Monday, November 04, 2024

Wk.44- A Turkish Delight in the Gloaming of a WTA Season







futuristic-fonts




*WEEK 44 CHAMPIONS*
HONG KONG, CHINA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Diana Shnaider/RUS def. Katie Boulter/GBR 6-1/6-2
D: Ulrikke Eiker/Makoto Ninomiya (NED/JPN) def. Shuko Aoyama/Eri Hozumi (JPN/JPN) 6-4/4-6 [11-9]
JIUJIANG, CHINA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Viktorija Golubic/SUI def. Rebecca Sramkova/SVK 6-3/7-5
D: Guo Hanyu/Moyuka Uchijima (CHN/JPN) def. Katarzyna Piter/Fanny Stollar (POL/HUN) 7-6(5)/7-5
MERIDA, MEXICO (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Zeynep Sonmez/TUR def. Ann Li/USA 6-2/6-1
D: Quinn Gleason/Ingrid Martins (USA/BRA) def. Magali Kempen/Lara Salden (BEL/BEL) 6-4/6-4
SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA (WTA 125/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Anca Todoni/ROU def. Emiliana Arango/COL 7-6(5)/6-0
D: Nuria Branccaccio/Leyre Romero Gormaz (ITA/ESP) def. Aliona Bolsova/Valeriya Strakhova (ESP/UKR) 6-4/6-4




kosova-font



PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Diana Shnaider/RUS and Zeynep Sonmez/TUR
...Shnaider's WTA regular-season closing title run in Hong Kong adds still yet another accomplishment to what has grown into a monster early-career campaign for the 20-year old Hordette. She's racked up 55 match wins, four tour titles on three different surfaces (the only WTA player to do so in '24), a 125 win, her first Top 10 victory (over Coco in Toronto) and an Olympic doubles Silver medal. Her final flourish will lift her to another new career high of #12.

Shnaider dropped just a single set on the week, a TB 2nd around love & 2 sets vs. Suzan Lamens in the QF to reach her seventh '24 SF (behind only Swiatek's 9 and 8 from Sabalenka/Gauff). A win over tournament defending champ Leylah Fernandez put the Russian into her fourth final of the season. Another dominate victory -- 6-1/6-2 over Katie Boulter -- kept her tour final record a perfect 4-0 for the season (4-1 career).



Next up on the agenda for the Bandanna? A true challenge at a major? She reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open this summer.



Meanwhile, in the final regular season event of the WTA season, Sonmez played out a fairy tale story between the lines in Merida.

The 22-year old Turk has shown gradually improved results all season long. After making her tour MD debut in '23, Sonmez this season posted her first tour-level win (Berlin) and made her 1000 (Doha) and major MD debuts (at RG, becoming the first woman from Turkey to play in Paris since 2017). This 4Q, she's reached her first WTA QF (Monastir) and collected her maiden Top 25 win (Magdalena Frech in Tokyo).

In Merida, in her tenth career WTA MD, Sonmez posted victories over Maria Lourdes Carle, Elsa Jacquemot and top-seeded Renata Zarazua (on home soil in Mexico) to reach her first WTA semi. After rain postponed her Saturday SF vs. Alina Korneeva, Sonmez was forced to play two matches on Sunday while also battling illness. No matter, she won both contests in straights, defeating Ann Li 6-2/6-1 in a Sunday night final to become the first woman from Turkey to win a tour singles title since Cagla Buyukakcay became the first to do so in Istanbul in 2016.

Sonmez will jump 36 spots in the next rankings, cracking the Top 100 and looking to match (or improve upon) the many Turkish tour feats that Buyukakcay was routinely accomplishing a few years ago.


===============================================
RISERS: Katie Boulter/GBR and Rebecca Sramkova/SVK
...after reaching a semifinal in Tokyo a week ago, Boulter did one better in Hong Kong and reached her third final of the season.

Wins over Aoi Ito, Wang Xiyu, Anastasia Zakharova and Yuan Yue put the Brit into a final against Diana Shnaider, but the Brit was able to get just three games from the top seed to put the first blemish on her tour record in four career WTA final appearances. She'll climb to a career high #23 in the next-to-last rankings of the '24 tour season.



In Jiujiang, Sramkova's 4Q push once again proved fruitful as the Slovak reached her third final in her last five events (a stretch that included a nine-match win streak and a qualifying run to the Beijing 1000 3rd Round).

