Sunday, February 12, 2023

Wk.6- Better Keep Calling Bencic

Meanwhile, in non-Super Bowl (or "UFO invasion") news...







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*WEEK 6 CHAMPIONS*
ABU DHABI, UAE (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Liudmila Samsonova/RUS 1-6/7-6(8)/6-4
D: Luisa Stefani/Zhang Shuai (BRA/CHN) def. Shuko Aoyama/Chan Hao-ching (JPN/TPE) 3-6/6-2 [10-8]
LINZ, AUSTRIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Anastasia Potapova/RUS def. Petra Martic/CRO 6-3/6-1
D: Natela Dzalamidze/Viktoria Kuzmova (GEO/SVK) def. Anna-Lena Friedsam/Nadii Kichenok (GER/UKR) 4-6/7-5 [12-10]




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...since her banner junior years, Fed Cup christening and early career exploits on the WTA tour (she earned Backspin's Performance of the Year honors as far back as 2015), Bencic has always seemed capable of great things. Along the way, she's managed quite a few, including a Gold *and* Silver medal, a slam SF, two 1000 titles, 30+ Top 10 wins (four over #1) and, just last year, a BJK Cup-winning MVP turn for Switzerland.

Is she ready to knock down that last, very big door? Maybe.

In Abu Dhabi, Bencic ran through the MD to the final (#17) without dropping a set. She swept the final four games of the 2nd set in her opener vs. Marta Kostyuk to avoid a 3rd, then took out Shelby Rogers and Beatriz Haddad Maia in straights to reach her second 2023 singles final. After dropping the 1st set of the final to Liudmila Samsonova, the Swiss took a 5-2 lead and served for the set a game later.

But things didn't go as planned, and Bencic had to fight off a furious comeback from the Hordette, who took the lead in the set, had three BP chances to serve for the match, and then three MP in the TB to take home the crown. But Bencic proved to be the more consistent and better pressure player down the stretch, sending things to a 3rd and seizing a lead mid-set that she never relinquished, picking up her eighth career title and second this season (both at 500 level events), tying AO champ Aryna Sabalenka for the '23 tour lead. Her 12 match wins lead the pack all alone.

The last time Bencic claimed a crown after having faced MP came in Toronto back in 2015. That was the Performance of the Year title run that I just talked about, as the then 18-year old knocked off, in succession -- at least slam finalists all -- Genie Bouchard, Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki (saving MP), Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and *then* Simona Halep to finally take the crown.



Say what one will about Bencic's coach Dmitry Tursunov -- and there's a lot to say, much of it of the "uncomfortable" variety -- he *does* get results from his players. Sabalenka rose to prominance during his stint, then Anett Kontaveit had the best year of her career. And now Bencic, finally healthy and (as she's always been) ready to fight, is looking to be climbing the Next Level Chef-ish tier (yeah, a post-Super Bowl TV nod... it's in my nature) to potentially a place she's never been before on the WTA tour.

How the Bencic/Tursunov story ultimately ends (and if history tells us anything, it'll either be messy or "leave a few unanswered questions") has yet to play out. But, for however long it lasts, it might be the Swiss' best shot a grabbing the sort of slam success she found on the Olympic stage two years ago.

Considering Tursurnov's expiration date is usually good for months rather than years, Belinda should probably try to reach this goal as quickly as possible.
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RISERS: Liudmila Samsonova/RUS and Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...January was a fairly slow month (2-3) for Samsonova, but she's come roaring into February like a lioness. After taking nearly half the season (and using the LTA Russian ban as a necessary training block/springboard into the summer hard court schedule), the Hordette looks to be getting a far quicker start when it comes to "making the donuts" in '23.

In Abu Dhabi, Samsonova busted her way through the draw into her fifth career tour final, dropping her opening set in the 1st Round to Claire Liu and then reeling off eight in a row, posting straight sets victories over none other than Barbora Krejcikova, Veronika Kudermetova and Zheng Quinwen. As she did last summer when she went on a head-busting 13-match winning streak and three-titles-in-four-events run (combined 18-1), she dominated Belinda Bencic in a 6-1 1st set in the final.

Samsonova had the opportunity to put away the Swiss in two, rallying from 5-2 down in the 2nd to hold 3 BP (at 5-5, love/40) for a chance to serve for the match, then holding three MP in the ensuing TB, but was unable to corral the win (or tamp down Bencic's fight). She lost in three sets to fall to 4-1 in career tour finals.

Samsonova will climb to a new career high of #15 on Monday, though she remains the #3-ranked Hordette behind #8 Dasha Kasatkina and #11 Kudermetova after moving past now #18 Ekaterina Alexandrova.



