Sunday, October 03, 2021

Wk.36- Unbeaten, Untied... and Van Uytvanck

To play is wonderful. But for Alison Van Uytvanck, to play (and win) indoors is divine.








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*WEEK 36 CHAMPIONS*
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS USA (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Ons Jabeur/TUN 3-6/6-3/6-0
D: Kveta Peschke/Andrea Petkovic (CZE/GER) def. Caroline Dolehide/CoCo Vandeweghe (USA/USA) 6-3/6-1
NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN (WTA 250 Challenger/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL def. Yulia Putintseva/KAZ 1-6/6-4/6-3
D: Anna-Lena Friedsam/Monica Niculescu (GER/ROU) def. Angelina Gabueva/Anastasia Zakharova (RUS/RUS) 6-2/4-6 [10-5]
JUNIOR BILLIE JEAN KING CUP FINALS (Antalya, TUR/Red Clay Outdoor)
Czech Republic def. Japan 2-0
WHEELCHAIR WORLD TEAM CUP FINAL (Sardinia, ITA/Hard Court Outdoor)
Netherlands def. Japan 2-0


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL
...the Belgian once more showed her indoor (esp. hard court) expertise, improving her record in tour singles finals to 5-0 (4-0 indoors) with a title run in the inaugural tour event in Nur-Sultan. Wins over Anna-Lena Friedsam, Varvara Gracheva, and Jaqueline Cristian set the stage for a three-set, come from behind win over Yulia Putintseva in the final in front of the top seed's home crowd in Kazakhstan in the first tour-level event held in the nation.

Other than a doubles title a few weeks ago in Luxembourg (also indoors) with fiancee Greet Minnen (w/ whom she also reached the Belgrade WD final in May), Van Uytvanck hasn't had a particularly noteworthy season on the court. While she's garnered news with the engagement (and doubles teaming) with Minnen, this week was her first singles final in just over two years (a rare outdoor run in Tashkent) and her first semifinal result of the season, as well. She *did* win a $100K title on grass this summer in Nottingham, but came into the week under .500 (14-15) on the year and ranked #89. Last week, she dropped 34 spots alone. On Monday, she'll jump 35 spots *back* up the rankings, coming in at #54 (giving her a +1 in the exchange).

In all, Van Uytvanck is 5-0 in indoor finals on the WTA and WTA 125 challenger level, with 16 of her 26 singles final appearances on all levels coming in events held without "outside influence."

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RISERS: Ons Jabeur/TUNL and Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
...Jabeur's week ended with a whimper, as she lost a set lead on Garbine Muguruza in the Chicago final as the Spaniard dominated the Tunisian down the stretch, salting away the title with a love 3rd set. But *before* that somewhat ignoble conclusion, she'd had a typical week for what has been her career season.

Wins over Hsieh Su-wei, Jessie Pegula, Elina Svitolina and Elena Rybakina (via ret.) pushed Jabeur into the tour match win lead (44) for the season and placed her into her third singles final of '21 on a third difference surface. She didn't pick up a second WTA title, but will climb two more spots in the rankings to set yet another new career high of #14 and find herself (at #9 in the Race) in legitimate contention to make the WTA Finals field, especially with race leader Ash Barty likely skipping the Guadalajara event, #8 Naomi Osaka a question mark and now #2 Aryna Sabalenka dealing with Covid due to her positively genius decision to not get vaccinated.



Also in Chicago, Voundrousova continued her Tokyo-forward string of good results, improving to 15-5 since the start of the Olympics with her fourth semifinal appearance of 2021 (and second straight, after Luxembourg two weeks ago). Wins over Ajla Tomljanovic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Jil Teichmann and Danielle Collins (who served for the match) made for a great week, though it ended anticlimactically when the Czech had to pull out of her SF with Muguruza due to illness.

