Wednesday, June 02, 2021

RG.4- Behold the Kasatkina

One of the most unexpected, but wonderfully welcome, developments of 2021 has been the resurgence of one Dasha Kasatkina. With her dominant victory over #10-seeded Belinda Bencic on Day 4 of this Roland Garros, fearing "The Kasatkina" moves another step closer to becoming an exciting sequel some three years in the making.



It wasn't that long ago that the swashbuckling Hordette was a force to contend with. She reached back-to-back slam quarterfinals in Paris and London in 2018, fighting opponents until the bitter (usually for them) end with a combination of defense, stylish shot-making, jumping backhands and even a tweener (or two). She won her maiden singles crown in Charleston in spring 2017, and was runner-up in Moscow in the fall. A season later Kasatkina played in finals in Dubai and Indian Wells, then returned to Moscow and claimed the Kremlin Cup. She recorded ten Top 10 wins over those two seasons, and they weren't "cheap" ones, either. Eight came against the Top 5, including two over #1, four over #2 and another pair over the world #3. By the end of '18 she'd become the latest Russian woman to crack the Top 10.



But rather than ride her season-ending momentum to even greater success, a "tennis winter" struck the Kasatkina homestead. She almost immediately fell by the wayside on a super-competitive tour, and after a while it was easy to question whether she'd *ever* find her way back to a passable road.

After a slow start to '19 (1-5), Kasatkina parted ways with Philippe Dehaes, the coach who'd helped guide her to her career season the previous campaign. As the losses continued to mount, it took her nearly two full years to recover. After ending '18 at #10, she was out of the Top 20 by March, and finished the season at #69. She found a smattering of success in the chopped-up pandemic season of '20, but couldn't sustain any sort of consistency. She ranked as low as #75 in February of this year, but that was when her patient work with coach Carlos Martinez seemed to (finally) find its footing.

With her lost confidence from two years of struggle reinstated at long last, the "old" Kasatkina began to return. The fist-pumps, swagger and fight were in full evidence as she won what could be the most *important* title of her career in an event that wasn't even supposed to happen, taking the Phillip Island tournament in Melbourne. Held on the Australian Open grounds, in the second week of the slam due to pandemic travel concerns, the event was created for the players who'd lost early in the AO main draw (in the Russian's case, in the 2nd Round to Aryna Sabalenka) but who wanted to not have the worldwide transportation issues mean they'd go weeks without playing another event.

After running off six straight victories, half of them in three sets, Kasatkina had career title #3. The spark was back. A month later, she reached another final on home soil, winning Saint Petersburg to become the first multi-title winner of 2021, doubling her previous career total after enduring a title drought that lasted nearly two and a half years.

Having ended the early-season hard court stretch of the schedule on an 11-1 run, which had allowed her to return to the Top 40, Kasatkina didn't transition nearly as well to the clay courts where she'd found much of her early career success, dating back to winning the RG girls crown in 2014. She was but 3-4 when she arrived in Paris, and had to go three sets to defeat Misaki Doi in the 1st Round to avoid what might have proven to be an unfortunate occurrrence that could have threatened much of the good feeling she'd stirred up a few months ago.

Kasatkina's "moment of truth" arrived today, and she prevailed with high-flying colors, defeating Bencic 2 & 2. The win didn't get the Russian her first Top 10 since '18 (the Swiss is currently at #11), but it's easy to see this victory as a metaphorical sign that shows just how close she is to regaining the standing that she once had on the leading edge of her generation's batch of new young stars and big title contenders.



Today's win gives Kasatkina a 12-5 mark in her Roland Garros career, by far her best at any major, and improves her overall '21 record to 20-8, placing her on the edge of the Top 5 in tour win percentage on the season, and in the Top 10 in total match victories.

Who knows what might have happened with Kasatkina's career over the past three years had she retained Dehaes and not forced herself to have to tear down and rebuild her foundation of confidence back up to the level necessary to compete over the long haul of a WTA season, but one wonders if she might weather any *future* superstorms (ala her slowly-building clay spring, and likely worse) with Martinez a bit further down the road for having perhaps handled her previous one in a somewhat less than an ideal way.

Who knows, maybe that loss to Sabalenka in Melbourne will prove to be the defeat that (in an odd way) launched the Russian into a far better place, for she might still be spinning her wheels had she not gotten that injection of confidence so soon afterward, right when her season needed it the most.

So, is it time to "Fear the Kasatkina" again? Not quite, but it is most definitely time for the rest of the tour to start looking over their collective shoulder. If they know what's good for them, that is.






