Monday, October 03, 2022

Wk.39- Egyptian Herstory Made in Italy

There they go again...






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*WEEK 39 CHAMPIONS*
TALLINN, ESTONIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Barbora Krejcikova/CZE def. Anett Kontaveit/EST 6-2/6-3
D: Lyudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR/UKR) def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez (USA/AUS) 7-5/4-6 [10-7]
PARMA, ITALY (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Mayar Sherif/EGY def. Maria Sakkari/GRE 7-5/6-3
D: Anastasia Detiuc/Miriam Kolodziejova (CZE/CZE) def. Arantxa Rus/Tamara Zidansek (NED/SLO) 1-6/6-3 [10-8]




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Mayar Sherif/EGY
...after seeing Ons Jabeur become the leading lady on tour when it comes to historic firsts, especially when it comes to players from North Africa, Sherif -- no stranger herself to becoming the first (Egyptian) to accomplish any number of tennis feats the last couple of years -- ramped up her game this week in Parma.

The 26-year old is now fully back from an early season foot injury that cost her two months of activity (from post-RG until summer hard courts) just as she was reaching new heights, including becoming the first Egyptian woman to win a MD match in Paris and winning a pair of WTA 125 titles. During her absence, she reached a career high of #44 in July.

This week, entering with a #74 ranking in her seventh event back (after starting 0-4, and going 3-6), Sherif became Egypt's first WTA singles champ, running off wins over Anna Bondar, Simona Waltert and Lauren Davis to reach her second career semifinal (she was RU in Cluj Napoca in '21). With the schedule backed up, both the semis and final were contested on Saturday, meaning that Sherif followed up a 2:50 win over Ana Bogdan with a straight sets victory -- her first vs. a Top 10 (and Top 50) player -- over Maria Sakkari to claim the crown.

Sherif will jump 25 spots on Monday, back into the Top 50 (#49).


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RISERS: Anett Kontaveit/EST and Maria Sakkari/GRE
...headlining the first tour event held in Estonia, Kontaveit gave the crowd their money's worth, from escaping a near-collapse in her opening match vs. Wang Xiyu (Kontaveit led 4-0 in the 3rd, served at 5-2 and had 2 MP, but saw the set soon knotted at 5-5) to defeating Tereza Martincova, Ysaline Bonaventure (in 3) and then Kaia Kanepi in an all-EST semi for a spot in the final.

She reached the final with a 4 & 4 win over her countrywoman, her eleventh title match berth since the start of last year, only to lose to Barbora Krejcikova, ending her 24-match indoor hard court winning streak (her overall indoor streak had ended on the Stuttgart clay in April).

Granted, Kontaveit is in nowhere near the form she was a year ago, when she rode a 26-2 run to the WTAF, coming into the week having gone just 4-4 since her Hamburg final in July, which itself had come after a 4-6 stretch while she dealt with the lingering effects of her early season bout with Covid. Still, her runner-up result at least seems to send her in a positive direction toward the start of '23.



Sakkari's week (again) didn't end the way she'd wish, as she remains title-less for more than three years, but the Greek's trademark fight continues to give her opportunities on the WTA (and slam) level. As long as she maintains her effort, one expects that elusive ability to lift champion's trophies will *eventually* become part of her skill set.

As it turned out, though, Parma provided the latest example of Sakkari battling and coming out on top -- coming from a set down to defeat Kateryna Baindl, Arantxa Rus and Maryna Zanevska (where she climbed out of a love/40 hole at 2-3 in the 3rd) in consecutive matches before a straight sets win over Danka Kovinic to reach her third final of the season -- only to then come up short at the final turn, this time against first-time tour champ Mayar Sherif, ranked 67 spots below the two-time tour semifinalist and Top 10 Spartan.

Even with the loss, which leaves Sakkari 1-5 in career tour finals, Parma was Sakkari's best result since a SF on the grass in Berlin this summer, and while the titles continue to slip through her fingers she's shown some progress when it comes to late-stage results in '22. Before her Saint Petersburg final in February, she's lost 12 of her last 13 singles semifinal matches. With her win this week, she's gone 3-2 in semis this season, improving her overall career record to 6-16.