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SURPRISE: Mai Hontama/JPN
...Hontama dropped into Chicago this week from nearly out of "nowhere." While she arrived with a 35-12 mark on the year, the vast majority of her entire record had been compiled in low-level challenger events, where the #200-ranked 22-year old has collected two titles (both $25K) while appearing in four finals (two of them $15K events), save for a two-match appearance in U.S. Open qualifying (ended w/ a loss to Greet Minnen).

After making her way through Chicago qualifying with wins over Emina Bektas and Harriet Dart, Hontama proceded to post upsets over Caroline Garcia and Shelby Rogers, bookending a walkover from Anett Kontaveit, to reach the QF in her WTA tour MD debut event. She lost there to eventual champ Muguruza, but will climb a whopping 41 spots on Monday to #159. She began 2021 ranked at #330.

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VETERANS: Garbine Muguruza/ESP and Anna-Lena Friedsam/Monica Niculescu, GER/ROU
...yes, Muguruza won the *biggest* title this week in the Chicago 500 event, but she actually had a pretty soft schedule that included a 1st Round bye and *two* walkovers.

After an opening win over Ann Li, Muguruza got a walkover from Victoria Azarenka. After a win over the surprising Mai Hontama, she got a walkover from Marketa Vondrousova into the final, as well. There, after dropping the 1st set against Ons Jabeur, the (fresh) Spaniard roared to the finish, dropping just three games in the final two sets, winning the 3rd at love to pick up the ninth tour-level singles title of her career.

Perhaps this week signals a similarly strong finish to Muguruza's season, which began like a house afire (three finals in her first five events) before injuries slowed down her momentum. This week's final was her first in since March (11 events ago), and levels her season final record at 2-2. All have come in hard court events, just as have all nine of her singles finals since winning Wimbledon in 2017.



Meanwhile, the veteran pai of Friedsam/Niculescu claimed their first title together in Nur-Sultan. The tournament was actually their *second* as a team, but the first came back in 2015 in a two-match stint ended by Hingis/Mirza in the Guangzhou QF.

This week, Friedsam & Niculescu won back-to-back match TB in the semifinals (10-8 vs. Diatchenko/Sizikova) and final (10-5 vs. Gabueva/Zakharova) to get the win. It's the second tour title for Friedsam (a '21 Bogota finalist w/ Mihaela Buzarnescu), and the tenth for Niculescu (who reached the Doha final earlier this year w/ Alona Ostapenko).

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COMEBACK: Anastasia Potapova/RUS
...Potapova has managed to play a full season after missing most of '20 due to ankle surgery. In her most recent outing in Ostrava, she qualified, knocked off Caroline Garcia and took Petra Kvitova to three sets.

In Nur-Sultan, the Russian wild card reached her third QF of the year after posting wins over Lesley Kerkhove and Kristina Mladenovic. Against Rebecca Peterson, Potapova rallied from a set and 3-1 back, saving a MP to force a 3rd set, which she led 3-0 before dropping six of the final seven games to end the match. 0-3 in QF this season, she's dropped six straight overall.

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FRESH FACES: Elena Rybakina/KAZ and Jaqueline Cristian/ROU
...Rybakina hasn't put up the sort of astounding level of success and consistency she did during the '20 season (especially pre-shutdown), but she's still climbed into the Top 20, reached her first slam QF, the Olympic semis and collected three Top 10 wins (a career high). Due to the late scheduling of the Nur-Sultan event in Kazakhstan, Rybakina wasn't able to play in the first tour event played there, but the Kazakh made up for that a bit with a good run in Chicago, where she notched wins over Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Veronika Kudermetova and Belinda Bencic (who beat her in Tokyo) when the Swiss retired with a knee injury in the 2nd set.

Rybakina herself was forced to retire a round later against Ons Jabeur due to injury (ending the only Chicago SF played on Saturday, after the Muguruza/Vondrousova match never happened at all). After reaching five finals last year, Rybakina is 0-3 in semifinals this season.

