Monday, April 14, 2025

BJK Qualifiers '25: In the Name of the King


The 2025 BJK Cup season has arrived, and names are being made.










*TEN THINGS THAT WERE GOOD*

1. A captain on the rise...


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2. A captain who seems to have claimed the "gut instinct" left behind by the exit of Kathy Rinaldi from the Cup stage...



Has Anne Keothavong found "her CoCo Vandeweghe?"


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3. A big "whew!," as the Cup week started like this for U.S. captain Lindsay Davenport...



But ended like this...



As the Bannerette A, B, C... hmmm, "D-Team?" (maybe C-) prevented Team USA from getting handled by the Slovaks for a *second* straight time.

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4. Jorge sisters unite!


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5. Even in what was a bad week for her, there was still some time for Todoni to be "Anca!"


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6. Debuts that dreams are made of...



Not to mention breakout moments from the likes of Maya Joint, Kimberly Birrell, Katarzyna Kawa, Celine Naef, and Eva Vedder (albeit all in ultimately losing team efforts).

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7. When it's clear that a difference-making captain can make all the difference in the world...


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8. When making yours a "Name You'll Know" helps lifts the boat of your countrywoman, too.


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9. Ukraine reaching the BJK Finals (even Marta), via a win in Poland


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10. That no matter the name, time, place or nation... the bouncing Cup circle remains eternal


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*FOUR THAT WEREN'T AND/OR AREN'T*
1. A BJK Cup Finals without any Czechs
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2. BJK Cup host nations in the Qualifiers. Only one of six (Japan) claimed their home soil round robin event to advance to the Finals in Shenzhen this September (and even *that* one came down to a deciding doubles match)
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3. Top 10 (just one: Elena Rybakina) and/or Top 20 (three, w/ Elina Svitolina and Beatriz Haddad Maia) players involved in BJK Cup play in Week 15
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4. No Iga in the Qualifiers = so no chance for Poland to win the WTA Finals
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Confirmation that the roads are alive with the sound (and the newbie driving skills) of Elena...








*2025 BJK CUP QUALIFIERS - Round Robin Winners (Week 15)*
A - [Tokyo, JPN - HCI] - Japan [CAN,ROU]
B - [Ostrava, CZE - HCI] - Spain [BRA,CZE]
C - [Bratislava, SVK- HCI] - United States [DEN,SVK]
D - [Brisbane, AUS - HCO] - Kazakhstan [AUS,COL]
E - [Radom, POL - RCI] - Ukraine [POL,SUI]
F - [The Hague, NED - RCI] - Great Britain [GER,NED]








A MVP Moyuka Uchijima, JPN

...despite a big effort from a (mostly) young group of Canadians, it was Uchijima who often found herself in position to save the day for the host Japanese squad in Tokyo. In JPN's first tie vs. ROU, she saved two MP vs. Anca Todoni and went on to clinch the win and avoid a deciding doubles match; then on Sunday, with JPN down 0-1, Uchijima took down the '23 BJK Cup Final's sudden star Marina Stakusic in straights to send the tie (and Group A) to a final doubles match for a trip to Shenzhen in September. In the end, Japan booked what will be the shortest flight of all the eight quarterfinal nations, other than the hosts themselves.
B MVP
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP

...Bouzas Maneiro legitimized her position atop the Badosa-less Spanish roster, clinching both of ESP's wins with a pair of three-set victories over BRA's Beatriz Haddad Maia and CZE's Linda Noskova. The latter result, on CZE's home court in Ostrava, officially knocked the Czechs out of the BJK Finals event field as Spain won the 2-0 round robin-concluding tie between the two nations that determined the Group B winner.
C MVP Bernarda Pera, USA

...at age 30, Pera finally had her big Cup moment. Of course, it took the en masse pre-event exits of the likes of Pegula, Collins and Kessler to push the veteran into the spotlight. A two-time tour title winner (in back-to-back weeks in 2022), Pera recorded the clinching victory in both of the U.S.'s round robin wins, including with the biggest match result in the Group over crowd favorite Rebecca Sramkova (7-6/7-5, though the Slovak served for both sets and led 4-0 in the 2nd) in the Group C competition-closing USA/SVK tie in Bratislava for a berth in the BJK Cup Finals.
D MVP Elena Rybakina, KAZ

