Monday, August 28, 2023

US.1- Spartan Karma


Well, karma won its 1st Round match at Flushing Meadows today. Err, I mean Maria Sakkari lost.



Arguably, the Greek #8 seed's two most prominant moments in '23 have been:

1) her on-court attempt to hypocritcally bully Diana Shnaider for having the audacity to vociferously celebrate winning points. In Melbourne, after the Hordette broke to level a set against her increasingly aggravated opponent, Sakkari, known to scream in exultation after big points, amazingly took that moment to wag her finger and complain to the umpire about Shnaider screaming "in my face." She even threatened to call the referee if it happened again.

And...

2) her outright online trolling tactics when, while barely having a working knowledge of the situation because of a misleading video, she called for the "ban" of a tour newcomer for breaking no actually existing tennis rules during a match.

On Monday, Sakkari lost her fourth straight slam match this season, becoming the first seed to fall at this U.S. Open in a 6-4/6-4 defeat at the hands of Rebeka Masarova.



The last slam victory for Sakkari? The three-setter over Shnaider in Melbourne.

The Tennis Gods keep the receipts.

Some post-match narratives of this contest noted that Sakkari never found her footing to "get into the match," but she *did* lead the 1st set 4-1, had a 15/30 lead in game 6, and then a BP for 5-4. After that, she did what she often does when the pressure gets turned up, so make of it what you will. In shorthand, from there, Sakkari went about banning herself from the year's final major.



Masarova swept the final five games of the 1st, then broke Sakkari at love to lead 4-3 in the 2nd. She consolidated it with a love hold, then served out the match two games later, (fittingly) fooling Sakkari with a down-the-line shot that fell into the corner on MP #2.

A 24-year old Swiss-born Spaniard, ranked #71, Masarova has only won three slam MD matches in her career, but she's had a way of making headlines when she's won them. Two years ago, in her slam MD debut in New York, she claimed a 3:40, three-TB 1st Round match over Ana Bogdan, which for a short while (a few minutes, maybe, as another match -- Mertens/Peterson -- clocked in at the same length immediately afterward) stood alone as the longest women's U.S. Open match in the Open era. At this year's Wimbledon, Masarova knocked off another seed (#31 Sherif), and now today's victory is the first in her career over a Top 10 player.

Masarova reached her maiden tour final earlier this year in Auckland (L vs. Gauff) and reached a career high of #66 last month.

Sakkari's loss closes out her '23 slam scoreline at 3r-1r-1r-1r, with previous losses to Zhu Lin, Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk. She still sports a live ranking of #7, so it'll take some work from a few people for her 102-week Top 10 streak (as of next week, second only amongst active streaks to Sabalenka's 146) to end following the Open, even after yet another underperforming result.

One recent development that has swept the WTA tour has been the game of musical coaches that has developed, with players moving from one to another as if they're sampling rides at an amusement park, even after having success with one or many (see Raducanu and others, including the world #1 after finishing #1) as they search for that elusive "something" that clicks.

But Sakkari has been a steadfast adherent to stability, as she's stuck with Thomas Hill since 2018 even as she has continually (with her RG/US semis in '21 the rare exceptions) come up short in slams (she's gone 9-8 in majors since), and at the SF (8-22 career, 1-5 in '23) and Final stages (1-7, 0-6 in 2021-23) in events, often seizing up under pressure even while maintaining a very chesty attitude elsewhere. Her lone tour title came in Rabat more than four years ago.

Sakkari *did* add Mark Philippoussis to her team over the summer, but one wonders what it might take for her to sample another, more adventurous (and necessary) path.




=DAY 1 NOTES=
...the race to become the first player to advance to the 2nd Round on Day 1 was a multi-match affair.

Early on on Monday the first batch of matches saw Dasha Saville leading Wimbledon girls' champ Clervie Ngounoue (in her slam debut) 6-0/4-0 and #10 Karolina Muchova pulling ahead of wild card Storm Hunter 6-4/4-0, while #18 Victoria Azarenka took a 6-1/3-0 lead over wild card Fiona Ferro and Taylor Townsend (an automatic entry when Simona Halep's name was officially pulled from the entry list) led Varvara Gracheva 6-4/3-0 (and soon 4-0, then later 5-0).

Serving at 4-0, Azarenka fell behind love/40 and was soon out of the First Victory running, while Ngounoue finally got on the board late in the 2nd. In the end, it was Muchova -- the last player to lose in Paris -- who swept to this slam's first win. Quite literally, as the Czech won the match's last twelve points.