Also in Nur-Sultan, Cristian took another step forward in what has become her breakthrough WTA season. The 23-year old's wins over Natalia Vikhlyantseva, Clara Burel and Aleksandra Krunic put the Romanian into her first tour-level semifinal and moved her ever closer to cracking the Top 100 for the first time, moving her from #128 to a new career high of #111. Cristian fell in the semis to eventual champion Alison Van Uytvanck.

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DOWN: Camila Giorgi/ITA
...Giorgi soared to new career heights with her title run in Montreal this summer. If she'd simply ended her season there, she would have gone out of '21 on a white puffy cloud, floating into '22 with her confidence high. But there were still three months of season left.

Having yet to play a match outside of North America since the Oympics ended, the Italian is still looking for her first post-Montreal match win. In fact, she hasn't won a set since. After posting five Top 30 wins en route to her singles title, Giorgi has lost 2 & 2 to Jessie Pegula in Cincinnati (she'd defeated her in the Montreal semis), Simona Halep 4 & 6 at the U.S. Open and this week 4 & 2 to Gabriela Ruse in Chicago. Having jumped from #71 to #37 in one big leap two months ago, Giorgi will come in at #38 this week.
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ITF PLAYER: Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU
...in Le Neubourg, France, Buzarnescu won her first ITF title since 2017 (she won tour-level San Jose in '18, and almost immediately began to struggle with injuries) by stringing together wins over Ylena In-Albon, Amandine Hesse of Arianne Hartono to reach her second challenger final in two weeks ($80K Valencia). Once there, the Romanian handled Anna Bondar (also in her second straight final after winning in the $80K Wiesbaden a week ago) by a 6-1/6-3 score. It's Buzarnescu's 23rd career ITF win, with her first coming over seventeen years ago in Pitesti, Romania in 2004.

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JUNIOR STARS: CZE Junior BJK Cup Team
...with the U.S., winners of the last three competitions, absent the Czechs coasted to their fifth Junior Billie Jean King Cup triumph even while being down a player (an ill Nikola Bartunkova) after round robin play. In fact, the only loss the Czechs suffered in their combined fifteen matches this week in Antalya, Turkey came when Bartunkova had to retire in her final appearance against Argentina.

As it was, Brenda Fruhvirtova and Sara Bejlek were more than enough to carry the load. Fruhvirtova, at 14 the youngest player in the competition, had teamed with Bartunkova to help the Czech Republic win the 14-and-under ITF World Junior team title in '19. She went 5-0 on the week, while 15-year old lefty Bejlek went 4-0 in singles while filling in for Bartunkova, including providing the clinching point in the final against Japan with a victory over Sayaka Ishii. Ishii had teamed with Sara Saito in deciding doubles wins in the QF and SF to get Japan into its first final since 2017.

The win is the fifth for the Czech Republic (counting Czechoslovakia's win in 1985), tying Australia for second place behind the U.S. (6, including wins over JPN in '17 and CZE in '19) in titles in the competition. It's their first win since 2015.



If you look closely at Bejlek on MP, you can see the lefty's specific quirk of wearing different-colored shoes during matches. But here's a better shot of her posing with some trophies earlier this year...

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DOUBLES: Kveta Peschke/Andrea Petkovic, CZE/GER
...the veterans reigned in Chicago, as 34-year old Petkovic and 46-year old Peschke teamed for the first time and completed an impressive title trek that included victories over Fichman/Olmos ('21 Rome champs), Guarachi/Krawczyk (Adelaide/Strasbourg), Melichar-Martinez/Schuurs (Doha/Charleston) and, in the final, Dolehide/Vandeweghe (who'd defeated teams that had combined for five *other* '21 titles) by a 6-3/6-1 score.

The win is Petkovic's first career doubles title on the WTA tour, having previously been 0-2 in finals (the last coming in '16), while Peschke now has 36, seven behind Sania Mirza (43) on the active WD title list. The Czech, now playing in her fourth decade on tour (she played her first pro matches in a challenger event in '91 a little over thirty years ago), is 7-1 in finals since August '18.

