Saturday, July 09, 2022

Rybakinetics


Ry·ba·ki·net·ics
/rye BA kəˈnediks/
noun - a style of playing tennis characterized by domination during which one calmly goes about their business and does one's own thing, while also preventing others from doing theirs, before emerging triumphant in the end (also colloquially described as "speaking softly but carrying a big stick, or racket/raquet, i.e. a "weapon of sport")


While Ons Jabeur was the story of the tournament, in the Wimbledon women's final, Elena Rybakina authored a kinetic finish in which she played the role of closer to something resembling perfection.



In the first Wimbledon women's championship match-up between first-time slam finalists since 1962, but the third in the last five majors, #17-seeded Rybakina and #2 Jabeur already stood out as groundbreakers in the sport as the maiden players representing, respectively, Kazakhstan and Tunisia to ever reach such a stage at a slam event.

Additionally, their meeting presented an interesting stylistic contrast, both between the lines -- with Rybakina's big, sweeping power game and Jabeur's blend of touch and shotmaking -- and around "the edges" of the event -- with Jabeur's lively, emotional personality and reputation as "The Minister of Happiness" in direct opposition to the calm, some have dubbed "emotionless," aura of Rybakina -- that meant that the match-up had a little something for all tastes, not to mention a large dose of delicious irony as the Moscow born, raised and residing Rybakina had finally come into her own in the very same slam in which Russian and Belarusian players had been banned from participating due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that none of the impacted players had anything to do with, and even after most had publicly spoken out against the war in recent months.

Jabeur's virtuoso wizardry -- she can use every nook and cranny of her racket, the ball and the court en route to victory -- and way with inspirational words have turned the 27-year old into something of a bellwether figure for all the good that the sport of tennis hopes to present to the world, as she's often talked during this Wimbledon of her dreams of helping to direct more and more young people on the African continent, Arab world and within her Muslim faith to seek out their athletic dreams, just as Jabeur herself has as she's spent the last few seasons trailblazing a path of accomplishments for future players with similar backgrounds to one day aspire to match or even exceed.

Leaving a trail of smiles behind her, as well as quite a few tweeners, drop shots and mid-court reactionary twirls, Jabeur came into the day as the favorite, but left it having experienced the full force of the sometimes-overwhelming game -- the "calm bombardment" -- that Rybakina first truly began to display early in the 2020 season, years after the Kazakhstan tennis federation had agreed to provide her with the sort of financial support that its Russian counterpart hadn't deemed the then-teenager worthy of receiving when compared to the nation's deep talent pool of would-be stars.

In 2020, Rybakina had started on a 21-4 tear, reaching four finals by March, before the Covid pandemic began and halted the tour (and her career mometum). Since then, Rybakina has dealt with inconsistency, a penchant for squandering leads in big matches (including in *both* the Olympic semis and Bronze match in Tokyo last summer), injuries and even her own bout with Covid, arriving at SW19 without having won a title in two and a half years but with the memory of her Round of 16 at Wimbledon from a year ago and the knowledge that, should she be able to corral her big serve, easy power and cleaned-and-pressed groundstrokes she could very well cut an even deeper path through the draw that would make her a difficult riddle for *any* opponent to solve, including '19 Wimbledon champ Simona Halep, who had come into her semifinal against Rybakina on Thursday having won 12 straight matches and 21 consecutive sets at the AELTC only to find herself without any reliable weapon by which to make a dent in Rybakina's controlling form.



In the 1st set of the final, Jabeur accomplished what Halep couldn't against Rybakina a round earlier, as the Tunisian's attempts to bring the tall Kazakh forward to the net with short balls to make her uncomfortable and to test Rybakina's movement provided good early returns. It resulted in a series of key errors, especially down the stretch of the opening stanza.

After opening the match by taking a 40/love lead and holding with a crosscourt forehand winner, errors began to become a problem for Rybakina. Three errors alone in game #3 gave Jabeur a chance to break, then a fourth via a long backhand put the Tunisian up 2-1. With her nose ahead and Rybakina's power not pushing her back, Jabeur's variety flourished. A drop shot and scooped backhand pass into the front corner of the short court gave her a GP to consolidate the break, which she did to lead 3-1. Rybakina teetered on the edge of a double-break deficit a game later, as she often seemed slow of foot and unable to escape the snare of her mounting errors. Still, she saved two BP and got the hold.

