeated Samantha Stosur, 37, in three sets. 36-year old Vera Zvonareva completed her Day 1 match against Marie Bouzkova, winning in straights to notch her first SW19 MD win since 2014. The Russian reached the final in 2010 (loss vs. Serena), her first of back-to-back slam finals that season (w/ U.S. vs. Clijsters). She followed up with a third straight major SF the following January in Melbourne (losing again to Clijsters).

...of the four matches suspended on Day 1, two of them them finished up today with extended final sets. Qualifier Claire Liu had led Misaki Doi 5-4 in the 3rd when the match was called due to darkness, and her break of serve today in the 3rd set's 15th game paved the way for a 2-6/6-3/9-7 win.

In the other match, Madison Brengle had already survived Christina McHale yesterday leading 5-3 and serving for the match in both the 2nd and 3rd sets, holding four MP, before being suspended with Brengle up 7-6. McHale came out hot again today, winning back-to-back games and serving for the match a third time at 8-7. She was broken at love, and never won another game. Brengle (aka "Brenglefly" back in the day at Backspin HQ) won 3-6/7-5/10-8.

After trying in vain for years to qualify for majors (going 0-for-27 in her attempts, then being 0-4 as a MD wild card before finally getting her maiden slam win at the '14 U.S. Open), Brengle has now played in 27 straight slam MD. Her win today gives her at least one win in the last four Wimbledons, and four of the last five majors played. McHale has been ousted in the 1st Round of all three slams this season, and in ten of her last eleven major MD from 2018-21 (w/ three qualifying attempts that came up short during that stretch, as well).

...the first match to hit the court from the originally-scheduled-for-Day-2 top half of the draw featured #1 Ash Barty, as the Aussie filled in for injured '19 Wimbledon winner Simona Halep in the Centre Court opener generally reserved for the women's defending champ. She faced off with Carla Suarez Navarro, making another stop in her extended farewell tour after returning to action after battling cancer last year.



Barty entered with an injury question looming over her head, as an arm injury had curtailed her RG preparation and a hip had prevented her from playing a grass court tuneup event the last two weeks. She seemed fine today in a match that had to be stopped in order for the roof to be closed to keep out the rain just four games in. As CSN did in Paris vs. Sloane Stephens, she battled to force a 3rd set, but Barty prevailed 6-1/6-7(1)/6-1 to win her 13th straight slam 1st Round match.



Barty is a former Wimbledon girls champ (2011), but has yet to reach the QF in the Ladies competition. She *has* improved her results in each of her last three appearances, though, putting up 1r-3r-4r finishes.

...with play on the outer courts stopped due to the rain, Eastbourne champ Angelique Kerber was fortunate enough to have been scheduled to play on the roofed Court 1. The #25-seeded German, a two-time finalist (and '18 champ), took out Serbian Nina Stojanovic 4 & 3 to win her sixth straight match (she's 7-1 on grass after having started 8-9 on hard courts and clay in '21).

...later in the day, when play had resumed on the outer courts, #25-seeded RG champ Barbora Krejcikova extended her winning streak to thirteen matches with a straight sets victory over Clara Tauson. It was the Czech's singles MD debut at Wimbledon, after having previously won the girls doubles (2013) and WD (2018) crowns alongside Katerina Siniakova.

Elena Vesnina defeated Martina Trevisan in the 2016 semifinalist's first match at SW19 since 2017. The Russian had been out since mid-2018, becoming a mother in '19, until earlier this season. She reached the 3rd Round in her return to Roland Garros earlier this month.

Lastly, #17 Kiki Bertens became the fifth seed to exit the 1st Round so far (not country Konta's pre-event w/d), falling to teenager Marta Kostyuk in what will be her final appearance at Wimbledon. The Dutch vet is set to retire at the end of this season. She reached the SW19 QF in 2018, and will finish with a 9-8 career mark in the event.

...one match (Hibino/Pera) was suspended today and set to resume with the 3rd set tomorrow, when the remaining twenty-two unplayed 1st Round matches are scheduled to (finally) be contested.





