Friday, July 02, 2021

W.5- Jabeur's Extraordinary Playlist

In recent seasons, Ons Jabeur has almost cornered the WTA tour market when it comes to the whole "First to..." thing, as the 26-year old has been busy rewriting the Tunisian and Arab tennis history books by becoming the first junior slam champ, slam quarterfinalinst, tour singles titlist and Top 25 player. Today she added a subset all about Wimbledon to her list of career accomplishments.



Just weeks after reaching her second consecutive Round of 16 at Roland Garros, the 26-year old Jabeur made her Centre Court debut at Wimbledon, defeating a former champion in Garbine Muguruza and becoming the first Tunisian/Arab/North African woman to reach the second week at the All-England Club.



In a hard-fought contest with almost everything one could wish to see in a match to reach a significant stage in a major event, #21 Jabeur and #11 Muguruza tested one another all day long. At 4-4 in the 1st set, Muguruza broke Jabeur's serve and served for the set. Twice she slipped on the grass surface during the game, once when running toward the net for a short ball (she pulled up for a moment at the net after slightly hyperextending her left knee and maybe tweaking her ankle), then when her right foot slipped out from under her in the middle of the court moments later. The Spaniard fell behind 15/40, and Jabeur finally got the break on her sixth BP chance in the game. But Muguruza immediately broke back, taking the lead in the set for a third time. This time she held it, serving out the set 7-5.



From there, though, Jabeur gradually took over the proceedings, with her power groundstrokes seizing control much like Muguruza's did en route to her title at SW19 four years ago. She pulled away from the Spaniard down the stretch, serving for the match at 5-2 in the 3rd set. After firing a forehand winner to reach MP, Jabeur paused and then realized that she had to find her way to the corner of the court... to quickly throw up before what was one of the biggest moments of her career. She didn't end the match on her first MP, but she also didn't have to throw up again before MP #2, either. Instead, she simply ended a fine rally with a clean forehand winner into the corner, winning 5-7/6-3/6-2.

Jabeur immediately collapsed onto her back, threw her feet into the air and stared, spread-eagle on the lawn, into the blue sky above the most legendary tennis court in the world. She'd done it... yet again.



At this point Jabeur may be inspiring not only a generation of female athletes and girls from a part of the world where they don't routinely see such uncommon accomplishments, but she might just be inspiring herself.




=DAY 5 NOTES=
...for the most part, with the exception of Jabeur/Muguruza and Samsonova/Stephens, the vast majority of Friday's women's 3rd Round match-ups were open and shut affairs.

#7 Iga Swiatek, the '18 SW19 girls champion, is surely picking up steam in just her second Wimbledon appearance. After a few weeks ago not yet having a tour-level MD win on grass to her name, and arriving at the AELTC with just one, she's now run off three straight. Today she rubbed Irina Camelia Begu right off the draw sheet with little evidence remaining of her past existence there, winning 6-1/6-0.



Swiatek has now reached the Round of 16 at all three '21 slams, the only woman to do so, and has gone at least that far in a tour-best four consecutive majors. She's successfully reached the 4th Round in six of the ten slam MD in which she's appeared, and at five of the last six.

Swiatek won her Wimbledon junior crown a full thirteen years after countrywoman Aga Radwanska had become the first Pole to win the Wimbledon girls title (two years later her sister Urszula became the second), but the "hand off" of "Aga to Iga" SW19 success in the Ladies' competition might come a bit quicker. Aga reached the women's final nine years ago in 2012, then the semis in '13 and '15, and ultimately went 43-13 at the tournament, her best numbers (totals and pct.) in any major.

As she did in Paris, Iga might be fast tracking her rise in London, as well.



...it's hard to tell what to make of #8 Karolina Pliskova's season. At times, she's looked like a fighter jet from which a pilot might be wise to eject at any second, but she *has* shown (Rome) that she's still capable of pulling off a few loop-de-loops at the eleventh hour that give rise to optimism. The Czech came to this Wimbledon ranked outside the Top 10 for the first time since 2016, having gone 0-2 in her grass prep and been knocked out of Roland Garros in the 2nd Round (by Stephens, but still).

