Sunday, July 30, 2023

Wk.30- The End is the Beginning, and the Beginning is the End?


You send a #1-ranked Pole to Poland...






futuristic-fonts




*WEEK 30 CHAMPIONS*
WARSAW, POLAND (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Iga Swiatek/POL def. Laura Siegemund/GER 6-0/6-1
D: Heather Watson/Yanina Wickmayer (GBR/BEL) def. Weronika Falkowska/Katarzyna Piter (POL/POL) 6-4/6-4
HAMBURG, GERMANY (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Arantxa Rus/NED def. Noma Noha Akugue/GER 6-0/7-6(3)
D: Anna Danilina/Alexandra Panova (KAZ/RUS) def. Miriam Kolodziejova/Angela Kulikov (CZE/USA) 6-4/6-2
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (WTA 250/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA def. Clara Burel/FRA 7-5/4-6/6-4
D: Anna Bondar/Diane Parry (HUN/FRA) def. Amina Anshba/Anastasia Detiuc (RUS/CZE) 6-2/6-1




kosova-font



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Iga Swiatek/POL
...so, last year's 3rd Quarter summer hard court season ended with Swiatek lifting a trophy, and now *this* year's has started the very same way. Only on Sunday she was doing it in Warsaw rather than New York City.

A year after debuting in the Poland Open (in the event's second year) and losing in the QF to Caroline Garcia on red clay, Swiatek returned to an entirely more appropriate hard court event for 2023. If she wishes, even with the new 250 rules in place, she'll be able to defend her new title in '24 as one of the "exceptions" (as it's her home event) for top players in lower level tournaments next season.

Without dropping a set, Swiatek ran off wins over Nigina Abduraimova, Claire Liu, Linda Noskova and Yanina Wickmayer (a SF match carried over to Sunday with Iga up a set and 5-5, as she narrowly avoided a 3rd set via an 8-6 TB win) to reach her 19th career tour singles final. Against what had to be an exhausted Laura Siegemund, who'd played *two* full (and long) matches on Saturday, Swiatek won 6-0/6-1 to secure her 15th career WTA crown. She's the first Pole to win a WTA title in Poland in the Open era.

Swiatek's run, while most of the other top players have yet to appear in the summer HC swing, pushes her to the lead in multiple '23 season categories, including match wins (47), titles (4) and finals (6).


===============================================
RISER: Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA
...the 22-year old Italian's march up the WTA standings continues, now with a maiden title run in Lausanne (after saving MP in *two* matches!) included in the stewing pot of goodness.

Already having reached her maiden tour final (Hobart), picked up a 125 crown (her second since October) and played into her first slam 3rd Rounds (RG/WI) this season, the Italian's next logical step was to grab a tour title.

Cocciaretto's Lausanne run almost never happened, as she had to save MP vs. Celine Naef in the 1st Round, then after wins over Julia Riera and Elina Avanesyan (her only straights win of the week, but after recovering from 0-5 in the 1st), the Italian saved another MP in the semifinals vs. Anna Bondar in a 3:34 marathon. In the final against Clara Burel, Cocciaretto went to three for a fourth time in five matches, winning 7-5/4-6/6-4 to become the tour's latest (9th in '23) first-time singles champ.

Cocciaretto is the third singles champ to save MP en route to the title this year, but the first to do it in two different matches in the tournament they ultimately won. She also saved MP on her way to her maiden tour final in Hobart in January, making her the only player so far to win three matches on tour in '23 in which they were MP down.

Gradually climbing the rankings the last two seasons since her 2021 knee surgery, going from #156 at the start of '22 to being inside the Top 100 by last August, then after starting '23 at #64 and cracking the Top 50 by the end of January, Cocciaretto is now firmly in place as the ITA #1. At #30 on Monday, she'll be a full 20 spots ahead of #2, #50 Jasmine Paolini, followed close behind by #51 Camila Giorgi.


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



SURPRISES: Noma Noha Akugue/GER and Anna Bondar/HUN
....she was dreaming when she wrote the story of this week, so she'd be forgiven if she went astray. But, even though she didn't become the second player in her maiden WTA MD to win a title in as many weeks, the 19-year old German never really did.



Noha Akugue has been nibbling at the edges of something for a while now, but hadn't quite been able to make a leap. She reached seven ITF finals last season, but won just a single title. Still, she cracked the Top 200 earlier this month and, having been unable to make her tour-level MD debut after eight career qualifying attempts (including Q2 losses in RG and WI this year), received a MD wild card in Hamburg. What happened next would have seemed even more remarkable had it not been for LL Maria Timofeeva's maiden MD title run last week in Budapest, but will still register as one of the 2023's unexpected season highlights.

After posting a win in her MD debut over Laura Pigossi, NNA dropped a love opening set and saved two MP in a win over Storm Hunter, then backed that up with additional victories over Martina Trevisan and Diana Shnaider to reach her first career tour final in her very first attempt.



Noha Akugue finally reached her limit against Arantxa Rus in the final, but still rebounded from another love opening set to force a TB in the 2nd and made Rus use up five MP chances to finally put away the title. She'll now crack the Top 150.

With the runs of most of the Germany's recent leading tennis generation members having either reached their ends (Goerges, Petkovic) or likely nearing it (Kerber, Siegemund, Maria, etc.), a new set of youngsters are finally emerging in the form of Jule Niemeier, Nastasja Schunk, Eva Lys, Ella Seidel and, yes, now Noha Akugue, as well. NNA will become the GER #6 on Monday, and is the youngest from her nation ranked in the Top 300.

Meanwhile, Bondar had a very nice week, as well, but came oh so close to so much more.

The #155-ranked, 26-year old Hungarian (she was as high as #43 in January) arrived in Lausanne having lost five straight and six of seven matches, but advanced to her first '23 SF with victories over Aliona Bolsova, Mirra Andreeva and Tamara Zidansek. In the SF vs. Cocciaretto, Bondar led 7-6/3-0 and held a MP at 6-5 in the 2nd set TB (for a berth in her maiden WTA final) before the Italian won 8-6 and escaped with the victory in the 3:34 match.

