Sunday, January 05, 2025

Wk.1- Act 1, Scene 1 (2025)






futuristic-fonts




*WEEK 1 CHAMPIONS*
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (WTA 500; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. Polina Kudermetova/RUS 4-6/6-3/6-2
D: Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider (RUS/RUS) def. Patricia Hon/Anna Kalinskaya (AUS/RUS) 7-6(6)/7-5
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (WTA 250; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Clara Tauson/DEN def. Naomi Osaka/JPN 4-6 ret.
D: Jiang Xinyu/Wu Fang-hsien (CHN/TPE) def. Aleksandra Krunic/Sabrina Santamaria (SRB/USA) 6-3/6-4
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA (125; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Aoi Ito/JPN def. Wei Sijia/CHN 6-4/6-3
D: Jaimee Fourlis/Petra Hule (AUS/AUS) def. Darja Semenistaja/Nina Stojanovic (LAT/SRB) 7-5/4-6 [10-6]
UNITED CUP; AUS (Hard Court Outdoor)
F: USA def. POL 2-0




kosova-font



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...consider the gauntlet officially thrown down by the world #1, who'll soon be seeking to complete the first AO three-peat since 1993 (Seles).

Except for a trying opening set in the final, Sabalenka pretty much had her way with things in Brisbane, taking down Renata Zarazua, Yulia Putintseva, Marie Bouzkova and Mirra Andreeva in straight sets to reach her 32nd career tour final. After dropping the opening set to Polina Kudermetova, Sabalenka finally powered her way to WTA title #18 in three a year after being roughed up in the same Brisbane final by Elena Rybakina.

After going 7-5 (5-3 in '23, 2-2 in '24) when holding the #1 ranking in the late going of the last two seasons, Sabalenka opens her maiden January atop the tour rankings with a 5-0 start.


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



RISERS: Clara Tauson/DEN and Coco Gauff/USA
...is the Dane finally ready for her close-up?

It's been five years since Tauson burst onto the pro scene in 2020, upsetting #25 seed Jennifer Brady in a powerful, stunning slam debut at RG. She went on to reach the Top 50 (eventually getting to #33) and win two titles (in three finals) in 2021 before injuries and resulting issues with her family's finances (costing her a coach at one point) set back her progress for several seasons. After falling out of the Top 100, Tauson flirted with the standing over 2022-23 before last year finding her footing again with a return to the Top 50, a 4th Round run at RG (a career slam best, which included a win over Alona Ostapenko, against whom she'd had a MP during the Latvian's title run in Linz earlier in the season) and tight three-set contests (though losses) vs. Elena Rybakina (Miami) and Jasmine Paolini (Beijing).

In Auckland, Tauson let her big point play and serve do the talking. After an opening win over Lucrezia Stefanini, she came back from a set and 5-3 back vs. Sofia Kenin, saving a MP and firing off 26 aces vs. the former AO champion (the fifth most in a match in WTA MD history). Tauson had 22 aces vs. Kenin in a match-up in October, as well as two other 20+ ace outings in '24.

Against top seed Madison Keys in the QF, Tauson nearly squandered a 6-4/3-1 lead, but ultimately saved 3 SP and won a 9-7 TB to win in straight sets, then went out and won her QF (over Robin Montgomery) and played a WD semi all on the same day to set up a meeting against Naomi Osaka in the Dane's first tour final since October 2021.

Osaka took a 6-4 1st set, but then retired with an injury before the start of the 2nd as Tauson picked up WTA title #3 without having to lift her racket for another point.

The 22-year old will be up to #41 in the new rankings.



At the United Cup, the U.S. won the mixed team title for the second time in the made-up, bigger-is-not-necessarily-better event's three year existence. But, really, who cares about that? (Not I said the fly.) As far as Gauff goes, though, quite a bit was newsworthy.

One never knows if late season momentum, especially that which comes immediately after a coaching change, will carry over into the *next* season. Last year, Gauff rode her Summer of Coco surge of '23 into a 10-0 start with an Auckland title defense and AO semi, but then couldn't sustain the wave over the course of the remainder of the season and another re-arranging of her team was in order. Armed with a second coaching change (Brad Gilbert was out, with Matt Daly in after last year's U.S. Open) in a little over a year, Gauff ended '24 on a 13-2 run, winning Beijing 1000, and knocking off the world #1 (Iga Swiatek in straights for the first time ever) and #2 (Aryna Sabalenka) en route to the WTA Finals title.

