Sunday, February 04, 2024

Wk.5- A Thunder After Down Under

When it rains Ostapenko, it Thunders indoors...






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*WEEK 5 CHAMPIONS*
LINZ, AUSTRIA (WTA 500/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Alona Ostapenko/LAT def. Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS 6-2/6-3
D: Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini (ITA/ITA) def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez (USA/AUS) 7-5/4-6 [10-7]
HUA HIN, THAILAND (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Diana Shnaider/RUS def. Zhu Lin/CHN 6-3/2-6/6-1
D: Miyu Kato/Aldila Sutjiadi (JPN/INA) def. Guo Hanyu/Jiang Xinyu (CHN/CHN) 6-4/1-6 [10-7]




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...well, Alona's got that look again. Or is it looks? You know, the through-the-wall competitive stare we see when she's blasting shots past a helpless opponent, but also the semi-smirk/semi-smile that comes over her face when she's accepting the spoils of her victory.

There's no one quite like Latvian Thunder on the WTA tour, and it's nice to have her back. So far, her most recent orbit around women's tennis world has been obscenely profitable. While she's still looking for the bookend piece to pair with that Coupe-Suzanne-Lenglen replica she won a few years back, Ostapenko has been making noise *every* week during the 2024 season.



A doubles title in Week 1, then a singles win in Week 2. She reached her maiden slam WD final in Melbourne, and this week she showed up in Linz and became the first two-time WTA singles champ of the new season. And the thing is, it wasn't just about blowing opponents off the court, either. At least not at the start.

Ostapenko barely escaped Clara Tauson in her opening match, rallying from 6-3/4-1 down, then 3-1 back in the 3rd. She saved a MP at 5-3, then had to win a 9-7 deciding TB. But after the Dane couldn't do the deed despite having more winners (42-38), aces (12-6) and points (100-99) than Ostapenko, no one else got a second look. Over the final three matches, the Latvian lost a combined 13 games against Jodie Burrage, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (37-15 and 10-0 edges in winners and aces) and Ekaterina Alexandrova. She ended the event with 123 total winners in four matches, 85 in the final three of which were open-and-shut straight setters that lasted no more than 15 games each.

With her eighth career title (in 16 finals) in hand, Ostapenko inches closer to returning to the Top 10 for already the second time this season. After a return following her Adelaide title a day prior to the AO start, she was knocked down to #12 when she lost in the 3rd Round (to Vika Azarenka) and Zheng Qinwen reached the final in Melbourne to make her own Top 10 debut. At 13-2 on the season, Ostapenko will move up to #11 on Monday, just 47 points behind (still) idle #10 Karolina Muchova.

Linz's shiny new trophy sat around all week waiting for *someone* to be the first to lift her. Alona more than earned the honor.



And when things are working, why take a break? Alona is set to be back in action this week in Abu Dhabi. She's in the same quarter as all this...



LATE NOTE: Ostapenko with drew from Abu Dhabi.
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RISERS: Zhu Lin/CHN and Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
...a year ago, Zhu got off to a 10-3 start in '23 by reaching the Auckland QF and Australian Open 4th Round, and then winning her maiden tour title in Hua Hin. She ultimately posted six SF+ results at tour level, reaching a second final in the fall, and finishing a season in the Top 50 for the first time at #36.

After a QF in Hobart this January, Zhu fell in the opening round in Melbourne this time around.

The 30-year old rebounded in her return to the Hua Hin final, dropping no sets as she dispatched Taylah Preston, Linda Fruhvirtova, Arina Rodionova and Wang Yafan to extend her HH winning streak to nine and reach her third career WTA final. She fell in three sets to Russian teen Diana Shnaider.

After being ranked as high as #31 in September, Zhu will slip just outside the Top 50 on Monday after not quite defending her '23 crown.



In Linz, Alexandrova reached the final in the event for the first time since 2018 (it was her maiden tour final), knocking off Jule Niemeier, defending champ Anastasia Potapova and Donna Vekic (rallying from 5-1 down in the 3rd set TB) to reach her first final (8th career) since Cleveland last summer.