Cocciaretto was the one who went on to win her first tour singles title. But Bondar rebounded, picking up the doubles title alongside Diane Parry. It's her second career WTA WD win.


===============================================
VETERANS: Arantxa Rus/NED and Laura Siegemund/GER
...Rus has been having the under-the-radar most underappreciated season in women's tennis. This week in Hamburg the Dutch veteran finally showed up in the form of a blip.



In the final week of tour-level clay court events (2) before it's all-hard court through the end of the season, Rus sniped her first career title to improve to 40-7 on the surface this season (she's 9-5 on others), adding wins over Budapest champ Maria Timofeeva (3 sets), Nadia Podoroska (in their third 3-setter in three career meetings), local favorite Eva Lys (for her first WTA SF since 2020 Monterrey, improving to 2-8 in career tour QF), Dasha Saville (for her first career WTA final) and then 19-year old German wild card/fairy tale story Noma Noha Akugue in her maiden tour-level MD appearance.

At 32, Rus is the oldest first-time singles champion in 40 years, and has now won five combined '23 singles titles at the tour, WTA 125 (2) and ITF (3) level. She'll improve from #60 to a career-best #42.

All her work this season means that Rus, who started the year at #115, will be an automatic entrant in the U.S. Open MD. Her last MD win in Flushing Meadows was in 2011, and she's gone just 1-19 in slam MD matches (w/ 15 additional qualifying attempts that came up short) since what had been her previous "career year" in 2012 (a #68 finish, w/ a 4r at RG and 3r at WI). Her only slam MD win since then came at the 2020 AO.



I'm sure Arantxa is happier than she looks there.

Meanwhile, one almost wonders whether Siegemund knew of the surface change from clay to hard court this year in Warsaw when she signed up for the event, for while the 35-year old German *did* reach the 3rd Round at this year's AO (her best slam result since '16) most of her best singles results have come on the dirt.

Whatever the case, the #153-ranked Siegemund made the most of it, posting her best-ever tour-level hard court result (she'd been 0-5 in career QF) by reaching the final, her first at the WTA level in six years. She'd reached just one tour *SF* since '17 (at '19 Bucharest).

Not only was this Siegemund's first HC match in three WTA finals, but of Siegemund's 28 finals on the ITF level only four were on hard courts (the last in 2014). She lost all four.

Wins over Maja Chwalinska and Zhu Lin set the stage for a marathon Saturday for the veteran, who went 3:26 vs. Lucrezia Stefanini in the QF and then another 2:56 against fellow German Tatjana Maria in the SF. After almost six and half hours of play in one day, she returned on Sunday to face Iga Swiatek (who'd had to finish off a nervy final 3 games vs. Wickmayer in her own SF in the morning) in front of a Polish crowd.

Siegemund only won one game, but managed to avoid a headline-grabbing love-and-love defeat by finally getting on the board in game 4 of a 6-0/6-1 loss.

Siegemund will climb 42 spots to #111 this week.


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



COMEBACKS: Yanina Wickmayer/BEL and Dasha Saville/AUS
...Wickmayer returned to tennis 17 months ago after becoming a first-time mom in the spring of '21, playing mostly on the ITF circuit (though she qualified at SW19 and won a 1st Rd. match in '22). She's picked things up considerably in '23, winning challenger titles on grass, clay *and* hard court.

In Warsaw, the 33-year old Waffle reached her first QF/SF at tour level in six years, posting wins over Nao Hibino, Tereza Martincova and Heather Watson to get within a win of her first WTA final since winning in Washington in 2016. Against Iga Swiatek, Wickmayer trailed 6-1/5-2, but managed to fight off three MP and force (due to darkness) Saturday's match to Sunday morning with the score tied 5-5 in the 2nd. She got within two points of forcing a 3rd, but fell to the Pole in an 8-6 TB.

Even with the loss, Wickmayer has totaled more overall match wins (41) in '23 than in any season since 2010 (43), with her record of 57 from '09 (possibly) still within reach by the end of the year. That was the season, of course, in which she reached the U.S. Open semis.

She'll return to the Top 100 on Monday.

Wickmayer wasn't through on Sunday, as she returned after the singles final to win the doubles final, teaming with singles QF opponent Watson to take the title. It's her first WTA doubles title this year to go along with the five she's won in ITF events in '23.



Saville continues to show her resilience, qualifying in Hamburg (w/ wins over Barbora Palicova and Sinja Kraus) and playing into her first SF since the return from her latest knee injury. Wins over Jasmine Paolini, Tamara Korpatsch and Jule Niemeier extended her winning streak to five matches, after having been 1-3 (w/ two three-set losses) in '23 coming into the week.

The Aussie lost to Arantxa Rus (after winning the opening set), but will climb from #225 to #163.

Last summer, after having returned from another knee injury for which she'd missed most of the '21 season, Saville reached the Granby final and Washington semis before being injured again in Tokyo following last summer's U.S. Open.
===============================================
FRESH FACES: Clara Burel/FRA and Diane Parry/FRA
...at some point, Burel will come out on top in her biggest final. But that's not yet the case.

As a junior, though she reached #1, Burel was noteworthy for reaching the circuit's biggest finals -- in '18 alone, the RG (vs. Liang En-shuo) and U.S. Open (Wang Xiyu) finals, as well as the Gold Medal match of that year's Youth Olympics (Kaja Juvan) -- but being unable to win them. While she's won four titles on the ITF circuit, including her second career $60K earlier this month, the Pastry has yet to claim her maiden tour title.

She had yet another chance this week in Lausanne in the same event in which the now 22-year old played her maiden tour final two years ago (a three-set loss to Tamara Zidansek), stringing together wins over Olga Danilovic, Emma Navarro, Ana Bogdan and countrywoman Diane Parry in a three-set semi. But Burel again came up just a bit short in the final, losing once more in three to first-time champ Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

In that 2018 junior campaign, after those three big losses in finals, Burel came back late in the year to win the Junior Masters event with a victory in the final over Camila Osorio.