Last grass season, Haddad Maia stamped her name into the collective WTA consciousness, winning back-to-back titles heading into Wimbledon to highlight a season in which she shined in BJK Cup play (winning a Heart Award), became the first Brazilian to reach a 1000 final (Toronto), recorded her first #1 win (Iga/Toronto 3r) and finished the year in the Top 15 in both singles and doubles after previously having never cracked the Top 50 in either. Even with that, though, Haddad failed to escape the 2r in any major, a trend which continued in her 11th career slam MD last month in Melbourne.

In Abu Dhabi, Haddad followed up a win over Marie Bouzkova with a crazy victory over Yulia Putintseva (aren't they all?) that lasted more than three hours and went past midnight, then as a follow-up managed to turn around and eliminate Elena Rybakina from a set down to get her sixth straight win over a Top 10 opponent. That streak ended in the SF vs. Belinda Bencic, but Haddad is herself edging ever so closer to becoming the first Brazilian in the Open era to crack the Top 10 (she'll be at a new CH of #12 on Monday).


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SURPRISE: Dalma Galfi/HUN
...a former junior slam champ now eight seasons ago ('15 U.S.), Galfi's rise to tour relevance hasn't been an immediate development. Last season, though, saw the Hungarian pull off a series of career firsts, from her maiden 1000 (Miami) and slam MD victories (including a U.S. 3r), to her career-high ranking (#79), and biggest singles final (125) and title ($100K).

In Linz, Galfi qualified with wins over Sinja Kraus and Kamilla Rakhimova (saving 2 MP vs. the Hordette), then defeated Bernarda Pera and Eva Lys in the MD before she was forced to retire in the 1st set of her QF match with Marketa Vondrousova.

Still, she'll get a modest boost in the rankings, rising from #92 to around #85.


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VETERANS: Petra Martic/CRO and Shelby Rogers/USA
...in Linz, Martic had to fight her way through to her sixth career final. After a win over Marina Bassols Ribera, the 32-year old Croat rallied from 4-1 down in the 3rd to take out Alyson Van Uytvanck, then turned back a case of reversed-momentum vs. Clara Tauson. Martic had led 6-4/4-0, only to find herself down 5-4 to the Dane before sweeping the final three games to avoid a 3rd set.

A late break in the SF vs. Maria Sakkari allowed Martic to serve her way into the final. She lost in straights to Anastasia Potopova, falling short of grabbing her first tour-level hard court crown, but will climb back into the Top 30 for the first time since July '21.



No one is exactly expecting "lightning to strike twice" when it comes to coach Piotr Sierzputowski's teaming with Rogers in his post-Iga career, but the 30-year old Bannerette has surely kicked up enought dust since their pairing nearly a year ago to think a significant "late-blooming" move might be possible for her in '23.

Last year alone the teaming saw Rogers knock off #9 Danielle Collins at RG to reach the 3rd Round in Paris, collect another Top 10 win (Sakkari in San Jose) on hard courts, reach her career high ranking (#30 last August) and play in her first tour singles final (SJ) since 2016.

After getting off to a slow start in '23 (4-4), Rogers qualified in Abu Dhabi and then posted MD wins over Leylah Fernandez and Anett Kontaveit (ret.) to reach the QF, where she fell to Belinda Bencic.

With a chance to challenge last year's career high by the spring, #46 Rogers is also closing in on the likes of Collins, Bernarda Pera and Sloane Stephens in the U.S. rankings, with only one SF+ result (Rosmalen) to defend before San Jose rolls around again the first week of August.


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COMEBACKS: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE and Clara Tauson/DEN
...when Vondrousova hasn't been battling injury the last few years she's been a legit title threat (see her '19 RG final, four 1000 QF+ results in 2019-20, and two second week slam runs and Olympic Silver in '21), but those periods haven't been numerous enough to lift her ranking above her #89 heading into Week 6. Last season, with her latest wrist surgery, the Czech missed three slams and all but one of the 1000 level events on the schedule.

So far in '23, after winning a $100K challenger in November, she's notched her fourth career win over a world #2 (Jabeur) at the Australian Open, as well as posted victories over Ekaterina Alexandrova, Kaia Kanepi and Alison Riske-Amritraj.

In Linz, Vondrousova reached her first tour SF in more than a year (Dubai '22), knocking off Viktoriya Tomova, Rebeka Masarova and Dalma Galfi (ret.) before falling to Anastasia Potapova in a three-set semi. The result will help Vondrousova's standing a bit, lifting her ranking about 15 spots.



Tauson's injuries -- including a back and ankle -- have conspired to knock her outside the Top 100 as well as cause her to not be in a sound enough financial position that would allow her to renew her contract with coach Olivier Jeunehomme at the end of last season. After winning a $25K title and reaching a 125 final late in '22, injury kept her out of AO qualifying last month.

