Sunday, April 23, 2023

Wk.16- Same as the Old Clay Court Boss






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*WEEK 16 CHAMPIONS*
STUTTGART, GERMANY (WTA 500/Red Clay Indoor)
S: Iga Swiatek/POL def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-3/6-4
D: Desirae Krawczyk/Demi Schuurs (USA/NED) def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Giuliana Olmos (USA/MEX) 6-4/6-1




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Iga Swiatek/POL
...well, it's April, aka the time of year when the world #1 slides (literally) into her favorite surface and (likely) spends the spring mostly running downhill through the competition. In 2022, Swiatek went 16-0 on the dirt from April through May, winning three titles. So far in '23, she's 4-0 and has successfully defended the first of those three titles.

While Swiatek has still been amongst the top handful of players over the past seven months, make no mistake that that most recent stretch has arguably been the toughest since she inherited the #1 ranking early last year. Since winning the U.S. Open in September, she's defended a title in Doha, but her course has certainly been traversed on more of an "uphill" slope. Heading into Stuttgart, she'd gone 0-3 (all on hard court) vs. her (in theory) two closest competitors (Sabalenka & Rybakina), lost in two finals to the same player (Krejcikova), failed to reach the QF in a non-grass major (AO 4r) for the first time in 16 months, and was just 2-2 vs. Top 10 competition this season (after going 15-2 in '22).

Enter the clay season.

After just one event on the surface, Swiatek has massaged those numbers by defending her second title this season and winning her sixth straight clay final, while adding a pair of Top 5 victories to close out a week during which she won a Porsche for her dad. The road to such an ending included a straight sets victory over Zheng Qinwen (who'd won one of the two sets Iga lost during her clay streak in '22), outlasted Karolina Pliskova in three, and saw Ons Jabeur retire just three games into their semifinal. In a final rematch vs. Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek gave up a few more games (4 a year ago, 7 this time) but emerged with career title #13 and renewed momentum as she heads into the heart of the EuroClay campaign.


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RISERS: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR and Ons Jabeur/TUN
...Sabalenka came to Stuttgart hoping to close the gap (a least a *little*) between her and the world #1 in the rankings but, well, you know... Iga on clay. Aryna will have to settle for a stand-off as both repeated their results in the event from a year ago. The reigning AO champ will remain 2084 points behind at #2, after having ended last season chasing the Pole from 7160 points back.

Sabalenka's third straight trip to the Stuttgart final saw her post her third straight '23 win over Barbora Krejcikova (in their fourth match-up this season), take out Paula Badosa in three sets and allow Anastasia Potapova just three games in the semis. It all set up a rematch of the '22 final with Swiatek. But this year's episode of "Aryna, Stuttgart Finalist" had the same ending as the last two, as Sabalenka fell 6-3/6-4 after failing to capitalize on the few spare BP chances she had that would have gotten both sets back on serve at the mid-way point or later.

As it is, Sabalenka's "Quest for Iga" will still likely make up some significant ground between now and the summer hard court season, as she posted just one SF-or-better clay result (Rome) after Stuttgart a season ago, and didn't reach the second week in Paris, while Swiatek never lost on the surface, and must defend big (and huge) titles in Rome and at Roland Garros. Come the grass season, Sabalenka has just a Rosmalen SF to defend, and will be able to add LTA event/SW19 points from the zero she was allowed to collect in '22.



Meanwhile, arriving in Stuttgart off her title run in Charleston, Jabeur looked primed to maybe be able to carry through her good form to the *end* of the clay season, something that an injury prevented in the late going last spring.

After staging a comeback from 6-3/3-1 down against Alona Ostapenko (who served for the match), Jabeur extended her winning streak to seven matches with a victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia. It set up a SF match-up with Iga Swiatek, their first on clay since last year's Rome final (Iga 6-2/6-2), but the dreams of a great clash wilted early as Jabeur lasted just three games before having to retire.



Unlike last spring, Jabeur's injury comes early enough to think she might be at full health come Paris. We'll see.


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SURPRISE: Julia Riera/ARG
...a week after carrying the load of the Argentine BJK Cup effort in Americas I play (she went 5-0 and ARG advanced to the November Playoffs), 20-year old Riera claimed her fourth career ITF crown in the $25K challenger in Guayaquil, Ecuador, defeating Francesca Jones 6-2/7-5 in the final.

