Sunday, February 25, 2024

Wk.8- The Pao-er of Positive Thinking






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*WEEK 8 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, U.A.E. (WTA 1000/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Jasmine Paolini/ITA def. Anna Kalinskaya/RUS 4-6/7-5/7-5
D: Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova (AUS/CZE) def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez (USA/AUS) 6-4/6-2
PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO (WTA 125 Challenger/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: McCartney Kessler/USA def. Taylah Preston/AUS 5-7/6-3/6-0
D: Iryna Shymanovich/Renata Zarazua (BLR/MEX) def. Angelica Moratelli/Camilla Rosatello (ITA/ITA) 6-2/7-6(1)




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jasmine Paolini/ITA
...a fighting spirit is pretty much a prerequisite when it comes to being a WTA player from Italy, and Paolini surely shares that glorious trait with her many compatriots. In Dubai, it pushed her all the way to a 1000 level title.

While Camila Giorgi has generally been the most high profile of the post-Quartet Italians, over the last few seasons Paolini has rounded into the best. Last season, she made it official by becoming the ITA #1. From 2021-23, Paolini reached four tour-level 250 finals (winning one), notching three Top 10 wins (two vs. Sabalenka and Rybakina) and reaching a 1000 QF in Cincinnati last year. She opened the '24 season by playing into her maiden slam Round of 16 in Melbourne.

Still, Paolini came into Dubai at just 4-5.

The 28-year old barely escaped the 1st Round in the desert, rallying from 6-4/4-2 back to deafeat Beatriz Haddad Maia. Once she did, though, a career breakout awaited her. Wins over Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari (the latter coming in the Greek's first week *outside* the Top 10 in more than two and a half years -- and she'll return there on Monday) were followed by a walkover from Elena Rybakina (illness) that put Paolini into her first 1000 SF. She staved off a 2nd set comeback from Sorana Cirstea to reach the final, where she ended the week just as she'd started it -- by staging a comeback.



Anna Kalinskaya led 6-4/3-1, then after Paolini pushed things to a 3rd set again was up 5-3. The Russian served for the title at 5-4, but Paolini surged yet again to claim a 6-5 lead. For the second straight set, the Italian broke Kalinskaya as she served to reach a TB, claiming a 4-6/7-5/7-5 win, picking up her second and biggest tour level singles crown.

Befitting what was a remarkable week in her career, after which she'll crack the Top 20 and reach a new career-high ranking of #14, Paolini signed the courtside camera with a 💚 and (in Italian) the word "INCREDIBILE."


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RISER: Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
...maybe there should be a Physio of the Year award for the WTA? For the 1st Quarter, at least.

Kalinskaya totaled 13 combined walkover/retirement exits from 2021-23, but so far this year she's had none. Not coincidentally, one suspects, the Russian has played into her first slam QF, scored her first #1 win and reached her biggest career final in the season's opening two months. In Dubai, she started the week in qualifying and ultimately played eight matches over nine days, getting three Top 10 wins (four of her seven career Top 10 wins have come this season) and coming oh-so-close to becoming the first qualifier to win a WTA 1000 crown.



Of course, the 25-year old Hordette *did* flirt with her usual end, as in calling for an MTO during her QF match vs. Coco Gauff, sending up a United Nations number of flags of the red variety. But she came back out, won that match (a second straight Top 10 win on the week, after defeating Alona Ostapenko in the 3rd Rd.) and *still* had more to give.



After already having played in just her second 1000 QF ('22 Guadalajara), Kalinskaya's appearance in her biggest-ever SF was even more noteworthy as she turned around a 4-2 1st set lead by #1 Iga Swiatak and won 6-4/6-4 (the Pole's first straight sets loss since Indian Wells, vs. Rybakina in the SF) after saving a pair of BP in the final game (either of which would have officially dispensed with what had been a double-break lead in the set for the Russian).

The second qualifier to defeat two Top 3 players in an event in 40 years (w/ Mauresmo in '98), Kalinskaya is just the second to reach a 1000 final (Brady in '21). It was the Russian's *first* tour-level singles final ever.

