Sunday, August 08, 2021

Wk.28- 2 x 2 x 2

Two continents. Two surfaces. Two titles. And too much in San Jose.








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*WEEK 28 CHAMPIONS*
SAN JOSE (CALIFORNIA), USA (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Danielle Collins/USA def. Dasha Kasatkina/RUS 6-3/6-7(10)/6-1
D: Andreja Klepac/Darija Jurak (SLO/CRO) def. Gaby Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani (CAN/BRA) 6-1/7-5
CLUJ-NAPOCA, ROMANIA (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Andrea Petkovic/GER def. Mayar Sherif/EGY 6-1/6-1
D: Natela Dzalamidze/Kaja Juvan (RUS/SLO) def. Katarzyna Piter/Mayar Sherif (POL/EGY) 6-3/6-4
CONCORD (NEW HAMPSHIRE), USA (WTA 125/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Magdalena Frech/POL def. Renata Zarazua/MEX 6-3/7-6(4)
D: Peangtarn Plipuech/Jessy Rompies (THA/INA) def. Usue Arconada/Cristina Bucsa (USA/ESP) 3-6/7-6(5) [10-8]


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Danielle Collins/USA
...Olympics aside, the post-Wimbledon stretch of the WTA schedule has been all about Collins, almost to the point of overload (which we got at least a hint of after Sunday's final).

The Bannerette came into the post-EuroSlam summer without a tour title or final to her name, but she now enters the heart of the pre-U.S. Open North American hard court season having put together a two-title (and a SF), two-surface, 14-2 run across two continents that now sees her sporting a ten-match winning streak.

Having already reached a semi (Budapest) and won a title (Palmero) on European red clay in recent weeks, Collins returned home to the U.S. for the opening summer hard court event in San Jose. With wins over Shelby Rogers, Sloane Stephens, Elena Rybakina and Ana Konjuh she advanced to her second straight final. It took some doing, as Collins appeared set to dispatch Dasha Kasatkina in straight sets before the Russian saved five MP and forced things to a 3rd, but the 27-year old pulled things together again in the deciding set, finally putting away MP #7 after having already seized control of what turned out to be a 6-1 set.

Collins seemed to be the worse for wear at the close of the match, as she didn't celebrate her victory and was immediately treated by physios on the court, leading to a delay in the start of the trophy ceremony. Collins was eventually rested and ready, and even joked about the Russian running her ragged after her already heavy workload over the past few weeks. Oh, and she wasn't tasked with having to come up an acceptance speech presented directly after her opponent (ala in Palermo) had publicly -- and uncomfortably -- brought up a past disagreement with her just moments before. So that was an added bonus, I guess.

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RISER: Dasha Kasatkina/RUS
...Kasatkina's welcome resurgence this season has now carried itself onto a *third* different continent. The Russian had already reached three finals (in Australia, Russia and Britain) in '21, and this week in North America she made it four with a run in the summer hard court opener in San Jose. Now if she'd just figure out a way to keep history on her side.

After having a 2-0 mark against Ons Jabeur prior to their meeting in the Birmingham final, won by the Tunisian, Kasatkina sported a 2-0 head-to-head edge on Danielle Collins before they faced off in this weekend's championship match. Unfortunately for the Hordette, the tables were turned on her once again.

After Kasatkina had started her week by staging a comeback from a break down in the 2nd and 3rd sets against Caroline Garcia, the Russian had defeated Magda Linette and top-seeded Elise Mertens to reach the final. She appeared set to exit in straights against Collins, only to rally from 5-3 down in the 2nd, saving five MP and finally converting on her fourth SP to take a 12-10 tie-break. Collins quickly recovered her edge in the 3rd, though, taking her second straight title.

Without one *huge* result boosting her up the rankings in a single rush, Kasatkina's progress this season has been based on consistency. Now 30-13 on the year, this week's result will lift her back into the Top 30, a place she hasn't visited in over two years (she started the year at #72).