Gauff went 5-0 in singles and 2-0 in MX doubles in UC play, never losing a set in either discipline, while knocking off the likes of Leylah Fernandez (3 & 2), Donna Vekic (4 & 2), Zhang Shuai (6 & 2) and Karolina Muchova (1 & 4), setting the stage for another shot at Swiatek in the final vs. Poland. In a sometimes spectacular contest, she took down the world #2 in straight sets (4 & 4) for the second consecutive time, and maybe for the first time produced "the look" (at least post-match) on the Pole's face that is usually reserved for after she's been rocked by the power of likes of the Sabalenkas and Rybakinas of the world.


===============================================
SURPRISE: Aoi Ito/JPN
...Ito, 20, was an immediate hit in her tour-level debut in Osaka last fall, staging a successful comeback from 0-4 down in the 3rd (vs. Kenin) in her first MD match, getting her maiden Top 50 win (Cocciaretto) and going on to reach the SF in her first WTA outing. Ito went on to win a $100K crown in late November, defeating Wei Sijia in straight sets.

Ito upped her game again in the Canberra 125 in Week 1, running off victories over Maria Timofeeva, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Nina Stojanovic and Alex Eala to reach her biggest final. Awaiting her again was Wei, who suffered the same fate as earlier as Ito again won in two to take the title without dropping a set all week.

Ito will climb from #126 to a career high #109 this coming week as she is set to participate in AO qualifying in what will be her major event debut.


===============================================
VETERAN: Ons Jabeur/TUN
...after multiple years of slam title contention, Jabeur cratered a bit in '24 and slid back down the ladder due to issues with injuries. She didn't win a title for the first season since 2020, failed to even reach a SF on the year, had just one second week run in a major (RG QF) and only participated in three, playing her final match of the year in early August. Does the 30-year old Tunisian (#42) have another big run or two in her?

Well, in Brisbane she opened '25 with her first three-match winning streak since Roland Garros, knocking off Zheng Saisai, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elina Avanesyan before dropping her sixth straight QF (her last SF: Ningbo '23) in a tight, 6-4/7-6 two-setter vs. Mirra Andreeva.

And, yes, she *did* bring along her magic wand and crowd-pleasing style Down Under.



Now Jabeur's body just needs to cooperate over the course of (or at least during a few multi-month pockets of the calendar during) a long season.
===============================================



COMEBACK: Naomi Osaka/JPN
...everyone was so preoccupied with the status of Stefano Vukov this week, Osaka's new coaching setup with Patrick Mouratoglou was given a pass from the judgments from afar that usually follow the Frenchman around both pro tours.

As it went, Osaka peformed well on the court, reaching her first SF and final in her post-motherhood comeback with wins over Lina Glushko, Julia Grabher, Hailey Baptiste and Alycia Parks. She won the opening set in the final vs. Clara Tauson, but retired due to injury between the 1st and would-be 2nd set to remain without a singles title since her second AO championship run in Melbourne almost four years ago in 2021.
===============================================



FRESH FACES: Polina Kudermetova/RUS and Robin Montgomery/USA
...here comes another Hordette.

21-year old Kudermetova, the younger sister of Veronika, made her WTA 500 debut last fall in Seoul as a lucky loser, playing her way into the QF. She reached her maiden tour SF in Merida five weeks later. Opening 2025 at #107, Kudermetova had a career week.

After making her way through qualifying with wins over Astra Sharma and Zeynep Sonmez, the Hordette ran her winning streak to seven with victories over Wang Xinyu, Liudmila Samsonova (from a set down), Dasha Kasatkina (from 4-0 back, a point from 5-0, and 5-2 in the 3rd for her first Top 10 win), Ashlyn Krueger and Anhelina Kalinina to reach her maiden tour singles final. She's the ninth Russian woman to reach a first WTA final since the start of the 2021 season (when Veronika did it), and the seventh in the last two seasons + one week.

Kudermetova wasn't the fourth of that group to lift a title in her first attempt, but she *was* the only player all week to take a set off Aryna Sabalenka, who couldn't just phone it in against anything resembling an exhausted opponent at the close of a monumental week in her career. Kudermetova claimed the 1st set, but the Belarusian finally finished her off in three.



