Wednesday, September 13, 2023

2023 3Q Awards: The Summer of Coco


Summer things...




I've already posted the lists of the Top Players of the 3rd Quarter, as well as the "Ms.Backspin" player-of-the-year update. or I've already posted the lists of the Top Players of the 3rd Quarter, as well as the "Ms.Backspin" player-of-the-year update.

As for the rest...



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1. AMERICAN HOT WAX: SUMMER OF COCO
...19-year old Coco Gauff was involved in or adjacent to nearly every big plot development over the past two months ever since the fateful decision to redesign her coaching team following a 1st Round exit at Wimbledon. The "Summer of Coco" saw her go 18-1 on North American hard courts, 5-1 vs. the Top 10, and win three titles in Washington, Cincinnati (w/ her first win over #1 Iga Swiatek in eight tries) and New York, where she road a wave of confidence all the way to her maiden slam title, defeating about-to-become #1 Aryna Sabalenka in a three-set U.S. Open final.

She's the third teen from the U.S. to win the Open crown (after Tracy Austin and Serena Williams), and the youngest home champ since a 17-year old Williams grabbed her maiden slam title 24 years ago.


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2. GRAND SLAMÂł
...wheelchair living legend Diede de Groot completed another summer unscathed in singles competition, winning her sixth straight U.S. Open title with a 6-2/6-2 win in the final over Yui Kamiji (her 23rd straight win over the world #2). De Groot has now won 12 straight slam titles (40 matches), completing a Grand Slam for a third straight season, and hasn't lost a match in more than two and a half years, going 122-0 starting with the 2021 Australian Open.


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3. THE MOST UNEXPECTED CHAMPION
...Emma Raducanu eat your heart out. In Budapest, Maria Timofeeva completed what was truly one of the most unexpected and remarkable weeks in tour history.

Not only did the 19-year old Timofeeva win her maiden WTA singles title in Budapest as a lucky loser, she also became the 8th player in tour history to win in her tour MD debut (just the second since 2001) and at #246 was the sixth-lowest ranked (not counting the spare "unranked" champion) singles champion ever.
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4. A BUFFALONIAN IN QUEBEC
...finally, things broke Jessie Pegula's way in Montreal.

Early straight sets wins over Yulia Putintseva and Jasmine Paolini showed Pegula to be in good form, but it was from the QF on, where Pegula often finds herself confronted with major roadblocks, that the then world-#3 both played up to and exceeded her ranking, first ending doubles partner Coco Gauff's undefeated summer hard court run (it what would be her *only* loss) with a three set win, then posting her second '23 victory over then-#1 Iga Swiatek (also in three sets) to advance into her third career 1000 final (she won Guadalajara last fall, but only had one Top 20 win... and it was over Maria Sakkari, in a final so, well, *you know*).

Pegula, while dealing with a few odd, mid-rally interruptions (illuminated lights, Cotton Eye Joe) during the week, had pretty much made her own luck, but she got a bit of it back on the final day as fellow finalist Liudmila Samsonova, who'd had to play two matches on Friday because of weather delays was again asked to play two matches on Sunday after more rain on Saturday.

Pegula was fresh and in form, while Samsonova had reached her limit. Pegula won 6-1/6-0, taking home her third career title.


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5. ITALIAN SAUCE
...22-year old Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto's march up the WTA standings continued with a maiden title run in Lausanne (after saving MP in *two* matches!).

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 first-time singles champ.

Cocciaretto was 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 a 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.
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6. HOME IS WHERE THE TITLE IS
...after the 2022 3Q hard court season ended with Iga Swiatek lifting a trophy in NYC, *this* year's started the very same way in Warsaw.

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. Without dropping a set, Swiatek ran off five straight wins, including over Linda Noskova, 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) and 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.


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7. THE NAO HIBINO OPEN
...Prague gradually turned into the Nao Hibino Open.

The 28-year old Japanese vet, a two-time former tour champion (but without an appearance in a final since '19), lost in qualifying to Emiliana Arango, but in the Year of the Lucky Loser (aka 2023) she surely wasn't finished. After notching a win in the 1st Round vs. Sara Errani, Hibino followed up with additional victories over Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Martincova to reach the SF, the second lucky loser in three weeks (w/ Maria Timofeeva, who won the Budapest title) to do so in a WTA event. It was Hibino's first WTA semi since 2020.

Hibino's Saturday SF was pushed to Sunday due to rain, where she took a bit too long in putting away Jaqueline Cristian and found herself up 5-2 in the 3rd when rain arrived yet again and cancelled play for the remainder of another day. The match was completed on Monday, and then Hibino defeated Linda Noskova for the title later in the day.

Also on Monday, Hibino took home the doubles crown along with Oksana Kalashnikova, defeating Quinn Gleason & Elixane Lechemia for the crown. Hibino's last tour WD title was in 2019.


