Saturday, May 21, 2022

Wk.20- Angie, Baby





futuristic-fonts




*WEEK 20 CHAMPIONS*
STRASBOURG, FRANCE (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Angelique Kerber/GER def. Kaja Juvan/SLO 7-6(5)/6-7(0)/7-6(5)
D: Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Dasha Saville (USA/AUS) def. Lucie Hradecka/Sania Mirza (CZE/IND) 5-7/7-5 [10-6]
RABAT, MORACCO (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Martina Trevisan/ITA def. Claire Liu/USA 6-2/6-1
D: Eri Hozumi/Makota Ninomiya (JPN/JPN) def. Monica Niculescu/Alexandra Panova (ROU/RUS) 6-7(7)/6-3 [10-8]




kosova-font



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Angelique Kerber/GER
...coming into the week, Kerber had been mostly anonymous in 2022, but her run in Strasbourg made everyone say her name once more.

The 34-year old former #1 had arrived in Strasbourg on a six match losing streak, and she was just 2-8 on the season. The one bright side to the German's poor start, though, was that she'd been close to big wins on numerous occasions. Five of her eight losses had come in three-set affairs, with the long defeats coming against the likes of Kontaveit, Rybakina, Teichmann, Putintseva and even Swiatek. The run of three-set disappointment extended back to late last season, as beginning with the fall '21 BJK Cup finals event Kerber had gone 1-6 n her last seven three-setters.

Looking for match play heading into Roland Garros (and the grass season where she's had more recent success, including a tour title and Wimbledon semi last summer), Kerber got that and more. She reeled off a straight sets win over young Pastry Diane Parry, then won back-to-back three-setters vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Magda Linette. After an ill Oceane Dodin retired in the second set of their semifinal match, Kerber's first final four run since Cincinnati last season and her first on clay since she won indoors in Stuttgart in '16, she was one victory away from an unexpected pre-RG boost in the same event that propelled eventual champ Barbora Krejcikova into Paris a year ago.

In the final against Kaja Juvan, Kerber resembled the player who won three different majors from 2016-18, extending rallies and turning stunning defense into exhilarating offense at the drop of a hat. The two battled for three and a quarter hours, continually engaged in a battle of can-you-top-this? tennis. Ultimately, Kerber prevailed in her third three-setter of the week, winning two of three tie-breaks to claim career title #14, and the first of her tour career on outdoor red clay.


===============================================
RISERS: Lucia Bronzetti/ITA and Oceane Dodin/FRA
...Bronzetti has had a breakout season, but seems to still have only scratched the surface. Before this week, 2022 had already seen the 23-year old Italian make her slam debut (reaching the AO 2nd Rd.), reach the Round of 16 at a 1000 event (Miami, as a LL) and crack the Top 100.

In Rabat, she reached her maiden tour semifinal with wins over Anna Kalinskaya, Clara Burel and Nuria Parrizas Diaz (via a 3rd set TB). She fell to countrywoman Martina Trevisan in straights in the semis, but her week improved her season mark to 23-11 and she'll make her Top 75 debut prior to the start of play in Paris. She'll open vs. 2017 RG champ Alona Ostapenko.



Before illness forced her retirement against Angelique Kerber in Strasbourg, Dodin (#94) had reached just her second tour-level semifinal since 2017 (w/ Palermo last season) with wins over Ana Konjuh, Ekaterina Makarova and Vikorija Golubic.

Dodin, a tour singles champ in Quebec City in 2016 who cracked the Top 50 a season later, came into the week as the French #3 following a WTA 125 SF result last month. She'll move up to #84 in the pre-RG rankings, still the French #3 but now less than 100 points behind the #2 (#79 Caroline Garcia).


===============================================
SURPRISE: Martina Trevisan/ITA
...a surprise first-time tour quarterfinalist at Roland Garros two years ago, the 28-year old Italian (world #85) was at it again in Rabat. After rallying from a set and 3-1 down vs. Garbine Muguruza to get her second career Top 10 win, Trevisan reached her first tour-level semi and final with wins over Arantxa Rus and countrywoman Lucia Bronzetti, respectively. In the final, she ran her sets won streak to eight with a 2 & 1 victory over fellow maiden tour finalist Claire Liu.