Polina cracks the Top 100 for the first time on Monday, shooting all the way up to #57, while also passing by her big sister in the rankings. Veronika, who lost in the 1st Round in Brisbane to Peyton Stearns (the siblings were in the same section and *could* have played in the 3rd Round), was ranked #9 as recently as January '23, but will have fallen to #76 this week with her 18-26 mark since the start of last year.

20-year old D.C. native Montgomery, the 2021 U.S. Open junior champ, started to put her foot through the crack in the tour door last season. She reached the 3rd Round at Madrid 1000, played in her first tour QF (Rosmalen) and qualified for Wimbledon (where she got her first slam MD victory) before reaching another QF in her home event in Washington later in the summer. Her momentum was still by her wide when she said hello to 2025 in Auckland.

After taking out Mai Hontama in a love 3rd set, Montgomery fired off wins over Nao Hibino and Bernarda Pera to reach her maiden tour-level semifinal. She was ushered out by eventual tournament champ Clara Tauson, but edges closer to her Top 100 breakthrough with a career-best #104 ranking this week.


===============================================
DOWN: ???
...barring something horrendous, it's difficult to hang *too* big of a red flag over a player's season in *Week 1*, but there were some disappointing results worth noting and several players surely didn't get the table-setting opening week of the '25 season that they'd hoped for.

Alona Ostapenko and Paula Badosa started 0-1 on the year (but so what, right?), and Sloane Stephens lost her season opener (vs. Ann Li) after twice holding a break lead in the 3rd set (hey, it's Sloane). Nothing to really see there.

Of more interest, at the United Cup, Beatriz Haddad Maia went 0-2, falling to Gao Xinyu in a 3:22 season opener before then also going down in three sets vs. 36-year old Laura Siegemund (37 in March). Since winning the title in Seoul in September, the Brazilian has gone 4-6. Also in the UC, Maria Sakkari went 0-2 without winning a set, falling 2 & 1 to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and 4 & 3 to Elena Rybakina. The Greek came in at #32, so she looks like she might avoid heading to Melbourne without a seed in a major for the first time since the 2019 AO (a #32 or better spot would extend her seeded streak in slams to 23). Still, Sakkari exited Week 1 without a match win since the 2nd Round of the Olympics.

That changed in Adelaide when she won her her qualifying opener vs. Zheng Saisai (who retired down a set and 4-0), but Sakkari then lost a 6-4/6-7(10)/6-3 Q2 match vs. Peyton Stearns. Sakkari saved 3 MP in the 2nd set TB, but couldn't get the win in the decider. Nevertheless, the Greek reached the MD as a lucky loser.

A year ago, Emma Navarro began what turned out to be a Top 10 season by going 12-3 out of the gate, reaching the Auckland SF, winning Hobart and putting up 3rd Round results at the AO and Dubai. Her 5 & 5 opening loss in Brisbane (as the #2 seed) to #113-ranked WC Kimberly Birrell gives her a three-match losing streak dating back to last season.

Her most recent win? Over Birrell in the Hong Kong 125 in October when Navarro was (unsuccessfully, it turned out) trying to crook a WTAF berth at the 11th hour by taking a WC into a 125 level event in an attempt to steal points vs. "lesser competition" in a draw in which the then-#8 ranked player was the only competitor ranked in the Top 50. She lost in the QF, and ended her season a week later with a 1st Round loss in Wuhan.
===============================================
ITF PLAYER: Joanna Garland/TPE
...fresh off a five-title ITF campaign in '24, 23-year old Garland picked up right where she left off in Week 1 by claiming career title #13 with a straight sets win over the Dutch player Lian Tran. Garland, with both British and Taiwanese heritage, was born in Stevenage, UK before her family moved to Taiwan when she was 10.
===============================================
JUNIOR STARS: Chukwumelije Clarke/USA
...the 15-year old unseeded Texan grabbed the 18s title at the USTA's Winter Nationals in San Antonio, defeating #3-seeded Carrie-Anne Hoo in a three-hour, 6-4/3-6/7-6(5) final. Clarke's 2nd set loss to Hoo was the only set she dropped all week.

