Sunday, September 25, 2022

Wk.38- Hordette Hegemony

Well, Liudmila is back at it again...








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*WEEK 38 CHAMPIONS*
TOKYO, JAPAN (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Liudmila Samsonova/RUS def. Zheng Qinwen/CHN 7-5/7-5
D: Gaby Dabrowski/Giuliana Olmos (CAN/MEX) def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez (USA/AUS) 6-4/6-4
SEOUL, KOREA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS def. Alona Ostapenko/LAT 7-6(4)/6-0
D: Kristina Mladenovic/Yanina Wickmayer (FRA/BEL) def. Sabrina Santamaria/Asia Muhammad (USA/USA) 6-3/6-2
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (WTA 125 Challenger/Red Clay Court Outdoor)
S: Tamara Korpatsch/GER def. Viktoriya Tomova/BUL 7-6(3)/6-7(4)/6-0
D: Anna Bondar/Kimberley Zimmermann (HUN/BEL) def. Renata Voracova/Jesika Maleckova (CZE/CZE) 6-3/2-6 [10-5]




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Liudmila Samsonova/RUS
...Samsonova is seemingly the WTA's Russian version of Punxsutawney Phil, because whenever she has success more success from her fellow Hordettes seems to follow. This week was no exception, as her title run again served as a pied piper moment for one of her countrywomen (and this time her name wasn't Dasha).



Over the summer, and now the fall, Samsonova has found herself. The Russian's title run in Tokyo gives her three in the past two months, two of them coming without dropping a set, as she's gone 18-1 and risen from #60 to #23 (on Monday) while winning 36 of 40 sets (including 18 straight at one point, and now 28 of the last 30).

This week saw Samsonova open with a straight sets win over Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina, followed by victories over Wang Xinyu (w/ 12 aces), Garbine Muguruza, Zhang Shuai (40 winners) and, finally, Zheng Qinwen in the final after taking advantage of the Chinese teenager's lone blink in the 1st set (at 5-5, her first DF gave Samsonova her first BP) to take the lead and then further outduel her down the stretch in a 7-5/7-5 win to add another "W" to her W-W-4r-W stretch since her enforced (by the LTA and AELTC) Wimbledon break.


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RISER: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
...Alexandrova has often been lost in the fog of the recent Hordette resurgence revolving around Liudmila Samsonova, Dasha Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova, but over the course of '22 she's proven to be an all-surface threat (w/ SF or better results on both clay and grass this spring/summer). This week saw a hard court title run in Seoul that ended much like her win on the grass at Rosmalen this summer, with a straight sets win in the final that included a love 2nd set.

This week, Alexandrova handled an admittedly "third-tier" handful of opponents in Asia Muhammad (who won a set), WC Han Na-lae and qualifier Lulu Sun to reach her first SF since Rosmalen, and her first this season on hard courts after going 4-4 on the surface this summer. Once deep into the draw, Alexandrova handled Tatjana Maria's unconventional game to reach the final, where she withstood Alona Ostapenko's more straightforward assault (rallying from 5-3 down and saving a SP in the 1st), winning an opening TB and then claiming the 2nd at love after the Latvian suffered a foot injury and offered little defense down the stretch.

Alexandrova's title run, the third of her career, will inch her up to #21 in the rankings, a new career high that *finally* has her knocking on the door of her belated Top 20 debut.
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SURPRISE: Tamara Korpatsch/GER
...in the end, Korpatsch has had the last laugh after speaking up (and out) about being left behind by doubles partner Harmony Tan at Wimbledon after the French woman withdrew as her partner when she found herself in the middle of an unexpected second week singles run.

While the German hasn't won a doubles match since being denied in London, she's emerged from what was a 7-match singles losing streak that began the week *before* Wimbledon to now win back-to-back singles titles in, first, at $60K challenger in Montreaux (SUI) earlier this month and this week claiming her biggest career crown in the WTA 125 in Budapest, reeling off victories over Lucia Bronzetti, Danka Kovinic, Arantxa Rus, Anna Bondar and Viktoriya Tomova in a three-set final in which she lost a 7-6/3-0, 30/love (and serving at 5-4) lead and dropped a 2nd set TB, only to then turn around and blank the Bulgarian in a love 3rd for her 11th straight win.

The 27-year old Korpatsch, who reached what was then her first 125 (and biggest) final in Marbella back in April, will climb to a new career high on Monday, cracking the Top 100 for the first time.