...the only Top 10 player involved in Cup play this week, Rybakina held up her end of the deal with straights sets wins over Kimberly Birrell (AUS) and Yuliana Lizarazo (COL) as Kazakhstan handily advanced in Brisbane. It's a good thing, too, considering they had to make the long trip Down Under -- and now back -- before the start of the EuroClay stretch.
E MVP Elina Svitolina, UKR

...with Swiatek and Bencic absent for the Poles and Swiss, the round robin in Radom (POL) was there for the taking by the Ukrainians. Svitolina's win over Katarzyna Kawa clinched a victory in a tie vs. the host Polish squad, and her victory over Jil Teichmann knotted the RR-ending UKR/SUI match-up at 1-1 (after Celine Naef had upset Marta Kostyuk in Match #1), but was enough to secure a tie-breaker that would have sent UKR to its first BJK Cup Finals event even if the group saw all three nations tie with 1-1 records. As it turned out, UKR won the deciding doubles over Switzerland to go 2-0 and make things even more cut and dry. Svitolina's two victories (she had another vs. Maja Chwalinska) tie her with Elena Tatarkova for the most Cup singles wins ever for Ukraine (17).
F MVP Sonay Kartal, GBR

...everyone pitched in for the Brits, but it was Kartal -- not Katie Boulter -- who went 2-0 in singles, recording tie-starting victories over Jule Niemeier (GER) and Eva Vedder (NED) to notch her first career Cup wins.
RIS Cristina Bucsa, ESP, Hailey Baptiste/USA and Suzan Lamens/NED

...Bouzas Maneiro did the most work in Ostrava, but Bucsa stepped in and got the tie-opening upset over Czech Marie Bouzkova that allowed JBM to clinch Spain's advancement to the BJK Finals one match later. Had Bucsa not gotten the win, the Czechs would have likely been contesting yet another deciding doubles match (on home court, but without any of Petr Pala's usual doubles weapons) for the chance to go to Shenzhen.

Like Pera, Baptiste was pushed into duty when the three bigger-named Bannerettes withdrew from the week's Qualifier action. Already engaged in the best half-year stretch of her career -- with an Auckland QF, Wuhan/Miami 1000 3r, maiden Top 10 win (Krejcikova), and three-set losses this season vs. Danielle Collins (I.W.) and Naomi Osaka (twice, once in Miami) -- the 23-year old recorded her first Cup victories in tie-starting matches vs. Rebecca Monk Mortensen and Renata Jamrichova.

In the Hague, Lamens very nearly was the star of the week. She went 2-0 in singles, taking out Tatjana Maria (GER) from a set down, and then upsetting Katie Boulter to send the GBR/NED tie to the deciding doubles that would decide the Group F winner. A combined 3-0 in round robin play, Lamens joined with doubles specialist Demi Schuurs with a shot to send the Dutch to Shenzhen... only to fall 2 & 2 to Boulter & Jodie Burrage.
SURP Eva Vedder, NED

...more so than Sonay Kartal, Vedder was the surprise of Group F. A late replacement for Arantxa Rus, Vedder opened round robin play with a 3 & 1 win over Jule Niemeier (GER) in front of the Dutch fans at the Hague, then in the round robin closer pushed Kartal to three sets in the opening match vs. GBR (though the Brits eventually won a deciding doubles match to claim the group).
VET Yulia Putintseva/KAZ and Katarzyna Kawa/POL

...Putintseva's good '25 start carried over to Cup play. She opened both of KAZ's win with straight sets wins (allowing four total games in the two matches).

