Sunday, September 18, 2022

Wk.37- The WTA's Latest Crush

In the latest wave of Czechs, Linda is the first...







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*WEEK 37 CHAMPIONS*
PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Katerina Siniakova/CZE def. Elena Rybakina/KAZ 6-7(4)/7-6(5)/6-4
D: Marta Kostyuk/Tereza Martincova (UKR/CZE) def. Cristina Bucsa/Tereza Mihalikova (ESP/SVK) 6-4/6-0
CHENNAI, INDIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Linda Fruhvirtova/CZE def. Magda Linette/POL 4-6/6-3/6-4
D: Gaby Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani (CAN/BRA) def. Anna Blinkova/Natela Dzalamidze (RUS/GEO) 6-1/6-2
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (WTA 125 Challenger/Clay Court Outdoor)
S: Irina-Camelia Begu/ROU def. Reka Luca Jani/HUN 6-3/6-3
D: Aliona Bolsova/Andrea Gamiz (ESP/VEN) def. Reka Luca Jani/Panna Udvardy (HUN/HUN) 7-5/6-3




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Katerina Siniakova/CZE
...for a few years now, as her doubles star has risen, it's often been maddening to see how low Siniakova has been ranked in singles after the early promise she showed in her pro career. With the solo rise of her doubles partner Barbora Krejcikova, though, one thought that singles success might *eventually* begin to rub off on her. Well, it finally has.

Fresh off completing her Career Doubles Slam with Krejcikova, doubles #1 Siniakova arrived in Portoroz as the singles #82. The ranking belied an improved slate of singles results in '22, even if she hadn't always come out on top. The Czech *did* win her biggest title in five years (a $100K) last month, reached the Hamburg QF (def. Kasatkina) and the 3rd Round in Miami (knocking off Raducanu), as well as posted good slam wins in Paris (Martic) and New York (Townsend, then took Cornet to 3 sets). But she also came close to more with three set losses to Andreescu in Berlin and Halep in Bad Homburg.

This week, Siniakova opened with wins over Martina Trevisan and Jodie Burrage. And then the fun began. She had to play *two* matches on Saturday, taking out defending champ Jasmine Paolini in a 3rd set TB to reach her first SF in more than a year, then coming back soon after to defeat Anna-Lena Friedsam in two for her first final berth since last summer.

In the final against Elena Rybakina, her third match in a little more than 24 hours, Siniakova played another three hours. She nearly stole the 1st set after trailing 5-0 (she lost a TB), then erased the Kazakh's 2nd set break lead (at 4-3) to ultimately win in three sets, picking up her third career singles title, but first since winning two in 2017. Siniakova's last four finals have been played against players who have won majors (Wozniacki, Halep, Kerber and Rybakina), with her record now improved to 2-2.

Siniakova's title was the final piece of another brilliant week of results for the Czechs, as 17-year old Linda Fruhvirtova had already won her maiden tour title in Chennai, and Brenda Fruhvirtova her fifth straight ITF event, while Tereza Martincova added to the Portoroz haul by picking up her own first tour doubles title hours before Siniakova took to the court.

Siniakova returns to the singles Top 50 with the win, after falling as low as #96 in July, and now trails only Iga Swiatek for the most *overall* titles on tour this season, with her 6 (1 WS/5 WD, 3 of them slams) just one off the Pole's 7 (all singles, w/ 2 majors).


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RISER: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...4-4 since her Wimbledon win, Rybakina opened played in Portoroz with a wild win over Laura Siegemund in which she rallied from 5-2 down in the 3rd, saving a MP and winning in a nearly three and a half hour match. Wins over Tereza Martincova and Ana Bogdan followed as the Kazakh reached her tenth career final, and third this year.

After nearly blowing a 5-0 1st set lead, she nonetheless led by a set and a break at 4-3 in the 2nd, only to see Katerina Siniakova battle all the way back to hand Rybakina her third three-set loss in her last five finals as the Kazkah committed a whopping 66 UE in the match.