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VETERANS: Tatjana Maria/GER and Zhang Shuai/CHN
...6-7 since her Wimbledon SF experience, in Seoul, Maria had her best result since SW19, reaching her third tour-level semifinal (she has three more in ITF events) of the season, doing so on a third different surface with wins over Genie Bouchard, Kimberly Birrell and Zhu Lin. The German fell to Ekaterina Alexandrova, but her week lifts her (just) past both Jule Niemeier and (the on maternity leave) Angelique Kerber into the German #1 ranking at #70.



In Tokyo, Zhang saved a MP, ate a sandwich (literally... during the match), and upset Caroline Garcia despite the Pasty putting in a ridiculous 27 aces (!!) on the day, then knocked off Petra Martic to reach her third '22 semifinal. She lost in two sets to eventual champ Liudmila Samsonova, falling just shot of her third final appearance of the year but ultimately holding onto her Chinese #1 standing when Zheng Qinwen lost to Samsonova in that final.



Zhang had also received a nice note from Samsonova after their semifinal encounter...


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COMEBACKS: Emma Raducanu/GBR and Kristina Mladenovic/Yanina Wickmayer, FRA/BEL
...with her U.S. Open title defense now in her rear view mirror, Raducanu's "next season" has officially started. After a 2nd Round exit in Portoroz last week, in Seoul the Brit reached her first tour semifinal since her Flushing Meadows run. Wins over Moyuka Uchijima, Yanina Wickmayer and last week's Chennai finalist Magda Linette (ending Raducanu's 0-3 streak in QF) put her within a win of the final.

Raducanu took the opening set in the semis over Alona Ostapenko, only to see her time in Seoul end in the same way that so many of her others have elsewhere over the past year -- with an injury. Down 3-0 in the 3rd, Raducanu retired with a left glute injury, her fourth official in-match retirement this season, accounting for nearly a quarter of her 17 tournament losses in '22 (and she's had a handful of *other* exits precipitated by injury-related fades, as well).


Meanwhile, Mladenovic and Wickmayer, who combined to win the Seoul doubles, are in the process of very different "comebacks."

Wickmayer returned this season after having a baby, and her title this week is her first of any kind since she returned to action, not to mention her first since winning an ITF WD crown in '19 and first win at tour level since being a WTA singles/doubles champ in '16.

Mladenovic hasn't really *gone* anywhere, but both her singles (due to results, and DF) and doubles (due to inactivity) standings have lagged over the past year. She came into the week at #135 in singles (FRA #8), and was even at an obscenely low (for her) #23 in doubles. In singles, she won a match (w/ 13 DF) over a #469-ranked Korean WC, but then lost a round later to Magda Linette (w/ 12 more in a match in which the Pastry held 2 MP), failing to collect back-to-back WTA MD wins for the first time since Portoroz last September.

Mladenovic/Wickmayer had to win an 11-9 MTB in the 1st Round, but then didn't drop a set the rest of the way, taking out Chennai finalists Blinkova/Dzalamidze and the #3 (Alexandrova/Sizikova) and #1 (Muhammad/Santamaria) seeds in straights the rest of the way.

The win gives Wickmayer three career WTA WD titles, while Mladenovic now has 27, including three this year with three different partners. Wickmayer is Mladenovic's 19th different pro title-winning WD/MX partner in her career (+ Gasquet in the Hopman Cup event), with her spreading the wealth with five (Garcia, Danilovic, Haddad Maia, Wickmayer and Ivan Dodig) in '22 alone across all levels. The win finally pushes Mladenovic back into the doubles Top 20.


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FRESH FACES: Zheng Qinwen/CHN and Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND
...has the 2023 season started early? Because Zheng already seems to be arduously working on her inevitable (right?) *huge* rise up the rankings that'll occur over the next twelve months.

While the 19-year old didn't win her maiden tour title (it's just a matter of time, though) in Tokyo, she did just about everything else, from winning 19 straight points in a 1st Round win over Misaki Doi, to picking up a Top 5 win over #4 Paula Badosa. After a victory over Claire Liu to reach her first WTA semi since Week 1, Zheng took down Veronika Kudermetova in a 3rd set TB to reach her first career tour-level singles final (at #36, she'd been the highest-ranked player without a career final appearance).