Meanwhile, fresh off a tour final appearance in Bogota, Kawa recorded her first career Cup win by taking out Jil Teichmann in three (from a set down) in the opening tie of Group E. She lost to Marta Kostyuk in POL's 3-0 loss to UKR, which played a large part in Poland being one of the five (of six) Qualifiers host nations who failed to win their round robin group and advance to Shenzhen this fall.
FRESH Maya Joint/AUS, Celine Naef/SUI and Victoria Mboko/CAN

...Joint got just three games off of Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), but the 18-year old returned in the dead rubber final RR tie vs. Colombia to record her maiden Cup win with a 6-1/6-0 victory over Yuliana Monroy.

Naef, 19, kept alive the Swiss hopes in Group E's final tie, upsetting Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 6-4/7-6(1) to record her first career Cup win. But Elina Svitolina eliminated the Swiss with a win in Match #2 over Jil Teichmann.

Mboko continues to make 2025 her own personal debutante ball. Having already won five ITF titles, put together a 22-match winning streak and recorded her maiden WTA MD win (in Miami over Osorio), the 18-year old made her Cup debut and did her part to return CAN to the Finals (though others didn't get the job done). She defeated Miriam Bulgaru in her BJK debut, then in the concluding RR tie finally took out Ena Shibahara on her seventh MP to put Canada up 1-0.
DOUB Boulter/Burrage, GBR and Aoyama/Shibahara, JPN

...had Boulter been able to handle Suzan Lamens in the final round robin singles match of Group F, the Brits would have coasted back into the BJK Cup Finals. But a straight sets loss meant the tie, and the entire group, came down to a deciding doubles vs. the Dutch. Boulter returned, with Jodie Burrage by her side, and handled Lamens & Demi Schuurs 6-2/6-2 and will play in the finals for the third time in four years.

Meanwhile, it seemed possible that former regular WTA doubles partners (10 titles from 2019-23, including two 1000s in Miami and Canada and a slam final at the '23 AO) Aoyama & Shibahara wouldn't see the court together in these qualifiers, but when Moyuka Uchijima defeated Marina Stakusic to force a group-deciding doubles clash vs. Canada the experiece of the longtime pair won out in a three-set win over the duo of Rebecca Marino & Kayla Cross (separated by 14 years in age, at 34/20).
DOWN Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Jil Teichmann/SUI and CZE

...Haddad Maia has had a difficult getting out of the gates in the '25 season, and Cup play didn't do anyting to help that status. The Brazilian went 0-2 in Ostava, falling to Linda Noskova and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to drop to 2-11 on the season. She's lost eight straight matches.

Teichmann, who had a hand in Switzerland's 2022 BJK Cup title run (and was Backspin's overall Cup MVP during the pandemic-shaped 2020-21 stretch), nearly kicked off Group E play with a win over Katarzyna Kawa, only to fall to the Pole in three, then two days later saw her loss to Elina Svitolina (UKR) officially eliminate the Swiss from any shot at returning to the BJK Finals.

Meanwhile, the depth of Czech talent didn't have much impact in Ostrava with the three-team round robin, best-of-three tie format for the '25 Qualifiers, not to mention *the* biggest stars in the nation's arsenal sitting this round out. Still, the hosts had a shot to advance to Shenzhen in the final RR tie vs. ESP, but a Spanish singles sweep dropped the Czechs to 13-3 in home Cup ties since 2011 and on the outside looking in come the Finals in September. CZE will play in the Playoff round instead.
CAPT Carla Suarez Navarro/ESP, Anne Keothavong/GBR, Ai Sugiyama/JPN and Lindsay Davenport/USA

...the mark of a good Cup captain is getting the roster's talent -- no matter their usual station on tour -- to shine on the big stage when the pressure is on. Suarez Navarro found a way to coax a 4-0 singles mark out of Bouzas Maneiro, Sorribes Tormo and Bucsa in Ostrava and eliminated the Czechs on home court.

Keothavong has been mixing and matching rosters to good success for a while, including during SF runs in 2022 and '24. In the Hague, she did it again while relying on an unproven (in Cup play) Sonay Kartal, GBR #1 Katie Boulter (who lost a key singles match), and a doubles duo of Boulter & Jodie Burrage in the first of two (along w/ JPN/CAN in Group A on Sunday) round robin scenarios in which a deciding doubles match in the final tie decided which nation would advance to the Finals. GBR defeated the host Dutch squad to take Group F.

