Sunday, February 20, 2022

Wk.7- Desert Thunder

Can you hear it? Yep, it's the unmistakable sound of Thunder...
Desert Thunder.








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*WEEK 7 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, UAE (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Alona Ostapenko/LAT def. Veronika Kudermetova/RUS 6-0/6-4
D: Veronika Kudermetova/Elise Mertens (RUS/BEL) def. Lyudmyla Kichenok/Alona Ostapenko (UKR/LAT) 6-1/6-3




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...in Dubai, Ostapenko fully woke up the echoes of her most successful past exploits, when nothing was too audacious and anything was possible.

After occasionally flirting with the notion of a full-fledged return of Latvian Thunder since last summer, when she won her first title in two seasons (and first since taking the Roland Garros crown in '17) and later reached the semis of the fall version of Indian Wells, Ostapenko fed off last week's Saint Petersburg semifinal to put together one of the more unique and dramatic title runs in recent memory, knocking off four consecutive former slam champions, coming from a set down against three, saving a MP versus one, and adding some belated "Parisian vibes" by bageling her final RG title run opponent in a deciding 3rd set (after having blanked her in a TB to take the 2nd).

It was a run that may not ultimately stack up with, say, Ash Barty's dominating AO jaunt last month, but will surely linger in the memory all season long and back up the idea that the Latvian is *the* most exciting player in the sport, while also being its most unpredictable and potentially awe-inspiring figure as audiences watch from both close by and afar and either wait for "the other shoe" to drop or for Ostapenko herself to drop the thudding hammer down on the head of an opponent that can do little but hope that she (eventually) starts to miss. In Dubai, when Ostapenko did just that, it was a trend that didn't last for long.

Ostapenko's journey to her fifth tour title began with a straight sets win over '20 AO champ Sofia Kenin, and she followed that up by taking down '20 RG winner Iga Swiatek (dropping the 1st before winning a 3rd set TB), two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova (from a set and 5-3 back, saving a MP), and two-time slam winner Simona Halep, the Latvian's final foe in Paris five years ago, by taking a love 2nd set TB to force a 3rd, and then dropping a love final set on the Romanian to advance to the final. Once there, Ostapenko opened with a second consecutive love set in the 1st against Veronika Kudermetova, and went on to put away the Russian in straights.

The only thing that didn't go right for Ostapenko in the desert was her inability to *also* win the doubles, as she lost in the final alongside Lyudmyla Kichenok against the revenge-minded Kudermetova & Elise Mertens.



10-3 in '22 (and 28-11 back to Eastbourne), Ostapenko will now rise from #21 to #13, her first Top 20 ranking since October '18, with her confidence stoked enough to make her musing about a Top 10 (or better) rise now feel a bit more like a promise (or "threat?") than the usual "Ostapenko being Ostapenko" sort of comment that often just makes a listener smile and move on. Fact is, that sort of "of course I can" mindset played a huge part in her riding her remarkable power-and-shotmaking wave to her maiden slam title in Paris (now) half a decade ago, and if *that* Thunder is now back, well, buckle in and enjoy the upcoming shows.
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RISERS: Veronika Kudermetova/RUS and Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
...while Ostapenko took down four former slam winners, Kudermetova defeated an additional two as she opened her Dubai final run with wins over Victoria Azarenka and Garbine Muguruza. After a three-set win over Jil Teichmann, the Russian got a semifinal walkover from Marketa Vondrousova to get the chance against Ostapenko to make it *three* wins over former slam champs. It wasn't meant to be, as Kudermetova's straight sets loss dropped her to 1-3 in tour singles finals.



This was the Russian's second SF+ result (w/ Melbourne 1 SF) this season, and continues her trend of spotlight-worthy early-season results. Three of her four singles finals have come in January/February the last two seasons, with a fourth in April of last year.