...LIKE... DAY 2:




...WHO SAYS ESPN NEVER LEARNS ANYTHING?... ON DAY 2:

Taking a cue from NBC shuttling matches exclusively to its Peacock streaming service, today ESPN -- which has always used ESPN+ as an *additional outlet* for continuing match coverage for regular MD matches which might or might not get a live network airing if circumstances warranted -- made Venus/Buzarnescu an ESPN+ *exclusive* and proceeded to pretty much completely ignore the existence of the match during its regular live covarage (save for about five seconds, likely because they were getting social media complaints about disrespecting Venus, in order to explain her absence from air).

Of course, with same breath, the commentators love wasting time talking about whichever soccer team that whichever player is supporting in whatever the big soccer thing is that is taking place in Europe right now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


...ONE MORE SLAM STOP TO GO... ON DAY 2:




...A VERY RAD DAY-like DAY 2:







SW 19 Memories...




19-year old Evonne Goolagong becomes the second Aussie women to win Wimbledon, defeating the first (Margaret Court, 1963/65/67) in the final [1971]



Nine years later, Goolagong becomes the first mother to win Wimbledon in 66 years. It's the last of her seven career slam wins. [1980]
















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*SERENA WILLIAMS at THE SLAMS - Rd.-by-Rd.*
77-2...1st ['12 RG: Razzano; '21 WI: Sasnovich ret.]
74-2...2nd ['98 AO: Venus; '14 RG: Muguruza; '20 RG Pironkova w/o]
64-10..3rd
54-9...4th
40-14...QF
33-7...SF [1-Venus/Henin/Clijsters/Vinci/Ka.Pliskova/Azarenka/Osaka]
23-10..Final
[2-Kerber/Venus, 1-Sharapova/Stosur/Muguruza/Osaka/Halep/Andreescu]
--
Walkover L: 4r 2018 RG (Sharapova); 2r 2020 RG (Pironkova)
Retirement L: 3r 1998 WI (Ruano-Pascual); 1r 2021 WI (Sasnovich)


*"RAD REMEMBRANCE DAY" HISTORY*
=2013 (inciting event)=
June 26 (Wimbledon Day 3)
"The Radwanskian Massacre" - 7 former #1's lose, w/ 4 additional walkovers and three ret. on day filled with falls, slips and stumbles

=2014=
June 26 (Wimbledon Day 3)
First unofficial commemoration of The Radwanskian Massacre. With the Radwanskian Threat Level meter in place and all on guard and vigilent, calm prevails.

=2015=
June 26 (official)
Aga Radwanska & the seagull (in Eastbourne, bird swoops at Radwanska as she serves... one day later, she loses in the singles final)
Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
The hottest day ever recorded in Wimbledon history (35.7 C / 96 F), fire alarm evacuates Centre Court.

=2016=
June 26 (official)/Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
The wet London weather rains... err, reigns. 74 singles and doubles matches are scheduled: 41 are cancelled, 15 interrupted and 18 completed. Only 6 matches were both started and finished solely on Day 3, with 4 of those played under the Centre Court roof. But Aga Radwanska opens the Centre Court schedule and wins without incident and, in a previously unscheduled C.C. match, Radwanska's '16 RG conqueror, Tsvetana Pironkova, loses.

=2017=
June 26 (official)
Eastbourne defending champ Dominika Cibulkova loses in opening match to WC Heather Watson; 4 LL's win MD matches (one LL vs. LL match-up); LL Tsvetana Pironkova advances to 2nd Rd. w/ 1st Rd. bye when Petra Kvitova withdraws, gets 2nd Rd. win
Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
It's "Flying Ant Day" as the newly-emerged insects swarm the AELTC grounds. Meanwhile, six women's seeds fall, including two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

=2018=
June 26 (official)
In Eastbourne, Aga Radwanska, playing in her first event in two months, saves 2 MP vs. Dasha Gavrilova (both via DF), wins a 2nd set tie-break, then takes the 3rd set at love. Gavrilova has 17 DF on the day.
Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
As insects swarm the AELTC grounds on Flying Ant Day, reigning AO champ #2 Caroline Wozniacki falls on the infested Court 1 to Ekaterina Makarova, becoming the sixth Top 8 seed to fall in the tournament's first three days. Aga Radwanska flirts with staging a comeback from a set and 5-1 down and force a 3rd set (after having saved 6 MP in the 1st Rd.), saving a MP vs. Lucie Safarova before the Czech staves off a total of seven BP in an 11-minute game to hold and secure the win. It's Aga's first career "Rad Day" defeat (and she never plays at Wimbledon again after retiring at the end of the season). Later, rain interrupts play for the first time in the fortnight.