After years of one-match-for-everyone-but-it-never-amounts-to-title-contention Cup consistency, the elevation of Sugiyama to JPN captain has made all things possible (especially if you-know-who ever plays). In Tokyo, Sugiyama relied on 23-year old Moyuka Uchijima (2-0), late-blooming singles competitor Ena Shibahara and the WD experience of Shuko Aoyama & Shibahara (who rebounded from a potentially disheartening final tie WS loss to win the deciding doubles) to send Japan to a second straight BJK Finals event under the guidance of the nation's longest-serving Cupper as a player (Sugiyama played Fed Cup for a national record 12 years).

If Davenport were to guide the U.S. to a Cup title she'd join a short list of women who've won as both a player (she was on three Fed Cup title teams) and as captain (Court, Evert and the now eponymous King did it), but things have not been easy on the Hall of Famer in the U.S.'s post-Rinaldi era. Even while the Bannerettes' tour fortunes are way up, she's had a difficult time getting the big names to come together for Cup play, then last year the U.S. was one-and-done in the BJK Cup Finals in her debut season due to a 1st Round upset by a Cinderella Slovakian squad. Her 2025 Cup journey began with Davenport's top three singles players -- Pegula, Collins and Kessler -- backing out of their commitment to play in Bratislava. With Tauson absent and Wozniacki pregnant (#3), the Danes were an expected (youthful, experience-gaining) afterthought in Group C, but the Slovaks were there to potentially deal a deadly blow (again) to Davenport's captaincy. As it turned out, in a Group-deciding tie, the U.S. "replacements" (Baptiste and Pera, who had zero Cup wins between them before going 4-0 this week) swept the singles vs. SVK to send the U.S. to Shenzhen (and get a bit of payback for last November in one fell swoop).





TOP Q PLAYERS TOP Q CAPTAINS
1. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP 1. Carla Suarez Navarro, ESP
2. Moyuka Uchijima, JPN 2. Anne Keothavong, GBR
3. Elina Svitolina, UKR 3. Ai Sugiyama, JPN
4. Sonay Kartal, GBR 4. Lindsay Davenport, USA
5. Aoyama/Shibahara, JPN 5. Illya Marchenko, UKR
6. Boulter/Burrage, GBR 6. Elise Tamaela, NED (L)
7. Victoria Mboko, CAN 7. Heidi El Tabakh, CAN (L)
8. Suzan Lamens, NED 8. Matej Liptak, SVK (L)
9. Elena Rybakina, KAZ HM- Yuriy Schukin, KAZ
10. Bernarda Pera, USA
HM- Bucsa/ESP, Baptiste/USA,

Putintseva/KAZ, Vedder/NED,

Naef/SUI










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1. BJK Q RR (A) Match #2 - Moyuka Uchijima/JPN def. Anca Todoni/ROU 3-6/7-6(3)/6-2
...Uchijima's 2-0 week included a tie-clinching comeback win from 6-3/4-1 down vs. Todoni, who had two MP at 5-4 in the 2nd set.


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2. BJK Q RR (A) Match #1 - Victoria Mboko/CAN def. Ena Shibahara/JPN 6-4/6-7(8)/7-5
...Mboko was the second Canadian teen (after Marina Stakusic in the '23 Finals) to have a breakout Cup week in three years. Here she completed her undefeated Qualifiers by taking a 2:49 classic.

Mboko had three MP in the 2nd set TB, but saw Shibahara force a 3rd and take a 3-1 lead. Mboko battled back and held three more MP at 5-4. Shibhara again denied her the win, but the Canadian finally got over the line on MP #7 to win the decider 7-5.


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3. BJK Q RR (A) Match #3 - Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara (JPN) def. Kayla Cross/Rebecca Marino (CAN) 6-3/5-7/6-2
...Shibahara's disappointment didn't last the day, as she ended the final tie of Group A by teaming with longtime WD partner Aoyama to send Japan to Shenzhen.