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SURPRISES: Mayar Sherif/EGY and Renata Zarazua/MEX
...move aside Ons Jabeur (or at least slide down a scooch), there's another North African player making waves on the WTA tour. Egypt's Sherif, 25, had already become the first from her nation to reach a slam MD ('20 RG) and win a MD match at a major ('21 AO). This week in Cluj-Napoca, her week saw her become the first Egyptian to reach a tour-level singles QF, SF and final, and we'll next see her start the coming week as the first to rank in the Top 100.

Ranked #119, Sherif opened the week by upsetting top-seeded Alize Cornet, then strung together additional wins over Alex Eala (as a Filipina, the teenager is in line for quite a few "first to..." moments of her own), Kristina Kucova and Mihaela Buzarnescu to reach the final. She could only take two games off veteran German Andrea Petkovic, but the former Pepperdine star will crack the Top 100 (#97) on Monday and look to break new ground elsewhere soon.

In addition to her singles success, Sherif also reached her maiden tour doubles final in Cluj-Napoca alongside Katarzya Piter, losing to Dzalamidze/Juvan.

Zarazua, 23, reached the biggest final of her career in the Concord WTA 125 challenger, posting wins over Alexa Glatch, Grace Min, Hsieh Su-wei and Madison Brengle to ensure a new career-high rank inside the Top 125. The top-ranked Mexican on tour pushed Magdalena Frech in the final, taking the Pole to a 2nd set TB in an effort to head into a deciding 3rd, only to fall 7-4.

Zarazua made her slam debut at last year's Roland Garros and recorded her maiden win at a major over Elsa Jacquemot last fall. She's lost in qualifying at all three slams in 2021.

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VETERAN: Aleksandra Krunic/SRB
...until recent weeks, Krunic's singles results had been in a major downturn since her maiden tour title run at Rosmalen in 2018. The Serb climbed into the Top 40 (#39) for the first time after her championship week, but has pretty much been in a consistently slow free fall ever since. She entered this week having spent the last year and a half ranked outside the Top 200. Still, Krunic has had doubles success over the last three years, winning three tour titles (including Belgrade '21) and this season reaching the WD QF at two majors (AO/WI), a career best slam result.

Since her successful qualifying attempt at Roland Garros, though, Krunic has seen her singles fortunes take a turn for the better. In Cluj-Napoca, she qualified and posted three MD wins over Yuki Naito, Ana Bogdan and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (3 games) to reach her first WTA semi since her win on the grass three summers ago.

The 28-year old lost to eventual champ Petkovic, but will jump from #268 to just inside the Top 200 on Monday, ending her long drought. Krunic, who also reached a $60K final in June, has gone a combined 13-4 from the start of her RG Q-run until now.

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COMEBACKS: Andrea Petkovic/GER and Ana Konjuh/CRO
...Petkovic's stretch of good results continued in Cluj-Napoca, as the 33-year old German improved her recent run to 12-2 and picked up her first tour singles title in six and a half years (Antwerp '15).

After having already reached the Hamburg final and Belgrade 125 semis in recent weeks, Petkovic's Romanian run opened with wins over a pair of home favorites (Alexandra Dulgheru via ret., and Jaqueline Cristian), then Seone Mendez (in a match suspended on Friday with Petko perilously close to finishing off the Aussie, up 5-1 in the 3rd) and Aleksandra Krunic. In the final against the tour's latest groundbreaker, Mayar Sherif, Petkovic won 6-1/6-1 to claim her seventh WTA title.

Her jump to #68 this week (from #91) will give her her best ranking since May '19.

Really nice trophy ceremony comments from the new champ here for Sherif, as well as a smart grasp on historical perspective (not surprising, as we're talking about Petkovic, of course).



Konjuh's comeback push after missing a total of three years with an elbow injury continued in San Jose with her second semifinal (w/ Belgrade) of the season. After qualifying to reach the main draw, the Croat rallied from 5-3 down in the 3rd set to get a 1st Round win over Marie Bouzkova, then followed up with additional victories over Alison Riske and Zhang Shuai (taking the final ten games in a three-set affair vs. the Chinese veteran). Konjuh fell in the semis to Danielle Collins, but will now return to the Top 100 (#116 to #88) for the first time since May 2018.