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8. A QUEEN IS (FINALLY) CROWNED
...Zheng Qinwen had already done enough to signal herself a possible future star on tour, or at least placed herself in the group of players from which said individuals would emerge. But even though she had a nice nickname (QUEENwen), she didn't have a full-fledged WTA title to her name.

That finally changed in Palermo. Having had a fairly quiet year (just 4 wins over. 500, and coming off a winless grass campaign), with just one QF result (Abu Dhabi all the way back in February), Zheng stated her intentions at the start of the week with a double-bagel defeat of Sara Errani on Italian clay. After that, she had to fight for her right to party like a champion.

She went three sets with Diane Parry, then after winning in two over Emma Navarro went the distance again against Mayar Sherif and, in the final, another Italian in Jasmine Paolini, ultimately winning 6-4/1-6/6-1 to finally grab her maiden crown.

Zheng carried over her momentum to New York, where she reached her first career slam QF at the U.S. Open.


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9. THIRD TIME IS STILL A CHARM
...well, I guess they come in bunches, don't they?

After lucky losers finding their ways into MD and reaching the final, let alone winning a title, were the rarest of rarities in tour history for just about the *entire* now 50-year lifespan of the WTA, this year has seen one reach a slam Round of 16 (Elina Avanesyan at RG), and *three* play in tour singles finals since the middle of July. In Cleveland, Sara Sorribes Tormo was the third of the three finalists to win the title.

After falling in qualifying, SST was one of four LL to reach the MD in the final pre-U.S. Open event on the schedule. The Spaniard didn't lose a set the rest of the way, getting wins over the likes of Veronika Kudermetova, Sloane Stephens, Tatjana Maria and Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final, the latter after trailing by a set and 4-2, then being down a break at 3-1 in the 3rd.
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10. NNA (ALMOST) ALL THE WAY
...19-year old German Noma Noha Akugue 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 in Budapest a week earlier, 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.
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Aoyama/Shibahara (MTL) ...in Montreal, the Japanese pair picked up a second career 1000 title, defeating Siegemund/Zvonareva and Krawczyk/Schuurs (via a 13-11 MTB in the final). The only duo to have won more WTA titles in the 2020s than the eight by Aoyama/Shibahara are two Czechs named Krejcikova & Siniakova. That's it. That's the list.
CRO Hopman Cup ...the Hopman Cup returned for the first time since 2019, in a different month (July, not December/January), a different nation (France, not Australia), and on a different surface (clay, not hard court). But the two finalist nations had won the title before, and Switzerland was going for a *third* straight win and fifth overall. As it was, Donna Vekic and Borna Coric swept the singles to claim the nation's first HC win since 1996.
CZE 14u ITF Jr. ...Crushers gonna crush. In Prostejov (CZE), the Czechs successfully defended their 14u ITF Juniors title, winning the team event for the third time in the last four competitions. As usual, it was a *group* effort, as the knock-out stage saw the Czechs win all three ties in the deciding doubles (vs. AUS-SRB-GER), including recovering from a 1-0 deficit in the final and then winning the deciding doubles.
Gaby Dabrowski (US WD), Erin Routliffe (US WD) and Anna Danilina (US MX) ...in New York, Dabrowski became the first Canadian woman to win a slam WD crown, while partner Routliffe was the first Kiwi to claim any slam trophy since 1979. Days earlier, Danilina's maiden major title had made her the first Kazakh to be crowned a MX slam champ.
Katherine Hui (US Jr.) ...the first wild card to win the girls' singles title (the only other wild card finalist was Coco Gauff in '17), Hui defeated Czech Tereza Valentova on her seventh MP in the final to complete the tournament without dropping a set. The 18-year old is the 18th U.S. girl to win the Open junior title, and the fourth in the last seven events (the junior competition wasn't held in 2020) since 2016. Hui now heads off to play college tennis at Stanford.
Ons Jabeur (US) ...playing with an illness that sapped her strength, Jabeur nonetheless willed her way into the U.S. Open 4th Round, struggling past Camila Osorio (in the NYC summer heat), Linda Noskova (down a break in the 3rd) and Marie Bouzkova (in 3:00).
Kato/Sutjiadi (CLEV) ...the pair because the fifth different duo to win two tour WD titles in '23 (none have won 3), winning a trio of MTB en route to the crown, including victoriess Dabrowski/Routliffe (soon-to-be US Open champs) and Melichar-Martinez/Perez.
Parks/Townsend (CIN) ...Cincinnati (1000) was the biggest WD title yet for both, as they notched wins over L.Kichenok/Ostapenko, #4 Krawczyk/Schuurs, #2 Hunter/Mertens and #3 Melichar-Martinez/Perez in the final, the latter victory via a 10-6 MTB.
Arantxa Rus (HAM) ...in the final tour-level clay court event of '23, Rus' under-the-radar, underappreciated season saw her snipe her first career WTA title before hard court events filled the year's remaining schedule. At 32, she was the oldest first-time tour singles champion in 40 years.
Aryna Sabalenka (2022-23) ...a season after having to battle her own serve, Sabalenka carries over her late '22 momentum (WTAF final and wins over the world #1, #2 and #3) to *finally* chase down Iga Swiatak and replace her as the world singles #1, ending the Pole's 75-week reign, becoming the tour's 29th different #1 and the 2nd Belarusian (w/ Azarenka) to hold the spot, as well as just the 8th woman in tour history to have been ranked #1 in both singles and doubles. At the U.S. Open, she reached her fifth straight slam SF (3rd con. US, and 7/9 slam MD), became the first since 2016 to do so at all four majors in a season, and reached her second (AO) slam final of '23.
Siegemund/Zvonareva (WAS) ...a week after reaching her first tour singles final in six years in Warsaw, Siegemund teamed with Zvonareva to claim their fourth WTA title as a pair in Washington, defeating #1-seeds Melichar-Martinez/Perez, the Kichenok sisters and Guarachi/Niculescu in straight sets in the final. With a combined age of 73 (LG 35, VZ 38), they're the second-oldest title-winning duo on tour in '23. They ended the summer by reaching the U.S. Open final, as well.
Caroline Wozniacki (US) ...after returning from a three-and-a-half year retirement during which she became a two-time mother, former #1 and slam champion Wozniacki reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open in her slam (re-)debut, getting a win over #11 Petra Kvitova before finally losing in three sets to eventual champ Coco Gauff.
Kimberley Zimmermann (PAL) ...the German teamed with Yana Sizikova to win Palermo without dropping a set, her third consecutive WD title run at the event.