Riera dropped just one set all week (vs. Solana Sierra in the SF).


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VETERAN: Karolina Pliskova/CZE
...so far, Karolina/Big Sascha II is doing far better than the original.

Of course, Pliskova's teaming with coach Sascha Bajin last season operated with a significant handicap, as the Czech's offseason arm injury kept her off tour until March and it took her several months after that to hit her stride. The combination, which Pliskova ended after Wimbledon, only produced 9 wins in 20 matches. Pliskova's results picked up immediately afterward, but her 1-6 close to the '22 season left her at 12-10 in the season's back half after deciding to make the change.

Pliskova and Bajin reunited during the offseason, and the Czech's '23 campaign has been a bit more of what was expected, and has included an Australian Open QF, Dubai 1000 QF and, this week, another QF at the Stuttgart 500. The Czech's week included wins over Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic, with the latter coming via a 3rd set TB in a match which saw Pliskova fire off 15 aces. In her first meeting with Iga Swiatek since her infamous double-bagel defeat in the Rome final in 2021 (she'd given Iga a walkover in what would have been a meeting in Dubai in February), Pliskova took the 1st set from the Pole before losing in three (she had two BP chances at 1-2 to get back on serve in the final set, but Swiatek withstood the pressure and then pulled away).

The week puts Pliskova's season record at 18-8, and the QF result was her best in a clay court 500+ event since that Rome final two years ago.

(On a side note, in checking on this I realized that the ITF site is *still* listing WTA tournaments under the old Premier/International system through the tour is now in its *third* year of using the 250/500/1000 designations. Come on, people... step it up.)
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COMEBACKS: Francesca Jones/GBR and Fiona Ferro/FRA
...neither Jones nor Ferro came out of Week 16 with titles, but both continued to put down good results as they fight their way back up the rankings.

In Guayaquil, Ecuador, Jones' comeback from a year-long injury layoff saw her reach a $25K final on the heels of her maiden tour-level SF run in Bogota. She fell to Julia Riera, but will inch up a little bit more in the rankings to #384. She was ranked in the #800s last month.



In Bellinzona, Switzerland, Ferro didn't add a second '23 title to the $15K she won in February, but her appearance in the final of a $60K challenger is the former Top 40 (in 2021) Pastry's biggest final since she won her second career WTA title in Palermo in August 2020. Ferro won seven straight matches, going from qualifier to finalist before losing to Hordette teen Mirra Andreeva.

Ferro, 26, never spent a day in the Top 100 last year (finishing at #417 while going 8-15) as she played out the season while also filing charges against her former coach for rape and sexual assault when she was aged 15-18.

Ferro has already recorded 26 wins (Q+MD) this season in 33 matches, and will climb back into the Top 400 at #364 on Monday.
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FRESH FACES: Anastasia Potapova/RUS and Mirra Andreeva/RUS
...Potapova continues to shine in the post-JerseyGate era, posting two Top 10 wins while reaching her first 500 level semi in Stuttgart.

The Hordette rallied from 0-2 down in the 3rd set vs. Petra Martic, then recorded her tour-leading ninth three-set victor, coming out on top in a deciding TB after she'd failed to serve out the match at 5-3. Back-to-back Top 10 wins over Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia (three-set win #10) followed, giving her three such victories in the first four months of '23 (she'd previously collected just two in her entire career). Next up was a big match vs. Aryna Sabalenka, but the world #2 proved to be far too much, as Potapova scored just three games and came up a win short of a meeting in the final with the very same player who'd turned her in to the authorities in Indian Wells, Iga Swiatek.

6-2 since being reprimanded by the tour's Selective Outrage Police for donning the jersey of her long-time favorite soccer club, Potapova has produced a 1000 QF and 500 SF in consecutive events. She remains the fifth-ranked Hordette in the rankings, but leads the group in match wins (16) on the season.

Last week, 15-year old Andreeva won a challenger title in Chiasso, Switzerland, to become the first player to ever win a pair of $60K crowns before turning 16. This weekend in Bellinzona, about 25 miles (40 km) away, she won a third.