=DAY 4 NOTES=
...Petra Kvitova didn't make it to her 2nd Round match, but her fellow Czechs continue to make their mark at this Roland Garros.

Kvitova had already won her opening round match while saving a MP, then Barbora Krejcikova rallied from a set and 3-1 down in hers (vs. another Maiden, Krisyna Pliskova) to do the same. Today Katerina Siniakova stepped into the spotlight.



Facing #29 Veronika Kudermetova, the Charleston champ and Russian breakout star of '21 (at a career-high #30, she's the top-ranked Hordette who came into the day 14-3 on clay this spring), the #68-ranked Czech arrived in Paris this week off of one of the best runs of her career, and surely one of her most accomplished weeks (in singles) in quite a while. In Parma, she reached the semis while posting wins over Clara Tauson, Serena Williams and Caroline Garcia before taking eventual champ Coco Gauff to three sets. She outlasted countrywoman Marie Bouzkova in the RG 1st Round, and again was faced with a battle today.

Actually, at one point in that battle, it seemed lost. After squandering a 7-6(7)/3-0 lead, Siniakova had to rally from 5-1 down in the 3rd. Kudermetova twice served for the match, and held two MP. She even had to overcome some rather shaky umpiring.



Ultimately, Siniakova got the set back to 5-5, held and then broke the faltering (and arguing) Kudermetova to seal the 7-6(7)/5-7/7-5 victory, continuing what had already been a successful career at Roland Garros, her best slam by far. After reaching at least the 3rd Round in each of the last three years (3r-4r-3r), the Czech has done it again.

Siniakova has reached the 3rd Round just three times in the other three majors combined (WI 2016/18, US 2018), and her now nine MD wins in Paris nearly match her combined total (10) in Melbourne, London and New York.

Siniakova joins Czech #20 Marketa Vondrousova (now 6-3 in her last three slams after going 0-3 following her maiden slam final run in '19 at RG), who defeated French wild card Harmony Tan in straight sets, in the next round.



...while the Czechs are doing fine without Kvitova, so are the Romanians without Simona Halep.

With Ana Bogdan already advancing to her second career major 3rd Round (AO '18) due to her walkover past Naomi Osaka, Istanbul champ/Belgrade finalist Sorana Cirstea joined her with a three-set win over Martina Trevisan. In what has already been a season filled with "first time since..." moments -- first title since '13, first top 10 win since '17 -- Cirstea now heads into her first RG 3rd Round match since 2014 and, in all likelihood, to her first Top 50 ranking since '18. Cirstea arrived in Paris at #54. After failing to reach the Final 32 in nine of ten majors (2017-20), the Romanian has gotten to the stage in three of her last four.

...after the women from Slovenia knocked off two seeds (Andreescu & Bertens) in the 1st Round, and nearly took a set off Iga Swiatek, they were at it again on Day 4. While no additional seeds were dispatched, Tamara Zidansek followed up her win over the Canadian by eliminating Madison Brengle to reach her maiden slam 3rd Round; while Polona Hercog notched her first win in five tries (the most recent being in the 1st Round of this year's AO) over Pastry Caroline Garcia to reach her fifth career slam Final 32 (the first came eleven years ago in Paris).



With the Slovenians a combined 4-1 at this slam, today wraps up the "Upset Queens" honor for the group.

...while Spanish women have won Roland Garros four times (and reached four other finals) since 1989, only one remains in the draw at this event. Luckily for them, #33-seeded (due to the late withdrawal of seed Alison Riske) Paula Badosa has been one of the hottest players on tour this spring.

The 23-year old, who reached the Round of 16 last fall, improved to 5-1 in her Paris career (she was also the RG girls champ in '15) with her dominating two & love win on Day 4 over Danka Kovinic. She's 1-6 in the other three majors. Already with back-to-back-to-back Charleston SF, Madrid SF (w/ a win over #1 Barty) and Belgrade title (her first on tour) results in her back pocket, Badosa is now 15-2 on clay this season.

Positioned in the bottom quarter of the draw that now features just two seeds (herself and #20 Vondrousova) amongst the remaining eight woman, opportunity seems to be sprouting like spring flowers from the terre battue. *Someone* is going to reach the semis from that group (only Vondrousova has been that far before), and none of the players in contention has shown the form that Badosa has this spring.



...eight years ago, #15 Victoria Azarenka reached her one and only RG semifinal. Today, with a 6-4/7-5 win over Danish teen Clara Tauson, the Belarusian (as usual, coming back from having injury issues earlier this season, as she's already had three walkovers and was playing in just her tenth match of '21) reached her second 3rd Round in Paris since that final four run, and her first since 2015.

