Friday, January 24, 2025

AO25 - The Day Before the Day









=AO NOTES=
...it's time for trophies to be handed out, and on Friday in Melbourne the first big winners were the Mixed Doubles champions in a final that was an all-Aussie affair between a pair of wild card duos.



Olivia Gadecki & John Peers defeated Kimberly Birrell & John-Patrick Smith in a title-deciding MTB, winning 3-6/6-4 [10-6] to become the first Aussies to claim the AO championship since Jarmila Gajdosova & Matthew Ebden in 2013. It's Gadecki's first major title, and #3 for Peers (second MX, w/ '22 U.S. Open with Storm Hunter).



...the women's doubles final is set, and it's a star-stubbed affair as #1 seeds Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend (def. M.Andreeva/Shnaider in the SF) will meet #3 Hsieh Su-wei/Alona Ostapenko (def. #2 Dabrowski/Routliffe).



Siniakova/Townsend won the RG title together last year, and the Czech will be seeking her 10th career slam WD crown; while Hsieh will look to defend the AO title she picked up in '24 with Elise Mertens (she currently has nine career major WD/MX titles on her resume). Ostapenko, a new partner for the veteran, lost (alongside Lyudmyla Kichenok) to Hsieh/Mertens in the AO final a year ago, and will now be seeking her second straight slam title run after winning the U.S. Open last summer with Kichenok.

...15-year old Bannerette twins, Annika and Kristina Penickova, secured the girls' doubles title with a 6-4/6-2 win over Aussie Emerson Jones and Brit Hannah Klugman.



Girls' #1 Emerson Jones' quest to win a junior slam also ended a round short of the final in singles, as she fell to #4 seed Wakana Sonobe, 6-3/6-4. No Aussie has won the AO girls' title since 1995. Sonobe, the U.S. Open girls' RU last year, is the first Japanese junior to reach the AO final. She'll face the aforementioned Kristina Penickova, the first Bannerette to play for the AO junior crown since Taylor Townsend won it in 2012. Penickova, who'd already recovered from a 7-5/5-0 deficit in the 2nd Round, won a 6-4/4-6/7-5 SF match over unseeded Slovak Mia Pohankova despite being broken in her first two serve games in the 3rd set.

...in the wheelchair doubles final, Li Xiaohui & Wang Ziying defeated Manami Tanaka/Zhu Zhenzhen, 6-2/6-3, to become the first Chinese players to win a WC slam title.



...this year, the AO has gotten into the act of staging a junior wheelchair competition (as has previously occurred at RG and the US), and Luna Gryp (BEL) and Vitoria Miranda (BRA) claimed the first girls' doubles title with a 6-1/6-1 win in the final (after a RR competition) over Sabina Czauz (U.S.... yeah, imagine that) and Ailina Mosko (LAT).



Miranda and Czauz will play for the girls' singles title, as well.





...JUST MORE EVIDENCE OF HOW THE "HAPPY SLAM" MONIKER HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FRAUD:



I mean, there are certainly a lot of good reasons to boo Djokovic, but that's not what was happening here.

Also, never forget how the "great" fans Down Under treated Vika Azarenka more than a decade ago en route to her second straight AO title run in 2013. This isn't a new embarrassment.


...COME FOR THE TENNIS, THEN STAY AROUND AFTER THE SHOW FOR THE REAL ENTERTAINMENT:




...SO THE *ONE* THING THAT THE "NEW" CUP COMPETITION DIDN'T SCREW UP, WELL, NOW *THAT* IS GONE, TOO (i.e. now even the Qualifiers and Playoffs don't feature best-of-5, head-to-head ties... so do they really need captains to make decisions anymore?):



Additionally, the November Finals will be an 8-team, knock-out draw (it was 12 in '24), while the Playoffs (also w/ group round robins instead of the previous head-to-head ties) that same week will feature the 12 teams that didn't advance out of the Qualifiers vs. the Zone I winners.