Trevisan, the second first-time champ this clay season (Potapova in Istanbul), will climb to a new career high of #59 and finds herself (after a 1st Rd. match vs. Harriet Dart) one win away from a potential match-up with Ons Jabeur in Paris. In her RG debut run (as a qualifier) to the QF in 2020, Trevisan knocked off Camila Giorgi, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari and Kiki Bertens in succession.


===============================================
VETERAN: Karolina Pliskova/CZE
...still holding onto her Top 10 position, #8 Pliskova posted her best result in Strasbourg since delaying the start of her season due to a "stupid" arm injury in the gym during the offseason. Having started the season at just 2-6, wins over Marta Kostyuk, Bernarda Pera and Maryna Zanevska got the Czech into her first semifinal since Cincinnati last summer.


===============================================
COMEBACKS: Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Dasha Saville, USA/AUS
...Melichar's doubles results has turned down significantly with the demise of her recent partnership with Demi Schuurs, with whom she won three titles in 2020-21 (including Doha and Charleston), reached four 500 finals and semis last year at the Australian Open and WTA Finals. The Bannerette, ranked as high as #9 a year ago, had fallen to #29 heading into Strasbourg. Her teaming with Saville, on the comeback trail herself (due to injury), produced a somewhat surprising title turn this week.

The duo -- Saville is the fourth different woman Melichar has partnered so far in '22 -- dropped no sets en route to the final, then outlasted the veteran pair of Lucie Hradecka & Sania Mirza (who've combined to reach 118 WTA doubles finals, two together this year in what is set to be Mirza's final season) in a 10-6 match tie-break. The win gives Melichar an eleventh tour crown (her second in Strasbourg, having won in '20 w/ Schuurs), and Saville a third (she, too, has won Strasbourg before, in '19 w/ Ellen Perez).


===============================================



FRESH FACES: Kaja Juvan/SLO and Claire Liu/USA
...Juvan has been stirring up dust on tour for a couple of seasons now, amongst other things reaching two slam 3rd Rounds last season (upsetting seeds -- Jo Konta and Belinda Bencic -- in both the AO and Wimbledon), participating in a series of engaging matches against top players and upsetting #2 Aryna Sabalenka in Adelaide earlier this season.

In Strasbourg, the 21-year old Slovenian played her way into her second tour semi ('21 Portoroz) and maiden tour final, getting wins over Elise Mertens and #8 Karolina Pliskova before facing off in a remarkable match against former #1 Angelique Kerber, going to a tie-break in all three sets against the German in a contest that will surely appear on Match of the Year lists come season's end.



Juvan will climb from #81 to a new career high of #68. She faces qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva in the 1st Round in Paris, with #3 seed Paula Badosa possibly awaiting a round later.

A week after her career-best turn as a WTA 125 champ in Saint-Malo, 21-year old Liu carried over her success to the tour level, posting wins over Kamilla Rakhimova, Mayar Sherif (saving a MP) and Astra Sharma, reaching her first career WTA QF and SF. A walkover from an injured Anna Bondar sent the Bannerette into her maiden tour final, where she fell 2 & 1 to Martina Trevisan.

Ahead of her RG MD debut (vs. '21 semifinalist Tamara Zidansek), Liu will climb from #92 to a new career high of #75.


===============================================
DOWN: Sloane Stephens/USA and Garbine Muguruza/ESP
...two former slam champions, both notoriously streaky, stumbling into the second major of the year.

Yes, Stephens has actually won a tour title in 2022. In Guadalajara in February. Since then, though, she's gone 1-6, dropping her fifth straight match this week in Strasbourg by falling to #306-ranked lucky loser Nefisa Berberovic, who picked up her first career tour-level MD win with her upset of the former U.S. Open champ in a 2-6/6-4/6-1 contest.

And this isn't a case of Stephens meeting up with a player on a hot streak, either.



Stephens, an RG finalist in '18, is 28-10 in Paris, her best mark at any slam. Her 4th Round result in the tournament last year was her high water mark at any major since her QF there two years earlier. One result (or several) have never necessarily meant much when its comes to Stephens' results over the years (see Guadalajara), but this can't be a good sign for next week, right?