So, hold on, her quest for a tour crown might not be finished yet in '23.



Burel will rise 23 spots to #61 this week, moving into the FRA #3 spot behind only Caroline Garcia and... (do you know?)... Varvara Gracheva (in case you've forgotten about the "newly-baked" Pastry).

Burel's semifinal opponent, Parry had reached that stage in Lausanne for the second time in her WTA career, nearly a year after her maiden final four run in Granby last summer.

The 20-year old Pastry had posted wins over a pair of countrywomen (Fiona Ferro and Alize Cornet) and Danka Kovinic along the way in Switzerland before being unable to maintain her set lead (and dropping a 2nd set TB) against Burel.



2023 has been a rollercoaster season (taking an upward turn) for Parry, who started 3-7 and lost six straight in the spring, but has now gone 18-9 since mid-May, won a 125 title (w/ a walkover from Caty McNally in Paris) and recorded 1st Round wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Parry picked up her maiden tour WD title earlier this season (w/ McNally), and on Sunday added a second alongside Anna Bondar (who lost in the other singles semi). After a 10-4 MTB win in the SF over Jakupovic/Kovinic, the pair defeated Amina Anshba & Anastasia Detiuc for the crown.
===============================================
DOWN: Karolina Muchova/CZE
...after crashing out of yet another slam (in the Wimbledon 1st Rd.) with an injury, Muchova was back this week in Warsaw. Whether she was fully ready or not, as always, is hard to tell, as she's often tended in the past to play if she's *able* over whether or not a week or two longer away might be prudent.

The Czech found her way through her opener vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich despite dropping the opening set and twice losing break leads in the 2nd. In the next round, she was doing this sort of thing vs. Rebecca Sramkova...



While a great highlight, of which Muchova always produces many, one point does not a great result make. But...



Muchova led Sramkova 5-1, 40/15 in the 3rd, but failed to convert 4 MP and never won another game.

On the bright side, Muchova apparently got through the week healthy, and will even move up one spot in the rankings to #17, just one off her career high.
===============================================
ITF PLAYER: Alina Korneeva/RUS
...there was just something about saving MP and winning a big title this week, as not only did Cocciaretto do it on the WTA tour, but AO/RG junior champ Korneeva did it in the 1st Round of her biggest pro event so far -- a $100K in Figueira da Foz, POR -- and then went on to lift the trophy, as well.

After qualifying for the MD (getting a Q1 win over NCAA champ Tian Fangren), the 16-year old Hordette faced off with #2 seed Harriet Dart, and after overcoming a 7-5/4-2 deficit saved a MP in the 3rd set and moved on.



Wins over Ylena In-Albon and Harmony Tan followed, then Korneeva dominated France's Carole Monnet in the final, claiming her third and biggest pro title with a double-bagel victory.



Korneeva reached (w/ Anastasia Tikhonova) but lost the WD final to a pair of former NCAA champions: Eudice Chong (a 4-time champ at Division III Wesleyan) and Arianne Hartono (Mississippi).

The win will move Korneeva up from #326 to somewhere around #220 on Monday. She's eligible for U.S. Open qualifying, but visa issues have apparently already made it too late for her to travel to New York next month, meaning she'll also miss out on a chance for a third '23 junior slam crown.


===============================================
JUNIOR STARS: Monika Stankiewicz/POL and Melisa Ercan/TUR
...while Iga was winning in Warsaw, 16-year old Polish qualifier Stankiewicz was taking home her biggest junior title in the J300 event in Bytom, Poland.

Stankiewicz upset #1-seed Mingge Xu in the QF, then carried the momentum all the way to her first big title, defeating Italy's Francesca Gandolfi by a very Swiatek-like 6-3/6-0 score in the final.

Stankiewicz won her previous biggest title in Santo Domingo (J200) in March, then followed that with a SF run in the same city the next week to extend her winning streak to nine matches. But since then she hadn't won multiple matches in any of eight events. Through qualifying and the MD in Bytom, she ran off six straight victories this week, though.

Meanwhile, in a $15K in Caloudra, Australia, 17-year old Turk Ercan picked up her third ITF pro title of the season, defeating 18-year old Aussie Stefani Webb in a 6-2/7-5 final.

Webb was playing in her maiden pro singles final, and had already picked up the doubles title with countrywoman Alicia Smith.

Ercan won the pre-AO J300 Traralgon title earlier this year, defeating both eventual AO girls' finalists (Alina Korneeva and Mirra Andreeva) in the final two rounds.


===============================================
DOUBLES: Heather Watson/Yanina Wickmayer, GBR/BEL
...after Swiatek had won the Warsaw singles title, Watson & Wickmayer arrived on the scene to prevent a Polish title sweep, downing Weronika Falkowska & Katarzyna Piter 6-4/6-4 to win their first title together as a duo. They'd reached the $100K Surbiton grass court final together in '19.

Watson/Wickmayer had won two MTB to reach the final, over Brits Barnett/Nicholls (1r) and Raina/Yuan (SF), with a QF walkover (vs. L.Fruhvirtova/Siegemund) in between. It's Watson's fifth tour title, but first since 2018, and Wickmayer's fourth. The Belgian has won five on the ITF circuit this season.



Falkowska & Piter's loss maintains the drought of Polish doubles champs in the three-year old Poland Open event, through all three finals have featured local favorites. Piter was part of the losing team in the final in '21, followed by Katarzyna Kawa & Alicja Rosolska last year.
===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: TBD
...I'm assuming weather issues prevented the Belgian Open (Series 1) from completing play on Sunday, where Momoko Ohtani and Zhu Zhenzhen are scheduled to face off for the singles title in a match-up of the world #4 vs. #5, respectively.

Ohtani is going for back-to-back Series 1 titles, having won the Swiss Open last week and defeating Aniek Van Koot in the semis to reach this week's final. Zhu will be seeking her biggest '23 singles crown, having knocked off Katharina Kruger and Dana Mathewson to reach the title match.