=2019=
June 26 (official)
In Eastbourne, a day after her first Top 10 victory in over a year (and first consecutive wins in back-to-back events since last grass season), '18 Wimbledon semifinalist (and former SW19 girls champ) Alona Ostapenko is forced to retire from her 3rd Round match with a hip injury.
Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
Margarita Gasparyan, having overcome three knee surgeries and missing most of two years between 2016-18, comes within two points of defeating #8-seeded Elina Svitolina at 7-5/5-4. Five minutes later, she serves and lands awkwardly on her "bad" leg and immediately doubles over in pain. She is treated for cramping, and ultimately, in tears, retires while still leading 7-5/5-6, with an 82-81 points edge and 42-15 lead in winners.

*"ALTERNATE" RAD DAYS?*
=2015 (Jr. Radwanska Day) - Day 7/July 6=
Three of the Top 4 junior girls lost in the 1st Rd.: #1 Marketa Vondrousova (Roehampton RU), #3 Dalma Galfi (Roehampton W) and #4 Anna Kalinskaya (RG Girls RU)

=2016 (Day 4/June 30)=
#2 seed/RG champ/'15 RU Garbine Muguruza loses; #3 Aga Radwanska saves 3 MP, one on a net cord, as Ana Konjuh rolls her ankle after stepping on a ball, and Aga wins a 9-7 3rd set; eleven women's (and seven men's) seeds fall, as well as Heather Watson vs. Annika Beck (Watson had three MP, out early one year after two points from upset of Serena Williams in '15 3rd Rd.)

=2017 (Day 4/July 6)=
In muggy conditions, four women's seeds (and four men's) fall, including "favorite" #3 Karolina Pliskova, as no Czech woman reach the 3rd Round for the first time in eight years. Players slip and fall with controversial court conditions. Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffers a devastating knee injury. Aga Radwanska saves two MP vs. Christina McHale to advance.

=2018 (Days 1 & 2/July 2 & 3)=
On Day 1, the #4 (Sloane Stephens), #5 (Elina Svitolina) seeded players, and a '17 semifinalist (Magdalena Rybarikova) all lose, while Aga Radwanska saves six MP vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse and survives. CoCo Vandeweghe, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka fall on the slippery courts. On Day 2, former champions Petra Kvitova (the pre-tournament favorite) and Maria Sharapova (in the 1st Round for the first time ever at Wimbledon) lose, as does #6 Caroline Garcia as four of the Top 8 women's seeds are out before the 2nd Round for the first time in Wimbledon history. Ten total women's seeds lose in the 1st Round, the same number as on the men's side.

=2019 (Day 2/July 2)=
Former slam winners Maria Sharapova (ret.), Garbine Muguruza, Sam Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova (and former finalist Genie Bouchard) all lose.

=2021 (Day 2/June 29)=
Adrian Mannarino and Serena Williams both slip on slick Centre Court grass and retire in back-to-back matches.






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TOP QUALIFIER: Ana Konjuh/CRO
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - Lesley Pattinama Kerhkove/NED def. Jule Niemeier/GER 6-4/2-6/9-7 (saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR (def. Niculescu - first official match at AELTC in 715 days)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Petra Kvitova/CZE (1st Rd.-Stephens)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove/NED, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2r: Kerkhove, Liu, Osorio Serrano (LL win: Ahn)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 2r: Boulter, Samsonova
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: In 2r: Petkovic, Vesnina
LAST BRIT STANDING: In 2r: Boulter
Ms./Miss OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "...": xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #10 Kvitova (1r-Stephens; second 1r loss in 3 app.); #6 S.Williams (1r-Sasnovich ret.; first 1r exit at Wimbledon)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (early-round): Nominees: Ahn (LL; 1r saved MP vs. Watson); Brengle (1r-McHale 4 MP and served for match three times)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (mid/late-round): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREES: xx
RAD REMEMBRANCE DAY malevolent activity notes...
June 26 official: all quiet, but on 25th Ula Radwanska loses in final qualifying round and on 27th top-ranked Brit Konta w/d due to COVID quarantine
Day 3 observed: xx






All for Day 2. More tomorrow.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:55 PM  3 comments