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FRESH FACES: Magdalena Frech/POL and Katrina Scott/USA
...though firmly in the shadow of her Polish countrywoman Iga Swiatek and Magda Linette, 23-year old Frech has generated some headlines of her own in 2021. She qualified for the Premier WTA event in Charleston and had a hand in all three points in Poland's 3-2 win over Brazil in the BJK Cup playoffs in the spring, then returned to Charleston to reach the SF in a $100K challenger (def. Renata Zarazua in the QF).

This week in Concord, New Hampshire, #153-ranked Frech claimed her biggest prize, taking the WTA 125 challenger title with a string of victories over the likes of Rebecca Marino, Storm Sanders, Katrina Scott (saving two MP and rallying from 5-2 down in the 3rd), Vera Zvonareva and, in the final, Zarazua (once again) in a 6-3/7-6 victory.



A week after posting her first career Top 100 win (def. Madison Brengle), 17-year old Scott picked up her second in the Concord 125 event with a 1st Round upset of Lauren Davis. She followed up with another victory over Caroline Dolehide, though she had a hard time closing while squandering a 5-2 3rd set lead before finally winning 7-5. In the QF, after coming out strong following a match suspension the day before while down a set and 1-1 to Frech, Scott again led 5-2 in the 3rd set before again losing her lead. This time she didn't recover, failing to convert a pair of MP and dropping the final five games to the Pole.

Scott will rise 34 spots to a new career high of #338 on Monday.
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DOWN: Amanda Anisimova/USA
...now 2-6 in her last eight outings, Anisimova lost her third straight match in San Jose, falling to Ajla Tomljanovic despite holding two MP (one in both the 2nd and 3rd sets) and twice serving for the victory. She dropped the final four games in both sets to the Aussie. It's the fifth time in 2021 that the Bannerette has dropped a match after holding a set lead, as she fell to 9-11 on the season.

The 19-year old will slip two spots to #86 on Monday, her lowest ranking since January 2019, well before her Roland Garros semifinal run later that season.

Anisimova has at least rebounded in Montreal, qualifying for this coming week's MD with wins over Maddison Inglis and Kamilla Rakhimova.
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ITF PLAYERS: Kaia Kanepi/EST and Nastasja Schunk/GER
...veteran Kanepi, 36, got off to a blazing start in 2021, winning nine of her first twelve matches of the season, reaching the Gippsland final and posting victories over the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Sofia Kenin, Dasha Kasatkina, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anastasija Sevastova and Astra Sharma. The Estonian entered the week on a five-match losing streak, though. She rebounded in the $25K challenger in Parnu in her home nation, defeating Czech Anna Siskova 7-5/6-4 in the final to pick up her 19th career ITF crown and improve to 11-1 in her last twelve singles finals (11-0 ITF, 0-1 WTA) since 2014.



Meanwhile, this year's Wimbledon junior finalist Schunk picked up her maiden pro title in the $25K Bydgoszcz, Poland event. The 17-year old German, in her first pro final while sporting a #684 WTA ranking (#18 jr.), posted victories over #7-seed Diana Marcinkevica (1r) and Tereza Smitkova (SF), then outlasted Darya Astakhova in a 4-6/6-2/6-0 final match-up.

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JUNIOR STARS: Alex Eala/PHI and Team Russia
...former girls #1 (current #2) Eala got a wild card into the Cluj-Napoca draw, then in her WTA MD debut posted a win over Argentine vet Paula Ormaechea.



The 16-year old won a junior JA event in Milan last month, reached the Roland Garros girls semis last fall and has claimed pair of junior slam doubles titles ('20 AO/'21 RG).