While Kudermetova couldn't handle Ostapenko on her own, she went on to team with Elise Mertens to defeat Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok in the doubles final, adding a second crown to the win they collected last spring in Instabul. It's Kudermetova third career tour WD title, though she reached big championship matches last season in Wimbledon (w/ Vesnina) and Indian Wells (w/ Rybakina) with other partners.

Kudermetova's last step to the single final was paved by a walkover in the semifinals from Vondrousova when the Czech withdrew after aggravating a right abductor injury after facing six opponents over the course of the week, having had to initially make her way through qualifying (even as the world #38) to reach the packed Dubai MD. After a final Q-round win over Yulia Putintseva, Vondrousova advanced past Danielle Collins when the AO finalist retired (dizziness) after having won the opening set. She posted additional wins over Varvara Gracheva and Dayana Yastremska to reach her first semifinal of the season, but her sixth in her last twelve events.

Thus far, Vondrousova hasn't been able to finish off any of those runs with a title, with Dubai being (after Chicago last year) her second event-ending SF walkover. The closest the Czech has gotten to emerging from the pack was the Olympic Silver medal result that included a three-set Gold Match loss to Belinda Bencic.


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SURPRISE: Jil Teichmann/SUI
...though she's never advanced out of the 2nd Round at a major, once more this week in Dubai the 24-year old Swiss showed her ability to string together wins over high-level opponents in big, non-major events.

Last year, Teichmann rose from the MD pack to reach the Dubai semis (unseeded, she def. Kvitova, Jabeur and Gauff) and Cincinnati final (as a WC, def. Osaka, Bencic and Pliskova). This year in her Dubai return, after falling in qualifying to Katerina Siniakova, Teichmann entered the draw as a lucky loser and proceeded to post upset victories over Elise Mertens and Elina Svitolina to reach the QF, where she fell in three sets to eventual finalist Veronika Kudermetova.


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VETERAN: Simona Halep/ROU
...since her return late last summer from the calf injury that cost her both Roland Garros and Wimbledon appearances, Halep has been in good (though not *great*) form. Even while now going coach-less, the Romanian continued her early '22 run with Dubai wins over Alison Riske, Gabriela Ruse and Ons Jabeur to reach her fourth SF in her last five events.

Halep took the 1st set from Alona Ostapenko in just :27 in the first meeting since '17 of the two players who faced off in the RG final (in identical -- and perfectly color-cooridated with the setting, it must be noted -- outfits) five years ago, but even she wasn't able to stop the Latvian's push to the title as Ostapenko rallied to win in three, emphatically taking a love 2nd set TB and then love final set to get the win... and maybe setting up a good pre-match storyline for their *next* (grudge?) match.



24-5 since her return from injury, Halep is 11-2 on the season.


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COMEBACK: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...she was *due* (and maybe a touch desperate) for one, and Kvitova got the bounce back week she was looking for in Dubai.



A two-time finalist in the second half of the tour's desert duo in Doha (winning in '18), after opening '22 with 1r/2r losses her first four events, Kvitova destroyed Camila Giorgi 6-2/6-0 and then put away top-seeded Ayna Sabalenka 4 & 4 to reach the QF, getting her first Top 10 win in nearly two years (#1 Barty in '20 Doha SF). Kvitova led Alona Ostapenko by a set and 5-3, and held a MP on the Latvian, but ultimately had to settle for being the player who got the *closest* to defeating the eventual Dubai champion before heading off to Doha, where she lost to Sabelenka in last year's final.
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FRESH FACES: Dayana Yastremska/UKR and Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE
...while so much news in sports this week focused on a teenager's failed doping test, Yastremska, another young player with a history of experiences with the ethically-challenged "authorities" that serve as sport's so-called "watchdogs" was back to her winning ways a year after being trapped in what turned out to be an eight-month "suspension" for a positive test that she was eventually ruled to have "bore no fault or negligence" for (whoopsy... good luck with that time machine project getting those eight months back).



