Monday, March 21, 2022

Wk.11- Iga in Paradise

In the "beginning"...




It's enticing to say that Iga Swiatek's win in the tennis paradise of Indian Wells is the start of "something big." After all, the desert *is* where the likes of recent would-be major champs have first cut their teeth with maiden big title grabs, foreshadowing even grander things that would come just a few months later.

But then you remember that the 20-year old is *already* a slam winner, having won in Paris seventeen months ago in the fall version of Roland Garros in 2020. Not to mention, while she's been mostly still a teenager she's displayed enough preternatural consistency that she's the only player on tour to have reached the second week at the last six majors, and in seven of eight. Meanwhile, she's already played in one slam semifinal this season with her run in Melbourne in January, and this 1000 level title not only isn't Swiatek's first spin on such a big regular-season dance floor, it's her *third* (after wins in Rome and Doha) in the past year, and second in '22 alone. Second in a row, in fact.

Then why, with so many accomplishments already secured in her back pocket, does this still feel more like the *beginning* of something for the Pole rather than a simple reaffirmation of her Top 10 (now Top 3) standing on tour? Why does it feel a bit like the proverbial "calm" before some sort of landscape-altering tennis storm? Well, maybe because it is?

It could be that the fearsome form that everyone was floored by in France two seasons ago, a State of Iga Tennis being that was predicted by many to simply be a preview of things to come for Swiatek... some day... has finally become a new WTA reality, one in which the new world #2 removes any lingering doubts and fully takes her place on the top floor of the tour's hierarchy for an extended period of time, routinely contending for majors and unapologetically winning on all surfaces, proving to be a nice problem (for the WTA) to be solved (or not) by the tour's most accomplished adversaries, an ongoing and multi-chaptered tale embraced by the sport's fans for the sheer enjoyment of the competition, without all the hand-wringing commentary, defensive counter-attacks and outrageous accusations on all social media platforms that have more and more encroached onto and often sidetracked women's tennis into being seen as as much of a social experiment as a world class sport.

I mean, all that's fine and good on the Most Interesting Tour in the World. Oft-times, in fact, it's simply irresistible. But sometimes, you know, it's nice for tennis to simply be about the tennis. The thrill of victory, the audacity of the climb and, yes, the agony of defeat and frustration, which have traditionally only made the eventual triumphs all that much sweeter. Call it the circle of tennis life, for all the good and "bad" that that entails. But be forewarned... not everyone will be equipped to survive.

Iga will, though.

Already welcomed as a refreshing personality on the WTA stage, the tour can only be enhanced by Swiatek -- serving as something of a version of a well-balanced and even-keeled Ash Barty, only without the Aussie accent and Vegemite fetish -- reaching her full potential in her 21st year, and continuing her process of growing and evolving still more from that point forward.

Swiatek hasn't experienced a rainbow ride since her Paris run. She's had her disappointments, and even seemed to find herself at a low emotional point during last year's WTA Finals. But she wasn't consumed by it, and instead swallowed hard and reshuffled Team Iga (Out: Piotr Sierzputowski, In: Tomasz Witkorowski) with the intention of filling whatever holes in the structure she'd deemed wanting. The result? She's continued to get better.

Renew. Reload. Win again. Win more. Win bigger. Be the victor, not the victim. (Swoon.)



Swiatek's Indian Wells title gives her her first big result on U.S. soil, and maybe ups her "Q rating" in the sports world just a little bit more. Her win may not have the same sort of Osaka/Andreescu-like impact of those two previous breakout runs in the event, but the Pole -- RG triumph aside -- has been more about working smarter rather than flashy, reaching her goals on an even, though still brisk, pace.

The pace may be about to pick up, though. Bring it on.



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*WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (WTA 1000 Mandatory/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Iga Swiatek/POL def. Maria Sakkari/GRE 6-4/6-1
D: Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan (CHN/CHN) def. Asia Muhammad/Ena Shibahara (USA/JPN) 7-5/7-6(4)




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Iga Swiatek/POL
...Swiatek's two weeks in Indian Wells was a blending of the old and the new. When she took Roland Garros by storm two seasons ago, she barely let an opponent up for air. She never lost a set, and never dropped more than five games in her seven wins. She patrolled the baseline (dressed all in white) like an albino octopus, with nothing ever out of reach.

Indian Wells was different, but sometimes the same. At times, Iga flashed her Paris dominance, but often only after having to figure her way through a tight situation or come from behind to get the victory. For a self-described "perfectionist," the art of playing imperfectly yet still discovering a more indirect, sometimes-crooked route to victory is a new skill set that can only pay bigger and bigger dividends down the line.

Swiatek got off to a series of slow starts in the desert, dropping the 1st set against both Anhelina Kalinina and Clara Tauson, then allowed the two a combined four games in the following four sets. She found herself a set down to Angelique Kerber, as well, with the German up a break in the 3rd. Swiatek turned up the heat and swept the final four games. She blasted Madison Keys 1 & love, then somehow managed to take down Simona Halep in straight sets in the semis, taking the 1st set despite the Romanian playing about as well as she could save for being unable to put away either of two SP in a TB. Swiatek won the final four points to make it her own, then rallied from 4-2 down in the 2nd to win in two to reach her first tour singles final in North America.