Meanwhile, in Prostejov, Czech Republic the Great Russian Tennis Renaissance continued, as the nation's junior girls won both the 14U and 12U championships, the first held in two years due to the pandemic.



Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic


14-year old Mirra Andreeva, younger sister of RG girls runner-up Erika (part of the country's last win in '18), was a combined 9-0 for the week, going 6-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles, the only player with a spotless record. In the final against Bulgaria, #58 girl Andreeva defeated Rosita Dencheva, while teammate Alina Korneeva (5-1 singles/3-0 doubles) defeated Yoana Konstantinova to secure the 2-0 victory. The Czech Republic, who'd pushed the Russians to a deciding doubles match (won 10-3 in a MTB by Andreeva/Korneeva) in the semis finished third.



The 12U Hordettes were 2-0 winners over the younger Czech squad in that competition's final.
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DOUBLES: Darija Jurak/Andreja Klepac, CRO/SLO
...the #2-seeded San Jose duo survived an early MTB (vs. Anisimova/Potapova 1r), then claimed the title without dropping another set, defeating Caty McNally & Coco Gauff CoCo Vandeweghe in the semis (7-6/7-6) and then finishing off the weekend with a 6-1/7-5 win in the final over Gaby Dabrowski & Luisa Stefani, the latter fresh off her Bronze win in Tokyo. The loss drops the Brazilian to 0-4 in finals this season and 0-6 in her last six.

The veteran pair -- Jurak, 37, and Klepac, 35 -- improved to 2-1 in finals this season, with Klepac claiming her tenth career crown and Jurak her ninth (and third in '21).

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1. San Jose Final - Danielle Collins def. Dasha Kasatkina
...6-3/6-7(10)/6-1. Collins led 6-3/5-3, holding two MP on Kasatkina's serve before serving for the match at 5-4. The Russian broke for 5-5 and forced a tie-break.

After Collins exploded at the chair umpire after not replaying the second point when someone yelled from the crowd as she was failing to get a Kasatkina drop shot back over the net, Kasatkina raced to a 4-0 and 5-2 lead. But, as the Russian noticeably tightend up, the Bannerette surged back to eventually hold three more MP. Finally, Kasatina won the TB 12-10 on her fourth SP.

Collins reclaimed her edge in the 3rd, converting MP #7 to win 6-1, though considering the condition she appeared to have been in immediately after the match, one wonders if Kasatkina might have yet pulled this one out had she been able to extend her opponent just a little bit longer.

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2. San Jose 1st Rd. - Ajla Tomljanovic def. Amanda Anisimova
...1-6/7-5/7-5. Already a slam quarterfinalist and Olympian in '21, Tomljanovic continued her upward progression toward a possible career high ranking (she was #50 this week, with #38 the career-best goal on the horizon). Against Anisimova, she arrived from Tokyo and saved two MP (the Bannerette twice served for the match, and was a point away in both the 2nd and 3rd) and swept the final four games in both the final two sets en route to the win.
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3. San Jose QF - Danielle Collins def. Elena Rybakina
...7-6(5)/7-6(4). After losing leads in both the Olympic SF and Bronze match, the trend continued for Rybakina in San Jose. The Kazakh led 5-3 in the 1st and held set points in her straight sets loss to Collins.
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4. Cluj-Napoca 1st Rd. - Mayar Sherif def. Alize Cornet
...6-2/6-4. Sherif's breakthrough week started with a big win over the top seeded Pastry (#59), her biggest career victory to date.

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5. Cluj-Napoca Final - Andrea Petkovic def. Mayar Sherif
...6-1/6-1. The German "old guard" (i.e. the thirtysomething generation that finally brought the nation some real post-Graf success on tour) adds a second '21 title winner after Angie Kerber's run in Bad Homburg.