In Dubai, Yastremska's run through qualifying included victories over Olga Danilovic, Clara Tauson and Madison Brengle. In the MD, the Ukrainian posted additonal victories over Saint Petersburg semifinalist Irina-Camelia Begu and #3 Barbora Krejcikova, the latter her third Top 10 win and first since her "provisional suspension" and dealings with WADA, CAS et al. Yastremska fell to fellow qualifier Marketa Vondrousova in the QF, but the end result was her third QF+ on tour since her return last July after previous runs in Hamburg (SF, in her first event) and Courmayeur (QF, in October).

Meanwhile, the rise of the Younger Fruhvirtova continues. After back-to-back ITF challenger titles, 14-year old Brenda (via a qualifying WC) defeated Sara Errani and Leonie Kung in Guadalajara qualifying to run her winning streak to 12 matches. She'll make her tour-level MD debut this week, sporting a 15-1 record this season and as the first player born in 2007 to appear in a WTA 1st Round match.



Older sister Linda made *her* tour debut last spring in Charleston as a wild card, upsetting Alize Cornet and reaching the QF at age 15. More on Linda below...
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DOWN: Caroline Garcia/FRA
...somewhat (or not) ironically, Kiki Mladenovic has company when it comes to Pastries who once had great doubles success before deciding to focus on singles after a run of good solo results, only to then see the bottom drop out of her singles career.

Garcia's 1st Round loss in Dubai to Barbora Krejcikova, already her second loss to the Czech this season, dropped her to 1-4 on the year, continuing the downward trend that has started to pick up even more steam. Garcia's season-ending ranks starting with her great rush to end the 2017 campaign: #8-#19-#45-#43-#74.

As Mladenovic will finally fall outside the Top 100 on Monday, a first since 2012, Garcia (a former #4 less than four years ago) will slip from #70 to #76, pushing Clara Burel up to FRA #2 (behind #1 Alize Cornet). A fall of two more spots and Garcia will be at her lowest ranking since 2013.
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ITF PLAYER: Linda Fruhvirtova/CZE
...after little sister Brenda ran the roost on the ITF circuit the past two weeks, older sister Linda took her turn this week (while Brenda was qualifying for her tour debut in Guadalajara).

The 16-year old Czech claimed her third career pro title in the $25K in Cancun (the same event that Sachia Vickery this week called the worst she's ever played in) with straight sets victories over Alycia Parks, Kateryna Bondarenko, Richel Hogenkamp, Alexandra Vecic and, in the final, Canadian vet Rebecca Marino in a 6-3/6-4 championship match.

It's Fruhvirtova's biggest career title and gives The Family a combined 17-0 singles mark in pro events the last three weeks.


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JUNIOR STAR: Victoria Mboko/CAN
...and they just keep comin'.

First Genie Bouchard broke through as a junior and pro, then Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Fernandez. The Canadian tennis machine is still pushing out prospects, too, with a pair of them meeting this weekend in the final of the J1 Brasil Juniors Cup in Porto Alegre, Brazil. With both seeking their biggest career title, Mboko grabbed the crown without losing a set all week. The 15-year old (jr. #22) finished off her week with consecutive wins over fellow Canadians Annabelle Xu (SF) and Mia Kupres (F).

Just off a run to the AO junior doubles final (and J1 win in Traralgon) with Kayla Cross, yet another Canadian, the teenagers paired up again this week to win the doubles in Porto Alegre, improving to 13-1 on the year.



Kupres, 18, had advanced to the singles final with wins over Argentina's Luciana Moyano (SF) and Bannerette Sonya Macavei (QF), both of whom had previously won J1 singles titles in '22.
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DOUBLES: Veronika Kudermetova/Elise Mertens, RUS/BEL
...Sabalenka, Hsieh... Kudermetova. Mertens is just one of those players who can win doubles titles with just about everyone she teams up with. For the record, Kudermetova was the Belgian's sixth different partner in fifteen tour-title winning turns (before their win this week in Dubai, they also slipped in a title together in Istanbul amidst Mertens' other '21 teamings with Hsieh and Sabalenka); while the Russian's seven tour WD finals have come with six partners (3 wins), with Mertens becoming the first to repeat.