Alexandrova wasn't able to pick up her first hard title since 2022, though, as she became the last victim of Alona Ostapenko's Austrian steamroller in a 6-2/6-3 final.


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SURPRISES: Miyu Kato/Aldila Sutjiadi (JPN/INA) and Wang Yafan/CHN
...did you know that with this week's title in Hua Hin, Kato/Sutjiadi are now officially one of the most successful tour doubles duos this decade? Their third title as a pair (all since last January) ties them behind only the likes of Krejcikova/Siniakova, Aoyama/Shibahara, Siegemund/Zvonareva, Gauff/Pegula and Hsieh/Strycova for the most wins in the 2020s.

Their 10-7 MTB win in the final over Guo/Jiang improves their mark in finals to 3-2. Both now have five career WTA titles.



Wang's last SF/F at tour level came in 2019. Last year, though, the 29-year old climbed back into the Top 100 while winning five ITF challengers and one 125 crown. She recorded 59 total match wins in '23, after having just 29 combined from 2020-22. At this year's AO, she posted her best-ever slam result, defeating #22-seed Sorana Cirstea and Emma Raducanu before pushing eventual finalist Zheng Qinwen to a 10-8 3rd set MTB before exiting in the 3rd Round.

In Hua Hin, Wang reached her first SF in five seasons with wins over Alina Korneeva, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Katie Volynets (the latter in a 3rd set TB) before falling to defending champ Zhu Lin.
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VETERANS: Arina Rodionova/AUS and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
...Rodionova has come storming back after missing the last half of the '22 season. Last year, the Aussie recorded a career-best 78 match wins and won 7 ITF challenger titles. Still, though she was the highest ranked Australian woman at the time (none finished in the Top 100 in '23), the veteran narrowly missed out on getting an automatic entry spot and then was denied a wild card into the AO MD by Tennis Australia.

Rodionova chalked it up to a "personal vendetta" against her by the organzation, and bemoaned her Q1 loss in Melbourne as much for giving "them" something to be happy about as for, you know, the loss itself, which came just a week after Rodionova had reached the Brisbane 3rd Round *and* notched a win over former AO champ Sofia Kenin.

Still, Rodionova arrived in Hua Hin this week sporting a career high rank of #101. She promptly defeated Yuan Yue and Bai Zhuoxuan to reach her first WTA QF since 2017, though her loss to defending champ Zhu Lin prevented the 34-year old from reaching her maiden tour SF.

But Rodionova's result *will* allow her to make her Top 100 debut on Monday, making her the oldest to do so in tour ranking history. Of the five 30+ players to do it, *three* have done so in just the last few years. Rodionova follows Nuria Parrizas Diaz (2021) and Emina Bektas (2023).

In Linz, Pavlyuchenkova ('15 champion) posted her second QF+ result of the season (w/ Adelaide), knocking off Martina Trevisan, Katie Boulter and Elise Mertens before going out in the SF in a blaze of aces/winners from Alona Ostapenko a round short of the final.

The 32-year old Hordette will climb back into the Top 40 in the new rankings.


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COMEBACKS: Jule Niemeier/GER and Donna Vekic/CRO
...finally, some light at the end of the tunnel for the young German?

After a '22 season in which she went 40-22, reaching the Wimbledon QF and U.S. Open Round of 16 while climbing as high as #61, Niemeier slipped back into the pack last year. She went just 16-29, dropped as low as #175 and produced just a single QF-or-better tour result (Hamburg).

This week in Linz, the 24-year old made it through qualifying, defeating both sides of the Week 2 125 Canberra final (Nuria Parrizas Diaz and Harriet Dart), then posted a MD win over Anna Blinkova, as well. It was Niemeier's first in a tour event since August. She soundly lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova a round later, but will be back in the Top 150 on Monday.

Since December, the German has been coached by Michael Geserer, the former coach of Julia Goerges and Jennifer Brady.