After opening with a win over Zhang Shuai, Sramkova won in her second meeting with Wei Sijia in two weeks (Wei had pulled the upset in Guangzhou), then knocked off Laura Siegemund (her final victim in her maiden title run in Hua Hin) to reach the final. She fell in straight sets to Viktorija Golubic, but will crack the Top 50 for the first time in the new rankings.

Since her loss in U.S. Open qualifying, Sramkova has posted a mark of 17-4.


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



SURPRISES: Anca Todoni/ROU and Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA
...honestly, it doesn't seem like anyone saw Todoni coming at the start of 2024. That surely won't be the case in 2025.

This season has seen the 20-year old Romanian make her tour MD debut in Cluj (as a wild card), claim a 125 title in June (cracking the Top 150) and make her slam MD debut (getting a 1r win at SW19 over Olga Danilovic). This past week in Santa Cruz (BOL), Todoni picked up her second 125 title, finishing off her run with a straight sets win in the final over Colombian Emiliana Arango.

Over the stretch of her five matches in Bolivia, Todoni recorded four love sets. In just one of her other five completed did an opponent claim more than three games (a 1st set TB win in the final vs. Arango). In the end, the Romanian might have been just as challenged giving an acceptance speech while trying to keep a celebratory hat on her head.



After finishing the 2022 season at #893, then jumping to a #250 final spot last year, Todoni wil rise to #117 on Monday with one more week to go before the official "end" of the WTA season (of course, there will still be ITF and 125 tournaments through December... and if you wonder just how much a difference that sort of stretch can make, just ask Emma Navarro about it). Todoni will be in another 125 event in Week 45, with seemingly an outside chance to jump from her current ROU #5 spot to maybe challenging #113 Ana Bogdan (ROU #4) and #103 Irina Camelia Begu (ROU #3) in the final '24 rankings behind Sorana Cirstea and Jaqueline Cristian.

Meanwhile, 22-year old Sawangkaew's 4Q breakthrough continued in Jiujiang. In recent weeks, the Thai player made her tour MD debut in Hua Hin, recorded her first WTA win in Beijing and reached her maiden QF (w/ a 2r win over Yuan Yue) in Guangzhou while cracking the Top 150. This week, after making it through qualifying for a third fall tournament, she matched her final eight run from a week ago.

Sawangkaew notched wins over Lucia Bronzetti, fresh off her Guangzhou SF, and outlasted Zheng Saisai in an 8-6 3rd set TB (saving 2 MP) before finally going out to veteran Laura Siegemund.

The Oklahoma State (2021-22) product, who ranked outside the Top 200 in early August, will climb inside the Top 135 this week.


===============================================
VETERANS: Viktorija Golubic/SUI and Laura Siegemund/GER
...a week after Olga Danilovic won her first tour title in six years, Golubic laughed at that and won her first in *eight* years, defeating four seeded women over five rounds to do it.

In Jiujiang, the 32-year old Swiss followed up a retirement win from #4 Jessica Bouzas Maniero in the 2nd Round with a 3:24 victory over #6 Arantxa Rus to reach her first WTA semi since 2022 in Nottingham. A straight sets win over top seeded Marie Bouzkova to reach her first final since 2021 (Monterrey) preceded a 6-3/7-5 victory over #2 Rebecca Sramkova.

Golubic's last tour-level singles title was in July 2017 in Lausanne (her only win in four previous finals), and the eight-year, three-month timespan between wins is the ninth-longest gap between WTA crowns in tour history. She'll climb from #168 (the lowest-ranked singles champ of the season) to nearly back inside the Top 100 (#105).



Last year, Siegemund put on a mad late-season scramble on the doubles court alongside Vera Zvonareva to qualify (and then win) the WTA Finals. While the lightning that has struck in the 4Q this year hasn't been a lethal as last, the 36-year old German has surely been posting some impressive results in recent weeks.

In September, Siegemund reached the Hua Hin singles final, her first tour final in 14 months, and then joined with Ena Shibahara to win the doubles in Osaka *and* reach the final in Tokyo. This week in Jiujiang, it was her singles game's turn to shine once more. Siegemund ran off wins over Moyuka Uchijima, Tamara Korpatsch and Mananchaya Sawangkaew to reach the semifinals, where she fell (as she did in the Hua Hin final vs. the Slovak) to Rebecca Sramkova.