Needing match play -- and some wins -- to help her claw her way back up the rankings from #141, the Dane lost in Linz qualifying to Rebeka Masarova.

But Tauson was offered a "do-over" with a LL berth in the MD, and she made something of the opportunity by upsetting #3-seed Irina-Camelia Begu and Camila Giorgi. She battled back from 6-4/4-0 down to take a 2nd set lead vs. Petra Martic, but failed to force the match to a 3rd set. Still, Tauson's QF run was her best in a tour event since last January's second week event in Melbourne.


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FRESH FACES: Anastasia Potapova/RUS and Zheng Qinwen/CHN
...after struggling with a major injury ('20 ankle surgery) following her big-time junior career (girls' #1, '16 WI champ) and quick start to her WTA journey (two '18 finals, MD wins in three majors a year later), Potapova is giving all indications that she's settling in for a nice pro career, reaching her third final in ten months and lifting her second WTA singles trophy with her title run in Linz.

The 21-year old posted consecutive three-set victories over Lucia Bronzetti, Jule Niemeier, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Marketa Vondrousova to reach her fifth career tour final, where she handled Petra Martic 3 & 1 to win her second title and jump from #44 to a new career high just on the cusp of her Top 30 breakthrough (#31, incidentally just a few points behind Martic).

Having reclaimed much of the promise she once held and then briefly saw jeopardized, Potapova's win felt so good that she overlooked the *total* whiff from the tournament organizers when it comes to the Linz event's trophy design. I mean... seriously, that's it?

It'd be fine for a draw ceremony cake, but for the champion to lift high while everyone is taking photos... umm, do better.



For a bit this past week, it looked as if countrywoman Zhu Lin's title run in Hua Hin might spark Zheng to her own maiden tour crown in Abu Dhabi. The 20-year old, after a trio of 2nd Round exits to begin the new season, strung together wins over Rebecca Marino, Alona Ostapenko and top-seeded Dasha Kasatkina (career Top 10 win #3) without dropping a set.



Zheng's big run wasn't meant to be, though, and ended in a three-set tussle with Liudmila Samsonova in her first tour SF since reaching her (so far) only WTA final in September in Tokyo (where she also lost to Samsonova).

With her season finally having belately "begun," perhaps "QUEENwen" will now begin to earn her potential crown over the balance of her '23 campaign.


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DOWN: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS and Anett Kontaveit/EST
...it was a disappointing week for Alexandrova in Linz, where she'd seemed to have an edge when it came to putting up her first big result of the season. The Hordette has a history of good results indoors, including winning the last Kremlin Cup in '21 and reaching a previous Linz final in '18.

But she fell in an 8-6 3rd set TB in the 1st Round to Rebeka Masarova, dropping her to 3-3 on the season.

Alexandrova was one of Magda Linette's early victims (3r) in Melbourne, but has also exited via walkover (Adelaide 2) and in three sets vs. Marketa Vondrousova (Adelaide 1) this year. Since she put together an eight-match streak last fall, winning in Seoul and reaching the Ostrava!!! semis, Alexandrova has gone 3-5 (+ the walkover loss).

In Abu Dhabi, Kontaveit fell early and will now drop out of the Top 20 (and nearly Top 30) as a result, settling at around #27.

The Estonian is now officially *far* away from her blazing '21 finish, during which she feasted on wins in indoor events, winning four titles (3 under the roof before reaching the WTAF title match). Her lone '22 title came indoors, as well, as was her last final in Tallinn in October. Despite having won 24 consecutive indoor hard court matches in 2021-22, Kontaveit didn't even enter 2023's first two indoor events in Lyon and Linz.

Add another early slam loss (2r, also to Linette, her fifth straight 1r/2r exit in a major, and 6th in 7), and two one-and-out appearances (both in Adelaide) to start the season, to her 2nd Round retirement this week vs. Shelby Rogers and Kontaveit stands at 2-4 in '23 and with five straight events with one win or less since her Tallinn home court final in October.
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ITF PLAYER: Oceane Dodin/FRA
...the Pastry is flourishing under the radar on the challenger circuit, getting her third title run of '23 with a 2 & 5 win in the $60K Grenoble (FRA) final over Simona Waltert. Dodin improves her season mark to 18-1.

She'll nearly climb back into the Top 100, getting to #102. She hasn't ended a season there since 2017.
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JUNIOR STAR: Lucciana Perez Alarcon/PER
...Perez Alarcon, 17, picks up her biggest career title with a three-set victory in the Barranquilla (COL) J300 final, ending Bannerette Iva Jovic's 14-match, two-title streak.

Jovic, 15, had lost just one set during her 14 win run... in a semifinal last week to Perez Alarcon. Jovic took the doubles with Tyra Catarina Grant.
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DOUBLES: Luisa Stefani/Zhang Shuai, BRA/CHN
...when it comes to doubles partners, Zhang knows how to pick 'em. Of course, *anyone* who plays with Stefani at the moment looks like a genius. The Brazilian just can't lose.