Meanwhile, Muguruza hasn't exactly fed off her '21 season-ending WTA Finals title run, has she? The top seed this past week in Rabat, coming off having blown a lead and match against Yulia Putintseva in Rome, Muguruza posted a win over Anna Danilina and then was bounced a round later by #85 Martina Trevisan, squandering a set and 3-1 edge against the Italian, who hadn't won a WTA MD match since February.

The loss drops the Spaniard to 2-5 in her last seven and 7-8 on the year. She hasn't had a multi-win week in the eight events she's played since winning the WTAF in Guadalajara (hmmm, there's that city again).

Muguruza picked up her first major title in Paris in 2016, but fell in the 1st Round a year ago, her worst RG result ever. Still, her season helped Conchita Martinez garner Coach of the Year honors from the tour. Nonetheless, other than reaching the AO final in 2020, Muguruza hasn't reached the QF stage at a major since the 2018 Roland Garros.

Heading into this year's version, here's Martina Navratilova's take on Muguruza from a new article on the WTA web site:

"Sometimes she looks relaxed when she’s playing, but for the most part she doesn’t. [Coach] Conchita [Martinez] has been able to relax her in the past. When Garbiñe won Wimbledon [in 2017], she just walked differently. She had this aura of I belong here and I own this. And now, even when she’s playing offensive, she looks defensive. Obviously, she’s not pleased with how it’s going. After winning the WTA Finals, I thought it was going to spring her."
===============================================



DOUBLES: Eri Hozumi/Makoto Ninomiya, JPN/JPN
...the #1 seeds in Rabat, the Japanese duo stormed into the final, their second of '22 after having won in Adelaide, without dropping a set. Once there, they defeated Monica Niculescu & Alexandra Panova 10-8 in a title-deciding match tie-break.

Ninomiya now has five career tour titles, one more than Hozumi. The two crowns they've won together mark each other as the first partner with whom either has won multiple tour titles. They paired to reach the Roland Garros final in 2018, as well, losing to Krejcikova/Siniakova.


===============================================









kosova-font

1. Strasbourg Final - Angelique Kerber def. Kaja Juvan
...7-6(5)/6-7(0)/7-6(5). In one of the matches of the season, Kerber picked up career title #14, denying Juvan her first in her maiden WTA final. It took 3:16 and a series of comebacks and fantastic points to do it, though.



Juvan served for the 1st set at 5-3, but soon found herself having to break *Kerber* at 5-6 just to get into the TB. The Slovenian rallied from 4-1 down to get to 4-4. But with the score knotted at 5-5, Kerber swept the final two points to steal the set. Juvan dominated a 7-0 TB in the 2nd to force a 3rd set, where Kerber took an early break lead. Juvan got things back on serve on her first opportunity and led, on serve, at 3-2. Another TB would follow, with Kerber again pulling away in a tight one to get her first clay title since 2016.


===============================================
2. Rabat 1st Rd. - Kristina Mladenovic def. Tessah Andrianjafitrimo
...6-3/3-6/7-6(7). Days after the confidence boost of a WTA 125 doubles title, Mladnenovic shows some of her old fight in singles. Trailing 4-2 in the 3rd against countrywoman Andrianjafitrimo, Mladenovic held back-to-back MP at 6-4 in the deciding TB. She didn't put away either, and then had to save a MP at 7-6 before finally winning 9-7 on MP #3. It was the Pastry's first tour-level MD singles win since September.



A round after her three-hour win, Mladenovic went three more sets with Nuria Parrizas Diaz, taking the 1st but gradually losing steam down the stretch, ultimately dropping a love 3rd set. Mladenovic, with more singles action crammed into a few days than she's seemingly had all year, will open her 14th consecutive appearance at RG with a 1st Round match-up with #17-seed Leylah Fernandez.
===============================================
3. Strasbourg 1st Rd. - Nefisa Berberovic def. Sloane Stephens
...2-6/6-4/6-1. Berberovic fell in qualifying to Angelina Gabueva. In the *first* round of qualifying, not the second... so I guess her later inclusion in the MD was as something of a "super lucky loser."