Playing in a difficult wind in the final against Maria Sakkari, Swiatek slowly but surely found her footing, raising her game to break out of a 4-4 1st set deadlock (after being broken in three of her first four serve games) to win 6-4, then upped her aggression in the 2nd after the Greek saved two BP in game #2, winning the final five games of the match.

Swiatek's third career 1000 level title, and second straight in '22, gives her five consecutive wins in tour finals (all in straights, allowing 5,4,0,2 and 5 total games) and will lift her to a new career high of #2, tying Aga Radwanska's record for the best ever by a Polish player.

Now the prevailing question for Swiatek is "What's next?" Still a few months from her 21st birthday, she remains one of the youngest champions on tour. At the moment, with back-to-back titles, she's carrying an aura into the spring that says she might blow someone off the court (an opponent a set down feels truly stressed... see Halep), but even if Iga drops the 1st she only needs a small opening to reassert her dominance, and once she gets rolling downhill like a runaway boulder, flattening all in her path no matter how hard they try to run, things tend to get real dangerous real fast (also see Halep).

Four times in the past, a woman a pulled off the "Sunshine Double" by following up an Indian Wells title by going cross-country and winning in Miami, as well. Steffi Graf did it twice, and Kim Clijsters once. Since the Belgian's feat in 2005, only Victoria Azarenka (2016) has managed to pull it off. Might Iga add her name to the list two weeks from now? She seems as good (or better) a bet an any recent I.W. champ. Iga's slow starts in the desert showed that there might still be a bit more room for her to grow and momentum to pick up on hard courts before the spring clay season begins.

Stay tuned. When Swiatek truly reaches her "paradise" it looks like she'll get there with a foundation and mental space strong enough to not only surpass any lofty objectives, but to also be able to repeat the actions on a regular basis.


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RISERS: Maria Sakkari/GRE, Paula Badosa/ESP and Veronika Kudermetova/RUS
...while Sakkari didn't leave California with the Indian Wells title, she cleared some rather significant hurdles in the desert, including proving that her '22 improvement in late stage tournament matches wasn't a one-time thing, reaching her biggest career final and rising to a new career high ranking. All in all, it was a darn good two weeks' work, and a confidence boost on which to place still more career building blocks over the course of the remainder of the season.

The Greek's early wins over Czechs Katerina Siniakova and Petra Kvitova proved to be just the start as, after getting a retirement from Dasha Saville, Sakkari downed Elena Rybakina in straights and defending champ Paula Badosa in three, climbing back into and taking control of the match in the 3rd after having dropped the 2nd and seemingly opened the door for the Spaniard. The win only improved Sakkari's career record in tour SF to 4-15, but she's now 2-1 in such matches in '22, with this win breaking her 0-for-7 run in 1000/WTAF/Slam semis in her career.

In the final against Swiatek, Sakkari was never able to truly get into her game due to the windy conditions early on, then Swiatek's ever-improving performance after that. Still, even with her loss, Sakkari improves to 15-4 in her last four events (w/ 2 losses to Iga), having reached at least the semifinal stage in three straight (w/ two finals) and in seven of ten dating back to the U.S. Open (3 finals). She'll rise to a new career high of #3 on Monday.



Meanwhile, *this* year's Indian Wells didn't as well for Badosa as last year's fall version, but the Spaniard once again showed that whenever she shows up at an event where her confidence is high a top-level result is not only possible, but increasingly more expected.

The reigning I.W. champ didn't repeat (only *one* desert champ ever has, and that was Martina Navratilova thirty-one years ago), but she did become the first defending winner to return to at least the QF a year later since Simona Halep did it in '16. Wins over Tereza Martincova, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Leylah Fernandez and Veronika Kudermetova, in fact, got Badosa into the semis to extend her tournament win streak to 10 matches and bring her an 11th away from becoming the first returning winner to go back to the final since '09 (Ivanovic, the third of three to ever do so -- w/ '91 Navratilova and '98 Davenport).

With a shot to rise to #2 in the rankings, Badosa's run was ended by Sakkari in a spirited three-setter and she'll instead come in at #6 this week (up one spot) as her '21 I.W. championship points will remain in her column until the fall (in what will *hopefully* be one of the last of the many pandemic-related oddball ranking situations that have cast so many weirdly-angled lights over the tour's standings the past few seasons).



On another note, no wonder the Indian Wells tournament doesn't make as big a deal as it *should* about the commemorative murals for the previous year's champions, because those things are traditionally horrendous and rarely bear even a slight resemblance to the player in question. Last year, apparently Martina Hingis came out of retirement to pick up another win.



At least they got Badosa's eye color right.

When she wasn't being elbowed out of the spotlight by opponents she actually defeated, Kudermetova gave a very good account of herself in Indian Wells, with her QF run being her best career singles result at a 1000 level tour or slam event. After dominating the easily-distracted Naomi Osaka, then being relegated to "oh, yeah... and she won" status in the post-match, the Hordette saw Marie Bouzkova retire from their 3rd Round match, then after failing to put away Marketa Vondrousova in two sets (she had a shot) Kudermetova didn't blink in the 3rd, never dropping serve in the deciding stanza and instead seeing the Czech DF on MP, which was also the only BP either woman had held in the set.



As was the case in three of the four straight sets I.W. quarterfinals, Kudermetova was ridden out rather harshly by defending champ Badosa, but the 24-year old will inch up to a new career high (#23, the #2 Hordette behind the idled-by-injury-for-a-good-while-longer Palvyuchenkova) and edge closer to a Top 20 debut.

