Sunday, September 22, 2024

Wk.38- Bia and Becca's Big Bounce








futuristic-fonts




*WEEK 38 CHAMPIONS*
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA def. Dasha Kasatkina/RUS 1-6/6-4/6-1
D: Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Liudmila Samsonova (USA/RUS) def. Miyu Kato/Zhang Shuai (JPN/CHN) 6-1/6-0
HUA HIN 2, THAILAND (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Rebecca Sramkova/SVK def. Laura Siegemund/GER 6-4/6-4
D: Anna Danilina/Irina Khromacheva (KAZ/RUS) def. Eudice Chong/Moyuka Uchijima (HKG/JPN) 6-4/7-5




kosova-font



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...Haddad Maia's late-season form is real, as the Brazilian extended her current run to 12-2 and added her first title of the season to the mix with a trophy grab in Seoul.

Haddad Maia has traditionally done well during the Asian swing, with three of her seven career finals coming in the final quarter of the season, including her maiden tour appearance in a WTA final in Seoul in 2017 as well as her most recent title (at the Elite Trophy event in China to close out '23).

In the late stages of this summer, Haddad Maia found her form with a final in Cleveland and a U.S. Open QF (the first by a Brazilian woman since 1968). She carried her momentum over to Seoul, taking out Ajla Tomljanovic, then both Kudermetova sisters (Polina and Veronika) on the same day in the QF/SF as she reached the final without dropping a set.

Haddad Maia trailed Dasha Kasatkina 6-1/3-1 in the title match, but rallied to lose just two games the rest of the way and pick up career win #4.



She'll rise from #17 to #12 in the new rankings.
===============================================



RISERS: Rebecca Sramkova/SVK and Dasha Kasatkina/RUS
...after reaching her maiden final last week in Monastir but being unable to get her first tour title, Sramkova simply moved on to Hua Hin and got the job done there. Now she and Diana Shnaider, who won the first '24 Hua Hin event back in February, can compare their giant dolphin trophies.

The 27-year old Slovak strung together wins over the likes of Magda Linette, Jana Fett and Tamara Zidansek to reach her second consecutive final, then handled Laura Siegemund 4 & 4 to pick up her first career WTA crown. She's the tenth maiden champion on tour in '24.



Sramkova's back-to-back career-best weeks, which started with her ranked #136, will see her next jump from #102 to a career-best (by a long way, as her previous high was #89 in May) #61 this coming week.



Kasatkina was just 2-4 on hard courts this summer after finishing up a good 8-2 grass court run that included her lone title on the season (Eastbourne), so the Hordette's run to the Seoul final counts as a fine rebound result, but it once again feels as if she left something unclaimed on the table.

Wins over Hailey Baptiste, Emma Raducanu (who ret. after a set) and Diana Shnaider put Kasatkina into her fifth final of the season (just one off the tour lead). She got there without dropping a set, but her loss to Beatriz Haddad Maia after leading the Brazilian 6-1/3-1 adds another result to a season ledger filled with "almost" moments.

Despite all the finals, Kasatkina has claimed just one title in '24, even while her results on the "regular" tour (w/ 28-15 non-major record) have served to make up for a disappointing slam campaign that included no second week appearances (5-4 overall) despite her spending the entire season ranked in the Top 20 and currently nipping at the heels of a return to the Top 10.

Kasatkina moves up to #11 on Monday, just 141 points behind #10 Barbora Krejcikova; while she's also #10 (#11 in the queue) in the WTA Points Race. The Russian has played in the WTAF just once in her career, in 2022.


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



SURPRISES: Arianne Hartono/NED and Rebeka Masarova/ESP
...joining the lengthening list of former college champions to produce career-best WTA results of late, 2018 NCAA women's singles champ (while attending Mississippi) Hartono qualified in Hua Hin and played into her maiden tour-level SF after wins over Moyuka Uchijama (at #59, Hartono's best career win), Gao Xinyu and Mai Hontama.

Hartono lost in straights in the SF to Laura Siegemund, but will climb from #180 to #139 on Monday (just off her career high of #134 from this spring).

In January, in the first WTA event in Hua Hin of '24, Hartono also qualified, but lost in the 1st Round.

Also in Hua Hin, after a 2023 season in which she reached her maiden tour final (Auckland) and another semi (Cluj) while climbing to a career-high of #62 last December, Masarova entered the week ranked at #119 with an eye on hopefully getting back into the Top 100 by the end of the year.