Zheng couldn't get past the streaking Liudmila Samsonova (but it was close, at 7-5/7-5) to win title #1 or become the new CHN #1 (she'll be #28, two spots behind Zhang Shuai), but check back in a year when she'll likely have already banked multiple titles, reached (at least) a slam semi and is (at worst) nipping at the heels of the Top 10.



Meanwhile, in Seoul, VJK lost in qualifying (to Lulu Sun) only to then join the main draw as a lucky loser and become the first Andorran to win a tour-level MD match with a 1st Round victory over Chloe Paquet. The 2020 AO junior champ, 17, then followed up with another over Rebecca Marino to reach the QF before falling in straight sets to Alona Ostapenko.



VJK climbs 33 spots on Monday, just nipping (by 1) her best career standing to reach a new high of #153. She's the third-youngest player ranked in the Top 200, behind only Chennai champ Linda Fruhvirtova and reigning RG girls winner Linda Noskova.
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DOWN: Dasha Saville/AUS
...before Caroline Garcia's summer surge, Saville was a legitimate (possible) front-runner for 2022 Comeback Player of the Year, returning from Achilles surgery to climb from #419 to the Top 50 (#55 this past week), reaching her first slam 3rd Round (RG) in four years, her first tour singles final (Granby) and 1000 QF (Miami) in five, and recording a pair of Top 10 wins (and not cheapies, either -- Jabeur at I.W. in 3, Pegula in D.C. in 2).

Well, all of that came to grinding halt (after one game) in Tokyo.

As usual, Saville's week was eventful. It began with her being present at the draw when she learned that she'd face Naomi Osaka in the opening match of her return to Japan.



She then got to take part in some local activities...



Then came the match. And after just one game...



At first, there was hope (and a little bewilderment)...



Then the reality (a torn ACL in her left knee), nearly a decade after having reconstructive right knee surgery in 2013.



So, we now enter into *another* comeback phase, one surely filled with more entertaining social media updates and distractions (so there's that). But, in tennis terms: bad for Dasha, bad for her fans... but at least it'll mean more face time for doggo Tofu (whose birthday was apparently this past week).
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ITF PLAYERS: Aliona Bolsova/ESP and Madison Brengle/USA
...in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, Bolsova picked up her biggest career title (and first since '18) by knocking off three seeds (#4 Elsa Jacquemot, #6 Tena Lukas, #2 Alexandra Cadantu Ignacik) to reach the final, then defeating Slovenian Nina Potocnik 7-5/6-1 to claim her seventh career challenger crown.

A former NCAA product (Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic), Bolsova reached the Round of 16 as a qualifier at Roland Garros in 2019, and has posted a pair of MD U.S. Open wins (2019-20). The Spaniard has fallen in slam qualifying at the last five majors, though, four times in the opening round.

Maybe this week begins her march back, as she'll return to the Top 200 on Monday after having dropped out in April. Bolsova ranked as high as #88 in the summer of '19 after her run in Paris.



In Berkeley, California, the week's U.S.-based $60K went to Brengle. The 32-year old, who has quietly now competed in 32 consecutive slam MD after previously losing in 24 straight slam qualifying tournaments, gets to within an eyelash of a Top 50 return (and #50 Sloane Stephens) with her 17th career ITF win.

Victories over Whitney Osuigue, Johanne Svendsen and Diana Shnaider set up a final match-up with China's Yuan Yue, her nation's revelation this year as she's on the cusp of cracking the Top 100 (she started '22 at #312) after reaching the 3rd Round of the U.S. Open earlier this month. Yuan saw her 5-2 1st set lead evaporate, but won a TB, only to see Brengle drop just five games in the final two sets.

Brengle's win gives her singles titles (either ITF of 125) in seven consecutive seasons, and in 11 of the past 12 years.
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JUNIOR STARS: Liv Hovde/USA and Cara Maria Mester/ROU
...reigning Wimbledon junior champ Hovde, 16, reached and won her first pro final in the $15K in Lubbock, Texas, taking the title without losing a set and completing her week with a 7-6/6-1 win over Carson Branstine.

This was just the third pro event for Hovde, who officially turned pro this summer. Back in March, in her debut in Arcadia (CAL), Hovde reached the QF after posting wins over Harriet Dart and Kayla Day. Hovde breaks into the Top 900 on Monday.

The Czechs have been a dominant force in the J1 events this season, but in Cairo we got a Romanian champion in 17-year old Mester.

