Sunday, January 08, 2023

Wk.1- Act 1, Scene 1 (2023)

And in Week 1 we got a...




Is it the start of something really big, or something really big to start?





futuristic-fonts




*WEEK 1 CHAMPIONS*
ADELAIDE 1, AUSTRALIA (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. Linda Noskova/CZE 6-3/7-6(4)
D: Asia Muhammad/Taylor Townsend (USA/USA) def. Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova (AUS/CZE) 6-2/7-6(2)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Coco Gauff/USA def. Rebeka Masarova/ESP 6-1/6-1
D: Miyu Kato/Aldila Sutjiadi (JPN/INA) def. Leylah Fernandez/Bethanie Mattek-Sands (CAN/USA) 1-6/7-5 [10-4]
UNITED CUP (MX Team; Brisbane/Perth/Sydney)
F: USA def. ITA 4-0




kosova-font



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...if Sabalenka's 2023 storyline is going to include the notion that the close of her '22 season -- when she defeated the world #1, #2 and #3 at the WTAF but somehow *still* didn't win the title -- will now inspire her to greater things, well, this was the sort of start you'd like to see.

A great WTAF performance has often provided a stepping stone to great success the following season (well, not with Muguruza... but, you know, Garbi), and Sabalenka is one of a select group of WTA stars who become virtually unbeatable when their confidence is soaring and their game (or, in her case, her serve) isn't "leaking oil." Whether she can carry over her Adelaide momentum to Melbourne and reach her maiden slam final (or better) is now officially on the to-be-discussed list of topics starting one week from now.

In Adelaide, Sabalenka didn't drop a set while dispatching Liudmila Samsonova, Marketa Vondrousova, Irina-Camelia Begu and Czech (big-name) Crusher Linda Noskova in the final, picking up her 11th career tour crown, her first since winning on the clay in Madrid in 2021. It's her first win on outdoor hard courts since she opened the '21 season with a title in the late-organized tournament in Abu Dhabi.



Of course, as noted with her title run from two years ago, Sabalenka has a history of Carl-like opening week squishings. This is her third Week 1 crown in the past five years, though it's her first career title in Australia (w/ her '19 win coming in Shenzhen).

Whether more can be read into this win or not, it's surely preferable to how she began 2022, when Sabalenka followed up a poor '21 WTAF result (1-2 in rr, defeafing Swiatek but losing leads in losses to Badosa and Sakkari) with an 18-DF loss to Kaja Juvan in last year's opening match in Adelaide, setting a negative tone that she had to beat back all season long.
===============================================



RISERS: Coco Gauff/USA and Danka Kovinic/MNE
...after just two teenagers claimed tour singles titles in '22, we've already got one just a week into '23 (and a second teen was also a RU).

Gauff's third career WTA singles crown came without dropping a set in Auckland, as the world #7 didn't flinch after being the overwhelming favorite (as the #1 seed in an event for the first time) to win it all come the weekend once Leylah Fernandez had been ejected in the QF by Ysaline Bonaventure. After ending '22 on a five-match losing streak, the 18-year opened with a win over Tatjana Maria, then extended her sets streak to ten with additional wins over Sofia Kenin, Zhu Lin (for her ninth tour SF), Danka Kovinic (for her fourth final) and Rebeka Masarova, winning 6-1/6-1 to improve to 3-1 in career finals.



Kovinic's semifinal result in Auckland carried over the momentum with which the Montenegrin ended '22, when she posted a 250 SF and 125 SF/RU results (10-3) in her last three events. Kovinic's Week 1 run included wins over Nao Hibino, Lauren Davis and Viktoria Kuzmova before Gauff proved to be too much for her to handle.

The 28-year old came into '23 ranked #60 and will climb to around #54 on Monday, her sights set on her career high (#46) from seven seasons ago.


===============================================
SURPRISES: Rebeka Masarova/ESP and Ysaline Bonaventure/BEL
...Masarova's road has been a typically winding one. Born in Basel, Switzerland to Spanish/Slovakian parents, she was a junior slam champ in Paris in '16 (and AO girls' RU in '17). At 16, she reached her first tour-level SF in Gstaad seven years ago (def. Jelena Jankovic in the 1st Rd.). In 2018, she began playing for Spain, but her rise would prove to be a slow one. Masarova didn't crack the Top 200 until 2021, and didn't make her slam MD debut until that same year at the U.S. Open.