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SURPRISES: Ana Bogdan/ROU and Katie Swan/GBR
...Bogdan began the year at #112, but has put together a career season that has included her first WTA final (Warsaw in July), her biggest career title (125 in August), a $60K challenger win and, after her Portoroz semifinal this week, a new career high (around #53) on Monday.

The 29-year old Romanian, who prevously reached the Top 60 back in 2018, found her way past Ajla Tomljanovic, Tamara Zidansek and Beatriz Haddad Maia en route to her sixth career WTA semi, where she lost to Elena Rybakina.



Swan continues to make strides in '22 after a career often thwarted by injuries.

In Chennai, the Brit reached her maiden tour-level SF after posting wins over Arianne Hartono, Anastasia Gasanova and Nao Hibino. The latter win took place on a hot Indian night that didn't reach its end until nearly 3 a.m., meaning that Swan had little to give when she returned to the court the next day. She retired after just three games against Magda Linette.



Swan will burst through another career door on Monday, though, climbing 40+ spots in the rankings to a new career high of #131, more than 30 spots higher than her previous high water mark in 2018.


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VETERANS: Irina-Camelia Begu/ROU and Magda Linette/POL
...already with a tour singles title (Palermo), slam Round of 16 (RG) and Top 5 win (Sabalenka/Miami) in her back pocket in '22, Begu added a WTA 125 crown in dominant fashion on home soil in Bucharest. Begu didn't lose a set all week, taking out Laura Pigossi (allowing just 4 games), Irina Bara (2), Kateryna Baindl (2), Sara Errani (4) and Reka Luca Jani (6).

Begu, who won a tour-level title in Bucharest in '17, will climb back into the Top 40 on Monday at #33. She reached a career high of #22 in 2016.



In Chennai, Linette, who has spent her entire career in the Polish shadows of either Aga or Iga, reached her fifth WTA singles final, but her first since 2020. She made her way through to the final without having dropped a set (helped by Katie Swan's retirement after three games in the SF), notching wins over Oksana Selekhmeteva and Rebecca Marino. She took the 1st set against Linda Fruhvirtova, and led 4-1 in the 3rd, but saw the teenager surge to her maiden tour crown.



Meanwhile, if they ever need a model for a new WTA logo...


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COMEBACKS: Nadia Podoroska/ARG and Anna-Lena Friedsam/GER
...having sat out nearly a year to recover from a handful of injuries, former Roland Garros semifinalist Podoroska produced her first big tour-level result since her late June return to action. In Chennai, the Argentine reached her first QF/SF since her Paris run two years ago, winning a 3rd set TB (from 5-1 down) over Tatjana Maria and then taking out the similarly comeback-minded Genie Bouchard in the QF.

Podoroska claimed the opening set, but lost in three after leading 4-2 in the 3rd vs. Linda Fruhvirtova to fall just short of her first WTA singles final. Still, she'll jump nearly 100 spots (from #298) in the next rankings to nearly inside the Top 200.



In Portoroz, #173-ranked Friedsam (w/ 15 losses this year to #100+ players) qualified (def. top-seeded Harriet Dart) then put on her first tour-level SF run since March '20, notching victories over Elli Mandlik (after losing a love 1st) and Emma Raducanu (after having lost a love 2nd), then rallying from 1-6/1-4, love/40 down (and a break down at 1-0 and 3-2 in the 3rd) against Diane Parry in the QF.



Friedsam's run finally ended at the hands of Katerina Siniakova, but she'll find herself back in the Top 150 in the new rankings.
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FRESH FACES: Linda Fruhvirtova/CZE and Diane Parry/FRA
...we knew it would happen eventually, and this week it finally did. No, not the tour's first stop in India since 2008 (a Bangalore event won by someone named Serena) -- the moment when the first member of the young Crush of Czechs would win a WTA title.

As it turns out, it's Fruhvirtova (Linda, to be specific), in Chennai.