Meanwhile, Sherif's final run allows me to check off one of my more out-on-a-limb picks from this year's Prediction Blowout.
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6. Cluj-Napoca 2nd Rd. - Kristina Kucova def. Irina Bara
...2-6/7-6(3)/7-6(5). Two weeks ago, these two battled for 2:53. This time it was for 3:04, with Kucova winning once more.
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7. San Jose 2nd Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Caroline Garcia
...3-6/7-5/6-3. Fear the Kasatkina. The Russian was a break down to the Pastry in both the 2nd and 3rd, and rallied from 3-1 in the final set to sweep the last five games.
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8. San Jose 2nd Rd. - Elise Mertens def. Kristina Mladenovic
...6-2/4-6/6-4. In 2:40, the two combined for 23 DF (Mertens 12-11) and 76 UE (Mladenovic 45-31). Mertens went on to reach the semifinals, while Mladenovic fell in Montreal qualifying to Anastasia Potapova.
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9. San Jose 1st Rd. - Zhang Shuai def. Emma Raducanu
...6-3/6-2. The British Wimbledon sensation returns, though only for a brief a cameo appearance in Silicon Valley.

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10. San Jose 2nd Rd. - Ana Konjuh def. Alison Riske
...6-1/6-4. Oops.

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11. Citi Open Exhibition rr - Coco Gauff def. Victoria Azarenka
...6-3/6-1. The tour-level WTA event in Washington is no more, but there *was* (well, sort of) a small exhibition event featuring Gauff, Azarenka and Jessica Pegula. Gauff won the round robin opener, but then Vika's withdrawal (rolled ankle) eliminated any further rr competition and placed Pegula into the "final" against the teenager, who was returning from missing the Olympics after a positive Covid test.

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12. Cluj-Napoca Final - Natela Dzalamidze/Kaja Juvan def. Katarzyna Piter/Mayar Sherif
...6-3/6-4. After winning a pair of MTB in the 1st Round and QF, Dzalamidze and Juvan both pick up their maiden tour titles with a straight sets win.

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13. Gladbeck GER J2 (jr.) Final - Barbora Palicova def. Kristyna Tomajkova
...6-1/6-2. The 17-year old (jr.#53) wins her first career ITF level junior crown in yet another all-Czech match-up.

Palicova reached the Roehampton semis, losing to Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, before Wimbledon after having knocked off Ane Mintegi del Olmo (the eventual winner at SW19) in the 3rd Round.
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14. $15K Cairo EGY Final - Tina Nadine Smith def. Diletta Cherubini
...6-0/6-2. Playing in her second final in three weeks, and after saving a MP in the SF vs. Sandra Samir, the 19-year old Aussie picks up her maiden pro title with a no-fuss win over the Italian.

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15. Cluj-Napoca QF - Andrea Petkovic def. Seone Mendez
...6-7(6)/6-4/6-1. The 22-year old Aussie, 11-2 in ITF finals in recent years, qualified to make her WTA MD debut in Cluj-Napoca. She reached the QF, notching a win over Jana Fett and then seeing Lesia Tsurenko retire in the 1st set of their 2nd Round encounter. She was the only woman to take a set off Petko all week.

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1. Concord 125 2nd Rd. - Galina Voskoboeva/Vera Zvonareva def. Hsieh Su-wei/Hsieh Yu-chieh
...7-6(4)/6-4. Concord hosted the Hsieh sisters' first pairing in doubles since reaching the Osaka tour-level final in September '19. Su-wei reached the QF in singles this week, ending her streak of seven straight losses (1-8 stretch) while posting her best result on any level since reaching the final eight at the AO in February.

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*2021 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
4 - Ash Barty, AUS [Yarra V.,Miami,Stuttgart,Wimb.]
3 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE [Strasbourg,RG,Prague]
2 - DANIELLE COLLINS, USA [PALERMO,SAN JOSE]
2 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS [P.Island,Saint Petersburg]
2 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR [Abu Dhabi,Madrid]
2 - Iga Swiatek, POL [Adelaide,Rome]

*2021 WTA FINALS*
5 - Ash Barty, AUS (4-1)
4 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (3-1)
4 - DASHA KASATKINA, RUS (2-2)
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (2-1)
3 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (1-2)
3 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1-2)