In game #8, Jabeur continued to pull Rybakina into traps, bringing her to the net with a drop shot. Rybakina retrieved it, but Jabeur got to her short reply and then the Kazakh was felled by another net error, dumping a volley as Jabeur went up 40/love en route to a hold for 5-3. Moments later, Rybakina's game virtually fell apart in the ninth game. An error on a short ball put her down love/30, and she followed with an open court error to give Jabeur triple SP. Rybakina sent a forehand into the net off a deep ball, as Jabeur claimed the 1st at 6-3 and seemed well on her way to creating more history.



But Rybakina had played a similar opening set in the QF against Ajla Tomljanovic, only to immediately rebound and dominate the 2nd and 3rd sets with her serve and domineering groundstrokes. When Jabeur opened the 2nd by playing her worst game of the match so far, the door swung open for Rybakina to start down the path of a virtual replay.

After not seeing a BP in the 1st, Rybakina got a chance in the opening game, and Jabeur's error handed her the lead. A game later, Rybakina grabbed a 40/15 edge. She failed to challenge an out call at the baseline that would have ended the game, then saw an error off her own racket and down the line winner off that of Jabeur's give the Tunisian a BP to even the set. Rybakina saved it with an ace, then regained her lead with another big serve. A Jabeur error made it 2-0, as Rybakina's reliable power kept her course steady. It wouldn't be the last time.

As the Kazakh was beginning to get more and more on top of the ball and control the flow of play, attacking Jabeur's second serves, she also began to find more success at the net. Racing to a drop volley on a Jabeur GP and putting a winner into the backcourt, Rybakina started to build the frontcourt confidence that would prove vital later in the match. She reached BP by correctly anticipating a Jabeur drop shot and producing a short court winner of her own, but a Jabeur net cord helped produce a Rybakina backhand error a point later. Jabeur took advantage of the moment, firing off a big serve to pull back into the game, then seeing a return error from the Kazakh allow her to hold for 2-1 and avoid a double-break hole.

A game later, it was Rybakina's turn to survive adversity. After a 40/15 lead disintegerated in game #4, she saved three BP and held on her fourth GP with a big serve up the T. Replay showed that the winning serve was out, but Jabeur, frustrated over having failed to convert any of her BP chances, never thought to challenge the call. Her feelings carried over to the next game, as the Tunisian gifted the double-break lead she'd previously avoided. A DF put the score at 30/30, then Jabeur netted a forehand down the line over the high point of the net, and added an additional forehand error to the ledger that gave Rybakina another break and a 4-1 lead.

Things moved quickly from there. Rybakina got a swift hold of serve, then Jabeur fell behind love/30 a game later. She held to force Rybakina to serve out the set, and she did, with an emphatic ace on SP that won the 2nd at 6-2 and knotted the match.



Jabeur had tied for the tour lead with her 13th three-set win of the season in the semis against Tatjana Maria, but she again put herself in a bad spot to open the 3rd, falling behind love/30 after Rybakina successfully challenged a crosscourt forehand call of out. Jabeur saved a BP, then a point later again brought Rybakina forward with a short ball, only to bunt the ball right back to the Kazakh at the net when she had a lob and/or open court option available. Rybakina put the ball away and broke to lead 1-0. Rybakina continued to turn her 1st set liability into an occasional strength a game later, overcoming a love/30 deficit when Jabeur missed on a lob attempt, and then again winning a point at the net to reach GP. She fired a winner to back up her first game break as Jabeur was by now finding very little to be happy about.

With another Rybakina hold for 3-1, it was becoming increasingly clear that the frontrunning power game that Rybakina is capable of commanding was fully in play now, and that'd *she'd* likely have to get sloppy for Jabeur to get back into the mix. In game #5, though, that was just what seemed to happen.

A bad Rybakina miss on a volley gave Jabeur a 40/15 lead, and the Kazakh had an odd, worrisome look on her face as she walked to the backcourt. A UE off her racket gave the Tunisian the hold, then Rybakina seemed to continue her sudden stumble into her own service game. A Jabeur drop shot was followed by a Rybakina error on a first ball, then a Jabeur lob over her for a love/40 advantage. With the door seeming to swing wide open for her, on her second BP, Jabeur just missed by seemingly less than an inch on a drop shot at the end of a hotly contested rally. Rather than having the break, Jabeur saw the moment awaken Rybakina. The Kazakh used a big serve to reach deuce, then again was effective at the net, getting a hold for 4-2 (and ultimately quashing Jabeur's last best chance to recover in time to contend for the title).