Stefani & Zhang teamed up to win in Abu Dhabi, defeating #2 seeds Danilovic/L.Kichenok, Flipkens/Siegemund and Aoyama/HC.Chan (via a 10-8 MTB) in the final. The run gives Zhang her 13th career tour WD crown. But the real ongoing story is Stefani, who continues to ride her "inner Diede the Great" and remains undefeated in 2023 (and then some).



Since her return from knee surgery last September after missing almost a year, Stefani has been a virtual title magnet, picking up five doubles crowns (4 at tour level, more than doubling her previous career total to 7) as well as her maiden slam win in the AO Mixed last month. This week's final was her third in three competitions this year (w/ Adelaide 2, AO MX) and her fourth straight overall (w/ a season-ending 125 title in '22). She's a combined 26-4 in WD/MX since her return, with four straight overall titles and 17 consecutive match wins.

Wither Caty McNally, who'd been scheduled to play AO doubles with Stefani in Melbourne last month until the duo withdrew following McNally singles loss. Ironically, McNally (w/ Coco Gauff) was on the court in the U.S. Open SF as Stefani & Gaby Dabrowski's opponent when the Brazilian suffered her knee injury in 2021.
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1. Abu Dhabi Final - Belinda Bencic def. Liudmila Samsonova
...1-6/7-6(8)/6-4. Bencic becomes the first singles champion this season to lift the crown (already her second of '23) after having saved MP in the tournament. Three, in fact.

Samsonova dominated the 1st set, and seemed set to improve her career tour final record to 5-0.



Bencic got off to a quick start in the 2nd, going up 5-2 and serving at 5-3. But Samsonova turned the momentum in her favor behind her solid forehand, got the break and soon knotted the score at 5-5. She had three BP chances at love/40 in game 11, but couldn't put herself in position to serve for the match.

Bencic went up 3-1 in the TB, but Samsonova stormed back again to get her first lead in the set at 5-4, and soon had three MP (2 at 6-4, then another at 8-7). The Hordette again couldn't close the door, though, and Bencic won the breaker 10-8 on her second SP.



Bencic edged ahead in the 3rd, grabbing the third of three straight breaks between to two to lead 3-2. She held the rest of the way, and served out the set at 6-4 to claim a title after having faced MP for the second time in her career (2015 Toronto).

Bencic had been 0-3 vs. Samsonova in their head-to-head, losing all three match-ups in 2021 (not actually "last year," as Bencic recalled in the trophy ceremony), including a grass court loss in their previous final clash in Berlin.



When Samsonova won all three of her singles titles in '22 she was joined that same week by a fellow Hordette on the singles champion victory stand in another event (Kasatkina twice, Alexandrova once), and had she won here would have amazingly made it *four* straight such occasions since fellow flagless countrywoman Anastasia Potapova won in Linz.
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2. Abu Dhabi 2nd Rd. - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Yulia Putintseva
...6-4/6-7(5)/7-6(4). In a wild one that lasted over three hours and went past midnight, both Haddad Maia and Putintseva served for the match, with the Brazilian failing to put away three MP in the 2nd set, only to eventually get the win immediately after a Putintseva point penalty had given her a fourth MP.

Haddad twice served for the match in the 2nd set, and held 3 MP at 5-4 before Putintseva got the break on her sixth BP of the game, only to then see Haddad break back (on BP #5) a game later, but then drop serve once more as the set went to a TB. Haddad held a mini-break lead at 5-4, but Putintseva swept the last three points to force a 3rd set.

Haddad took a 3-0 lead in the decider, but Putintseva battled back and served for the match at 5-4. At 30/15, Putintseva stopped mid-way through a neutral rally to challenge a baseline ball from Haddad. But rather than see the replay go her way and give her a MP at 40/15, the ball wasn't out as Putintseva had hoped. The point went to Haddad, and the score was 30-all. A few moments later, Putintseva's chance to end the match was over and the score was 5-5.

The set went to a deciding TB, where Putitintseva took a double-mini break lead at 3-1 via a Haddad DF, then pushed the edge to 4-1. But The Kazakh dropped both serving points to put the breaker back on serve, and the Brazilian held two points to take a 5-4 lead. It was at that moment that Putintseva drew a point penalty (!!!) for an audible obscenity, gifting Haddad a fourth MP chance at 6-4. Putintseva's unforced error ended the match a point later.



And, thus, the 2023 season *officially* begins, for such a thing cannot be declared until Putintseva has gone down in self-immolating fashion in a match that left everyone at some point with their head in their hands. It happens *every* season, usually fairly early, but this time time around it took until Week 6.
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3. Abu Dhabi 1st Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Danielle Collins
...7-5/1-6/7-5. An on-so-very Ostapenko (and Collins, too, in many aspects) match.