The last two years, the movement has finally come. Masarova went 4-0 in ITF challenger finals ($25K and $60K events, her biggest finals), but didn't post her first tour-level MD win since '16 until her maiden U.S. Open 1st Rounder, when she upset Ana Bogdan in a marathon (3:40) three-setter. As 2023 began, she hadn't won another MD tour-level match since. Until this week in Auckland.

There the 23-year old (#130) qualified and ran off a string of victories over Sloane Stephens, Anna Blinkova, Karolina Muchova and Ysaline Bonaventure to reach her first tour final. Her week ended with a quick (well, 1 & 1... but with a long rain-related mid-match break) loss to Coco Gauff, but Masarova will shoot up the rankings to #94, cracking the Top 100 for the first time.



Bonaventure's Auckland run saw the world #95 make her way through qualifying then knock off the North American trio of Caty McNally, Rebecca Marino and Leylah Fernandez (likely greatly helped in the latter when it was forced indoors due to rain) to reach her maiden tour singles semifinal at age 28. She fell in straights to Masarova, but has gone 22-7 since the U.S. Open and will be at a new career high (#92) this week.


===============================================
VETERANS: Victoria Azarenka/BLR and Irina-Camelia Begu/ROU
...Azarenka's "vibe of positivity," while occasionally grating as a repetitive social media brand, seemed to work well for her in Week 1. The veteran opened her season with a two-TB win over Anhelina Kalinina, coming back from 5-1 down in the 1st set, then handled Chinese phenom Zheng Qinwen in straight sets. She battled back from 6-4/4-2 vs. Czech teen Linda Noskova in the QF, eventually holding a MP at 6-5 in the 3rd set before eventually falling in an 8-6 deciding TB to close out a three-hour affair.



Simona Halep is still fighting her suspension, but Begu held up her corner of the veteran Romanian battle flag, as the 32-year old who ended her '22 season winning seven of her last eight matches carried over her momentum into the new year, reaching the SF in Adelaide with wins over Shelby Rogers (from a set and a break down), Alona Ostapenko (3 & love) and Veronika Kudermetova 7-5/6-4 before finally being out-hit by Aryna Sabalenka a match away from the final.



Begu will climb into the Top 30 this week (#28), with her previous career-high (#22 in 2016) not far off.
===============================================
COMEBACK: Kateryna Volodko/UKR
...on the challenger circuit, 36-year old Volodko (nee Bondarenko) picked up her first singles title of any kind since 2017 (WTA Tashkent) and her first on the ITF level since 2014. The Ukrainian downed Russian Valeria Savinykh in a 6-2/6-3 final in a $40K in Nonthaburi (THA), as well as reaching the doubles final.

Volodko was one of the original "comeback babies" active on the current tour, retiring way back in 2012 and then returning two seasons later as a new mother. She had a second child in 2019. In 2004, she won the junior singles at Wimbledon to become the first Ukrainian girls' slam champion.


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



FRESH FACE: Linda Noskova/CZE
...the 18-year old Czech didn't win her first tour title in Adelaide, but her Week 1 accomplishments more than make up for that minor flaw. All Noskova did in her '23 season opening week was make it through qualifying, post her first two career Top 10 wins and another over a former #1/slam champion, twice winning matches after being MP down en route to her maiden tour singles final *and* putting herself within a whisper of her Top 50 debut (jumping from #102).

A season ago, Noskova, the '21 RG junior champ, made significant noise, pushing Emma Raducanu in her slam MD debut at Roland Garros, notching her first Top 50 win (Alize Cornet), reaching her first tour SF (Prague), twice qualifying for majors (RG/US), cracking the Top 100, winning her biggest career title ($100K) and being part of the all-Czech duo (w/ Lucie Hradecka) that upset Venus & Serena Williams in the opening round of WD at the U.S. Open.

Nothing prepared her for Week 1, though.

Noskova admitted to really only expecting to play qualifying in Adelaide, and her expectations were very nearly met. She had to save MP vs. Anna Kalinskaya in her opening Q-match, then allowed just five games to Anastasia Potapova to reach the MD. #8 Dasha Kasatkina fell for the Czech's maiden Top 10 win, followed by Claire Liu and Victoria Azarenka (the teenager saved another MP vs. Vika). But Noskova wasn't finished, as #2 Ons Jabeur was taken out in the semis to send her into her first WTA final. #5 Aryna Sabalenka was not to be denied in the championship match, but only after having to win a 2nd set TB over the teenager to avoid going three.