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4. BJK Q RR (F) Match #3 - Katie Boulter/Jodie Burrage (GBR) def. Suzan Lamens/Demi Schuurs (NED) 6-2/6-2
...Keothavong's Kartal gambit worked wonders, and the Brits needed every last bit of it, too. The entire tie came down to a deciding doubles vs. the host Dutch squad (w/ Demi Schuurs in uniform), but Boulter quickly regrouped from her Match #2 loss to Lamens (who went 2-0 in singles) to even the score and win Group F.

Keothavong has "gut instinct"-ed her squad into two semifinals in the last two years after the nation had appeared in none since 1981.


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5. BJK Q RR (E) Match #1 - Celine Naef/SUI def. Marta Kostyuk/UKR 6-4/7-6(1)
...Naef gets her first career Cup win (w/o needing a rubbing-it-in underhand serve, too!) and, albeit briefly, delayed the Ukrainian celebration in Radom.


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6. BJK Q RR (D) Match #1 - Maya Joint/AUS def. Yuliana Monroy/COL 6-1/6-0
...coming soon: an AUS Cup team with Dasha 1 & 2 (hopefully, at least *once*), Kimberly Birrell (who got her first BJK win this week) and any number of the NextGen Sheilas, including Joint (who got her first career BJK win here), Emerson Jones or maybe even a few others.


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7. BJK Q RR (E) Match #1 - Katarzyna Kawa/POL def. Jil Teichmann/SUI 5-7/6-4/6-2
...it took Kawa, 32, a bit longer to get *her* first Cup win, but it continued a run that last week included her first WTA final (in Bogota) in nearly six years.


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*BJK CUP ZONE PLAY*

AM I MVP Ana Sofia Sanchez, MEX

...the 31-year old veteran went 4-0 as MEX won Americas I to reach the November Playoffs. Sanchez arrived in Guadalajara having reached three straight ITF finals (though she didn't win any of them), going 17-4 in her previous four tournaments.
AM 1 MVP Julia Riera, ARG

...after reaching the Bogota semis in Week 14, Riera went 3-1 in Americas I round robin play as Argentina finished second to MEX (but still advances to the BJK Playoffs)
A/O I MVP Lulu Sun, NZL

...Sun has to hope that winning becomes a habit. The Kiwi came in at 3-10 on the season, but went 5-0 (3-0 in singles, and two deciding doubles wins) in Asia/Oceania zone play to lead New Zealand to its first World Group Playoff appearance in thirty years.
A/O I MVP Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty, IND

...Bhamidipaty reached a 125 QF in Mumbai in February, and was 5-0 in singles play in Pune, IND as the zone competition hosts reached the BJK Playoffs for the first time since 2020
E/A I MVP Zeynep Sonmez, TUR

...Sonmez went undefeated (3-0) in Vilnius (LTU), clinching Turkey's berth in the Playoffs with a Promotional Playoff win over Anna Bondar (HUN)
E/A I MVP Matilde Jorge, POR

...along with big sister Francesca, Matilde led Portugal to its first BJK Cup Playoff appearance. She gets the nod alone here due to her big win over Kaja Juvan (7-5 3rd) in POR's Promotional Playoff defeat of Slovenia.
E/A I MVP Greet Minnen, BEL

...playing alongside young Waffle teammates Sofia Costoulas and Hanne Vandwinkel, Minnen went 3-0 in round robin and Promotional Playoff play, clinching Belgium's promotion with a victory over Varvara Gracheva in a PP defeat of France
E/A I MVP
Petra Marcinko, CRO

...the 2022 AO girls' champ led the way for Croatia. 3-0 in round robin WS play (along w/ a deciding doubles win vs. AUT), Marcinko provided both points in a 2-1 Promotional Playoff victory over Serbia in which the 19-year old teamed with Tara Wuerth to win the deciding doubles to advance to the BJK Playoffs in November.
E/A II MVP Ekaterine Gorgodze, GEO

...a singles and doubles threat, Gorgodze went 3-1 in singles and helped claim a pair of deciding doubles wins in RR play as Georgia earned promoation to Europe/Africa I
E/A II MVP Ulrikke Eikeri, NOR

...Eikeri was busy in Larnaca (CYP), holding the #1 singles position *and* winning a pair of deciding doubles in RR action, then a third vs. BUL in the second three-team RR to ultimately come up with the two teams to rise to E/A I. Norway took second place behind Georgia.