She took a good first 4Q step, reaching her first QF of the year by winning back-to-back three-setters (w/ 7-5 3rd sets) over Anna Bondar and Wang Xinyu. Those two matches kept Masarova on court for a combined 5:58, so it was likely no surprise that she went out in two sets in the QF to Laura Siegemund (though the German had completed her own "no-sweat" 4-hour marathon earlier in the week).



Masarova reached the Guangzhou QF at this stage a year ago, so she gets no rankings bump and will remain stationary just inside the Top 120 in the coming week. Her '23 Cluj SF points defense still looms in late October, though she'll have to maintain those points in one of the Asian swing events since Cluj has migrated across the WTA schedule since last fall (to this past February).

One other note: the Swiss-born Masarova represented Switzerland from 2013-17 after having played under the Slovakian tag early in her formulative years (her father is Slovak), then switched to Spain in 2018 (her mother is Spanish) after developing her game under the Swiss federation's watch (during which she won the RG junior title, and reached the AO girls' final). I just noticed this week that the 25-year old is listed as apparently starting to represent Slovakia again in 2025, though I haven't been able to find anything that gives any details on that.

At any rate, this is just another reason why the whole placing of flags next to players' names in draws/scorelines is virtually meaningless in real time.
===============================================



VETERAN: Laura Siegemund/GER
...In Hua Hin, 36-year old Siegemund didn't become the oldest singles champion on tour since 2020 (Serena), but the #99-ranked German cleared the previously most senior 2024 finalist by four years *and* played in and won the longest MD tour-level match since 2011 on her way to her fifth career WTA final appearance.

Siegemund posted wins over Alycia Parks, Wang Xiyu (in 4:09), Rebeka Masarova (ending a run of five straight QF losses, four of which had been played this season) and Arianne Hartono to reach her first WTA singles final since Warsaw in July of last season. She fell 4 & 4 to Rebecca Sramkova in the Slovak's second final in as many weeks, coming up a bit short of her first title since 2017.



Siegemund will lift her ranking back into the Top 70 on Monday.
===============================================



COMEBACKS: Veronika Kudermetova/RUS and Tamara Zidansek/SLO
...Kudermetova desperately needed a good singles result in order to try and salvage *something* from her '24 campaign, and to her credit she *did* get that in Seoul.

After handing doubles partner Zhang Shuai her 24th consecutive defeat in the 1st Round, Kudermetova knocked off Liudmila Samsonova for the second time this season (accounting for two of her three Top 15 wins in '24, with the other having coming against Beatriz Haddad Maia) to reach her second QF of the year (w/Charleston). A win over Viktoriya Tomova put Kudermetova into her first '24 semi, but having to play that match later in the same day on Saturday (after a complete Friday rainout) surely didn't help the Hordette when it came to notching a *second* win this season over Haddad Maia. The Brazilian won in straights.

Meanwhile, the two-fer singles schedule ultimately led to an exhausted Kudermetova pulling out of her doubles SF alongside Zhang.



A former world #22 and 2021 RG semifinalist, Ziadansek (#261 heading into Week 38) reached her first tour-level QF/SF of the season in Hua Hin, prevailing over Tatiana Prozorova, Katie Volynets and Nadia Podoroska en route to her best result since an Adelaide SF three seasons ago. Against Podoroska, Zidansek won in 3:41 after the Argentine had been up a set and a break twice in the 2nd, twice served for the win in the 3rd and held four MP before the Slovenian forced and won a deciding TB.

With her most recent WTA final appearance coming back in the summer of '21 when she won Lausanne, Zidansek's run ended in a round short of playing for the title as she fell in straight sets to Rebecca Sramkova, but she'll nearly return to the Top 200 in the new rankings.
===============================================



FRESH FACES: Diana Shnaider/RUS and Polina Kudermetova/RUS
...coming off a Round of 16 run at the U.S. Open (and Olympic Silver in doubles), Shnaider's breakout season continues to add results into the fall, as the 20-year old Hordette reached her fifth tour-level SF of the season in Seoul.

Wins over Carol Zhao and Marta Kostyuk set up a SF vs. countrywoman Dasha Kasatkina, a match won by the top-ranked Russian on tour.

