Sunday, January 09, 2022

Wk.1- Act 1, Scene 1 (2022)

Ready, set, go!!!








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*WEEK 1 CHAMPIONS*
ADELAIDE 1, AUSTRALIA (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Ash Barty/AUS def. Elena Rybakina/KAZ 6-3/6-2
D: Ash Barty/Storm Sanders (AUS/AUS) def. Darija Jurak Schreiber/Andreja Klepac (CRO/SLO) 6-1/6-4

MELBOURNE 1, AUSTRALIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Simona Halep/ROU def. Veronika Kudermetova/RUS 6-2/6-3
D: Asia Muhammad/Jessie Pegula (USA/USA) def. Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini (ITA/ITA) 6-3/6-1

MELBOURNE 2, AUSTRALIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Amanda Anisimova/USA def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR 7-5/1-6/6-4
D: Bernarda Pera/Katerina Siniakova (USA/CZE) def. Tereza Martincova/Mayar Sherif (CZE/EGY) 6-2/6-7(7) [10-5]



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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ash Barty/AUS
...as usual, Barty did in Adelaide what she generally does, quiet any remaining opposition to her continued hold on the #1 ranking while in many ways making her understated (close to, but not quite) "dominance" of the tour for most of the last two-plus seasons seem, while not "easy," sometimes shockingly routine and casual.

After not having played a competitive match since the U.S. Open last September, Barty opened '22 by being taken to but winning in three sets over the player who is *still* the youngest player in the Top 200, Coco Gauff. With that one under her belt, she didn't lose another set all week, taking out Sofia Kenin 3 & 4, Iga Swiatek (who'd previously looked to be in pretty sterling form herself) 2 & 4 and, in the final, Elena Rybakina 3 & 2 to claim her 14th career title and improve her record vs. the Top 20 since the start of '21 to an eye-poppoing 17-1.

And Barty wasn't even through, as she then teamed with Storm Sanders to win the doubles, as well, to become the first player to sweep the s/d of a Week 1 event since Simona Halep (Shenzhen) in 2018. She enters the Australian Open as the #1 seed at a fifth straight slam, and for the seventh time in the ten majors held since she won her first major title in Paris in '19. This week Barty will be the #1-ranked player for a 103rd straight week, fifth all-time behind Graf (186), S.Williams (186), Navratilova (156) and Evert (113).

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RISERS: Elena Rybakina/KAZ and Veronika Kudermetova/RUS
...Rybakina remains firmly on the short list of young tour would-be stars who could make the leap from promising talent to slam semifinalist/finalist at any moment, but the 22-year old Kazakh is still trying to discover her "closer's" gene.

Rybakina got off to a blazing start in '20, reaching four finals before the shutdown thwarted her building momentum. She still led the tour that season with five final appearances, though she only went 1-4 in those matches. Rybakina continued her rise a season ago, climbing into the Top 20 and reaching a major QF (RG), but didn't add to her final total. At the Olympics, she had Belinda Bencic (SF; up a break in the 3rd set before dropping the final four games) and Elina Svitolina (Bronze match; up 4-1 in the 3rd, then dropping five straight games) lined up for a big win, but let both off the hook and went home without a medal.

Week 1 of '22 has given Rybakina a chance for an early-season "do-over," as she pushed into the final in Adelaide, her first championship match in sixteen months, with wins over Storm Sanders, Marie Bouzkova, Shelby Rogers (from a set down) and Misaki Doi. In the final against Ash Barty, again the Kazakh had an opening with two 1st set BP, but after failing to convert either she never carved out another and was taken out in two quick sets to fall to 2-6 in career tour finals (1-6 in her last seven).

Rybakina still looks to be a good bet to become the first Kazakh to reach the Top 10, climbing to #13 this week, around 500 points behind current #10 Ons Jabeur.



In Melbourne (1), Kudermetova opened '22 by battling her way to a third career final a season after she started last year with a final run in Abu Dhabi.

The Russian won a pair of tie-breaks to open her year with a win over Viktoria Kuzmova, then won a 7-5 3rd (def. Madison Brengle) and love final set (vs. Anastasia Potapova) before being given a semifinal walkover from a fatigued Naomi Osaka. In the final, Simona Halep got the best of Kudermetova in a straight sets defeat.

She remains the #3-ranked Hordette at #30, behind #11 Anastasia Pavlychenkova and #26 Dasha Kasatkina, while keeping a little distance between herself and #39 Liudmila Samsonova and #40 Ekaterina Alexandrova in what seems set to be a competitive race at the top of the Russian rankings all season long.

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SURPRISES: Priscilla Hon/AUS and Aliaksandra Sasnovich/BLR
...23-year old Hon, ranked #263 in the world, was grateful to receive a WC into the Adelaide draw last week, after having gone just 9-10 in '21 after recovering from a hip injury that had kept her out for fourteen months (she didn't play her first match last season until late May/early June). Around this time a year ago, Hon was hitting a tennis ball again for the first time since July '20, knowing that she'd miss the AO for the first time since 2014.