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WHEELCHAIR: NED World Team Cup
...for the first time in two years, it was World Team Cup week (aka time for the Dutch to claim another championship).



For the 32nd time in 35 competitions, the Netherlands was again the dominant force in women's wheelchair tennis in the event. In Sardinia, Italy the team of Diede de Groot, Aniek Van Koot and Jiske Griffioen -- who've all held the #1 WC ranking -- went a combined 10-0 through round robin, semifinal and final action. World #1 de Groot carried the load, going 4-0 in singles (extending her winning streak to 31 matches, and improving to 36-1 on the season) and 2-0 in rr doubles alongside Griffioen (de Groot is 21-2 with various partners in '21). In the final against Japan, Van Koot (def. Momoko Ohtani) and de Groot provided both points in the 2-0 win, with de Groot adding yet another win over #2 Yui Kamiji in the latest triumphant chapter of what might arguably be considered the best WC season ever (and most assuredly the best season compiled by any woman not named Esther Vergeer), with the first-ever singles Golden Slam already written into her resume. De Groot rallied from 5-2 down in the 1st against Kamiji to win 7-5/6-1, winning 11 of the final 12 games.
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1. Nur-Sultan 1st Rd. - Zarina Diyas def. Anastasia Zakharova
...7-6(6)/4-6/7-5. Zakharova held a SP in the 1st, but saw Diyas take an 8-6 TB and pull off the late break in the 3rd en route to a three-hour win.

No one's going to accuse the Russian of being too stoic on the court...

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2. Nur-Sultan 1st Rd. - Kaja Juvan def. Greet Minnen
...2-6/7-6(5)/6-4. Minnen came into the week ranked higher (#76 to #89) than fiancee Alison Van Uytvanck for the very first time. Minnen lost in the 1st Round, while Van Uytvanck went on to win the title. Van Uytvanck now has bragging rights again, #54 to #78. The two *could* have faced off in a QF. Oh, well...

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3. Nur-Sultan Final - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Yulia Putintseva
...1-6/6-4/6-3. Clara Tauson has some competition for Indoor Player of the Year. While the teenage Dane has won a pair of titles, Van Uytvanck has now snared one in singles and one in doubles (Luxembourg).

Others of note with indoor titles in 2021: Barty (s/d sweep in Stuttgart), Kontaveit (1) and Kasatkina (1). Still to play: Moscow, Courmayeur, Cluj-Napoca (The Transylvania Open) and Linz.

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4. Chicago 1st Rd. - Gabriela Ruse def. Camila Giorgi
...6-4/6-2. While Giorgi has gone 0-3 since Montreal, Ruse has lifted her ranking over 100 spots (#199 to #92) since June.

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5. Chicago 1st Rd. - Tamara Zidansek def. Sloane Stephens 6-2/6-1
Chicago 1st Rd. - Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Madison Keys 6-4/2-0 ret.
...these two good friends seem to rise and fall in unison, don't they?

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6. Chicago QF - Marketa Vondrousova def. Danielle Collins
...6-7(4)/6-0/7-6(3). Collins had 15 DF in the match, but still had a chance to serve for the match vs. the Czech.
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7. Chicago 2nd Rd. - Shelby Rogers d. Bianca Andreescu
...6-4/7-5. Rogers' sixth Top 20 win in '21. Unless something dramatic (in a good way) happens for her in Indian Wells, a win over the Canadian won't count as *that* for a while. Andreescu enters her return to the desert ranked #21, falling from #20.