Having already made a mark in her first two ITF outings earlier this season -- QF and SF runs as a qualifier, going a combined 12-2 in '22 in pro events -- Mester knocked out the #8 and #4 seeds en route to the Cairo semis, where she then took out a pair of Czechs in Laura Samsonova (star of the CZE 14u team title) and Amelie Smejkalova in back-to-back matches to claim the title.


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DOUBLES: Gaby Dabrowski/Giuliana Olmos, CAN/MEX
...a week after winning a title in Chennai with former (pre-injury) running mate Luisa Stefani, Dabrowski reteamed w/ recent partner Olmos to pick up their second '22 crown (w/ Madrid) in Tokyo. The #2 seeds, the duo got an opening win over (naturally) Stefani (and Ena Shibahara) seemingly mere hours after having celebrated with the Brazilian in India, then handled the #3 (Krawczyk/Schuurs) and #4 (Melichar-Martinez/Perez, in their fourth final in the last five events, along with a U.S. Open semi) seeds to take the title.

It's Dabrowski's 14th career title (#3 in '22), while Olmos now has five.


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1. Tokyo 2nd Rd. - Zhang Shuai def. Caroline Garcia
...4-6/7-6(5)/7-6(5). Zhang pulled off something of a Houdini act here, as Garcia fired 27 aces (besting Zheng Qinwen's tour best of 21 this season, and the most on tour since Kristyna Pliskova's 28 in '19, also in a loss), led 67-21 in winners (but *did* have 49 UE), 123-112 in total points, held a MP and dropped serve just *once* (w/ just 2 BP opportunities presented) in the 2:30 match.

Garcia had come back from 5-2 down in the 2nd to force a TB, but lost it as Zhang extended the match. In the 3rd, the Pastry had MP at 5-4, only to lose a two-deuce game as the Chinese veteran held, then went on to win another TB.

Of course, the biggest attention-getter from this one was Zhang's mid-match "sandwich break"...



I guess Shuai had Caro for "dessert," then?
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2. Tokyo Final - Liudmila Samsonova def. Zheng Qinwen
...7-5/7-5. In a match-up that could take place in the latter stages of a major come 2023-24, it was a fairly nip-and-tuck affair. Samsonova, on her only BP chance in the 1st, got the break of Zheng when she was handed the BP by a DF (Zheng's first of the match) at 5-5. In the 2nd, the two exchanged breaks in games #5 and #6, then Samsonova took a break lead at 6-5 and again slammed the door the shut, holding at love to lock away the title.

The loss is Zheng's first in a pro singles final. She'd been 1-0 in WTA 125 challengers, and 8-0 on the ITF circuit.

With Ekaterina Alexandrova's win in Seoul, this marks the third time in two months that Samsonova has been joined by another Hordette in a week's singles champion winner's circle.



#36 Zheng had been the highest-ranked player who'd never reached a tour final. Her result this week transfers the designation to Anna Kalinskaya (#51 on Monday). It would have been Anna Bondar, based on last week's standings, but she falls to #60 this week, behind additional final-less players Marta Kostyuk and Wang Xiyu.
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3. Seoul 1st Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Jeong Bo-young
...6-4/3-6/7-6(2). You never know what you're going to get with Ostapenko. After her 8-3 grass season, she arrived in Seoul having gone 2-3 on summer hard courts. She ultimately reached her 13th career final, and third this season.

Case in point, after knocking off a string of former slam winners earlier this year, the Latvian barely escaped 19-year old Korean wild card Jeong (#698) here, as she was forced to win a 3rd set TB to begin a week that ended with a final (but also a love set).



It was but the first salvo in an uneven "Ostapenko Experience"...

Seoul 2nd Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def Gasanova
...6-3/5-7/7-5. Against the Russian, Ostapenko survived after Gasanova served at 5-3 in the 3rd and held a MP.



Against Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, Ostapenko trailed 2-0 in the opener, then won 8 straight games and 12 of the final 13. In the semifinals, Ostapenko dropped the 1st set after having held an early break, but forced a 3rd set and won it with Emma Raducanu's latest retirement three games in.



Seoul Final - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Alona Ostapenko
...7-6(4)/6-0. Ostapenko held a break lead three times in the 1st, served at 5-3 (broken at love) and held a SP at 6-5, but couldn't secure the set. After falling down a break early in the 2nd, she took an MTO for a foot injury, then won just one point in the final three games.