Sakkari will extend her Top 10 ranking streak to 64 weeks on Monday, the second longest active run behind Aryna Sabalenka (98).
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SURPRISES: Danka Kovinic/MNE and Ysaline Bonaventure/BEL
...Kovinic managed a 1st Round encounter with Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, after previously having bobbed up with good results at Indian Wells (def. Teichmann and Pliskova) and in the season's first two majors (a win over Raducanu in Melbourne, and a RG 3rd Round), but it's been a sometimes trying season for the Montenegrin as she's seen her ranking begin at #98, fall outside the Top 100 by spring and never rise higher than #65. But as the season winds down she managed to finally post an encouraging result this week in Parma as the offseason soon beckons.

Ranked #78, Kovinic recorded back-to-back wins over Oceane Dodin and Sloane Stephens (winning the 1st set from 5-3 down, and the match despite 12 DF) for her first multi-win MD tour-level result since Paris, then got another over Jasmine Paolini for her first WTA semi since the Charleston 250 in the spring of last year. Her run ended at the hands of Maria Sakkari in what was arguably the Greek runner-up's best match of the week.

She'll jump 12 spots to #66 on Monday.



In Tallinn, #138 Bonaventure qualified with victories over Georgina Garcia Perez and Mirjam Bjorkland to reach her first tour-level MD since Roland Garros, then added wins over Shelby Rogers and Jil Teichmann, her first in WTA play since Prague last summer. Having not appeared in a tour QF since Hamburg last year (the event before Prague), Bonaventure took Anett Kontaveit to three sets before finally bowing out.

The Waffle will climb to #122 on Monday, within sight of her career high (in 2019) of #109.


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VETERANS: Kaia Kanepi/EST and Ana Bogdan/ROU
...37-year old Kanepi fell in the all-Estonian semi vs. Anett Kontaveit on home soil (well, indoor hard court), but reached her second '22 WTA semifinal (w/ Washington RU) with victories over Alona Ostapenko (w/ a love 3rd), Ann Li and Karolina Muchova (3rd set TB).

Kanepi will remain at #32 on Monday, just one off her season high (August), her best standing on tour since 2014.



In Parma, Bogdan continued her recent good run, posting her second straight tour semifinal (w/ Portoroz) with wins over Laura Pigossi, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (her first win in four meetings) and Irina-Camelia Begu. Bogdan fell in the semis to Mayar Sherif, but will crack the Top 50 for the first time on Monday, coming in at a new career high of #46.

34-15 on the year, and 16-4 in her last 20, the 29-year old's last five events have included a tour-level final (Warsaw), two semis, a 125 title (Iasi) and a Q2 loss in U.S. Open qualifying.


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COMEBACKS: Barbora Krejcikova/CZE and Karolina Muchova/CZE
...doubles success (three majors!) aside, injuries and illness have wreaked havoc with Krejcikova's singles' campaign as she came into Week 39 at just 16-14 and having fallen from a season-opening #5 to (this past week) #27. Coming into Tallinn, she'd had just one multi-win event since Wimbledon, and just two since her QF at the Australian Open (part of a 7-2 start).

Her rebound week included wins over Alja Tomljanovic, Marta Kostyuk, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Belinda Bencic (from a set down, in almost three and a half hours, on her 6th MP) to reach her first final since Sydney some 38 weeks ago.

Krejcikova handled home favorite Anett Kontaveit 2 & 3 in the final (on an indoor hard court, which is even more impressive), picking up her fourth career title and first since winning in her own home nation in Prague in July of last year.

She'll be back in the Czech Republic this coming week in Ostrava!!!, and could face Bencic again in the 2nd Round.



While a slew of her fellow Czechs -- from Bouzkova and Fruhvirtova, to Siniakova and Krejcikova -- have picked up their first '22 singles titles in recent weeks, Muchova continues to mark her progress by simply remaining healthy and (hopefully) stringing a few wins together. She accomplished both in Tallinn.

Entering the week ranked all the way down at #224 after having played just 13 matches (6-7) this season, Muchova was without a tour MD win since the 2nd Round of Roland Garros (over #3 Sakkari, after which she retired from her next match and had gone 1-4 since, with another retirement). In Estonia, she posted wins over Jessika Ponchet (dropping just 2 games) and Viktorija Golubic (from a set back) to reach her first QF since Wimbledon of *last year*. She fell in a 3rd set TB vs. Kaia Kanepi after a break-free final set, but will at least climb back into the Top 200 (#189) with the result and, most importantly, will be *able* to be back at it this coming week within Czech borders in Ostrava!!!.