You'd never know it from the result from the 22-year old Bosnian, ranked #309, who recorded her first career WTA MD win (and first over a Top 100 player) with her three-set upset of Stephens.



Berberovic notched just five games vs. Kaja Juvan in the 2nd Round.
===============================================



4. Rabat 2nd Rd. - Martina Trevisan def. Garbine Muguruza 2-6/6-4/6-1
Rabat Final - Martina Trevisan def. Claire Liu 6-2/6-2
...Muguruza led 6-2/3-1, but eventual Rabat champ Trevisan rallied to record her second career Top 10 win (Bertens, '20 RG 4r).

#85 Trevisan's win in the battle of first-time tour finalists vs. Liu makes her the third different Italian woman in the past year -- Paolini (Portoroz) and Giorgi (Montreal) -- to pick up a tour singles titles, with Lucia Bronzetti giving every indication that she could make it *four* by the end of '22. And that's not counting Hordette Liudmila Samsonova, the '21 Berlin champ who represented Italy from 2014-18.


===============================================
5. Strasbourg 1st Rd. - Anna-Lena Friedsam def. Dasha Saville
...4-6/6-3/7-6(5). Dasha's week ended with a doubles title, but it began with her losing a 6-4/2-0 edge on Friedsam. But the signs were still there that the Aussie wasn't quite finished.


===============================================
HM- JA (Jr.) Milan 3rd Rd. - Taylah Preston def. Sofia Costoulas
...7-5/7-5. The 16-year old Aussie ends Costoulas' 18-match junior winning streak, as the Waffle's rare defeat drops her to 29-2 on the season. Her other loss came in the AO girls' final to Petra Marcinko.
===============================================






kosova-font

1. Rabat 2nd Rd. - Claire Liu def. Mayar Sherif
...4-6/7-6(5)/6-1. In a match-up featuring both of last week's WTA 125 champions, Sherif twice served for the match, at 5-4 and 6-5 in the 2nd, and held a MP. She then served two up 5-4 in the TB. But Liu prevailed and played her way into her first career WTA singles final.


===============================================
2. Strasbourg Q1 - Ekaterina Makarova def. Tayisiya Morderger 6-2/6-2
Strasbourg Q2 - Ekaterina Makarova def. Yana Morderger 7-5/6-8
...after posting back-to-back wins over the Morderger twins, 26-year old Hordette Makarova (not *that* one) recorded her maiden career MD victory at tour level with an upset of Sorana Cirstea.


===============================================







kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font













futuristic-fonts


kosova-font












kosova-font

*2022 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Anastasia Potapova, RUS - Istanbul (21/#122)
MARTINA TREVISAN, ITA - RABAT (28/#85)
[first-time finalistss] Laura Pigossi, BRA (#212/27 = Bogota)
KAJA JUVAN, SLO (#81/21 = STRASBOuRG)
CLAIRE LIU, USA (21/#92 = RABAT)
MARTINA TREVISAN, ITA (#85/28 = RABAT) - W

*2022 FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
Melbourne 1: Zheng Qinwen, CHN
Monterrey: Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP
Bogota: Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS
Bogota: Laura Pigossi, BRA (RU)
Rabat: ANNA BONDAR, HUN
Rabat: LUCIA BRONZETTI, ITA
Rabat: CLAIRE LIU, USA (RU)
Rabat: MARTINA TREVISAN, ITA (W)

*CAREER WTA TITLES - active*
73 - Serena Williams
49 - Venus Williams
28 - Petra Kvitova
23 - Simona Halep (2022 = 1)
21 - Victoria Azarenka
18 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
16 - Karolina Pliskova
16 - Elina Svitolina
14 - ANGELIQUE KERBER (2022 = 1)
12 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
12 - Vera Zvonareva
10 - Garbine Muguruza
10 - Aryna Sabalenka

*2022 WTA DOUBLES FINALS - DUOS*
3...V.Kudermetova/Mertens, RUS/BEL (1-2)
2...Siegemund/Zvonareva, GER/RUS (2-0)
2...Dabrowski/Olmos, CAN/MEX (1-1)
2...Danilina/Haddad Maia, KAZ/BRA (1-1)
2...HOZUMI/NINOMIYA, JPN/JPN (2-0)
2...Krawczyk/Schuurs, USA/NED (1-1)
2...MIRZA/HRADECKA, IND/CZE (0-2)