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4. Seoul 2nd Rd. - Magda Linette def. Kristina Mladenovic
...4-6/7-6(5)/6-2. Looking for her first back-to-back WTA MD wins in a year, Mladenovic had two MP chances against last week's Chennai finalist but couldn't convert. Her 12 DF gave her 25 for her two singles matches in Seoul.



She *did* come back to win the doubles title, though.

Meawhile, can you blame Linette for trying to get in on the act after seeing Aga and Iga win so many fan-voted Best Shot polls over the years?


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5. Tokyo 1st Rd. - Gaby Dabrowski/Giuliana Olmos def. Ena Shibahara/Luisa Stefani
...6-3/6-1.

GABY: Hey, didn't we just win something together the other day?

LUISA: Yep.
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6. Seoul 1st Rd. - Victoria Jimenez Kastinseva def. Chloe Paquet
...6-2/6-2. The maiden tour-level MD win by the 17-year old Andorran (no connection to the new Star Wars series "Andor") came in oxymoronic fashion, with VJK as a lucky loser.


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7. Tokyo 1st Rd. - Fernanda Contreras def. Sofia Kenin
...7-6(7)/6-4. There are few things more annoying on WTA Tour Twitter than when the official account intentionally misleads people into thinking that a player has achieved a *true* career first, but neglects to mention that she's already won a *slam* MD 1st Round match (at this year's RG), essentially negating this win as a truly "groundbreaking" moment.

Stop doing that.


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8. Tokyo 2nd Rd. - Zheng Qinwen def. Paula Badosa
...6-3/6-2. #4 Badosa, with her '21 Indian Wells title points weeks from dropping off, loses here to fall into a 1-5 skid. This was Zheng's second Top 5 hard court win this summer/fall, but the first she got the chance to finish (Ons Jabeur retired in Toronto).


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9. Tallinn Q2 - Linda Noskova def. Heather Watson
...6-1/7-6(0). Another Crusher is loose in a WTA draw. Can she follow in Linda Fruhvirtova's Chennai footsteps?

Goal #1: #105 Noskova is trying to climb back into the Top 100 this week.
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10. $60K Vrnjacka Banja SRB SF - Nina Potocnik def. Mia Ristic
...0-6/6-0/6-4. Wild card Ristic is the European 16u champ, as well as a junior J1 and ITF title ($25K) winner in '22. She failed to reach her biggest career final in her sixth pro event, but managed to post good earlier wins over Elina Avanesyan and Cristina Dinu.

Along with 17-year old Lola Radivojevic, the Serbs are developing a teen corps to keep an eye on (and for the Bracelet to show the ropes come Cup time).
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1. Tokyo 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Dasha Saville
...1-0 ret. In her return to Japan for the first time since her 3rd Round Tokyo Olympics exit last year, Osaka plays just one game, as Saville injuries her knee and is forced to retire. Before the next round, Osaka was also out.



At least they sold those tickets for that one match game, though.
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2. Tokyo QF - Veronika Kudermetova def. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...6-7(4)/7-6(6)/6-1. In the first of Kudermetova's back-to-back three-hour matches, the Hordette rallied from 5-2 down in the 1st to force a TB. She led 4-2, but Haddad won it 7-4. In the 2nd, it was the Brazilian who forced a TB after trailing 5-2, and this time Kudermetova won it, then took control in the decider.


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3. Tokyo SF - Zheng Quinwen def. Veronika Kudermetova
...5-7/6-3/7-6(3). In her second consecutive three-hour match, Kudermetova trailed 4-1 in the 1st, but ran off six of seven games to take the set. Zheng didn't squander her 4-1 lead in the 2nd. Neither woman was broken in the 3rd, with Zheng holding at love to force the deciding TB, which she took to reach her maiden tour final.

Kudermetova stands at #13 in the rankings, matching her career high, and would be in the WTAF should the season end today (she's #9, but #8 Halep's season is over), but she remains conspicuously without much "closing" ability in '22. This was her third straight semifinal loss, and while she's reached three finals from her six SF this season, two of those advancements came via walkover. Once she's reached finals this year, she's so far gone 0-3. With just a few more wins, she could be ranked somewhere around #8.