Plus, she'll have that "I Survived 'Naomi, You Suck!'" t-shirt to take with her as a souvenir of her time in the desert.
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SURPRISE: Viktorija Golubic/SUI
...at some point, Golubic's spurts of nice results won't catch everyone by surprise. But that time has not yet arrived.



Around this time a year ago, the now 29-year old Swiss reached finals in Lyon and Monterrey, her first on tour in five years, then went on to reach the Wimbledon QF (she's only reached the 3rd Round of one *other* major in her career) before picking up Olympic Silver in doubles in Tokyo. Last fall in Indian Wells, Golubic's win over Maria Sakkari was her first over a Top 10 player since '16, and resulted in her best ever 1000-level result (3rd Rd.).

The veteran bettered it this time around in the desert, stringing together victories over Yulia Putintseva and Jasmine Paolini (a runner-up to Golubic in a WTA 125 final last May, the Italian twice served for the match in I.W.) to reach the Round of 16, where she fell to Elena Rybakina.

Having been at a career-best #35 at the end of Februrary, even with her I.W. 4r being added to last year's still-on-her-tally 3r points, Golubic will find herself ranked outside the Top 50 heading into Miami as her two '21 finals have fallen off her running totals.
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VETERAN: Simona Halep/ROU
...Halep, clearly enjoying the challenge of climbing back up the tour ladder this season, was looking every bit a contender to win a second (w/ 2015) Indian Wells title. But then Iga Swiatek got in the way.

As the #24 seed, the Romanian was taken to three sets by Ekaterina Alexandrova in her opening match, then dispatched the likes of Coco Gauff (on her 18th birthday), Sorana Cirstea (her 19th straight win over a countrywoman, to hold onto the ROU #1 ranking) and Petra Martic -- all in straight sets, allowing 7, 5 and 2 games -- in increasingly better performances to reach her first 1000/slam level SF since her Rome win in 2020. Against the Pole, Halep rallied from 4-2 down in the 1st and had a pair of SP in the TB, only to see Swiatek wrestle the set away from her. A medical time out for a left thigh that she seemed to injure early in the 2nd followed, but Halep still managed to grab a break lead in the set before the 20-year old again raised her game to a level that Halep couldn't match.

Still, Halep will return to the Top 20 heading into Miami (making her the fourth 30+ veteran currently residing there), and will hope that the thigh doesn't become a lingering/worsening issue (much like last year's calf injury) that thwarts her upcoming spring schedule.


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COMEBACK: Petra Martic/CRO
...after not having won back-to-back matches since last May, Martic really needed her second week run in Indian Wells.

The May '21 result (Parma QF) came a week after a SF in Rome, and gave the Croatian a 6-2 two-week stretch in a period during which Martic had appointed former RG champ Francesca Schiavone as her coach for the clay season. Her results have pretty much dried up since, with her ranking falling from a pre-pandemic high of #14 (January '20) to #79 heading into Indian Wells.

Armed with Michael Geserer as coach, Martic has finally shown a bit of movement of late. She knocked off Madison Keys in Monterrey, and her time in the desert saw her put away Anna Bondar in her opening match, then upset three straight seeds in Tamara Zidansek, Emma Raducanu (the Brit served for the match) and Liudmila Samsonova as Martic reached her first I.W. QF since 2018.

Martic's QF run this time around ended at the hands of the same player who'd knocked her off four years ago, Simona Halep. In '18, their match-up was a three-set affair, but this time the Romanian allowed just two games. Still, the Croat's work will see her jump 20+ spots in the rankings, back into the Top 60.


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FRESH FACE: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...finding her way through her early-season injury issues (blisters, feet, Covid) has taken time, but Rybakina is getting there, slowly but seemingly surely.

The Kazakh's QF run in the desert was her best result at a 1000 level event since her similar finish in Wuhan in '19, a late-season spurt that fed into her great '20 start in which she reached four finals before the pandemic shutdown. In Indian Wells, Rybakina posted wins over Alison Van Uytvanck, Victoria Azarenka and Viktorija Golubic before falling to an in-form Maria Sakkari.


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DOWN: Victoria Azarenka/BLR
...some of the highlights of Azarenka's latter day career (i.e. after her #1 ranking and slam-winning prime in the early 2010s) have come in Indian Wells, where she grabbed the first half of her 2016 "Sunshine Double" (w/ subsequent Miami win) and reached the final in the fall version of the event last October. This year she lasted two matches, and her early exit wasn't even the top story of her tournament demise.

Once again stalled by injuries in '22, Azarenka has followed up her 5-2 start to the season by going 2-2 with a walkover (her sixth since the beginning of last season) since her AO Round of 16 result. She staged a comeback to defeat Yulia Putintseva in Doha a few weeks ago, but hadn't played since until her I.W. win over lucky loser Astra Sharma. Playing with her shoulder taped, Azarenka didn't fair well at all against Elena Rybakina, falling routinely in straight sets.

Of course, the result was secondary to her seeming mid-match breakdown (the day after the Osaka drama, and Vika's comment a few days earlier about a "lack of compassion" in today's society) that saw her stop play in the middle of her service game to walk around aimlessly in the backcourt, crouch down and bend over, cry and delay for so long that the umpire left her chair to see that she was okay (when told Vika was fine to play, the umpire gave no sort of time warning or penalty, a situation rightly questioned by Rybakina during and after the match).