An Australian Open junior finalist this season, Andreeva improved to 13-0 on the pro circuit this season (52-9 career), winning her sixth ITF title. Last week, the Hordette defeated 17-year old Swiss Celine Naef in the final, while this week she knocked her off in the semis. Fiona Ferro fell 2-6/6-1/6-4 in the final, jumping Andreeva into the Top 200 and (likely) the Roland Garros women's qualifying event.

She turns 16 on April 29.


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DOWN: Liudmila Samsonova/RUS
...last season, the slow-starting Samsonova's only true first half highlight was a semifinal run in Stuttgart. She had come into the event at 6-7 and reeled off three victories, then pushed Iga Swiatek in a three-set tussle as the Pole was riding the wave of what would ultimately be a 37-match winning streak, including a 16-0 run on clay stretch during which she lost only two sets.

After the Iga loss, Samsonova limped (not literally) through a 1-7 stretch before the LTA ban kept her away from English grass. The Hordette used that imposed break to train hard through the end of July, then she burst into the hard court season by winning 13 straight matches, including back-to-back titles, a U.S. Open Round of 16 and then a third title in four events after she left New York. She finished the season in the Top 20 after having been as low as #60 in August.

Ranked at #15, Samsonova's return to Stuttgart didn't provide the same rush as a year ago, as she scored just two games in a 2 & love loss to Barbora Krejcikova in the 1st Round. The early exit drops the Russian to 8-9 on the year, slightly *worse* than she was at this point in '22 (9-8). Her Abu Dhabi runner-up is her only QF-or-better result this season.

Umm, maybe history will repeat itself come summer?
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ITF PLAYERS: Danka Kovinic/MNE and Emma Navarro/USA
...the first two $100K challenger events of 2023 were held in Week 16, a whole ocean apart.

In Oeiras, Portugal, Kovinic shook herself out of a 1-6 slump by claiming her second $100K crown in a year, her third since 2019 and the fifth of her career, posting tour-level quality wins over the likes of Oceane Dodin, Genie Bouchard, Marie Bouzkova, Sara Sorribes Tormo and Rebeka Masarova in a 6-2/6-2 final.

Kovinic will climb 15 spots to #57, as her late/early season surge (with a pair of WTA SF at '22 Parma and '23 Auckland, as well as 125 SF/RU results last November) continues to put a return to her previous high ranking (#46 in '16) within reach.

Kovinic is now 5-2 in $100K finals, but 0-5 in anything bigger, having gone 0-3 at tour level and 0-2 in 125 event finals.



In Charleston, Navarro (Virginia/'21 NCAA champ) won the battle in the final between former college singles champions with a 2-6/6-2/7-5 victory over Peyton Stearns (Texas/'22 NCAA champ).

The '19 Roland Garros junior RU (to Leylah Fernandez), Navarro picks up her fourth and biggest career challenger title and will *almost* join Stearns (new #72) in the Top 100, coming in at a career-high #101 on Monday.

This was the third meeting between the two this season, with Navarro having won a pair of January matches (including in a $25K final in Florida).


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JUNIOR STAR: Francesca Pace/ITA
...another young Italian went home with a J300 crown this weekend, the third 300-or-bigger singles title won in '23 by one of the nation's juniors (the previous two came from Federica Urgesi, who also won the AO girls' doubles).

17-year old Pace took the title at the Beaulieu-sur-Mer tournament in France, defeating wild card Pastry Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard by a love & 6 score in the final. The junior #90, it's by far Pace's biggest crown (which had been a J4 in '21). She dropped just one set on the week, in the QF to another Italian Francesca (Gandolfi).

Pace had posted just one QF in eight previous events in '23 after having ended '22 with a four-match losing streak following her appearance in a J1 final in Bytom, Poland.
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DOUBLES: Desirae Krawczyk/Demi Schuurs, USA/NED
...Swiatek wasn't the only defending champion to repeat in Stuttgart, as Krawczyk & Schuurs won their second straight title in the event, as well.

After taking an 11-9 MTB in the opening round over N.Kichenok/Zimmermann, the pair swept their final three matches in straights, including winning a 6-4/6-1 final over Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Giuliana Olmos.