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4. Seoul 1st Rd. - Yanina Wickmayer def. Linda Fruhvirtova
...6-1/6-4. After an extremely quick turnaround from her Chennai title.
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5. Parma Q2 - Erika Andreeva def. Rebeka Masarova
...6-2/6-2. Andreeva, 18, follows up qualifying runs at Flushing Meadows and Lausanne with another in Parma.


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*2022 WTA WS TITLES w/o LOSING A SET*
Australian Open - Ash Barty, AUS
Miami - Iga Swiatek, POL
Rome - Iga Swiatek, POL
Budapest - Bernarda Pera, USA
Hamburg - Bernarda Pera, USA
Prague - Marie Bouzkova, CZE
Cleveland - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS
Tokyo - LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA, RUS

*2022 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
7 - Iga Swiatek (Doha/IW/Mia/Stutt/Rome/RG/US)
3 - Caroline Garcia (Bad Homburg/Warsaw/Cin.)
3 - LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA (Wash./Clev./Tokyo)
2 - Ash Barty (Adelaide/AO)
2 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Nott./Birm.)
2 - Simona Halep (Melbourne 1/Toronto)
2 - Ons Jabeur (Madrid/Berlin)
2 - Dasha Kasatkina (San Jose/Granby)
2 - Bernarda Pera (Budapest/Hamburg)
[2020-22]
10 - 1/2/7 - Iga Swiatek, POL
7 - 1/5/1 - Ash Barty, AUS (ret.)
5 - 3/0/2 - Simona Halep, ROU
5 - 0/4/1 - Anett Kontaveit, EST
5 - 3/2/0 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
4 - 0/2/2 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
4 - 0/1/3 - LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA, RUS

*2022 FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS*
Laura Pigossi, BRA (#212/27 = Bogota
Martina Trevisan, ITA (#85/28) = Rabat (W)
Claire Liu, USA (#92/21) = Rabat
Kaja Juvan, SLO (#81/21) = Strasbourg
Bernarda Pera, USA (#130/27) = Budapest (W)
Lucia Bronzetti, ITA (#78/23) = Palermo
Ana Bogdan, ROU (#108/29) = Warsaw
Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE (#130/17) = Chennari (W)
ZHENG QINWEN, CHN (#36/19) = Tokyo

*2022 YOUNGEST WTA FINALISTS*
17 - Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE (Chennai - W)
18 - Coco Gauff, USA (Roland Garros - L)
19 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (Monterrey - W)
19 - ZHENG QINWEN, CHN (Tokyo -L)
[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)

*RECENT MULT.TITLES BY NATION IN WTA WEEK*
2021 Week 7 (ESP) - Muguruza/DUBAI, Sorribes Tormo/GUADALAJARA
2022 Week 32 (RUS) - Kasatkina/SAN JOSE, Samsonova/WASHINGTON
2022 Week 35 (RUS) - Kasatkina/GRANBY, Samsonova/CLEVELAND
2022 Week 38 (RUS) - Alexandrova/SEOUL, Samsonova/TOKYO

*2022 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
5 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE
4 - Jessie Pegula, USA
3 - GABY DABROWSKI, CAN
3 - Eri Hozumi, JPN
3 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
3 - KRISTINA MLADENOVIC, FRA
3 - Makoto Ninimoya, JPN

*2022 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
5 (5-0) = Katerina Siniakova, CZE
5 (4-1) = Jessie Pegula, USA
5 (2-3) = Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
5 (2-3) = NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ, USA
5 (2-3) = ELLEN PEREZ, AUS
5 (1-3+L) = Elise Mertens, BEL
4 (3-1) = GABY DABROWSKI, CAN
4 (2-2) = Anna Danilina, KAZ
4 (2-2) = Coco Gauff, USA
4 (1-1+WL) = Lyudmyla Kichenkok, UKR
4 (1-1+WL) = Alona Ostapenko, LAT
4 (1-2+L) = Zhang Shuai, CHN
[2022 finals - duos]
4...L.Kichenok/Ostapenko, UKR/LAT (1-1+WL)
4...V.Kudermetova/Mertens, RUS/BEL (1-3)
4...MELICHAR-MARTINEZ/PEREZ, USA/AUS (1-3)
3...Hozumi/Ninomiya, JPN/JPN (3-0)
3...Krejcikova/Siniakova, CZE/CZE (3-0)
3...DABROWSKI/OLMOS, CAN/MEX (2-1)
3...Gauff/Pegula, USA/USA (2-1)

*WTA ALL-TIME MATCH ACE RECORD*
31 - Kristyna Pliskova (2016 AO 2r- lost Puig)
28 - Kristyna Pliskova (2019 Lux. 2r - lost Puig)
27 - Sabine Lisicki (2015 Birm. 2r - def. Bencic)
27 - CAROLINE GARCIA (2022 Tokyo 2r - lost Sh.Zhang)







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The GOAT retires. No, not her... or him, either.