The new Crusher #1a, for now, Noskova moves past Linda Fruhvirtova ('21 Chennai champ) to become the highest ranked of the gathering Crush of teen Czechs plotting their WTA takeover, rising to #56 (LF will be #80) on Monday.

Of course, Noskova's week in Adelaide didn't re-set her *entire* career. Though she's now ranked higher than the vast majority of the members already set to play in the MD of the season's first major, the Czech will *still* have to play qualifying in Melbourne in her quest to make her AO debut.
===============================================
DOWN: Garbine Muguruza/ESP
...after a '22 season that saw her fall from #3 to #55, her lowest finish in nearly a decade, Muguruza likely couldn't have started her "bounce back" campaign any better than by posting a bagel 1st set over Bianca Andreescu in Adelaide 1st Round.

Unfortunately, she likely couldn't have found a worse way to flip that particular script than by losing her 6-0/5-2 lead in the match, and failing to put away the win after getting within two points of the victory while serving up 5-3, 30/love. Muguruza ultimately lost 10 of the final 12 games in the match, becoming the first official MD match loser of the '23 season.
===============================================
ITF PLAYER: Katie Boulter/GBR
...Boulter opened her season with an encouraging $60K title run in Canberra, matching her career-best crown from last February. The Brit posted wins over Oksana Selekhmeteva, Heather Watson, Hailey Baptiste and countrywoman Jodie Burrage in a 3-6/6-3/6-2 final to pick her seventh career challenger title.


===============================================
JUNIOR STAR: --
...no junior stars for Week 1, but a note about another tournament grading designation change that begins this season and -- shocking, I know -- seems more unnecessary than clarifying, as the previous Grade A and 1-through-5 event levels have been replaced.

From here on (well, until they decide to change things *again*, likely eventually aligning with the WTA/ATP tours and making the top level under slam a "1000" and then working down, or something along those lines, I bet):

GS = Junior Slams
J500 = former Grade A
J300 = former Grade 1 (J1/B1)
J200 = former Grade 2 (J2/B2)
J100 = former Grade 3 (J3/B3)
J60 = former Grade 4 (J4)
J30 = former Grade 5 (J5)

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



DOUBLES: Asia Muhammad/Taylor Townsend, USA/USA
...Asia and Australia continue to be a good mix.

A season ago, Muhammand spent the first two months of the season picking up trophies and paychecks Down Under, winning a tour WD title in Melbourne, plus five combined ITF crowns (3s/2d). This year she struck in Adelaide, teaming with Townsend (whose only previous WTA title came with Muhammad in Auckland in '20 -- they've teamed to win a 125 and 9 ITF events since '14, as well) to claim her eighth tour win.

The #6 seeds, the Bannerettes posted wins over Babos/Mladenovic (10-2 MTB), #4 Aoyama/Shibahara, #2 L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (10-8 MTB) and #1 Hunter/Siniakova in straight sets in the final.


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









kosova-font



1. Adelaide 1 QF - Linda Noskova def. Victoria Azarenka
...6-4/6-7(3)/7-6(6). The most drama-filled match of Noskova's dramatic week, as the teenager led the former #1 6-4/4-2 before Azarenka won a 2nd set TB to force a deciding 3rd. There Noskova took a break lead at 5-4, but failed to serve out the match, then saw Azarenka stave off a BP in game 11. Down 6-5, Noskova saved a MP, holding to force another TB, where the Czech rallied from 5-4 down to win 8-6 and close out the nearly three-hour match.



The two combined for 90 winners, a number surpassed just once on tour in '22 (the fabulous Strasbourg final between Kerber & Juvan), and Azarenka's 15 aces led to her ending the match with a 10-point edge (127-117) in total points.


===============================================
2. United Cup SF Match #1 - Jessie Pegula/USA def. Iga Swiatek/POL
...6-2/6-2. #3 Pegula picks up her first career #1 win, taking out Swiatek after getting just one set off the Pole in four match-ups last season.



It's a great win for Pegula, but it'll really only matter if she can get the same sort of result vs. the world #1 in a future match-up that *matters*, rather than in one in a glorified exhibition series played across multiple sites.

Swiatek had won all three of her previous U.C. singles matches -- def. Putintseva, Bencic and Trevisan -- in straight sets. She pulled out of her scheduled Week 2 event with an ailing shoulder, giving her no *true* tournament play heading into the season's first major in Melbourne.