The title is the 16th at tour level for Schuurs, who was coming off a Promotional Playoff-winning deciding doubles turn for NED in BJK Cup play last weekend, while Krawczyk (like Sabalenka, she was playing in her third straight Stuttgart final -- though she's gone 2-1) picked up #9.


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WHEELCHAIR: Diede de Groot/NED
...de Groot returned to the court this week, and didn't skip a beat, extending her winning streak to 92 matches while winning her 24th consecutive singles title at the Japan Open Super Series event.

De Groot's four match wins saw her lose just 11 total games, including advancing 1 & love over Dana Mathewson and love & 3 over Jiske Griffioen before taking the final by a love & 4 score over Yui Kamiji, her 19th straight victory over the world #2.

The quick nature of this final went against the recent trend in the series, as Kamiji had won the opening set in all three of their previous '23 match-ups, and in four of their last five meetings dating back to last season.

De Groot has won 178 of her last 184 sets, while Kamiji has claimed eight of the ten sets the Dutch #1 has dropped since the start of 2021.

In getting to the final, Kamiji added three more wins against non-Diede competition, giving her 60 straight such victories. She's 65-1 vs. the field the past two seasons, but 0-11 against de Groot. Just like de Groot, Kamiji dropped just seven games in her first three matches.

Kamiji & Kgothatso Montjane defeated Griffioen & Momoko Ohtani in the doubles final.
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1. Stuttgart Final - Iga Swiatek def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-3/6-4. In the first #1 vs. #2 match-up since 2019 (!!), Swiatek repeats as Stuttgart champ and hands Sabalenka her third straight defeat in the tournament final ('21 to Barty, last year vs. Iga).

On serve late in the 1st, Sabelenka saved a 2nd BP in game #8 but then DF'd a point later. Swiatek broke serve the next point and served out the set from 5-3, then opened the 2nd with another break. Sabalenka missed on a BP chance in game 4, and there would be no others.

Swiatek improves to 5-2 in the series, 3-0 on clay. Of note, on a tour where Top 10 rivalries have been hard to come by because players' paths don't cross nearly enough, six of the seven Swiatek/Sabalenka match-ups have come in the past 14 months (w/ the other coming in the '21 WTAF).



You know, maybe it's good that Sabalenka didn't win this thing. Based on absolutely nothing factual, I get the feeling that she might have a "lead foot" and someone on the court might have been endangered during the "joy ride" portion of the ceremony.


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2. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Ons Jabeur def. Alona Ostapenko
...1-6/7-5/6-3. Ostapenko led 6-1/3-1, and served for the match at 5-4 only to be broken in back-to-back service games to go to a 3rd set. Jabeur broke in game #6 in the decider, and carried the edge to the finish line.
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3. Stuttgart SF - Iga Swiatek def. Ons Jabeur 3-0 ret.
Stuttgart SF - Aryna Sabalenka def. Anastasia Potapova 6-3/6-2
...the best laid plans...



The smart-ass side of this Backspinner was hoping for a Swiatek/Potapova match to occur, and the Hordette to enter the court wearing a jersey from Warsaw's pro soccer club, Legia Warszawa. Well, maybe next time...



Not that great looking, actually. Maybe a scarf...?


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4. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Petra Martic
...6-3/3-6/7-6(4). Potapova's SF run almost got stuck in the starting block. Martic led 2-0 in the 3rd before Potapova surged into the lead, but then couldn't serve out the win at 5-3.

She took the TB, though, then posted back-to-back Top 10 wins.
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5. Stuttgart Q1 - Katie Volynets def. Dayana Yastremska 2-6/7-6(3)/6-3
Stuttgart Q2 - Cristina Bucsa def. Katie Volynets 7-5/6-7(4)/7-6(2)
...Volynets survived Yastremska leading 6-2/3-1 and holding a MP on the Bannerette's serve at 5-4, only to see the tables turned in her next match.

Against Bucsa, the Spaniard climbed back into the 1st from 5-1 down (Volynets twice served for the set, and had 2 SP on Bucsa's serve) and took the set with six straight games. In the 2nd, it was Bucsa who squandered a big lead (4-2) and couldn't serve things out (at 5-4).