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*BEST ENTRANCE*





*CLASSIC "POJD!" PIC (3Q EDITION)*





*CALLING DR.COCO*





*TENNIS AND WORLD EVENTS FOR DUMMIES*

Washington 1st Rd. - Elina Svitolina def. Victoria Azarenka 7-6(2)/6-4
Sometimes the easy answer *is* the correct one.





*THE MOMENT THAT REFUSED TO DIE*




Yeah, we get it... who would've thought that it'd play during a point?



*ARYNA'S PERSONAL AVENGER*





*THE RETURN*





*TROUBLE WITH A CAPITAL "T"*





*INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS?*


What has happened to Krejcikova/Siniakova? Maybe Fernandez/Townsend stole their souls...





*BETTER LATE THAN NEVER*

...it happened a bit later than it should have, but now that it has it's forever.






*BEST TWIRL*





*INTRODUCING...*


$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.




*BEST ON-COURT ACCESSORY*





*FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL*




In Palermo, Curmi nearly earned her way into being the first Maltese player in a WTA MD, having been up a break in the 3rd set in the final qualifying round vs. Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, and serving for the match at 5-4. She lost to the Pastry, but reached the MD as a LL.

Curmi gave 1st Round opponent Cristina Bucsa a run, too. She led 3-0 out of the gate, and took the 1st set, and was knotted at 3-3 in both the 2nd and 3rd sets. She led 5-3 in the 3rd, served at 5-4 and was two points from her maiden win at deuce on Bucsa's serve. Curmi had a GP to reach a deciding TB, but was broken in a two-deuce game and the Spaniard prevailed.

Malta's population? 519,000 as recently as 2021.


*TO YOU, PETRA, PLEDGE TO POJD?*





*BEST PERFORMANCE DURING A POINT IN A MATCH THAT YOU LOST (badly): Karolina Muchova*





*BEST CZECH TWEENER IN THE CITY*





*BEST POSTER*





*BEST ARCHITECTURAL TROPHIES (Stanford 125)*





*YOOHOO!!! (Looks Around.) WHERE'S QINWEN?*





*2024 EARLY WARNING SYSTEM ACTIVATED*




Either this is the most disingenuous comment we've seen in quite some time (which is saying something considering who said it), or she's been totally living in a bubble for her entire career. Osaka literally defeated a new mom in the final when she won her first slam, and another (different mother) in the final when she won her third.

Maybe it's both.




*FINAL GOODBYES*





*BEST "TENNIS ONION RUTABAGA" HEADLINE THAT WAS ACTUALLY TRUE*




*BEST HOT TUB TIME MACHINE RIVALRY: LITTLE ASH vs. LITTLE COCO*




*"MY SUMMER TRIP TO NEW YORK" - Alona*





*THE "LAST STRAW"*





*BEST EXIT (FOR NOW)*






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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:32 PM 

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