In her other Series 1 finals this year, Zhu has lost to Yui Kamiji (twice) and Ohtani (once).

In doubles, Mathewson and Lucy Shuker took the title via a 10-8 MTB over Ohtani/Van Koot.
===============================================





kosova-font

1. Lausanne 1st Rd. - Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Celine Naef 3-6/7-6(1)/6-2
Lausanne SF - Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Anna Bondar 6-7(3)/7-6(6)/7-5
...Cocciaretto's title run almost wasn't (x 2).

Naef led the Italian 6-3/5-3, and was a deuce on serve in game 9. At 6-5 in the 2nd, the Swiss teen had a MP on Cocciaretto's serve. Cocciaretto won a 7-1 TB.

Naef held a break edge at 1-0 in the 3rd, but the Italian controlled things down the stretch.



As it turned out, that wasn't even the *only* time the Italian's tennis life in Lausanne hung by a thin thread, as Cocciaretto battled Bondar two rounds later for 3:34, after a suspension due to rain just one game into the 3rd.

The Italian had led the 1st set 5-2, and served at 5-3, but ultimately had to save a SP down 5-6 to Bondar. The Hungarian won a 7-3 TB, then took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd. Cocciaretto surged ahead this time, failed to convert on two SP at 5-4, then had to save a MP at 5-6 in the TB before winning it 8-6. The 3rd set avoided the severe momentum shifts, but Cocciaretto's break of Bondar's serve ended the match in game 12.
===============================================
2. Hamburg 2nd Rd. - Noma Noha Akugue def. Storm Hunter
...0-6/7-6(2)/6-4. NNA's debut run would have been deemed a success if it'd just stopped here, but it was ultimately built upon the German chasing down Storm Hunter in the 2nd Round.

After dropping a love set to the Aussie, the teenager stormed (no pun intended, I suppose) back. After losing a 3-1 lead, Noha Akugue saw Hunter lead 5-3, hold 2 MP, and twice serve for the match. But she couldn't put in away, NNA broke to start the 3rd, and the German's week continued into the QF.


===============================================
3. Lausanne Final - Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Clara Burel
...7-5/4-6/6-4. After saving MP in two matches during the week, the final was "cake" (Panettone?) for the Italian, as Cocciaretto won her maiden tour title and Burel fell for a second time in three years in the Lausanne final.

The Italian is the fourth first-time singles champ on tour in the two weeks since Wimbledon (w/ all four coming in the season's last four clay court events), and the third winner this year to have saved MP (vs. Bondar/SF) en route to the crown.


===============================================
4. Warsaw QF - Laura Siegemund def. Lucrezia Stefanini 7-6(5)/5-7/6-3
Warsaw SF - Laura Siegemund def. Tatjana Maria 5-7/6-3/6-4
...in her first of two matches on Saturday, Siegemund won a 3:26 encounter over Stefanini.

The German rallied from 5-3 back in the 1st, saving a SP to take the match lead. She then turned a 5-2 deficit into a 5-5 tie in the 2nd, but Stefanini forced a 3rd. There, after the two exchanged breaks of serve, Siegemund took a tight 3-3 set and ran off the final nine points to get the win.



Siegemund wasn't finished on Saturday, as her make-up QF was followed by a 2:56 SF win over Maria for a 6:22 day (w/ a date with Iga in the final, in Poland, her "reward" for the effort).
===============================================
5. Warsaw 2nd Rd. - Rebecca Sramkova def. Karolina Muchova
...7-5/3-6/7-5. In a match-up of the world #18 vs. #174, things were going as one would expect, with Muchova pulling away after dropping the 1st set, winning 11 of 14 games and leading 5-1, 40/15 in the 3rd. The Czech held four MP in the game, only to be broken and then be shut out the rest of the way. She served for the match again at 5-3, but dropped serve at 15.

The chances weren't over the for the RG finalist, either. Muchova held a GP at 5-5, but was broken for a third straight time, then a BP at 5-6 before Sramkova held to secure the win.

The Slovak's only other career Top 50 wins came vs. then-#12 Petra Kvitova in Prague two years ago, and #49 Sara Errani in 2017 Fed Cup action.


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



6. Hamburg Final - Arantxa Rus def. Noma Noha Akugue
...6-0/7-6(3). In the first tour-level final between two lefties in five years ('18 Prague - Kvitova/Buzarnescu), the veteran Rus extends her own magical run beyond that of newcomer and local favorite Noha Akugue, picking up her maiden tour title and becoming just the fifth woman to win WTA, 125 and ITF challenger titles in the same season (it's happened six times, but Zhang Shuai has done it twice, in 2013 and '17).

Rus and NNA represented the 47th and 48th different women (Laura Siegemund would be the 49th) to reach WTA singles finals in 2023 (w/ an additional 19 other different individuals represented in 125 finals this season). The highest-ranked of the non-finalists? #9 Maria Sakkari, who seems to be enacting a self-imposed "shadow ban" on herself in the latter stage of events this year.


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



7. Warsaw Final - Iga Swiatek def. Laura Siegemund
...6-0/6-1. After nearly being forced to a 3rd set earlier in the day after resuming her SF vs. Yanina Wickmayer at 5-5 in the 2nd set, Swiatek rediscovered her groove a short time later in the final against Siegemund, who was looking to follow her two-match, almost 6 and a half hours of action on Saturday with a legitimately competitive effort.

At least she got a game, if *only* one.

The love-and-1 victory makes it 17 love sets and 18 one-gamers for the (still, and now slightly strengthening her grip before defending her U.S. Open points) world #1 in 2023, who improves to 15-4 in career tour finals and 21-4 on hard courts this season (63-10 the last two years).


===============================================
8. Hamburg 1st Rd. - Noma Noha Akugue def. Laura Pigossi
...7-5/6-4. After being 0-for-8 in career WTA qualifying attempts, 19-year old Noha Akugue was given a pass into the MD via a wild card berth. And, boy, did the #207-ranked German ever take advantage of that.