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8. Nur-Sultan 2nd Rd. - Rebecca Peterson def. Anastasia Potapova
...6-4/6-7(7)/6-4. Peterson hadn't won a match since the *last* tour event in Chicago in August (she reached the SF). While the latest Chicago event was taking place, the Swede ended her four match losing streak in the 1st Round in Nur-Sultan, then staged a comeback from 3-0 down in the 3rd (after having had a MP in the 2nd) to reach her second tour semifinal of the season.
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9. Chicago 3rd Rd. - Garbine Muguruza walkover Victoria Azarenka
...this is the second walkover this season in this series, and two other actual meetings between the two (both in '19) ended via retirement. In all, four of the possible seven Garbi/Vika matches have ended early or never happened at all.
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10. Chicago Final - Garbine Muguruza def. Ons Jabeur
...3-6/6-3/6-0. The win gives Muguruza her first multi-title season since '17 (her only other such year), but one wonders what she *could* have done had she been able to stay healthy in the middle months.

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11. Chicago QF - Elena Rybakina def. Belinda Bencic
...6-4/3-1 ret. Rybakina lost a lead to Bencic in the Olympic semifinals during the summer. This wasn't the sort of "revenge" she was looking for, though.

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12. Chicago 1st Rd. - Hailey Baptiste def. Jasmine Paolini
...7-5/6-3. The 19-year old wild card takes out the Portoroz champ, then followed up by taking Victoria Azarenka to three sets.

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13. World Team Cup Final - Diede de Groot def. Yui Kamiji
...7-5/6-1. De Groot rallies from 5-2 down in the 1st to breeze to the finish line.

In the series with Kamiji, de Groot now leads 25-15, but is 23-4 in the last 27. She's defeated Kamiji eight times alone *this* season, but her one loss to the world #2 (in a pre-AO Melbourne event) is the only thing keeping the Dutch #1 from a perfect season in singles play.
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14. $25K Budapest Final - Reka-Luca Jani def. Giuliaa Gatto-Monticone
...6-1/6-4. Reka-Luca Jani! Reka-Luca Jani! Reka-Luca Jani!

Having seen 2021 include her first tour-level QF (Belgrade) and a return to the Top 200, the 30-year old ITF warrioress picks up her 23rd career circuit crown (in her 39th final). She's also 33-33 in ITF WD finals.

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1. Chicago 1st Rd. - Hsieh Su-wei def. Kim Clijsters
...6-3/5-7/6-3. Clijsters' slo-motion comeback finally got a bit of movement this week, as she played her first match since last year's U.S. Open, and just her fourth since her most recent retirement in 2012. The 38-year old managed to take Hsieh to three sets, but ultimately came up short to fall to 0-4 in this final... or whatever it is... elongated chapter of her career.

Clearly, Clijsters can still strike the ball with authority, but one wonders if doubles might be a better option if she truly wants to return to the tour on something of a semi-regular basis (with an occasional singles WC to quench that particular thirst).

Meanwhile, Hsieh continues to exist is something of an odd time warp this season, having played the first singles matches of her career this season against *both* Clijsters and Venus Williams, winning both encounters.

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Simona Halep: “I don't know why everyone is talking about the end of my career. It's not close. I really want to play more. Due to injuries I had little doubts that I could still, but now I am very fit, I am healthy, and I want to play for another two or three years, four years. "

I felt a few years ago that Halep might seek to retire around now, as she turned 30 (and has gotten married). But she's missed the last two Olympics, after having seemed to hold out winning a medal for Romania as her "last" big career goal, and it's hard not to think that she might be looking at Paris '24 (when the Olympic tennis event is set to be held at Roland Garros) as, at least, a moment to drive toward, whether it would serve as one of the last chapters of her career's "final act" or not.

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So the AO field might be iffy? Well, everyone was all upset about how awful the U.S. Open was going to be because of the absence of so many big names. How'd that tournament turn out?


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At this point, if you can't understand... ah, what's the use?




Issue the mandate, please, Australia. (So far, Victoria's mandate doesn't apply to AO players.) The two tours, too (though we know they're too spineless). Make your choices then.



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Hmmm, is it a "career-best" season, though? It's *really* close.