The 17-year showed great fight, earning the support of the Indian crowd on her way to her maiden crown, just two weeks after having made her slam MD debut (and getting her first win) at Flushing Meadows. After opening victories over Liang En-shuo and Rebecca Peterson, the teenager rallied from 4-2 down in the 1st and 3-0 in the 2nd to defeat Varvara Gracheva in straights to reach her maiden tour SF, then dropped the 1st set and came back from 4-2 in the 3rd to take down Nadia Podoroska to reach her first final. Once there, the pattern held up, as Fruhvirtova dropped the 1st against Magda Linette and staged a comeback from 4-1 back in the decider to defeat the Polish vet 4-6/6-3/6-4 to become the youngest tour singles champ since a 15-year old Coco Gauff won in Linz three years ago.

She makes her Top 100 debut (#74) on Monday, supplanting Gauff (again) as the youngest with that current distinction.



Having already cracked the Top 100, reached a pair of slam 3rd Rounds (RG/WI, w/ a 125 semi between majors) and recorded her first career Top 10 win (Krejcikova/RG) this season, 22-year old Parry posted her fifth QF+ tour-level result of '22 (all in her last five events) in Portoroz with wins over Donna Vekic and Anastasia Potapova. She led Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-1/4-1 (and twice had break leads in the 3rd) for a semifinal slot, but fell in three to the German.

Parry will rise to a new career high of #66 on Monday.


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ITF PLAYER: Jaqueline Cristian/ROU
...last year, Cristian reached her first tour-level QF, SF and Final and cracked the Top 100. She began '22 by making her slam MD debut in Melbourne. But a February knee injury in Doha kept her out until she returned at Flushing Meadows. In her second event back, she won an $80K challenger in Le Neubourg, France this week, knocking off Sonay Kartal, Ysaline Bonaventure and Harmony Tan on her way to the final, then handling Belgian Magali Kempen 6-4/6-4 to claim her biggest career title.



We're only a few weeks away from the second edition of the Transylvania Open, where last year Cristian put on a show with her pre-match walk-ons decked out in a Dracula cape. Maybe she'll return this year and up the ante by adding some fangs?


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JUNIOR STAR: Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE
...while her 17-year old sister Linda will be the youngest player ranked in the Top 100 on Monday, 15-year old Brenda is already the youngest in the Top *200*.

This weekend, the Czech continued her mastery of the ITF $25K challenger schedule, picking up her circuit-leading seventh title (five in a row) of the season and extending her ITF winning streak to 25 matches in Santa Margherita di Puli, Italy. Fruhvirtova lost her second set (of 52) in her streak, to Greek Sapfo Sakellaridi in the semis, but didn't even have to finish her final against Jessica Pieri, as the Italian retired two games into the 2nd set.

Fruvirtova won't turn 16 until April of 2023.


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DOUBLES: Gaby Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani, CAN/BRA
...in 2021, Stefani won an historic Olympic Bronze for Brazil (w/ Laura Pigossi) in Tokyo, as well as joining with Dabrowski to win Montreal and reach the Cincinnati final en route to a Top 10 WD ranking. But her knee injury in the '21 U.S. Open SF kept her off tour until this week, when she reunited in Chennai with Dabrowski (who has since won Madrid and reached the Rome final partnering Giuliana Olmos). The duo rode a wave all the way to the winner's circle without dropping a set, defeating Anna Blinkova & Natela Dzalamidze 6-1/6-2 in the final.

Stefani had previously announced that she would return this coming week in Tokyo (w/ Ena Shibahara), but while practicing at the U.S. Open worked out with Dabrowski & Olmos a chance to "borrow" the Canadian this week in India. It turned out to be a pretty great deal for both of them.


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WHEELCHAIR: Jiske Griffioen/NED
...before Diede de Groot assumed command of the wheelchair tour, her countrywoman Griffioen had been the #1-ranked player, winning the first Wimbledon WC singles title (and 4 of 6 majors in 2015-16) and sweeping the Paralympic s/d Golds before retiring after 2017. Griffioen returned in 2019 and has gradually worked her way back up the wheelchair rankings, returning to slam action in '22 (and reaching the U.S. semis last week) and regaining her Top 10 status (#6 this week).

In Montreal, the 37-year old claimed the Birmingham Wheelchair Classic, her fifth Series 2 win of the season, with a 6-3/6-7/6-0 win in the final over Dana Mathewson.