Finally, in the 3rd, Volynet grabbed a break lead three different times (at 2-1, 3-2 and 5-4), and held double-MP at 5-4 on serve, but Bucsa got the break and then the win via a TB.
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6. Stuttgart QF - Anatasia Potapova def. Caroline Garcia
...4-6/6-3/6-3. This week Potapova talked of her enjoyment of playing indoor clay court tennis. Garcia can confirm this to be true.


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7. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Tatjana Maria def. Ylena In-Albon
...6-2/4-6/7-6(4). Bogota champ Maria wins her seventh straight match, taking both the 2nd & 3rd sets without breaking the Swiss' serve.

Tatjana sees your slice drop shot, and raises you...



Meanwhile, can we do this sort of thing for every coin toss?


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8. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Iga Swiatek def. Zheng Qinwen
...6-1/6-4. Both their previous two matches had gone three sets, including in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros when Zheng took one of the two (Samsonova claimed the other) sets that Swiatek lost in sixteen matches on clay last spring.
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9. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Elena Rybakina
...6-1/3-1 ret. Haddad was the beneficiary of back-to-back retirements against players who'd starred in BJK Cup action (in which the Brazilian had also played two matches) last weekend.

In the 1st Round, Martina Trevisan had pulled the ripcord two games into the 2nd set.
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10. $25K Sharm El Sheikh EGY Final - Timea Babos def. Maria Timofeeva
...6-4/6-1. #283 Babos, still just 29 years old, picks up her second '23 ITF singles crown, denying the 19-year old Hordette her 6th title in nine career finals.
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HM- $60K Koper SLO Final - Aliona Bolsova def. Irina Bara
...3-6/6-2/4-1 ret. Koper wasn't a very hospitable spot for Romanians a week ago, as the nation's Cup team lost a 2-0 lead in the BJK Qualifier tie vs. Slovenia. It wasn't this weekend, either.

Two Romanians -- Jaqueline Cristian and Andreea Mitu -- lost in the semis, and the lone remaining representative (Bara) ultimately retired in the 3rd after (naturally) having had a set lead in the match. Bara had been looking for her first challenger crown since 2017 (and the biggest title of her career), but has instead now lost six consecutive circuit finals since the start of the '18 season.
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1. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Veronika Kudermetova
...6-2/4-6/7-6(3). Gauff let a 6-2/4-2 lead slip away, and saw Kudermetova grab a break lead at 2-1 in the 3rd. Gauff rallied but couldn't close out the match while serving at 5-3, but claimed the deciding TB to advance.

Not for long, though, as she recorded just five games vs. Anastasia Potapova a round later.

Gauff's week began with her confirming the news that coach Diego Moyano had stepped down due to "personal reasons." She found out about his decision after Miami, and hasn't yet decided on either a new coach or the time table such for a decision.
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2. Stuttgart QF - Iga Swiatek def. Karolina Pliskova
...4-6/6-1/6-2. Pliskova had a pair of BP chances down 1-2 in the 3rd to get back on serve, but Swiatak closed the door and then rode the momentum to the "W."

Pliskova has lost four straight vs. world #1's, though this is the first in that streak vs. Iga. The other three were vs. Ash Barty, who "hit for the cycle" vs. the Czech with match wins on hard, clay and grass court between 2019-21. Pliskova's last #1 win came over Simona Halep in Madrid in 2018.
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3. $25K Nottingham ENG Final - Ikumi Yamazaki/Misaki Matsuda def. Bianca Fernandez/Chiara Scholl
...4-6/6-2 [11-9]. Leylah's younger sister Bianca comes up short in her first attempt in an ITF final to pick up her first pro title.
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4. $25K Nottingham ENG Final - Arina Rodionova def. Arianne Hartono
...6-2/6-1. Rodionova picks up her 10th career ITF win, and 2nd of '23, with a quick victory over the 2018 NCAA champ (for the Univ. of Mississippi), who was seeking her first since '19.
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5. $100K Oeiras POR Final - Ulrikke Eikeri/Eri Hozumi def. Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge
...4-6/6-4 [10-5]. Fresh off a successful BJK Cup week (for Francisca individually, and both sisters as a doubles duo), the Jorges come up just a bit short of grabbing what would have been their 4th '23 title (and 12th in the past year).
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What Austin said is exactly why I've always been FOR in-match coaching... just like it is in every other GD sport. Why would you want "lesser" versions of players taking part in matches when a few choice words can = a better performance = a better product = more entertainment for fans = a healthier tour?