Well, Pliskova is currently in the middle of her *second* loop-de-loop of '21, heading into her third straight Wimbledon Round of 16 after sweeping through all six sets she's played at SW19 this week. Today it was countrywoman Tereza Martincova who was victimized, by a 6-3/6-3 score. Grass has never really been her "thing" (so, you know, I guess that means she'd *never* be able to gloriously qualify -- however briefly -- for the U.S. Olympic track team... ba-dum-tss), but big-time opportunity is right there for the taking.

Anyway, no matter what happens in the second week, this can only be a good thing for her confidence heading into the summer hard court season. Big Sascha breathes another sigh of relief.



...after today's results, one of the biggest-hitting Round of 16's in many a day *will* happen. Less than three years after "Boom-Shaka-Osaka" (Aryna Sabalenka's first foray into a slam 4th Round, a three-set loss at the '18 U.S. Open vs. the eventual champ), and a few months after "Boom-Shaka-Second-Chance" (aka "Boom-Shaka-Serena," as the Sabalenka fell in three to Williams in the Melbourne Round of 16), "Belarusian Boom" Sabalenka's "Boom-Shaka..." series gets another edition in her *third* attempt to win a match and reach her maiden slam QF. Again, for a third straight slam Round of 16 affair, she'll find the rare player on the other side of the net who will be able to match her power on a shot-by-shot basis.



After escaping what would have been a disheartening upset at the hands of Katie Boulter in the 2nd Round, Sabalenka arrived today against Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and took care of business. After winning the 1st set at love, she led 4-1 in the 2nd and went on to close out the Colombian teen 6-0/6-3. Again she's a win away the next logical step in her career, but one already delayed by nearly three years.



#2 Sabalenka's "Boom-Shaka" opponent will none other than #18 Elena Rybakina, who'll arrive having not yet dropped a set at these Championships. The Kazakh, too, bum-rushed Shelby Rogers in the opening set. She took a 5-0 lead, and went on to win 6-1/6-4. She's lost her serve just once in three matches, and is winning about 80% of her first serve points.



Sabalenka and Rybakina, the only two players currently ranked in the Top 20 who haven't yet reached a slam SF, will next face off in a fire-balling battle to reach the QF. It'd be Sabalenka's first at a major (she's the only player in the Top 30 without one), while it'd be Rybakina's *second straight* after doing so on the clay at Roland Garros. So, will it be "Boom-Shaka-Kina" or, finally, "Boom-Shaka-Sabalenka?"

Somewhat remarkably, as of today, six of the women who reached the Final 8 in Paris are still alive in the Wimbledon draw. Who says the surface switch is difficult? Right now, though, only Rybakina and Swiatek are assured of being a win away in the second week from a consecutive QF berth, as the other four -- Gauff, Krejcikova, Pavlyuchenkova and Badosa -- play tomorrow.



...might we be witnessing the birth of a grass court wonder?

Two weeks ago in Berlin, Russian Liudmila Samsonova qualified and then proceeded to knock off a slam champ (Azarenka), two major finalists (Vondrousova/Keys) and another slam semifinalist (Bencic) en route to her maiden WTA title. The run earned her a wild card from the All-England Club into this Wimbledon. She's making good on it.

Playing a big game, Samsonova has carried over (and maybe supercharged) her grass court game, taking out hardly-lightweight-opponents Kaia Kanepi and #22 Jessica Pegula before facing off today with Sloane Stephens. The 22-year old Hordette was hardly awed by the moment on Court 1, despite her career 1-5 mark in majors prior to this week. Stephens was playing with a wrap on her leg, but it was Samsonova's courage and fight that won her the match.

After Stephens had matched Samsonova's 6-2 opening set win with one of her own in the 2nd, the Russian remained undaunted. She got the early break and led 3-1. Serving up 4-3 and facing a BP, she played an aggressive point that opened with a big serve and forehand, then she stepped inside the court for a rally-ending winner. Another forehand winner got the hold of serve. Two games later, Samsonova was still firing big serves at the former slam champ. She took a 40/15 lead. After a brief nod to the enormity of the moment -- a DF and error on back-to-back points -- the Russian lasered an ace up the T for her third MP. Another big serve elicited a long forehand return from Stephens that ended the 6-2/2-6/6-4 match and put Samsonova in her maiden slam Round of 16 in her Wimbledon debut.