Mathewson claimed the doubles alongside Lucy Shuker, defeating Griffioen & Emmanuelle Morch in a 10-7 MTB to take the final.
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1. Portoroz 1st Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Laura Siegemund
...6-7(4)/6-4/7-6(8). Just your typical 3:22 1st Rounder in which the Wimbledon champ, who'd won three of four matches vs. the veteran German, rallied from 5-2 down in the 3rd and saved a MP in what turned out to be the first step in a week that ended with her first post-SW19 final appearance.


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2. Portoroz Final - Katerina Siniakova def. Elena Rybakina
...6-7(4)/7-6(5)/6-4. Siniakova plays the "long game" vs. the Kazakh, ralling from 5-0 down in the 1st to make a set of it, then from a set and break in the 2nd (at 4-3) to win another TB and then pull away in the 3rd (as Rybakina's UE total climbed to 66 for the day) for her first tour singles title in five years.


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3. Portoroz 2nd Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Kaja Juvan
...5-7/6-2/7-6(5). The defending champion vs. the home event crowd favorite. Juvan took the 1st from 5-2 down by winning five straight games, then rallied from 3-0 down in the 3rd to force a deciding TB, only to fall short. Juvan has gone 4-8 since her RU finish in Strasbourg, including going 1-5 in her last six.
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4. Portoroz QF - Anna-Lena Friedsam def. Diane Parry
...1-6/7-6(4)/6-3. Friedsam charges back from 1-6/1-4, love/40 down (then twice from break deficits in the 3rd) to clip the Pastry in just under three hours to reach her first tour SF since March '20.
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5. Bucharest 125 QF - Reka Luca Jani def. Panna Udvardy
...0-6/6-4/7-5. Jani had to work to reach the singles final, clawing back from 6-0/3-0 and 4-1 down in the 2nd to force a 3rd set. There, Jani lost a 5-1 lead and failed to convert 5 MP as Udvardy knotted the set at 5-5 before Jani swept the final two games.

Bucharest 125 Final - Irina-Camelia Begu def. Reka Luca Jani 6-3/6-3
...while Jani had had to work (as in three straight three setters) to reach the final, Begu had virtually breezed through the draw on home soil. The Romanian's pattern held in the championship match, as she dropped just 18 games all week (vs. Jani's 55).


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6. Chennai 1st Rd. - Genie Bouchard def. Joanne Züger
...7-6(4)/6-2. Wild card Bouchard picked up her first win in 17 months, in the first tour-level MD match of her (then) four-match old comeback from shoulder surgery.



She backed it up with another victory over Karman Thandi to reach the QF before falling to Nadia Podoroska in three sets. Unfortunately, she had to retire from her doubles SF shortly thereafter.


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7. Portoroz 1st Rd. - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Marta Kostyuk
...7-6(5)/5-7/7-5. Another week, another Kostyuk match vs. a Belarusian Russian that ended in a loss (Kostyuk had served for the match at 5-4) and post-match racket tap.



Alexandrova lost in her following singles match (to another Ukrainian, Lesia Tsurenko... who then pulled out of her QF match), while Kostyuk played all the way into the WD final with Tereza Martincova.

Portoroz Final - Marta Kostyuk/Tereza Martincova def. Cristina Bucsa/Tereza Mihalikova 6-4/6-0
...in a doubles final in which three of the four participants were looking for their maiden tour title, Kostyuk & Martincova erased their combined 0-3 career WTA WD final record with a straight sets win. The path to the crown included a 2nd Round win over Alexandrova/Heisen which had allowed Kostyuk to "sort of" avenge her 1st Round singles loss to the Russian.


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8. Chennai 2nd Rd. - Nadia Podoroska def. Tatjana Maria
...3-6/6-2/7-6(6). The Argentine stages a comeback from 5-1 down in the 3rd set TB and goes on to reach her first tour-level SF since her RG run in October '20.


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9. Chennai 1st Rd. - Varvara Gracheva def. Mariia Tkacheva
...6-3/6-2. Gracheva finally ends her 10-match losing streak. Was that a look of relief on her face?



She'd reach the QF with a 2nd Round win over Carol Zhao, only to lose to Linda Fruhvirtova in straight sets after having led the 1st 4-2 and 2nd 3-0.