#23 Madison Keys, also recently resurfacing after injuries kept her away for a bit, took out Leylah Fernandez in straights, though it took her six MP to finally send the Canadian teen packing. Keys reached the semis in Paris in '18, then followed up with a QF in '19. Those results came during the seven-slam stretch in which Keys posted one final, two SF, two QF and a Round of 16 at majors (going a combined 29-7). With her two wins this week, she's gone 10-5 since.



...with so many seeds falling in her half of the draw, Day 4 officially became the moment in this major -- it has come in almost every one of late -- where people start looking at the remaining field and saying, "You know, if Serena can pull it together the opportunity is there for #24."

Fact is, at this point, that historic moment may *never* come, and it's even less likely to happen in Paris than in any of the four slam cities. But we're talking about the great Williams, so it remains a possibility. I mean, at least until it isn't possible, I guess. That point will most likely come at this RG, but who knows.

While there are still two Romanians left in the draw, Williams has been doing her part to personally rid it of as many as she can. Today the #7 seed eliminated her second in two rounds, following up her win over Irina Camelia Begu with another over Mihaela Buzarnescu. Buzarnescu didn't make it easy, through. After taking a break lead at 4-2 in the 2nd in a match filled with great rallies and shots, the Romanian weathered Williams breaking back, survived break points to keep a step ahead in the closing games of the set, then got the timely break to send things to a 3rd. That's where Williams pulled away and won 6-3/5-7/6-1 to reach her 74th career slam 3rd Round.

Here are some of those shots...



...elsewhere, #3 Aryna Sabalenka won the all-Belarusian match-up with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, while #21 Elena Rybakina (another with a nice regular season resume, but little to show for it in majors) handled Nao Hibino to reach just her second career slam 3rd Round ('20 AO). With today's win, the Kazakh moved a victory over .500 in her slam MD lifetime (7-6).

...doubles action started up today in a field that did *not* include the world WD #1 (Kristina Mladenovic) nor half of its 2020 championship duo (also Kiki).

After today's results, the *other* half of that team is also gone, as Timea Babos (#7 seed w/ Vera Zvonareva) was shipped off by Petra Martic/Shelby Rogers. In other matches, Magda Linette/Bernarda Pera defeated #5 Alexa Guarachi/Desirae Krawczyk, and one Kichenok sister (Nadiia, w/ Raluca Olaru) eliminated the other (Lyudmyla, w/ Arina Rodionova) in three sets.

Winners included #1 Hsieh Su-wei/Elise Mertens, #2 Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, #3 Nicole Melichar/Demi Schuurs, #9 Sharon Fichman/Giuliana Olmos, #15 Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Iga Swiatek and the unseeded Pliskova sisters.

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated partnership between 40-year old Venus Williams and 17-year old Coco Gauff drew a crowd, but didn't last long. The multi-generational duo fell in three sets to #13 Ellen Perez/Zheng Saisai. Still, the photos will exist for history's sake...







...LIKE ON DAY 4:




...LOVE THIS ON DAY 4:




...THIS TWEET ALONE BEATS EVERY WTA TWEET -- COMBINED -- THROUGH FOUR DAYS ON DAY 4:




...DO THINGS GET ANY MORE "THE AMERICAN WAY" THAN THIS?... ON DAY 4:




...WITHIN THREE MONTHS THE STORY WILL BE THAT THE SITE WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT IT WAS SHUT DOWN IN ORDER TO BUILD A BIGGER, BETTER SITE THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY BE THE BEST EVER SEEN, AND THAT IT'LL BE *COMING SOON*... eventually... until it doesn't ever... ON DAY 4:







Before "The Goddess" ("La Divine" herself, Suzanne Lenglen) there was, umm, "The Goddess?"

1913 Marguerite Broquedis/FRA
1914 Marguerite Broquedis/FRA
1915 not played/WWI
1916 not played/WWI
1917 not played/WWI
1918 not played/WWI
1919 not played/WWI
1920 Suzanne Lenglen/FRA
1921 Suzanne Lenglen/FRA
1922 Suzanne Lenglen/FRA
1923 Suzanne Lenglen/FRA
1924 Julie Vlasto/FRA
1925 Suzanne Lenglen/FRA
1926 Suzanne Lenglen/FRA




Marguerite Broquedis won just two French Championships, in 1913-14, but before Lenglen took the sport by storm, it was *she* who helped to revolutionize the women's game, breaking longstanding traditions, changing the fashion of the sport and, yes, winning. A lot. And big.