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A lot of familiar faces (Spike Lee, Giancarlo Esposito, Martin Lawrence...), all looking ridiculously young.









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*WTA SINGLES TITLES - 2020-23*
13 - 1/2/8/2 - IGA SWIATEK
7 - 3/2/0/2 - Aryna Sabalenka
7 - 1/5/1/ret - Ash Barty
6 - 0/3/2/1 - Barbora Krejcikova
5 - 3/0/2/0 - Simona Halep
5 - 0/4/1/0 - Anett Kontaveit

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2023*
4 - ARYNA SABALENKA (2-2)
3 - Belinda Bencic (2-1)
3 - IGA SWIATEK (2-1)
3 - Elena Rybakina (1-2)
2 - Caroline Garcia, FRA (0-2)
[2020-23]
15 - 1/2/9/3 - IGA SWIATEK (13-2)
13 - 3/3/3/4 - ARYNA SABALENKA (7-6)
12 - 1/7/4/0 - Anett Kontaveit (5-6-1)
11 - 5/0/3/3 - Elena Rybakina (3-8)
10 - 0/3/6/1 - Ons Jabeur (4-6)

*ACTIVE WTA CLAY TITLE LEADERS*
9 - Simona Halep
9 - Venus Williams
7 - Sara Errani
6 - IGA SWIATEK
5 - Petra Kvitova
5 - Elina Svitolina
[2020-23]
6 - IGA SWIATEK (1/1/3/1)
2 - Simona Halep (2/0/0/0)
2 - Ons Jabeur (0/0/1/1)
2 - Barbora Krejcikova (0/2/0/0)
2 - Tatjana Maria (0/0/1/1)
2 - Bernarda Pera (0/0/2/0)

*RECENT #1 vs. #2 MATCH-UPS*
2014 Brisbane Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Azarenka
2014 Miami Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Li
2015 Australian Open Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Sharapova
2016-17 = NONE
2018 Australian Open Final - #2 Wozniacki d. #1 Halep
2019 WTA Finals SF - #1 Barty d. #2 Ka.Pliskova
2020-22 = NONE
2023 Stuttgart Final - #1 Swiatek d. #2 Sabalenka

*RECENT TOP 10 FINALS*
[2022]
Sydney - #9 Badosa def. #4 Krejcikova
Saint Petersburg - #9 Kontaveit def. #7 Sakkari
Doha - #8 Swiatek def. #7 Kontaveit
Indian Wells - #4 Swiatek def. #6 Sakkari
Stuttgart - #1 Swiatek def. #4 Sabalenka
Rome - #1 Swiatek def. #7 Jabeur
US Open - #1 Swiatek def. #5 Jabeur
Guadalajara - #5 Pegula def. #6 Sakkari
WTAF - #6 Garcia def. #7 Sabalenka
[2023]
Doha - #1 Swiatek def. #4 Pegula
Indian Wells - #10 Rybakina def. #2 Sabalenka
Stuttgart - #1 Swiatek def. #2 Sabalenka

*2023 REPEAT CHAMPIONS*
[singles]
Doha - Iga Swiatek
Bogota - Tatjana Maria
Stuttgart - Iga Swiatek
[doubles]
Australian - Krejcikova/Siniakova
Doha - Gauff/Pegula
Dubai - Veronika Kudermetova
Stuttgart - Krawczyk/Schuurs

*MOST WTA SF in 2023*
4 - ARYNA SABALENKA (4-0)
4 - IGA SWIATEK (3-1)
4 - Jessie Pegula (1-3)
3 - Elena Rybakina (3-0)
3 - Belinda Bencic (2-0+W)
3 - ONS JABEUR (1-2)
3 - Maria Sakkari (0-3)

*2020s WD TITLES - IND.*
15 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/2)
11 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/2)
7 - DESIRAE KRAWCZYK (2/2/1/2)
7 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/0)
7 - Jessie Pegula (0/0/5/2)
6 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/0)
6 - Coco Gauff (0/1/3/2)
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 - DEMI SCHUURS (2/2/1/1)
6 - Luisa Stefani (1/1/2/2)