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10. Portoroz Q2 - Anastasia Zakharova def. Ana Konjuh
...5-3 ret. If Konjuh didn't have bad luck she wouldn't have any luck at all.


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11. Portoroz 1st Rd. - Emma Raducanu def. Dayana Yastremska
...6-2/5-3 ret. Down love/30, two points from defeat, Yastremska retires with a sore wrist... making lifelong "fans" in social media betting circles worldwide.
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12. $25K Darwin AUS Final - Alexandra Bozovic def. Destanee Aiava/span>
...6-1/6-4. Aiava again has a go at her first singles title since 2019, but falls to 0-3 in '22 finals vs. her fellow Aussies. She lost her previous two to Talia Gibson.
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13. $15K Dijon FRA Final - Lois Boisson def. Vivian Wolff
...7-5/3-6/7-5. The 19-year old Pastry wins her maiden pro title.


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14. Budapest 125 Q1 - Erika Andreeva def. Adrienn Nagy
...3-6/7-5/6-1. Last week her little sister Mirra (15) last week knocked off top-seeded Sofia Costoulas in the U.S. Open juniors 3rd Round before falling to eventual champ Alex Eala in the QF, and this weekend 18-year old Erika rallied from 6-3/4-0 back to post an opening round qualifying win.



Andreeva lost in the final Q-round to -- what else? -- a Czech, Jesika Maleckova in three sets.
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15. Chennai 1st Rd. - Karman Thandi def. Chloe Paquet
...4-6/6-4/6-3. India's #2-ranked player, wild card Thandi plays in (and wins) her first tour-level MD match since 2018 (Guangzhou, a three-set loss to Kuznetsova).


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HM- Tokyo Q1 - Kurumi Nara def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez 6-0/6-3
Tokyo Q1 - Isabella Shinikova def. Desirae Krawczyk 7-6(4)/7-5
...if Melichar and Krawczyk had won they'd have faced off in the next round... in singles.

It *has* happened before. In the first round of qualifying in a challenger event in Arizona back in 2016. Melichar won in three sets. Krawczyk's long-refridgerated revenge will have to wait.
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1. Chennai SF - Linda Fruhvirtova def. Nadia Podoroska
...5-7/6-2/6-4. Battling back from a set down and 4-2 in the 3rd, Fruhvirtova is the first of the Crush of Czechs to reach a tour-level singles final. She won't be the last.


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2. Chennai Final - Linda Fruhvirtova def. Magda Linette
...4-6/6-3/6-4. Battling back from a set down and 4-1 in the 3rd, Fruhvirtova is the first of the Crush of Czechs to lift her first WTA singles title. She won't be the last. Heck, she won't even be the only one named Fruhvirtova.


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3. $25K Santa Margherita di Puli ITA 1st Rd. - Brenda Fruhvirtova vs. def. Tatiana Piera 6-3/7-5
$25K Santa Margherita di Puli ITA Final - Brenda Fruhvirtova vs. Jessica Pieri 6-4/2-0 ret.
...en route to her circuit-best seventh challenger title of the season, Tatiana was Fruhvirtova's 21st consecutive ITF challenger victim, while the Italian's sister Jessica was the 25th.
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*2022 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Anastasia Potapova, RUS - Istanbul (21/#122)
Martina Trevisan, ITA - Rabat (28/#85)
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA - Nottingham (26/#48)
Bernarda Pera, USA - Budapest (27/#130)
Marie Bouzkova, CZE - Prague (24/#66)
LINDA FRUHVIRTOVA, CZE - CHENNAI (17/#130)
[doubles]
Bernarda Pera, USA (Melbourne 2)
Jessie Pegula, USA (Melbourne 1)
Kaitlyn Christian, USA (Guadalajara)
Catherine Harrison, USA (Monterrey)
Sabrina Santamaria, USA (Monterrey)
Aldila Sutjiadi, INA (Bogota)
Magda Linette, POL (Charleston)
Sophie Chang, USA (Hamburg)
Angela Kulikov, USA (Hamburg)
Anna Bondar, HUN (Palermo)
Alicia Barnett, GBR (Granby)
Olivia Nicholls, GBR (Granby)
MARTA KOSTYUK, UKR (PORTOROZ)
TEREZA MARTINCOVA, CZE (PORTORIZ)

