Sunday, April 06, 2025

Wk.14- Who's that Clay Court Champion? It's Jess!









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*WEEK 14 CHAMPIONS*
CHARLESTON (SC), USA (WTA 500; Green Clay Outdoor)
S: Jessie Pegula/USA def. Sofia Kenin/USA 6-3/7-5
D: Alona Ostapenko/Erin Routliffe (LAT/NZL) def. Caroline Dolehide/Krawczyk (USA/USA) 6-4/6-2
BOGOTA, COLOMBiA (WTA 250; Clay Court Outdoor)
S: Camila Osorio/COL def. Kararzyna Kawa/POL 6-3/6-3
D: Cristina Bucsa/Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP/ESP) def. Irina Bara/Laura Pigossi (ROU/BRA) 5-7/6-2 [10-5]
Antalya, Turkey 3 (WTA 125; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Solana Sierra/ARG def. Leyre Romero Gormaz/ESP 6-3/6-4
D: Anna Bondar/Simona Waltert (HUN/SUI) def. Alicia Barnett/Elixane Lechemia (GBR/FRA) 7-5/2-6 [10-6]
La Bisbal d'Empordà, ESP (WTA 125; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Darja Semenistaja/LAT def. Dalma Galfi/HUN 5-7/6-0/6-4
D: Magali Kempen/Anna Siskova (BEL/CZE) def. Darja Semenistaja/Nina Stojanovic (LAT/SRB) 7-6(1)/6-1




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jessie Pegula/USA
...Pegula didn't really factor into the Top Player discussion for the just completed 1st Quarter, but she was lingering just outside it. Her title run on Daniel Island, where the Charleston event served as both a "homecoming" and a new career benchmark (it's Pegula's first clay title, so she's completed her Career Surface Slam), brings the veteran closer to being in the mix along with the likes of Andreeva, Keys and Sabalenka as we head into the heart of the clay season (where a certain Pole will likely also join in).

Fresh off her Miami final, Pegula pulled off the tough transition (mastered so well a year ago by Danielle Collins) of traveling a bit north up the U.S. coast to South Carolina and attacking (and succeeding at) the first clay court event of the year.

Wins over Iryna Shymanovich and Ajla Tomljanovic preceded a three-set triumph (w/ a love 3rd) over defending champ Collins. Against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Pegula rallied from 3-1 down in the 3rd to reach her fourth final of the season after having fallen in the SF in Charleston for two years running. It was her first clay final since Madrid in 2022, her only other at tour level on the surface in her career.

After winning the opening set vs. Sofia Kenin in the final, Pegula had to dig her way out of a 5-1 hole in the 2nd to win in straights, taking six consecutive games to claim a 7-5 set and win her eighth career tour crown.



Pegula moves past Coco Gauff and into the #3 ranking on Monday, becoming the U.S. #1 once again.
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RISERS: Camila Osorio/COL and Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
...does anyone love playing in her home country more than Osorio? If we're going *strictly* on results, the Colombian may top the tour list.

In the 23-year old's WTA career, she's reached a total of five singles finals. After this week's results, she's 3-0 in title matches in Bogota, and 0-2 (both on hard court) elsewhere. After winning her maiden tour trophy at the event in 2021, Osorio has now won back-to-back crowns the last two years.

Things started out innocently enough in Week 14 for Osorio, with a 6-0/6-1 win over 17-year old Colombian wild card Mariana Higuita in the opening round. After that, Osorio rallied from 6-1/5-3 and saved a MP vs. Emina Bektas in the 2nd Round, then strung together straight sets defeats of Tatjana Maria (a two-time Bogota champ and the only woman to win the event other than Osorio since 2021), Julia Riera and Kataryzna Kawa (3 & 3 in the final) to complete the first successful title defense of her career (and the first on tour in '25).



Unlike the case with Osorio, clay has never particularly been Alexandrova's favorite surface, so *any* good result she puts up on the dirt is to be celebrated by her and her team. She went 1-7 on clay last season. So while Alexandrova remains winless in clay court semis (0-3), Charleston should make the Hordette very happy.

The Russian's final four run on the (other) green stuff in South Carolina included wins over Ann Li and Diana Shnaider, as well as her third Top 10 victory of the season, the downing of Zheng Qinwen in the QF to reach her first clay semi since Madrid in 2022 (which had come just a short time after her first, in Charleston earlier that spring).