Rybakina's deflection of the Tunisian's opportunity propelled her into the next game. Down 15/30, Jabeur's net cord drop shot winner avoided a BP, but a long backhand a point later didn't. One point from getting the chance to serve for the Wimbledon title, Rybakina controlled the rally with big forehands until Jabeur finally broke the string with an unforced error. Rybakina took her 5-2 lead into her next service game, and opened it with an ace. A DF stopped her flow, but Jabeur wasn't able to take advantage. Her drop shot set up a makeable pass, but she overhit a backhand. A wide forehand gave Rybakina a MP, and Jabeur's match-ending return error closed out the 3-6/6-2/6-2 final.



As is her style, in a humorously charming way at this point, 23-year old Rybakina showed little outward emotion in the moment she became the tour's latest first-time slam champion, almost casually strolling to the net as the youngest champ at SW19 since Petra Kvitova in 2011 and the first player representing Kazakhstan to ever win a major title.

Rybakina's victory ends a 14-year run of Wimbledon finals in which the winner of the 1st set went on to take the crown. As she had in the QF, Rybakina had turned up the volume on her game after dropping the opener, and Jabeur wasn't able to do much about it (and squandered the few chances she did have). Rybakina's serve led the way, as she had a 70% first serve percentage in the final two sets, saving all seven BP she faced. After seeing Jabeur make use of her general discomfort in coming in toward the net, Rybakina often became more aggressive of her own volition and moved forward as a tactic rather than *always* as a grudging response to a Jabeur shot. She also better anticipated the Tunisian's plan of short court attack. While she was hardly perfect at the net, and had a few scary-bad shots, Rybakina was good enough on enough big points that her nerve won out over her nerves. In the end, she won 17 of 36 net points (47%), including 16/31 (52%) in the 2nd and 3rd.



Meanwhile, Jabeur's pursuit of happiness will continue, as her current and future goals remain. Who's going to bet against her achieving them all?



After finally getting her hands on the gleaming Venus Rosewater Dish (from the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton), Rybakina didn't betray her emotions through messy, streaming tears in her on-court interview with Sue Barker, but rather did so in her excited answers and get-it-all-out address to the crowd, revealing that she was a bundle of nerves both before and during the match and, quite honestly, was happy that it was finally over. She thanked the president of the Kazakhstan tennis federation (present in her player's box and sporting a natty hat and big smile over his now-clearly-brilliant decision to offer Rybakina financial support), as well as her team and family, but she clearly wished that her parents could have been there to see it all play out live.



As Rybakina was walked through the new-to-her paces, taken through the sparkly innards of the AELTC, past legendary guests and ultimately to the South West Hall balcony where she was able to display the dish to the throng of fans gathered below, it was another reminder of the irresistible nature of the current state of the WTA.



As we stand at just a little past the mid-way point of a 2022 season that has weathered both on-court upheaval and off-court controversy as real-world problems have continued to cross over onto the sport's landscape, the WTA is an entity that exists in an intriguing two-headed reality, one in which the world #1 (be it either the retired Ash Barty or Iga Swiatek) can produce in dominant fashion (31-1 combined, with five titles, including two majors, as the top-ranked player in '22), and another in which the field is just as capable on its own of producing big stories (ala Jabeur's) and big successes (Rybakina) -- sometimes complete with an eyebrow-raising twist that makes the Tennis Gods snicker -- that are fully capable of taking on a life of their own.

As far as having good story potential, with room for even more growth, it's not a bad place to be.

Meanwhile, after the traditional rituals were complete at Cente Court, Rybakina's post-match press conference finally produced what some of the masses came for -- a flash of outward emotion by the new Wimbledon champ. Triggered by the questioning about the absence of her parents on the biggest day of her career, the emotions belatedly flowed.

"You wanted to see emotion?," Rybakina said with a smile after wiping away her tears, to a round of applause from those assembled in the room.



And thus ends the official christening of the latest star to appear in the well-populated WTA sky, on a day that started with so much promise and ended with the promise of still more revelations to come.