Unseeded Clarke, No. 17 Seed Patel Claim USTA Winter National 18s Singles Titles; Safir and Wygodzki Capture 16s Championships; Doubles Champions Denied Sweeps in 12s and 14s Divisions: tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com/2025/01/unse...

[image or embed]

— Colette Lewis (@zootennis.bsky.social) January 3, 2025 at 8:52 PM

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



DOUBLES: Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider, RUS/RUS
...last year's Olympic doubles Silver medalists teamed up once again and proved to be a tough out once more. In fact, this time *no* team was up to the task.

The Hordette pair claimed the Brisbane crown with a tight 7-6/7-5 win over Patricia Hon & Anna Kalinskaya, with both Andreeva and Shnaider picking up their maiden tour WD titles.

While Shnaider's run in doubles put a nice shine on a week that began with an opening singles loss to Anhelina Kalinina, Andreeva had reached her fourth career tour-level SF with wins over Anna Blinkova, Linda Noskova (the Czech had beaten her in Brisbane last year) and Ons Jabeur before a straights sets loss to Aryna Sabalenka.


===============================================
WHEELCHAIR:
...catching up a bit in this space, during the offseason Diede de Groot broke from her longtime coach Amanda Hopmans after a 10-year partnership. Also, the injury that kept her out at the end of '24 was her hip (osteoarthritis), which required surgery (it has apparently been planned for over a year) that will apparently keep her out of action until the middle of the new year. She *could* be back for Roland Garros.

So, I guess that means that Yui Kamiji's good fortune will continue and she'll likely regain the #1 ranking in the early months of '25.

Here are some links to translated (to English) articles (via Dutch news organization NOS - Nederlandse Omroep Stichting) about de Groot's situation:

* - Wheelchair Tennis Player de Groot Out of Action for a Long Time Due to Hip Surgery
* - Wheelchair Tennis Player de Groot and Coach Hopmans Part Ways after Ten Successful Years
* - De Groot Enjoys Life Outside Top-Level Sport: "It came at just the right time"

De Groot says she's looking forward to her break. "I can go out to dinner with friends, without it mattering what time I have to get up the next day. I can go to a concert, I can go on vacation, I can actually do anything. I feel calm that I can be human again, but it will have consequences in terms of ranking."

"I'm looking forward to just being Diede again."

Meanwhile, Kamiji leads the field at Week 2's Victorian Open in Melbourne. She last won the AO singles crown in 2020, with de Groot winning the last four years (and at the last 15 slams).
===============================================









kosova-font

1. United Cup Final (WS) - Coco Gauff def. Iga Swiatek
...6-4/6-4. From start of finish, this one was filled with all sorts of memorable moments.

Things began with Danielle Collins stealing the show during the pre-match handshake line, with shades -- stress on the "shade" part -- of that Collins/Swiatek discussion in Paris.



After that, Gauff and Swiatek (in Edition XV in their, hmmm, could it *finally* be termed a "rivalry" now?) put on a show in what was just a two-set affair, but still a far, far better, big-time match-up (in a made-up event, alas) than anyone has any right to expect in Week 1.



Then it ended with an Iga off-court MTO when she was on the verge of a loss (shocking, I know... the interestingly timed MTO, I mean) at 6-4/5-4, coming to a close with a Swiatek DF on MP to hand Gauff a second consecutive straight sets win in the series after she'd lost 23 of 25 sets (and was 1-12 in matches) before knocking off the Pole on her way to the WTAF title last fall. A "less-than-enthusiastic" handshake from the former #1 put the proverbial bow on a result that shows that the former #1 can now no longer take a "W" for granted when she faces off with current #3.



Swiatek had posted previous wins over the likes of Karolina Muchova, Katie Boulter (Iga took an MTO after losing the 1st set there, naturally) and Elena Rybakina, and her loss to Gauff ended her undefeated 14-match singles run when representing POL the last two seasons in team competition (5-0 BJK, 9-0 UC... as going well as 22-1 from 2020 forward). She's 12-2 in both her BJK *and* UC careers (24-4 combined).
===============================================
2. Brisbane 2nd Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Peyton Stearns
...7-6(7)/4-6/7-5. Maybe the first nominee of '25 for what will be a long list of contenders for the best matches of the season?