Alexandrova led Jessie Pegula 3-1 in the deciding 3rd set before the Bannerette pulled ahead for the win to make the final, but her result pushes her a little closer to a Top 20 return (up four to #22).
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SURPRISE: Darja Semenistaja/LAT
...the LAT #2, 22-year old Semenistaja (#165) played in both the singles and doubles finals at the 125 in La Bisbal d'Emporda (ESP), coming up short in the latter but doubling her career 125 singles title total with a win in the former.

Semenistaja, after a 1 & 2 victory over #3 seed Maria Lourdes Carles in the 2nd Round, went three sets in each of her final three singles matches of the week, defeating Guiomar Maristany, Aliona Bolsova and Dalma Galfi, prevailing 5-7/6-0/6-4 over the Hungarian in the final.

Semenistaja won her first 125 crown in February of last year in Mumbai. She's 17-2 in career singles finals (2-0 125, 15-2 ITF).


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VETERAN: Katarzyna Kawa/POL
...when Kawa reaches a WTA draw via the qualifying route, watch out. In Bogota, the 32-year old Pole reached her second tour-level singles final, six years after reaching her first in Jurmala (LAT) in 2019, which she also did as a qualifier.

Ranked #223, Kawa reached a $75K QF in Week 13 and didn't arrive in Bogota until Sunday. She was on the court for the qualifying rounds later that same day. In the final Q-round, she went 4:13 vs. Patricia Maria Tig before winning on her sixth MP. Come the MD, Kawa's already scenic route to the final became even more interesting as she saved a MP vs. Laura Pigossi in the 2nd Round, upset #1 seed Marie Bouzkova (a '24 finalist) in the QF, and *then* ended the fairy tale run of 16-year old Julieta Pareja in the SF to become the WTA's oldest singles finalist this season.



Hers might have proven to be one of the more fantastic weeks of the entire clay season had Kawa gotten just one more win, vs. defending champ and home favorite Camila Osorio in the title match. But the Colombian picked up her third career title in the event in a 3 & 3 match.

Still, Kawa will jump all the way to #156 on Monday.
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COMEBACKS: Sofia Kenin/USA and Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
...in 2020, Kenin fought for major titles. Five years later, she continues her fight to reclimb the mountain she'd briefly scaled five years ago.

Her runner-up result in Charleston marks it as another potentially solid stepping stone for the 26-year old, a third WTA 500 final over the last three seasons since her '20 title match appearance at Roland Garros. It's her first on any level on clay since that October run in Paris.

Kenin posted impressive wins on green clay over Bernarda Pera, Belinda Bencic (love & 3!) and Dasha Kasatkina. Against the new Aussie, Kenin had failed to serve out the match and didn't convert a MP before being forced to a TB, where she missed on two more MP and had to save a SP before finally winning in straights on MP #4 by a 9-7 score.

After a win over Anna Kalinskaya, Kenin advanced into her tenth career WTA final when Amanda Anisimova retired after just seven games in the semis. Facing Jessie Pegula for the crown, Kenin led 5-1 in the 2nd but couldn't force a deciding set as Pegula ran off six straight games to win 6-3/7-5.

Kenin remains without a tour title since since winning in Lyon in March '20 in the final week of play before the tour's pandemic shutdown, but she'll rise to #34 on Monday. It's her highest ranking since 2023.



Fighting to stay healthy again, the early months of '25 have often been a struggle for Kalinskaya. A year ago during the same period she'd been putting up some of her best career results as she finally enjoyed a rare, prolonged stretch of *good* health.

Last time out, the Hordette lost in the Miami 3rd Round to eventual finalist Pegula in a 3rd set TB, but it was her best match of the entire year, and she took that momentum with her to Charleston and produced her best full-week '25 result, a QF run that included wins over Caty McNally and Madison Keys, the latter Kalinskaya's first Top 10 win of the year. She had seven such victories in '24.



Kalinskaya lost in the QF to Kenin, and is still just 6-8 this season, but may have finally found her body and form just in time to make the '25 season a suitable follow-up to her career year (though she didn't win a title in '24, and remains winless in WTA finals at 0-2). Kalinskaya is still hanging onto a slam seed-worthy position (just outside the Top 30) in the rankings, with her biggest remaining '24 result defenses coming during the grass season (Berlin RU, Wimbledon 4r) later this summer.

Remebmer, much later than early April of last year, an injury-slowed Paula Badosa stood in a far worse ranking position than Kalinskaya does now and ultimately turned around her season and nearly finished in the Top 10. There's still time for '25 to be Kalinskaya's *most noteworthy* season to date.
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FRESH FACES: Julia Riera/ARG and Solana Sierra/ARG
...you know it's clay court season when you start seeing multiple South Americans routinely advancing deep into tour-level main draws. Thus, it was a good week for Argentinian women's tennis.