Siegemund jumps back into the Top 100 in the next rankings. At #83, she's assured of a season-ending Top 100 finish in next week's final 2024 (post-WTAF) rankings for the seventh time in the past ten years.


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



COMEBACKS: Nina Stojanovic/SRB and Ann Li/USA
...it's been half a decade since the tour saw the best of Stojanovic, as the now 28-year old Serb cracked the Top 100 in 2019 and reached a career high of #81 in the 2020 season. She played in her first of two WTA SF in 2019, and in 2021 reached the Olympic MX semis alongside Novak Djokovic.

Currently ranked #560, Stojanovic has missed large chunks of the past three seasons while struggling with injuries, including nine months out in '22 with an arm injury, then after a brief return late that season experienced a hip injury that kept her out of action for more than a year and a half until she hit the court again this past May. She found immediate success, winning eight of her first nine matches and taking a $35K title in June. A $75K QF had since followed when Stojanovic showed up in Merida, where she posted wins over Tatjana Maria (her first WTA MD win in three and a half years) and last week's Tampico 125 champ Marina Stakusic to each the QF, her first in a tour event since a semi in Nottingham in 2021.

She finally went out to Polina Kudermetova in three sets, but will climb into the #430s in the new rankings.



Back in 2021, Li had a breakout season, reaching two finals and winning one (the only one of the two that was actually played). She's had a hard time keeping up the momentum, though. After reaching the '22 Miami 3rd Round, Li didn't advance past the 2nd Round in a tour-level event again until July of this year. She lost in qualifying in all six majors she played in 2023-24 (DNP RG '23) through this year's Wimbledon, and she struggled to get out of the gate in her '24 season, starting at 1-6.

Over the final half of '24, though, she's fostered a resurgence, first posting good results at lower levels, a stretch that included a pair of 125 finals (1-1), a $100K semi and a pair of $75K QF in the spring. The improved form led to a QF run in Palermo, Li's first at tour level since reaching the Grampians final in January '22. She then finally made it through U.S. Open qualifying, playing her first slam MD match in two years. In October, she added a $100K semi and runner-up result.

In Merida, ranked at #111, Li knocked off top seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz, then followed up with wins over Antonia Ruzic and Jil Teichmann to reach her first SF in two seasons. Finishing up a rain-suspended Saturday semi vs. Polina Kudermetova on Sunday, Li reached her first final since 2021.

She notched just three games in the final vs. Zeynep Sonmez as the Turk's dream run had its fairy tale ending but, for her part, Li jumps 18 spots in the next rankings and back into the Top 100. Since a 5-9 start this year, she's gone 30-12 beginning with her $100K title run in June.
===============================================



FRESH FACES: Alina Korneeva/RUS and Polina Kudermetova/RUS
...look out, here they come. In 2024, the next wave of Hordettes have made their collective presence felt, from Shnaider and the Andreevas, to Timofeeva and Zakharova.

Now add Korneeva and Kudermetova the Younger to the list. In Merida, both reached their maiden tour semifinals.

#254 Korneeva, 17, won a pair of junior slam titles last year, and this season has posted a MD win at a major (AO), won a $100K title and reached doubles finals at tour-level Monastir and in last week's 125 in Tampico. Wins over Alicia Parks and Anna Blinkova got Korneeva her first tour QF berth, then she topped Sara Sorribes Tormo to become the third different Russian teen this season to play in a WTA singles semi. She lost a Sunday SF match to Zeynep Sonmez, but will climb inside the Top 200 to #184.

On the other side of the Merida draw, #133 Kudermetova broke out of her winless box in tour QF (0-2, w/ both appearances in Seoul the last two seasons), following up her upset of #2 seed Nadia Podoroska in the 1st Round with wins over Varvara Lepchenko and Nina Stojanovic to reach the SF in a tour event for the first time (matching her big sister Veronika's total for '24). She lost to Ann Li in a suspended three-set Saturday night match that finished up on Sunday afternoon.

Kudermetova, a two-time $100K singles semifinalist this season (in April and October) will climb to a career high #114.


===============================================
ITF PLAYER: Mona Barthel/GER
...congratulations go out to Barthel, the 34-year old German veteran who this weekend in Hamburg did what no other woman has been able to do in 2024: defeat Sonay Kartal in a singles final.