=DAY 13 NOTES=
...earlier in the day on Saturday, Diede de Groot continued her domination of wheelchair tennis, defeating Yui Kamiji 6-4/6-2 to claim her seventh straight slam singles crown, taking her fouth title in the last five Wimbledons while improving to 15-3 in slam singles finals for her career.



And now we get the obligatory update on de Groot's remarkable current run. The Dutch #1 has won 61 straight singles matches and *16* straight singles titles, winning 116 of her last 118 sets (and 49 in a row). Since the start of the '21 season, she's 66-1.

Meanwhile, though she didn't get the victory, Kamiji is to be commended for her best Wimbledon singles performance ever. Coming into this slam, the former #1 had reached the singles final at 26 of the last 27 non-SW19 majors, but had never advanced to the final at Wimbledon. She defeated '21 finalist KG Montjane and two-time Wimbledon champ Jiske Griffioen to get there, though she ultimately fell for the 11th (and 10th consecutive) time in 13 slam final meetings with de Groot.

The two will meet again in the doubles final on Sunday. Kamiji has won the doubles at six of the last seven Wimbledons (including in '18 w/ de Groot, who then won with Aniek Van Koot the following year).

De Groot enters on a 27-match winning streak in doubles, and is now 39-0 s/d combined on the year, with 73 consecutive combined match wins (and 22 straight s/d titles) since last year's Wimbledon. Since the start of 2021, de Groot is a combined 104-3.

Also on Sunday, after Kamiji failed to do so today, men's #1 Shingo Kunieda will try to win his first Wimbledon singles title, which would make him just the second WC athlete (after de Groot) to win each of the eight WC slam titles at least once. De Groot accomplished the feat in just her tenth career slam appearance, while this is Kunieda's 47th slam singles event.

...top seed Liv Hovde became the tenth girl to sweep the Roehampton and Wimbledon singles titles in the same summer, defeating #5 Panna Udvardy 6-3/6-4 in the junior final. Hovde saved a MP (twice, first via replay and then with a drop shot) vs. Kayla Cross in the 3rd Round, and is now the 14th (but just the second in 30 years) Bannerette to take the girls' title at the AELTC.



In the girls' doubles final, the Dutch/Kenyan combo of Rose Marie Nijkamp & Angella Okutoyi defeated Cross & Victoria Mboko 3-6/6-4 (11-9) as Oyutoyi became the first Kenyan junior slam champ.



The first Wimbledon 14-and-under champion will be crowned on Sunday in an all-Romanian affair, as #1-seeded Alexia Ioana Tatu and #5 Andreea Diana Soare will face off after getting wins today. In meetings of the four group winners from this week's round robin play, Tatu defeated Argentina's Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi, while Soare took out Britain's Izzie Britton

...Sunday's Women's Doubles Invitational final will feature Kim Clijsters (an '18 Legends winner before her eventually short-circuited WTA comeback attempt) & Martina Hingis (a three-time winner from 2011-13 before her most recent amazingly successful comeback) and Daniela Hantuchova & Laura Robson. Hantuchova/Robson defeated Jelena Jankovic & Aga Radwanska 6-4/6-2 today is what amounted to a playoff for the final berth.

Although, a case can be made about *why* Hantuchova/Robson reached the final over JJ/Aga, as their rr group featured a three-way tie (w/ Pennetta/Schiavone) at 2-1, with all three 1-1 against each other. The Italians were just 4-3 in sets, while the other two were both 4-2. JJ/Aga were 30-23 in games (.566) vs. Hantuchova/Robson's 35-28 (.556). The latter duo advanced, I suppose, because rather than tie-breakers remaining a three-way situation the Italians were eliminated, and then the head-to-head of today's match was applied to the other two. If the procedure maintained the three-way tie throughout then Jankovic/Radwanska might have won due to the better games won percentage.

The new Mixed Invitational final will see Marion Bartoli & Nenad Zimonjic against Cara Black & Todd Woodbridge.

...Jang Su-jeong claimed her biggest career title at the WTA 125 in Bastad, Sweden with a 3-6/6-3/6-1 win in the final over Rebeka Masarova.