Still, her week's work -- in a season which has included three tour titles on three surfaces, as well as a 125 crown -- means that Shnaider has now won multiple matches in eight of her last nine tournaments (falling short only in her Olympic debut).



Seoul proved to be a proving ground for *both* Kudermetova sisters, as 21-year old Polina lost in qualifying but played her way into her maiden tour-level QF as a lucky loser.

The Hordette opened with a win over Priscilla Hon, then followed up with her first career Top 50 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova before falling in straights to Beatriz Haddad Maia, nixing what would have been an all-Kudermetova SF. Haddad Maia then defeated Veronika later in the day on Saturday, too.



Kudermetova will rise from #163 to a new career high of #126.
===============================================
DOWN: Sloane Stephens/USA
...I suppose one has give something of a nod to Stephens, who continues to go back out there even as week in and week out things don't go her way. Maybe it's because she -- like everyone else -- knows that if things click just right she still *can* put together a remarkable week. She did it in Rouen earlier this year, her first tour win in over two years, and just her second since winning Miami in 2018. It was also the first career title on red clay for the '18 RG finalist.

Thing is, after an encouraging start to her '24 season (she was noticably upset when she lost in January, which isn't always the case... so if seemed as if she felt something good was close), the momentum was leading up to her title run in Rouen, but nothing else after that. In her '24 campaign, Stephens has the Rouen title and 22 other results in which she went out in the 3rd Round or earlier (of her four 3rd Round exits, three were in big events: AO, I.W. and Madrid).

Since winning Rouen, Stephens has gone 4-13, dropped 13 of her last 15, seven of eight, and after her 1st Round exit to Hailey Baptiste this week in Seoul she's on a six-match losing streak. It's her 12th one-and-out result in 23 tournaments this season. Stephens is currently 19-22 on the year, which means 2024 could become just her second season with a sub-.500 record in singles. The other occurred in the pandemic-interrupted mess of 2020 (4-11).

Stephens will drop outside the Top 70 on Monday, and if she can't raise her standing to at least #63 by the end of the WTA season she'd garner her worst year-ending ranking since way back in 2011.
===============================================



ITF PLAYER: Alina Korneeva/RUS
...a two-time junior slam winner in '23, Korneeva had won a $100K crown and made her tour-level debut by the end of last season. The Hordette started this year by qualifying in Melbourne and posting her first slam MD win (over Sorribes Tormo) at the AO. She reached a career-high #128 in February, but soon the teenager found herself off tour for what would be more than six months after undergoing wrist surgery.

The 17-year old resurfaced last week in Monastir and played into her maiden WTA doubles final alongside Anastasia Zakharova.

This week in Caldas da Rainha (POR), Korneeva's second event back saw her claim another $100K singles crown, courtesy of a 6-1/6-4 win in the final over Zakharova. It's Korneeva's fourth pro singles title. She's 13-3 on the year, and 66-17 in pro events in her career.


===============================================
JUNIOR STAR: Teodora Kostovic/SRB
...while 17-year old Kostovic didn't lift a junior slam crown in '24, the Serb has been a top performer on the circuit all season, reaching the QF at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and winning a trio of J300 events (including big pre-slam tournaments at Roehampton and College Park).

This week in another J300 event, the European U18 regionals at Oberpullendorf (AUT), the top-seeded Kostovic put together yet another big title run, winning five consecutive matches in straight sets, including a 6-1/6-0 final over #4-seeded Czech Alena Kovackova.


===============================================
DOUBLES: Anna Danilina/Irina Khromacheva, KAZ/RUS and Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Liudmila Samsonova, USA/RUS
...for the second time in two weeks, Danilina/Khromacheva left the weekend with a tour WD title, following up their win in Guadalajara will another half a world away in Hua Hin.

The duo took the honors without dropping a set, taking down first-time finalists Eudice Chong (the record four-time NCAA Division-III singles champ at Wesleyan University from 2015-18) and Moyuka Uchijima, 6-4/7-5.



The title gives Khromacheva a WTA-best fifth WD title (her seven finals also top the tour) in '24 (Danilina is one back with four, tied w/ Cristina Bucsa and Katerina Siniakova), and the pair are tied for the most wins by a duo with three. They've picked up two 125 event titles together this year, as well.