Coming into the week, the 23-year old Brit was 6-0 in ITF finals this season, as well as having picked up her maiden tour-level win in Monastir. Since losing in her first pro final in a $15K challenger in 2021, Kartal had won 15 straight title matches (14 at the ITF level).

Barthel, who'd rallied from a break down in the 3rd in her semifinal against Crusher Barbora Palicova, handled Kartal 6-4/7-6(6) to win her eighth career ITF crown. The $75K win is her biggest since winnning her last of four (from 2012-17) carer tour-level titles in Prague seven seasons ago.

With a win, Kartal would have put herself alone atop the ITF circuit with her seventh title, but instead remains tied for first along with fellow six-time winners Solana Sierra and Patricia Maria Tig (who got #6 this week).
===============================================



JUNIOR STARS: Emerson Jones/AUS and Tyra Caterina Grant/USA
...in Sydney, 16-year old girls' #1 Jones claimed her first professional singles title in a $75K challenger. Previously 0-2 in ITF finals, the recently-minted Junior Finals champ defeated fellow Aussie teenager Taylah Preston (19) in a 6-4/7-6(3) championship match. Preston had previously been 4-1 in ITF finals in her career.

Meanwhile, for the second time this time, 16-year old Grant lifted a pro doubles titles in a season in which she's been one of the top junior girls.

In Nantes (FRA), Grant teamed with Italian Camila Rosatello for her second ITF crown of the year, adding those wins to her three girls' doubles slam titles (AO/RG/WI) as well as a run to the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles final.

In singles, Grant reached the RG junior semis and U.S. Open QF in '24. The Bannerette picked up her maiden ITF singles crown earlier this season (part of a s/d sweep in Antalya in March).


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



DOUBLES: Ulrikke Eikeri/Makoto Ninomiya, NED/JPN
...they did it the hard way, but Eikeri & Ninomiya walked off with the Hong Kong crown, winning their first title as a pair.

The duo won a pair of MTB in three matches (including 10-7 in the semis over Tereza Mihalikova & Olivia Nicholls) to set up a final contest vs. last week's Tokyo champs Shuko Aoyama & Eri Hozumi (who'd won *three* straight MTB to get to a second straight title match). Naturally, another MTB was necessary to determine the champions, as Eikeri/Ninomiya saved a pair of MP and won an 11-9 MTB to close out their '24 WTA season with matching trophies.


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









kosova-font



1. Jiujiang 2nd Rd. - Mananchaya Sawangkaew def. Zheng Saisai
...4-6/6-1/7-6(6). Down 5-1 in the deciding TB, Sawangkaew saved a pair of MP at 6-4 before finishing off a match-closing five-point run to reach her second straight WTA quarterfinal.
===============================================
2. Merida 1st Rd. - Marina Stakusic def. Maya Joint
...2-6/7-6(2)/7-6(2). Already with a 125 title in hand from her trip to Mexico (Wk.43 in Tampico), Stakusic maintained her momentum in her first match of the week.

Joint served for the win at 6-2/6-5. After the Canadian won a TB to force a 3rd, the Aussie saved three MP at 5-2, then two more at 5-4. In a deciding TB, Stakusic put away MP #6 to win 7-2.
===============================================
3. Jiujiang Q1 - Yao Xinxin def. Lu Jingjing 3-6/6-2/7-6(4)
Jiujiang Q2 - Liu Fangzhou def. You Xinxin 7-5/6-4
Jiujiang 1st Rd. - Yao Xinxin def. Liu Fangzhou 6-2/6-1
...Yao had quite the adventure in Jiujiang.

In her opening qualifying match, she lost a 3-0 (two-break) lead in the 3rd vs. Lu Jingjing, and had to save four MP (one at 5-4, three at 6-5) before winning a deciding TB to reach the final Q-round.

Once there, Yao lost to Liu Fangzhou, but then was part of the third tour-level case in two weeks where players who met in qualifying faced off in the 1st Round immediately afterward. Lucky loser Yao (thanks to the withdrawal of Guangzhou champ Olga Danilovic), in the WTA MD debut, got her revenge on qualifier Liu with a straight sets win before falling to top seed Marie Bouzkova a round later.