In her tour-level MD debut, she handled Pigossi in straights and never looked back.


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



9. Hamburg QF - Noma Noha Akugue def. Martina Trevisan
...5-7/6-4/7-5. Trevisan escaped the 1st with a win as her 3-0 lead turned into a 5-4 deficit and Noha Akugue held a SP. Trevisan won it 7-5.

In the 3rd, it was NNA who went up 3-1 only to fall behind 5-4. The Italian served for the match, but the teenager broke at 15 and then broke Trevisan again two games later to reach her maiden WTA semi.
===============================================
10. Hamburg QF - Diana Shnaider def. Bernarda Pera
...6-1/2-6/6-4. After going 12-0 and winning back-to-back titles in Budapest and Hamburg last summer (and then extending her winning streak to 16), Pera went 2-2 this time around in her title cities. Both losses came at the hands of Shnaider.

From here forward, will bandannas be a "trigger" object for Pera?


===============================================
11. Warsaw 1st Rd. - Karolina Muchova def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
...4-6/7-6(0)/6-3. Muchova's "welcome back" (from your SW19 injury) match went well, even though the Czech dropped the opening set and twice lost break leads in the 2nd. She won a 7-0 TB and pulled away in the 3rd. Things didn't go nearly as well in the next round.


===============================================
12. Warsaw Q2 - Jana Fett def. Natalija Stevanovic 6-2/6-7(4)/7-6(5)
Warsaw 1st Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Jana Fett 4-6/7-6(4)/6-3
...Fett led Stevanovic, off her Wimbledon 3rd Round result as a qualifier, by a 6-2/6-5 score, but was broken when serving for the match. The Croat then lost a 4-2 TB lead, dropping the final five points.

Stevanovic led 3-0 in the 3rd, and led 5-3 with 3 MP on Fett's serve, then served for the win at 5-4 and 6-5. Taken to a TB, the Serb led by a mini-break at 4-3 before Fett nipped her via a 7-5 score.

Bring on a belated rematch with Wozniacki! Somewhere? Sometime?

Well, Noskova then did what Stevanovic couldn't, turning Fett's 6-4/2-0 lead into a comeback victory. The teen Crusher surged ahead at 5-3, won a TB and then closed things out in the 3rd.
===============================================
13. Hamburg Final - Anna Danilina/Alexandra Panova def. Miriam Kolodziejova/Angela Kulikov
...6-4/6-2. Danilina & Panova win their first title as a pair, as the Kazakh wins career crown #4 and Panova #8 (her first since '18). Bannerette Kulikov won the '22 title alongside Sophie Chang.


===============================================
14. Warsaw QF - Tatjana Maria def. Rebecca Sramkova
...6-3/1-6/6-1. A good result from Maria, who'd arrived in Warsaw in a 1-5 slide since reaching the Gaiba 125 grass court final, reaching her second SF (w/ Bogota title defense) of '23.


===============================================
15. Warsaw 1st Rd. - Tereza Martincova def. Zhang Shuai
...7-6(3)/6-4. Make that *14* straight losses for Zhang. I guess she's going to run this thing down the road until all four tires blow out.



Zhang is in the Prague MD for Week 31, facing countrywoman Yuan Yue in the 1st Round.
===============================================
16. Hamburg Q2 - Zeynep Sönmez def. Nuria Brancaccio
...6-4/7-5. Turkish #1 Sonmez made her tour MD debut at Rosmalen last month, and played her way into MD #2 in Hamburg. The 21-year old followed up a win over Astra Sharma with this one over Brancaccio.

She fell in the 1st Round, so her maiden tour victory will have to wait, but Sonmez still sports an overall 44-19 record in' 23, with a $40K challenger title in her tennis bag.
===============================================
17. Hamburg 1st Rd. - Arantxa Rus def. Maria Timofeeva
...6-2/4-6/6-1. Unfortunately for Budapest LL/champion Timofeeva, there is no "MD loophole" for a *1st Round* loss.
===============================================
18. Washington Q1 - Clervie Ngounoue def. Anna Blinkova
...6-3/6-2. The Wimbledon girls' champ, with a qualifying WC, comes back strong in her hometown event in Washington, knocking off #37 Blinkova for her first match win in any tour-level event (she'd only played in U.S. Open qualifying in '21, falling to Mayar Sherif in the opening round).



On Sunday, Ngounoue's run ended with a 7-6/7-5 Q2 loss to Magdelena Frech. Well, unless there's a scenario where she'd get into the draw as a LL (that worked out pretty well for Maria Timofeeva the other week).
===============================================
19. $25K Horb am Neckar GER Final - Veronika Erjavec def. Anna Gabic
...5–7/6–2/6–3. The 23-year old Slovenian carries over her momentum from winning the Iasi 125 WD title and qualifying and winning a MD match in singles, picking up her second ITF title of the season (and her career).
===============================================
20. $15K Vejle DEN Final - Rebecca Munk Mortensen def. Laura Hietaranta
...6-3/3-6/6-0. The 17-year old Dane wins the all-Scandinavian battle over the 19-year old from Finland, picking up her second career pro crown.

RMM reached the junior QF at Roland Garros in the spring.
===============================================
21. $25K El Espinar ESP Final - Maria Bondarenko def. Ekaterina Reyngold
...6-7(4)/6-0/6-0. The 20-year old comes back *strong* after dropping a 1st set TB in this all-Hordette match-up, picking up her maiden pro title.


===============================================
22. $15K Monastir TUN - Angella Okutoyi def. Isabella Harvison
...6-2/7-6(2). Already a Jabeurian trailblazer in Africa, 19-year old Okutoyi adds "first-time singles champ" -- in Ons Jabeur's own Tunisia -- to her list of career accomplishments, which have already included becoming the first Kenyan to post wins in junior slam play, winning the '22 Wimbledon girls' doubles title, and headlining the first ITF events ever held in Kenya (Nairobi) last year.