In her first slam as a Top 10 player at this tournament, Muchova is 9-3 since her (injury-related) early exit from the 1st Round of Wimbledon.



Playing *mostly* free of injury (serious ones, anyway) in '23, Muchova has followed up her 11-12 campaign last year by so far going 34-12 this season, reaching the Roland Garros and Montreal finals, posting five Top 10 wins and pretty much personally preventing Aryna Sabalenka from taking the #1 ranking away from Iga Swiatek.

...speaking of the defendng champ, Swiatek wasted little time finding her New York groove on Day 1, handling Sweden's Rebecca Peterson 6-0/6-1. The world #1 has posted 19 love sets and 23 one-gamers over the course of '23. She's 56-8 in slam competition from the '20 Roland Garros forward, and 18-1 in slam 1st Rounds in her career.



...elsewhere, in one of the least surprising results of the day considering the downward trajectory of Veronika Kudermetova's season, the #16-seeded Hordette fell 7-5/6-4 to Bernarda Pera, dropping her fourth match in five outings. The loss means that Kudermetova, after posting her best-ever slam season in '22 (winning 9 matches -- 3r-QF-DNP-3r -- while playing just three events), put together what might have been her worst this season, going 2-4 (2r-1r-2r-1r).

Outside of her 9-3 slam mark in '22, Kudermetova is 9-14 combined in her other slam campaigns.

A lucky loser turned Cleveland champion over the weekend, Sara Sorribes Tormo added #28 Anhelina Kalinina to the list of fallen seeds, winning 6-4/7-5.



Meanwhile, it's happened *again*. Yep, Kaja Juvan has knocked off another seeded player at a slam.

For the record, her 6-2/7-5 win over #29 Elisabetta Cocciaretto marks the fifth time in the 22-year old Slovenian's career that she's toppled a seeded woman in the 1st Round of a major. Now comes the hard part.

Even with all that potential, Juvan has yet to advance past the 3rd Round in her previous 15 slam MD appearances. A thumbnail history:

2019 RG: in her slam MD debut (as a LL), Juvan took unseeded Sorana Cirstea to three sets, but lost 7-5.

2019 WI: as a qualifier, Juvan upset Kristyna Pliskova in the 1st Round, then took Serena Williams to three sets in the 2nd Round.

2020 RG: Juvan's maiden slam seed upset came over #20 Angelique Kerber in the 1st Round. She lost in the 2nd. Two years later, Juvan battled Kerber through three TB sets in the Strasbourg final before the German finally prevailed.

2021 AO: again a qualifier, Juvan knocked off #13 Johanna Konta in the 1st Round before exiting in the 3rd Round.

2021 RG: Juvan nearly took defending champ Iga Swiatek to three sets in the 1st Round, losing a 7-5 2nd to fall in straights.

2021 WI: Juvan took out #9 Belinda Bencic in the 1st Round, but again lost in the 3rd.

2021 US: Juvan defeated unseeded Heather Watson in the 1st Round, but couldn't follow it up with another win.

2022 WI: #23 Beatriz Haddad Maia, off her hot grass court run, falls in the 1st Round. Juvan posted her third 3rd Round slam result.

2023 US: #29 Cocciaretto is the fifth 1st Round seeded upset for Juvan.



She'll face Lauren Davis in the 2nd Round, with the winner playing the Swiatek/Saville victor in the 3rd.

In qualifying, Juvan added yet another grace note to a season that has seen her ranking slip and her consider taking time away from tennis following the death of her father, winning her way into a second straight major (w/ WI) this summer. In the final round, the Slovenian rallied from 6-2/4-2 back vs. Himeno Sakatsume, saving five MP in the 2nd set TB.



...Jennifer Brady, who missed two years with injuries before returning in recent weeks, made her first slam appearance since the '21 Roland Garros, notching a 6-3/7-6(4) victory today over LL Kimberly Birrell, winning the deciding breaker after having failed to convert a MP at 6-5.

A 2020 U.S. Open semifinalist, and '21 Australian Open runner-up, Brady is playing in the fifth event of her comeback. She now stands at 4-4

...in the night sessions, #6 Coco Gauff will open her attempt to follow up her Washington and Cincinnati titles with a deep run in her home slam, facing quaifier Laura Siegemund on Ashe.