The 21-year old knows all about the highs-and-lows of professional tennis, considering she's reached a dozen ITF singles final in her career but is just 1-11 in those title matches.
===============================================
4. Jiujiang QF - Viktorija Golubic def. Arantxa Rus
...7-5/4-6/7-6(5). Golubic posted her best tour-level result in two and a half years by way of a 3:24 marathon win over Rus. The Swiss rallied from 5-2 down to take the 1st, finally converting with a hold on SP #7 of Game 12.

In the 3rd, Golubic led 5-1 before Rus saved two MP (at 5-4) and forced a deciding TB, won by Golubic on her third MP of the day.

===============================================
A day in the life...

5. Merida SF - Zeynep Sonmez def. Alina Korneeva
...7-6(5)/6-2. Just when you think things can't get any better...



...Sonmez realizes that that the Tennis Gods grew an eleventh heart and decided that they like her. They really like her.

Merida Final - Zeynep Sonmez def. Ann Li
...6-2/6-1. Completing her second match win on Sunday, Sonmez joins Cagla Buyukakcay as the only women from Turkey to have won WTA singles titles. It's been eight years -- on home soil in Istanbul -- since Buyukakcay won her only tour crown.

With the title, Sonmez becomes the season's 12th and final first-time singles champ. That's the same number of maiden champions that were crowned in 2023.


===============================================
6. Hong Kong 1st Rd. - Yuan Yue def. Simona Halep
...6-3/6-3. #883 Halep plays in just her fifth match of the season, third at tour level. She's 1-4 on the year, but it's all part of the early steps of a comeback (from a long absence, then an immediate injury) that never had to be forced to happen.



A year after reaching her first WTA last fall in Seoul, Yuan played into the Hong Kong semis, her third such result in '24 (w/ her maiden tour title coming in Austin).


===============================================
7. Merida 1st Rd. - Nina Stojanovic def. Tatjana Maria
...6-4/6-4. The 4Q often provides fertile ground for players making their first forays into the MD of tour-level events, as well as a somewhat less-populated environment for comeback-minded players looking to build a solid, late-season foundation from which they can launch into the new year a few months later. Stojanovic surely fits into the latter category.

After more than a year and a half out, Stojanovic (who returned to the court in May) posted her first WTA MD win in nearly three and a half years en route to the QF.


===============================================
8. Hong Kong Final - Diana Shnaider def. Katie Boulter
...6-1/6-2. Shnaider's fourth title of the season is the most from a Hordette in any year since soon-to-officially-be-a-Hall-of-Famer Maria Sharapova won the same amount in 2014.


===============================================
9. Jiujiang Final - Viktorija Golubic def. Rebecca Sramkova
...6-3/7-5. Just two weeks past her 32nd birthday, Golubic is the second-oldest WTA singles champion this season, behind only Magda Linette, who was 32 years and 5 months when she won in Prague in July.


===============================================
10. Jiujiang 1st Rd. - Anna Bondar def. Arianne Hartono
...6-2/2-6/7-6(3). Bondar saved a pair of MP on serve at 5-4 in the 3rd, then polished off a 3rd set TB win to improve to 4-1 vs. the former NCAA champion (2018).
===============================================
11. Jiujiang 1st Rd. - Kamilla Rakhimova def. Petra Martic
...6-1/4-6/7-5. Down 5-1 in the 3rd, Rakhimova rips off an "unnatural bagel" set to get the win over veteran Martic, who falls to 18-23 in a forgettable season for the Croatian. Ranked #124, Martic is assured of finishing outside the Top 100 for the first time since 2016. She's only had one year ranked outside the Top 50 in the last six seasons.


===============================================
12. Hong Kong 1st Rd. - Nao Hibino def. Lu Jia 6-7(4)/6-3/7-5
Hong Kong 2nd Rd. - Yuan Yue def. Nao Hibino 4-6/7-5/6-2
...Hibino's week of living dangerously in Hong Kong saw her escape her 1st Round match vs. lucky loser Lu Jia, overcoming a 4-1 3rd set deficit, only to then squander a 6-4/5-3 lead (she served up 5-4) of her own a round later vs. Hibino.
===============================================
13. Hong Kong 1st Rd. - Shi Han def. Margarita Betova
...6-4/6-2. Playing in just her third match of the year (she recently returned after more than a year out of action), 30-year old Betova (nee Gasparyan) hasn't posted a singles win since reaching the tour-level Saint Petersburg final in March 2021.