The U.S. went on to win the inaugural United Cup crown. (By the way, the Hopman Cup is set to return in July... in France.)


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



3. Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Dasha Kasatkina 6-3/6-7(2)/6-3
Adelaide 1 SF - Linda Noskova def. Ons Jabeur 6-3/1-6/6-3
...Noskova's pair of maiden Top 10 victories en route to her first tour final as, appropriately (just how *much* we'll eventually learn), a Czech Crusher became the first player to strike the sort of decisive, eye-opening blow that officially christened the new season (in the WTA's 50th anniversary year).

A semifinal run and first Top 10 win was already headline-worthy, but #102 Noskova wasn't finished, adding a three-set win over #2 Jabeur two rounds later.



===============================================
4. Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Bianca Andreescu def. Garbine Muguruza
...0-6/7-6(3)/6-1. In the '23 tour MD opener, Muguruza puts her worst season behind her by... blowing a 6-0/5-2 lead and failing to serve out the win up 5-3 and 30/love, dropping 10 of the final 12 games.

Oh, Garbi.


===============================================
5. Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Zheng Qinwen def. Anett Kontaveit
...6-1/4-6/7-6(7). Zheng wins a back-and-forth season opener, losing a 6-1/3-1 lead, but pulling out a no-breaks-allowed 3rd set after falling behind 4-2 in the deciding TB and saving a MP at 7-6.


===============================================
6. Adelaide 1 Q1 - Linda Noskova def. Anna Kalinskaya
...3-6/6-2/7-6(7). Noskova didn't just save a MP in the QF vs. Azarenka, she did it in her opening qualifying match, too. Down 6-2/3-0, the Czech ran off six straight games to force a 3rd set, where she saved a MP down 7-6 in the deciding TB.
===============================================
7. Adelaide 1 Final - Aryna Sabalenka def. Linda Noskova
...6-3/7-6(4). Sabalenka assumes the role of the after-holidays Grinch, ending the Czech teen's great run with her third Week 1 title in five years, tying Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova for the most career opening week crowns amongst active players.


===============================================
8. Auckland Final - Coco Gauff def. Rebeka Masarova
...6-1/6-1. Gauff has lost just one set (2nd to Ostapenko at Linz '19) in her three career non-slam singles finals.



Masarova's loss, coupled with Noskova's in the Adelaide final, meant that rather than *two* first-time champs in Week 1 we saw zero. The last time there were two was 2017 (Katerina Siniakova and Lauren Davis)
===============================================
9. Auckland 1st Rd. - Zhu Lin def. Madison Brengle
...4-6/7-6(6)/6-4. In 2:48, Zhu wins after saving a MP in the 2nd set TB, setting up a 2nd Round match vs. Venus Williams, where she rallied from 5-3 down to knock Venus out of Auckland (and Melbourne, as it's turned out).
===============================================
10. Auckland 2nd Rd. - Viktoria Kuzmova def. Emma Raducanu
...0-6/7-5 ret. Raducanu came into the new season with the stated (modest) goals of winning a singles title and staying healthy. After winning from a set and 2-0 down vs. Linda Fruhvirtova, Raducanu retired from her second match of 2023 after rolling her ankle on what she said was a slippery indoor court surface after Auckland's insistent rains had forced the match under the roof.


===============================================
11. Auckland Q1 - Nao Hibino def. CoCo Vandeweghe
...2-6/7-6(9)/6-2. Hibino saves three MP, one at 5-4 in the 2nd and two more (at 7-6 and 9-8) in an 20-point TB that she claimed 11-9 to force the decider.
===============================================
12. United Cup SF Match #1 - Martina Trevisan def. Maria Sakkari
...6-3/6-7(4)/7-5. Apparently, Sakkari's "troubles" in semifinals are not exclusive to tour-level and/or slam events.
===============================================
13. United Cup rr Match #5 - Swiatek/Hurkacz (POL) def. Kulambayeva/Lomakin (KAZ)
...6-3/6-4. Proof that, despite her loss to Pegula, Iga *was* doing Iga things in Week 1 (on January 1st, in fact).

Meanwhile, Aga cheers... while surely secretly remembering pulling off some even *more* amazing shots *herself* more than a few times in the past.