*2022 NATIONS w/ MULTIPLE WS CHAMPIONS IN SAME WEEK*
Week 32 (RUS) - Kasatkina (San Jose) and Samsonova (Washington)
Week 34 (RUS) - Kasatkina (Granby) and Samsonova (Cleveland)
Week 37 (CZE) - Siniakova (Portoroz) and L.Fruhvirtova (Chennai)

*2022 MULT. DIFFERENT WS CHAMPIONS FROM NATIONS*
4 = CZE - Bouzkova,L.FRUHVIRTOVA,Kvitova,SINIAKOVA
4 = RUS - Alexandrova,Kasatkina,Potapova,Samsonova
4 = USA - Anisimova,Keys,Pera,Stephens
2 = GER - Kerber,Maria
2 = ROU - Begu,Halep

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2020s*
11 - 1/7/3 = Anett Kontaveit (5-5-1)
10 - 1/2/7 = Iga Swiatek (10-0)
9 - 1/6/2 = Ash Barty (8-1)
9 - 0/3/6 = Ons Jabeur (3-6)
8 - 3/3/2 = Aryna Sabalenka (5-3)
8 - 5/0/3 = ELENA RYBAKINA (2-6)
6 - 3/1/2 = Simona Halep (5-1)
6 - 0/4/2 = Dasha Kasatkina (4-2)
6 - 1/5/0 = Garbine Muguruza (3-3)
5 - 0/4/1 = Barbora Krejcikova (3-2)
5 - 0/3/2 = Belinda Bencic (2-3)
5 - 0/2/3 = Veronika Kudermetova (1-4)
5 - 2/3/0 = Karolina Pliskova (1-4)

*2022 LOW-RANKED FINALISTS*
#237 - Tatjana Maria, GER (Bogota - W)
#212 - Laura Pigossi, BRA (Bogota)
#140 - Dayana Yastremska, UKR (Lyon )
#130 - LINDA FRUHVIRTOVA, CZE (Chennai - W)
#130 - Bernarda Pera, USA (Budapest - W)
#124 - Olga Danilovic, SRB (Lausanne)
#122 - Anastasia Potapova, RUS (Istanbul - W)
[SF]
#298 - NADIA PODOROSKA/ARG = Chennai
#237 - Tatjana Maria/GER = Bogota (W)
#212 - Laura Pigossi/BRA = Bogota (RU)
#190 - Kateryna Baindl/UKR = Warsaw
#174 - KATIE SWAN/GBR = Chennai
#173 - ANNA-LENA FRIEDSAM/GER = Portoroz
#144 - Wang Qiang/CHN = Guadalajara
#141 - Wang Qiang/CHN = Prague
#140 - Dayana Yastremska/UKR = Lyon (RU)
#130 - LINDA FRUHVIRTOVA/CZE = Chennai (W)
#130 - Bernarda Pera/USA = Budapest (W)

*2022 YOUNGEST WTA FINALISTS*
17 - LINDA FRUHVIRTOVA, CZE (Chennai - W)
18 - Coco Gauff, USA (Roland Garros - L)
19 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (Monterrey - W)
20 - Camila Osorio, COL (Monterrey - L)
20 - Amanda Anisimova, USA (Melbourne 2 - W)
20 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Doha - W)
20 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Indian Wells - W)
20 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Miami - W)
20 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Stuttgart - W)
20 - Iga Swiatek, POL (Rome - W)
[doubles]
17 - Coco Gauff, USA (Doha - W)
18 - Coco Gauff, USA (Stuttgart - L)
18 - Coco Gauff, USA (Roland Garros - L)
18 - Coco Gauff, USA (Toronto - W)
20 - MARTA KOSTYUK, UKR (Portoroz - W)
20 - Caty McNally, USA (Saint Petersburg - W)
20 - Caty McNally, USA (Washington - L)
20 - Caty McNally, USA (US Open - L)
20 - Wang Xinyu, CHN (Guadalajara - L)
20 - Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS (Istanbul - L)
20 - Anastasia Zakharova, RUS (Prague - L)