This week, though, she shot out of the offseason like a cannonball, delivering the '22 campaign's first big upset with a win over Petra Kvitova, Hon's maiden career Top 20 victim. She lost a round later to Vika Azarenka, but the Aussie's big news didn't end there. Hon's additional reward came from Tennis Australia, which awarded her the final MD wild card into the Australian Open, where she finally posted her first MD win in Melbourne in her last appearance in 2020.



Meanwhile, #107 Sasnovich is always up for the occasional big result and accompanying smile-inducing post-match comments. Once again, she found herself in her element in Melbourne (2), making her way through qualifying (def. Lesia Tsurenko to reach the MD), then reeling off additional wins over Wang Xinyu, Rebecca Peterson, Clara Tauson (ret. w/ thigh injury) and Ann Li (in three sets) to reach her first final since Brisbane four years ago. After dropping the 1st set vs. Amanda Anisimova, Sasnovich surged to take the 2nd while the Bannerette played through injury, then led the 3-0 in the 3rd. But the lead wasn't big enough for the Belarusian to finally wrap up her maiden tour title, as Anisimova won six of the final seven games to take the crown, dropping Sasnovich to 0-3 in tour finals in her career.

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VETERANS: Simona Halep/ROU and Misaki Doi/JPN
...2022 has set itself up for Halep as something of a season of "starting over" and "settling in" for the final (however-many-seasons) chapter of her (eventual) Hall of Fame career. Having gotten married, turned the "big" 3-0 and parted ways with longtime coach Darren Cahill over the past year, the two-time slam champ seems to be happily champing at the bit for competition and whatever success comes along with it.

After dropping from her longtime Top 5, Top 10 and even Top 20 perch during the '21 season due to an injury layoff that cost her appearances in both Paris and London, a late final run at the Transylvania Open at least allowed Halep to finish the year inside the Top 20 for the ninth consecutive season (after seven straight Top 4 seasons from 2017-20). While her game wasn't in "A"-form, she carried over her momentum into Melbourne (1) this past week, opening a season with a title run for the third time in her career.



After opening wins in straights over Destanee Aiava and Gabriela Ruse (her 17th straight win over a fellow Romanian), Halep overcame an admittedly sh*t serve to outlast Viktorija Golubic in three, then found more of a groove with straight setters over impressive Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen (to reach a WTA singles final for a Serena-esque 13th consecutive season) and Russian Veronika Kudermetova, taking her 23rd career tour title and her first since winning in Rome in 2020.



Six years ago, Doi found herself on the wrong side of history Down Under when she held MP vs. Angelique Kerber in the 1st Round of the Australian Open only to see the German vet wriggle free and go on to win the title. The 30-year old made some better Australian memories this past week in Adelaide (maybe because she literally played under a virtual rainbow?), where she reached her first tour SF since 2019 with wins over Kristina Kucova, Anastasia Gasanova and Kaja Juvan (saving 2 MP) before a loss to Elena Rybakina.

Doi (#105) will climb back into the Top 100 in the new rankings, pushing toward the Top 75.

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COMEBACKS: Amanda Anisimova/USA and Sofia Kenin/USA
...since winning her first title, reaching the Top 25 and the Roland Garros semis (all in 2019), Anisimova's had a tough time as she's had to deal with the sudden death of her dad, injuries and a plummet in the rankings that left her at #78 coming into 2022. So far, the new season has offered a quick turnaround.

After seeing her form tick up a bit late in '21, highlighted by a tight loss at Flushing Meadows to Karolina Pliskova and a win over Montreal champ Camila Giorgi in Indian Wells, Anisimova split with coach Andis Juska following the season (he's since jumped on the Sviotlina train, which derailed right out of the terminal in Adelaide). She revealed this week in Melbourne that she asked former Simona Halep coach Darren Cahill for a bit of help. Well, whatever the Aussie did, the 20-year old should try to get him to do a bit more for a while longer since she opened '22 with her first final/title since her maiden win in Bogota in the spring of '19.

In the Melbourne 2 event, the Bannerette opened with a three-set (7-5 3rd) win over Alison Van Uytvanck, then ran off Romanians Sorana Cirstea in straights and Irina-Camelia Begu in three. Anisimova followed up with a 2 & love thrashing of Dasha Kasatkina in the semis, then hit her way through injury (she took a MTO for her thigh) and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final, rallying from 0-3 down in the 3rd to surge into the winner's circle. She rises to #61 in the new rankings, her best standing since May of last year.