===============================================
14. Adelaide 2 Q2 - Sorana Cirstea def. Kaia Kanepi
...6-2/4-6/7-5. Cirstea climbs out of 2-0 and 5-3 holes in the 3rd, as Kanepi fails to serve out the match and the Romanian sweeps the final four games.

Thus, Kanepi will go into Melbourne at 2-2 on the young season, having losing in the 2nd Round in Week 1 and in the final Q-round in Week 2. Surely, no one will see her coming at the AO, right? She reached the QF a year ago after upsetting Kerber and Sabalenka.
===============================================
15. Adelaide 1 Final - Asia Muhammad/Taylor Townsend def. Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova
...6-2/7-6(2). In a losing effort, and without Barbora Krejcikova, this final was the 34th of 26-year old Siniakova's career (just ten fewer than fellow Week 1 finalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who's eleven years her senior).

Since winning her first pro title with Krejcikova in 2018, Siniakova has also managed to go 5-2 in tour finals with six other partners since then (including winning Berlin last summer w/ Hunter, nee Sanders). 27-4 with Krejickova last year, doubles #1 Siniakova has gone 17-3 with others the last season + one week.
===============================================






kosova-font



1. Auckland 1st Round - Venus Williams def. Katie Volynets 7-6(4)/6-2
Auckland 2nd Round - Zhu Lin def. Venus Williams 3-6/6-2/7-5
...the week started out well for Williams. The 42-year old notched a win over Volynets, her first at tour level since the 2021 Wimbledon. She battled Zhu within a few points of her first QF since 2019 (Cincinnati), leading 4-2 in the 3rd, serving at 5-4 and holding four BP chances at 5-all. Zhu ultimately held, then broke Williams' serve to end the match.

By the end of the weekend, Venus' 2023 season had taken its first direct hit as she withdrew from the Australian Open (she'd been given a WC) due to injury, meaning that Melbourne will be without *either* Williams sister in the MD for the second straight year, after '21 was the first time since 1997.


===============================================
2. Auckland Final - Miyu Kato/Aldila Sutjiadi def. Leylah Fernandez/Bethanie Mattek-Sands
...1-6/7-6 [10-4]. Kato & Sutjiadi win their first tour crown as a duo (they were RU in Hamburg last year), claiming three of their four wins via MTB, including in the final over Fernandez/Mattek-Sands after rallying from 6-1/5-1 down and saving two MP (at 5-3). It's Kato's third career win, while Sutjiadi now has two (with all three finals having come since April).



The final was the first for Mattek-Sands since the 2021 Roland Garros (w/ Swiatek), while it was Fernandez's maiden tour-level doubles final.


===============================================
3. Auckland 1st Rd. - Emma Raducanu def. Linda Fruhvirtova
...4-6/6-4/6-2. Former (i.e. pre-Week 1, but not Week 2) Czech Crusher #1a Fruhvirtova led Raducanu 6-4/2-0, but saw the Brit rally for the win before falling victim a round later to the slippery court in a match forced under the roof due to rain.


===============================================
HM- Adelaide 1 1st Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Karolina Pliskova
...6-1/6-3. Ostapenko blasted out of the gate and into the 2023 season...



Then proceeded to lose three and love to Irina-Camelia Begu a round later.

So, I guess this is an early sign that while many things will change this season, some things will remain comfortably (and frustratingly) similar to past years.
===============================================





Checking off the next box on the post-retirement list...




kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





So you'll telling me won't have any Naomi-inspired drama fueled by an ever-present praise machine fueled by lazy media members and sycophantic fans? Pardon me while I wipe away a single tiny tear.


kosova-font



kosova-font





kosova-font





















futuristic-fonts


kosova-font




























A few weeks late, but worth it...










kosova-font

**RECENT BACKSPIN WEEK 1 PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK**
2015 Maria Sharapova/RUS, Simona Halep/ROU (co-PoW)
2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2018 Simona Halep, ROU
2019 Julia Goerges, GER
2020 Serena Williams, USA
2021 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2022 Ash Barty, AUS
2023 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR

**CAREER WEEK 1 TITLES - active**
3...Simona Halep, ROU
3...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
3...ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR
2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2...Venus Williams, USA
1...Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
1...Amanda Anisimova, USA
1...Lauren Davis, USA
1...Coco Gauff, USA
1...Kaia Kanepi, EST
1...Petra Kvitova, CZE
1...Katerina Siniakova, CZE
1...Sloane Stephens, USA
1...Elina Svitolina, UKR
1...Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
--
ALSO: S.Williams(3), Barty(1)