This was her *19th* straight defeat across all levels after missing large chunks of the past three seasons with injuries.
===============================================
14. Jiujiang 1st Rd. - Elena Pridankina def. Ella Seidel
...6-3/7-6(6). After making her tour debut in Guangzhou as a lucky loser, 19-year old Hordette Pridankina posts her maiden WTA MD victory in Jiujiang. She nearly got a another vs. countrywoman Rakhimova a round later.


===============================================
15. Hong Kong 2nd Rd. - Anastasia Zakharova def. Varvara Gracheva
...6-3/6-1. Zakharova came into Hong Kong on a ten match winning streak with consecutive $50K and $100K title runs. She backed up her surge at tour level with her maiden QF before falling to Katie Boulter. She'll set up at new career high just outside the Top 100.


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



16. Jiujiang Final - Guo Hanyu/Moyuka Uchijima def. Katarzyna Piter/Fanny Stollar
...7-6(5)/7-5. Uchijima's career year has centered mostly around her singles, as she reached her career high (#55), won a pair of MD slam matches and claimed *three* $100K titles while rising to the JPN #1. But she ends her best WTA by becoming a first-time *doubles* champion on tour.


===============================================
17. Merida 1st Rd. - Anna Blinkova def. Lesia Tsurenko
...2-6/6-4/4-0 ret. In the NFL, they say that any team can beat another "on any given Sunday." That, too is the case with Tsurenko -- if you add "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday" to the mix -- when it comes to her being uable to finish matches.


===============================================
18. Merida 2nd Rd. - Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Lucrezia Stefanini
...6-1/1-6/6-4. Sorribes Tormo -- shocking, I know -- played and won a three-hour match this past week! Again, hardly surprisingly, the Spaniard leads the tour in '24 in total MD matches (6) that lasted into a third hour, as well as the most wins (4) in such encounters.

A 3:23, though, this one doesn't even rank in the Top 10 longest of the season, but Sorribes Tormo *does* top that list with a 4:15 marathon in Beijing a few weeks ago.
===============================================
19. Jiujiang 2nd Rd. - Rebecca Sramkova def. Wei Sijia
...7-5/6-3. Wei recorded her maiden tour-level MD win of her career in Guangzhou at the expense of recent two-time tour finalist (one-time champ) Sramkova. The Slovak wasn't about to give her another one a week later.

Sramkova then went on to play in her *third* '24 final.
===============================================



20. $75K Hamburg GER 1st Rd. - Belinda Bencic def. Julia Avdeeva
...6-3/6-1. Another new mother is back in the swing of things on the court, as Bencic's comeback has officially begun.


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



21. Merida Final - Quinn Gleason/Ingrid Martins def. Magali Kempen/Lara Salden
...6-4/6-4. More tour success from former NCAA players, as Gleason (ex-Notre Dame) picks up her maiden tour title, while Martins (ex-South Carolina) wins her second in the final vs. a pair of first-time WTA finalist Waffles.

Gleason/Martin reached a $100K final in October.


===============================================
22. $75K Toronto CAN Final - Louisa Chirico def. Kayla Cross
...7-6(5)/6-3. At 28, Chirico, who reached her career high ranking of #58 eight years ago, matches her biggest career title from earlier this year with a second $75K win.


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










kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font





An acceptable answer, but a disappointingly rare and minor blip of an acknowledgement of the questionable decision to play this event in this place at this time after the scheduling went off earlier this year with nary a blip of dissension from the collective tour membership.

kosova-font



And I should hope so (the tactical part, I mean)...




kosova-font





kosova-font



The most casual tweener lob winner of the year...


















futuristic-fonts



kosova-font




































kosova-font

*2024 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
5 - Iga Swiatek, POL = Slam, 1000(4)
4 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR = Slam(2), 1000(2)
4 - DIANA SHNAIDER, RUS = 500,250(3)
3 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ = 500(3)
3 - Zheng Qinwen, CHN = Oly,500,250

*2024 LOW-RANKED WTA CHAMPIONS*
#168 - VIKTORIYA GOLUBIC (JIUJIANG)
#151 - Sonay Kartal (Monastir)
#127 - ZEYNEP SONMEZ (MERIDA)
#125 - Suzan Lamens (Osaka)
#108 - Diana Shnaider (Hua Hin 1)
#102 - Rebecca Sramkova (Hua Hin 2)