Kenin, too, has seen her previous highs turn into craterous lows. The '20 AO champ and RG runner-up spun out early last season, falling in the 2nd Round in her AO title defense, and being upset by an unranked Aussie immediately afterward before undergoing an emergency appendectomy, never really getting right all season and perhaps hitting her nadir in a 41-error, 45-minute loss in the Wimbledon 1st Round, a defeat which ended her season (she didn't play the U.S. Open). Not long after, Kenin split with her father/coach Alex, while her pandemic ranking kept her artificially high on the computer at #12.

Father Alex returned to the coaching fold during the offseason, and Kenin, who noted that people seemed to "forget about" her last season as she drifted well off the radar, looked more like "herself" in Adelaide, posting an engine-revving win over Lucia Bronzetti and saving 3 MP vs. Alja Tomljanvovic en route to the QF, where she lost to Ash Barty 3 & 4.

Seems like a light has finally been spotted at the end of the tunnel.

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FRESH FACES: Zheng Qinwen/CHN and Kaja Juvan/SLO
...Zheng's open to the '22 season could mean that she won't languish in the shadow of fellow Chinese youngsters -- the Wangs Xinyu & Xiyu -- for long. After qualifying in Melbourne (1) with wins over Jule Niemeier and Bernarda Pera to reach just her fourth tour-level MD, the 19-year old world #126 proceeded to post three more victories over Mai Hontama, Vera Zvonareva and Ana Konjuh (2 TB) to reach her maiden WTA semifinal.

Zheng fell to eventual champ Halep, who afterward had encouraging words about her future, and climbs to a new career high of #111 this week, just six months after her tour debut in Palermo last July.



Big-hitting Slovenian Juvan posting a big result isn't really a stunner, nor even a particular surprise. She's shown great promise in the past, putting herself in the spotlight with anecdotal flourishes (impressive wins or fights in losses vs. big-name opponents) only to fail to find a way to carry out her momentum to a truly significant final result that would *officially* put her "on the map."

Unfortunately for the world #100, a similar pattern played out this past week in Adelaide after the 21-year old stunned #2 Aryna Sabalenka in the 2nd Round. A round later in the QF, Juvan held MP vs. Misaki Doi but couldn't push her way into the semis. A few days later, Juvan fell in qualifying in the season's second Adelaide event, retiring in the 3rd set vs. another Japanese player, Eri Hozumi.

Over the past two seasons, Juvan has suffered similar fates just when her breakthrough moment seemed at hand. In 2020, early wins over Venus Williamis (Acapulco) and Marketa Vondrousova (Palermo) were followed by losses a round later. At Roland Garros that season, Juvan upset Angelique Kerber in the 1st Round, but again couldn't add another victory. Last year, a win over Camila Osorio in Monterrey was followed by a Juvan walkover before her next match, while a Portoroz QF upset of countrywoman Tamara Zidansek wasn't followed up by a SF win to reach her maiden final. At last year's Wimbledon, Juvan did manage to back up her 1st Round win over Belinda Bencic with a 2nd Round victory, then lost to Coco Gauff in the 3rd.

Juvan jumps to a new career high at #86 this week.

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DOWN: Petra Kvitova/CZE and Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...Kvitova has always been apt to toss in the spare shocking loss (or two) in the early-season heat Down Under, and she added another this week in Adelaide in her opening '22 match against #263-ranked Aussie wild card Priscilla Hon, who missed most of last season due to a hip injury. Kvitova fell in three sets to Hon, dropping her ranking outside the Top 20 for the first time since February '18.



In Sydney, Kvitova's struggles continued as she barely escaped another one-and-done outing, saving two MP at 5-4 in the 3rd vs. Arantxa Rus before getting the hold, then breaking and serving things out to take the 3rd set 7-5.

A year ago, Sabalenka opened her season by taking a Week 1 title in Abu Dhabi. This year, following up her error-and-DF-laden WTAF demise in Guadalajara, when she crumbled down the stretch in a win-or-go-home round robin match vs. Maria Sakkari, she was upset in her '22 opener by #100-ranked Kaja Juvan in straight sets, her worst loss since falling to then-#139 Magdalena Rybarikova in the 1st Round of Wimbledon in '19.

Sabalenka has now gone 1-4 since returning from her Covid-related absence last fall after her U.S. Open semifinal run, which had ended a 16-6 summer stretch for the Belarusian in '21. Her Adelaide exit this past week came via an 18-DF performance.

If this happens in Melbourne, might some sort of (coach) Anton Dubrov Watch kick-in?

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ITF PLAYERS: Yuan Yue/CHN and Ysaline Bonaventure/BEL
...#199-ranked Yuan, 23, claimed the $60K Aussie challenger in Traralgon without dropping a set, posting wins over Usue Arconada, Anastasia Zakharova, Sachia Vickery and Paula Ormaechea in a 6-3/6-2 final to pick up her biggest career title. Last month, Yuan reached a WTA 125 semi in Angers while knocking off the likes of Leonie Kung, Greet Minnen and Jana Fett before falling to Zhang Shuai.