Who knows, though the draw is a bit stacked (she opens vs. Haddad, and *could* see Iga in the QF), maybe it'll finally be "her turn."


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FRESH FACES: Anastasia Detiuc/Miriam Kolodziejova, CZE/CZE
...well, I guess we now have two more Czechs to throw into the mix for Petr Pala's BJK Cup stew. The Czech Republic could almost be like an Olympic bobsled unit in Cup play, forming a Czech I, Czech II and even Czech III crew that could compete with almost anyone.

Detiuc (23) & Kolodziejova (25) picked up their maiden tour titles in Parma, defeating the #3 seeds (Danilina/Maleckova) and winning a pair of MTB (SF vs. Kania/Voracova and F vs. Rus/Zidansek) to take the crown.

Kolodziejova made a name for herself in her junior days, winning a pair of girls' doubles majors (alongside Marketa Vondrousova) in 2015. She and Detiuc won a pair of $60K challengers on clay this spring and summer, while Kolodziejova has individually picked up five ITF wins, and Detiuc four, in '22.


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DOWN: Martina Trevisan, ITA
...this spring, Trevisan soared higher than she ever had. She went on a 10-match winning streak, taking the Rabat title and then reaching the Roland Garros semifinals.

Back on clay, the Italian's 1st Round loss in Parma to Sara Sorribes Tormo isn't a "bad" loss on its face, but it's her third straight defeat (w/ an additional walkover in Cleveland) and drops her to 3-8 since the end of her run in Paris (she's 1-6 in her last seven).

Trevisan ended 2021 at #113, then climbed all the way to #27 after RG and rose as high as #24. She'll remain at #30 on Monday, still by far the highest ranked Italian (#60 Giorgi is second) even as the "second tier" of the nation's players (Bronzetti, Paolini, Cocciaretto, Stefanini and, in recent weeks, even teenager Matilde Paoletti) begin to make more and more noise a bit further down the ladder.
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ITF PLAYERS: Julia Grabher/AUT and Madison Brengle/USA
...recent success continued to carry over for two of the biggest ITF winners this week, as Grabher and Brengle added more hardware to their '22 mantle.

Grahber, who claimed a $60K in August, won her biggest career title in a WTA 125 in Bari during the U.S. Open, and cracked the Top 100 in September, won the San Sebastian, Spain $60K challenger, defeating Week 38 ITF winner Aliona Bolsova (who still picked up a WD crown) in a 6-3/7-6 final. It's Grabher's third ITF title this season, and the 26-year old will jump to another new career high at #85 this week.



Next up on the agenda for the Austrian will be reaching her first slam MD. Thus far, she's failed in all 12 of her slam qualifying attempts.

In Templeton, California, 32-year old Brengle picked up her second $60K crown in as many weeks, completing a title run by dropping just one set (the 1st set in the final vs. U.S. teenager Robin Montgomery) all week while defeating the likes of Arianne Hartono, Nao Hibino and Sophie Chang. It's Brengle's 18th career ITF title in 29 finals to go along with her two career WTA 125 wins. She's 0-1 in her lone tour final, in Hobart in 2015.

Brengle will be back in the Top 50 on Monday for the first time since 2016.


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JUNIOR STARS: Solana Sierra/ARG and Kaitlin Quevedo/USA
...junior stars have been thriving on the ITF circuit all season long, and the trend continued this past week.

18-year old Sierra, the RG girls' runner-up in the spring, won her third straight title in the $15K in Eldorado, Argentina, taking the honors without dropping a set and finishing off fellow Argentine Luisina Giovannini in a 6-3/6-3 final to take the crown. Over the course of her 15-match ITF winning streak, the first two legs of which came *before* her crushing 2nd Round loss to Iva Jovic (the Argentine had led 5-0 in the 3rd, and held 3 MP before losing an 11-9 TB) in the 2nd Round of U.S. Open junior play, Sierra has won 30 of 31 sets.



In Cancun, 16-year old Quevedo, in just her fourth pro event, grabbed her second title (after previous W-SF results in Cancun in September) with a 6-2/6-3 win over Israel's Mika Dagan Fructman. Quevedo lost in the doubles final in her first pro WD competition, as well.