Meanwhile, Vekic last reached a tour SF in Berlin last June (when she was a grass court runner-up to Petra Kvitova). The Croat ultimately ended 2023 on a 1-7 slide, and was 3-10 from her Wimbledon 3rd Round loss forward. Coming into Linz off a disapointing 1st Round exit at the Australian Open (she played in just her second career slam QF there in '23), Vekic bounced back. She allowed just two games vs. AO semifinalist Dayana Yastremka, then defeated Clara Burel (AO 3r) to reach her first final four in the event.

Vekic had chances to reach her 13th tour final, but lost break leads twice in the 2nd set (after winning the 1st), as well as a 5-1 edge in the deciding 3rd set TB against Ekaterina Alexandrova in a three-hour battle that ended 5-7/7-6/7-6.


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FRESH FACES: Diana Shnaider/RUS and Wang Xinyu/CHN
...last year, the play of Shnaider -- sporting her signature bandanna -- clearly signaled that big things were around the corner. She pushed Maria Sakkari to three sets in the AO 2nd Round in her debut major (w/ her exuberance needling the Greek's nerves at the same time), and won another MD slam match in Paris. After starring in NCAA play for N.C. State, the Hordette upset Petra Kvitova en route to the Ningbo final (one of three SF+ results in '23).

In Hua Hin, the 19-year old bookended wins over the #1 seed (Magda Linette in the 1st Rd.) and defending champ (Zhu Lin in the final) with additional victories over Paula Badosa (ret.), Dalma Galfi (improving to 4-0 in WTA QF) and Wang Xinyu.

After 1st Round losses in Brisbane and Melbourne, Shnaider's maiden tour title run sets her back on a positive course, as she'll return to the Top 100 this week.

The Linz singles trophy got a major (and much needed) upgrade this year. It's not the same for this event, but what the Hua Hin piece is missing in glitz it makes up for in character. But, really, as easily as Shnaider lifts that big thing, I mean, it *has* to be made out of styrofoam, right?



Wang reached the Hua Hin semis for the second straight year (half of her career WTA SF total), losing to Shnaider. Still, the 22-year old from China is off to a decent '24 start (5-4) after last season posting MD wins at all four majors (going a combined 7-4), matching or besting her past results in each one, and reaching a maiden slam Round of 16 in New York (she also won the RG doubles w/ Hsieh Su-wei).

In Hua Hin, Wang had wins over Emina Bektas (ret.), Nao Hibino and Yulia Putintseva.


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DOWN: Alycia Parks/USA
...one year ago this week, Parks burst into the tour spotlight with a star-making turn in Lyon, winning her maiden tour title with an exciting display of tennis, finished off by taking out Caroline Garcia in the final in front of the French crowd.

But the past year hasn't been anything near the brilliant ride that that one week seemed to portend.

Parks went just 16-27 the rest of '23, a stretch occasionally punctuated by a highlight or two that hinted that Lyon wasn't just a simple mirage. She reached the 3rd Round in Madrid, won a MD match at Wimbledon and took the doubles title in Cincinnati. Having risen to a career-high #40 in August, she finally strung together some wins in the fall, reaching a 125 final in November.

After a qualifying loss in Adelaide, Parks went to Melbourne and again showed promise, reaching the 3rd Round and posting a win over Leylah Fernandez.

There was no Lyon event on the schedule this year, though, for Parks to defend. After specializing in indoor hard court events the last two years, going 22-5 (while being 36-63 in all other events), Park was predictably entered in Week 5's indoor event in Linz. But the trip back to the regular tour schedule didn't turn out well in Austria as she fell to Lucrezia Stefanini in the first round of qualifying.

With her Lyon points falling off, Parks will drop out of the Top 100 on Monday.
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ITF PLAYERS: McCartney Kessler/USA and Lily Miyazaki/GBR
...Kessler's unexpected rise up the tennis ranks continues, as the former Florida Gator picks up her second career challenger title in the $75K in Rome, Georgia. Her first also came in her home state, in a $60K in Rome last October.