*2025 BJK CUP FINALS NATIONS - 8 (Sept.)*
Italy (2024 champion)
China (2025 host)
Great Britain (qualifier)
Japan (qualifier)
Kazakhstan (qualifier)
Spain (qualifier)
Ukraine (qualifier)
United States (qualifier)

[in 2025 BJK Playoffs (Nov.)]
Australia (lost qualifier)
Brazil (lost qualifier)
Canada (lost qualifier)
Colombia (lost qualifier)
Czech Republic (lost qualifier)
Denmark (lost qualifier)
Germany (lost qualifier)
Netherlands (lost qualifier)
Poland (lost qualifier)
Romania (lost qualifier)
Slovakia (lost qualifier)
Switzerland (lost qualifier)
Argentina (promoted from zone play)
Belgium (promoted from zone play)
Croatia (promoted from zone play)
India (promoted from zone play)
Mexico (promoted from zone play)
New Zealand (promoted from zone play)
Portugal (promoted from zone play)
Turkey (promoted from zone play)
TBD (wild card)


*RECENT CZECH CUP HISTORY*
[2009-2018]
20 - consecutive indoor tie victories (2010-18)
18 - consecutive tie victories on hard court (2010-18)
11 - consecutive home tie victories (2010-18)
10 - consecutive SF (2009-18)
6 - titles in 8 years (2011-18)
5 - title in 6 years (2011-16)
[2011-current]
12-5 - deciding doubles matches
23-6 - hardcourt ties
6-2 - claycourt ties
26-5 - indoor ties
3-2 - outdoor ties
13-3 - home site ties (w/ '21 BJK Finals event)
10-2 - road site ties
5-3 - neutral site (w/ '23 UKR Q in Antalya)
29-8 - overall tie record







*FED/BJK CUP SEMIFINALS - since 2000*
2000 2001 2002
United States (W)
Belgium
Czech Republic
Spain (RU)		 Russia (W)
Belgium (RU)
France (Group 2nd)
Spain (Group 2nd)		 Italy
Slovak Republic (W)
Austria
Spain (RU)
2003 2004 2005
Belgium
United States (RU)
Russia
France (W)		 France (RU)
Spain
Russia (W)
Austria		 Russia (W)
United States
Spain
France (RU)
2006 2007 2008
Belgium (RU)
United States
Spain
Italy (W)		 Italy (RU)
France
Russia (W)
United States		 Russia (W)
United States
China
Spain (RU)
2009 2010 2011
Russia
Italy (W)
United States (RU)
Czech Republic		 Italy (W)
Czech Republic
Russia
United States (RU)		 Italy
Russia (RU)
Czech Republic (W)
Belgium
2012 2013 2014
Russia
Serbia (RU)
Italy
Czech Republic (W)		 Czech Republic
Italy (W)
Russia (RU)
Slovak Republic		 Italy
Czech Republic (W)
Germany (RU)
Australia
2015 2016 2017
Czech Republic (W)
France
Russia (RU)
Germany		 Czech Republic (W)
Switzerland
France (RU)
Netherlands		 Czech Republic
United States (W)
Belarus (RU)
Switzerland
2018 2019 2020/21
Germany
Czech Republic (W)
France
United States (RU)		 Romania
France (W)
Belarus
Australia (RU)		 Russian TF (W)
United States
Australia
Switzerland (RU)
2022 2023 2024
Switzerland (W)
Czech Republic
Great Britain
Australia (RU)		 Czech Republic
Canada (W)
Italy (RU)
Slovenia		 Great Britain
Slovakia (RU)
Poland
Italy (W)








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*WEEK 15*

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SURPRISE: Whitney Osuigwe/USA
...Osuigwe, the 2017 RG junior champ, continues to sport her best career form in '25.