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DOUBLES: Lyudmyla & Nadiia Kichenok, UKR/UKR
...the majority of the tour's most well-known sibling doubles combinations are either over (Bondarenko, Williams... maybe), rare (Pliskova) or seemingly (?) played out (Chan). The Kichenoks are no longer regular doubles partners (Lyudmyla has been formidable w/ Alona Ostapenko in '22, though), but they've had success when they *have* combined over the years.

The twins took the Tallinn crown this week, their fourth tour-level title as a pair in their first final since the 2018 Elite Trophy event. The Ukrainians dropped no sets en route to the final, then took out Nicole Melichar-Martinez (in her fifth final in her last six events) & Laura Siegemund in a 10-7 MTB for the win.

Both twins have now won eight WTA titles, but this is Lyudmyla's third this season (after winning two after reaching four finals w/ Ostapenko, while also reaching two slam SF), while Nadiia's last title came in Chicago in August '21 (when she and Raluca Olaru teamed to defeat Lyudmyla in the final).


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WHEELCHAIR: Diede de Groot, NED
...as summer turns to fall, de Groot just keeps rolling along.

The Dutch great swept another pair of singles/doubles titles this week, this time at the Sardinia Open in Italy. Her four singles wins, with the last coming in the final in a 7-6/6-2 victory over Aniek Van Koot, extended her winning streak to 69 matches (33-0 in '22) and 18 straight titles over the past two seasons. She's won 132 of her last 135 sets.

De Groot and Van Koot combined to claim the doubles, defeating Lucy Shuker/Cornelia Oosthuizen 6-0/6-1 to improve to 20-1 as a duo this season.

In 2021-22 -- during which she's won back-to-back singles Grand Slams, six of eight doubles majors and collected two Paralympic Gold medals -- de Groot has gone a combined 118-4 in s/d (74-1 in singles).
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1. Tallinn SF - Barbora Krejcikova def. Belinda Bencic
...6-7(5)/7-6(2)/6-2. Down a set. Krejcikova failed to put away three BP chances in the 2nd (2 in game 3, 1 in game 11) as Bencic took the set into a TB with a chance to end it in two. But Krejcikova won it 7-2, then pulled away to win in 3:22, converting on her sixth MP, despite converting just 3 of 20 BP chances on the day while facing down just two on her own serve (Bencic put away 1) on the day.


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2. Parma Final - Mayar Sherif def. Maria Sakkari
...7-5/6-3. This week's WTA-101 history lesson included Sherif becoming the tour's first Egyptian singles champion, as the 26-year old did it in style with her first Top 10 win (another Egyptian first).


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3. Tallinn QF - Kaia Kanepi def. Karolina Muchova
...6-2/3-6/7-6(6). Neither woman dropped serve in the 3rd, with only one game (#4) seeing either hold BP (3 for Kanepi). Of course, once the TB arrived, the returner won 9 of 14 points, with Kanepi finally putting away her third MP.


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4. Tallinn 1st Rd. - Anett Kontaveit def. Wang Xiyu
...3-6/6-2/7-5. Kontaveit's final run in Estonia *could* have gone so wrong. She led Wang 4-0 in the 3rd, and twice served for the match, holding two MP before the set became knotted at 5-5.

After getting past a "moment" with the lights, Kontaveit went on to sweep the final two games to keep her indoor hard court streak alive (for a few more rounds before it finally ended at 24).


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5. Parma QF - Maria Sakkari def. Maryna Zanevska
...2-6/6-4/6-4. Sakkari's run to the final included a lot of hard work, none of it more treacherous than her survival vs. the Belgian, when she fought her way out of a love/40 hole on serve at 2-3 to avoid going down a break in the deciding set.


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6. Tallinn Final - Barbora Krejcikova def. Anett Kontaveit
...6-2/6-3. With Kontaveit's loss, home nation singles finalists are 3-3 in '22. Ash Barty's Adelaide and AO wins take up most of the space, but don't forget Marie Bouzkova's Prague title run.


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7. Tallinn 1st Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Diane Parry
...2-6/6-3/6-4. Noskova went out to Haddad Maia a round later, but her win over Parry was enough to get her back into the Top 100. She was upset by fellow teen Czech Nikola Bartunkova in the opening round of Ostrava!!! qualifying.