The 24-year old posted wins over fellow Bannerettes Grace Min, Robin Montgomery, Hailey Baptiste and Liv Hovde (6-4/6-1 final) this past week, improving to 8-2 on the season. She made her tour (Auckland) and slam MD debut in Melbourne last month, getting an AO 1st Round win over Fiona Ferro before pushing eventual quarterfinalist (and Iga conqueror) Linda Noskova to three sets. Kessler will make her Top 150 debut on Monday.

In Andrezieux-Boutheon, France, Brit Miyazaki claimed her biggest title at the $75K challenger. The former Oklahoma Sooner, 28, defeated top seeded Pastry Oceane Dodin in the semis, then #3-seed Jessika Ponchet in a 3-6/7-5/6-1 final to claim career ITF title #5. She'll climb back into the Top 200 with the result.
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JUNIOR STAR: Jeline Vandromme/BEL
...16-year old Vandromme's game created a bit of a rumble late last season, as the Belgian become the first junior in a decade to sweep the European 16u titles at the European championships and Junior Masters.



Many have predicted big things for her future...



This week, the young Waffle (who came in as the #93-ranked girl) picked up her biggest ITF junior crown yet at the J300 in Barranquilla (COL), defeating Bannerette Thea Frodin in a 6-0/6-2 final.


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DOUBLES: Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini, ITA/ITA
...while the other Italian Quartet members are long gone from the tour, Errani continues on. This week in Linz the veteran teamed with one of her younger countrywomen (Paolini) to claim their second title together as a pair (in their third final).

Paolini arrived off of her first career slam 4th Round singles run in Melbourne, while Errani last year returned to the Top 100 for the first time since 2018.

In Linz, the pair won a MTB in the QF over #2-seeded Eikeri/Mihalkova, and on Sunday walked off with the title by winning another MTB in the final over top seeded Melichar-Martinez/Perez. It's Paolini's third tour title, and Errani's 29th (third amongst active WTA players).

Meanwhile, apparently, while they were able to finally upgrade the singles title trophy, the Linz doubles winners are still left with the old "can-you-tell-we're-barely-even-trying?" trophies from the past.


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1. Linz Final - Alona Ostapenko def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...6-2/6-3. Both had come back from the brink to get here, with Ostapenko saving a MP in her first match of the week and Alexandrova staging a comeback from 5-1 down in the deciding TB in the semis. In their second tour final match-up (Alexandrova won in Seoul '22), Ostapenko makes quick work of the Hordette to win her second 500 crown of '24.

Ostapenko's win produces her second title won after being MP down in two years (w/ '22 Dubai). 16 tour titles have been won in the 2020s under such circumstancs, and only Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova have done it twice.



While Ostapenko is off to a blazing start, taken in proper context, this season couldn't be off to a much *worse* start for world #1 Iga Swiatek. She fell in the 3rd Round in Melbourne, the earliest AO #1 exit since 1979, while the likes of the sort of big-hitting foes that give her so much trouble are winning titles all over the schedule. Ostapenko (4-0 vs. Iga) has won two, while Rybakina (3-0 vs. the Pole in '23) and AO champ Sabalenka (tied at 2-2 since the '22 U.S.) have all come out strong.

Things might heat up early this year.
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2. Linz 2nd Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Clara Tauson
...3-6/6-4/7-6(7). Just your typical Ostapenko match. She lost the 1st set. But won the 2nd. She trailed 4-1 and 5-3 in the 3rd. But turned the tide and won a deciding TB. Alona *did* save a MP this time around, though.


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3. Linz 2nd Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
...2-6/7-6(9)/7-5. The defending champ rallies from 6-2/3-1 down, saving 2 MP in an 11-9 2nd set TB. This is already the second defeat this season for Cocciaretto after holding a MP, as she also lost out to Putintseva in Hobart (hmmm, did the Kazakh "pass on" her propensity for such finishes?).


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4. Linz SF - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Donna Vekic
...5-7/7-6(4)/7-6(6). Vekic can't close out a good week with a trip to the final, despite being up a break twice in the 2nd set and then leading 5-1 in the 3rd set TB. Vekic saved a MP to knot the breaker at 6-6, but the Hordette swept the final two points.