*2022 FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
Melbourne 1 - Zheng Qinwen, CHN (19/#126)
Monterrey - Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP (30/#51)
Bogota - Laura Pigossi, BRA (27/#212) = RU
Bogota - Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS (20/#111)
Rabat - Claire Liu, USA (21/#92) = RU
Rabat - Lucia Bronzetti, ITA (23/#83)
Rabat - Anna Bondar, HUN (24/#67)
Rabat - Martina Trevisan, ITA (28/#85) = W
Prague - Linda Noskova, CZE (17/#112)
Granby - Diane Parry, FRA (20/#81)
Chennai - LINDA FRUHVIRTOVA, CZE (17/#130) = W
Chennai - KATIE SWAN, GBR (23/#174)

*2022 BEST WS RESULTS - SOUTH AMERICANS*
[W]
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (Nottingham)
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (Birmingham)
[RU]
Camila Osorio, ARG (Monterrey)
Laura Pigossi, BRA (Bogota)
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (Toronto)
[SF]
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (Eastbourne)
NADIA PODOROSKA, ARG (Chennai)

*2022 WTA 125 FINALS*
Marbella, ESP - Mayar Sherif/EGY d. Tamara Korpatsch/GER
Saint-Malo, FRA - Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA d. Anna Blinkova/RUS
Paris, FRA - Claire Liu/USA d. Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
Karlsruhe, GER - Mayar Sherif/EGY d. Bernarda Pera/USA
Makarska, CRO - Jule Niemeier/GER d. Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA
Valencia ESP - Zheng Qinwen/CHN d. Wang Xiyu/CHN
Gaiba, ITA - Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL d. Sara Errani/ITA
Bastad, SWE - Jang Su-jeong/KOR d. Rebeka Masarova/ESP
Contrexeville, FRA - Sara Errani/ITA d. Dalma Galfi/HUN
Iasi, ROU - Ana Bogdan/ROU d. Panna Udvardy/HUN
Concord, USA - CoCo Vandeweghe/USA d. Bernarda Pera/USA
Vancouver, CAN - Valentini Grammatikopoulou/GRE d. Lucia Bronzetti/ITA
Bari, ITA - Julia Grahber/AUT d. Nuria Brancaccio/ITA
Bucharest, ROU - Irina-Camelia Begu/ROU d. Reka Luca Jani/HUN






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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 9:54 PM 

5 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Week of the Czech? Not as catchy as "Year of the Cat" but just as effective.

26 year old Siniakova trying to make sure the Czech Crush doesn't push her out just yet.

Loved seeing the amount of kids Chennai had in the stands. The kid on court also did well.

Don't even mind that they cheered during the points. They will stay fans for life.

Stella McCartney. Nike. P.E. Nation? I think Bogdan might have put them on the map this weekend. Have only been in business since 2016.

Rybakina/Bogdan was a fun match that didn't reflect the scoreline. Problem was that Bogdan was 0/8 on BP while Rybakina was 5/11.

Bogdan's rise in the rankings is due to improving her defense, which was atrocious in her early years.

Stat of the Week- 25- The number of times we have had a first time winner the week after a slam in the last 10 full seasons.

I may joke about always picking a winner at a new event, but also the week after a slam because it literally happens every year. Fruhvirtova took care of both yesterday, so why not look at the last 10 full seasons(2012-19, 21-22) and see the numbers.

I will say that with AO/US on hard, I thought that it would be easier to win after both, than events in which you switched surfaces.

I was half right.

10-21 US
7 -18 RG
6 -19 W
2 -18 AO

This reads as 10 titles in 21 events after the US Open, while only 2 of 18 after Australia.

First Time Winners-After Slams:

2012- Kerber, Oudin, Begu, Flipkens
2013- Halep
2014- Knapp
2015- Konjuh, Giorgi, Larsson
2016- Golubic, Dodin, McHale
2017- Mladenovic, Kontaveit, Van Uytvanck, Diyas
2018- Krunic
2019- Rybakina, Ferro, Peterson
2021- Ruse, Paolini
2022- Haddad Maia, Pera, Fruhvirtova

Had I counted 2020, the streak would still count as Tig won, something she did in a 15K this week after a 14 month layoff.