Kasatkina led 3-1 in the 1st, but soon found herself down 5-3 and saving a pair of SP on serve at 6-5. She ultimately won a 9-7 TB to take the lead, only to see Stearns level the match by rallying from 3-1 back to force a 3rd.

Kasatkina won the 3:21 affair, and appropriately let out a sign of relief. Of course, her fate was turned on its proverbial head a round later.


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



3. United Cup QF (WS) - Iga Swiatek def. Katie Boulter
...6-7(4)/6-1/6-4. It would take a whole lot for any match in this made-up event to mean enough (IMO) to be brought up down the line when lists are made regarding the best matches during any particular stretch, but this one is still worth a mention, if nothing else because it was an early sign that maybe Iga can make a legit run in Melbourne (her last AO SF was in '22, and her only singles final in any AUS event was back in '21) even if things don't go her way early in any of her matches.


===============================================
4. United Cup SF (WS) - Iga Swiatek def. Elena Rybakina
...7-6(5)/6-4. How odd that two of the tour's most personally understated players both came into the opening week having been (or in) the middle of controversial off-court stories, with Swiatek's secret doping test failure, brief under-the-radar suspension and quick, pat-on-the-wrist exoneration (ala then fellow #1 Sinner) without the usual months/year-long character assassination (ala w/ Sharapova, Halep and many, many others) last fall settling in next to Rybakina's crazy/mystifying/troubling (take your pick) relationship with her coach/ex-coach/new team member/whatever Stefano Vukov (now apparently provisionally suspended due to his conduct), whose exit from the Rybakina camp late last year had produced the rare moment of the tennis world coming together to wholeheartedly agree on something (that their split was a good thing for the well-being of the Kazakh, to say the least).

On the court, Swiatek showed the mettle she often hasn't vs. Rybakina, closing the overall series between the two to 4-3 after having lost four of their last five meetings.


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



5. Auckland 2nd Rd. - Clara Tauson def. Sofia Kenin
...4-6/7-6(7)/7-6(3). Kenin would likely be just fine never seeing Tauson on the other side of the net again. In October, she was aced 22 times by the Dane in a 2nd Round loss in Tokyo. This time Tauson threw in 26 aces (fifth-most all time in a WTA MD match) and won again, staging a successful comeback from a set and 5-3 down, saving a MP in the 2nd set TB and winning consecutive breakers to advance.

26 aces is a career high for Tauson, but it's worth noting that she had a another 25-ace performance *last* year, though it was in a qualifying match (Miami vs. Dodin) and doesn't count when it comes to all-time tour records.

[ONE MORE NOTE: via a special tip-in relayed to HQ all the way from Backspin's Nordic Outpost in Denmark, long manned by none other than Leif Hoergren Mortensen, it should be highlighted that of the four times women -- twice Kristyna Pliskova, and once each Sabine Lisicki and Caroline Garcia -- have had more aces than Tauson did here they ended up losing the match. Only Lisicki got the "W," but that came on grass, so the Dane's 26 are the most ever in a victory on hard court.]
===============================================
6. Auckland QF - Clara Tauson def. Madison Keys 6-4/7-6(7)
Auckland Final - Clara Tauson def. Naomi Osaka 4-6 ret.
...after Tauson was forced to play *three* matches on Saturday, two singles and one doubles, one would have expected it'd be *her* who pulled up after dropping the 1st set in the final. But it was Osaka who did just that after taking a set lead, handing the Dane her third career title.

In her QF match-up with top seeded Keys, Tauson had led 6-4/3-1, but play was suspended with her down 3-4 in the 2nd. Back on the court later, Keys would hold a SP at 5-3, and two more in the TB before Tauson surged back to win 9-7. She'd defeat Robin Montgomery in the SF later in the day, before then taking the final without winning a set on Sunday.


===============================================
7. United Cup rr (WS) - Gao Xinyu def. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...5-7/6-4/7-5. Gao played in the longest match of the 2024 season, a 4:15 marathon in Beijing (a loss vs. Sorribes Tormo, because of course *she* was involved). She opened the '25 campaign (though still in the '24 calendar year) with the season's first three-hour tilt, this 3:22 affair vs. Haddad Maia is which she rallied from a break down in the 3rd to get the win, her first against a Top 20 opponent.