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5. Hua Hin Final - Diana Shnaider def. Zhu Lin
...6-3/2-6/6-1. Shnaider becomes the second Hordette teenager to be crowned a maiden tour singles champion in less than a year, and the other wasn't even named Mirra. It was Maria, as in Timofeeva.


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6. Linz Final - Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez
...7-5/4-6 [10-7]. Melichar-M./Perez lose their seventh straight WD final together over the last three seasons. They're 1-9 overall in finals as a team.
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7. Hua Hin 2nd Rd. - Diana Shnaider def. Paula Badosa
...6-2/3-4 ret. Before this week, Badosa had had an encouraging start to '24 after missing time last season with a back injury, going 3-2 with a 3rd Round run in Melbourne (and a win over Pavlyuchenkova).

Then in this one she retired with a lower back ailment. Uh-oh? (No, as it's turned out -- Badosa said it wasn't a relapse, and is just an inflammation.)


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8. Hua Hin QF - Wang Yafan def. Katie Volynets
...1-6/6-3/7-6(4). A nice, gutsy win for Wang, who lost a 3-1 3rd set lead then held three straight times when down on the scoreboard to force a deciding TB. She trailed by an early mini-break (0-2), but won 7 of the last 9 points.



Point in fact: Tennis Channel showed this one until Volynets was up 6-5 in the 3rd, with Wang serving to stay in the match. After a brief split-screen, match #3 of the USA/UKR Davis Cup tie (USA led 2-0) -- at 0-0 in the 1st set -- took over the coverage. TC never went back to show the Wang/Volynets conclusion. Naturally.
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9. Hua Hin 2nd Rd. - Yulia Putintseva def. Viktorija Golubic
...7-6(0)/7-6(1). Close, but yet so, so far.

You don't see too many combined TB scores in a match that come out to 14-1. It happened here, though.
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10. Hua Hin 1st Rd. - Wang Xiyu def. Wang Qiang
...6-1/6-1. Wang -- as in 32-year old Qiang, ranked at #806 -- plays her first match since September 2022, losing to countrywoman Wang (as in Xiyu).

The former world #12, you might remember, had a short-lived (somewhat) dominant run a few years back. Wang ended the '18 season with a sterling SF-W-SF-SF-RU-RU run (mostly in China), then a pre-pandemic slam stretch that produced a '19 U.S. Open QF and '20 AO Round of 16.
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11. $75K Burnie AUS Final - Priscilla Hon def. Sara Saito
...6-3/6-0. Aussie Hon improves to 9-2 in challenger finals, picking up her biggest yet on home soil and returning to the Top 200.

Meanwhile, 17-year old Saito must have had a serious case of big moment deja vu with this result. See any similarities?

2022 AO Jr. 2r - lost to Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz/AUS
2022 Traralgon Jr. 1r - lost to Melisa Ercan/TUR (now AUS)
2023 AO Jr. 1r (#1 seed) - lost to Stefani Webb/AUS
2023 RG Jr. 2r (#1 seed) - lost to Melisa Ercan/TUR (now AUS)
2023 Roehampton Jr. 2r (#2 seed) - lost to Taylah Preson/AUS
2024 AO Jr QF (#2 seed) - lost to Emerson Jones/AUS

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12. $15K Antalya TUR Final - Amarissa Kiara Toth def. Andreea Prisacariu
...4-6/6-2/6-2. Yep, she won again. This is Toth's third challenger title win (all in Antalya) since "the incident."
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HM- Cluj Q2 - Alize Cornet def. Jil Teichmann
...6-7(4)/6-0/4-2 ret. So far in 2024, Teichmann has yet to go beyond the 1st Round in any of her five events. She lost in the 2nd Round or earlier in 24 of 28 events last season. "Numbers Guy" math says that 29 of her last 33. Ouch.

Ranked in the Top 30 as recently as last April, the Swiss will be #161 on Monday.
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1. $50K Indore IND Final - Polina Kudermetova def. Dalina Jakupovic
...3-6/6-2/6-0. Veronika's 20-year old sister improves to 9-1 in career ITF singles finals.