*DIEDE DE GROOT WINS vs. IN STREAK (2021-23)*
[92-0]
19 - Yui Kamiji, JPN
12 - Kgothatso Montjane, RSA
10 - Aniek Van Koot, NED
8 - Momoko Ohtani, JPN
6 - Dana Mathewson, USA
5 - Angelica Bernal, COL
4 - Jordanne Whiley, GBR
3 - Macarena Cabrillana, CHI
3 - Jiske Griffioen, NED
3 - Katharina Kruger, GER
3 - Lucy Shuker, GBR
2 - Viktoriia Lvova, RUS
2 - Emmanuelle Morch, FRA
2 - Cornelia Oosthuizan, GBR
2 - Manami Tanaka, JPN
1 - Shelby Baron, USA
1 - Huang Jinlian, CHN
1 - Saki Takamura, JPN
1 - Busra Un, TUR
1 - Britta Wend, GER
1 - Louie Charlotte Willerslev-Olsen, DEN
1 - Zhu Zhenzhen, CHN
1 - Maayan Zikri, ISR






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FOOTNOTE: Just the other day I heard a local radio ad for a guns & ammo store. The owners utilized their two elementary school children to do the voiceover and talk about the business and its product. Nice touch. Or, you know, kind of the opposite of that.


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This is really cool...




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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:02 PM 

6 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Going to be real interesting to see how people set their schedules heading into Roland Garros. 12 women pulled out of Madrid, so did 17 men. Knowing how Iga schedules, I don't expect to see her in Rome.

Re:Clip- Iga went from walking on water to spilling it.

Stat of the Week- 9- Current or former BJK Cup captains that played Wimbledon in 2003.

Wimbledon 2003 is kind of random, isn't it?

Yes, but it happens to be where Barbora Strycova made her main draw debut. This week, she returns after 2 years off.

BJK Cup list just shows how each country's greats have given back. Before I get to those 9, let me tell you who is not on the list:

Neuza Silva(Portugal) was pro, but did not make her one and only slam until 2009.

Argentina's Mercedes Paz had been retired for some time, not having played Wimbledon since 1996.

Marion Maruska(Austria) was close, having played Wimbledon Q in her final year, which was 2001.

Even closer was Colombia's Catalina Castano, who would make her 2nd MD the next year.

Amelie Mauresmo(France) withdrew, so the one you most expect doesn't count.

Last, Dally Randriantefy(Madagascar) played in 2003, but it was her sister Natacha(CH 352) that became captain.

BJK Cup Captains:
Barbara Rittner- Germany
Anastasia Myskina- Russia
Alicia Molik- Australia
Tathiana Garbin- Italy
Anne Keothavong- Great Britain
Iva Majoli- Croatia
Ai Sugiyama- Japan
Tamarine Tanasugarn- Thailand
Tatiana Poutchek- Belarus

With many more countries having influence, there might be double the number 20 years from now.

Quiz Time!

Who is the lowest ranked Czech player to reach the Wimbledon SF in the Open Era?

A.Helena Sukova
B.Barbora Strycova
C.Petra Kvitova
D.Lucie Safarova

Interlude- NFL Draft week adds a participant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rnglm9IS_E

Answer!

Martina Navratilova is not a choice. She defected, plus was never lowly ranked.

There have been 13 instances in which a Czech player has reached the SF, (A)Sukova is the fake choice. A 4 time winner in doubles, she went 0-5 in QF, making her the only person on this list not to do so. Novotna did it 4 times, with a low ranking of 9, Mandlikova 3 with low ranking of 5.

(D)Safarova is wrong, but had the third lowest rank at 23 when she reached SF in 2014. Unfortunately, that effort was thwarted by Czech slayer Kvitova.

You probably thought that (B)Strycova would be the choice, since this is her comeback week. That is wrong. After having her 2014 QF run stopped by Kvitova, she reached SF in 2019 ranked 54, making her one of only 2 unseeded Czechs to do so.

That leaves (C)Kvitova, the two time winner in 2011 and 2014. She is correct, because of her breakout 2010 SF run, in which she was ranked 62.