Once there, Kalinskaya came up short in the final moments vs. Jasmine Paolini. Though her week was an overall triumph, after winning the 1st set over the Italian (she'd defeated Paolini in the AO Round of 16), how close she came to lifting the title still has to sting. She led 3-1 in the 2nd, 5-3 in the 3rd, and served for the title at 5-4. In both of the final two sets, she was broken in the final game while trying to push the proceedings to a TB.



Kalinskaya will leapfrog her previous career high (#38, set just last month), going from #40 to #24 on Monday as the tour returns to the U.S. in Week 9 for the spring hard court campaign.
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SURPRISE: McCartney Kessler/USA
...the former NCAA player at Florida continues her unanticipated -- but no longer shocking -- climb up the rankings.

After winning a pair of $60K and $75K titles since October and making her WTA and slam debuts (notching a 1st Rd. win in Melbourne) last month, Kessler made another big move this week in the WTA 125 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Although, she almost didn't.

Kessler lost in qualifying to Bannerette Liv Hovde, but entered the MD as a lucky loser with the withdrawal of Amanda Anisimova. She took full advantage of her good fortune, posting wins over Claire Liu, Leolia Jeanjean and Hailey Baptiste to reach her biggest final.

On Sunday night, Kessler dropped the opening set of the final to Aussie teen Taylah Preston, and was down a break in the 2nd at 2-0, then came roaring back to win the title 5-7/6-3/6-0, claiming 12 of the last 13 games.

Kessler's latest new career ranking high will be #120, 33 spots above where she began the week.


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VETERAN: Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...Cirstea continues to be the current poster child for later-career success.

Dubai saw the Romanian get four wins, over Sofia Kenin, Veronika Kudermetova, Donna Vekic (the Croat served for the match) and Marketa Vondrousova. Cirstea trailed the #8-ranked Czech by a set and 5-1 and saved six MP over three consecutive games before coming out on top. It was her second Top 10 win this month (w/ Sakkari) and sixth in the past year (she had three from 2014-22).

In the SF vs. Jasmine Paolini, with both woman a win away from matching (Cirstea reached the then-Premier 5 Toronto final in '13) or reaching (Paolini) their biggest career final and making their Top 20 debut, she denied the Italian on a MP and held six SP of her own before falling in straights after dropping an 8-6 2nd set TB.

Still, Cirstea hadn't gone as far as the QF in Dubai in ten years (she defeated both Vinci and Errani back in '14, so Italian revenge was served quite cold this time around), at 33 is the event's oldest semifinalist, and has collected three of her seven career QF+ results in 1000 level events over just the past year. And that's not even including her first-in-fourteen-years slam QF result at last year's U.S. Open.



Surprisingly, even with her Abu Dhabi QF, Doha win over Sloane Stephens and Dubai SF, Cirstea stands at just 7-6 on the season thanks to her 0-3 start Down Under. After falling a win short of the Top 20, she'll enter the U.S. spring hard court stretch once again on the cusp at #22 (she hit #21 eleven years ago). She never crossed the threshold back then, and it's not a given that she'll get there this time, either. Cirstea has significant points defenses in both Indian Wells ('23 QF) and Miami (SF) next month, as well as losing a small cache due to having won a small singles title (WTA 125) last May.

At nearly 34 (her b-day is April 7), she'd be the second-oldest player to make her Top 20 debut, behind only a 35-year old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in 2017.
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COMEBACKS: Donna Vekic/CRO and Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
...Vekic added another good week to her encouraging start to this season after dragging herself over the '23 finish line with a season-closing 1-7 (and 3-10) stretch.

In Dubai, the Croat posted wins over Wang Xinyu and Aryna Sabalenka, coming back from a set and break down vs. the world #2 to record her 14th career Top 10 win (three of the last seven have come over Sabalenka, starting with the '21 Tokyo Olympics). She served for the match in the 3rd set of the 3rd Round vs. Sorana Cirstea, but the Romanian rallied to get the win.

Vekic reached the SF in Linz two weeks ago (her first semi since June, as a finalist in Berlin), and will climb back into the Top 30 on Monday.



After getting off to a slow start (2-3) in the 1Q, Vondrousova posted her best result since her U.S. Open QF run, putting together consecutive wins for the first time since Flushing Meadows with Dubai victories over Peyton Stearns and Liudmila Samsonova.