**WTA SINGLES TITLES - active**
49 - Venus Williams, USA
29 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
24 - Simona Halep, ROU
21 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
18 - Svetlana Kuznetosva (?), RUS
16 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
16 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
14 - Angelique Kerber, GER
12 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
12 - Iga Swiatek, POL
12 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS
11 - Caroline Garcia, FRA
11 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR
10 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP

*2020-23 WINS OVER #1*
[2020]
Brisbane 2nd Rd. - #53 Jennifer Brady/USA def. #1 Barty
Aust. Open SF - #15 Sofia Kenin/USA def. #1 Barty (W)
Doha SF - #11 Petra Kvitova/CZE def. #1 Barty
[2021]
Aust.Open QF - #27 Karolina Muchova/CZE d. Barty
Adelaide 2nd Rd. - #37 Danielle Collins/USA d. Barty
Charleston QF - #71 Paula Badosa/ESP d. Barty
Madrid Final - #7 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR d. Barty (W)
Rome QF - #35 Coco Gauff/USA d. Barty (ret.)
Roland Garros 2r - #45 Magda Linette/POL d. Barty (ret.)
Olympics 1r - #48 Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP d. Barty
U.S. Open 3r - #43 Shelby Rogers/USA d. Barty
[2022]
Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - #37 Alize Cornet/FRA d. Swiatek
Warsaw QF - #45 Caroline Garcia/FRA d. Swiatek (W)
Toronto 3rd Rd. - #24 Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA d. Swiatek
Cincinnati 3rd Rd. - #24 Madison Keys/USA d. Swiatek
Ostrava!!! F - #23 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE d. Swiatek (W)
WTA Finals SF - #7 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR d. Swiatek
[2023]
United Cup SF - #3 Jessie Pegula/USA d. Swiatek (W)
=
(W) - won event title

*#1 WINS BY U.S. WOMEN - since 2014*
2014 #26 Venus Williams def. #1 S.Williams (Montreal SF)
2017 #35 CoCo Vandeweghe def. #1 Kerber (AO 3rd)
2017 #12 Venus Williams def. #1 Kerber (Miami QF)
2017 #22 CoCo Vandeweghe def. #1 Ka.Pliskova (US Open QF)
2018 #16 CoCo Vandeweghe def. #1 Halep (Stuttgart QF)
2019 #16 Serena Williams def. #1 Halep (AO 4th)
2019 #55 Alison Riske def. #1 Barty (Wimbledon 4th)
2019 #29 Sofia Kenin def. #1 Barty (Toronto 1st)
2019 #22 Sofia Kenin def. #1 Osaka (Cincinnati QF)
2020 #53 Jennifer Brady def. #1 Barty (Brisbane 2nd)
2020 #15 Sofia Kenin def. #1 Barty (AO SF)
2021 #37 Danielle Collins def. #1 Barty (Adelaide 2nd)
2021 #35 Coco Gauff def. #1 Barty (Rome QF)
2021 #43 Shelby Rogers def. #1 Barty (US Open 3r)
2022 #24 Madison Keys def. #1 Swiatek (Cincinnati 3r)
2023 #3 Jessie Pegula def. #1 Swiatek (United Cup SF)
[career #1 wins - active U.S.]
15 - Venus Williams
3 - Sofia Kenin
3 - CoCo Vandeweghe
1 - Jennifer Brady
1 - Danielle Collins
1 - Coco Gauff
1 - Madison Keys
1 - JESSIE PEGULA
1 - Alison Riske-Amritraj
1 - Shelby Rogers

*TEENS - WTA SINGLES TITLES in 2020s*
3 - Iga Swiatek, POL (2020-21)
2 - COCO GAUFF, USA (2021-22)
2 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (2021-22)
2 - Clara Tauson, DEN (2021)
1 - Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE (2022)
1 - Camila Osorio, COL (2021)
1 - Emma Raducanu, GBR (2021)





futuristic-fonts


kosova-font


kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font


When life suddenly becomes an action movie scene... (!!)




kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font




kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font




kosova-font



kosova-font




kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font








All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 4:21 PM 

6 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

BJK Cup has a tweet of Sorribes Tormo on court. She is still wearing a boot.

Sabalenka and Gauff each won their last title in May 2021.

Hunter goes from Siniakova to Krejcikova.

Stat of the Week- 1- WTA doubles titles for Lea Pericoli.