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



8. Brisbane 2nd Rd. - Kimberly Birrell def. Emma Navarro
...7-5/7-5. The #113-ranked Birrell took a WC into the Brisbane MD and used it to reach the QF just three months after her maiden WTA final appearance last October in Tokyo, with her highlight moment coming with an upset of the #2-seeded Navarro. The Bannerette had won their last meeting (Navarro's most recent win) in a 125 last fall.

Birrell also posted wins over Patricia Hon (from a set down) and Anastasia Potapova before falling to Anhelina Kalinina in a match in which she held a MP. The Aussie's run means she returns to the Top 100 (at a CH #99) this week, her first appearance there since October '23.
===============================================
9. Brisbane QF - Anhelina Kalinina def. Kimberly Birrell
...4-6/6-1/7-5. The Ukrainian rallies from a set down, saving a MP at 5-4 in the 3rd, to reach the semifinals along with a "flag-less" trio of two Russians and a Belarusian (i.e. no need to pack any hand sanitizer in the ol' tennis bag for the remainder of the weekend).

In her first SF since Strasbourg last May, Kalinina fell to one of those two remaining Hordettes, new first-time tour finalist Polina Kudermetova.
===============================================
10. Canberra 125 Final - Aoi Ito def. Wei Sijia
...6-4/6-3. Ito has quickly become Wei's nemesis. In both of the 21-year old's two biggest finals -- a $100K challenger in November and then here in Canberra -- it was the 20-year old from Japan who kept her from lifting the crown.

Wei was one of the many 4Q Asian swing's breakout players last fall, posting her first tour-level win in Beijing and notching her maiden Top 100 victory.
===============================================



11. Auckland Q1 - Monique Berry def. Ena Shibahara
...7-6(1)/6-4. A year ago, 22-year old Barry won a wild card playoff tournament to earn her WTA MD debut in the '24 Auckland event. Back in qualifying this time around (as a #504-ranked WC), the Kiwi rallied from 5-2 down in the 1st and 4-2 back in the 2nd to knock off Shibahara in straights to open the new tour season.

2024 was Shibahara's (by far) career year in singles, but the "old" year (in this case, on December 28) didn't let her escape to the "new" one without one final defeat for old time's sake.

Of note, before Lulu Sun burst onto the scene last year, Barry had been named New Zealand's player of the year in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and '23. This was her first career singles win in *any* (Q/MD) tour-level event.

Barry fell to Lina Glushko in the final Q-round. Meanwhile, Sun opened her new season with a 1st Round loss in Auckland to Rebecca Marino.


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

Upset in Auckland! What's better than having your birthday on New Year's Eve? ?? How about scoring a massive win to kick off the new season? ?? That's exactly what Alycia Parks does in Auckland as the newly-minted 24yo rallies past 3rd seed Amanda Anisimova, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the 2nd round. ??

[image or embed]

— Tick Tock Tennis (@ticktocktennis.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 7:46 AM


12. Auckland 1st Rd. - Alycia Parks def. Amanda Anisimova
...2-6/6-2/6-3. Alycia Parks Moment Alert!

In the closing hours of 2024, the Bannerette notched her first Top 50 win last January (Leylah Fernandez/AO), and did it on her birthday, no less.

The crowd was appreciative, and sweet about the whole thing...



Parks ultimately reached the SF (winning her QF over Katie Volynets in her "comfort zone" -- indoors, due to rain), where she lost in straights to Naomi Osaka.
===============================================
13. Auckland 1st Rd. - Julia Grabher def. Leyre Romero Gormaz
...2-6/6-3/7-6(7). Grabher gets her first WTA MD win since 2023 Cleveland, having since missed six months with a wrist injury.

Romero Gormaz rallied from 5-3 down in the 3rd, and held a MP at 6-5 in the deciding TB. But the Austrian got the win, producing the tour's MD victory this season after having faced down a MP.
===============================================
14. Auckland Final - Jiang Xinyu/Wu Fang-hsien def. Aleksandra Krunic/Sabrina Santamaria
...6-3/6-4. Jiang & Wu pick up their first tour title as a pair, having lost their previous final together in Washignton last summer.

Jiang gets her fourth WTA title in eight finals, while Wu has won two of four.

Meanwhile, the Bracelet remains title-free since June 2022.