2019 2021
1 (RG) Slam titles 1 (WI)
6 (4-2) WS finals 6 (5-1)
2 (1-1) 1000 finals 3 (2-1)
8 (6-2) WS semis 6 (6-0)
57-13 WS won/lost 42-8
QF-W-4r-4r (17-3) WS slams QF-2r-W-3r (14-3)
12 (12-6) Top 10 WS wins 7 (7-1)
18-8 vs. WS Top 20 14-1
WTAF/Miami(PM) W, Beijing(PM) F Non-Slam WS W/F Miami(PM)/Cin(PM) W, Madrid(PM) F
Rome 1000 W, US Open F Doubles best Stuttgart 500 W, Olympic MX Bronze
#19 year-end WD ranking #106 (pre-Wk.36)
Runner-Up (5-1 s/2-1 d) Fed Cup/BJK Cup DNP


Hmmm... 2021 with a slight edge as far as singles, but 2019 as far as singles/doubles/team versatility.







=CHICAGO, ILLINOIS USA=




=NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN=






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*2021 WTA FINALS*
6 - Ash Barty, AUS (5-1)
4 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (3-1)
4 - Anett Kontaveit, EST (2-1-1)
4 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (2-2)
4 - GARBINE MUGURUZA, ESP (2-2)
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (2-1)
3 - ONS JABEUR, TUN (1-2)
3 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (1-2)
3 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (0-3)

*WTA DOUBLES TITLES - active*
43 - Sania Mirza, IND
39 - Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
36 - KVETE PESCHKE, CZE
33 - Latisha Chan, TPE
29 - Hsieh Su-wei, TPE
28 - Samantha Stosur, AUS
27 - Sara Errani, ITA
27 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA

*JUNIOR FED CUP/BJK KING CUP CHAMPIONS*
1985 TCH d. AUS
1986 BEL d. TCH
1987 AUS d. USSR
1988 AUS d. ARG
1989 FRG d. TCH
1990 NED d. USSR
1991 GER d. PAR
1992 BEL d. ARG
1993 AUS d. USA
1994 RSA d. FRA
1995 FRA d. GER
1996 SLO d. GER
1997 RUS d. FRA
1998 ITA d. SVK
1999 ARG d. SVK
2000 CZE d. HUN
2001 CZE d. POL
2002 BLR d. CZE
2003 NED d. CAN
2004 ARG d. CAN
2005 POL d. FRA
2006 BLR d. RUS
2007 AUS d. POL
2008 USA d. GBR
2009 RUS d. GER
2010 RUS d. CHN
2011 AUS d. CAN
2012 USA d. RUS
2013 RUS d. AUS
2014 USA d. SVK
2015 CZE d. USA
2016 POL d. USA
2017 USA d. JPN
2018 USA d. UKR
2019 USA d. CZE
2020 DNP
2021 CZE d. JPN
==
[most titles]
6 - USA
5 - AUS,CZE/TCH
4 - RUS
2 - ARG,BEL,BLR,NED,POL
1 - FRA,GER/FRG,ITA,RSA,SLO

*WHEELCHAIR WORLD TEAM CUP WINNERS, w/ host nation*
2021 [ITA] - Netherlands
2020 DNP
2019 [ISR] - Netherlands
2018 [NED] - Netherlands
2017 [ITA] - China
2016 [JPN] - Netherlands
2015 [TUR] - Netherlands
2014 [NED] - Netherlands
2013 [TUR] - Netherlands
2012 [KOR] - Netherlands
2011 [RSA] - Netherlands
2010 [TUR] - Netherlands
2009 [GBR] - Netherlands
2008 [ITA] - Netherlands
2007 [SWE] - Netherlands
2006 [BRA] - Netherlands
2005 [NED] - Netherlands
2004 [NZL] - Netherlands
2003 [POL] - Netherlands
2002 [ITA] - Netherlands
2001 [SUI] - Netherlands
2000 [FRA] - Netherlands
1999 [USA] - Australia
1998 [ESP] - Netherlands
1997 [GBR] - Netherlands
1996 [AUS] - Netherlands
1995 [NED] - Netherlands
1994 [GBR] - United States
1993 [AUT] - Netherlands
1992 [BEL] - Netherlands
1991 [USA] - Netherlands
1990 [USA] - Netherlands
1989 [USA] - Netherlands
1988 [USA] - Netherlands
1987 [USA] - Netherlands
1986 [USA] - Netherlands