The best women's tennis player of the 1910s, the popular Broquedis, at 19, was the lone female member of the 112-athlete strong French Olympic team in Stockholm, where she became the first woman to take home a Gold medal for the nation, winning the women's outdoor singles event. She also picked up a Bronze in the mixed competition.

A year later, Broquedis defeated four-time French champ Jeanne Matthey to claim the event title in Paris. In 1914, she defended her title against Lenglen, six years her junior at just 15, who reached the final in her first appearance in the event. Broquedis' 5-7/6-4/6-3 win proved to be the only time Lenglen ever lost in a fully-played singles final in her competitive career. A few weeks later, Lenglen would win the clay court world championships (called the Hard Court World Championships), and her legend would only grow from there.



But, at the time, Broquedis was the groundbreaking personality in the sport. While Lenglen made the women's game, in most aspects, *bigger* than that of the men's due to her personal stardom and skill, the player who'd picked up the nickname of "The Goddess" *before* Lenglen put the sport on the proverbial map. While Broquedis played in a long pleated dress and hat, she also did so without a corset, finally freeing up the players to move around the court in a more athletic way.

Fashion designer and longtime tennis personality Ted Tinling wrote of Broquedis: “She was the subject of the first tennis fashion column ever published in a newspaper, she created the first tennis-friendly hairstyle. She was the first to suggest that women's tennis could be beautiful. Everything comes from her. And above all, she was more elegant than Lenglen."



Broquedis and Lenglen may well have become the first female tennis rivalry, but World War I intervened. The official French Championships wasn't played during the five years after the two met in the '14 final.

During that time, Lenglen became a burgeoning phenomenon on the courts of the less affected French Riviera, playing in exhibitions as soldiers on leave and others watched, bringing back with them tales of the young girl who was a magician with a racket. Meanwhile, Broquedis saw one of her brothers die in the first days of the war, and another disabled for life. While the fighting took members of her family, time (and Lenglen) took away her tennis throne. Lenglen burst out of the war years to become an immediate superstar, quickly earning her own "Goddess" nickname (amongst many others) and going on to maybe become the most famous tennis player ever.

The two faced off for the 1920 French title, with Lenglen winning 6-1/7-5. The passing of the torch was official. Lenglen would win four consecutive titles in Paris, and six times in seven years before turning professional in 1926.

But Broquedis didn't stop playing. Having won the French Covered Court Championships in 1910, '12–13, she claimed it three more times between 1922-27. During that time, she played under the names of two husbands, named Billout and Bordes. She ended her career by claiming the '27 French MX title with Jean Borotra, a good friend of Lenglen's who would take part in "La Divine's" funeral in 1938 when she died at age 39.

Broquedis outlived Lenglen by 45 years, dying at age 90 in 1983. But while Lenglen's funeral was breaking worldwide news, and her funeral attended by kings, luminaries and tennis champions, the original "Goddess" died anonymously in Orléans. While Lenglen is still known today, when Broquedis, the first French woman to win Olympic Gold, passed away the French Tennis Federation left her '12 win in Stockholm off her list of career accomplishments. Maybe more than any other tennis champion of the era, she has been virtually lost to history.



100 years after she became the biggest sports star in the world, a film about Lenglen and Helen Wills Moody (another half of a would-be rivalry with Lenglen that wasn't) is set to be produced by none other than Martina Navratilova. Considering the competing histories of Lenglen and Broquedis, perhaps an unofficial follow-up should be made that would have something of a "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" angle. I mean, without all the chewing of scenery and messy "held captive" plot points, of course.

To be continued...













kosova-font










kosova-font

*RG "UPSET QUEENS" NATION/REGION*
2004 Ukraine
2005 France
2006 United States
2007 Romania
2008 Czech Republic
2009 Kazakhstan (ex-Russians)
2010 Australia
2011 Romania
2012 United States
2013 Slovak Republic
2014 France
2015 Croatia
2016 South America
2017 South America
2018 Ukraine
2019 Russia
2020 Australia
2021 Slovenia

*SLAM MATCH WINS - OPEN ERA*
364...Serena Williams (in 3r)
306...Martina Navratilova
299...Chris Evert
278...Steffi Graf
270...Venus Williams
210...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

*SERENA WILLIAMS at THE SLAMS - Rd.-by-Rd.*
77-1...1st Round [2012 RG: Razzano]
74-2...2nd Round [98 AO/Venus; 14 RG/Muguruza; 20 RG/Pironkova w/o]
63-10..3rd Round = in 3r
54-8...4th Round
40-14...Quarterfinals
33-7...Semifinals
23-10..Finals
==
72-25 in slam three-setters