En route to their second big '22 result (w/ AO SF), Kudermetova/Mertens won a pair of match TB over N.Kichenok/Olaru and Krawczyk/Perez before posting straight sets wins over Xu/Yang and, in the final, (completing the Kichenok sweep) L.Kichenok/Ostapenko.
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WHEELCHAIR: Lucy Shuker/GBR
...with the retirement of Jordanne Whiley, 41-year old Shuker is now the unquestioned top British women's WC athlete on tour and she backed up that standing the past two weeks with back-to-back titles in a pair of indoor events (ITF 3 and 2) in Bolton, England.

The world #6, a week after defeating Dana Mathewson in the final of the lower-level version of the tournament, this week make it two straight titles with victories over Manami Tanaka and Zhenzhen Zhu, then a walkover in the final from the injured Mathewson. Prior to the scheduled singles final, Shuker and Mathewson, a week after defeating the same pair in the final of the first event, had teamed to reach another doubles final, losing to Tanaka/Zhenzhen.



Last month, Shuker reached her eighth career slam WD final (w/ Yui Kamiji) at this year's Australian Open. She's still seeking her maiden slam title.
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1. Dubai QF - Alona Ostapenko def. Petra Kvitova
...5-7/7-5/7-6(9). Ostapenko, who trailed 7-5/5-3, rallies and (eventually) wins a tour singles title for the first time in her career after having staved off a MP.


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2. Doha 1st Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Yulia Putintseva
...5-7/6-2/7-5. How does a "Week 8" match manage to be at #2 in a "Week 7" recap? Well, Putintseva was going "full Putintseva" in Doha against Vika. So...

In a nutshell: Putintseva led 4-0 in the 3rd, held serve for 5-4 and then had a MTO right before Vika was set to serve to stay in the match, a move for which Azarenka said the Kazakh "needs a psychiatrist." Vika soon saved a MP, swept the final three games and then likely avoided a potentially testy post-match tête-à-tête at the net through the sheer force of Belarusian will (and a speedy Yulia).


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3. Dubai 2nd Rd - Alona Ostapenko def. Iga Swiatek
...4-6/6-1/7-6(4). Since their respective RG title runs, Ostapenko's has often been called a "fluke" while Swiatek's is usually treated as the first major victory of a soon-to-be-epically great champion. Alona being Alona, she's now 3-0 vs. the Pole.


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4. Dubai 1st Rd. - Gabriela Ruse def. Paula Badosa
...6-3/5-7/6-4. Another first for the Romanian. This time, her first career Top 10 win. For her part, Badosa still moves up to a career-best #4 this week.


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5. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Gabriela Ruse
...6-3/6-2. Another not-so-first for Ruse, as she falls to sometimes-doubles-partner Halep for the third time in her last five events. It wasn't such a hallmark moment for Simona, either, as she's now won 18 straight over fellow Romanians (a streak that goes back to 2010) and is 34-4 against them in her pro career.
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6. Dubai SF - Alona Ostapenko def. Simona Halep
...2-6/7-6(0)/6-0. Halep had a chance to win in straights, improve to 12-1 on the year and play to become the second two-time champ in '22 (somehow it slipped my mind *last* week that Barty already had two... sheesh).

Well... life comes at you fast, I guess.
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7. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Jil Teichmann def. Elina Svitolina
...7-6(0)/6-2. Svitolina is easily distracted anyway, and now she surely has other things on her mind back home in Ukraine.
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8. Doha 1st Rd. - Clara Tauson def. Belinda Bencic
...6-4/3-6/6-3. There goes the Dane again.


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9. $60K Altenkirchen, GER Final - Greet Minnen def. Daria Snigur
...6-4/6-3. The Belgian, with MD wins in her last three majors (including a U.S. Open 3r run) wins her biggest career title.


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10. $25K Antalya TUR Final - Wang Yafan def. Katharina Hobgarski
...7-5/6-3. Ranked #340, Wang (a Top 50 player in '19, when she won a tour title with an Acapulco final victory over Kenin) has been a virtual ghost since the pandemic, in the "W" column and (sometimes) otherwise.