In Seoul, Melichar-Martinez entered a doubles event without Ellen Perez's name next to her own in the draw for the first time since May of last year, a string of 36 tournament appearances, during which the duo reached nine finals, winning the most recent two this spring (Perez went home to AUS following the U.S. Open after five straight months on the road). It turned out pretty well, as the U.S. veteran teamed with Samsonova to win career title #15, her third of '24.

The pair won a MTB over #2 seeded Olmos/Panova in the 2nd Round, then swept through the SF/F without dropping a set, handing Miyu Kato & Zhang Shuai a dominating 6-1/6-0 defeat in the final (taking the final 12 games).

While Samsononva picks up her second career tour WD title, Melichar-Martinez has now won in three straight finals (after San Diego and Bad Homburg w/ Perez) after previously droppeng ten straight stretching back to the '22 season.



Melichar-Martinez & Perez stand 6th in the Doubles Race for a spot in the eight-team field at the WTAF in Riyadh. They reached the final in the '23 event in Cancun.
===============================================











kosova-font



1. Hua Hin 2 2nd Rd. - Laura Siegemund def. Wang Xiyu
...7-6(3)/4-6/7-6(1). In the first four-hour MD tour match since 2011 (there was a 4:12 in a qualifying match in '23), Siegemund prevails in 4:09.

The German vet staged a comeback from 4-2 down to win the 1st set, then avoided squandering 3-0 and 5-3 leads in the 3rd. Wang got within two points of victory up 6-5, 30/30 with Siegemund serving, but ultimately lost a second TB to close out the match.
===============================================



2. Seoul Final - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Dasha Kasatkina
...1-6/6-4/6-1. Seven years after reaching her first tour-level singles final in Seoul, Haddad Maia raises the trophy as the event's singles champion.

Meanwhile, it's another example of Kasatkina putting herself in position for some great things this season only to come up a bit short.

The Russian led 6-1/3-1, but then saw Haddad Maia take 11 of the final 13 games en route to the title.

Kasatkina is tied for second on tour this season with five final appearances, behind only Sabalenka (6) and tied with Swiatek and Rybakina. But while the other three are a combined 11-5, Kasatkina stands at 1-4 in championship matches.


===============================================
3. Hua Hin 2 QF - Tamara Zidansek def. Nadia Podoroska
...4-6/7-6(3)/7-6(3). If not for Siegemund/Wang, *this* would have been the longest match of the week in Hua Hin. As it was, the 3:41 contest is still the fourth-longest on tour in '24.

In a match-up of two former RG semifinalists, Podoroska won a 6-4 1st and twice (2-0, 3-1) held a break lead in the 2nd. The Argentine twice served for the win in the 3rd, at 5-4 (leading 40/love, w/ three MP) and 6-5 (MP #4) before Zidansek rallied to win a second TB to advance.

The two combined for 107 winners (Zidansek 52, Podoroska 55), but also 20 DF (11 & 9, though Podoroska also had 11 aces), while 21 of 44 BP chances were converted over 34 games in the match.


===============================================
4. Hua Hin 2 2nd Rd. - Rebeka Masarova def. Wang Xinyu
...7-6(6)/3-6/7-5. Masarova reaches her first tour-level QF of the season, avoiding a collapse after leading 5-1 in the 3rd and twice failing to serve out the win. She finally broke Wang on her fourth BP of the final game, staving off five GP that would have forced a deciding TB.


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



5. Hua Hin 2 Final - Rebecca Sramkova def. Laura Siegemund
...6-4/6-4. Had Siegemund won the title, the 36-year old would have been the oldest WTA singles winner since a 38-year old Serena Williams in 2020, and the *eighth* oldest in the history of the tour.



Sramkova is the first Slovak singles champ on tour since Anna Karolina Schmiedlova won in Bogota in 2018.


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



6. Hua Hin 2 1st Rd. - Mai Hontama def. Dayana Yastremska
...7-6(4)/7-5. The 1st Round loss to Hontama as the #1 seed dropped Yastremska to 21-19 on the year, with five straight defeats. Her last win came in the 1st Round at Roland Garros (the major, not the Olympics). She's lost nine of her last ten sets (and retired down 3-1 in an abbreviated 11th).

Remember, she started the year on a 10-1 Q/MD tear that resulted in a berth in the Australian Open semifinals.
===============================================
7. Seoul 1st Rd. - Hailey Baptiste def. Sloane Stephens
...7-6(4)/6-2. Baptiste gets a win in her first career meeting with Stephens, rallying from 3-1 down in the 1st to win in straights. It's Baptiste's first tour-level MD win after dropping four in a row since an opening win at RG. She lost in the 2nd Round to Dasha Kasatkina.