It likely should have been more, as she led Sorana Cirstea by a set and 5-1 in the QF, serving for the match three times and holding six MP before the Romanian rallied to win in three sets.
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FRESH FACES: Clara Burel/FRA and Taylah Preston/AUS
...Burel has been putting up good results all season, including earlier wins over the likes of Pegula, Kalinina and Siniakova. She reached a career-high rank of #44 just two weeks ago. Heading into Week 8, the Pasty qualified for the Dubai MD with wins over Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Eva Lys.

She fell in three sets to Sloane Stephens in the 1st Round, but at #46 stays a few wins away from topping her career high (#44) heading into the spring (during which a year ago she reached the Strasbourg SF).



Good times have been inconsistent for Australian women's tennis since the retirement of Ash Barty, what with Ajla Tomljanovic and Dasha Saville's many injuries. Veterans Arina Rodionova and Storm Hunter have filled in some of the holes in the narrative of late, but now the younger set is finally starting to make a move. As it's turning out, the 18-year old Preston is proving to quite possibly be *the* young Aussie to watch.

In 2023, she picked up four ITF titles (and reached a fifth final). Preston entered this week's WTA 125 in Puerto Vallerta (MEX) with just a 3-4 mark in pro Q/MD matches in '24, but made the tournamenet organizers look very wise for having awarded her a MD wild card. The teen's wins over Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Julia Riera, Yulia Starodubtseva and Maria Carle sent her into Sunday night's final vs. McCartney Kessler, the biggest so far in the careers of both. The Aussie held a 7-5/2-0 lead, but ultimately won just three games in the final two sets.

Ranked #192 at the start of the week, Preston will still easily top her previous career high (#191) and come in at #153.

She's set for a Week 9 WTA MD appearance in San Diego as a wild card, as well.
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DOWN: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...Sabalenka took a calculated risk after successfully defending her Australian Open title, taking a long break and skipping the opening two-thirds of the desert swing in Abu Dhabi and Doha. It turned out that the Melbourne hangover was a long one. She showed up in Dubai having not played a match for 24 days. Sabalenka won a tight 1st set via TB, and led Donna Vekic 2-0 in the 2nd. She held a break point for a 3-0 edge, but the Croat pulled off a remarkable winner on that BP.

Momentum turned. Vekic won 12 of the final 13 games, as Sabalenka was ushered out of a second '24 event (as she was by Rybakina in Brisbane) after having won just 3 games (w/ love sets vs. both) in the final two sets of the match.

Sabalenka will now head to Indian Wells, where a week and a half from now she'll open by playing just her second actual match (she'll be in that "Tie Break Tens" thing beforehand) in almost six weeks. Over that same mostly-idle stretch, her main competitors at the top of the women's rankings will have gone a combined 19-4: 7-1 (Iga, w/ a Doha title defense), 10-1 (Rybakina, the '23 I.W. champ) and 2-2 (Coco). #5 Jessie Pegula (now sans coach David Witt) finally plays again this week in San Diego.

Now, Sabalenka *did* rebound "pretty well" from that Brisbane defeat last month, and after falling in the QF last year in Dubai she reached the Indian Wells final and Miami QF.

But Swiatek has gone 14-2 since she regained the #1 ranking (26-3 since she lost it for what would be two months following the U.S. Open), and doesn't have nearly as many ranking points to defend over the course of '24 as she did following her gimme-all-the-titles season of '22.

The Race for #1 is still on, but even with the AO in her back pocket, Sabalenka is decidedly in "chase mode" with the Pole picking up the pace around the first turn.
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ITF PLAYER: Anna Bondar/HUN
...Bondar cracked the Top 50 in 2022, but slipped out of the Top 100 last spring. After her win in the $75K in Porto (POR) this week, she'll climb back up to #111 with an eye on her first single-digit ranking since May.

The 26-year old Hungarian claimed her 14th career ITF crown with victories over Valeria Savinkyh, Sinja Kraus, Alex Eala, Celine Naef (who led 6-2/4-0) and Noma Noha Akugue in a 7-6/6-2 final (the German held two SP in the 1st, but the '23 WTA Hamburg runner-up fell to 1-8 in career ITF finals).