We've seen this sort of thing from Azarenka before, with her noted off-court issues (due to the custody battle for her son) and continual problems with injuries. Some of that *may* have played a part here, as may have all sorts of issues potentially connected to Putin's war in Ukraine (family members in the region trapped, injured... who knows?), and her next-day disabling of all her social media profiles at least made it seem as if something bigger than mere frustration might be going on (her Twitter finally came back online just before the weekend).



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ITF PLAYER: Petra Marcinko/CRO
...for the second straight week, 16-year old Marcinko proved to be a prominant force on the challenger circuit. The reigning AO girls champion picked up her second straight pro title in the $25K in Antalya, knocking off veteran Wang Yafan in the semis and then repeating her QF win of a week ago -- only this time in the final -- over Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, taking the match 1-6/6-4/6-4.

The Croat hasn't lost in singles (jr/pro) since November.


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JUNIOR STAR: Tereza Valentova/CZE
...another J1 event, another Czech girl walking off with a title. Or in the case of Valentova, *two* titles.

On the clay at the Méditerranée Avenir in Casablanca, the #4-seeded 15-year old (girls' #57) swept the singles and doubles titles to claim her biggest wins in both. With her previous career best being a J2 crown back in '20, Valentova took the 6-2/6-2 final over #3-seeded Brit Ranah Akua Stoiber to complete her run in singles without dropping a set. She also claimed the doubles alongside fellow Czech Amelie Smejkalova (def. Stoiber and her partner in the semis).

These were the first champions crowned in this event since 2019, as the '20 version was suspended at the SF stage when all of tennis shut down due to Covid, and last year's version wasn't held at all.


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DOUBLES: Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan, CHN/CHN
...many of the top seeds in I.W. (#1 Kudermetova/Mertens, #2 Stosur/Zhang) exited in the 1st Round, while world #1 Katerina Siniakova (w/ Clara Tauson, not injured regular partner Barbora Krejcikova) did the same. As the draw played out the "star" of the proceedings turned out to be Asia Muhammad, who swooped in from her long '22 sojourn Down Under (where she won four WD titles, one at tour level) to team with Ena Shibahara (#7 seeds) to reach the final, extending Muhammad's season s/d winning streak to 27 matches. They combined to knock out Siniakova, #3-seeded "McCoco" and #5 Dabrowski/Olmos, the latter the last of three straight matches that went to a MTB. Muhammad came into the final with a 7-0 career mark in WTA WD finals, while Shibahara had won in her last eight.

So, naturally, the unseeded Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan walked off with their first title as a duo, defeating Muhammad/Shibahara 7-5/7-6.



The Chinese pair, who reached the Dubai final last season, survived two MTB wins -- 10-8 N.Kichenok/Olaru 1r, 11-9 Dolehide/Sanders QF -- en route to the final, the first 1000-level championship since Miami '17 (w/ Dabrowski) for Xu, whose eleventh tour title (first since Adelaide '20) matches her biggest career win. Yang's fifth title, coming in her biggest career final, is her first since Shenzhen (w/ Peng Shuai) in early '19.


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[IW 3rd Round+]



1. I.W. SF - Iga Swiatek def. Simon Halep
...7-6(6)/6-4. For Simona, it was one of those nights (i.e. when your opponent is in such supreme form that you must not squander *any* opportunity you're given if you want to have a chance... and even if you don't you're not *assured* of winning). Thing is, Halep *did* have a few key chances, but saw them taken away by Swiatek.

Halep played a near brilliant 1st set against the sparkling Pole, coming back from 4-2 down to put herself in position to hold double-SP in the TB up 6-4. But when she failed to convert either point -- swiping the court with her racket in frustration -- the Romanian likely has a sinking sense about her fate. When Swiatek swatted a forehand return winner off a Halep second serve to take the TB at 8-6 and grab the match lead, suddenly Halep had to essentially win *three* sets to down the Pole.

Playing with an injured thigh that required a MTO early in the set, Halep put up a valiant effort, taking a 4-2 lead before once again Swiatek came back at her with everything she had and closed down the former I.W. champ, sweeping the final four games and serving out the win to both remarkably (and not surprisingly, as in often the case with this near Invincable Iga) win in *two* to reach her first tour final on North American soil.


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2. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Petra Martic def. Emma Raducanu
...6-7(3)/6-4/7-5. Still looking for that finishing spurt, Raducanu hasn't won consecutive matches in '22, falling (or retiring) in the 3rd set in her last three defeats. Here the Brit served for the match at 5-4.


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3. I.W. Final - Iga Swiatek def. Maria Sakkari
...6-4/6-1. The fourth '22 final to include a match-up of Top 10 players (after four in the entire '21 season) wasn't a particularly dramatic affair, but it featured a solid performance from Swiatek, who claimed her third career WTA 1000 honor and will now occupy the #2 ranking and match the previous Polish high set by Aga Radwanska a decade ago.



Playing in windy conditions, Swiatek and Sakkari traded breaks of serve in the first four games of the match, then the Greek got things even at 4-4 after the Pole had finally held and taken a break lead at 4-2. While not a spectacular version of herself, especially early on, it was Swiatek who was able to better stick to her gameplan and play inside the baseline, by now unbothered by the wind and generally outhitting her opponent with consistent aggression. She finally broke Sakkari on her third BP/SP of game #10 to claim the 1st set 6-4. After Sakkari saved a pair of BP in game #2 of the 2nd, Swiatek then dug in and picked up steam down the stretch. She didn't drop another game the rest of the match, winning her eleventh match in a row and completing her fifth consecutive straight sets victory in a tour final.