===============================================
8. Seoul 1st Rd. - Emma Raducanu def. Peyton Stearns
...7-6(4)/7-6(5). Raducanu, whose mother in Chinese, said that she backloaded her '24 schedule to play her first full Asian swing because of the level of comfort she and her game possess when in the region.

Things started off well, with a double-TB win over Peyton Stearns, followed by a win over Yuan Yue on her seventh MP attempt to reach her fifth tour-level QF of the season. Ultimately, though, the Brit retired after dropping the 1st set of her QF match vs. Dasha Kasatkina.

The last time Raducanu participated in the 4Q schedule in Asia, she reached the SF in this same Seoul event in 2022.


===============================================
9. Hua Hin 2 2nd Rd - Jana Fett walkover Varvara Gracheva
...it didn't come about in a way she'd have liked, but Fett's walkover from Gracheva sent the Croatian into her first tour-level QF since 2018 in Rabat (she'd been in a pair of SF in '17).

Once she hit the court again, Fett fell to Rebecca Sramkova in straights.
===============================================
10. $75K Perth AUS Final - Talia Gibson def. Eri Shimizu
...6-2/6-4. Gibson, 20, picks up her second straight challenger title Down Under.


===============================================
11. $75K Pazardzhik BUL Final - Ella Seidel def. Caroline Werner
...6-1/6-4. The 19-year old German wins her biggest career title, and will climb to a career-high #123 on Monday.
===============================================
12 $50K San Miguel de Tucuman ARG Final - Solana Sierra def. Georgia Pedone
...6-2/6-2. Sierra, 20, wins her fifth challenger title of the season (and the biggest of her career), as she follows up her Q-run and slam MD debut in New York with still more to build on for '25. Since the end of Wimbledon qualifying, the Argentine has gone 26-3.


===============================================
13. $35K Santa Margherita di Pula ITA Final - Julie Struplova def. Nuria Brancaccio 5-7/7-6(5)/6-2
$15K Nogent-sur-Marne FRA Final - Aneta Kuchmova def. Mariella Thamm 6-3/6-1
...another week, another two Crusher champions.

Struplova, 19, rallied from 7-5/5-2 back vs. Brancaccio, saving three MP over two games before winning in three sets to claim her first '24 title.

Kuchmova, 24, won her first challenger title since 2022 with a straight sets turn vs. 15-year old German Thamm, who was playing in just her fifth career pro event and had made her way through qualifying to reach her maiden final.
===============================================
14. $35K San Rafael (CAL) USA Final - Robin Anderson def. Ashley Kratzer
...7-6(6)/6-2. Another former NCAA champ (she led UCLA to the women's team title in 2014), 31-year old Anderson claims her sixth career ITF singles crown, finally getting a title in '24 after falling in two previous finals (both indoors) earlier this year.

Anderson teamed with Alana Smith to win the doubles, as well.
===============================================






kosova-font



1. Seoul 2nd Rd. - Polina Kudermetova def. Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2/6-4
Seoul 2nd Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova def. Liudmila Samsonova 6-2/7-5
...here come the Kudermetova sisters. Veronika has been searching for some success in singles all season, but maybe she just needed the presence of her little sister in the same draw to, well, *draw* it out of her.

While #163 Polina, playing as a lucky loser, posted her biggest career win with an upset of #31 Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach her second tour-level QF (the other came *last* year in Seoul), Veronika finished off another fellow Russian, #15 Liudmila Samsonova, for one of her best wins of 2024 (her third vs. the Top 15 this year, two of them over Samsonova) to reach just her second QF of the season.


===============================================
2. Seoul QF - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Polina Kudermetova 6-2/6-1
Seoul SF - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Veronika Kudermetova 7-5/6-3
...and thus Haddad Maia becomes the first player to defeat *both* Kudermetova sisters in the same event, in back-to-back rounds, on the same day.


===============================================
3. Seoul 1st Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova def. Zhang Shuai
...6-4/6-3. The beat(ing) goes on, and on. Zhang has now lost 24 straight matches.

Clearly, that trip to the U.S. Open doubles final didn't change her singles trajectory (so her eventual WD runner-up in Seoul likely won't, either).