Bondar teamed with Naef to win the doubles, defeating Portugual's Jorge sisters (Francisca and Matilde) in an 11-9 match tie-break to seize the title.
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JUNIOR STARS: Rositsa Dencheva/BUL and Antonia Vergara Rivera/CHI
...16-year old Bulgarian Dencheva (jr. #39) far surpassed her biggest previous career title (which had been in several formerly-labeled J4 events) in Cairo, claiming the J500 crown in what was a six-win week. The #8 seed, she defeated top seeded Czech Laura Samson in a three-set final.

In Asuncion (PAR), Vergara Rivera picked up her second J300 crown in as many weeks. The 17-year old Chilean (jr. #25) extended her winning streak to ten matches (w/ six of them going the distance) with a three-set victory in the final over #1 seed Emily Sartz-Lunde of Norway.

Last month, both Dencheva and Vergara Rivera suffered 1st Round losses in the Australian Open girls' competition.
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DOUBLES: Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova, AUS/CZE
...at least for one Czech, not surprisingly, there is indeed doubles title life after Krejcikova/Siniakova.

The Dubai combination of former WD #1's Hunter & Siniakova produced once again in their limited partnership, as the duo won their second title (w/ '22 Berlin) in three career finals, doing so without dropping a set. Wins over Kato/Sutjiadi, Aoyama/Krunic and Dabrowski/Routliffe were followed by a 6-4/6-2 triumph in the final over Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Ellen Perez.

For Siniakova, it's career title #24, and #8 for Hunter. It's Siniakova's first title without longtimer doubles partner Barbora Krejcikova in a year and a half ('22 Monastir w/ Mladenovic).



The loss drops the pair of Melichar-Martinez/Perez to 1-10 in tour finals, including losses in their last eight. Melichar has dropped her last ten.
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WHEELCHAIR: Angelica Bernal/COL
...the 28-year old Colombian, ranked #10 in the WC rankings, picked up her ninth career Series 2 crown (she's yet to win a Series 1 title) at the indoor event in Bolton, England.

Bernal upset both of the top two seeds, taking out #1 Zhu Zhenzhen in the SF and then #2 Dana Mathewson in a 6-3/6-1 final.


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1. Dubai SF - Anna Kalinskaya def. Iga Swiatek
...6-4/6-4. Just call it "Theater of the Unexpected."

Swiatek was seemingly coasting, up 4-2 in the 1st until a short dip in her play opened the door. Kalinskaya won four straight games to take the 1st (ending Iga's 14-set winning streak), and raced out to a 5-2, 40/15 lead in the 2nd. Swiatek forcefully saved both MP, and then had two BP chances as the Hordette served for the win again at 5-4. If she'd gotten the break to even the score, well, a certain path might have been likely.



But it didn't happen. Kalinskaya put away her third MP, picking up her third straight Top 10 win of the week, first of her career over a world #1, to reach her maiden tour singles final. The last qualifier to defeat two Top 3 players in an event (Kalinskaya also def. #3 Gauff) was Amelie Mauresmo in 1998 (Davenport/Novotna in Berlin).


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2. Dubai QF - Sorana Cirstea def. Marketa Vondrousova
...2-6/7-6(1)/6-2. Vondrousova led 6-2/5-1 here, and held 6 MP over a three-game stretch (3 on Cirstea's serve at 5-1, 1 at 5-2, then two more on Cirstea's serve at 5-3). The Czech served for the win three times, at 5-2, 5-4 and again at 6-5.

Cirstea reached her third 1000 SF (second in the last 11 months, w/ Miami '23).


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3. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Donna Vekic def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-7(5)/6-3/6-0. Sabalenka still has to watch her P's and Q's, as even as she's claimed a pair of major titles over the past 13 months she's still shown an (in)ability to have matches flip 180-degrees after a single moment (or two).

She led Vekic 7-6/2-0, with a BP for a double-break lead at 3-0. Vekic pulled off a stunning shot to save SP, then won 12 of the last 13 games.


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4. Dubai Final - Jasmine Paolini def. Anna Kalinskaya
...4-6/7-5/7-5. The second of Paolini's pair of bookend comebacks in her career week in the desert.

Kalinskaya led 6-4/3-1 before losing her lead and then failing to serve out game 12 to force a TB.



In the 3rd, the Hordette led 5-3, and served for the title at 5-4. Again, Paolini battled back to take the lead and, again, Kalinskaya failed to serve out game 12 to force a TB.