It was a battle of swinging momentum, as both players traded off game winning streaks of 3 (Collins), 4 (Ostapenko), 4 (Collins), 3 (Collins), 3 (Ostapenko), 3 (Collins) and, naturally, 3 (Ostapenko) throughout the course of the match. Meanwhile, Ostapenko blew through her replay challenges at the 1st set's mid-way point (shocker), and Collins got into a public back-and-forth with... Ostapenko's mom?.



Ultimately, the Latvian prevailed, only to fall a round later (to Zheng) and prove to be unable to carry over her desert derring-do from '22 (in Doha/Dubai) to Abu Dhabi.


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4. Linz SF - Petra Martic def. Maria Sakkari
...3-6/6-3/6-4. Martic's late break for 5-4 in the 3rd helps carry her into the final.

Sakkari remains in a pitched battle with Anett Kontaveit for the crown as the player who gets the least on-court bang for their talent. The Greek's better slam results continue to be thwarted by her personal "ceiling" in regular tour events (this loss dropped her to 7-18 in WTA/GS SF in her career), while Kontaveit's higher number of singles titles (5 since '21, vs. Sakkari's lone tour crown four seasons ago) are slowed by her lacking slam results.
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5. Linz 1st Rd. - Anhelina Kalinina def. Alijcia Parks
...6-2/7-5. At her first post-title hurdle, Parks falls in Linz to Kalinina in a match that *shouldn't* be lost, but is ultimately an understandable result considering her whirlwind circumstances.


Parks *did* manage to reach the SF in doubles alongside Alexandra Panova.
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6. Abu Dhabi 1st Rd. - Kirsten Flipkens/Laura Siegemund def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Sania Mirza
...6-3/6-4. Mirza's career continues to wind down, and will finally end a couple of weeks from now in the final event of the Middle Eastern swing in Dubai.


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7. Linz 1st Rd. - Rebeka Masarova def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...4-6/6-1/7-6(6). Week 1 finalist Masarova made it through qualifying, and knocked off good indoor players Alexandrova and Tauson (Q2), but fell 1 & 1 vs. Marketa Vondrousova in the 2nd Round.


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8. $60K Orlando USA SF - Rebecca Peterson def. Sabine Lisicki
...6-7(5)/7-6(9)/6-2. After starting off the week as practice partners, Peterson and Lisicki ended it as semifinal foes.

In a 2:51 contest, Lisicki led 7-6/4-1, then held a MP at 8-7 in the 2nd set TB before ultimately falling in three. The perpetually-on-a-comeback-mission-from-injury German, who'd posted straight sets wins over Ann Li and Arianne Hartono, had been seeking her first singles final berth since 2018 (in a 125), and her first at the ITF challenger level since 2007. Lisicki's last tour-level final, and singles title of any stripe, came back in 2014.



Despite her near miss, Lisicki will still climb almost 40 spots in the rankings, re-entering the Top 300 for the first time since 2019.
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9. Linz Final - Anastasia Potapova def. Petra Martic
...6-3/6-1. Potapova joins the list of active (eight, counting Sveta... which I *guess* we still can) Hordettes with multiple tour titles. At 21, she's the youngest of the bunch, winning in the sixth WTA singles final match-up this decade between women with an age difference of more than 10 years (Martic-32).


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10. Abu Dhabi 2nd Rd. - Desirae Krawczyk/Giuliana Olmos def. Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic
...6-3/7-6(3). Great friends Babos & Mladenovic have reunited as doubles partners in '23, but the four-time slam-winning pair (in 7 major finals) have so far experienced some growing pains, going 3-3.

They combined to win a $100K late in '22, the final part of a 12-0, three-title run by Mladenovic (w/ three different partners) that ended her season on a high note.
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11. Doha Q1 - Magdalena Frech def. Diane Parry
...4-6/6-3/6-0. After an opening round Q-round loss in Abu Dhabi to Nigina Abduraimova, Parry has already suffered the same fate before Week 7's Doha event. It's the Pastry's third consecutive failed qualifying attempt this season, with her only tour-level MD appearance in '23 coming at the Australian Open via the FFT/TA reciprocal wild card agreement (she lost in the 1st Rd. to Taylor Townsend).

After being ranked #58 in October, and ending '22 at #76, Parry's 3-6 '23 mark (and 4-11 stretch) will have her camped out at about #111 on Monday.
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12. $60K Orlando USA Final - Kimberly Birrell def. Rebecca Peterson 6-3/6-1
$25K Burnie AUS Final - Jaimee Fourlis def. Olivia Gadecki 6-4/6-3
...Birrell and Gadecki were the Last Aussies Standing (2r) at the Australian Open last month. This week, they *almost* put up similar results, but instead fellow Australian Fourlis stepped up to take her turn in the post-Ash, post-Sam, non-Dasha, non-Ajla Australian women's tennis spotlight currently populated by, well, whomever happens to do *anything* on any particular week.