=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR vs. #19 Madison Keys/USA

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Siniakova/Townsend (CZE/USA) vs. #3 Hsieh/Ostapenko (TPE/LAT)

=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
(WC) Gadecki/Peers (AUS/AUS) def. Birrell/J-P.Smith (AUS/AUS) 3-6/6-4 [10-6]

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Yui Kamiji/JPN vs. #2 Aniek Van Koot/NED

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
Li/Wang (CHN/CHN) def. Tanaka/Zhu (JPN/CHN) 6-2/6-3

=GIRLS' SINGLES FINAL=
#4 Wakana Sonobe/JPN vs. #6 Kristina Penickova/USA

=GIRLS' DOUBLES FINAL=
#6 A.Pennickova/K.Penickova (USA/USA) def. #2 E.Jones/Klugman (AUS/GBR) 6-4/6-2

=GIRLS' WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Vitoria Miranda/BRA vs. Sabina Czauz/USA

=GIRLS' WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
Gryp/Miranda (BEL/BRA) def. Czauz/Mosko (USA/LAT) 6-1/6-1

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES LEGENDS FINAL=
x/x vs. x/x

=MIXED DOUBLES LEGENDS FINAL=
x/x vs. x/x










I've said this before, but sometimes it still feels like some sort of "Mandela Effect" situation that there was *actually* a band whose members were George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne. Yes, that actually *did* happen. (It's a little how I feel about the Washington Commanders this weekend *really* playing for a berth in the Super Bowl after 20+ years of far too many unsightly moments and embarrassments to recount.)













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*RECENT AO MX DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
2014 Kristina Mladenovic & Daniel Nestor, FRA/CAN
2015 Martina Hingis & Leander Paes, SUI/IND
2016 Elena Vesnina & Bruno Soares, RUS/BRA
2017 Abigail Spears & Juan Sebastian Cabal, USA/COL
2018 Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic, CAN/CRO
2019 Barbora Krejcikova & Rajeev Ram, CZE/USA
2020 Barbora Krejcikova & Nikola Mektic, CZE/CRO
2021 Barbora Krejcikova & Rajeev Ram, CZE/USA
2022 Kristina Mladenovic & Ivan Dodig, FRA/CRO
2023 Luisa Stefani & Rafael Matos, BRA/BRA
2024 Hsieh Su-wei & Jan Zielinski, TPE/POL
2025 Olivia Gadecki & John Peers, AUS/AUS

*RECENT AO GIRLS DOUBLES CHAMPS*
2014 Anhelina Kalinina / Elizaveta Kulichkova, UKR/RUS
2015 Miriam Kolodziejova / Marketa Vondrousova, CZE/CZE
2016 Anna Kalinskaya / Tereza Mihalikova, RUS/SVK
2017 Bianca Andreescu / Carson Branstine, CAN/USA
2018 Liang En-shou / Wang Xinyu, TPE/CHN
2019 Natsumi Kawaguchi / Adrienn Nagy, JPN/HUN
2020 Alexandra Eala / Priska Madelyn Nugroho, PHI/INA
2022 Clervie Ngounoue / Diana Shnaider, USA/RUS
2023 Renata Jamrichova / Federica Urgesi, SVK/ITA
2024 Tyra Caterina Grant / Iva Jovic, USA/USA
2025 Annika Penickova / Kristina Penikova, USA/USA

*RECENT AO "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS*
2017 Marta Kostyuk, UKR
2018 Liang En-shuo, TPE
2019 Clara Tauson/DEN and Anastasia Tikhonova/RUS
2020 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
2022 Angella Okutoyi/KEN and Meshkatolzahra Safi/IRA
2023 Mirra Andreeva/RUS and Alina Korneeva/RUS
2024 Renata Jamrichova, SVK
2025 Annika & Kristina Penickova, USA/USA

*RECENT AO WHEELCHAIR WD CHAMPIONS*
2010 Florence Gravellier/Aniek van Koot, FRA/NED
2011 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven, NED/NED
2012 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven, NED/NED
2013 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot, NED/NED
2014 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2015 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2016 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN
2017 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot, NED/NED
2018 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN
2019 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2020 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2021 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2022 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2023 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2024 Diede de Groot/Jiske Griffioen, NED/NED
2025 Li Xiaohui/Wang Ziying, CHN/CHN