In Bogota, Riera once again found her comfort zone. Back in 2023, she'd reached her maiden WTA SF on clay in Rabat in her tour debut event, and last year she made her major debut at Roland Garros (Wimbledon and the AO soon followed) as she cracked the Top 100.

The 22-year old was down to #157 when she arrived in Bogota, but strung together wins over Francesca Jones (who retired down 5-3 in the 3rd, after the Brit had defeated her a few days earlier in a $75K semi in Brazil), Iva Jovic and Lea Boskovic before falling in the semis to defending champ Camila Osorio on home clay in Colombia.



Riera pushes her ranking back into the Top 140 on Monday.

Meanwhile, in the third 125 event held in Antalya over the past three weeks, Sierra reached and won her biggest career final, finishing off her week with consecutive wins over top-seeded Anna Bondar, Astra Sharma and Leyre Romero Gormaz in a 6-3/6-4 title match.

Now 20 years old, Sierra was a junior star. She was the '22 RG girls' runner-up, and reached the U.S. Open junior semis in '21. Currently ranked #152, she'd already won thirteen ITF titles over the last three years and last summer made her major MD debut at Flushing Meadows (after a successful qualifying run).

Sierra jumps 33 spots to a new career high of #119 on Monday, close to overtaking Maria Lourdes Carle (#116) as the ARG #1.


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ITF PLAYER: Sada Nahimana/BDI
...this weekend, trailblazing Burundi player Nahimana completed her sweep of two back-to-back $50K events held in Bujumbura in her home country, following up her win in last week's final over France's Emeline Darton with another over a second Pastry, Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, in this week's tournament title match.



Nahimana didn't drop a set in the ten matches over the combined two weeks of play, winning her fifth career ITF crown and third $50K title since September. The 23-year old, who became the first player from Burundi to play in a tour-level MD match (Rabat) in 2023, will climb 41 spots to #245, just one behind her career high from April '23.
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JUNIOR STARS: Julieta Pareja/USA and Hannah Klugman/GBR
...so, has Mirra Andreeva's success instilled the belief in her fellow teenagers that *anything* is now possible on the WTA tour? Well, it surely can't hurt, I guess.

At 16 (less than two months from still being 15), the Colombian-American (hence, her WC into Bogota qualifying) Pareja is even younger than Andreeva. She just won a J300 girls' title at Indian Wells (her second of '25, as she also won another in COL in Barranquilla), but she also nearly qualified for the women's MD at the U.S. Open last year, losing in the final round at Flushing Meadows to Kimberly Birrell.

Wins over Carol Zhao and Eva Vedder got the Bannerette into her maiden WTA MD in Bogota, where the world #550 opened with a straight sets victory over 16-year old Colombian Maria Jose Sanchez Uribe. If that had been the end, it still would have been a super successful week. But Pareja wasn't finished, as she got additional victories vs. WTA veterans Patricia Maria Tig and Leolia Jeanjean to reach the semis without having dropped a set through five matches.

After a long rain delay pushed back the start of Saturday's final SF until early evening, Pareja's journey finally ended vs. Katarzyna Kawa (at 32, twice the age of the teenager), 7-5/6-2. The Polish veteran's most recent WTA final appearance had come when Pareja was 10.



Meanwhile, on the junior circuit, 16-year old Klugman picked up her first junior singles title since she won the Orange Bowl crown in December 2023.

The Brit won the J300 Perin Memorial in Vrsar (CRO) with a three-set victory over Serbia's Luna Vujovic.

Over the past year, Klugman nearly qualified at Wimbledon (losing in the Q3 to Alycia Parks, after wins over Petra Marcinko and Linda Fruhvirtova), and reached a $50K women's QF (L to Caty McNally) in Tampa in December.

Last week, she lost in three sets in the $35K Terrassa semis to 17-year old Austrian Lilli Tagger, who'd go on to win her maiden pro title.
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DOUBLES: Alona Ostapenko/Erin Routliffe (LAT/NZL) and Cristina Bucsa/Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP/ESP)
...so, is Ostapenko, a former RG champ, close to officially becoming a more successful *doubles* player than singles?

The Latvian has won a major in both disciplines (w/ '24 US doubles), while reaching two more WD slam finals (and one in MX), with a 2-1 WD edge in additional semis, and four QF each in s/d (+ a SF and 3 QF in MX).