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2. Cluj Q2 - Erika Andreeva def. Irina Khromacheva
...5-7/6-1/1-0 ret. Another Andreeva on deck.


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And they surely can't say the spots were reserved *only* for former slam singles champions, either. 'Cus, you know.

Zina Garrison -- a former Top 5 player, slam singles finalist ('90 WI) and three-time semifinalist -- probaby could have filled some space in there, too.

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Well, the Transylvania Open is back in Week 6. It's still a great, visually unique event, but all the marketing that made it a *special* one -- and the most fun -- on all platforms seems to have been forsaken for good. So far, *this* is the most creative post the event has floated thus far as we head into the heart of the action...



We'll see if Jaqueline Cristian actually wears her cape *onto* the court this year... or, you know, at all.

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(Just ignore that thing in Maria's hand, please.)






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*2024 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
2 - Alona Ostapenko = Adelaide 500/Linz 500
[2020-24]
17 - 1/2/8/6/0 = Iga Swiatek
9 - 3/2/0/3/1 = Aryna Sabalenka
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
7 - 0/3/2/2/0 = Barbora Krejcikova
6 - 0/1/0/4/1 = Coco Gauff
5 - 3/0/2/-/- = Simona Halep
5 - 0/1/2/2 = Ons Jabeur
5 - 0/4/1/0 = Anett Kontaveit (ret.)
5 - 0/1/1/1/2 = ALONA OSTAPENKO
5 - 1/0/1/2/1 = Elena Rybakina

*MOST WTA FINALS 1920-24*
20 - 1/2/9/8/0 - Swiatek (17-3)
17 - 3/3/3/6/2 - Sabalenka (9-8)
13 - 5/0/3/4/1 - Rybakina (5-8)
12 - 1/7/4/0 ret...Kontaveit (5-6-1)
12 - 0/3/6/3/0 - Jabeur (5-7)
11 - 0/4/3/4/0 - Krejcikova (7-4)
9 - 1/6/2/ret...Barty (8-1)
9 - 0/4/2/2/1 - Kasatkina (4-5)
8 - 0/2/3/1/2 - OSTAPENKO (5-3)
8 - 0/3/2/3/0 - Bencic (4-4)
8 - 1/0/2/5/0 - Pegula (3-5)
7 - 0/1/1/4/1 - Gauff (6-1)
7 - 1/1/2/2/1 - ALEXANDROVA (4-3)
7 - 0/1/3/3/0 - Samsonova (4-3)
7 - 2/2/1/1/1 - Mertens (3-4)
7 - 0/2/3/2/0 - V.Kudermetova (2-5)
7 - 0/1/4/2/0 - Sakkari (1-6)

*TITLES WON FROM MP DOWN in 2020s (16)*
2 - Barbora Krejcikova (2021,2023)
2 - ALONA OSTAPENKO (2022,2024)
1 - Ash Barty (2021)
1 - Belinda Bencic (2023)
1 - Elisabetta Cocciaretto (2023)
1 - Leylah Fernandez (2022)
1 - Caroline Garcia (2022)
1 - Simona Halep (2020)
1 - Sofia Kenin (2020)
1 - Naomi Osaka (2021)
1 - Jessie Pegula (2022)
1 - Karolina Pliskova (2020)
1 - Katerina Siniakova (2023)
1 - Iga Swiatek (2021)

*MOST 2020-2024 WTA FINAL MATCHUPS*
3...Rybakina/Sabalenka = Rybakina 2-1
3...Sabalenka/Swiatek = Swiatek 2-1
2...ALEXANDROVA/OSTAPENKO = tied 1-1
2...Azarenka/Osaka = Osaka 1-0 (+L)
2...Barty/Sabalenka = tied 1-1
2...Bencic/Jabeur = tied 1-1
2...Bencic/Samsonova = tied 1-1
2...Jabeur/Swiatek = Swiatek 2-0
2...Kontaveit/Sakkari = Kontaveit 2-0
2...Krejcikova/Swiatek = Krejcikova 2-0
2...Kvitova/Muguruza = Kvitova 2-0
2...Pegula/Swiatek = Swiatek 2-0