In the other clay court 125 this week, in Contrexeville, France it'll be Dalma Galfi (who defeated fellow Hungarian Anna Bondar in the semis) squaring off with Sara Errani for the title. This is Galfi's biggest career final in a season which has already seen her win her biggest title ($100K Ilkley), win her first slam MD match (Wimbledon) and crack the Top 100; while Errani (a 125 finalist on grass in Gaiba last month) is seeking her first singles title since a $60K ITF event in 2019.

...while the Czechs didn't win any titles at this Wimbledon, 17-year old Linda Noskova will play for her sixth pro title since March of last year in the $100K final in Versmold, Germany against Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure. In the semis, Bonaventure defeated former RG semifinalist Nadia Podoroska (remember?) in the Argentine's third event back from a ten-month absence to deal with lingering injury pain that she struggled with throughout '21. Podoroska hadn't played since the U.S. Open last summer. So far, she's gone 7-3 with a pair of semis.

Another Czech, Sara Bejlek, fell in the $60K Amstelveen (NED) semis to former NCAA champ Emma Navarro, who'll meet Swiss Simona Waltert in the final.

Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, a Wimbledon lucky loser who reached the 2nd Round at SW19 and pushed Iga Swiatek to three sets, will play in the $25K Corroios-seixal (POR) final vs. Israel's Lina Glushko.






*LADIES' SINGLES FINAL*
#17 Elena Rybakina/KAZ def. #3 Ons Jabeur/TUN 3-6/6-2/6-2

*LADIES' DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Mertens/Sh.Zhang (BEL/CHN) vs. #2 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#2 Krawczyk/N.Skupski (USA/GBR) def. Ebden/Stosur (AUS/AUS) 6-4/6-3

*WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S FINAL*
#1 Diede de Groot/NED def. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN 6-4/6-2

*WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Kamiji/Mathewson (JPN/USA)

*GIRLS' SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Liv Hovde/USA def. #7 Luca Udvardy/HUN 6-3/6-4

*GIRLS' DOUBLES FINAL*
Nijkamp/Okutoyi (NED/KEN) def. #4 Cross/Mboko (CAN/CAN) 3-6/6-4 [11-9]

*GIRLS' 14-and-UNDER SF*
#1 Alexia Ioana Tatu/ROU def. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi/ARG
#5 Andreea Diana Soare/ROU def. Isabelle Britton/GBR

*LADIES' INVITATIONAL DOUBLES FINAL*
Clijsters/Hingis (BEL/SUI) vs. Hantuchova/Robson (SVK/GBR)

*MIXED INVITATIONAL DOUBLES FINAL*
C.Black/Woodbridge (ZIM/AUS) vs. Bartoli/Zimonjic (FRA/SRB)







...WHERE CHAMPIONS ARE MADE... ON DAY 13:




...GOOD JOB, WTA TWITTERer... ON DAY 13:




...FACES IN THE CROWD... ON DAY 13:




...I WAS WONDERING IF THE NON-TITLE FORMAT CHANGE WOULD EXTEND TO THE DISH (answer: yep)... ON DAY 13:




...YOU WOULDN'T THINK SOMEONE WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER COULD SAY SOMETHING THIS STUPID, but there ya go... ON DAY 13:




...YEP... ON DAY 13:



And Coco Gauff isn't even one of them yet.



...DON'T WORRY, BE ONS... ON DAY 13:









One more...










kosova-font









kosova-font

*RECENT WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONS*
2010 Serena Williams, USA
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE*
2012 Serena Williams, USA
2013 Marion Bartoli, FRA*
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2015 Serena Williams, USA
2016 Serena Williams, USA
2017 Garbine Muguruza, ESP
2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
2019 Simona Halep, ROU
2021 Ash Barty, AUS
2022 Elena Rybakina, KAZ*
--
* - first-time slam champ

*RECENT WOMEN'S SLAM WINNERS*
2019 AO: Naomi Osaka, JPN
2019 RG: Ash Barty, AUS*
2019 WI: Simona Halep, ROU
2019 US: Bianca Andreescu, CAN*
2020 AO: Sofia Kenin, USA*
2020 US: Naomi Osaka, JPN
2020 RG: Iga Swiatek, POL*
2021 AO: Naomi Osaka, JPN (3)
2021 RG: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE*
2021 WI: Ash Barty, AUS
2021 US: Emma Raducanu, GBR*
2022 AO: Ash Barty, AUS (3)
2022 RG: Iga Swiatek, POL (2)
2022 WI: Elena Rybakina, KAZ*
--
* - first-time slam champ