*2021 FIRST-TIME SINGLES FINALISTS*
Abu Dhabi - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (#46, 23)
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
Berlin - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (#106, 22) - W
Hamburg - Gabriela Ruse, ROU (#154, 23) - W
Prague - Tereza Martincova, CZE (#78, 26) - L
Lausanne - Clara Burel, FRA (#125, 20) - L
Budapest - Anhelina Kalinina, UKR (#95, 24) - L
Gdynia - Maryna Zanevska, BEL (#165, 27) - W
Gdynia - Kristina Kucova, SVK (#150, 31) - L
Palermo - Danielle Collins, USA (#44, 27) - W
CLUJ-NAPOCA - MAYAR SHERIF, EGY (#119, 25) - L

*2021 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
35 - Kaia Kanepi, EST (Gippsland-L)
33 - Angelique Kerber, GER (Bad Homburg-W)
33 - ANDREA PETKOVIC, GER (CLUJ-NAPOCA-W)
33 - Andrea Petkovic, GER (Hamburg-L)
32 - Zhang Shuai, CHN (Nottingham-L)
31 - Sorana Cirstea, ROU (Strasbourg-L)
31 - Sorana Cirstea, ROU (Istanbul-W)
31 - Kristina Kucova, SVK (GDYNIA-L)
30 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Doha-W)
30 - Johanna Konta, GBR (Nottingham-W)

*2021 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#1 - Ash Barty (Yarra Valley Melb.)
#1 - Ash Barty (Miami)
#1 - Ash Barty (Stuttgart)
#1 - Ash Barty (Wimbledon)
#3 - Naomi Osaka (Australian Open)
#7 - Aryna Sabalenka (Madrid)
#10 - Aryna Sabalenka (Abu Dhabi)
#10 - Petra Kvitova (Doha)
#12 - Belinda Bencic (Olympics)
#13 - Barbora Krejcikova (Prague)
#15 - Iga Swiatek (Rome)
#16 - Garbine Muguruza (Dubai)
#18 - Iga Swiatek (Adelaide)
#20 - Elise Mertens (Gippsland Melb.)
#20 - Johanna Konta (Nottingham)
#24 - Ons Jabeur (Birmingham)
#28 - Angelique Kerber (Bad Homburg)
#30 - Coco Gauff (Parma)
#33 - Barbora Krejcikova (Roland Garros)
#36 - DANIELLE COLLINS (SAN JOSE)
#38 - Veronika Kudermetova (Charleston 500)
#38 - Barbora Krejcikova (Strasbourg)
#42 - Yulia Putintseva (Budapest)
#43 - Alona Ostapenko (Eastbourne)
#44 - Paula Badosa (Belgrade)
#44 - Danielle Collins (Palermo)
#50 - Tamara Zidansek (Lausanne)
#61 - Dasha Kasatkina (Saint Petersburg)
#67 - Sorana Cirstea (Istanbul)
#71 - Sara Sorribes Tormo (Guadalajara)
#75 - Dasha Kasatkina (Phillip Island Melb.)
#88 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
#91 - ANDREA PETKOVIC (CLUJ-NAPOCA)
#106 - Liudmila Samsonova (Berlin)
#139 - Clara Tauson (Lyon)
#154 - Gabriela Ruse (Hamburg)
#165 - Astra Sharma (Charleston 250)
#165 - Maryna Zanevska (Gdynia)
#180 - Maria Camila Osorio Serrano (Bogota)
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vacant - Kontaveit (#23) vs. Li (#99) [Grampians Melb. not played]

*2021 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
5...Krejcikova/Siniakova, CZE/CZE (4-1)
4...Aoyama/Shibahara, JPN/JPN (4-0)
4...Melichar/Schuurs, USA/NED (2-2)
3...Bouzkova/Hradecka, CZE/CZE (2-1)
3...JURAK/KLEPAC, CRO/SLO (2-1)
3...Carter/Stefani, USA/BRA (0-3)