The 22-year old reached her fourth ITF final of the season, winning her second in less than a month, in the $35K in Boca Raton, Florida with a 6-4/6-3 victory over fellow Bannerette Akasha Urhobo.

Osuigwe won a $50K in Santo Domingo (DOM) in March, after which she returned to the Top 200 after being ranked outside it since 2021, and has now picked up three challenger wins since November after not taking home any before that since 2019. Osuigwe nearly reached the Top 100 in August 2019, topping out at #105.
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ITF PLAYERS: Anastasia Zakharova/RUS and Solana Sierra/ARG
...Zakharova claimed her 16th career ITF crown and third $100K victory in the challenger in Zaragova, Spain. The 23-year old Hordette defeated Spain's Kaitlin Quevedo 6-3/6-1 in the title match to improve to 16-3 in career ITF finals. She's gone 3-1 in four $100K championship matches since July.

She climbs to #107 on Monday, just one off her career high.



In Bellinzona, Switzerland, 20-year old Sierra followed her career-best title run in last week's WTA 125 in Antalya with a $75K win on the ITF level (her second this season).

The Argentine defeated Italy's Silvia Ambrosio 6-4/6-0 to secure the title. Sierra was the '22 RG junior runner-up, and last summer made her slam MD debut at the U.S. Open.



Sierra, who entered the week at a career-high #119, now jumps up ten more spots to #109. On a ten-match winning streak, she's the new ARG #1, passing Maria Lourdes Carle.
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JUNIOR STAR: Lilli Tagger/AUT
...the 17-year old Austrian, who just won her maiden pro title in a $35K challenger in Terrassa (ESP) as a qualifier, dropped back down to the junior circuit and won her biggest career crown there in a J300 in Plovdiv (BUL).

Running her junior winning streak to ten (along w/ a J200 title last month), Tagger improved to 13-1 since the start of the AO girls' competition (she lost in the QF to Emerson Jones) and took the crown with a 6-4/6-3 victory in the final over 16-year old Hordette Ekaterina Tupitsyna.

With her seven-win ITF title run factored in, Tagger has won the last 12 times she's hit the court in singles on all levels. She's 22-4 combined in '25.
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WHEELCHAIR: Aniek Van Koot/NED and Li Xiaohui/Wang Ziying, CHN/CHN
...top-seeded Van Koot grabbed her third title of the season, defeating Li Xiaohui (#3 seed) in the SF and Zhu Zhenzhen (#4) in a 6-4/6-3 final in the Series 1 event in Seoul. The 34-year old has won a Super Series crown and two S1 titles so far in '25, and likely has an outside chance at catching #1 Yui Kamiji (Van Koot is currently ranked #2) should the Dutch win in Paris this spring.

A 27-time major champ (3s, 24d) and five-time Paralympic medalist (two WS Silvers, two WD Gold and a Silver), Van Koot has finished at #1 just once in her career. It was in 2013, after being the junior #1 in 2007-08.

Van Koot dropped the singles final alongside Maayan Zikri, falling to Li & Wang Ziying, the '25 AO champs who have now won 12 straight matches while picking up four titles this season (AO + two S1 and an S2).
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Hmmm, I feel like this announcement should have rightly come on April 1st...



Really? Shot of the Month? I think it's time to retire the monthly awards.

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At least they tried...




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Well, I know I've always said that my favorite Whitney was always early "pop Whitney" rather than "ballad Whitney," and "How Will I Know" is probably the most finely-captured version of that (even if the 1980s stylings now definitely date the original video).

The song from that era that I've always felt was "perfect" (i.e. the end product seemed as well-crafted from beginning to end as humanly possible) was George Michael's "Faith," and it starts from the very first notes (in the case of the video, when the toe begins to tap on the jukebox)...






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FREE LINK



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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 12:31 AM 

1 Comments:

Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

BTW, I fixed the couple of references to the BJK Finals being in November. They're actually in *September* (two weeks after the Open), while the Playoffs remain in November.

I guess the change in date is tied to the Finals being in Shenzhen, and trying to get players to play the event since that's the time when the Asian swing begins.

Mon Apr 14, 07:06:00 PM EDT  

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