*AGE OF 2020s SLAM WINNERS*
18 = Emma Raducanu, GBR (2021 US)
19 = Iga Swiatek, POL (2020 RG)
21 = Iga Swiatek, POL (2022 RG)
21 = Sofia Kenin, USA (2020 AO)
22 = Naomi Osaka, JPN (2020 US)
23 = Naomi Osaka, JPN (2021 AO)
23 = Elena Rybakina, KAZ (2022 WI)
25 = Ash Barty, AUS (2021 WI)
25 = Ash Barty, AUS (2022 AO)
25 = Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (2021 RG)

*FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS AT WIMBLEDON - Open era*
1968 Billie Jean King, USA
1978 Martina Navratilova, TCH (CZE)
1994 Conchita Martinez, ESP
1998 Jana Novotna, CZE
2000 Venus Williams, USA
2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2013 Marion Bartoli, FRA
2022 Elena Rybakina, KAZ

*ACTIVE SINGLES PLAYERS - WON IN FIRST SLAM FINAL*
1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka
2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber
2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko
2017 U.S. Open - Sloane Stephens
2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka
2019 U.S. Open - Bianca Andreescu
2020 Australian Open - Sofia Kenin
2020 Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek
2021 Roland Garros - Barbora Krejcikova
2021 U.S. Open - Emma Raducanu
2022 Wimbledon - Elena Rybakina

*LOW-SEEDED WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONS - Open era*
#23 - Venus Williams, 2007
#17 - Elena Rybakina, 2022
#15 - Marion Bartoli, 2013
#14 - Garbine Muguruza, 2017
#14 - Venus Williams, 2005
#13 - Maria Sharapova, 2004
#11 - Angelique Kerber, 2018

*WIMBLEDON GIRLS FINALS - since 2010*
2010 Kristyna Pliskova/CZE d. Sachie Ishizu/JPN
2011 Ash Barty/AUS d. Irina Khromacheva/RUS
2012 Genie Bouchard/CAN d. Elina Svitolina/UKR
2013 Belinda Bencic/SUI d. Taylor Townsend/USA
2014 Alona Ostapenko/LAT d. Kristina Schmiedlova/SVK
2015 Sofya Zhuk/RUS d. Anna Blinkova/RUS
2016 Anastasia Potapova/RUS d. Dayana Yastremska/UKR
2017 Claire Liu/USA d. Ann Li/USA
2018 Iga Swiatek/POL d. Leonie Kung/SUI
2019 Daria Snigur/UKR d. Alexa Noel/USA
2021 Ane Mintegi del Olmo/ESP d. Nastasja Schunk/GER
2022 Liv Hovde/USA d. Luca Udvardy/HUN

*JR. ROEHAMPTON & WIMBLEDON TITLES IN SEASON*
1996 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2002 Vera Dushevina, RUS
2010 Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
2012 Genie Bouchard, CAN
2013 Belinda Bencic, SUI
2014 Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2016 Anastasia Potapova, RUS
2017 Claire Liu, USA
2019 Daria Snigur, UKR
2022 Liv Hovde, USA

**RECENT GIRLS SLAM CHAMPIONS**
[2018]
AO: Liang En-shuo, TPE
RG: Coco Gauff, USA
WI: Iga Swiatek, POL
US: Wang Xiyu, CHN
[2019]
AO: Clara Tauson, DEN
RG: Leylah Fernandez, CAN
WI: Daria Snigur, UKR
US: (Maria) Camila Osorio (Serrano), COL
[2020]
AO: Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
RG: Elsa Jacquemot, FRA
[2021]
RG: Linda Noskova, CZE
WI: Ane Mintegi del Olmo, ESP
US: Robin Montgomery, USA
[2022]
AO: Petra Marcinko, CRO
RG: Lucie Havlickova, CZE
WI: Liv Hovde, USA