She finally succumbed to the pressure in the final game, falling behind love/40 after a UE/DF combo, then UE-ing again on MP.



Meanwhile, Paolini may have found a stoic doubles partner, if she so chooses.


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5. Dubai 3rd Rd. - Sorana Cirstea def. Donnia Vekic
...3-6/6-3/7-5. Cirstea's "lesser" comeback win of the week, as Vekic only served for the match once (at 5-4 in the 3rd) rather than three times, and held no MP. It sent Cirstea into her first Dubai QF in ten years.


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6. Dubai SF - Jasmine Paolini def. Sorana Cirstea
...6-2/7-6(6). As it turned out, Cirstea didn't have a final rabbit to pull out of her hat.



Paolini led 6-2/4-2, but was denied on a MP at 5-4 as Cirstea held on her fifth GP.



The Romanian got the break and served for the 2nd at 6-5, holding five SP before Paolini broke to force a TB. There, Cirstea had a sixth SP, but it wasn't meant to be as the Italian prevailed 8-6 to win in straights.


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7. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Iga Swiatek def. Sloane Stephens
...6-4/6-4. As she does, Stephens had chances here. As she also does, Iga brushed them off. As happens, things might have been different had Sloane gotten a head of steam.

Stephens had a break lead at a key late moment in the 1st (up 4-3), but the set ended with seven breaks in the last eight games. There were nine *holds* to start the 2nd, but only after Stephens had failed to break Swiatek in game 1 after being up love/40. They were tied 4-4 late.

This is only the third meeting between Iga and Sloane in their careers, with Swiatek sweeping all three in straight sets.
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8. Dubai 1st Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...4-6/6-4/6-0. The Italian trailed 6-4/4-2, then reeled off the last ten games.

Since that marathon match in the Abu Dhabi SF vs. Dasha Kasatkina, Haddad Maia and her Hordette opponent have gone a combined 0-5.

Meanwhile...


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9. Dubai 1st Rd. - Lucia Bronzetti def. Dasha Kasatkina
...7-6(5)/4-6/7-5. Lucky loser Bronzetti stepped in for Marta Kostyuk (viral illness), then rallied from 5-2 back in the 1st to take a TB and then win in three sets, handing Kasatkina her third straight loss.


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10. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Victoria Azarenka
...4-6/6-2 ret. Here we go again?

Last year, Vika got off to a good start, then struggled (and failed) to keep her head above .500 the rest of the way as a series of annoying injuries kept her from regaining her roll.

Rybakina ended up pulling out before her QF with a gastrointestinal illness, closing out her desert swing with a title, a runner-up, a retirement win and walkover loss (i.e. "a WTA hat trick"). She went 10-1.


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11. Dubai QF - Iga Swiatek def. Zheng Qinwen
...6-3/6-2. Swiatek's 14th consecutive Top 20 win (7-0 in '24), and 9th in a row vs. the Top 10 (2-0 in '24). The world #40 would prove to be a problem a round later.
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12. Dubai 3rd Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Maria Sakkari
...6-4/6-2. Sakkari officially goes about either re-establishing her footing or finding her level. The Greek went 1-1 in Dubai, getting a win over Emma Navarro and then losing to Paolini in her first post-Hill era tournament.



On a side note, Sakkari is already back in the Top 10 (at #8) as Muchova falls out after losing her '23 Dubai points.
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13. Dubai 1st Rd. - Lulu Sun def. Paula Badosa
...6-4 ret. Badosa continues to try to play through injury in lieu of a long (and maybe eventually necessary) break from the tour.

After returning at Wimbledon following a back injury in May, she played two matches and had to retire. She missed the rest of the season. Badosa has played nine matches in '24, going 4-5 with two more retirements.

Unless your name in Lesia "my middle name is ret./walkover" Tsurenko, this continues to be a troubling development.



Still...


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14. $35K Hammamet TUN Final - Lucija Ciric Bagaric def. Francesca Jones
...2-1 ret. The 20-year old Croat is the first player to win *three* ITF challenger titles on the season, picking her second in two weeks when the Brit (whom Ciric Bagaric defeated in last week's semis) retires after just three games in the final.