The week after a slam is a good way to see the next generation step up.

Quiz Time!

Katerina Siniakova has 3 singles titles. Which event did she not win?

A.Shenzhen
B.Swedish Open
C.Slovenia Open
D.Bad Homburg

Interlude- Big server.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myHSZSfMkHk&t=35s


Answer!

Well, she just won (C)Slovenia in a 3 hr match, which rivals her longest on record, 3:10 vs Sakkari at 2019 RG. Touched by the emotion shown after match point.

I could give you a half point for (A)Shenzhen, as she did lose to Halep in the final, but that wasn't what I was looking for as she beat Riske the prior year.

Same goes for (B)Swedish Open in reverse, as she lost to Siegemund first, coming back the next year to beat Wozniacki.

That leaves (D)Bad Homburg as correct, though reaching the final on grass means that she has done so on all surfaces. That is a 250 event, as is all 7 of her finals.

Mon Sep 19, 09:06:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- Semi Asian Swing Edition.

Note-2022 Asian Games will be played at this time in 2023.

1.Zheng- Tokyo pick has her next match against Badosa, but she already had 10 wins vs higher ranked players this season. Time for her first final.
2.Alexandrova- Korea pick has only won multiple matches in 3 of 17 events. She had Top 20 wins in each of those, and seems primed for another deep run to end the season.
3.Ostapenko- The only 250 winner(2017) in Korea's field. Zhu Lin won a downgraded 125K last year, she is the top seed with a draw better than her wardrobe choices.
4.Garcia- Before winning Wuhan and Beijing in 2017, she lost to world #1 Muguruza in Tokyo. Has it been that long? That was a quarterfinal match, and if the post USO hangover isn't strong, she should match that.
5.Osaka- There will be drama. But I need to mention that she is hit or miss here. 4 first match losses in Q/MD, but has reached the final in her other 3 appearances, which makes her the defending champ, even though that was 2019.

Mon Sep 19, 09:17:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Tsurenko- Has actually played some of the best matches of the year, but can't back it up. Had her 6th RET/WO of the season, 4 of them after beating a higher ranked player.
2.Riske-Amritraj- Had lost 3 in a row, after being bumped out of Tokyo. Chennai must hurt as the loss to Gasanova was the 4th sub 100 loss of the year. Plus extended family in Vijay Amritraj was running the event. Fun fact- the award given to Linda Fruhvirtova last week is the Margaret Amritraj Award, maned after Vijay's mother.
3.Trevisan- Not really a down, as the claymate takes the week off to prepare for the last clay event of the year in Parma. The probable #1 seed, this is a chance to improve her current 3-8 record since RG.
4.Badosa- Got her title early. Hasn't been a bad year, but she has 17 losses, 11 of them to Top 30 players. The only one below 60 was Burrage on grass.
5.Mladenovic- Kind of copying from Todd, but if Siniakova can win in singles after winning a doubles slam, why can't Mladenovic. Has a really good draw this week, but the red flag is that she hasn't had a win on hard on WTA level for a year. I lied, it has only been 51 weeks, as she got one in Nur Sultan in 2021. She had 16 in 2017.

Mon Sep 19, 09:30:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

I was really impressed by Linda when she played in that special "Covid production" 250 in Charleston last year.

And I think that maybe you're now planning the Jukebox segment by asking "How can I make Diane cry?" :)

Mon Sep 19, 06:05:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-

One wonders if Siniakova may inherit the role of BJK Cup leader of the kids corps.

Quiz: thought it was Bad Homburg, and was right for once!!! :)

Lisicki (who's surely been through injuries right after coming back from an injury) was one of the first to tweet encouragement to Saville after she went down in Tokyo vs. Osaka. Hopefully it's nothing bad with her knee for Dasha (crossing fingers maybe a scar tissue thing that was more scary than damaging).


D-

Well, you know what's coming next week. (They're mostly upbeat ONJ selections, though.) ;)

Tue Sep 20, 06:14:00 PM EDT  

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