*RECENT GIRLS DOUBLES SLAM CHAMPIONS*
[2018]
AO: Liang En-Shuo/Wang Xinyu (TPE/CHN)
RG: Caty McNally/Iga Swiatek (USA/POL)
WI: Wang Xinyu/Wang Xiyu (CHN/CHN)
US: Coco Gauff/Caty McNally (USA/USA)
[2019]
AO: Natsumi Kawaguchi/Adrienn Nagy (JPN/HUN)
RG: Chloe Beck/Emma Navarro (USA/USA)
WI: Savannah Broadus/Abigail Forbes (USA/USA)
US: Kamilla Bartone/Oksana Selekhmetova (LAT/RUS)
[2020]
AO: Alex Eala/Priska Madelyn Nugroho (PHI/INA)
RG: Eleonora Alvisi/Lisa Pigoti (ITA/ITA)
[2021]
RG: Alex Eala/Oksana Selekmeteva (PHI/RUS)
WI: Kristina Dmitruk/Diana Shnaider (BLR/RUS)
US: Ashlyn Krueger/Robin Montgomery (USA/USA)
[2022]
AO: Clervie Ngounoue/Diana Shnaider (USA/RUS)
RG: Sara Bejlek/Lucie Havlickova (CZE/CZE)
WI: Rose Marie Nijkamp/Angella Okutoyi (NED/KEN)

*RECENT WIMBLEDON GIRLS DOUBLES CHAMPS*
2013 Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
2014 Tami Grende & Ye Quiyu, INA/CHN
2015 Dalma Galfi & Fanni Stollar, HUN/HUN
2016 Usue Arconada & Claire Liu, USA/USA
2017 Olga Danilovic & Kaja Juvan, SRB/SLO
2018 Wang Xinyu & Wang Xiyu, CHN/CHN
2019 Savannah Broadus & Abigail Forbes, USA/USA
2021 Kristina Dmitruk & Diana Shnaider, BLR/USA
2022 Rose Marie Nijkamp & Angella Okutoyi, NED/KEN

*USA - WIMBLEDON GIRLS' SINGLES CHAMPIONS*
1957 Miriam Arnold
1958 Sally Moore
1960 Karen Hantze
1964 Peaches Bartkowicz
1968 Kristy Pigeon
1970 Sharon Walsh
1973 Ann Kiyomura
1977 Lea Antonopolis
1978 Tracy Austin
1979 Mary-Lou Piatek
1981 Zina Garrison
1992 Chanda Rubin
2017 Claire Liu
2022 Liv Hovde

*RECENT WIMBLEDON "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS*
2014 Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2015 Sofya Zhuk, RUS
2016 Dayana Yastremska, UKR
2017 Ann Li, USA
2018 Wang Xinyu/CHN & Wang Xiyu/CHN
2019 Daria Snigur, UKR
2021 Ane Mintegi del Olmo, ESP and Nastasja Schunk/GER
2022 Liv Hovde, USA

*RECENT WIMBLEDON "DOUBLES STAR" WINNERS*
2015 Sania Mirza, IND
2016 Heather Watson, GBR
2017 Yui Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR (WC)
2018 Diede de Groot & Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN (WC)
2019 Hsieh Su-wei & Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
2021 Yui Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR (WC)
2022 Angella Okutoyi, KEN (jr.)

*WIMBLEDON WC SINGLES WINNERS*
2016 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2017 Diede de Groot, NED
2018 Diede de Groot, NED
2019 Aniek Van Koot, NED
2021 Diede de Groot, NED
2022 Diede de Groot, NED

*WC SLAM SINGLES FINALS - active*
22 - YUI KAMIJI, JPN (8-14)
18 - DIEDE DE GROOT, NED (15-3)
14 - Aniek Van Koot, NED (3-11)
6 - Jiske Griffioen, NED (4-2)
1 - KG Montjane, RSA (0-1)
1 - Momoko Ohtani, JPN (0-1)