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15. $15K Monastir TUN Final - Tereza Valentova def. Audrey Albie
...6-2/6-1. Another week, anothe Crusher title. In this case, another week and another *Valentova* title as the 17-year old wins for the second week in a row in Monastir.
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16. $50K Mexico City MEX Final - Jamie Loeb def. Dalayna Hewitt
...6-2/6-2. It's an NCAA sweep in Mexico City, as former North Carolina Tar Heel Loeb picks up ITF title #11, and was joined by former UNC player Jamie Aney and Pepperdine's Jessica Failla as WD champs.


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HM- $15K Manacor ESP Final - Caijsa Hennemann def. Marie Weckerle
...7-5/6-2. Sweden's Hennemann defeats Luxembourg's 20-year old Weckerle, playing in her first pro final. She's the only Luxembourger listed in the WTA singles or doubles rankings, but this at least officially ushers her country *back* into the tennis conversation for pretty much the first time since the 2021 retirement of Mandy Minella.

Speaking of Minella, this was the news from last fall...


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1. Dubai 1st Rd. - Karolina Pliskova def. Zhang Shuai
...6-3/7-5. This was (#776) Zhang's first match since last August, and her *17th* consecutive loss.

While this was Pliskova's 10th win in 13 days, Zhang's last match win was over a year ago (in Lyon last February).



Meanwhile, along with her heavy workload of late, Karolina also had to teach how a sun-blocking umbrella needs to, ummm, actually be positioned correctly to create shade from the sun.


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2. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Karolina Pliskova def. Ashlyn Krueger 6-7(2)/6-3/6-4
Dubai 3rd Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Karolina Pliskova 2-6/6-4/6-3
...Pliskova's win over Krueger was her last before finally losing on the court vs. Gauff.

Krueger needed eight SP to wrest away the opening set, then won just seven games in the 2nd and 3rd.

Pliskova took the 1st vs. Gauff, but fell in three in the same match in which Coco had an "argument" with the chair umpire (more like a frustrating exchange, as he kept interrupting her and wouldn't allow her to get a rules clarification after a point in which he clearly *did* just what she said he did -- call a service fault on Gauff *after* Pliskova had hit her return). I haven't heard any word about whether he actually did apologize to her afterward for being wrong, as she correctly assured him would prove to be the case.



The loss ended Pliskova's 11-match undefeated streak (not an official *winning* streak since she had a walkover after win #9). The tour needs to stop calling such things "winning streaks" on social media and elswhere, as it only confuses the situation. That all started with what appeared to be a case of trying to appease Osaka supporters a couple of seasons ago when she won 23 straight *played* matches around *two* separate tournament-ending (for her) walkovers... and now it's "almost" (wink-wink) as if they continue to carry it over to incorrectly apply to everyone else just to avoid admitting what they did back then.

Over her three-week run, Pliskova rose from #78 to #36 (she slips to #38 on Monday).
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3. $50K Pretoria RSA Final - Lina Glushko def. Manon Leonard
...6-3/7-5. Former WTA player (ret. 2019) Julia Glushko's younger sister, 24-year old Lina grabs her third and biggest ITF crown. She also won the doubles.


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*2024 UNSEEDED WTA FINALISTS*
Adelaide - Dasha Kasatkina
Hua Hin - Diana Shnaider (W)
Cluj-Napoca - Karolina Pliskova (W)
Dubai - [Q] ANNA KALINAKAYA
Dubai - JASMINE PAOLINI (W)

*2024 FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS*
Emma Navarro, USA (#31/22 = Hobart)-W
Diana Shnaider, RUS (#108/19 = Hua Hin)-W
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (#40/25 = Dubai)

*2024 WTA FINALISTS BY NATION*
5 (1-4) - RUS (Kalinskaya)
3 (2-1) - KAZ
2 (2-0) - LAT,USA
2 (1-1) - BLR
2 (0-2) - CHN
1 (1-0) - CZE,ITA(Paolini),POL
1 (0-1) - BEL,ROU,UKR