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






kosova-font

1. Lausanne 1st Rd. - Freya Christie/Ali Collins def. Erika Andreeva/Mirra Andreeva
...6-1/6-4. An Andreeva Sisters sighting, but just a brief one.

After posting a singles win over Dayana Yastremska (0 & 2), Mirra fell to Anna Bondar in straights (she'd led 5-2 in the 1st, but lost a TB, and had a BP at 2-0 for a double-break lead in the 2nd). Erika lost in the opening round to Jil Teichmann.


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





Worth a read...



As everyone may remember, these clowns once tried to suspend Cornet for "missing a test" when a sample collector showed up at her house and the intercom was broken, then made no reasonable effort to try to contact her. She was inside, but they tried to count it as a "missed test."

I'll say this, Ymer's biggest mistake was to say (and believe) this: "The ITF is supposed to be a protector of our sport and its participants..." since both he and his agent, like any reasonable human beings, thought that any of the alphabets -- or those representing them -- would operate in a "reasonable" manner before, during or after any of these cases.

The whole enterprise is a clown show, at best, and often a corrupt one from tip-top to the seedy bottom. I think the Liam Broady approach is the first step in the right way to be thinking...



Actually, one could go as far as saying not only that the ITF (and CAS and the other alphabets) don't care, but that most of those organizations *want* players -- the bigger-named the better -- to be suspended because then they can say that "the system works" because they're "catching" so-called "cheaters" and/or "showing no favortism" by suspending players on technicalities and situations beyond their ability to control. In others words, suspending players justifies their system's -- and their -- existence.



kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font



What Diane said...




kosova-font





I agree. Not for tour-level events, anyway. 125s, if they must.


kosova-font





Is Connors aka The Numbers Guy?????













I still maintain that O'Connor's performance -- with just a close-up of her face -- in the "Nothing Compares 2 U" video is the greatest ever in the history of the form.














futuristic-fonts


kosova-font

































kosova-font

*2023 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
4 - IGA SWIATEK (Doha/Stuttgart/RG/Warsaw)
3 - Aryna Sabalenka (Adelaide 1/AO/Madrid)
2 - Belinda Bencic (Adelaide 2/Abu Dhabi)
2 - Petra Kvitova (Miami/Berlin)
2 - Elena Rybakina (Indian Wells/Rome)
[2020-23]
15 - 1/2/8/4 - IGA SWIATEK
8 - 3/2/0/3 - Aryna Sabalenka
7 - 1/5/1/- - Ash Barty (ret.)
6 - 0/3/2/1 - Barbora Krejcikova
5 - 3/0/2/0 - Simona Halep
5 - 0/4/1/0 - Anett Kontaveit (ret.)

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2023*
6 - IGA SWIATEK, POL (4-2)
5 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (3-2)
4 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (2-2)
3 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (2-1)
[2020-23]
18 - 1/2/9/6 - IGA SWIATEK (15-3)
14 - 3/3/3/5 - Aryna Sabalenka (8-6)
12 - 1/7/4/0...Anett Kontaveit (5-6-1)
12 - 5/0/3/4 - Elena Rybakina (4-8)
11 - 0/3/6/2 - Ons Jabeur (4-7)
9 - 1/6/2/ret...Ash Barty (8-1)
9 - 0/4/3/2 - Barbora Krejcikova (6-3)
8 - 0/3/2/3 - Belinda Bencic (4-4)
8 - 0/4/2/2 - Dasha Kasatkina (4-4)

*CAREER WTA HARD COURT TITLES - active*
31 - Venus Williams, USA
24 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
20 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
20 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
13 - Simona Halep, ROU
11 - Ayrna Sabalenka, BLR
11 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
10 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
9 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
9 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS
8 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
8 - IGA SWIATEK, POL
7 - Angelique Kerber, GER
7 - Naomi Osaka, JPN
-
ALSO: 14-Kuznetsova

*2023 WTA TITLES w/o LOSING A SET*
Adelaide 1 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Auckland - Coco Gauff, USA
Hobart - Lauren Davis, USA
Doha - Iga Swiatek, POL
Charleston - Ons Jabeur, TUN
Nottingham - Katie Boulter, GBR
Berlin - Petra Kvitova, CZE
Eastbourne - Madison Keys, USA
Warsaw - IGA SWIATEK, POL
[2020-23]
6 - IGA SWIATEK, POL (2020,21,22,23)
2 - Ash Barty, AUS (2021,22)
2 - Anett Kontaveit, EST (2021)
2 - Bernarda Pera, USA (2022)
2 - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (2022)

*OLDEST FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMP - since 2010*
32 - Arantxa Rus, NED (2023 Hamburg)
31 - Alberta Brianti, ITA (2011 Fes)
30 - Tatjana Maria, GER (2018 Mallorca)
30 - Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU (2018 San Jose)
30 - Peng Shuai, CHN (2016 Tianjin)

*2023 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Zhu Lin, CHN - Hua Hin (29/#54)
Alycia Parks, USA - Lyon (22/#79)
Marta Kostyuk, UKR - Austin (20/#52)
Lucia Bronzetti, ITA - Rabat (24/#102)
Katie Boulter, GBR - Nottingham (26/#126)
Maria Timofeeva, RUS - Budapest (19/#246)
Zheng Qinwen, CHN - Palermo (20/#26)
ARANTXA RUS, NED - Hamburg (32/#60)
ELISABETTA COCCIARETTO, ITA - Lausanne (22/#42)
[first finals]
Linda Noskova, CZE (#102/18 = Adelaide 1)
Rebeka Masarova, ESP (#130/23 = Auckland)
Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ITA (#67/21 = Hobart)
Alycia Parks, USA (#79/22 = Lyon)-W
Zhu Lin, CHN (#54/29 - Hua Hin)-W
Varvara Gracheva, RUS (#88/22 - Austin)
Marta Kostyuk, UKR (#52/20 - Austin)-W
Peyton Stearns, USA (#116/21 - Bogota)
Lucia Bronzetti, ITA (#102/24 - Rabat)-W
Julia Grabher, AUT (#74/26 - Rabat)
Jodie Burrage, GBR (#131/24 - Nottingham)
Katie Boulter, GBR (#126/26 - Nottingham)
Maria Timofeeva, RUS (#246/19 - Budapest)-W
ARANTXA RUS, NED (#60/32 - Hamburg)-W
NOMA NOHA AKUGUE, GER (#207/19 - Hamburg)