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





So, the offseason big-name coaching shuffle has already started (and it's only September). First Osaka, now Gauff...




kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





Hmmm, there could be all sorts of reasons for this, from the usual end-of-long-year issues to, one wonders, maybe the contemplation of an offseason coaching change?

If the latter isn't in the works, it *should* be... for a while now, Swiatek just has not been properly prepared (tactically) for the biggest match-up she has during the season. She's good enough (and those opponents -- you know the ones -- sometimes "off" enough) to often win such matches anyway, but the world #1 shouldn't have to rely on a "bad day" by an opponent to have an even shot at victory in matches that she's good enough to win without such an occurrence.

Such a move would be tough for her to pull the trigger on, but it also might be necessary.


kosova-font



Meanwhile...




kosova-font



The Tennis Gods must be crazy are real (as of September 23)...




kosova-font



Hmmm, I guess AnaIvo is now into cosplay?
























futuristic-fonts




kosova-font


















kosova-font

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2024*
6 - Aryna Sabalenka (3-3)
5 - Iga Swiatek (5-0)
5 - Elena Rybakina (3-2)
5 - DASHA KASATKINA (1-4)
4 - Jessie Pegula (2-2)
3 - Diana Shnaider (3-0)
3 - Danielle Collins (2-1)
3 - Jasmine Paolini (1-2)

*MOST WTA FINALS - 2020-24*
25 - 1/2/9/8/5 = Swiatek (22-3)
21 - 3/3/3/6/6 = Sabalenka (11-10)
17 - 5/0/3/4/5 = Rybakina (7-10)
13 - 0/4/2/2/5 = KASATKINA (5-8)
12 - 0/4/3/4/1 = Krejcikova (8-4)
12 - 1/7/4/0 ret...Kontaveit (5-6-1)
12 - 0/3/6/3/0 = Jabeur (5-7)
12 - 1/0/2/5/4 = Pegula (5-7)

*2024 LOW-RANKED WTA CHAMPIONS*
#151 - Sonay Kartal (Monastir)
#108 - Diana Shnaider (Hua Hin 1)
#102 - REBECCA SRAMKOVA (Hua Hin 2)
#98 - McCartney Kessler (Cleveland)
#85 - Camila Osorio (Bogota)
#81 - Peyton Stearns (Rabat)

*2024 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
36 - LAURA SIEGEMUND, GER (Hua Hin 2 - L)
32 - Magda Linette, POL (Prague -W)
32 - Magda Linette, POL (Rouen -L)
32 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (Nottingham -L)
31 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (Cluj-Napoca -W)
31 - Ajla Tomljanvovic, AUS (Birmingham -L)
31 - Ana Bogdan, ROU (Cluj-Napoca -L)
31 - Sloane Stephens, USA (Rouen -W)

*2024 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Hobart - Emma Navarro, USA (22/#31)
Hua Hin 1 - Diana Shnaider, RUS (19/#108)
Austin - Yuan Yue, CHN (25/#68)
Rabat - Peyton Stearns, USA (22/#81)
Iasi - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (17/#32)
Cleveland - McCartney Kessler, USA (25/#98)
Monterrey - Linda Noskova, CZE (19/#35)
Monastir - Sonay Kartal, GBR (22/#151)
Guadalajara - Magdalena Frech, POL (26/#43)
Hua Hin 2 - REBECCA SRAMKOVA, SVK (27/#102)

*2024 WTA BEST LL RESULTS*
QF: Viktoriya Tomova, BUL (Hobart)
QF: Cristina Bucsa, ESP (Abu Dhabi)
QF: Caroline Dolehide, USA (Birmingham)
QF: Ella Seidel, GER (Budapest)
QF: Lea Boskovic, CRO (Iasi)
QF: Taylor Townsend, USA (Toronto)
QF: POLINA KUDERMETOVA, RUS (Seoul)

*2024 FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
Cluj-Napoca: Harriet Dart, GBR (27/#103)
Roland Garros: Mirra Andreeva, RUS (17/#38)
Iasi: Elina Avanesyan, RUS (21/#76)-RU
Prague: Magdalena Frech, POL (26/#57)-RU
Prague: Laura Samson, CZE (16/#634)
Monterrey: Lulu Sun, NZL (23/#57)-RU
Cleveland: McCartney Kessler, USA (25/#98)-W
Guadalajara: Olivia Gadecki, AUS (22/#152)
Monastir: Sonay Kartal, GBR (22/#151)-W
Monastir: Rebecca Sramkova, SVK (27/136)-RU
Hua Hin 2: ARIANNE HARTONO, NED (28/180)