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4. I.W. 4th Round - Simona Halep def. Sorana Cirstea
...6-1/6-4. This was the first match-up between the two since 2010, when 20-year old Cirstea defeated an 18-year old Halep in the second round of Cincinnati qualifying. It just so happens that that was the *last* time Halep lost to a fellow Romanian. Her win here, in a match that was to determine the ROU #1 after Indian Wells, allowed Halep to pick up her 19th straight victory over one of her countrywomen (35-4 career), giving her a 3-0 mark in such contests this season (her most wins since 2012).


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5. I.W. 3rd Round - Dasha Saville def. Elise Mertens 6-3/4-6/6-3




I.W. 4th Round - Maria Sakkari def. Dasha Saville 4-1 ret.
...a lackluster end to a great recent run from the Aussie, who'd won five straight matches (and 7 of 8) before the strain of so much match play so soon into her comeback (not an horrendous trade-off, I guess) finally resulted in a retirement due to Saville's already-wrapped left thigh.

Saville's Indian Wells trip included a successful qualifying run and upsets of Lyon champ Zhang Shuai, '21 I.W. semifinalist Ons Jabeur and Elise Mertens to post her best 1000+ level result since 2017.
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6. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Marketa Vondrousova def. Anett Kontaveit
...3-6/7-5/7-6(5). In recent years, Indian Wells has been the site where many young players stepped up to snatch a huge title before a few months later leaping into the winner's circle at an even *bigger* one. It would have been a great place for Kontaveit to prove her big-time tournament abilities, but... nope. Following in the footsteps she put down in Tokyo, Vondrousova continues to be the nothing-personal-but-your-run-ends-here "destroyer of dreams."
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7. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Vikorija Golubic def. Jasmine Paolini
...7-5/1-6/7-6(4). Paolini twice served for the match.


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8. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Harriet Dart def. Kaia Kanepi
...7-6(4)/6-3. Qualifier Dart followed up her first Top 30 win (Svitolina) with an upset of Kanepi to reach the Round of 16 and become the latest young Brit to shine on U.S. hard courts. She now makes her Top 100 debut in the new rankings.


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9. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Victoria Azarenka
...6-3/6-4. The whole "incident"...


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10. $25K Antalya TUR Final - Diana Shnaider/Amarissa Kiara Toth def. Amina Anshba/Maria Timofeeva
...6-4/6-2. 17-year old Shnaider wins her second pro WD title, teaming with 19-year old Hungarian Toth. The Hordette is currently the reigning GD champ at two slams ('21 WI/'22 AO) and reached the final at a third ('20 RG) in the last year and a half.

In the semis, the duo defeated, in something of a "Whatever Happened To...?" situation, Timea Babos & Sapfo Sakellaridi.

Meanwhile, in singles, girls #2 Shnaider qualified and reached the semis, posting wins over Katharina Gerlach and Julia Grabher and taking Elisabetta Cocciaretto to three sets.


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11. $15K Marrakech MAR Final - Eleonora Alvisi def. Clervie Ngounoue
...6-3/6-1. 19-year old Italian Alvisi, the '20 RG girls doubles champ with Lisa Pigato (Shnaider's only loss in a girls slam final), picks up her maiden pro title.

Meanwhile, Ngounoue's loss here in her first pro singles final, as well as in the doubles final (the 15-year old Bannerette won her first pro WD title last month), was what prevented all three of this year's AO girls title winners from lifting pro titles this weekend. Singles champ Marcinko won her second straight ITF singles crown, while Ngounoue's AO GD partner Shnaider won her doubles title in Antalya.
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12. $15K Palma Nova ESP Final - Guiomar Maristany Zuleta de Reales def. Solana Sierra
...6-3/6-2. 17-year old Argentine Sierra, a U.S. Open girls semifinalist last year, reaches her first pro final but falls to the 23-year old, 5th-seeded Spaniard. Sierra had previously knocked off top seed Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers.

Last year, Sierra's attempts at something greater on the junior circuit were often thwarted by some of the highest-achieving players of her generation, as in addition to her Flushing Meadows run (ended by eventual champ Robin Montgomery), the teenager reached the J1 College Park QF (losing to Brenda Fruhvirtova), the JA Merida QF (sister Linda Fruhvirtova) and the J1 Eddie Herr SF (L.Fruhvirtova again).
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HM- $25K Anapoima COL Final - Ylena In-Albon/Reka Luca Jani def. Maria Carle/Laura Pigossi
...6-7(0)/6-3 [10-7]. Hungarian vet Jani has never claimed a tour level (or 125) title of any kind, but this week joined with Swiss In-Albon for her 34th career ITF doubles crown (and 58th pro circuit title), knocking off the #1, #2 and #4 seeds along the way.


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Hard to imagine how the ATP can find the spine to *truly* sanction against this (although, it's Kyrgios, so they might make an exception) -- a horrid loss of control, but still (technically) an "accidental" near-miss, ala Ostapenko a few years ago -- when they couldn't manage to do so with Zverev, whose loss of control intentionally threatened and indimidated (including when he came back for more a *second* time) a chair umpire with potential bodily harm.