*de Groot vs. Kamiji in 2021*
2021 World Team Cup Final - DE GROOT 7-5/6-1
2021 US Open Final - DE GROOT 6-2/6-2
2021 Paralympics Final - DE GROOT 6-3/7-6(1)
2021 French Riviera Open Final - DE GROOT 6-2/6-1
2021 Roland Garros Final - DE GROOT 6-4/6-3
2021 Barcelona Open Final - DE GROOT 6-4/6-1
2021 Australian Open Final - DE GROOT 6-3/6-7(4)/7-6(10-4)
2021 Melbourne WC Open Final - KAMIJI 6-1/6-4
2021 Victorian WC Open Final - DE GROOT 6-1/7-5





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So, to whomever it may concern (aka USOC or IOC), what does it take to have one's status as an "Olympic medal winner" rescinded? Asking for democracy.

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If the Transylvania Open social media team could keep this up throughout the entire tournament (pretty please?), it would be glorious.




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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:14 PM 

4 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Nur Sultan should be worried. Van Uytvanck won Quebec City and Tashkent, two events that no longer exist.

Transylvania is leaning in. Wonder if they will have ballkids dress up.

BJK Cup rosters are out. Even knowing that they will change, there are some surprises.

2019 finalists France and Australia have 2 of the weakest rosters. No Barty, Sabalenka, Andreescu, Gauff or Mladenovic. In are Vandeweghe and Dolehide.

Stat of the Week- 7- The number of slam winners since 2000 that have not finished the year in the Top 10.

What could have inspired this post? With Osaka dropping in the rankings, plus Raducanu still on the way up, we may have 2 women outside the Top 10 for the first time since 2017.

7 is out of 67, as each year is counted independently.

7 Ranked 11 or Below:

11- S.Williams- 2005
13- Clijsters- 2011
13- Bartoli- 2013
13- Stephens- 2017
17- Swiatek- 2020
18- Clijsters- 2009
22- S.Williams-2017

If you think this is disappointing, it really isn't, as they have something in common.

Slams Played:

3- S.Williams- 2005
3- Swiatek- 2020*
3- Bartoli- 2013
2- Clijsters- 2011
2- Stephens- 2017
1- Clijsters- 2009
1- S.Williams- 2017

None played 4 slams in that year, Swiatek's year only had 3, but Osaka(3) and Raducanu(2) will also fit the profile.

The thing that stands out about Clijsters? She didn't play 4 slams in any of the years she won a slam. Played 19 consecutive slams right out of the gate. Since that streak ended in 2004, only 17, never playing all 4 in a season.

Only time since 2000 that slam winners were at the top of the rankings?

2006- Henin, Sharapova, Mauresmo
2012- Azarenka, Sharapova, S.Williams

Quiz Time!

In which season did Li Na have the most wins?

A. 2014
B. 2013
C. 2012
D. 2006


Interlude- With MLB starting the Wild Card round, here is a first pitch to scratch your head at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXgOD6_zBes



Answer!

(A)2014 is wrong, though it is the season in which she had her highest winning percentage for a full year at 77%. Only 24 wins, though winning the Australian Open was a career highlight, she isn't on the above list because she finished the season at 9, even only playing 3 slams.

(D)2006 is wrong, but was her breakout year. She had won her first title the year before, but reached her first slam QF, losing to Clijsters. Also reached Estoril final, losing to Zheng. Ended up with 40 wins.

(B)2013 had 4 finals, going 1-3, Winning Shenzhen en routh to 46 wins but (C)2012 is the correct answer. Another season where she went 1-3 in finals, winning Cincinnati, made this the biggest season in her career with 51 wins.