She played just nine matches (3-6) in '20, then started 1-14 in '21. After a better 4-3 finish, the 27-year old opened '22 at 1-3 before running off five straight wins in Antalya.
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HM- $25K Glasgow SCO Final - Sonay Kartal def. Barbora Palicova
...7-6(5)/7-5. The 20-year old Brit gets the win, but 17-year old Czech Palicova becomes the first junior to reach three pro singles finals in '22.
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1. Dubai Final - Alona Ostapenko def. Veronika Kudermetova
...6-0/6-4. They combined to defeat six former slam winners en route to the final, but Kudermetova could record just four games in her attempt at a *seventh* such win in the final.



Ostapenko's only losses this season have come vs. Top 10ers Paula Badosa, Barbora Krejcikova and Anett Kontaveit. With the Latvian at #13 this week, they all might hear the distinctive sound Latvian Thunder coming up behind them, too.
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2. $25K Canberra AUS Final - Asia Muhammad def. Arina Rodionova
...6-1/7-6(7). Muhammad has had quite a time Down Under. This week she added two *more* titles to her '22 collection, sweeping the singles (def. Rodionova) and doubles (w/ Rodionova) to improve her combined '22 ws/wd record (all in Australia) to 24-2 (11-1 ws, 13-1 wd) with five titles (2 ITF singles, 1 WTA doubles and 2 ITF doubles).


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Pinky swear?




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(If you're able to read it) Sally Jenkins is the best source and voice when the subject is the "Who Watches the Watchers?" mess that is the collection of world doping "watchdogs"...




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Nothing stands in the way of a good plan...




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Hey, ummm...






Ummm...




Five years late. But welcome to the Ostapenko Hyperbole Club, guys. ;)






A Garland avalanche (Part 2 of 2)...

"Good Mornin'" (w/ Mickey Rooney), 1939
"Nobody's Baby," 1940
"It's a Great Day for the Irish," 1940
"But Not for Me," 1940
"Get Happy," 1950
"The Man That Got Away," 1954 (original, two outtakes & triple-view)
"Smile," 1963
"Over the Rainbow," 1955







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*2022 ALL-UNSEEDED PLAYERS FINALS*
Melbourne 2 - A.Anisimova/USA d. A.Sasnovich/BLR (Q)
Adelaide 2 - M.Keys/USA d. A.Riske/USA
Dubai - A.Ostapenko/LAT d. V.Kudermetova/RUS

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2020s*
9 - 1/6/2 - Ash Barty (8-1)
9 - 1/7/1 - Anett Kontaveit (5-3-1)
6 - 3/3/0 - Aryna Sabalenka (5-1)
6 - 1/5/0 - Garbine Muguruza (3-3)
6 - 5/0/1 - Elena Rybakina (1-5)
5 - 3/1/1 - Simona Halep (4-1)
5 - 0/4/1 - Barbora Krejcikova (3-2)
5 - 2/3/0 - Karolina Pliskova (1-4)
4 - 0/4/0 - Dasha Kasatkina (2-2)
4 - 0/2/2 - VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA (1-3)
4 - 2/2/0 - Elise Mertens (1-3)
4 - 3/1/0 - Victoria Azarenka (0-3+W)

*RECENT MATCH-UPS IN EVENT S/D FINALS*
2018 Shenzhen - Halep vs. Siniakova (WS: Halep; WD: Begu/Halep)
2018 Lugano - Mertens vs. Sabalenka (WS: Mertens; WD: Flipkens/Mertens)
2022 Dubai - Ostapenko vs. V.Kudermetova (WS: Ostapenko; WD: Kudermetova/Mertens)