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8. Tallinn SF - Anett Kontaveit def. Kaia Kanepi
...6-4/6-4. Sometimes something just *has* to happen, and then it does.


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9. Tallinn 1st Rd. - Kaia Kanepi def. Alona Ostapenko
...4-6/6-4/6-0. Ostapenko's second consecutive match in which she went out with a love set. Naturally, this one came after she'd managed to nearly overturn Kanepi's 5-0, 40/love lead in the 2nd, which the Estonian eventually won 6-4.
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10. Tallinn 1st Rd. - Jil Teichmann def. Laura Siegemund
...6-4/7-6(7). Teichmann gets a win to end her three-match losing streak, only to fall to Ysaline Bonaventure a round later. Since her Madrid SF/Rome QF/RG 4r (10-3) run, the Swiss woman has gone 3-7.
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11. Ostrava!!! Q1 - Bernarda Pera def. Barbora Palicova 6-1/6-3
Ostrava!!! Q2 - Bernarda Pera def. Nikola Bartunkova 6-0/3-6/6-2
...Bernarda the Czech Crusher. How rude... and in the Czech Republic, too. Pera faces Petra Kvitova in the 1st Round.
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12. Parma 2nd Rd. - Lauren Davis def. Sara Sorribes Tormo
...3-6/6-4/7-5. Another nice win in a good recent run (6-3 starting w/ her U.S. Open 3rd Rd.) for Davis. After leading 4-0 in the 2nd, the Bannerette edged the Spaniard to force a 3rd, where she rallied from 4-2 down to win five of the final six games.
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13. Monastir Q2 - Despina Papamichail def. Kristina Mladenovic
...2-6/6-2/6-4. Since you're probably wondering... the answer is "13."
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14. Ostrava!!! Q1 - Georgina Garcia Perez def. Daria Snigur
...4-6/7-6(5)/6-4. It's not easy to follow up big wins. Since her upset of Simona Halep at Flushing Meadows, Snigur has gone 2-4. In Ostrava!!! qualifying, she led GGP 6-4/5-2, served for the match and twice got within two points of the win before being forced into a TB, where she held a mini-break lead at 4-3 and again got within two of victory before the Spaniard pulled away and won in three.
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15. $25K Austin TX Final - Peyton Stearns def. Clervie Ngounoue
...6-1/6-0. The reigning 2022 NCAA women's champion wins her second career ITF crown -- her first since turning pro -- in the same town where the spent her college years.


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HM- Tallinn Q1 - Eva Lys def. Aleksandra Krunic
...6-4/5-4 ret. Unfortunately, Dasha issn't the only player to have now suffered an ACL tear in the season's closing stretch.


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1. Tallinn Final - Lyudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR/UKR) def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez (USA/AUS)
...7-5/4-6 [10-7]. The Kichenok twins' fourth tour title together allows them to claim sole possession of third place on the all-time title list for sibling pairs, behind only the Williams and Chan sisters.


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2. $25K Lisbon POR Final - Francisca & Matilde Jorge def. Irene Burillo Escorihuela/Andrea Lazaro Garcia
...6-2/6-2. Portuguese sisters Francisca and Matilde, aged 22 and 18, win their fifth title in nine '22 challenger finals as a pair.
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3. Monastir Q2 - Linda Fruhvirtova def. Rebeka Masarova
...5-7/6-1/7-6(8). In what was an eight-break 3rd set, Fruhvirtova led 3-1 but fell behind 5-4 and had to save four MP before Masarova forced a deciding TB. The Czech led 5-3 before the Spaniard tied things up at 7-7 before the Chennai champ pulled out the win to reach the MD.
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Oh, great. Another made-up exhibition "team event" to not give two craps about.

There's Davis Cup and Fed BJK Cup, and the rest is just a money grab by players who play while at the same time complain about "too short" offseasons and not enough time to recuperate.

Meanwhile, the one that actually worked and served a purpose (Hopman Cup) was ultimately doomed to extinction.

