On Armstrong, wild card Caroline Wozniacki plays her first U.S. Open match since 2019 as her comeback after having two children gets its first true showcase moment. The two-time Open finalist (+3 SF) faces qualifier Tatiana Prozorova.




...A NICE WORK OF ART... ON DAY 1:



Though part of me wants to know exactly how Diede de Groot got to be situated all the way to the far right of the line of wheelchair athletes, when she *should* be positioned directly under Alcaraz and Swiatek. She *has* won five straight Open titles, and there is *no* active wheelchair player who should be placed in a more prominant position than her on a slam poster (or anywhere else).

But I *guess* the "victory" is that the rollers were included at all, eh?


...THE REST OF THE STORY (said Paul Harvey?)... ON DAY 1:






















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**RECENT U.S. OPEN "FIRST VICTORY"**
2016 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR (def. Falconi)
2017 Kristyna Pliskova, USA (def. Eguchi)
2018 Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)
2019 Ana Bogdan, ROU (def. Dart)
2020 Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (def. Minnen)
2021 Kristina Kucova, SVK (def. Li)
2022 Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (def. Peterson)
2023 Karolina Muchova, CZE (def. Hunter)

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "FIRST SEED OUT"**
2014 #25 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (Lucic-Baroni)
2015 #7 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (Cibulkova)
2016 #30 Misaki Doi, JPN (Witthoeft)
2017 #32 Lauren Davis, USA (Kenin)
2018 #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Q.Wang)
2019 #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (Jabeur)
2020 #32 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (Flipkens)
2021 #31 Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (Kanepi)
2022 #7 Simona Halep, ROU (Snigur)
2023 #8 Maria Sakkari, GRE (Masarova)
[2023]
AO: #28 Anisimova (lost to Kostyuk)
RG: #29 Zhang Sh. (lost to Frech)
WI: #15 Samsonova (lost to Bogdan)
US: #8 Sakkari (lost to Masarova)

**BACKSPIN 2023 WTA PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Belinda Bencic, SUI
AO: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
FEB: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
MAR: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
1Q...SABALENKA
APR: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
MAY: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
RG: Iga Swiatek, POL
2Q Clay Court...SWIATEK
JUN: Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
WI: Marketa Vondrousova, CZE
2Q Grass Court...VONDROUSOVA
JUL: Iga Swiatek, POL
AUG (pre-U.S.): Coco Gauff, USA
[Multiple 2023 Weekly POW Award Wins]
4 - Iga Swiatek, POL
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Belinda Bencic, SUI
2 - Coco Gauff, USA
2 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
2 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ

**BACKSPIN 2023 WEEKLY PoW WINNERS**
Week 1: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
AO Q: Katherine Sebov, CAN
Week 2: Belinda Bencic, SUI
AO: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Week 5: Alycia Parks, USA
Week 6: Belinda Bencic, SUI
Week 7: Iga Swiatek, POL
Week 8: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
Week 9: Donna Vekic, CRO
IW: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
Miami: Petra Kvitova, CZE
Week 14: Ons Jabeur, TUN
BJK Qualfiers MVP: Leylah Fernandez, CAN
Week 16: Iga Swiatek, POL
Madrid: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Rome: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
Week 21: Elina Svitolina, UKR
RG Q: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
Roland Garros: Iga Swiatek, POL
Week 24: Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
Week 25: Petra Kvitova, CZE
WI Q: Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
Week 26: Madison Keys, USA
Wimbledon: Marketa Vondrousova, CZE
Week 29: Zheng Qinwen, CHN
Week 30: Iga Swiatek, POL
Week 31: Coco Gauff, USA
Week 32: Jessie Pegula, USA
Week 33: Coco Gauff, USA US Q: Wang Yafan, CHN
Week 34: Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP

**BACKSPIN 2023 WHEELCHAIR PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Yui Kamiji, JPN
AO: Diede de Groot, NED
FEB: Diede de Groot, NED
MAR: Diede de Groot, NED
1Q...DE GROOT
APR: Diede de Groot, NED
MAY: NED World Team Cup
RG: Diede de Groot, NED
2Q Clay Court...DE GROOT
JUN: Diede de Groot, NED
WI: Diede de Groot, NED
2Q Grass Court...DE GROOT
JUL: Momoko Ohtani, JPN
AUG (pre-U.S.): Diede de Groot, NED
[2023 Weekly WC Award Wins]
12 - Diede de Groot, NED
4 - Momoko Ohtani, JPN
3 - Yui Kamiji, JPN