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Meanwhile, Mikaela Shiffrin has been back on her game since the end of the Olympics, winning events, landing on podiums and wrapping up another overall skiing season title. Good for her!

Of course, not that it'll be noted by any of the scolds who so bitterly complained that NBC and others had the audacity to make any sort of story (which it obviously *was*, duh) when she, the favorite to win multiple medals in Beijing, didn't win any and didn't even finish a few of her events. They're also the same people who paid no attention when Shiffrin had maybe *the* most dominant skiing season ever a few years ago. They just didn't care about it.

Truthfully, I think the aforementioned scolds and self-appointed internet Defenders are often far more into playing into the whole "vicitimization" angles of these sort of instances than they are actually celebrating the accomplishment of the same superiorly-skilled individuals when they actually live up to their abilities and do what they usually do -- succeed. That'd be too time-consuming, I guess. I mean, it *is* easier to wag a crooked finger and cast yourself as a "hero" by figuratively throwing your body in front of some poor world class athlete to "shield" them from the well-known slings and arrows (i.e. sometimes not winning and -- egads! -- someone noticing said occurrence) of their chosen field of endeavor.



Meanwhile, Osaka's most recent stream-of-conscious/thought-of-the-day/tell-me-how-wonderful-I-am tweet will get exponentially more kudos and applause for its obvious courage and bravery.








Bangles: "Manic Monday" (1986)
Bangles: "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986)
Susanna Hoffs: "Eternal Flame" (1989)
Susanna Hoffs: "Eternal Flame" (2021)









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*2022 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
2 - Ash Barty, AUS (Adelaide/Australian)
2 - IGA SWIATEK, POL (Doha/Indian Wells)
[2020-22]
7 - 1/5/1 - Ash Barty
5 - 0/4/1 - Anett Kontaveit
5 - 3/2/0 - Aryna Sabalenka
5 - 1/2/2 - IGA SWIATEK
4 - 3/0/1 - Simona Halep
3 - 0/3/0 - Barbora Krejcikova
3 - 0/3/0 - Garbine Muguruza
3 - 0/2/1 - Paula Badosa
3 - 2/1/0 - Elina Svitolina
[2020-22 Hard Court]
6 - Ash Barty (1/3/2)
5 - Anett Kontaveit (0/4/1)
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (3/1/0)
3 - Garbine Muguruza (0/3/0)
3 - IGA SWIATEK (0/1/2)

*INDIAN WELLS FACTS*
=23 of 32 singles champs have won slams=
...Badosa,MJ.Fernandez(2),Hantuchova(2),Jankovic,
Man.Maleeva,Vesnina,Zvereva
--------------------------
=8 singles finalists have never reached slam final=
Pre-1996: Man.Maleeva(SF),Jenny Byrne(3r),Coetzer(SF),Spirlea(SF),Hantuchova(SF)
1996-current: Kasatkina(QF),Badosa(QF),Sakkari(SF)

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2022*
2 - Ash Barty, AUS (2-0)
2 - IGA SWIATEK, POL (2-0)
2 - Anett Kontaveit, EST (1-1)
2 - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (1-1)
2 - MARIA SAKKARI, GRE (0-2)
[2020-22]
10 - 1/7/2 - Kontaveit (5-4-1)
9 - 1/6/2 - Barty (8-1)
6 - 1/5/0 - Muguruza (3-3)
6 - 5/0/1 - Rybakina (1-5)
6 - 3/3/0 - Sabalenka (5-1)
5 - 1/2/2 - SWIATEK (5-0)
5 - 3/1/1 - Halep (4-1)
5 - 0/4/1 - Krejcikova (3-2)
5 - 2/3/0 - Ka.Pliskova (1-4)
[2020-22 - worst final records, 2+ app.]
0-3...Marie Bouzkova, CZE
0-3...MARIA SAKKARI, GRE
0-2...Genie Bouchard, CAN
0-2...Viktorija Golubic, SUI
0-2...Jil Teichmann, SUI
1-5...Elena Rybakina, KAZ
1-4...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
1-3...Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
1-3...Elise Mertens, BEL
0-3+W...Victoria Azarenka, BLR

*TOP 10 FINALS in 2020s*
[2020]
Rome - #2 Halep d. #4 Ka.Pliskova
[2021]
Miami - #1 Barty d. #9 Andreescu
Stuttgart - #1 Barty d. #7 Sabalenka
Madrid - #7 Sabalenka d. #1 Barty
WTA Finals - #5 Muguruza d. #8 Kontaveit
[2022]
Sydney - #9 Badosa d. #4 Krejcikova
Saint Petersburg - #9 Kontaveit d. #7 Sakkari
Doha - #8 Swiatek d. #7 Kontaveit
INDIAN WELLS - #4 SWIATEK d. #6 SAKKARI

MOST WTA SF in 2022*
4 - IGA SWIATEK, POL (2-2)
3 - Anett Kontaveit, EST (2-1)
3 - MARIA SAKKARI, GRE (2-1)
3 - SIMONA HALEP, ROU (1-2)
3 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1-2)
2 - Ash Barty, AUS (2-0)
2 - PAULA BADOSA, ESP (1-1)
2 - Madison Keys, USA (1-1)
2 - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (0-0 +WW)
2 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (0-2)