Bonaventure emerged with the trophy in the week's other $60K event in Australia, winning in Bendigo without dropping a set. It's the twelfth career win for 27-year old Waffle (#235), who tied for her biggest tournament crown (w/ two $60K win in '17 and '20) via a 3 & 1 win in the final over Andorran qualifier Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.

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JUNIOR STARS: Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND and Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz/AUS
...16-year old VJK, the '20 Australian Open junior champ, reached the final of the $60K in Bendigo, tying for her biggest career pro final. The Andorran first had to qualify en route to the third pro final, then defeated CoCo Vandeweghe in the semis to take the final step. The result lifts VJK to a new career high as, from #252, she cracks the Top 250 barrier and nearly launches herself into the Top 200 at #202.

She'll be in AO qualifying this coming week (Q1 vs. Anastasia Zakharova), seeking to make her slam women's MD debut.



Kempenaers-Pocz, 17, received a WC into the qualifying draw in Adelaide, where she posted her first tour-level win of any kind with a 6-4/6-4 upset of Rebecca Marino. She lost a round later in three sets to Ulrikke Eikeri.

After being a Top 100 girl early last year, CKP went 15-1 in limited junior play in '21, ending the year with three consecutive finals on home soil vs. all-Aussie competition in Gold Coast (J3 title and RU) and Playford (J5 win). She lost in the opening AO Q-round a year ago (vs. Tomova), and returns for another try this week (Q1 vs. K.Bondarenko) after receiving a WC from Tennis Australia.

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DOUBLES: Bernarda Pera/Katerina Siniakova, USA/CZE
...ahem, Barbora who?

Playing without usual partner Krejcikova, a reality that *could* become more common in '22, proved to be no problem for doubles #1 Siniakova, who instead teamed with first-time title winner Pera to keep her '21 flow going Down Under.

The duo combined to win three consecutive match tie-breaks over Kerkhove/Ar.Rodionova, Begu/Stojanovic and (in the final) Martincova/Sherif to claim the crown, giving Siniakova fourteen career tour titles and now four straight years in which she's reached WD finals with players other than Krejcikova. Along with this title alongside Pera, the Czech won in '19 with Aleksandra Krunic (Sydney) and '21 with Alona Ostapenko (Moscow), while reaching a '20 final with Lucie Hradecka (Linz).




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1. Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Anastasia Gasanova def. Elina Svitolina
...5-7/6-4/6-3. A year ago, Gasanova upset Karolina Pliskova for her first career Top 20 victory. This is her second.



Meanwhile, Svitolina's husband Gael Monfils won the men's Week 1 tournament in the same city, further fueling the notion that their relationship has seemingly *helped* the Frenchman's tennis while the Ukrainian's results have severely devolved since they got together. For what it's worth, just an ongoing, interesting observation.

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2. Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Priscilla Hon def. Petra Kvitova
...6-7(4)/7-5/6-2. The #263-ranked Aussie wild card, finally back strong after missing over a year (2020-21) with a hip injury, officially kicks off the '22 season with a don't-look-back-something-might-be-gaining-on-you (courtesy of Satchel Paige) result to get everyone's attention.

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3. Melbourne 2 1st Rd. - Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...6-4/5-7/6-3. Just your casual, everyday 3:06 three-setter in the Aussie heat to start the season. Sorribes was probably ready for a practice hit an hour later because she just didn't get *enough* work in.
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4. Adelaide 1 2nd Rd. - Sofia Kenin def. Ajla Tomljanovic
...3-6/7-6(5)/6-3. After being out for nearly six months, Kenin saved 3 MP in just her second match back. Tomljanovic led 5-3 and served for the win.

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5. Adelaide 1 2nd Rd. - Kaja Juvan def. Aryna Sabalenka
...7-6(6)/6-1. #2 Sabalenka's late season malaise from '21 has followed her into '22, as her loss to #100 Juvan was greatly aided by a positively Kournikovian 18 DF (!!).

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6. Adelaide 1 QF - Misaki Doi def. Kaja Juvan
...6-3/4-6/7-6(5). Doi saves two MP. Obviously, Juvan isn't Angie Kerber... but she *did* beat the German in Paris not that long ago.

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7. Melbourne 2 Final - Amanda Anisimova def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
...7-5/1-6/6-4. Anisimova overcomes an ailing hip and a 3-0 3rd set deficit to record her first title since 2019.

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8. Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Paula Badosa
...6-3/6-2. Vika and Paula played doubles together in Adelaide. After Badosa had beaten Azarenka in the Indian Wells singles final last fall, Vika wins the follow-up meeting.