**BACKSPIN 2023 ITF PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN: Katie Boulter, GBR
FEB: Oceane Dodin, FRA
MAR: Jaqueline Cristian, ROU
1Q...DODIN
APR: Emma Navarro, USA
MAY: Maria Carle, ARG
2Q 1...NAVARRO
JUN: Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
2Q 2 (grass)...WICKMAYER
JUL: Daria Snigur, UKR
AUG: Wang Xinyu, CHN
[Multiple 2023 Weekly ITF Award Wins]
3 - Jaqueline Cristian, ROU
3 - Emma Navarro, USA
2 - Oceane Dodin, FRA
2 - Alina Korneeva, RUS
2 - Petra Marcinko, CRO
2 - Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
2 - Wang Yafan, CHN






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TOP QUALIFIER: #15 Wang Yafan/CHN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - Elsa Jacquemot/FRA def. #2 Diana Shnaider/RUS 6-7(5)/7-5/6-3 - down 7-6/5-3, saved 7 MP in 2nd set (trailed 5-4, 40/love)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #10 Karolina Muchova/CZE (def. WC Hunter)
FIRST SEED OUT: #8 Maria Sakkari/GRE (1r- lost to Masarova/ESP)
FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS: Day 1: Lily Miyazaki/GBR
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Day 1: Brady/USA, Saville/AUS
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: Day 1: x
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: x
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: Sakkari (1r)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: x
IT ("??"): x
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Juvan/SLO, Miyazaki/GBR
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: Wozniacki/DEN
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: Day 1 wins: Brady, Collins, Davis, Gauff, Pera, Townsend
COMEBACK: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: x
BROADWAY-BOUND: x
LADY OF THE EVENING: x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x







All for Day 1. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:58 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger colt13 said...

Brady/Birrell turned out to be entertaining. 77 min 2nd set brought the excitement.

Stephens played well against Haddad Maia. It wasn't a Bia 3 hr special; it ended in 2:57.

Stat of the Day- 13- The number of women who have lost in the first round of a slam twice in one season and finished in the Top 10*.

*Since the start of the computer rankings in 1975.

Yes, this means that is Sakkari can hold on, she would be the first to get knocked out 3 times and finish Top 10.

There are some oddities. The living legend aka BJK is not on the list, though she only got past the first round of a slam once in 1975. That is because she only played one, winning Wimbledon.

Bianca Andreescu is not on the list, though due to the oddity of 2020, she finished the year #7 without playing a slam.

One oddity on the list is Kathy Rinaldi in 1986. She sticks out because this is the year the Australian Open was not played, meaning she lost in the first round of 2 out of 3 slams.

2 First Round Losses:

1986 Rinaldi #8
1994 Zvereva #10
1995 Majoli #9
2003 Dementieva #8
2004 Dementieva #6
2012 Wozniacki #10
2013 Errani #7
2015 Pennetta #8
2015 Safarova #9
2017 Konta #9
2017 Halep #1
2018 Stephens #6
2018 Kvitova #7

Dementieva's 2004 is the ultimate outhouse to penthouse season. Her results: 1st-F-1st-F.

2017 Halep is the only one to lose twice and finish #1.

Garcia loses so many points that Sakkari has a chance to do it.

Mon Aug 28, 09:42:00 PM EDT  
Blogger khan35 said...

Gauff struggled to close out the match. Is she feeling the pressure of expectations? Looking forward to Gauff/Mirra (part 2).

Tue Aug 29, 03:49:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

C-

How ridiculously exclusive would the list be if Sakkari finishes in the Top 10 with three 1st Round exits *and* no titles? (At least Dementieva won a singles title -- a Tier III -- in '04.)


K-

About Gauff/Siegemund...

The thing is, as usual, if the umpire had laid down the law early in the match all the controversy would never have become a thing. Siegemund wouldn't have looked like she was abusing the time limit rule, Gauff (and Gilbert) wouldn't have reacted to the continual slow-down, the crowd wouldn't have gotten on the German, the post-match social media commentary wouldn't have tried to drag the Williams' battle against racism in tennis into the conversation (?), causing both "Serena" and "Gauff" to trend as topics on Day 2, etc.

So many of the issues that plague the sport, at least during matches, come from umpires who refuse TO DO THEIR JOB. Of course, when one DID try to do his job at the Open (in that Serena match... you know the one -- no, not that one, the other one... no the *other* other one) he just about got chased through the streets by a torch-carrying mob. So there's that.

Tue Aug 29, 12:46:00 PM EDT  

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