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TOP QUALIFIER: Maja Chwalinska/POL
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #16 Simona Halep/ROU
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #16 Simona Halep/ROU
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): #17 Elena Rybakina/KAZ
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1 - Jaimee Fourlis/AUS def. Dea Herdzelas/BIH 5-7/7-6(4)/6-4 (trailed 7-5/5-3, saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - Harmony Tan/FRA def. (WC) Serena Williams/USA 7-5/1-6/7-6(7) (Williams for match at 5-4 in 3rd, up 4-0 in TB; first match in a year for SW; Tan Wimb. debut
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF/WD-MX): MX Doubles 2nd Rd. - (WC) Olivia Barnett/Jonny O'Mara (GBR/GBR) def. (WC) Venus Williams/Jamie Murray (USA/GBR) 3-6/6-4/7-6(18-16) (34-point TB ends match, Brits win on 5th MP in TB after saving 5 MP in TB)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): Girls 3rd Rd. - #1 Liv Hovde/USA def. #13 Kayla Cross/CAN 4-6/7-5/6-4 (saved MP in 2nd set on replay challenge, then w/ drop shot; goes on to win title)
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #28 Alison Riske/USA (def. Y.In-Albon/SUI)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Kaia Kanepi/EST (1st Rd.-Diane Parry/FRA)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Maja Chwalinska/POL, Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA, Dalma Galfi/HUN, Catherine Harrison/USA, Mai Hontama/JPN, Katarzyna Kawa/POL, Jule Niemeier/GER, Panna Udvardy/HUN
UPSET QUEENS: France
REVELATION LADIES: Poland
NATION OF POOR SOULS: AUS (1-5 1st; DC Barty retired in March)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Maja Chwalinska/POL, Catherine Harrison/USA, Mai Hontama/JPN, Katarzyna Kawa/POL, Yanina Wickmayer/BEL (all 2nd Rd.) (LL 2r: Kerkhove/NED)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Katie Boulter/GBR (3r)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA, Kirsten Flipkens/BEL, Yanina Wickmayer/BEL(Q) (all to 2r)
LAST BRIT STANDING: Heather Watson (4r)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Harmony Tan/FRA
IT "Groundbreakers": Ons Jabeur/TUN (1st TUN slam F) and Elena Rybakina/KAZ (1st KAZ slam F/W)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Simona Halep/ROU
CRASH & BURN: #23 Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA (1st Rd./Juvan; had won 2 grass titles); #9 Garbine Muguruza/ESP (1st Rd./Minnen; love 2nd lost when back; worst three-slam stretch of career
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: #24 Elise Mertens/BEL (2nd Rd.: P.Udvardy 2 MP in 2nd set, Mertens wins set and play susp; takes 3rd set a day later)
DOUBLES STAR: Angella Okutoyi/KEN (first Kenyan jr. slam champion)
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Tatjana Maria/GER and Alize Cornet/FRA
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Liv Hovde/USA (Roehampton/Wimbledon sweep)
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: Marie Bouzkova/CZE (1st career slam QF)








All for Day 13. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:21 PM 

2 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Rybakina's celebration was so on brand.

This was one of the more bizarre finals I can remember, but in a good way.

A play in 3 acts:

Act 1- Rybakina hits big, but makes 17 UE and loses the set.

Act 2- Jabeur forces Rybakina to come to net. As ungainly as it looked, Rybakina reached most of them, enough that Jabeur had less margin. This eventually cost her the match.

Act 3- Rybakina played better in front than Jabeur did.

Jabeur being disappointed is a good thing, she's not just happy to be there.

Mertens split from her coach. Obviously about singles. Also note that the women are after Djokovic/Kygrios. Should be reversed, as you build the excitement for the main event. I hope they don't have a 4 hour wait for a half empty stadium.

As the tour continues, we go back to clay, which makes Krejcikova the Budapest favorite, even with 6 Hungarians in the draw.

Niemeier is Lausanne favorite, a year after someone else having a deep slam run(Zidansek) won their first title.

Stat of the Day- 13- Career doubles titles for Yaroslava Shvedova.

The greatest Kazakh player ever? In doubles! The former #3, she won 2 slams, having reached 6 finals.

She won her first title in Pattaya City back in 2009, and her last at Rosmalen in 2016. That was a grass event, which is fitting as her first doubles slam, Wimbledon 2010, was on the same surface.

In Rybakina's box for her historic win, Shvedova has made some history on her own. In 2012, Shvedova won her 1st rd match at the Olympics, making her the first Kazakh to do so. Another moment on grass. In an ironic twist, Jabeur was there. Had she won her 1st rd match, she lost 7-5 to Lisicki-grass!, she would have played Shvedova.

Jabeur will be looking for Tunisia's first match win in 2024.

The other thing that might be surprising? That she won as many titles with Medina Garrigues(3-1), as she did with King(3-4).

Shvedova handled being the first so well that she is now BJK Cup captain.

Sun Jul 10, 07:53:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Little known fact about Shvedova: Yes, she won a golden set, but prior to that, she came one point away from winning one.

Sun Jul 10, 01:00:00 PM EDT  

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