Unfortunately, Azarenka's injury in her QF loss to Iga Swiatek led to her pulling out of the duo's semifinal WD match. And so it begins.

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9. Melbourne 2 1st Rd - Sorana Cirstea def. Varvara Gracheva
...6-0/6-0. Ouch.
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10. Adelaide 1 Final - Ash Barty def. Elena Rybakina
...6-3/6-2. As opposed to Rybakina's 2-6 career record in finals, Barty is 14-6 (13-3 in the last 16).

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11. Melbourne 1 Q1 - Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove def. Dayana Yastremska
...6-2/6-2. A year after being prevented from playing at the beginning of the season, this wasn't the start Yastremska was looking for in '22. She's already rebounded well in Week 2, upsetting #1 Q-seed Alison Van Uytvanck in the opening qualifying round in Adelaide 2.

Hopefully, no one asks her about Djokovic.
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12. Adelaide 1 2nd Rd. - Ash Barty def. Coco Gauff
...4-6/7-5/6-1. A good start for Barty, as the rest of the week showed, and maybe an encouraging one for Gauff, as well.

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13. Adelaide 1 2nd Rd. - Shelby Rogers def. Maria Sakkari
...7-6(5)/2-6/6-4. Unfortunately for Rogers, this nice win has been followed by back-to-back losses to Rybakina (Adelaide 1 QF) and Marta Kostyuk (Adelaide 2 1r).

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14. Melbourne 1 1st Rd. - Andrea Petkovic def. Liudmila Samsonova
...6-3/7-6(3). An impressive victory from the German veteran to follow-up her surprising rebound season in '21 (Top 100 return, first title since '15). Petko notched another win over Clara Burel before a QF loss to Osaka.

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15. Adelaide 1 2nd Rd. - Iga Swiatek def. Leylah Fernandez
...6-1/6-2. 2021 Adelaide champ Iga looked primed for a repeat, then she met the 2020 champ in the semifinals.

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16. Melbourne 1 Final - Asia Muhammad/Jessie Pegula def. Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini
...6-3/6-1. A maiden title for Pegula, who'd lost in the 1st Round of singles as the #1 seed, while Muhammad improves to 7-0 in tour WD finals with six different partners.

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17. Adelaide 1 Final - Ash Barty/Storm Sanders def. Darija Jurak Schreiber/Andreja Klepac
...6-1/6-4. Barty's 12th tour WD title (first in AUS), and Sanders' third.

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18. Melbourne 1 Q1 - Destanee Aiava def. Wang Qiang
...7-6(9)/6-4. Aiava always seems to totally disappear from the radar once the tour leaves Australia. Meanwhile, if Wang continues her recent trend she won't even qualify as a "blip" herself before long.
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HM- Adelaide 1 Q1 - Dasha Saville def. Caty McNally 6-3/6-4
Adelaide 1 Q2 - Dasha Saville def. Katie Boulter 7-5/3-6/6-4
...the first two wins by the newly-named Dasha Gavrilova Saville.

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1. Melbourne 1 Final - Simona Halep def. Veronika Kudermetova
...6-2/6-3. The last time Halep opened her season with a singles title (2018), she went on to go 46-11, finish #1, play in the AO final and five others during the season (winning 3) and claim her first career major title at Roland Garros.

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2. Melbourne 1 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Alize Cornet
...6-4/3-6/6-3. In her first match in four months, Osaka weathered the Cornet storm and went on to record two more wins over Maryna Zanevska and Andrea Petkovic before calling "uncle" and resting up for her attempt to defend her '21 AO crown. Can she play her way into shape Down Under, ala Serena Williams, and win for the *third* time in four years in Melbourne? We shall see.

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Djokovic entering Melbourne...


via GIPHY



Djokovic exiting Melbourne...??? (to be continued)














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**RECENT BACKSPIN WEEK 1 PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK**
2015 Maria Sharapova/RUS, Simona Halep/ROU (co-PoW)
2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2018 Simona Halep, ROU
2019 Julia Goerges, GER
2020 Serena Williams, USA
2021 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2022 Ash Barty, AUS

**CAREER WEEK 1 TITLES - active**
3...Simona Halep, ROU
3...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
3...Serena Williams, USA
2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2...Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2...Venus Williams, USA
1...Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
1...Amanda Anisimova, USA
1...Ash Barty, AUS
1...Kim Clijsters, BEL
1...Lauren Davis, USA
1...Kaia Kanepi, EST
1...Petra Kvitova, CZE
1...Katerina Siniakova, CZE
1...Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
1...Sloane Stephens, USA
1...Elina Svitolina, UKR
1...Yanina Wickmayer, BEL