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13. $40K Porto POR Final - Greet Minnen def. Tara Wurth
...6-2/6-2. The Waffle runs her winning streak to ten matches and two titles.


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14. $15K Sharm El Sheikh EGY Final - Linda Klimovicova def. Katarina Kuzmova
...7-5/6-7(3)/6-2. Another week. Another Crush of Czechs milestone.

18-year old Klimovicova, a girls' semifinalist at Wimbledon last summer, picks up her first pro singles crown.


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15. $40K Mexico City MEX Final - Darja Semenistaja def. Jana Kolodynska
...7-5/4-0 ret.. The 20-year old Latvian improves to 11-0 in career ITF singles finals. Semenistaja defeated Nadia Podoroska, a 125 champ last week, in the semis.


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1. Abu Dhabi Final - Luisa Stefani/Zhang Shuai def. Shuko Aoyama/Chan Hao-ching
...3-6/6-2 [10-8]. While Stefani was playing in and winning her fourth straight WD/MX title dating back to last season, Aoyama was following up her Australian Open WD runner-up with a second straight final appearance as her partner Chan continued her roll after winning in Hua Hin last week.

Aoyama/Chan had defeated the #1 (Krawczyk/Olmos) and #3 (Melichar-Martinez/Perez) seeds to get there.
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2. Linz Final - Natela Dzalamidze/Viktoria Kuzmova def. Anna-Lena Friedsam/Nadiia Kichenok
...4-6/7-5 [12-10]. Dzalamidze & Kuzmova win their first title together (Kuzmova's career #4, Dzalamidze #3). The pair defeated the #1 (Panova/Parks) and #3 (Rakhimova/Sizikova) seeds en route to the final vs. the unseeded Friedsam/N/Kichenok.



Friedsam also reached the Linz singles QF, while Kichenok had been looking to win a ninth career title, which would have broken her career title deadlock with sister Lyudmyla.

But, still, to the non-victor goes the *real* spoils...


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Here's a thought for the WTA website: include the little pronounciation button next to the players' names on the rankings page.

That way it'd be easy (easier) to find, people wouldn't have to visit each player's individual bio pages for such a thing, and it'd actually be fun to just go down the rankings and hear the players say their names one after another.

If they can put those stupid little gold bars next to players' names that link to a subscription tennis instruction course, then they can do something that would be user (and fan) friendly.













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*2022-23 WTA WS TITLES*
8 - 8/0 - Iga Swiatek, POL
4 - 4/0 - Caroline Garcia, FRA
3 - 1/2 - BELINDA BENCIC, SUI
3 - 3/0 - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS
[2020s]
11 - 1/2/8/0 - Iga Swiatek
7 - 1/5/1/- - Ash Barty (ret.)
7 - 3/2/0/2 - Aryna Sabalenka
5 - 3/0/2/0 - Simona Halep
5 - 0/4/1/0 - Anett Kontaveit
5 - 0/3/2/0 - Barbora Krejcikova
4 - 0/1/1/2 - BELINDA BENCIC
4 - 0/0/4/0 - Caroline Garcia
4 - 0/2/2/0 - Dasha Kasatkina
4 - 0/1/3/0 - Liudmila Samsonova

*MOST MP SAVED EN ROUTE TO WTA TITLE - 2020s*
5 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (2022 Monterrey)
3 - Jessie Pegula, USA (2022 Guadalajara)
3 - BELINDA BENCIC, SUI (2023 ABU DHABI)
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (2021 Australian Open)
2 - Iga Swiatek, POL (2021 Rome)

*MOST WTA WS FINAL MATCH-UPS - 2020s*
2...Azarenka vs. Osaka (both 2020) = Osaka 1-0 (+L)
2...Barty vs. Sabalenka (both 2021) = tied 1-1
2...BENCIC vs. SAMSONOVA (2021,23) = tied 1-1
2...Jabeur vs. Swiatek (both 2022) = Swiatek 2-0
2...Kvitova vs. Muguruza (2020-21) = Kvitova 2-0
2...Kontaveit vs. Sakkari (2021-22) = Kontaveit 2-0

*BIGGEST AGE DIFFERENCE IN WTA FINAL - 2020s*
14 yrs - Samsonova (23) d. Kanepi (37) - 2022 Washington
13 yrs - S.Williams (38) d. Pegula(25) - 2020 Auckland
13 yrs - L.Fruhvirtova (17) d. Linette (30) - 2022 Chennai
12 yrs - Sh.Zhang (33) d. Yastremska (21) - 2022 Lyon
12 yrs - Kerber (34) d. Juvan (21) - 2022 Strasbourg
11 yrs - POTAPOVA (21) d. MARTIC (32) - 2023 LINZ