*2023 WON TITLE AFTER MP DOWN*
Abu Dhabi - Belinda Bencic (3 MP vs. Samsonova/F)
Dubai - Barbora Krejcikova (4 MP vs. Kasatkina/1r)
Lausanne - ELISABETTA COCCIARETTO (1 MP vs. Naef/1r and 1 MP vs. Bondar/SF)

*2023 YOUNGEST WTA FINALISTS*
18 - Linda Noskova, CZE (Adelaide 1 - L)
18 - Coco Gauff, USA (Auckland - W)
19 - Maria Timofeeva, RUS (Budapest -W)
19 - NOMA NOHA AKUGUE, GER (Hamburg - L)
20 - Zheng Qinwen, CHN (Palermo - W)
20 - Marta Kostyuk, UKR (Austin - W)

*2023 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
35 - Tatjana Maria, GER (Bogota - W)
35 - LAURA SIEGEMUND, GER (Warsaw - L)
33 - Lesia Tsurenko, UKR (Hua Hin - L)
33 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Berlin - W)
33 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Miami - W)
32 - Petra Martic, CRO (Linz - L)
32 - ARANTXA RUS, NED (Hamburg - W)
31 - Camila Giorgi, ITA (Merida - W)

*2023 LOW-RANKED WTA FINALISTS IN 2023*
#508 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (Strasbourg, def. Blinkova)
#246 - Maria Timofeeva, RUS (Budapest, def. Baindl)
#207 - NOMA NOHA AKUGUE, GER (Hamburg, L to Rus)
#153 - LAURA SIEGEMUND, GER (Warsaw, L to Swiatek)
#140 - Rebecca Peterson, SWE (Merida, L to Giorgi)
#136 - Lesia Tsurenko, UKR (Hua Hin, L to Zhu)
#131 - Jodie Burrage, GBR (Nottingham, L to Boulter)
#130 - Rebeka Masarova, ESP (Auckland, L to Gauff)

*BIGGEST AGE DIFF. IN FINAL*
14 years - Bogota: Maria (35) def. Stearns (21)
13 years - Hamburg: Rus (32) def. Noha Akugue (19)
13 years - Warsaw: Swiatek (22) def. Siegemund (35)
11 years - Linz: Potapova (21) def. Martic (32)
10 years - Miami: Kvitova (33) def. Rybakina (23)
[2020-23]
14 yrs - 2022 Washington: Samsonova (23) def. Kanepi (37)
14 yrs - 2023 Bogota: Maria (35) def. Stearns (21)
13 yrs - 2020 Auckland: S.Williams(38) def. Pegula(25)
13 yrs - 2022 Chennai: L.Fruhvirtova (17) def. Linette (30)
13 yrs - 2023 Hamburg: Rus (32) def. Noha Akugue (19)
13 yrs - 2023 Warsaw: Swiatek (22) def. Siegemund (35)

*WINNERS OF WTA, WTA 125 and ITF TITLES IN SEASON*
2013 Zhang Shuai
2016 Kristyna Pliskova
2017 Zhang Shuai
2021 Clara Tauson
2021 Alison Van Uytvanck
2023 Arantxa Rus

*2023 OLDEST WTA WD/MX CHAMPIONS*
37 - Kirsten Flipkens, BEL (Hobart)
37 - Barbora Strycova, CZE (Wimbledon)
37 - Hsieh Su-wei, TPE (Wimbledon)
37 - Hsieh Su-wei, TPE (Roland Garros)
35 - Shuka Aoyama, JPN (Rosmalen)
34 - Bibiane Schoofs, NED (Lyon)
34 - Laura Siegemund, GER (Hobart)
34 - Zhang Shuai, CHN (Abu Dhabi)
34 - Xu Yifan, CHN (Wimbledon MX)
34 - Xu Yifan, CHN (Strasbourg)
34 - ALEXANDRA PANOVA, RUS (Hamburg)





futuristic-fonts


kosova-font


kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font


A bit of a cheat here since the death of Sinead O'Connor took up the Jukebox section this week, as this week's Casey Kasem Top 40 (July 28, 1984) included one of my particular Elton John favorites (#7 that week) and I *have* to include it in this post...



Actually, it was a really good week...

#39 - "She Bop" (Cyndi Lauper)
#35 - "If This is It" (Huey Lewis and the News)
#27 - "Heart of Rock 'n' Roll" (Huey Lewis and the News)




#17 - "Self Control" (Laura Branigan)
#10 - "Jump (For My Love)" (Pointer Sisters)
#9 - "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (Tina Turner)
#8 - "Legs" (ZZ Top)
#7 - "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (Elton John)
#6 - "Infatuation" (Rod Stewart)
#4 - "State of Shock" (The Jacksons, w/ Mick Jagger)
#3 - "Dancing in the Dark" (Bruce Springsteen)
#2 - "Ghostbusters" (Ray Parker Jr.)
#1 - "When Doves Cry" (Prince) - the 4th of 5 straight weeks at #1





kosova-font




kosova-font



It works with "Cat," too. ("Monkey" is a little strange.)


kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font






All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:03 PM 

10 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

Mon Jul 31, 04:31:00 AM EDT  
Blogger khan35 said...

Oh, Mirra! I wish she hadn't liked those controversial posts. Even though, freedom of speech/expression is a basic human right that applies to everyone. I think Yastremska went too far by demanding sanction towards Mirra.

On Prague banning Russians & Belarusians, don't mix sports with politics.

Clara Burel seems like a choker to me. Unfortunately, There is no treatment for choking.