**HALEP vs. ROMANIANS (all pro levels)**
2006: 2-1 (Agnes Szatmari, $10K Bucharest QF)
2007: 3-0
2008: 7-1 (Sorana Cirstea, $50K Bucharest QF)
2009: 3-1 (Liana Ungur, $25K Monteroni 1r)
2010: 2-1 (Sorana Cirstea, Cincinnati Q2)
2011: 1-0
2012: 3-0
2013: 1-0
2014: 1-0
2015: 1-0
2016: 2-0
2017: -
2018: 1-0
2019: 1-0
2020: 2-0
2021: 2-0 (also: w/o L to Cristian, Linz SF)
2022: 1-0
-
OVERALL: 33-4 (17 consecutive, 2010-present)

*SINGLES/DOUBLES CHAMPION IN EVENT*
[2018]
Simona Halep, ROU [Shenzhen]
Elise Mertens, BEL [Lugano]
[2019]
Nao Hibino, JPN [Hiroshima]
[2020]
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR [Ostrava]
[2021]
Ash Barty, AUS [Stuttgart]
Coco Gauff, USA [Parma]
Barbora Krejcikova, CZE [Roland Garros]
[2022]
Ash Barty, AUS [Adelaide 1]

*RECENT EARLY-CAREER NON-SLAM BREAKOUTS*
2020: Leonie Kung to Hua Hin F (2nd WTA MD, age 19)
2021: Clara Tauson wins Lyon (3rd WTA MD, age 18)
2021: Linda Fruhvirtova to Charleston 250 QF (2nd WTA MD, age 15)
2021: Jule Niemeier to Strasbourg SF (2nd WTA MD, age 21)
2021: Emma Raducanu wins U.S. Open (4th WTA MD, age 18)
2022: Zheng Qinwen to Melbourne 1 SF (4th WTA MD, age 19)
[slams]
2020: Sofia Kenin wins Australian Open (12th career GS MD, age 21)
2020: Nadia Podoroska to Roland Garros SF (2nd career GS MD, age 23)
2020: Iga Swiatek wins Roland Garros (7th career GS MD, age 19)
2021: Karolina Muchova to Australian Open semis (9th career GS MD, age 24)
2021: Tamara Zidansek to Roland Garros SF (9th career GS MD, age 23)
2021: Barbora Krejcikova wins Roland Garros (5th career GS MD, age 25)
2021: Leylah Fernandez to U.S. Open Final (7th career GS MD; age 19)
2021: Emma Raducanu wins U.S. Open (2nd career GS MD; age 18)

*CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE*
73 - Serena Williams, USA (recent: 2020)
41 - Kim Clijsters, BEL (2011)
49 - Venus Williams, USA (2016)
28 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2021)
23 - SIMONA HALEP, ROU (2022)
21 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2020)
18 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (2018)
16 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (2020)
16 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (2020)
14 - ASH BARTY, AUS (2022)
13 - Angelique Kerber, GER (2021)

*UNITED STATES - WTA TITLES (active)*
73 - Serena Williams
49 - Venus Williams
6 - Sloane Stephens
5 - Sofia Kenin
5 - Madison Keys
3 - Alison Riske
2 - AMANDA ANISIMOVA
2 - Danielle Collins
2 - Coco Gauff
2 - Monica Puig (Puerto Rico)
2 - CoCo Vandeweghe
1 - Jennifer Brady
1 - Lauren Davis
1 - Irina Falconi
1 - Ann Li
1 - Christina McHale
1 - Jessica Pegula









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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:48 PM 

8 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Well, well, well. The new ranking update is out, and there is a stunner. While we expected 2020 Adelaide and Hobart to come off next week, along with Abu Dhabi, Yarra Valley, Gippsland and Grampians will be dropping too. So there will be a massive shift in points. 3 of those to mention are the fact that Kanepi will drop out of the Top 100, #28 seed Kudermetova may be ranked 40 at the start of the Open, while Andreescu might go up 4-5 spots.

Halep was the pleasant surprise of the week. Looks healthy, and is on the short list for Melbourne as she just won on the same court.

Stat of the Week- 21- Career doubles finals for Renata Voracova.

Yep, she's on this list because of you know who. Detained after playing a doubles match with Piter in Melbourne, she has said she will leave Australia.

That is a shame, as she would have gotten some publicity, as she was the oldest(38) player in the doubles draw.

Quiz Time!

With which player has Voracova won the most doubles titles?

A.Kelly Liggan
B.Vladmira Uhlirova
C.Lucie Hradecka
D.Cornelia Lister

Interlude- CBS Pressure Point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea7tkub7iaI&t=79s


Answer!

Voracova won twice with Strycova, but there are other stories to tell.

(A)Liggan is wrong, but Voracova won her first title with the Ireland native way, way back in 2002-Pattaya City.

(D)Lister is also wrong, but her last, a whopping 17 years later in Palermo 2019.

(B)Uhlirova is wrong, because they never won a title together. However, they did reached the Luxembourg final in 2009, losing to Benesova/Strycova, making it the only time that Voracova played in an all Czech final.