Tue Oct 05, 02:01:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

7.5 On the Up Side- The Skyline-Desert Double Edition.

Will weather be an issue? October temps in IW are 10-15 degrees warmer than March.

1.Kasatkina- Has had her best year since 2018, one in which she reached the final here. Plus 2 women with jumping backhands similar to her in Van Uytvanck and Jabeur just reached finals.
2.Svitolina- 2019 SF got the monkey off her back. Got her first US title in Chicago, and with a depleted field, seems healthy enough to make a deep run.
3.Andreescu- Defending champ looked good in Chicago, though it wasn't enough to beat Rogers. Always more of a threat in events that have days off interspersed. Plus keeps those 2019 IW points for another month.
4.Teichmann- Makes her long awaited main draw debut here. Doesn't have a great draw, but seems up to the task.
5.Carter- As the doubles wheel turns. Started the year with Stefani, but got hurt, so Stefani switched to Dabrowski. Now that Stefani is hurt, Carter/Dabrowski is now a thing. Not a favorite, as Mattek-Sands/Swiatek and Krejcikova/Siniakova are there, but a good pairing.
6.Raducanu- Met Gala queen goes back to tennis. If she can win 1 or 2 matches, and end the season healthy, she can go into 2022 with the expectations Swiatek had this year, win a couple of titles, be consistent in slams, and get used to the travel.
7.Maria- Lost in Q, but after missing 10 months, this was her first match above 125K level since 2020 US Open.
7.5.Pliskova- Could go on a run if healthy. Has 17 losses, which seems high, but 9 are to 3 women-Pegula 4, Giorgi 3, Barty 2.

Tue Oct 05, 02:18:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

7.5 On the Down Side.

1.Bencic- Would have been a pick to go deep as she has been QF or better in last 6 events. The knee injury looked like a season ender, but I have been wrong before(see:Giannis 2021 NBA Playoffs).
2.Mladenovic- Up until a couple of days ago, Garcia/Mladenovic were signed up, assuming as a BJK Cup tuneup. Now she is out, and with a huge chunk of points coming off(Babos too), she may end the week outside of the Top 10 for the first time since May 2018.
3.Kovinic- Of the 26 women that reached clay finals this season, she has done the least on other surfaces. With only 2 wins on hard, and not having a WTA MD win since RG, she isn't expected to do much here. However....
4.Sherif- Is Kovinic's opponent. Even having reached a final, she only has 1 win all season against a higher ranked player-Cornet. Something has to give.
5.Osorio Serrano- Still learning and growing, but doesn't have a Top 100 win on hard this season.
6.Clijsters- What does Kim have in common with Ben Roethlisberger? Both won big in 2005, Clijsters with a slam, and Ben with a Super Bowl. 16 years later, Ben is immobile, while Kim isn't much better. The problem is not comparing them to 2005, but to 2020. Ben started off 11-0. Kim was good before the shutdown and also good in Team Tennis. The groundstrokes are still good, so getting back to that would at the very least make her a threat in doubles.
7.Rogers- Giant killer still doesn't have a title or a Top 30 ranking. In a year in which many veterans reached finals after a long drought, how has Rogers not gotten there?
7.5.Sharma- Still alive in Q, she has 10 wins on hard, 8 in Q. Only 1 Top 100 win on hard this year-Fernandez.

Tue Oct 05, 02:37:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Haha...great idea for the ball kids. Capes, maybe? ;)

Quiz: I had to have a quick look at Li's results bio for this (to be honest). She won slams in 2011 and '14, but had her best overall slam year in '13. So, I was thinking she was maybe healthiest that year, so I said '13. It seemed to make sense at the time. :/

Every time I hear the audio from a Japanese TV broadcast it makes me think of the game shows there, or the one on ABC a while back where they had U.S. residents compete on a show about competing on a Japanese game show).

Tue Oct 05, 06:29:00 PM EDT  

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