*2022 OLDEST WTA CHAMPIONS*
37 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (Lyon WD)
35 - Laura Siegemund, GER (Lyon WD)
33 - XU YIFAN, CHN (INDIAN WELLS WD)
33 - Zhang Shuai, CHN (Lyon WS)
30 - Simona Halep, ROU (Melbourne 1 WS)

*RECENT Méditerranée Avenir (CASABLANCA) WINNERS*
2016 Jodie Anna Burrage, GBR
2017 Yasmine Mansouri, FRA
2018 Yasmine Mansouri, FRA
2019 Selena Janicijevic, FRA
2020 =suspended at SF=
2021 DNP
2022 Tereza valentova, CZE

*"SUNSHINE DOUBLE" WINNERS - IW/MIAMI TITLES*
1994 Steffi Graf, GER
1996 Steffi Graf, GER
2005 Kim Clijsters , BEL
2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
[wd]
1997 Natasha Zvereva, BLR
1999 Martina Hingis, SUI
2002 Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS
2006 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2007 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2015 Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, SUI/IND
2016 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2019 Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
--
NOTE: Jana Novotna/Helena Sukova won both IW/Mia as non-consecutive events in 1990

*REACHED IW/MIA FINALS*
1991 Monica Seles L-W
1994 Steffi Graf W-W*
1996 Steffi Graf W-W*
1999 Serena Williams W-L
2000 Lindsay Davenport W-L
2000 Martina Hingis L-W
2005 Kim Clijsters W-W*
2006 Maria Sharapova W-L
2012 Maria Sharapova L-L
2013 Maria Sharapova W-L
2016 Victoria Azarenka W-W*







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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:55 AM 

10 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

Thank you, as always, for promoting my work.

Iga is coming for everybody (and no one should relax because at some point, Paula may be coming for you, too). She feels like a throwback, doesn't she? No fuss, no nonsense, no waiting years to win another big title, no social media circus, no narcissistic road show.

She's the top seed in Charleston--fingers crossed that she doesn't wear herself out in Miami (we've already lost Anett).

Mon Mar 21, 09:53:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

BJK Cup rosters are out, and even though we know that there will be changes, some thoughts: Italy named Giorgi, which might be a minus. Collins is on instead of Gauff, Miami may or may not validate that choice. Heather Watson misses GB tie, while Czech vets Kvitova, Pliskova and Krejcikova skip proccedings. Niemeier is only German under 30.

Stat of the Week- 46- The most games played in a Wimbledon final.

With Wimbledon tweeting out that all slams will use the tie break, let's go back in time to note the longest match.

To set the stage, way, way back in 1919, Suzanne Lenglen defeated Dorothea Lambert Chambers 10-8, 4-6, 9-7, in one of the longest matches in history. However, that was only 44 games.

In 1970, Margaret Court and Billie Jean King went 46 games. In 2 sets! Court won 14-12, 11-9. The tie break came in the next year.

Quiz Time!

Which player has the most finals losses at Wimbledon? Multiple answers accepted.

A.Serena Williams
B.Helen Jacobs
C.Chris Evert
D.Blanche Hillyard

Interlude- Swiatek's theme song?

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


Answer!

Yeah, (A)Williams seemed like a bad choice. But if you combined losses for both Serena and Venus, that would have been a record 8. Unlike the others on this list, they had positive finals records, with Serena winning 7 and Venus 5.

(B)Jacobs is wrong, as she only lost 5 times, 4 to Wills Moody. She did walk away with one Wimbledon title.

(C)Evert is correct. Like Jacobs losing to Moody, 5 of Evert's 7 losses here were to Martina. She won the title 3 times.

(D)Hillyard is also correct, but with a twist. In the old days, meaning before 1922, the previous winner would play for the title against the winner of the other event, called all comers. Because of it, 3 women(Hillyard, Dorothea Chambers, Charlotte Sterry) before 1920 reached multiple digit finals.

This would be like Barty being placed in this year's final without playing a match.

Chambers went 7-4, while Sterry went 5-6. Hillyard ties Evert by going 6-7.

Mon Mar 21, 12:37:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

7.5 On the Up Side- The Hopefully No Drama Edition.

1.Anisimova- Her last match ended badly, but 7 of her last 8 losses have been to players ranked 21 or better-Brengle-60. Already has a title this year in a field that is almost guaranteed to have a first time Miami winner. Needs karma as this is the place where she sprained her ankle in 2018 and missed 4 months.
2.Fernandez- Someone who appreciates playing under the lights, she could be the third Fernandez, after Gigi and Mary Joe, to win here. Leylah would be the first in singles. With Stephens and Azarenka the only former winners in the field, she is one of many poised for a good couple of weeks.
3.Kenin- Yes, she is on a 6 match losing streak. But if she wins one match, she could win 7. That is a stretch, but with both of last year's finalists out, and only 2 other former finalists(Ostapenko, Pliskova) in the field, we will see something new in Miami.
4.Svitolina- Love the draw, don't love the current 5-9 stretch she's on. SF last year, maybe muscle memory kicks in?
5.Muchova- A surprise listing on BJK Cup roster, she makes her season debut in Miami. Hopefully it goes better than Pliskova's last week.
6.Montgomery/Krueger- 17 yr old jr slam champs both get singles WC here. Each play qualifier. Both are in 4th MD. Both are looking for 1st MD win. Each have lost 1 of 3 MD matches to Putintseva. The future begins now.
7.Badosa- The thing that stands out, is that both her strokes and footwork are on point. Don't really have her going deep, but expected to give 100% every match.
7.5.Sakkari- The matron of honor? The Susan Lucci of tennis? Lucci famously lost the Daytime Emmy Awards 18 times before she won her first. As bad as her 4-15 SF record is, you feel it is only a matter of time before she walks away with a big title.