*2022 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
34 - Tatjana Maria, GER (Bogota - W)
34 - ANGELIQUE KERBER, GER (STRASBOURG - W)
33 - Zhang Shuai, CHN (Lyon - W)
[doubles]
37 - Darja Jurak Schreiber, CRO (Adelaide 1 - L)
37 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (Miami - W)
37 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (Lyon - W)
37 - LUCIE HRADECKA, CZE (STRASBOURG - L)
36 - Lucie Hradecka, CZE (Charleston)
36 - Alicja Rosolska, POL (Saint Petersburg - L)
36 - Andreja Klepac, SLO (Charleston - W)
35 - Andreja Klepac, SLO (Adelaide 1 - L)
35 - Laura Siegemund, GER (Miami - W)
35 - Laura Siegemund, GER (Lyon - W)
35 - SANIA MIRZA, IND (STRASBOURG - L)
35 - Sania Mirza, IND (Charleston)

*YEARLY SINGLES TITLE LEADERS (since 2010)*
2010 (6) - Caroline Wozniacki
2011 (6) - Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki
2012 (7) - Serena Williams
2013 (11) - Serena Williams
2014 (7) - Serena Williams
2015 (5) - Serena Williams
2016 (4) - Dominika Cibulkova
2017 (5) - Elina Svitolina
2018 (5) - Petra Kvitova
2019 (4) - Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova
2020 (3) - Simona Halep, Aryna Sabalenka
2021 (5) - Ash Barty
2022 (5) - Iga Swiatek

*MADRID/ROME FINALISTS, and RG result*
2009 Dinara Safina (W-W-RU)
2013 Serena Williams (W-W-W)
2017 Simona Halep (W-RU-RU)
2022 Ons Jabeur (W-RU-?)

*NCAA WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONS*
1982 Stanford
1983 USC
1984 Stanford
1985 USC
1986 Stanford
1987 Stanford
1988 Stanford
1989 Stanford
1990 Stanford
1991 Stanford
1992 Florida
1993 Texas
1994 Georgia
1995 Texas
1996 Florida
1997 Stanford
1998 Florida
1999 Stanford
2000 Georgia
2001 Stanford
2002 Stanford
2003 Florida
2004 Stanford
2005 Stanford
2006 Stanford
2007 Georgia Tech
2008 UCLA
2009 Duke
2010 Stanford
2011 Florida
2012 Florida
2013 Stanford
2014 UCLA
2015 Vanderbilt
2016 Stanford
2017 Florida
2018 Stanford
2019 Stanford
2020 CANCELLED
2021 Texas
2022 ?
--
=MOST TITLES=
20 - Stanford
7 - Florida
3 - Texas
2 - Georgia, USC, UCLA
1 - Duke, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt





futuristic-fonts


kosova-font

This is Harlem Globetrotter-esque stuff, pulling off crazy shots between comedy routines, and shows just how gifted Noah was. His French contemporary Henri Leconte was similar in the day, with both different from the many French "showmen" who would follow who could also pull off superiorly athletic shots, but only while also sacrificing their in-point/match viability in the process.



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font




kosova-font








All for now.
 Wk.20- Angie, Baby

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 9:48 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

I saw Wishful Drinking on Broadway. :)

Sat May 21, 10:25:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I suppose it's no shock that one's death so quickly followed the other (especially since it was Carrie who died first). They seemed so intertwined by that point in their lives.

Sun May 22, 09:25:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Good point--those things do happen, probably more than people notice.

The show was very funny. And to this day, the funniest book I've ever read is Postcards from the Edge. (What's strange is that the film--though only very loosely based on the book--is also hilarious, thanks to the crack comic performance of Meryl Streep.)

Don't know if you saw Booksmart, which has made my list of funniest films I've ever seen. Fisher's daughter steals every scene she's in.

Sun May 22, 09:26:00 PM EDT  

Post a Comment

<< Home