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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)
MAYAR SHERIF, EGY - PARMA (26/#74)
[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 (Portoroz)
ANASTASIA DETIUC, CZE (PARMA)
MIRIAM KOLODZIEJOVA, CZE (PARMA)

*2022 REACHED FINAL IN HOME NATION*
Adelaide 1 - Ash Barty, AUS (W)
Australian Open - Ash Barty, AUS (W)
Palermo - Lucia Bronzetti, ITA
Prague - Marie Bouzkova, CZE (W)
San Jose - Shelby Rogers, USA
TALLINN - ANETT KONTAVEIT, EST

*2022 MULT.DIFFERENT WTA CHAMPIONS BY COUNTRY*
5 - CZE (Bouzkova,L.Fruhvirtova,Krejcikova,Kvitova,Siniakova)
4 - RUS (Alexandrova,Kasatkina,Potapova,Samsonova)
4 - USA (Anisimova,Keys,Pera,Stephens)
2 - GER (Kerber,Maria)
2 - ROU (Begu,Halep)
1 - 15 nations

*2022 SUB-.500 WINNING PCT. IN WTA FINALS (2+)*
0.000 - Veronika Kudermetova (0-3)
0.000 - MARIA SAKKARI (0-3)
0.000 - Alison Riske-Amritraj (0-2)
0.000 - Aryna Sabalenka (0-2)
0.000 - Aliaksandra Sasnovich (0-2)
0.250 - ANETT KONTAVEIT (1-3)
0.333 - Alona Ostapenko (1-2)
0.333 - Elena Rybakina (1-2)

*WTA ALL-SISTERS DOUBLES TITLES*
22 - Serena & Venus Williams, USA
14 - Chan Hao-Ching & Latisha Chan, TPE
4 - LYUDMYLA & NADIIA KICHENOK, UKR
3 - Karolina & Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
3 - Alona & Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR
1 - Chris & Jeanne Evert, USA
1 - Katerina & Manuela Maleeva, BUL
1 - Cammy & Cynthia MacGregor, USA
1 - Aga & Ula Radwanska, POL
1 - Adriana & Antonella Serra-Zanetti, ITA

*2022 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
6 (2-4) = NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ, USA
5 (5-0) = Katerina Siniakova, CZE
5 (4-1) = Jessie Pegula, USA
5 (2-1+WL) = LYUDMYLA KICHENOK, UKR
5 (2-3) = Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
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) = Alona Ostapenko, LAT
4 (1-2+L) = Zhang Shuai, CHN

*2022 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#1 - Ash Barty (Adelaide 1)
#1 - Ash Barty (Australian Open)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (Stuttgart)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (Rome)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (Roland Garros)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (US Open)
#2 - Iga Swiatek (Miami)
#4 - Iga Swiatek (Indian Wells)
#4 - Ons Jabeur (Berlin)
#8 - Iga Swiatek (Doha)
#9 - Paula Badosa (Sydney)
#9 - Anett Kontaveit (Saint Petersburg)
#10 - Ons Jabeur (Madrid)
#10 - Dasha Kasatkina (Granby)
#12 - Dasha Kasatkina (San Jose)
#15 - Simona Halep (Toronto)
#20 - Simona Halep (Melbourne 1)
#21 - Alona Ostapenko (Dubai)
#21 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
#21 - Belinda Bencic (Charleston)
#22 - Angelique Kerber (Strasbourg)
#23 - Elena Rybakina (Wimbledon)
#24 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Seoul)
#27 - Barbora Krejcikova (Tallinn)
#30 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rosmalen)
#30 - Liudmila Samsonova (Tokyo)
#31 - Petra Kvitova (Eastbourne)
#32 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Birmingham)
#35 - Caroline Garcia (Cincinnati)
#45 - Irina-Camelia Begu (Palermo)
#45 - Caroline Garcia (Warsaw)
#45 - Liudmila Samsonova (Cleveland)
#48 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Nottingham)
#57 - Sloane Stephens (Guadalajara)
#60 - Liudmila Samsonova (Washington)
#64 - Zhang Shuai (Lyon)
#66 - Marie Bouzkova (Prague)
#74 - Mayar Sherif (Parma)
#75 - Caroline Garcia (Bad Homburg)
#78 - Amanda Anisimova (Melbourne 2)
#81 - Bernarda Pera (Hamburg)
#82 - Katerina Siniakova (Portoroz)
#85 - Martina Trevisan (Rabat)
#85 - Petra Martic (Lausanne)
#87 - Madison Keys (Adelaide 2)
#122 - Anastasia Potapova (Istanbul)
#130 - Bernarda Pera (Budapest)
#130 - Linda Fruhvirtova (Chennai)
#237 - Tatjana Maria (Bogota)





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Honestly, none of them (well, maybe Delpo... but he'd barely played for the last decade as it was). Personally, for me, tennis is about equal parts "what happened today" and "what's going to happen 1-3 years from now." The past is the history, pretty much immediately... which is why I haven't really spent a moment contemplating the careers/absences of any of the horde of '22 retirees and likely would do the same with whichever ones come next. (Well, all right, maybe I'd miss Simona for a little while.)