Ostapenko's doubles title in Charleston alongside Routliffe moves her tour-level doubles crowns one more ahead of her number singles (11 vs. 8), and the same goes for total finals (21 vs. 17). A former singles #5, she's been ranked as high as #4 in doubles, where she'll continue to stand on Monday.

Routliffe will be just ahead of Ostapenko at #3 after picking up her ninth WTA title (her first since winning last year's WTAF w/ Gaby Dabrowski). The top seeds in Charleston, Ostapenko/Routliffe won a pair of MTB (1r/SF) on their way to the final, where they took out Caroline Dolehide/Desirae Krawczyk 6-4/6-2.

Ostapenko has reached four WD finals this season (2 w/ Hsieh Su-wei, including the AO, and another w/ Ellen Perez), the most on tour in '25. Her two wins put her in a multi-player tie at the top.



In doubles, a week after reaching the Miami final (w/ Miyu Kato), Bucsa won in Bogota to make singles champ Camila Osorio one of *two* players who successfully defended a '24 title in Colombia.

Last year, Bucsa teamed with Kamilla Rakhimova to take the WD honors, while this year it was Spanish countrywoman Sorribes Tormo next to her in the final moments. After winning four WTA titles last season, it's Bucsa's first in '25 but her second overall with Sorribes Tormo (Madrid '24).

The #1-seeded pair defeated Irina Bara & first-time tour WD finalist Laura Pigossi (who'd already upset the #2 and #4 seeds) in a 10-5 MTB in the final, completing a comeback after dropping the 1st set. With the win, Sorribes Tormo improved to 6-1 in WTA WD finals, while Bucsa is 6-2.


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WHEELCHAIR: Wang Ziying/CHN
...a week ago, Yui Kamiji returned to action for the first time since winning the Australian Open. She went 3-0 in World Team Cup qualifying play vs. less-than-stellar competition, winning all three matches by love & love scores. This week, the WC #1 was back in an individual event in the Series 1 in Daegu, South Korea. Kamiji reached the final, but she did *not* win the title.

Those honors went to Wang, less than a week after she's lost in another final in South Korea vs. Chinese countrywoman Li Xiaohui. She defeated three straight Japanese players to close out her second career S1 title. After wins over Saki Takamuro and Manami Tanaka, Wang defeated Kamiji in a 3-6/7-6(6)/7-5 final to wipe out her winless (0-6) head-to-head record against the 30-time major s/d champ and '24 double Paralympic Gold medal winner.
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1. Charleston Final - Jessie Pegula def. Sofia Kenin
...6-3/7-5. Pegula's first career clay title also ties her for the season's tour lead in titles (2) and finals (4), as well as meaning she came up just one win short of matching Danielle Collins' rare Miami/Charleston combo from a year ago. Collins went 2-0 in those finals, while Pegula was 1-1.

Additionally, this is the third all-Bannerette WTA singles final in '25, and all three have featured Pegula (2-1). It's the fifth all-U.S. tour-level final in less than a year (Pegula has gone 3-1 vs. four different finalist countrywomen), after there had been a *total* of only two over the six season stretch from 2018-23.

NOTE: either Pegula or Madison Keys (who faced off in the Adelaide final in January) have appeared in all seven all-USA finals in the 2020s. And Keys was in the two most recent (in 2017) that were played previous to those.


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2. Bogota Q2 - Katarzyna Kawa def. Patricia Maria Tig
...7-5/6-7(2)/7-6(6). Kawa's long week in Colombia began in qualifying, where she survived a 4:13 marathon (it doesn't count as the longest tour match of the year, as it was pre-MD).

Tig led 5-2 in the 1st, and twice served for the set, before Kawa ran off five straight games to take the match lead. In the 2nd, it was Tig who erased Kawa's 3-1 edge to level the contest.

Kawa broke for 4-1 on her seventh BP of game 5, and led 5-1. She held two MP at 5-3, then two more at 6-5, before the Romanian forced a deciding breaker. Finally, Kawa advanced to the MD on her sixth MP, winning an 8-6 TB (though Tig made the draw as a LL, anyway).




Bogota 2nd Rd.- Katarzyna Kawa def. Laura Pigossi
...1-6/7-6(5)/6-3. Kawa's tough road continued in the MD, and included the Pole saving a MP (at 5-4) in the 2nd set vs. Pigossi before going on to win to reach her first WTA QF since 2021 in Gdynia.