*2024 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
7 (5-2) = IRINA KHROMACHEVA
7 (2-5) = Erin Routliffe
6 (4-2) = ANNA DANILINA
5 (4-1) = Katerina Siniakova
5 (3-2) = Lyudmyla Kichenok
5 (3-2) = NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ
5 (1-4) = Gaby Dabrowski

*2024 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
5 - IRINA KHROMACHEVA
4 - Cristina Bucsa
4 - ANNA DANILINA
4 - Katerina Siniakova
3 - Sara Errani
3 - Jasmine Paolini
3 - Hsieh Su-wei
3 - Lyudmyla Kichenok
3 - NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ
3 - Elise Mertens
3 - Asia Muhammad
3 - Alona Ostapenko
3 - Taylor Townsend
[duos]
3...DANILINA/KHROMACHEVA
3...Errani/Paolini
3...Hsieh/Mertens
3...L.Kichenok/Ostapenko
2...Kenin/Mattek-Sands
2...Melichar-Martinez/Perez
[2020-24 - individuals]
20 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/3/4)
14 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/1)
12 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/2/3)
11 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/2/3)
9 - Desirae Krawczyk (2/2/1/3/1)
9 - NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ (2/2/2/0/3)
9 - Laura Siegemund (1/0/3/5/0)
8 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/2/0)
8 - ANNA DANILINA (0/1/2/1/4)
8 - Demi Schuurs (2/2/1/2/1)
8 - Ena Shibahara (1/5/0/2/0)
8 - Luisa Stefani (1/1/2/3/1)

*2024 WTA (MD) LONG MATCHES*
4:09 - Hua Hin 2 2nd Rd. - SIEGEMUND d. WANG XIYU
3:43 - Charleston 1st Rd. - Volynets d. Rus
3:42 - Abu Dhabi 2nd Rd. - Haddad Maia d. Linette
3:41 - Hua Hin 2 QF - ZIDANSEK d. PODOROSKA
3:29 - Eastbourne 1st Rd. - Dart d. Bouzkova
3:29 - Palermo 1st Rd. - Sorribes Tormo d. Topalova
3:28 - Cluj-Napoca QF - Bogdan d. Rus
3:26 - Brisbane 3rd Rd. - Potapova d. V.Kudermetova





futuristic-fonts


kosova-font


kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font




kosova-font



kosova-font






All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:24 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

At this point, Rybakina should shut down her season and properly rest.

Quite a year, Sramkova is having.

Not a good sign for Korneeva having a wrist surgery at 17.

Who is your all time favorite male tennis player?

Mon Sep 23, 04:13:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

The first thing that came to mind for me regarding Iga's withdrawal had to do with the emergency in her country. ??

Tue Sep 24, 05:17:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

K-

This is what I wrote in an old post about all_time favorite players:

Boris Becker, GER... while Novotna made me value perseverance, and Dokic made me realize that you could fully embrace a player who often runs head-first into walls simply because every once in a while they break through to the other side, it was Becker who ushered me into my generation of tennis stars. When he crashed the party at Wimbledon by winning the '85 title as a 17-year old, the then-West German wasn't much older than me at the time. Until then, tennis for me had revolved around the previous generation of stars -- Connors, McEnroe, Navratilova, Evert, etc. The red-headed Becker, throwing his body all over the All-England Club's lawns, booming bomb-like serves (a metaphor he never liked, due to Germany's wartime past) and celebrating with a kid's exuberance, changed all that. He made me love the sport, and plug myself into its future. He wasn't just a teenaged flash, either. He came back and won the title in '86, too. In '87, he introduced me to the crushing nature of an early-round upset that no one saw coming, as well. Peter Doohan, anyone? For me, Becker was my biggest stepping stone into the heart of the sport.

D-

Hmmm.

Btw...
I have big internet issues so it looks like I won't have a mid-event post this week. HOPEFULLY I'll be able to post a full edition at the close of Beijing.

Sat Sep 28, 05:40:00 PM EDT  

Post a Comment

<< Home