===============================================
15. Auckland Q2 - Anna-Lena Friedsam def. Mai Hontama
...4-6/7-5/7-6(4). Friedsam missed time due in injury (April through late October) in '24, and wins here to reach her first tour-level MD since Doha early last year.

The world #529 had trailed Hontama 6-4/4-2, and was again down 4-2 in the 3rd. She fell in the 1st Round to Greet Minnen.
===============================================
16. Canberra 125 Final - Jaimee Fourlis/Petra Hule def. Darja Semenistaja/Nina Stojanovic
...7-5/4-6 [10-6]. The all-Aussie duo of Fourlis and Hule combine for the 125 crown, capping a week in which Hule (ex-Florida State) received a MD singles wild card and got a 1st Round upset win over Anastasia Zakharova.



Meanwhile, Stojanovic carried over her late '24 post-injury surge. After missing all of 2023, the 28-year old Serb returned to action last May, winning an ITF singles crown in June, recording her first tour-level MD wins in three and a half years in October while reaching a QF in Merida, and winning a 125 crown in November. In Canberra, she gots wins over Solana Sierra and Hule (before a QF loss to Aoi Ito).
===============================================
HM- $75K Nonthaburi THA Final - Kyoka Okamura def. Kathinka von Deichmann
...7-5/1-6/7-5. Okamura claims the biggest ITF event of the week, denying von Deichmann what would have been a rise to her career-high ranking with a win.

The 30-year old from Liechtenstein could have a shot at some quick revenge, though. The two *could* meet in the second round of AO qualifying this week.
===============================================






kosova-font



1. Brisbane 3rd Rd. - Polina Kudermetova def. Dasha Kasatkina
...1-6/6-2/7-5. After winning a long 2nd Round match over Peyton Stearns in 3:21, Kasatkina seemed on her way here, as well.

After dropping the 1st set, the veteran Hordette led 4-0 in the 3rd and had a pair of GP on serve for a 5-0 bulge. She never won another game, serving for the match once (at 5-3) before becoming the younger Kudermetova sister's first career Top 10 victim.
===============================================



2. Brisbane Final - Aryna Sabalenka def. Polina Kudermetova
...4-6/6-3/6-2. Asking qualifier Kudermetova to win an *eighth* straight match on the week -- vs. the world #1, no less -- was a bit much, but she took advantage of an error-prone Sabalenka to claim the 1st, and didn't just let the Belarusian walk all over her after that, either, making her earn career title #18. Which she surely did.


===============================================
3. Brisbane 2nd Rd. - Polina Kudermetova def. Liudmila Samsonova
...6-7(7)/6-3/6-2. Slow starts Down Under have been common for Samsonova, who with this loss dropped her fifth straight match in Australia. She's 6-13 during the Aussie swing since 2021.
===============================================







kosova-font



Meanwhile, first...



Then...



Then...



via GIPHY



kosova-font





kosova-font





kosova-font














futuristic-fonts




kosova-font


Simona Halep withdraws from Auckland and the Australian Open qualifying due to knee & shoulder pain. She says she hopes to return in Cluj in February.

[image or embed]

— Tick Tock Tennis (@ticktocktennis.bsky.social) December 26, 2024 at 10:19 AM































kosova-font

*2020-25 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
22 - 1/2/8/6/5/0 = Iga Swiatek
13 - 3/2/0/3/4/1 = ARYNA SABALENKA
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
8 - 0/1/0/4/3/0 = Coco Gauff
8 - 0/3/2/2/1/0 = Barbora Krejcikova
7 - 1/0/1/2/3/0 = Elena Rybakina
6 - 0/2/2/0/2/0 = Dasha Kasatkina
[2020-25 finals]
25 - 1/2/9/8/5/0 = Swiatek (22-3)
23 - 3/3/3/6/7/1 = SABALENKA (13-10)
17 - 5/0/3/4/5/0 = Rybakina (7-10)
14 - 0/4/2/2/6/0 = Kasatkina (6-8)
12 - 0/4/3/4/1/0 = Krejcikova (8-4)
12 - 1/7/4/0 ret...Kontaveit (5-6-1)
12 - 0/3/6/3/0/0 = Jabeur (5-7)
12 - 1/0/2/5/4/0 = Pegula (5-7)