Samsonova has now won ten straight matches, and her win today assures that Russia will have at least one (w/ Pavlyuchenkova still to play) woman in the Round of 16 for the 74th time in the last 83 majors. A month ago, Samsonova was losing in the QF of a $25K in Grado, Italy to Federica Di Sarra. Today she's a win away from cracking the Top 50, and a slam Final 8.



...#9 Belinda Bencic may not have lasted long at this Wimbledon, but her countrywoman Viktorija Golubic sure is. After earlier this season reaching a pair of tour-level finals on hard court, and winning a WTA 125 on clay to go along with a February ITF $25K title (HC), the 28-year old's remarkably consistent season continues to pick up steam (now) on the grass. Her 6-2/6-1 win today over Madison Brengle puts the Swiss into her first career slam Round of 16. Prior to this run, Golubic had lost four straight 1st Round slam matches, and was one-and-done in 14 of her 17 career MD appearances in majors. With her win today she's now 6-3 at Wimbledon, and 1-14 at the other three slams.



Friday's final women's 3rd Rounder was the sixth of the eight contests to wrap up in straight sets, as #23 Madison Keys defeated #13 Elise Mertens 7-5/6-3. It's Keys' third Wimbledon Round of 16, but her first since 2016 and her first at any major since the '19 U.S. Open.



...just two days into the women's doubles competition, two of the Top 4 seeds are gone, and five of the Top 8. Thrown onto the pile today were #4 Nicole Melichar & Demi Schuurs, who were upset by Romanians Andreea Mitu & Monica Niculescu.

Also winning today were Coco Gauff & Caty McNally, who defeated Dasha Kasatkina & Ellen Perez, 6-3/6-2. Naturally, Chris McKendry was all about firing up the "Cocomania" machine again on ESPN, as she gushed about Gauff's "brilliant" serving, noting that "McCoco" won all of her service games. Which is nice... umm, but they won all of McNally's serve games, too.

Venus Williams & Nick Kyrgios made their MX debut a successful one, as did Sania Mirza & Rohan Bopanna in Mirza's first slam MX doubles action since the 2017 U.S. Open.



...in the junior event at Roehampton, the semifinals are set, and they're three Czechs full.

Top-seeded Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra is the lone non-Maiden, and will face off with Linda Kilmovicova for a spot in the final. The winner there will meet the survivor between #8 Linda Fruhvirtova (who defeated #2 Alex Eala in the semis) and Barbora Palicova.

Since 2010, the winner of the Roehampton event has gone on to also claim the Wimbledon juniors seven times in ten competitions.




*LADIES' SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
#8 Karolina Pliskova/CZE vs. (WC) Liudmila Samsononva/RUS
#23 Madison Keys/USA vs. Viktorija Golubic/SUI
#7 Iga Swiatek/POL vs. #21 Ons Jabeur/TUN
#18 Elena Rybakina/KAZ vs. #2 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
x vs. #15 Kuzmova/Rus (SVK/NED)
x vs. x
x vs. #13 N.Kichenok/Olaru (UKR/ROU)
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. Gracheva/Kalashnikova (RUS/GEO)






...Ummm... ON DAY 5:


If that shot was of a certain Frenchman, it surely would have been a captured moment from a loss. Thankfully, this is women's tennis.


...NOTABLE... ON DAY 5:




...A MOMENT+10... ON DAY 5:




...JANA BBC TRIBUTE (from 2018) ON DAY 5:





...BENCIC'S IS STILL THE BEST... ON DAY 5:

And, really, was the Hsieh shot better than that Azaranka "daisycutter?" And I'm only going to assume that maybe Wimbledon wasn't included in this, because otherwise Cornet's lob on MP vs. Andreescu should knock out at least two of these. Naturally, Swiatek was always going to win, which is why these "fan votes" are sort of meaningless (and makes it even more nuts that the WTA didn't set up an Iga vs. Simona, who'd won the previous three years, voting battle for "Fan Favorite" last year so incredibly stupid).




...Shhhhh... It.Is.Coming. ON DAY 5 ON SUNDAY:







SW 19 Memories...