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TOP QUALIFIER: Maja Chwalinska, POL
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #2 Iga Swiatek/POL
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1 - #20 Maja Chwalinska/POL def. Dominika Salkova/CZE 7-6(3)/5-7/7-6(12-10) - Chwalinska in 3:23, was down a break twice in the 3rd. Salkova served for the win at 5-4, led 7-3 in the deciding MTB and held a pair of MP.
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #8 Emma Navarro/USA def. Peyton Stearns/USA 6-7(5)/7-6(5)/7-5 - 3:22 between former NCAA champs; Stearns up set and 2-0, up 5-3 in 3rd and served at 5-4; Navarro wins 16/19 points to end
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #8 Emma Navarro/USA def. #9 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS 6-4/5-7/7-5 - Kasatkina saves 4 MP in 2nd and forces 3rd set; Kasatkina up break in final set and saves 7 BP in 4-4 hold; Navarro saved 2 BP at 5-5, then breaks from 30/love down to win fourth straight three-setter
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): Nominee: SF - #19 Keys d. #2 Swiatek 5-7/6-1/7-6(10-8) - Keys saves MP and forces MTB, wins 10-8 to reach second major final
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #14 Mirra Andreeva/RUS (def. Marie Bouzkova/CZE)
FIRST SEED OUT: #29 Linda Noskova/CZE (1st Rd.- Tauson/DEN)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Destanee Aiava/AUS (6th MD), Talia Gibson/AUS (2nd MD), Suzan Lamens/NED (1st MD), Rebecca Sramkova/SVK (5th MD)
PROTECTED RANKING BEST: Belinda Bencic/SUI (4th Rd.) (2r-Birrell/AUS, Kovinic/MNE)
LUCKY LOSER BEST: Eva Lys/GER (4th Rd.) (2r-Dart/GBR)
UPSET QUEENS: Great Britain
REVELATION LADIES: Germany
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Czech Republic (1-4 1st Rd.; Kvitova/Pliskova/Krejcikova DNP; Vondrousova; Bouzkova First Loss; Noskova First Seed Out; Beljek 0-5 slam MD)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Destanee Aiava/AUS and Gabriela Ruse/ROU (both 2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Talia Gibson/AUS, Iva Jovic/USA, Ajla Tomljanovic/AUS(L) and Zhang Shuai/CHN (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Destanee Aiava, Talia Gibson and Ajla Tomljanovic (all 2nd Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Paula Badosa/ESP
IT (WC Opportunist): Nominee: (WC champion while Diede's away: Kamiji or Van Koot)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Belinda Bencic/SUI
CRASH & BURN: #5 Zheng Qinwen/CHN (2r- 2024 finalist and Olympic Gold medalist out in 2 sets vs. Siegemund/GER)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Eva Lys/GER (LL added to MD on Day 3 ten minutes before start of 1r match; reaches 4th Rd. for first time at a major)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Madison Keys/USA
LADY OF THE EVENING: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR & Jelena Dokic (dancing on Laver)
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: ["A right corker"] The "Great Melbourne Coffee Scandal" erupts when Iga Swiatek says she prefers the cafe offerings of Sydney
DOUBLES STAR: x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Annika & Kristina Penickova, USA/USA





All for now. More soon.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:05 PM 

2 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

Organizing junior slam is a waste of time and space. It doesn't project anything for anyone in the future. Wozniacki and Swiatek won junior Wimbledon. But since they turned pro, grass has been their worst surface.

I don't care who wins or who loses. All I want is the women's final to be decided in a 3rd set 10-point match tiebreaker.

Fri Jan 24, 08:38:00 PM EST  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

I kind of wish we'd gotten that MTB decider (oh-so-close), too. Great match, nonetheless.

Sat Jan 25, 03:45:00 PM EST  

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