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kosova-font










All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:18 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Someone raise a toast to Madrid, as it is the only time all season that Raducanu, Osaka, and Andreescu have won a match in the same event.

Offseason plan for Raducanu(I hope) is to take a month off after Guadalajara, then get down to Australia in late November like Ivanovic used to do. Like Fergalicious, she needs to be working on her fitness.

Comeback Player of the Year will be interesting. I actually don't have Garcia as Top 2. Saville and Marino are my choices, Marino having a year similar to 2014 winner Lucic-Baroni, getting double digit wins for the first time in over a decade.

Stats sometimes need context. Kudermetova had 31 UE in a set and played well. It was an 84 min set which she lost 7-6 to Haddad Maia.

Badosa was late on everything off both sides last week.

Kontaveit/Routliffe playing doubles in Tallinn.

Kontaveit is Tallinn favorite, Trevisan in Parma.

Race doubles is unique this year as every Top 10 team is still together. Guadalajara will be huge.

Stat of the Week- 2- Slams played for Tiiu Kivi Parmas.

Parmas had a short career internationally, mainly playing in Moscow. One of the first women born in Tallinn to play a slam in the Open Era(USSR), she had quality losses every time she went.

That was only twice. In 1969, she reached the 3rd rd, being knocked out by that year's finalist in Ann Jones, only to come back in 1970 to have the same thing happen with Helga Niessen(2nd).

1970 was also the year that Parmas won Estonian Athlete of the Year, a title that Kanepi won in 2008.

Kontaveit is on the clock.

Quiz Time!

Close to Tallinn, Espoo, Finland once held a WTA event. Which players won there?

A.Svetlana Kuznetsova
B.Anna Pistolesi
C.Emma Laine
D.Katarina Srebotnik


Interlude- Earned.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1572406740980834306

Answer!

(D)Srebotnik is incorrect. She did win the event in 2005, but it had moved to Stockholm. This was the now retired Srebotnik's 4th and last singles title.

(B)Pistolesi is correct. With all of the talk about Samsonova looking like 2021 late season Kontaveit, she has done so winning her first 4 finals. When Pistolesi won the second and last Espoo event, it was the 8th final she had won against 0 losses, a streak that would reach 12 before losing her unlucky 13th and last final.

(C)Laine wasn't close to being right, but the Swedish born Finn was the only one in the draw in both 2002-03, getting a WC at 16. The highest ranked player from Finland at 50, nipping Nanne Dahlman at 59, she peaked in the mid aughts, playing all 4 slams in 2006. Her other claim to fame is winning 44 ITF doubles titles.

(A)Kuznetsova is correct, though you may have forgot as this was her first title, way back in 2002.

Mon Sep 26, 08:36:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

"Probably the nice[st] person in the world...."
So many things I could say, but "lol!" will have to suffice.

Those are fun ONJ videos. Over the weekend, I stumbled across the Stevie Nicks 24 Carat Gold (songs from the vault--never before performed live, plus hits) concert. It was absolutely stunning. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to attend--just amazing every moment.

Mon Sep 26, 02:31:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-

I'd actually be impressed if the tour lists Marino as a nominee. She *should* be but, well, the yearly Comeback nominee lists are always questionable (to be kind). I'd still consider Saville even with the bad/incomplete ending to her season.

If Kontaveit had managed to fumble away her 1st Round match (which she almost did) that would have been, well, "pretty bad." Alive for now.

Quiz: went with Laine (though that felt like a trap -- and it was) and Sveta (I had a weird recollection about that one).

Yeah, these shots of Plum were surely some of the Photos of the Week. ;)


D-

I saw a random tweet this week about NO being "the best thing to happen to tennis" and had to chuckle. Maybe for a very brief moment it might have/could have been the case, but to say such things in '22 speaks to the existence of the same sort of "Naomi glasses" that many wore where another player was concerned over the years.

Tue Sep 27, 09:32:00 PM EDT  

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