*WTA ALL-TIME ACES IN A MATCH (MD)*
31 - Kr.Pliskova (2016 AO 2r - lost Puig)
28 - Kr.Pliskova (2019 Luxembourg 2r - lost Puig)
27 - Lisicki (2015 Birmingham 2r - def. Bencic)
27 - Garcia (2022 Tokyo 2r - lost Zhang Sh.)
26 - TAUSON (2025 Auckland 2r - def. Kenin)

*FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS in 2020s - RUS*
2021 Abu Dhabi - Veronika Kudermetova (L-Sabalenka)
2022 Cluj-Napoca - Anna Blinkova (W-Paolini)
2023 Austin - Varvara Gracheva (L-Kostyuk)
2023 Budapest - Maria Timofeeva (W-Baindl)
2023 Ningbo - Diana Shnaider (L-Jabeur)
2024 Dubai - Anna Kalinskaya (L-Paolini)
2024 Iasi - Mirra Andreeva (W-Avanesyan)
2024 Iasi - Elina Avanesyan (L-M.Andreeva)
2025 Brisbane - POLINA KUDERMETOVA (L-Sabalenka)
--
NOTE: Gracheva now FRA; Avanesyan now ARM

**RECENT BACKSPIN WEEK 1 PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK**
2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2018 Simona Halep, ROU
2019 Julia Goerges, GER
2020 Serena Williams, USA
2021 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2022 Ash Barty, AUS
2023 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2024 Elena Rybakina, KAZ
2025 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR

**CAREER WEEK 1 TITLES - active**
4...ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR
3...Simona Halep, ROU
3...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2...Coco Gauff, USA
2...Venus Williams, USA
1...Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
1...Amanda Anisimova, USA
1...Lauren Davis, USA
1...Kaia Kanepi, EST
1...Petra Kvitova, CZE
1...Katerina Siniakova, CZE
1...Sloane Stephens, USA
1...Elina Svitolina, UKR
1...CLARA TAUSON, DEN
1...Yanina Wickmayer, BEL






futuristic-fonts


kosova-font

To quote Bette Davis, "Fasten your seatbelt..."

[image or embed]

— Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 11:01 AM


kosova-font

Hakeem Jeffries: “Two months ago the American people elected Donald Trump as the 47th president.”  House Republicans: (Cheer) Jeffries: “Thank you for that very generous applause. It's okay. There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle.”

[image or embed]

— Vince D. Monroy (@vincedmonroy.bsky.social) January 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM


kosova-font



Did Carl film this?


kosova-font

Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned after an editor rejected her sketch satirizing tech chiefs, including the Post's owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

[image or embed]

— NPR (@npr.org) January 4, 2025 at 3:02 PM

Best take so far!

[image or embed]

— Mike Peterson (@csotd.bsky.social) January 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM

Her full, eloquent explanation here: anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-qui...

[image or embed]

— Bill Grueskin (@bgrueskin.bsky.social) January 3, 2025 at 8:08 PM


kosova-font


Kind of like when a WTA player who is looking for a breakout season opens the year with a straight sets loss...




kosova-font




kosova-font






All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:02 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger tennisings said...

'first AO three-peat since 1993 (Seles)'

Martina Hingis would like a word :)

Mon Jan 06, 02:54:00 AM EST  
Blogger khan35 said...

Gauff vs Swiatek is a rivalry now. She will get the upper hand of the Pole outside clay. Gauff's forehand is no longer a weakness. In my book, she is the #1 favorite for the upcoming Australian Open.

Polina left me with no choice but to stan her. A stunning beauty with a powerful game. She kinda run out of energy in the 3rd set in the final. Otherwise, she might have pulled the upset. Polina has landed in a soft section in the qualifying draw and I fully expect her to come through.

Mon Jan 06, 02:55:00 AM EST  
Blogger Hoergren said...

Thanks for the honourable mention. I'm back after a long period with not many positive things to mention about female players from Denmark to a "hope" for the new generation. Clara has a new coach who also is her boyfriend and a mother who has returned into the shadows and not Interfering in her game anymore (so "they" say). Started 2025 as #1 on the ace list - here the first 3: Clara Tauson 48, Alycia Parks 35, Naomi Osaka 31. Will be fun to see how many it'll be in 2025 for Tauson

Mon Jan 06, 03:07:00 PM EST  

Post a Comment

<< Home