*2021 WTA SINGLES/DOUBLES FINAL IN EVENT*
Stuttgart: Ash Barty, AUS (W/W)
Istanbul: Elise Mertens, BEL (L/W)
Parma: Coco Gauff, USA (W/W)
Roland Garros: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (W/W)
Berlin: Ons Jabeur, TUN (W/L)
Olympics: Belinda Bencic, SUI (W/L)
CLUJ-NAPOCA: MAYAR SHERIF, EGY (L/L)

*ALL-TIME WTA SINGLES TOP 10 WEEKS - active*
[to week of August 9]
873...Serena Williams
636...Venus Williams
394...Petra Kvitova
373...Simona Halep
350...Svetlana Kuznetsova
313...Angelique Kerber
285...Victoria Azarenka
[all-time consecutive Top 10 weeks]
1000...Martina Navratilova
746...Chris Evert
625...Steffi Graf
508...Gabriela Sabatini
458...Pam Shriver
429...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
421...Hana Mandlikova
373...Simona Halep
333...Lindsay Davenport
319...Conchita Martinez
-
NOTE: Halep's streak ended on August 8

*RECENT TOP 10 SINGLES DEBUTS*
2019 [3] Sabalenka, Barty, Andreescu
2020 [1] Kenin
2021 [2] Swiatek, KREJCIKOVA

*RECENT ITF WORLD JUNIOR 14U TEAM CHAMPS*
2016 Ukraine
2017 United States
2018 Russia
2019 Czech Republic
2021 Russia






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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:30 PM 

5 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Love the city pics each week from the current tournament.

Mertens/Sabalenka are the #1 seed this week.

Collins had 54 winners to Kasatkina's 7. Both are in bottom section of Toronto draw as of now. Hopefully Collins pulls out.

Eala is going to be special in 2 years. She wins because of her physicality, but once she learns to construct points, watch out. Actually showed more variety in her loss.

Briana Szabo is probably 4 years away, but showed some impressive skills in Cluj. The local 15 yr old lefty wore down mentally, but looks like a future Top 100 player.

Stat of the Week- 48- The number of years since the YEC was played on clay.

Flip to the men's side for a minute. Part of the debate centers around the fact that Nadal has never won the ATP Finals, while Federer has won 6. Djokovic has won 5. But that event has never been on clay. Wouldn't Nadal have won at least once if that was the case?

Oddly enough, the one time they used a different surface, it was grass. Guillermo Vilas won in 1974, ending the 3 year streak of Ille Nastase. They then switched back to hard, and to nobody's surprise, Nastase won again.

But don't the women have the same problem? With Shenzhen still listed as TBD, there is a chance that for the first time since 1973, we might have the finals on clay. Just throwing this out there, but Prague has hosted BJK Cup matches on clay at that time of year, so it wouldn't be a stretch to have them do so this year.

The first WTA YEC was the 1972 edition, which was not round robin like now, but a 16 player event. Evert lost in QF. Well, Jeanne Evert did, after "defeating" Margaret Court, who retired while leading in the 3rd set. Chris won, as she normally did on clay.

One of the differences in the tennis world? Of the 16 players, the only players not from USA or Australia were Francoise Durr(FRA) and Betty Stove(NED).


Mon Aug 09, 05:45:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Quiz Time!

23 women have won the YEC. Which slam has the most YEC winners? Multiple answers accepted.

A.Australian Open
B.French Open
C.Wimbledon
D.US Open

Interlude- Nike being creative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2zOdHVI24


Answer!

Well, with this week's theme, it should be assumed that (B)French Open isn't correct. Only 9 French Open winners have walked away with YEC. Not only that, every one in that category has slams on at least 2 surfaces.

When I said 23 winners, only 19 won slams. That is a trend that has happened more often, as 3 of the 4(Svitolina, Cibulkova, Radwanska) have done so in the last 5 finals. Sylvia Hanika being the other.