*FIRST TO TWO WTA TITLES IN SEASON (w/ event #); since '87*
1987 Mandlikova - Brisbane/AO (5)
1988 Shriver - Brisbane/Sydney (4)
1989 Navratilova - Sydney/Tokyo (5)
1990 Zvereva - Brisbane/Sydney (3)
1991 Novotna - Sydney/OKC (12)
1992 Sabatini - Sydney/Tokyo (5)
1993 Seles - AO/Chicago (7)
1994 Graf - AO/Tokyo (5)
1995 Graf - Paris Indoors/Delray (13)
1996 Seles - Sydney/AO (4)
1997 Hingis - Sydney/AO (5)
1998 Schnyder - Hobart/Hanover (8)
1999 Hingis - AO/Tokyo (6)
2000 Davenport - AO/IW (13; w/ 1 DNP final)
2001 Henin - Gold Coast/Canberra (3)
2002 Hingis - Sydney/Tokyo (7)
2003 S.Williams - AO/Paris Indoors (8)
2004 Henin - Sydney/AO (6)
2005 Sharapova - Tokyo/Doha (14)
2006 Mauresmo - AO/Paris Indoors (8)
2007 Henin - Dubai/Doha (14)
2008 Henin - Sydney/Antwerp (8)
2009 Dementieva - Auckland/Sydney (3)
2010 Dementieva - Sydney/Paris Indoors (6)
2011 Kvitova - Brisbane/Paris Indoors (6)
2012 Azarenka - Sydney/AO (5)
2013 Radwanska - Auckland/Sydney (4)
2014 Li - Shenzhen/AO (6)
2015 Halep - Shenzhen/Dubai (9)
2016 Stephens - Auckland/Acapulco (11)
2017 Ka.Pliskova - Brisbane/Doha (9)
2018 Kvitova - Saint Petersburg/Doha (9)
2019 Kvitova - Sydney/Stuttgart (19)
2020 Kenin - AO/Lyon (12)
2021 Kasatkina - Melb/P.I./S.P. (12; w/ 1 DNP final)
2022 Barty - Adelaide 1/AO (6)
2023 Sabalenka - Adelaide 1/AO (5)
2024 Ostapenko - Adelaide/Linz (7)

*2024 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Hobart - Emma Navarro, USA (22/#31)
Hua Hin - Diana Shnaider, RUS (19/#108)
[doubles]
--
[mixed]
Hsieh Su-wei, TPE (Australian Open)

*TEEN WTA SINGLES CHAMPS IN 2020s*
[2020]
19 - Iga Swiatek (Roland Garros)
[2021]
17 - Coco Gauff (Parma)
18 - Clara Tauson (Lyon)
18 - Clara Tauson (Luxembourg)
18 - Emma Raducanu (US Open)
18 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
19 - Camila Osorio (Bogota)
19 - Iga Swiatek (Adelaide)
19 - Iga Swiatek (Rome)
[2022]
17 - Linda Fruhvirtova (Chennai)
19 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
[2023]
18 - Coco Gauff (Auckland)
19 - Maria Timofeeva (Budapest)
19 - Ashlyn Krueger (San Diego)
19 - Coco Gauff (Washington)
19 - Coco Gauff (Cincinnati)
19 - Coco Gauff (US Open)
[2024]
19 - Coco Gauff (Auckland)
19 - Diana Shnaider (Hua Hin)

*RUS/USSR - FIRST WTA TITLE AS TEEN*
16 - Dinara Safina (2002)
16 - Maria Sharapova (2003)
17 - Svetlana Kuznetsova (2002)
18 - Natasha Zvereva (1990 as USSR; later BLR)
18 - Natalia Medvedeva (1990 as USSR; later UKR)
[18 - Likhovtseva (1993 as KAZ; RUS in 1995-08)]
18 - Anastasia Myskina (1999)
18 - Vera Zvonareva (2003)
18 - Maria Kirilenko (2005)
18 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (2010)
19 - Dasha Kasatkina (2017)
19 - Elena Bovina (2002)
19 - Anna Chakvetadze (2006)
19 - Maria Timofeeva (2023)
19 - Diana Shnaider (2024)