Uhlirova was known for being the short one. Actually she is 5-5, but looked shorter playing with 6-3 Eva Hrdinova. Fondly remembered, they actually never won a title together, with Hrdinova going 0-5 in finals at WTA level.

(C)Hradecka won 4 with Renata, making her the leader in the clubhouse. Both are still active, so maybe that number grows.

Mon Jan 10, 05:57:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- Before the Storm Edition.

1.Muguruza- Sydney pick once won a slam, then didn't reach another final for the next 13 months. She has reached 5 in the last 13. Also has reached a final in the last 8 years, so why not here.
2.Zidansek- Adelaide pick because she can go all out and won't preserve herself for next week. So why pick a player that hasn't won back to back matches on hard court since Abu Dhabi last year? Well, she did win 2 matches at Portoroz(1 W/O), but the Abu Dhabi 2 were Brady and Fernandez. 2 slam runner ups.
3.Kontaveit- Last year, she reached the Grampians, Eastbourne and Cleveland finals, each the week before a slam. Unless she pulls an Osaka, more on that later, she is a threat.
4.Keys- Looked good last week. 2021 is over, and it couldn't come soon enough for Keys, who had a career worst 6 match losing streak. Already took out Svitolina.
5.Herdzelas- Already lost in AO Q, but i'm keeping her here. She was a longshot, but needs to be noticed. Ranked 224, she was trying to become the first Bosnian woman to reach a slam in singles since Mervana Jugic Salkic did so in 2005-RG. Doubles specialist Jugic Salkic reached 99 in 2004, then played another 9 years, in which her last 39 WTA singles wins were in qualifying. Here's hoping Dea is ranked high enough for a shot a Roland Garros.

Mon Jan 10, 06:12:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Rogers- That loss to Rybakina will sting. Lost from a set up and that costs her an AO seed. She finished the week 2 points behind Sorribes Tormo.
2.Giorgi- One of 9 Top 100(Pavlyuchenkova, Kerber, Collins, Putintseva, Osorio, Vekic, Mladenovic, Zheng)that are still in AO draw but not playing a warmup event, Giorgi is the one with the most questions. After ending last season poorly, will she be Italy's first seed at a slam in 3(AO 19)years? That was also Giorgi. Before that? Vinci- 2017 USO.
3.Kvitova- 2019 Sydney winner was on this list because of timing. Had Barty pulled out earlier, she would have been a seed. She then took a ride on the struggle bus, as fellow lefty Rus served for the match. Whew.
4.Raducanu- When Sydney's draw first came out, Raducanu/Swiatek was the only first rd match between Top 20 players. Rybakina got Swiatek's spot, so same thing. Raducanu was one of 3 Top 20 players(Kvitova, Pegula) not to be seeded, though she is higher than both now. Just needs matches, but this is a tough draw to get them.
5.Osaka- The only reason I didn't pick Osaka last week is that I expected her to pull out at some point. Since the start of the 2019 season, that was the 6th time she has offered a walkover, 5 times from QF or later. Still one of the AO favorites.

Mon Jan 10, 06:26:00 AM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

About 3/4 (or more) of the photos aren't loading on this post. At least, not for me.

Mon Jan 10, 12:26:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-

Quiz: Grrr. I knew it had to be either B or C, but I went w/ Uhlirova because I was thinking Hradecka played so much w/ Hlavackova during the same period. :/

Pressure Point is an interesting idea. Someone should have utilized it during the shutdown when all those unofficial events were held.


D-

I was seeing them yesterday when it was posted, though it took a while (but I have overall slow computer issues at the moment), but they not coming up with *any* speed right now on either site. As soon as I go on either blog it's slowing down *everything* on my end (way more than usual). After a bit on BackspinTennis they did finally start to trickle in, though.

I did a temporary, small post on both sites and the single embed worked fine when I pulled up the post on its own page, so I guess it's because of the number of them in the overall post, so I guess it's just taking a loooong time. Maybe it'll be better later????

Putting things up on Blogger is like trying to run a jumbo jet with the power of a hand-held electric fan.

Mon Jan 10, 07:18:00 PM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

They're still not loading. Oh, well--hoping that it's just a one-time glitch.