*ALL-UNSEEDED SF IN 2020s*
2020 Lexington = Brady/Gauff, Teichmann/WC Rogers
2020 Istanbul = Tig/Q Martincova, Q Bouchard/Badosa
2021 Eastbourne = WC Ostapenko/Rybakina, Kontaveit/Q Giorgi
2021 Gydnia: SE Zanevska/Kozlova, Kucova/Korpatsch
2022 Dubai: Ostapenko/Halep, V.Kudermetova/Q Vondrousova

*2020s WTA WD TITLES*
9 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE (1/6/2)
7 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (1/5/1)
6 - Shuko Aoyama, JPN (1/5/0)
6 - Hsieh Su-wei, TPE (4/2/0)
6 - ELISE MERTENS, BEL (1/4/1)
6 - Ena Shibahara, JPN (1/5/0)






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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:46 PM 

9 Comments:

Blogger Hoergren said...

Nice to see feisty - well at least fun to watch - Ostapenko finding her race car mode again. She's been fun to follow. Had some really good matches in Dubai.

Mon Feb 21, 01:59:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

The Ostapenk-Show is coming to a tournament near you. Surprisingly, she stays in Doha's draw, and wins again.

Stat of the Day- 69- Career high computer ranking for Karen Hantze Susman.

*The Los Angeles Times helped fill in the blanks*

The most bizarre tennis story ever told? And how does someone who won Wimbledon in 1962 have a computer ranking?

The Raducanu of her day? Not exactly. American Karen Susman seemed to be a star. She won Wimbledon in 1962, then crickets.

Playing sanctioned matches as far back as 1955, Susman became a star. Well, as much as you could without making money. The #2 ranked US player from 1960-62, behind Darlene Hard, she could have had a life changing win at Wimbledon. Then just 19, the world was her stage.

However, she won no money, so focused on starting a family. She did so with Rod Susman, whom she played Wimbledon mixed with in 1962. They lost to the eventual winners Neale Fraser and Margaret duPont in the 4th rd.

4th rd? Shockingly, back in the day, mixed had an 80 team field, compared to 45 last year.

Susman was pregnant and skipped Wimbledon in 1963, returning in 1964, playing 3 slams that year. That was her career high, as with no prize money she never played the Australian Open.

She returned to mixed in 1964, reaching QF, again losing to the eventual winners in Fred Stolle and Lesley Turner.

Here is where the story gets weird. Planning to cut back on travel, she wanted to play the US Open before her break in 1965. Due to a dispute over not getting her meal money, she refused to play Margaret Court and was suspended by the USLTA for 6 months.

She didn't come back for 4 years.

After that, it was mainly regional events, then another break until WTT came along. Being run by her former doubles partner Billie Jean King, which she won 3 slams with, Susman came back as a doubles specialist for the LA Strings in 1974. She referred to it as a "noncomeback."

She actually gave it a go in the Open Era, being ranked at 78 in 1978, 72 in 1979, and ending with her highest ranking of 69 in 1980.

She lasted until 1980? Not only lasted, but reached the 3rd rd of the Open that year, leading to one of the oddest stats I have ever seen. She played slams in 4 different decades.

She only played 16 slams.

Mon Feb 21, 10:31:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Quiz Time!

Since 2000, which player from Latvia has won the most doubles titles?

A.Larisa Neiland
B.Liga Dekmeijere
C.Alona Ostapenko
D.Anastasija Sevastova

Interlude- Guadalajara is this week, so why not a Spanish lesson from Salma Hayek?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2BlqlR4a7A


Answer!

(D)Sevastova is wrong as she has never won a title. However, she did what Ostapenko did last week in losing the doubles final after winning singles- Mallorca 2017.

It is not (B)Dekmeijere, though her 2008 win in Chile ended a 9 year drought. That was her only title, as she lost her other 6 finals.

If you catch the hint in the last sentence, (A)Neiland is wrong because she won her last 5 titles in 1999. She almost went out with the perfect ending, but lost in the 1999 WTA Finals to the teen dream team of Hingis/Kournikova.

That makes (C)Ostapenko your doubles star. She may not have 65 titles like Neiland, but has 4, with double digits becoming more realistic by the day.