Mon Apr 24, 12:24:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

7.5 On the Up Side- What's Old is New Edition.

Will the first 96 player field in Madrid cause different results? Blue clay did.

1.Muchova- Can't pick Iga every week. One of the many players with Top 20 talent and Top 200 durability, she has reached 3 QF this year. Makes her debut this season on clay, 2 years after her last QF on this surface, which was also Madrid.
2.Teichmann- Can she bring back last year's magic? SF run in which she went through Kvitova, Fernandez, Rybakina, Kalinina was impressive. Then knocked off Rybakina again in Rome.
3.Kvitova- 3 time winner should get more time off with a stretched out schedule. Can she bring the heat?
4.Krejcikova- Still in the part of the schedule which she skipped last year due to injury. Has to be careful about overplaying.
5.Andreeva- Mirra is in MD, Erika is in Q. Mirra goes for first MD win in 2nd event(Monastir) while Erika tries to reach 7th MD. She's done it the hard way, qualifying for all except the last one, which was Miami.
6.Niemeier- Like Jabeur, her play showed an uptick the minute we went to clay. Might be someone who peaks Apr-Jul, as 3 of her 5 QF, and her 2 SF are on clay. Add the Wimbledon QF, and you see her results are better off hard.
7.Strycova- Plays first match since 2021 AO, looks for first win since 2020 RG. Enjoy her for as long as this lasts.
7.5.In-Albon- Forehand is weak, but backhand is solid. Lost an exciting match in Stuttgart, which leaves her 0-9 in WTA MD. The silver lining is that she qualified, making it the first time she did so at WTA level.

Mon Apr 24, 12:36:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

7.5 On the Down Side.

1.Zheng- Not because of her play, but another probably match vs Swiatek. Actually has already played 9 Top 20 matches this year, going 4-5.
2.Bencic- Announced that she is out of both Madrid and Rome. What looked like a special season might be plagued by injury.
3.Kudermetova- Started off the year going QF-SF-R64-QF-SF. Now is on a 4 match losing streak. For someone who reached final in Istanbul, and backed that up with RG QF, clay results need to be better.
4.Sorribes Tormo- I actually had Bouchard here, for the fact that she was unlucky enough to draw her in Q. Alas, Sorribes retired down 6-1, 4-1, which leaves more questions than answers.
5.Begu- R128 this year? I kid, but Begu did this backwards. Starting in 2015, she has gone QF-QF-R16-R32-R64-R64-R64. With the event not running in 2020, it means that she hasn't won here since 2018.
6.Rogers- Another woman with a surprisingly light history here, the former RG QF has not won a main draw match here. Her only win was in Q, way back in 2017 against Mattek-Sands.
7.N.Kichenok- Why am I picking on a double specialist? Well, at 57, she is 6 spots behind Mirza, who has since retired. Last 52 weeks: Mirza 15-12, Kichenok 28-27. She actually played 28 events, as she won Tallinn.
7.5.Vondrousova- I sometimes forget that she is 5-6, until the BJK Cup pic of Krejcikova towering over her came out. She's on the list because she is still in Q, though she has 2 winnable matches. She was 103 at time of cutoff, while one of the 12 women who pulled out in Osaka, was 69.

Mon Apr 24, 12:48:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Quiz: Strycova did seem too easy, so I went with Kvitova's first-time run before she won the title. Sometimes it works out. ;)

Vondrousova *does* seem taller than that. Long arms creates the illusion, maybe?

*Madrid*
=QF=
(1) Swiatek d. (11) Krejcikova
(21) Potapova d. (3) Pegula
(26) Badosa d. Muchova
(2) Sabalenka d. (10) Kvitova
=SF=
(1) Swiatek d. (21) Potapova (with or w/o Warsaw jersey)
(26) Badosa d. (2) Sabalenka
=F=
(1) Swiatek d. (26) Badosa

Mon Apr 24, 06:53:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Wasn't that the year that Petra talked about playing The Serena? :)

Mon Apr 24, 09:28:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I think it was. :)

It's still incredible that not only did they play just 7 times in their career, but that *zero* of the seven matches were finals. They only met twice at Wimbledon (2010 & '12) despite combining to win 7 of 8 titles (all but '13) between 2009-16.

Wed Apr 26, 05:44:00 PM EDT  

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