*WTA #1 WINS (32) - 2020-24*
4 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ
3 - Jessie Pegula, USA
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Coco Gauff, USA
2 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
1 - Paula Badosa, ESP
1 - Jennifer Brady, USA
1 - Danielle Collins, USA
1 - Alize Cornet, FRA
1 - Caroline Garcia, FRA
1 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
1 - ANNA KALINSKAYA, RUS
1 - Sofia Kenin, USA
1 - Madison Keys, USA
1 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
1 - Magda Linette, POL
1 - Karolina Muchova, CZE
1 - Linda Noskova, CZE
1 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT
1 - Shelby Rogers, USA
1 - Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP
1 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
1 - Iga Swiatek, POL
[wins-by-nation, 2020-24]
10 - USA
5 - CZE
4 - KAZ
3 - BLR
2 - ESP,FRA,POL
1 - BRA,LAT,RUS(Kalinskaya),UKR
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LOSSES: 18-Swiatek, 11-Barty, 3-Sabalenka

*2024 OLDEST WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
34 - Victoria Azarenka (Brisbane)
33 - SORANA CIRSTEA (Dubai)
32 - Anastasia Pavlychenkova (Doha)
32 - Anastasia Pavlychenkova (Linz)

*CURRENT TOP 10 - 2024 WON/LOST*
14-2 - #1 Swiatek (1 title)
11-2 - #2 Sabalenka (1)
12-3 - #3 Gauff (1)
17-3 - #4 Rybakina (2)
4-2 - #5 Pegula
2-3 - #6 Jabeur
4-4 - #7 Vondrousova
11-4 - #8 Zheng
5-4 - #9 Sakkari
16-4 - #10 Ostapenko (1)

*2020-24 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
17 - KATERINA SINIAKOVA (1/6/6/3/1)
13 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/0)
10 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/2/1)
9 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/2/1)
9 - Laura Siegemund (1/0/3/5/0)
8 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/2/0)
8 - Desirae Krawczyk (2/2/1/3/0)
8 - Demi Schuurs (2/2/1/2/1)
8 - Ena Shibahara (1/5/0/2/0)
8 - Luisa Stefani (1/1/2/3/1)
7 - STORM HUNTER (1/0/3/2/1)
7 - Jessie Pegula (0/0/5/2/0)
7 - Vera Zvonareva (1/0/2/4/0)

*2024 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
2 (1-1) = Lyudmyla Kichenok
2 (1-1) = Bethanie Mattek-Sands
2 (1-1) = Alona Ostapenko
2 (0-2) = Guo Hanyu
2 (0-2) = Jiang Xinyu
2 (0-2) = NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ
2 (0-2) = ELLEN PEREZ
2 (0-2) = Heather Watson
[2024 finals - duos]
2...L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (1-1)
2...Guo/Jiang (0-2)
2...MELICHAR-MARTINEZ/PEREZ (0-2)






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Even when "Friends" was on, I was *always* an advocate for a Phoebe spinoff rather than the awful "Joey" series that actually happened.

I mean, you should always take the character with the most potential for growth and go with *that*, even if it's not *the* most popular one on the board. Who really thought Frasier would be the most versatile spinoff character from "Cheers" (though in retrospect it's obvious)? And *no one* at first blush believed that creating a Saul Goodman series out of "Breaking Bad" was a good idea.

Yet "Frasier" and "Better Call Saul" are arguably the two best non-Norman Lear spinoffs ever produced for U.S. television.

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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 3:51 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

Paolini was lucky last week. Kalinkaya did the heavy lifting, beat Ostapenko, Gauff and Swiatek. Last week reminds me of 2021 US Open. Paolini must be the shortest player ever to win a WTA 1000 title.

Swiatek is a sore loser. In her post-match press-conferene following her SF defeat, she didn't give any credit to Kalinskaya.

Mon Feb 26, 04:03:00 AM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Paolini had a great week to get the trophy, but it's hard not to think that maybe Rybakina left a title on the table with her QF withdrawal.

Paolini's 5-foot-4. As far as fairly recent players, I immediately thought of Amanda Coetzer. I checked and she was 5-foot-2, and won Hilton Head (when it was a Tier I, the 1000 equivalent), so there *has* been at least one who was smaller.

Wed Feb 28, 01:25:00 AM EST  
Blogger Diane said...

You beat me to it! The Little Assassin also reached three major semifinals.

Charleston (which was Hilton Head back when TLA won it) lost its 1000 status about the time that the WTA began pumping lots of money into Asia. So there you have it. It continues to upset me.

Wed Feb 28, 10:15:00 AM EST  

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