Tue Jan 11, 10:26:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

10 On the Up Side- Burned out on Novak Edition.

1.Halep- Won Melbourne 1, which put her on the list. The other reasons? Last time she won a 250 before the Australian Open(Shenzhen), she reached the final. Also got her first title in Australia, and that is bigger than you think. Since 2000, the only women not to have reached a final in Australia or New Zealand in their career and won have been Serena and Osaka. This also includes Mauresmo and Sharapova, in which the first final reached was the Australian Open, but lost in their first attempt.
2.Gauff- In only her 10th slam, Gauff looks poised for a breakout. Still needs to win one more match in Adelaide to meet above criteria.
3.Swiatek- Another player that has already won in Australia(Adelaide 21), she looks poised for another deep run at a major.
4.Kudermetova- Most likely to reach a slam QF in 2022? You would think so, but baby steps. Still needs to reach the 4th rd of a slam for the first time. Has a good draw.
5.Barty- Low, partially because of Osaka, but because it is Australia. This will always be the toughest one for her to win, btw, what is the over/under on Chris O'Neil references? Because of that, she will need an Aussie to have a Dellacqua style run to take the focus off.
6.Osaka- The paradox. Hasn't lost on court this year. Defending champ. Hasn't won a title since last year's event. Hasn't won a title outside of a major since Beijing 2019. Can't count her out, but if she plays an underdog like Fernandez, or a crowd favorite like Barty, how will she handle it? Also, very few lefties in close proximity.
7.Bjorklund- One round away from her first slam main draw, and would only be the 3rd Swedish woman to make it through qualifying here since 2010, Arvidsson-2010, Larsson 2020.
8.Zidansek- More likely, this week in Adelaide will be deeper than her AO run. Thank Marko Hrastar for this nugget, Zidansek will be the first Slovenian seeded at a slam since Srebotnik- USO 2008.
9.Golubic- Bad draw, but the woman with the best one handed backhand with Suarez Navarro's retirement has had some quality losses this year. If Golubic/Rybakina happens, it will be fun.
10.Badosa- Low, because her numbers say US Open winner. Osaka won IW in 2019, then won USO, as did Andreescu in 2019. Badosa 21/22 feels like Pennetta, who won IW in 2014, then USO in 2015. The other reason she is low, is the heat. Melbourne is known for being hot, and Badosa had to retire from her Olympic match because of it. If she stumbles early, this will probably be the reason.

Thu Jan 13, 09:51:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

10 On the Down Side.

1.Sabalenka- As Charles Barkley would say, "What the hell?" 39 DF in 2 matches to start the season is a massive red flag. We saw Kenin have an uncharacteristic loss last year, then found out something was wrong. Sabalenka's team needs to send her for an MRI. Hopefully nothing is wrong. But if there isn't, it's all in her head, which will make for a long season. I will go on record, and say that in her current form, #2 Sabalenka is a longer shot to win here, than Raducanu was at the start of the US Open. Worse, her 2 losses were to players ranked 93 and 100. It does mean she might beat #135 Sanders, who is 0-5 in slams. If she doesn't, it would be her worst loss by rank since 139 Rybarikova beat her at Wimbledon in 2019.
2.Ferro- I could just put France, as they have 7 women in the draw, and will be lucky to go 2-5. That number is locked, as they went 1-4 in Q, without anyone reaching the final round. Ferro is in a 3-9 rut at WTA level, and hasn't beat a player higher ranked than her(Doi) since 2021 US Open. This makes Svitolina a tougher ask, as she hasn't beaten a player as highly ranked as her since Wang Q. back in 2019.
3.Teichmann- Has a tough 2nd match vs Azarenka, but is always on this list because she has never made it to the 3rd rd of a slam. This is her 10th slam, and there are others(Hibino 16) that suffer the same fate. But Teichmann has the talent to do better.
4.Bouzkova- Questionable health, but if I am ripping Teichmann, don't I need to treat Bouzkova the same way? One of only 2 players (Rus) in the field to have lost all 4 MD slam matches last year, she actually has lost her last 9, the longest consecutive streak in the field. Voegele isn't in yet, but has 10 non consecutive losses. Bouzkova also has never been to the 3rd rd of a slam, going a ghastly 1-11.
5.Wang Q- Seems like she is on this list every week recently, since her 4 1/2 year streak in the Top 100 ended. She has gone 2-5 recently, but it's worse once you realize that 2 of those losses were to Gauff. Guess who she opens with?
6.Tomljanovic- Like Wang, she lands on the rematch tour, getting Badosa again. This hurts, as Tomljanovic is 2-10 vs Top 20 players in the last year. That actually isn't bad for someone whose career high is 39.
7.Kenin- Went 3-2 vs USA last year. 2 of those wins were against Pegula. Alas, she opens with Keys, and a loss her might leave her outside the Top 100 before her 2020 Lyon points come off.
8.Pegula- Has not looked good in singles to open the year, but has a softer draw than most. No belief that she will make a deep run, so will drop in a month when her 2021 points come off.
9.Konjuh- Last year was about making the slams. This year is about winning matches. Another player with a tough draw, she also has a 7 match losing streak in them.
10.Kasatkina- Only because of her draw, which looks like it will prevent a deep run. Has done some good things this year, beating both Keys, 0-7 previously, and Kenin 0-2.

Thu Jan 13, 10:21:00 AM EST  

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