In a week in which Italy reached the United Cup final, why not look at Italy's original team member.

Pericoli was a member of Italy's inaugural Fed Cup team in 1963. She then played the first match, though she lost.

After getting swept in 1963 and 1964, Pericoli got Italy's first ever win in 1965. Eventually she would play in 9 years, going 15-15 overall.

In a career that spanned from 1954-75, so long that she played both Mo Connolly and Virginia Rucizi, both in Rome, she played 29 slams.

Her slam history is interesting. Though her records are about 80% clay, all of those slams, except 1 AO in 65 were at Wimbledon or the French Open. Due to her clay prowess, she was seeded twice(60 & 62) when they had 16 seeds.

Her best was a 4th rd there in 60 & 64.

Her one WTA doubles title was in 1974 at Gstaad with Helga Schulte, whom she lost her one and only final to in the same event.

Officially, her last singles title was in a prior era, Cairo 1969.

Quiz Time!

Which Hobart finalist won her only career title there?

A.Jarmila Groth
B.Mana Endo
C.Vasilisa Bardina
D.Jennifer Hopkins

Interlude- Need a car?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2NOvE113kw

(A)Groth is wrong. She did win this event in 2011, but that was her second title, after winning Guangzhou in 2010. Hobart was her last title.

(C)Bardina is wrong because she did not win, becoming the 2007 RU to Chakvetadze. She came through Q, winning 4 MD matches.

She would win 4 MD matches the rest of her career. Reaching a career high of 48 the next week, she eventually tried to play through a stress fracture, eventually losing her last 10 MD matches.

She stayed on the ITF circuit until 2012, but never played a WTA MD after 2008.

(D)Hopkins is wrong, as she also was a runner up, reaching the final in 2001. That was her only final. It was also her best year, as she reached QF both in Toronto and Quebec City.

She would never reach another QF, dropping from 57 at the start of 2002 to 140 by the end. She drifted away from playing during the next couple of years and became Jennifer Dent, Taylor Dent' wife.

That leaves (B)Endo, who is correct because she won her only title in the very first Hobart back in 1994. She did reach one other final in her career. Would you believe that it was Hobart? You should, as she did so in 1996.

Mon Jan 09, 06:29:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Upside- The Prelude.

1.Linette- Hobart pick made 146K at United Cup, which is more than she made at any event last year. Yes, that includes the slams. Has enough game and confidence to win.
2.Bencic- Arguably has not had a bad loss since Wimbledon. Arguably coming off the best season of her career. She may have had more wins in 2019, but expectations were higher in 2022, and she met them. If we get Bencic/Krejcikova, that should be good.
3.Krejcikova- The start and finish to 2022 in singles was excellent. Has won 2 of last 3 singles events. In good form.
4.Brengle- 2015 Hobart finalist and ITF queen gets slumping Pera, who has lost her last 6 WTA MD matches. Outside chance of reaching her second career final.
5.Krawczyk- If team bonuses are to be believed, Krawczyk pocketed 60K without playing a match. I guess she is the Gale Gilbert of tennis.

Mon Jan 09, 06:39:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Pliskova- The Down is that she is already out of Adelaide 2. The Up is that she did not pull a diva move and ask for WC to avoid Q. She played and advanced, making it the first time since New Haven 2014 that she played Q. First time she qualified since Madrid the same year, though she made Montreal as LL.
2.Rybakina- 3-5 since her SF in Ostrava, her record may not be as bad as it seems. The loss to Kostyuk raises eyebrows, but the other 4 are Krejcikova, Pegula, Badosa, Kvitova. A couple of big wins next week and this stretch will be forgotten.
3.Radcanu- Ankle injury leaves her in doubt for the Open. The good thing that came out of last week was her approach. As into the net, which she did much more often than earlier in her career.
4.Jabeur- After a back injury in Sydney took her out of the Open last year, similar concerns after her match in Adelaide. The thing that stood out with her back issues is that it affects her backhand much more than her forehand. Let's hope that this is a one day thing.
5.Stephens- Guadalajara, Roland Garros, Guadalajara 2. Name the only events last season in which Stephens had back to back wins. On a 3 match losing streak, which is better than last year, when she had streaks of 4 and 5.

Mon Jan 09, 06:51:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Quiz: went with Bardina... but naturally it's the one I remember the least. :/

That's a pretty good ad. Someone tried to really tie her into it rather than just throwing her on the screen with a product, which often happens with celebrity endorsers (esp. athletes).