(A)Australian Open is correct with 13. Wozniacki is the only one slam winner in this group.

(D)US Open also is at 13. Sabatini is the only one slam winner in this group, but also has 2 time slam winner Tracy Austin as the other player that never won a different slam.

Believe it or not, (C)Wimbledon is also at 13. Novotna the only one time slam winner, with Kvitova the only other not to win a different slam.

Mon Aug 09, 05:58:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- The Oracle Edition.

Shouldn't I use that line for Indian Wells? Larry Ellison owns IW and Oracle. Not that type of oracle. In 2019, Canada was the oracle, with finalists Andreescu and S.Williams also reaching US Open final. Last year, Cincinnati served the same purpose, with Osaka/Azarenka doing the double. In the last Olympic year, that was also Cincinnati, with Pliskova/Kerber flipping the script. So with so many women out of Toronto, will it hold up?

1.Svitolina- I can't learn anything from 2016, because the Olympics were 2 weeks after Canada. However, Svitolina won in 2017, and without Bencic or Vondrousova, maybe she steps up again.
2.Rybakina- So close. Eventually, she is going to walk away with a big title. Why not here, with a number of former slam winners out.
3.Jabeur- The next step in her development is doing well in 1000 events. With this, Cincinnati and Indian Wells left for this year, this would be the place to start. Looking for first MD win here.
4.Stephens- Looked good in a quality loss to Collins. That is becoming a trend, as she lost to Kudermetova in Charleston, along with doing so to Krejcikova at RG. 2018 finalist looks like a different player since her 0-4 start to the season.
5.Linette- US Open QF? Her improved serve has opened up doors, and playing well in this stretch of the season might get her a USO seed.

Mon Aug 09, 06:09:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Melichar- She was a longshot, but still. With multiple events ending the week, doubles players Ninomiya, L.Kichenok, Schuurs, Webley-Smith and Melichar played singles qualifying. Melichar was the only one to win a set. But she could have won. Jumped out to 5-0 lead, won 1st set, served for win at 5-4. Ahn then won last 9 games of the match.
2.Tsurenko- At this time 2 years ago, she played Washington ranked 35, then missed rest of season. Got first MD win(1-5) of season in Cluj, beating the red hot Ruse. She then retired in her next match. To show how her season has gone, she has tried to qualify for all 3 slams. Actually qualified at Wimbledon, then withdrew due to injury. Now ranked 179.
3.Keys- Dangerous floater? Loses her 2019 Cincinnati points, so might be ranked around 40 without a good week. Will being unseeded light a fire under her? Probably not, but makes for a good 1st rd match.
4.Gauff- We don't get Pegula/Pliskova, but Gauff/Sevastova 4. Sevastova has gone 3-0 vs Gauff in the last 52 weeks, and I am predicting 6-1 in the 3rd for Sevastova. Only half kidding, as the first match went 6-4, the second 6-3, and the last 6-2, all in 3 sets.
5.Bouzkova- Is she injured? 0-4 or 3-11, which sounds worse? Had 8 DF vs Konjuh, which was actually good, because she was all over the place. The good thing is that she is still fighting, but may need to shut it down after the US Open. Plus ranking dropped with 2019 Canada points off.

Mon Aug 09, 06:23:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

You'd be surprised how hard it is to find good city pictures sometimes (at least as IG posts). :/

The tour just keeps filling in all the nooks and crannies around the globe. Tunisia, Egypt, Philippines, Andorra (!). You wonder which previously "unvisited" parts of the map will be pegged in just a few more years.

WTAF on clay... hmm, I guess we know who'd be pulling out of that one. ;)

Quiz: I went with Wimbledon, mostly because of Navratilova and Serena (but I think I misread the question, as I was thinking of total COMBINED WTAF titles).

Nike: Maria really had her game face on in that one. :)

Really interested to see how Andreescu looks in Montreal. I mean, she couldn't immediately jump back into the title mix on hard courts *again* could she?

Mon Aug 09, 05:39:00 PM EDT  

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