Mon Feb 21, 10:41:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side.

1.Halep- 2014 Doha winner and 2019 RU is playing well enough to do damage here.
2.Keys- Guadalajara pick is doing something she rarely does- play a 250. The one thing she has to do is something she has never done. That is to win a main draw match in Mexico. She won Q matches in Acapulco way back in 2014.
3.Kontaveit- She got rest. Plus the fact that her Kryptonite, aka Sabalenka(0-4), doesn't seem to be in form for them to meet.
4.Raducanu- Another possible match vs Stephens? Also, why am I not dragging a current slam winner for playing a 250 the same week that a 1000 is being played? Well, nothing about Raducanu's ascent has been linear. So even though this is her 3rd 250 since she won the Open, out of 6 events, it is the right move. Fun fact:Barty has played 28 events since her first slam title, with only 2 250 events. One was Birmingham, which she had signed up before her title, the other was COVID Adelaide last year.
5.B.Fruhvirtova- The next model off the Czech assembly line, she comes in as an underdog to Stephens, but if she wins, it would be par for the course with this family. Stephens is ranked 57. Her sister Linda's biggest win? Cornet-59.

Mon Feb 21, 10:53:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Brengle- Not down, as the last original direct entrant in Doha got a gift she needed. She got to play Ipek Oz, who hasn't been in a WTA MD since Istanbul in 2018. Note-this was a deserved WC. Brengle picks up 60 pts, which she will need as she still has 3 ITF events from 2019 on her record.
2.Sabalenka- She literally lapped the field. She has 110 DF, while #2 Vondrousova has 55. The thing I am noticing is that people are now playing her backwards, meaning stepping in on the first serve, then dropping back on the second.
3.Kvitova- Remember the Kvitova that could dominate? Last week, really this whole season, is a reflection of who she is now. Don't go by the other player's ranking, but look at it this way. If she plays a struggling player, she wins. A hot player? She loses. She is at the mercy of others levels going up and down.
4.Watson- Her overinflated ranking will drop as her 2020 Acapulco points finally drop off. Her play since the restart has been bad. On a 4-11 run, the only Top 50 win she has had since then was via retirement. Will be out of the Top 100.
5.Kenin- An expensive game of chicken? Osaka got IW WC, while Kenin waits. She has no backup plan, as she didn't enter Q. Still 15 out of MD, If she gets in, will her 5 match losing streak still be current?

Mon Feb 21, 11:07:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

This is what I get for writing during matches. Halep already out. So is Svitolina, though I had Martincova winning.

One last Susman fact. Susman was seeded for 4 of her first 7 slams. Only seeded for 1 of last 9. Unseeded at French Open in 1964 after pregnancy break even with 16 seeds.

Mon Feb 21, 11:50:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

H-

"Race car mode." I like that! ;)


C-

This is another great example of, when you go back and look (like I did during the shutdown with so many players during the Lenglen era), there are *so* many interesting tennis player stories that have simply been forgotten.

Hayek is one of those people in movies that everyone knew was going to be a star quite literally the very first scene most people saw her in.

Quiz: went with Liga D. But it's good when everything comes up Alona, too. :)

Well, Keys is still searching for that MEX win, I guess. :/

Garcia gets her big win over Simona, but not Coco.

Tue Feb 22, 06:00:00 PM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

Who didn’t think she would be a star were the Hollywood executives, because—hold on to your chair—she was “too unattractive.” Salma Hayek.

Tue Feb 22, 07:41:00 PM EST  
Blogger Hoergren said...

Well Todd she keeps on winning and is now in the quarters in Doha.
Racecar mode where she plays her risky play - as she always. I saw w.C.Fields quote another saying in one of his films: Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead. That's how Ostapenko plays right now.
You probably know when her playwise is filled with errors then she's in her Food Wagon Mode - slow, bad wheel, holes and other things that can be hindering you best. And I like that you always can se what mood she's in.

Wed Feb 23, 09:28:00 AM EST  

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