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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 2:30 AM 

7 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Sherif was amazing. So were Begu and Bogdan, as the quality was high for the first clay event in almost 3 months.

Sorribes Tormo/Trevisan played an 89 minute set before the first set point.

It's always Sorribes Tormo, who followed that up with a 3 hr match vs Davis.

Collins needs to get off to a good start in 2023. Would be around 90 without her AO points.

Muchova- Top 5 talent, Top 500 durability. Ranking has been has high as 31, and as low as 235 this year.

Stat of the Week- 25- The number of WTA Finalists that have had the same or more finals appearances than titles(Min 2 finals).

Of course, the inspiration for this is Sakkari, who is 9th in the Race, 8th without Halep, meaning she may make the finals twice with only 1 title.

First the numbers, then the notes. Finals listed first, then titles.

11/10 Helena Sukova
9/8 Nathalie Tauziat
7/6 Sylvia Hanika
6/6 Barbara Potter
6/4 Natasha Zvereva
6/4 Betty Stove
5/4 Bettina Bunge
4/3 Kathy Jordan
4/3 Kathy Rinaldi
4/3 Sandrine Testud
3/0 Valerie Ziegenfuss
3/0 Wendy Overton
3/0 Kathy Kuykendall
3/2 Carling Bassett
3/0 Anna Kournikova
2/0 Jeanne Evert
2/0 Laurie Fleming Rowley
2/0 Pam Teeguarden
2/2 Janet Newberry
2/0 Mona Guerrant
2/1 Marcie Louie
2/0 Carrie Meyer
2/1 Kristein Shaw
2/0 Terry Phelps
2/2 Helen Kelesi

This event started in 1972 with 16 women, dropping to 8 in 1977. Shaw, Meyer, Louie, Guerrant, Newberry, Teeguarden, Rowley, Evert, Kuykendall, Overton and Ziegenfuss are all from those years.

Phelps reached both of her finals in 1986, the March one finishing off the 1985 season. She reached her only career tour finals in 1987 and 1988, losing both to Gretchen Magers.

Kournikova was 0-4 in singles finals, reaching one in each of the 3 years she reached WTAF, plus 2002.

Hanika was 6-18 in finals.

Zvereva lost her first 9 finals.

Jordan lost her last 9 finals.

Teeguarden did not reach her first final until 5 years after her first WTAF.

Ruzici isn't on this list, but is opposite of Teeguarden, making her first WTAF 5 years after her RG win.







Mon Oct 03, 01:10:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Quiz Time!

Krejcikova and Siniakova have both won singles and doubles titles in a year in which they should play WTAF. Which other teams have done so? Multiple answers accepted.

A.Makarova/Vesnina
B.Errani/Vinci
C.Mladenovic/Garcia
D.Hsieh/Peng

Interlude- It's getting colder. Need some soup?

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


Answer!

You may wonder why Venus and Serena were not a choice. Though they seem like an obvious answer, they only met the criteria once. They did so in 2009, winning 3 slams as a team, with each winning singles titles. This shows how hard this is, as they both won singles titles in the same year in 15 different seasons.

This is the only year they played doubles at WTAF.

This makes (B)Errani/Vinci correct as they both won singles and doubles titles in 2012 and 2013. They also reached the finals in 2011, but only Vinci won a title that year.

(C)Mladenovic/Garcia have a limited window. Being that Mladenovic has only won one event, it has to be the right year. Mladenovic won St. Petersburg in 2017, the same year Caro flew to China, winning Beijing and Wuhan. But this is the year they split up, not playing together after Dubai, so no go.

(D)Hsieh/Peng is also wrong. 2013 WTAF winners never won a singles title in the same season, with Hsieh winning in 2012 & 18, while Peng won in 2016-17.