*2023 WTA SINGLES FINALS BY NATION*
3 (3-0) - USA
3 (1-2) - RUS
2 (2-0) - BLR
2 (2-0) - SUI
1 (1-0) - CHN
1 (0-1) - CRO,CZE,ESP,FRA,ITA,KAZ,UKR

*BEST 2020s WTA WS FINAL WIN PCT. - 3+ FINALS*
1.000 - Paula Badosa (3-0)
1.000 - Elina Svitolina (3-0)
0.917 - Iga Swiatek (11-1)
0.889 - Ash Barty (8-1)
0.833 - Simona Halep (5-1)
0.800 - Caroline Garcia (4-1)
0.800 - LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA (4-1)
0.750 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (3-1)
0.714 - Barbora Krejcikova (5-2)

*CAREER WTA TITLES - RUS (active)*
18 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
12 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
12 - Vera Zvonareva
6 - Dasha Kasatkina
4 - Liudmila Samsonova
3 - Ekaterina Alexandrova
2 - Margarita Betova (nee Gasparyan)
2 - ANASTASIA POTAPOVA
1 - Anna Blinkova
1 - Veronika Kudermetova

*BEST WTA LUCKY LOSER RESULTS - 2020s*
[RU]
2021 Linz - Jaqueline Cristian, ROU
[SF]
2021 Belgrade - Viktoriya Tomova, BUL
2022 Warsaw - Kateryna Baindl, UKR
2022 Washington - Wang Xiyu, CHN
[SF]
2023 Hobart - Wang Xinyu, CHN
2023 Linz - CLARA TAUSON, DEN

*2023 WTA WD FINALS*
2 (2-0) = LUISA STEFANI, BRA
2 (2-0) = Taylor Townsend, USA
2 (1-1) = Katerina Siniakova, CZE
2 (1-1) = CHAN HAO-CHING, TPE
2 (0-2) = SHUKO AOYAMA, JPN

*WTA WD TITLES - 2020s*
14 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/1)
10 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/1)
7 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/0)
6 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/0)
6 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/0)
6 - Nicole Melichar-Martinez (2/2/2/0)
6 - Kristina Mladenovic (2/0/4/0)
6 - Ena Shibahara (1/5/0/0)
6 - LUISA STEFANI (1/1/2/2)

*2023 TOP JUNIOR EVENT CHAMPIONS*
TRARALGON AUS J300: Melisa Ercan/TUR
SAN JOSE CRC (COFFEE BOWL) J300: Iva Jovic/USA
AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Alina Korneeva/RUS
SALINAS ECU J300: Iva Jovic/USA
BARRANQUILLA COL J300: Lucciana Perez Alarcon/PER

*DOHA/DUBAI ACCOMPLISHMENTS*
[reached AO-Doha-Dubai Finals; since 2001]
2001 Martina Hingis - AO RU, Doha W, Dubai W
[reached Doha-Dubai Finals; since 2001]
2001 Martina Hingis - Doha W, Dubai W
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova - Dubai RU, Doha RU
2007 Justine Henin - Dubai W, Doha W
2009 Venus Williams - Dubai W, Doha (WTA Chsp.) RU
2011 Caroline Wozniacki - Dubai W, Doha RU
2017 Caroline Wozniacki - Doha RU, Dubai RU
2021 Garbine Muguruza - Doha RU, Dubai W
--
NOTE: 2008 two Doha-Feb/Oct; 2009-10 Doha only as Oct. WTA Chsp






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When NFL Films was, you know, NFL FILMS...




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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:19 PM 

5 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Elephant hug is random and touching.

You can never go wrong with NFL Films.

Martic beat indoor queens Van Uytvanck and Tauson, so Sakkari's loss was the least shocking of the bunch.

Zhang had 16 partners listed. Stefani makes it 17. That is a skill to be malleable enough to play with all types.

Bencic and Haddad Maia now need to up the slam results.

Stat of the Week- 8- Most titles won by a year end Top 4 junior in the last 10 years.

Actually, I started the idea of looking at the juniors during the week because of Galfi, and ended it feeling the same way because of Bencic and Potapova.

Instead of looking at just the slam winners, let's take a look at the Top 4 juniors from each year from 2012-21.

Note that you won't see the most successful prospect from that time in Swiatek, as she was injured in 2017, and turned pro after her Wimbledon win in 2018.