Mon Jan 09, 07:11:00 PM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

10 On the Up Side- First Time Winner Edition.

1.Bencic- Is she really my pick? Yes! Seems to have raised her game to another level. The red flag is that she has only passed the 3rd rd in 1 of her last 9 slams. Does meet criteria of having reached a final in Australia-Adelaide 2021.
2.Badosa- Adelaide 2 run reminiscent of her Sydney run last year. Adelaide 2 SF is her first SF since San Jose, one in which she also played Kasatkina.
3.Pegula- QF in 3 of last 4 slams. QF in last 2 AO. This is as good a time as any to make that first SF or F.
4.V.Kudermetova- How times have changed. 0 Williams. 1 Pliskova. 2 Kudermetova. Someone who plays well in January has a chance to go deep.
5.L.Fruhvirtova- I could also put Brenda, as both make their debut. Linda was chosen because of what she represents. That is, that in the last 3 years, someone ranked 20 or below(Muguruza, Brady, Collins) has reached the final. Each of those also won a 250 the previous year. Fruhvirtova is one of 17 women in the field that meet that criteria. Kerber would have made it 18. Best of that bunch? Krejcikova, Martic, Anisimova.
6.Schuurs/Krawczyk- Obviously not the doubles favorite, but this is the only team out of 12 players that could tie for #1 after this event. Example- Siniakova blocks Krejcikova, Gauff blocks Pegula, etc. Schuurs returns for the first time since 2021, when she had her best slam result-SF. Krawczyk plays the only slam in which she has not reached SF. Red flag is that the 2 finals they reached last year were on clay.
7.Ostapenko- She's running hot and cold, but is only 1 of 3 Top 20 players with a positive H2H against Swiatek. The others are Haddad Maia and Sakkari.
8.Garcia- Feels like she could be higher coming off her WTAF title. Trying to follow in the steps of Wozniacki and Mauresmo to win major directly after.
9.Sabalenka- Looks loads better than she did at this time last year. WTAF RU trying to do what Li and Azarenka did, winning major directly after.
10.Swiatek- Is the new Serena in the fact that you have to account for her even when she isn't playing her best. Who has the game and nerve to take her out?

Thu Jan 12, 10:27:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

10 On the Down Side.

1.Kenin- I actually like what I have seen from her this season. On this list because in a movie like twist, the most recent winner in the field plays the only other former winner in Azarenka. There are 9 other slam winners here. The other thing that stands out is that the only time she made it past the second round here is the year she won.
2.Snigur- I like her junky game. But she lost in Q for the 9th time in the last 10 slams. If she could get her ranking up, her half Brengle-half Niculescu game would do damage. The 60 mph serve doesn't.
3.Gasanova- Lost in Q, but now has a tic. What is it? She now blows on her hands/ball 3 or 4 times before every serve.
4.Jabeur- Mainly about health, but has lost to the winner in 3 of her last 10 slams. Since 2 of those have been finals, that isn't as bad. The only other to do so? Pegula.
5.Tomljanovic- Pulled out of United Cup because of health issues, so an unknown. This is the only slam in which she hasn't reached the 4th rd. Actually, she's never reached the 3rd here.
6.Cornet- The walking circus makes her 18th appearance here. It was so long ago that the only other woman in that main draw and this one is Azarenka, who made it through qualifying. Has a tough match vs Fernandez, who is 0-3 here.
7.Golubic- Playing decently, but is 0-6 here. Along with Hunter(0-4), most in need of a win here.
8.Haddad Maia- QF threat takes over Teichmann's spot on this list. Highest ranked woman without slam QF has not made it past the 2nd rd in her first 10 slams.
9.Riske-Amritraj- I thought Giorgi going 3-7 was bad. Riske-Amritraj is 1-7 in her last 8 matches. Her last 4 wins? By rank- 763, 70, 75, 489. That means she might have a shot as Vondrousova is ranked 76. Note:Vondrousova used SR after withdrawals happened because regular rank would have dropped her out of doubles.
10.Jeanjean- In sports, they say play to the whistle. Jeanjean lost in Q because she self refereed and gave up on 4 or 5 balls, half heartedly getting the ball back before losing the point. To make that next step, she has to play until she hears the out call.

Thu Jan 12, 10:48:00 AM EST  

Post a Comment

<< Home