(A)Makarova/Vesnina are correct. 2016 WTAF winners used that as a springboard into 2017, winning Dubai, Wimbledon and Toronto as a team. Singles also brought success as Vesnina won Indian Wells while Makarova won Washington.

Krejcikova/Siniakova might be bringing back Navratilova/Shriver vibes if they win WTAF.

Mon Oct 03, 01:30:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- Home Stretch Edition.

1.Kudermetova- Jasmin pick might continue the post USO trend of first time winners this year. Of the last 6 events, only Samsonova had previously won this season.
2.Kontaveit- Yes, Swiatek is a problem. But Kontaveit has reached the final in 6 of her last 7 indoor tournaments. Also the defending champ in Ostrava.
3.Jabeur- Did Sherif steal her thunder? No, as for the second week in a row, a hometown favorite is the #1 seed at a new event. WTA keeps growing the game.
4.Rybakina- Already took out Keys, sometimes her biggest problem is the first match. With WTAF a longshot, expecting her to be real motivated.
5.M.Andreeva- Gets a surprise WC in Monastir. 3 years younger than Erika, she could match her WTA level wins if she picks one up here. Erika got her first in Lausanne, getting knocked in the next round by eventual winner Martic.

Mon Oct 03, 01:41:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Tomljanovic- Made it through Q, but someone who has made 3 slam QF in the last 2 years needs to bring it on the regular tour. Last SF? Zhengzhou 2019.
2.Swiatek- Obviously not because of her play, but pulls out of BJK Cup. I disagree with her, because if she got what she wanted, the season would be a week longer, affecting 60 players, instead of 10. There are 10 women projected to play both as of now, Pegula/Gauff the only in S/D, plus doubles specialists Krawczyk & Melichar-Martinez going for one spot.
3.Parrizas Diaz- 3-8 recent record, which includes a current 4 match LS, in which she has lost all in straight sets. Might need 125K tuneup.
4.Noskova- Deserved WC, got Bartunkova, lost to player that had already defeated her. Meanwhile, Fruhvirtova qualifies in Monastir. Yes, I realize that you could have given out 8 WC and still left out a deserving Czech.
5.Injuries- Does it seem like there are more ACL injuries this year?

Mon Oct 03, 01:54:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

That Lady Gaga production number is first-rate, and she's channeling a bit of Judy and a bit of Liza.

Mon Oct 03, 02:43:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-

Congrats on even *thinking* about the notion of Sakkari making two WTAF fields with only one career title. ;)

Quiz: went with Errani/Vinci and Hsieh/Peng. Half-and-half.

Iga has a point about the bad WTAF/BJK scheduling, but I think it's really more about the location than the dates. The event wasn't *supposed* to be in Texas, and one has to think that the tour could have found a better (i.e. one w/ fewer complications) eleventh-hour host for the event, but it's possible it was a more difficult task than it would seem.

Frankly, I'm surprised no one brought up the Texas-to-Scotland 24-hour turnaround until now... unless everyone, like myself, hadn't really looked all that closely at the actual schedule after the Fort Worth site was announced a few weeks ago.

BTW: I overlooked that Muguruza fell out of the Top 10 after the U.S. Open (I was late in updating the list), so Sakkari is actually in *sole* possession of second on the consecutive Top 10 weeks list.


D-

Yes. she is at that. ;)

Not sure who she's channeling here, but it's pretty amazing. :)

One of the comments on that mentions how huge this particular performance would be on social media if it took place now rather than in 2011. Yep.

I can remember seeing it when it happened and not knowing she had that character in her bag of tricks. Now that I think about it, that was a great way to see it, too.

(It's funny seeing the reactions of people in the crowd like Britney Spears and Bruno Mars.) :D

Mon Oct 03, 06:15:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

That's wonderful! Looks like the great Tracey Ullman (my absolute favorite funny person--esp. since, sadly, Margaret Cho grew less funny as the years went on) may have some competition. :) Well, maybe.

I've liked Gaga from day one. Confession: I have a playlist of nothing but covers of "Poker Face." I had to leave off the Glee cast, though, because they changed a word, and that changed the entire meaning of the song. I figured they were trying to "sanitize" it (I never watched "Glee"), but someone told me no--they had a habit of singing incorrect lyrics.

(And now all I can see in my mind's eye are the Radwanska sisters.)

Mon Oct 03, 06:33:00 PM EDT  

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