*DEF. #1 SEED+DEFENDING CHAMP - 2020s*
2021 Collins - Adelaide [2r-#1/DC Barty]
2021 Giorgi - Eastbourne [QF-#1 Sabalenka...1r-DC Pliskova]
2022 Pera - Hamburg [1r-DC Ruse....F-#1 Kontaveit]
2022 Saville - Washington [2r-#1/DC Pegula]
2023 Rybakina - Indian Wells [SF-#1/DC Swiatek] #
2023 Sabalenka - Madrid [F -#1/DC Swiatek] #
2023 Rybakina - Rome [QF-#1/DC Swiatek] #
2023 Grabher - Rabat [QF-#1/DC Trevisan]
2023 Shnaider - Budapest [1r-#1/DC Pera]
2023 Cristian - Prague [SF-#1/DC Bouzkova]
2023 Ostapenko - US Open [2r-#1/DC Swiatek]
2024 Shnaider - Hua Hin [1r #1 Linette...F-DC Zhu] #
-
# - won title

*OLDEST TOP 100 DEBUTS*
34 - Arina Rodionova, AUS (2024)
33 - Tzipora Obziler, ISR (2007)
32 - Adriana Villagran, ARG (1988)
30 - Emina Bektas, USA (2023)
30 - Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP (2021)

*2020s WD TITLES - DUOS*
12..Krejcikova/Siniakova (1/5/3/3/0)
8...Aoyama/Shibahara (1/5/0/2/0)
7...Siegemund/Zvonareva (1/0/2/4/0)
5...Gauff/Pegula (0/0/3/2/0)
5...Hsieh/Strycova (4/0/-/1/-)
3...Guarachi/Krawczyk (1/2/0/0/0)
3...Hozumi/Ninomiya (0/0/3/0/0)
3...Hsieh/Mertens (0/2/0/0/1)
3...KATO/SUTJIADI (0/0/0/2/1)
3...L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (0/0/2/0/1)
3...Krawczyk/Schuurs (0/0/1/2/0)
3...V.Kudermetova/Mertens (0/1/2/0/0)
3...Melichar-M./Schuurs (1/2/0/0/0)
3...Xu/Yang (0/0/2/1/0)

*CAREER WTA DOUBLES TITLES - active*
33 - Latisha Chan
33 - Hsieh Su-Wei
29 - SARA ERRANI
28 - Kristina Mladenovic
28 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands
24 - Timea Babos
23 - Katerina Siniakova
22 - Venus Williams
20 - Chan Hao-ching
19 - Elise Mertens
19 - Shuko Aoyama
18 - Barbora Krejcikova






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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:03 PM 

4 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

It's actually funny that Ostapenko's only 2 loses so far this year came against a washed up Vika.

Shnaider has a lethal forehand. Her serve is her weak part of her game. She's got to improve her serve if she wants to break into top 20 in the rankings. She looks better without bandanna.

Mon Feb 05, 05:02:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Show's how close Vika still is... though she doesn't seem to be able to quite get over the hump. Her only title since the '16 Sunshine Double was in '20 "Cincinnati" (which was a w/o from Osaka).

The bandanna isn't the *greatest* look, but it's such a signature thing already (sort of like Andreescu's hair band on her arm... I mean, when she actually plays) that I wonder if she'd go away from it.

Mon Feb 05, 11:55:00 PM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

I'm all in with the bandana! Her mom makes them for her, which makes the idea even more appealing. And it just kind of goes with her personality.

Tue Feb 06, 10:19:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I'm of the mind that anything that separates a player from the pack as an individual is a good thing. Shnaider's bandana, Arango's backwards cap, Iga's hat, Alona's unique fashion looks.

You know, the sort of things that would be fun to utilize as part of a funny marketing campaign.

But I guess the ATP's cornered the market on that sort of campaign now. The WTA had its chance.

Thu Feb 08, 01:01:00 PM EST  

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