Mon Mar 21, 12:53:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Thumbs up to the Swiatek theme song!

Mon Mar 21, 12:58:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

7.5 On the Down Side.

1.Potapova- On a 1-6 stretch, she seems to be the Russian struggling most with being painted the villain during wartime. The youngster turns 21 next week, and even that one win was by ret- vs UKR Tsurenko.
2.Jurak Schreiber- Need an odd stat? We have played 14 events this year, and a seeded doubles team has lost in the first round in all 14, even with some events having only 4 seeds. In a bizarre season for Jurak, one in which she reached a final, she is responsible for 3. Those 3 have come during a 6 match losing streak, in which she has bounced back and forth from Klepac(3), Paolini, Guarachi and Krawczyk.
3.Barty- Was saving herself for BJK Cup. With Australia moving to the finals with Russia axed, when will we see her? She loses 1000 points from Miami, and if she doesn't defend Stuttgart, #1 might be in play during the clay season.
4.Osorio- Not because of her recent stellar play, but the fact that her injury forced her to pull out of Miami. She would have been seeded here, and it also brings up the question of if she can defend her Bogota title in two weeks.
5.Andreescu- Miami finalist will lose over half of her points, dropping her out of the Top 100. Not on Canada's BJK Cup roster, no real idea when her next match will be. The last one? IW 2021.
6.McHale- This is a bit of a reach, but if Saint Peter's can reach the sweet 16, can't Jersey girl McHale? She will need a miracle run as she starts off in Q vs #1 Martic. Losing to Zheng Q. in a 60K final isn't bad, but only 2 WTA MD wins in the last year, Errani and Navarro.
7.Osaka- Russell Wilson got traded, and the Legion of Boom era is over. What does this have to do with Osaka? You look back at that 2012-2015 peak and wonder how Seattle only won one Super Bowl. Then you realize that the last 4 years, they got the benefit of the doubt because of reputation. Are we going to look back at Aug 2018- Jan 2021 Osaka the same way?
7.5.Krejcikova- The elbow injury scares me. The surprising thing is that neither ranking will take a hit here. Doubles doesn't, because of the 13 events played in the last 52 weeks, Miami was one of only 3 in which she did not reach QF.

Mon Mar 21, 01:16:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

D-

Happy to do so, of course. :)

I laughed at your "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be poets..." lyrics today. ;)

You sometimes forget that in another life most of the time it was the competition and "the climb" (or "the continued excellence") that drove most of the narratives in the sport.


C-

Meanwhile, the ejection of RUS and BLR from the competition opens up a few doors, too.

Potential big match-ups: Fernandez vs. Ostapenko in Vancouver, and Swiatek vs. Halep in Poland.

Quiz: was thinking Jacobs or Evert. Went w/ Jacobs. :/

Speaking of Osaka, I was going to say this in the post but then had a "conciliatory moment" and took it out, so I'll say it now. (wink) One fan of each of her opponents from here on out should be "appointed" to yell out something mildly disparaging in the opening game... you know, just to see what happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You may be right about the Osaka/Seahawks comparison. I guess in this case Naomi herself will be in the role of Darrell Bevell.

**MIAMI PICKS**
=4r=
#1 Sabalenka d. #22 Bencic
#23 Halep d. #27 Giorgi
#18 Fernandez d. #3 Kontaveit
#8 Jabeur d. #9 Collins
#5 Badosa d. #20 Mertens
#4 Sakkari d. #17 Rybakina
#10 Ostapenko d. #7 Muguruza
#2 Swiatek d. #24 Cirstea
=QF=
#23 Halep d. #1 Sabalenka
#18 Fernandez d. #8 Jabeur
#4 Sakkari d. #5 Badosa
#2 Swiatek d. #10 Ostapenko
=SF=
#18 Fernandez d. #23 Halep
#2 Swiatek d. #4 Sakkari
=F=
#2 Swiatek d. #18 Fernandez

...why not, right? Though in the non-Iga part, I wonder about Simona's injury, whether Badosa might stumble early (Mertens 4r?), and if Sakkari might take even better advantage of a second chance.

Remember the Ukrainian girl in the bunker? Here she is now. Sheesh.

Tue Mar 22, 06:05:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Riding Swiatek for both? The one name that jumped out was Giorgi. Don't trust her right now.

Barty pulled a Henin. I assume winning the Australian Open checked a bunch of boxes.

So the new #1 after Miami will be.....

Tue Mar 22, 10:31:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I had Pliskova there originally, but didn't trust her, either. So I rolled the dice a little just to pick something unexpected. ;)

(At first, I had Bencic in the QF, too... but I just couldn't do it. Not that I have great confidence in Sabalenka.) :/

Wed Mar 23, 11:55:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Hoergren said...

You have a new #1 to write about - 1ga - great way to see her name. First Polish citizen to be world #1 - another of Polish origin has been #!, but Danish citizen worth to mention me thinks.

Sat Mar 26, 03:42:00 AM EDT  
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Thu Mar 31, 12:59:00 AM EDT  

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