*MOST TIME BETWEEN WTA TITLES*
16y,4m = M.Lucic-Baroni (1998 Bol/2014 Quebec City)
13y,1m = Kimiko Date-Krumm (1996 San Diego/1989 Seoul)
12y,6m,3w = S.Cirstea (2008 Tashkent/2021 Istanbul)
9y,9m,1w = P.Parmentier (2008 Bad Gastein/2018 Istanbul)
9y,3m,w2 = K.Bondarenko (2008 Birmingham/2017 Tashkent)
8y,8m,3w = J.Dokic (2002 Birmingham/2011 Kuala Lumpur)
8y,8m,3w = B.Rittner (1992 Schenectady/2001 Antwerp)
8y,5m,1w = K.Zakopalova (2005 Portoroz/2014 Florianopolis)
8y,3m,2w = V.GOLUBIC (2017 Lausanne/2024 Jiujiang)

*2024 OLDEST WTA WS CHAMPIONS*
32 - Magda Linette (Prague)
32 - VIKTORIJA GOLUBIC (JIUJIANG)
31 - Karolina Pliskova (Cluj-Napoca)
31 - Sloane Stephens (Rouen)
30 - Danielle Collins (Charleston)
30 - Danielle Collins (Miami)
30 - Jessie Pegula (Toronto)
30 - Jessie Pegula (Berlin)

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2024*
7 - Aryna Sabalenka (4-3)
6 - Dasha Kasatkina (2-4)
5 - Iga Swiatek (5-0)
5 - Elena Rybakina (3-2)
4 - DIANA SHNAIDER (4-0)
4 - Jessie Pegula (2-2)
4 - Zheng Qinwen (3-1)
3 - KATIE BOULTER (2-1)
3 - Danielle Collins (2-1)
3 - Jasmine Paolini (1-2)
3 - REBECCA SRAMKOVA (1-2)

*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 - Magdelena Frech, POL (26/#43)
Hua Hin 2 - Rebecca Sramkova, SVK (27/#102)
Osaka - Suzan Lamens, NED (24/#125)
Merida - ZEYNEP SONMEZ, TUR (22/#127)

*2024 YOUNG WTA SF*
16 - Laura Samson, CZE (Prague)
17 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Roland Garros)
17 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Iasi - W)
17 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Ningbo - RU)
17 - ALINA KORNEEVA, RUS (MERIDA)
19 - Linda Noskova, CZE (Brisbane)
19 - Diana Shnaider, RUS (Hua Hin 1 - W)
19 - Diana Shnaider, RUS (Tokyo)
19 - Coco Gauff, USA (Auckland - W)
19 - Linda Noskova, CZE (Prague)
19 - Linda Noskova, CZE (Monterrey - W)
[oldest]
36 - Sara Errani, ITA (Bogota)
36 - LAURA SIEGEMUND, GER (JIUJIANG)
36 - Laura Siegemund, GER (Hua Hin 2 - RU)
34 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (Berlin)
34 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (Miami)
34 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (Brisbane)
33 - Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU (Palermo)
33 - Sorana Cirstea, ROU (Dubai)

*2024 LOW-RANKED SEMIFINALISTS*
#634 Laura Samson (Prague)
#261 Tamara Zidansek (Hua Hin 2)
#254 ALINA KORNEEVA (MERIDA)
#228 Bianca Andreescu (Rosmalen - RU)
#209 Emma Raducanu (Nottingham)

*2024 ALL-UNSEEDED SEMIFINALS*
Rabat = Stearns/Sherif, Rakhimova/Tomova
Hua Hin 2 = Sramkova/Siegemund, (Q)Hartono/Zidansek
Merida = Sonmez/Li, Korneeva/P.Kudermetova






futuristic-fonts


kosova-font


kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



kosova-font



It's quite the "flex" for the AP Stylebook to bemoan "redundancies" when it's guide espouses the practice of using an apostrophe+"s" to signify possessive tense for nouns that end in "s" (i.e. the Los Angeles Dodgers's World Series win) when a simple apostrophe (i.e. the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series win) would do.

As far as tennis cliches go, though, I'd like to unilaterally ban the uses of "on the trot" and "popcorn match," please.

kosova-font



kosova-font




kosova-font






All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:30 AM 

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home