Conchita Martinez wins her lone slam singles championship [1994]





















kosova-font















kosova-font

*BEST 2021 SLAM RESULTS*
[qualifiers]
AO 3rd Rd. - Sara Errani, ITA
AO 3rd Rd. - Kaja Juvan, SLO
WI 3rd Rd. - Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, COL
AO 2nd Rd. - Timea Babos, HUN
AO 2nd Rd. - Olga Danilovic, SRB
AO 2nd Rd. - Rebecca Marino, CAN
AO 2nd Rd. - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS
AO 2nd Rd. - Mayar Sherif, EGY
RG 2nd Rd. - Hailey Baptiste, USA
RG 2nd Rd. - Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
RG 2nd Rd. - Varvara Lepchenko, USA
WI 2nd Rd. - Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, NED
WI 2nd Rd. - Claire Liu, USA
WI 2nd Rd. - Clara Burel, FRA

[lucky losers]
AO 2nd Rd. - Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK
RG 2nd Rd. - none
WI 2nd Rd. - Kristie Ahn, USA

[protected ranking]
RG 3rd Rd. - Elena Vesnina, RUS
AO 2nd Rd. - Mona Barthel, GER
AO 2nd Rd. - Rebecca Marino, CAN (Q)
RG 2nd Rd. - Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU
WI 2nd Rd. - Andrea Petkovic, GER
WI 2nd Rd. - CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
WI 2nd Rd. - Elena Vesnina, RUS







TOP QUALIFIER: Ana Konjuh/CRO
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #25 Angelique Kerber/GER
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): 2nd Rd. - #25 Angelique Kerber/GER def. Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP 7-5/5-7/6-4 (3:19; wins on MP #2 1:20 after first MP)
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: Canada - 0-2 1st Rd. (#5 Andreescu, Fernandez), while Bouchard (injured) DNP
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL (3rd Rd.) (LL 2r: Ahn)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 3r: Raducanu, Samsonova (W)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Andrea Petkovic/GER, CoCo Vandeweghe/USA, Elena Vesnina/RUS (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST BRIT STANDING: Emma Raducanu (in 3rd Rd.)
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): Kristie Ahn/USA (already a lucky loser, also saved MP vs. Watson/GBR in 1st Rd.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (mid/late-round): Nominee: Ostapenko (2r-Kasatkina twice served for match)
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 5. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:32 PM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Azarenka will be seeded at USO, but with Cinci and USO points to defend, could be around 35 without a bye for Indian Wells.

Samsonova up to 54 in live rank. Great use of a wild card. I will give Wimbledon credit. They try to give one WC to someone playing well on grass every year. And picked someone who played a non British event.

Pliskova gets to play the player(Samsonova) that prevented Pliskova/Pegula 5.

Raducanu was fun to watch yesterday. If she brings the same level to her next match, it will be good.

Already guaranteed a 1st time Wimbledon finalist. Plus at least one 1st time SF and 3 first time QF here. Keys in 2015 is the only former Wimbledon QF in that half of the draw.

Stat of the Day- 60- Amount of wins for Zina Garrison in 1989.

That was her career high, in a year in which she reached 7 finals, winning Oakland, Newport and Chicago.

Garrison may not have always made history, but in the 80's and 90's she was close to it. Being QF or better at each slam, not only in singles, but doubles and mixed, she reached the Wimbledon final in 1990, losing to Martina Navratilova in what was her last slam title.

Navratilova was a constant nemesis, defeating Garrison in all 7 finals they played.

She came close to winning Olympic Gold in 1988, losing to Graf in SF and getting Bronze. The then teamed up with Pam Shriver and won Gold in doubles.

But don't feel bad for her. Rocketing on the scene by winning the girls title here in 1981, she then went to New York and did the same. Moving on tour the next year, she reached a final every year from 1983-95.

Career high of 4 in singles and 5 in doubles, she was successful in each, ending up with 14 singles titles, 20 doubles titles, and 3 mixed.



Fri Jul 02, 08:37:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Ha! I didn't even realize that about Samsonova. Good catch!

Nice to collect all of Garrison's accomplishments.

Another quite impressive one (per Wikipedia): "From 1982 to 1995, she remained uninterrupted in the world's top 25."

Sat Jul 03, 05:10:00 AM EDT  

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