TOP QUALIFIER: Varvara Lepchenko/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: Jaqueline Cristian/ROU def. #13 Mayar Sherif/EGY 7-5/5-7/7-6(1) (Sherif saves 2 MP in 2nd, rallies from 5-3 in 3rd, but Cristian ends 3-hr. match w/ TB win)
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: Ana Bogdan/ROU (def.Cocciaretto/ROU)
FIRST SEED OUT: #26 Angelique Kerber/GER (1st Rd./Kalinina)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Baptiste/USA, Martincova/CZE, Tan/FRA
UPSET QUEENS: Slovenia
REVELATION LADIES: Czech Republic
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Germany (0-3 in 1st Rd.; Kerber FSO 2 con GS/2 of 3 RG; Siegemund 1r)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2r: Baptiste, Kalinina(L), Lepchenko
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 2r: Sharma, Tan(L)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Buzarnescu(2r), Vesnina (in 3r)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: In 2r: Ferro, Garcia(L), Mladenovic, Tan(L)
Ms./Mademoiselle OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "...": xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Cirstea, Collins, Kasatkina, Keys, Vesnina
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #2 Osaka (w/d before 2nd Rd.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: Nominees: Peterson (1r-set and 5-2 vs. Rogers); Hercog (1r-4-2 3rd vs. Bertens); Krejcikova (1r-set and 3-1 vs. Kr.Pliskova); Kontaveit (1r-saved MP in 2nd set vs. Golubic); Siniakova (2r-down 5-1 3rd, saved 2 MP vs. Kudermetova)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
Mademoiselle/Madam OF THE EVENING: Nominee: S.Williams
JUNIOR BREAKOUTS: xx
Légion de Lenglen HONOREE: Collins (w/ health issues), Osaka (drama/controversy)
Coupe LA PETIT TAUREAU: Carla Suarez Navarro, ESP (June 1 - returned after '20 cancer diagnosis)






All for Day 4. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:15 PM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Barty/Brady withdrew from doubles.

Vesnina may have been in Buzarnescu's box.

Bottom quarter is an opportunity for someone.

Buzarnescu wasn't clutch. The 3rd set score isn't indicative of how well she played, but didn't do well on break points.

Serena doesn't look like a contender today, but she won. So 24 is still technically alive.

Kudermetova let one get away. Multiple times. Siniakova deserved to win.

Stat of the Day - 1 - Number of doubles final losses for Venus Williams.

Gauff/Williams lost today, so that team won't be moving on. That gives me a chance to look at one of the most underrated women in doubles history. Venus.

Am I kidding? No, but once she retires, her numbers may lead you to believe that she wasn't as good as she was.

Out of context, that one doesn't mean much. But when I tell you that she hasn't lost a doubles final this century, that should get your attention.

Going 22-1 in finals, the 1 was an all American final, the 1999 Southern California Open, in which she lost to Davenport/Morariu.

That's impressive, right? It is, but the numbers hide that fact. Since 2010, she is 55-18 in doubles. For perspective, Strycova was #1 in 2019, going 37-14. So she has only played 2 years worth of matches in the last 11.

That isn't just a now thing, but a career thing. In fact, Venus never played double digit events in any season. Her highest was 9 in 1998, then 8 in 1999.

We think it is odd when Venus was only #1 in 11 weeks in singles, but the doubles number is lower. 8. 8 years after reaching #1 in singles, she did so with Serena in 2010, a year in which she only played 4 events. Having played a meager 6 in 2009, they won enough big events to hold the title for 2 months.

The last chapter has shown us a Venus that is willing to play without Serena. Gauff became the 10th woman to have done so. Curious as to the others?

Everywhere:
Serena

BJK Cup/Olympics
Rubin
Morariu
Raymond
Huber
Lepchenko

Tour:
Wozniacki
Keys
Dart
Gauff

So we know how good she is, but will history?

Wed Jun 02, 09:11:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

If Venus decides to continue on with her career for a while, you have to wonder if she might become more of a doubles player. If she keeps losing in singles her ranking is going to make it hard to play in a lot of events (she can't get a WC *everywhere*), but the opportunities to play doubles might spring eternal.

Hey, Martina was playing WD/MX until she was almost 50, and could have gone longer (she was the US Open MX in her final major at 49).

Don't know if she'd ever decide to go that route, or think it might be too much of a compromise. But she talks about how much she loves to play, and at some point that could be an option (at least in some events where she can't get into the WS draw).

Wed Jun 02, 11:59:00 PM EDT  

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