Most Wins Group:

14-2013- Bencic-8, Krejcikova-5, Konjuh 1, Flink-0
5- 2012- Siniakova-3, Bouchard-1, Konjuh-1, Townsend-0
5- 2018- Gauff-3, Tauson-2, Burel & Wang-0
4- 2015- Andreescu-3, Vondrousova-1, Galfi & Swan-0
3- 2017- Rybakina-3, Osuigwe, Kostyuk & Wang Xinyu-0
2- 2014- Teichmann-2, Bellis, Shymanovich & Xu Shilin-0
2- 2016- Potapova-2, Masarova, Day & Oleysa Pervushina-0
1- 2021- L.Fruhvirtova- 1, Marcinko, Shnaider & B.Fruhvirtova-0
0- 2019- Parry, Snigur, Navarro, Noel
0- 2020- Jacquemot, Jimenez Kasintseva, Eala, Parry

Konjuh and Parry are the only ones listed in 2 years.

2013 is the only group with 2 Top 10 players(Krejcikova-2/Bencic-4).

2012 and 2018 are the two years in which all have reached the Top 100.

2019 and 2020 are the only groups to only have 1 Top 100 player. It was Parry both times(58).

Pervushina-348 and Noel-794 are the only ones never to crack the Top 300.

Mon Feb 13, 10:43:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

Quiz Time!

Former Doha and Dubai winner Simona Halep had her breakout season in 2013. Which of these titles did she not win that season?

A.Morocco
B.Nuremberg
C.Rosmalen
D.Connecticut

Interlude- Smart!
https://twitter.com/SlenderSherbet/status/1624057252721176579

Answer!

Halep won 6 titles in 2013. (C)Rosmalen is wrong, because she won that to pick up her first grass title.

Continuing with this theme, (D)Connecticut is wrong, because that was her first title on hard.

That leaves 2 clay court events, and (B)Nuremberg is wrong because that was her first career title. It was on clay, but her 4th final.

The correct answer is (A)Morocco, which she did not win in 2013. Halep won all 6 finals she played that season, but Morocco was chosen as it was the site of both her first(2011) and second(2012) career finals.

Mon Feb 13, 10:51:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Upside- Ramping Up Edition.

1.Swiatek- Doha pick tries to recapture the magic from last year. This is where the streak started. Fun match vs Collins if it happens.
2.Badosa- She's back. Was in good form before her injury. Ironically gets to see where she is at quickly, as she gets to play the last player she beat in Haddad Maia.
3.Zheng- Has a tough match vs Sakkari, but if she brings the same level as last week, she wins. Also did well enough to get SE spot, so she skips 3 rounds of qualifying.
4.Gauff- Gets a bye, so easier trip for her than someone who gets Pliskova out of Q.
5.Krejcikova- Down a set as of this writing, but returns to where her season went south. Missed 3 months because of her elbow injury last year, so leaving here healthy is a win.

Mon Feb 13, 10:59:00 AM EST  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Al Naimi. Mukbaraka Al Naimi got smashed again. Qatar local got WC to Q for the 7th year in a row. For the 3rd time, she lost 0-0. Has never won more than 3 games in a match. I don't really want to have this rule, but if WC can't be given out unless you have played 40K or above, she might be the reason for it. Never played higher than 15K.
2.Cirstea- Wants to get to clay and grass badly. Reached SF in Birmingham, which is also last QF. Has gone 6-9 since grass season ended. On 4 match losing streak. At lowest ranking since she won Istanbul 2 years ago.
3.Injuries- Kontaveit and Jabeur have pulled out the next two weeks, part of a seemingly growing trend of long injuries for top players. At least the silver lining is that means breakout opportunities, see Samsonova, Zheng, etc.
4.Ostapenko- Known for questioning every line call, she turned it up last week. On literally every changeover where it was her return of serve, she held her racket up to stall for time. Even with slow moving crowds, doing it every time seems suspect.
5.Bogdan- Didn't I just do her a couple of weeks ago? Clay can't come soon enough. Lost in qualifying again, and hasn't had a MD win since Parma. Even Cirstea has had 1.

Mon Feb 13, 11:10:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Even though they're tied for second, 2012 still feels quite title-light. (That said, they're reached two slam WS finals, won 7 slam WD titles, Olympic Gold and Siniakova is likely an eventual HoFer w/ Krejcikova).

Quiz: Morocco didn't sound right. ;)

(If Halep doesn't play in a final this year, it'll be the first time since 2009.)

She's supposed to have a hearing by the end of the month.

Whenever I see something about the smarts of crows, I always think of this clip from a David Attenborough film. This one too, from the same film, I think.

Sounds a little like when Osaka's sister got a WC into the Miami MD (but she'd played in some $25K finals).

Ostapenko can't do it in the desert again, right? 1st Rd. def. Keys, next up is Pegula.

Tue Feb 14, 09:32:00 PM EST  

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