Mon Jul 31, 04:34:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

I never cared much for the song--from the bad grammar in the title to the lyrics in general, but then, I never cared for any of Prince's lyrics. But the melody is hauntingly beautiful, and O'Connor's rendering of it is perfect. I also never cared for music videos, but yes, that one was a stand-out. (My favorite, however, is probably the video for "Ray of Light."

And there is indeed a cure for choking. A good mental health professional (sports or otherwise) can help someone fix that.

Mon Jul 31, 11:49:00 AM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

Cocciaretto is similar to Trevisan in that she smiles when she is beating you.

Hopman Cup women did not do well last week.

Stat of the Week- 157- The number of ITF main draws played by Arantxa Rus.

Rus reached a WTA final after 126 attempts. Huge contrast to Noha Akugue, who did it in her first.

There is something to be said for grinding and reaching your career high 16 years after your first main draw.

12 years after #114 Rus beat #2 Clijsters at Roland Garros.

This was a long time coming.

Quiz Time!

Rus has been in 126 WTA main draws. Which player has been in more?

A.Ashleigh Barty
B.Naomi Osaka
C.Anna Chakvetadze
D.Tracy Austin

Interlude- 80s commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5sINSFfpmQ

Answer!

This one actually surprised me a little.

With (B)Osaka out since September due to pregnancy, this is wrong. Osaka has only played in 98 main draws. She has played more matches: 269 to 224.

(D)Austin is wrong. Often injured, she went deep in tournaments before her first retirement, to the point that she more than doubled Rus' matches with 477. But they were done in only 115 events.

Retiring twice, it was likely that (A)Barty was wrong. While she played more matches than Osaka with 280, she actually played less events with a measly 87. Mladenovic once did that in 3 years.

That leaves (C)Chakvetadze as the correct answer. Even with a career shortened due to injury, she played in 142 events, and 327 matches.

Mon Jul 31, 08:43:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Up Side- Asphalt Edition.

1.Pegula- Washington pick is a former winner back in 2019. She kind of needs a win, having lost her last 3 QF.
2.Martincova- Prague pick is the 2021 RU, which matters with the only former WTA winner in Bouzkova already out. Note:Heather Watson is a former ITF(2014)winner when it was on clay.
3.Saville- Second serve wasn't great, but looks close to her 2017 New Haven form. Due to injury, it has taken almost a year, but her Hamburg SF means that she has reached the SF in 3 of her last 7 events.
4.Samsonova- Seems like she has underachieved this year, but did reach a final in Abu Dhabi. Comes in to Washington as defending champ.
5.Noskova- Sophomore slump really isn't, as she is over .500 in her first full year on tour. Adelaide finalist might reach her second this week.

Mon Jul 31, 08:49:00 PM EDT  
Blogger colt13 said...

5 On the Down Side.

1.Arias- Gave me a good reason to skip Zhang. Barty's cap; Stosur's shades; Arango's backwards cap; Shnaider's bandanna. Iconic looks. Arias going in on Swiatek's signature cap is a piss poor take that rivals Rob Manfred going in on Mike Trout for not promoting himself enough.
2.Pliskova- New coach coming in 3,2,1. 21-20 since Tokyo last year, a stretch with started with her losing 7 of 8, and ended with her losing 6 of 7. That shows up in her record vs Top 30 in that stretch, going 6-12.
3.Azarenka- Here because she is playing well. Have high expectations, but a rematch vs Svitolina is bad for both, complete with real world concerns.
4.Garcia- Kind of unfair to put her here, but she closed last season on hard going 19-6. Can she handle the expectations? Can she defend Cincinnati?
5.Stephens- I considered picking her this week. But she tumbled out against Davis, which shouldn't surprise me as Davis is known for bringing 100%.

Mon Jul 31, 08:57:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I'm kinda leaning towards Azarenka's direction of being tired of talking about it. The war is bad, but it goes on. As does tennis. This constant entwining of one with the other, non-stop policing of every look, handshake, thumbs-up, nod, like or parsing of every comment and/or judging it to be strong enough for one's liking long ago became tiresome.

That combined with the other week's Zhang/Toth ridiculousness has made a mockery of the tour's 50th anniversary season and the foundation of "equality and inclusivity," with "a unified voice among the players," on which the WTA was built.

In 2022-23, "support" of other tour members has proven to be illusionary and/or contingent, and when it is offered it's often accompanied by a simultaneous total lack of respect for another player(s). Individuals only call for "respect" and "justice" when it applies to their personal beliefs, but they offer little to none to other players, past or present, who also find themselves in difficult situations.

All that is fine. There's nothing that says anyone has to support anyone else when it comes to anything. Just spare everyone the hypocrisy of rolling out the all-for-one-and-one-for-all stuff of yore, or celebrating the friendships (more like camps/tribes) of the current set as if those few relationships aren't more than offset by all the rest.

Aaaand, scene.

Those sort of ads were very few and very far between for Martina back in the day.

Quiz: that's an odd collection of possible answers. Went with Anna C. (!) Though I probably wouldn't have gone with her with a different group of 3 other choices. ;)

I was going to note that that Iga comment sounded like what was said about Stosur years ago. Of course, Swiatek says quite a bit more otherwise than Stosur ever did.

Tue Aug 01, 11:38:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

There was another period in WTA history when there was international tension. When Martina defected, the Communist Party set about punishing her in creative ways. One of the things they did was to relieve Vera Sukova (Helena's mother) of her job as coach of the Czech women's team.

Hana Mandlikova was very critical of Martina during this period. Later, when Martina, representing the U.S., traveled to her homeland to play a Fed Cup tie, Hana took the mic, and--in front of a very large crowd--apologized to Martina.

Wed Aug 02, 10:16:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I wanted to interject when all the praise was being heaped upon Sakkari during the DC trophy presentation, when Coco said she was one of the nicest players on tour and one she looked up to when she first started playing. :/

Sun Aug 06, 07:44:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

It really was very out of character for Maria to do that; I remain very surprised (and disappointed).

Sun Aug 06, 11:14:00 PM EDT  

Post a Comment

<< Home