She'd ultimately reach her first final since 2019.
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3. Bogota 2nd Rd. - Camila Osorio def. Emina Bektas
...1-6/7-6(5)/6-2. It was home sweet home for Osorio, who dug deep to climb out of a 6-1/5-3 hole vs. the veteran Bannerette. Bektas failed to serve out the win in game 9, then couldn't convert a MP on the Colombian's serve in the following game. Tied at 4-4 in the 2nd set TB, Osorio put down Bektas' last best shot, then went on to win in three.
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4. Charleston 3rd Rd. - Anna Kalinskaya def. Madison Keys
...6-2/6-4. The start of something big for Kalinskaya in 2025?

The Hordette had already recorded five Top 10 wins (including one over then-#1 Iga Swiatek) -- all them vs. former slam winners -- by this time in 2024. Keys is the first -- on both lists -- for her so far this season. But if she can stay healthy, the reigning AO champ surely won't be the last for Kalinskaya.


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5. Bogota 1st Rd. - Julieta Pareja def. Maria Jose Sanchez Uribe
...6-1/6-1. Even if her week hadn't continued to produce big-time career breakout moments, #550 Pareja's qualifying run to simply make her tour MD debut *and* 1st Round win over #1259-ranked fellow 16-year old Maria Jose Sanchez Uribe (also in her tour MD debut) would have been noteworthy. It made the 16-year old Bannerette the first player born in 2009 to record a WTA MD victory.


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6. Bogota Final - Camila Osorio def. Katarzyna Kawa
...6-3/6-3. Osorio wins her third title in Bogota in five years, becoming the first defending singles champion to repeat on the WTA tour in 2025. She's also the third -- after Tauson (Auckland) and Keys (AO) -- to win a title after having faced a MP (vs. Bektas, 2r).

Of course, since Kawa also saved a MP en route to the final, *someone* was going to become the third to do it this season.
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7. Charleston 2nd Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Lauren Davis
...6-1/6-1. Dasha's new beginning, as she plays and win her first match as an Aussie.


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8. Charleston Q2 - Zhang Shuai def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands
...4-6/7-5/6-1. A rare instance where Zhang (at 36) is the *younger* competitor in the match, as Mattek-Sands just recently turned 40.


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9. La Bisbal d'Empordà 125 1st Rd. - Alize Cornet def. Irene Burillo Escorihuela 6-1/6-2
La Bisbal d'Empordà 125 2nd Rd. - Alize Cornet def. Susan Bandecchi 3-6/6-4/7-5
La Bisbal d'Empordà 125 QF - Dalma Galfi def. Alize Cornet 6-0/3-0 ret.
...ten months after retirement, Cornet (who announced her un-retirement by posting on social media, "You thought you'd got rid of me, but it's not quite the case yet") returns and is immediately thrown into the heat of battle.

After a quick 1st Round win (played on April Fool's Day, naturally), the 35-year old went 2:54 vs. Bandecchi, recovering from a set and 4-1 deficit and winning a 7-5 3rd. Not surprisingly, it was a bit too much, too soon and she was hardly in the physical condition to make it through her next outing.
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10. Charleston QF - Amanda Anisimova def. Emma Navarro 7-5/7-6(1)
Charleston QF - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Zheng Qinwen 6-1/6-4
...Zheng and Navarro were on opposite sides of the draw in Charleston but, hey, a Backspinner could dream, right? At least until Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova arrived.

Darn. Still, it'll happen eventually (though maybe not in Charleston, which would have been brilliant).

Anisimova ultimately retired from her next match.


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11. Antalya 3 125 Final - Solana Sierra def. Leyre Romero Gormaz
...6-3/6-4. Sierra wins the title, but it's not insignificant that Spain's Romero Gormaz, 22, reached the final at two of the three clay court 125 events held in Antalya over the past three weeks.

She became the stretch at #157, and will now be at a career-high #124.
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12. Charleston 1st Rd. - Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova def. Sophie Chang/Rasheeda McAdoo
...6-1/6-1. Safarova and Mattek-Sands finally win their first match together since reaching the Prague final last July. They lost opening round matches this season in Abu Dhabi and Doha in February.

They were eliminated in the QF/2nd Round in Charleston by Dolehide/Krawczyk.
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13. $15K Sharm El Shiekh EGY Final - Carolyn Ansari def. Dasha Ivanova
...6-4/2-6/6-3. So, apparently one wasn't enough for Auburn's Ansari, as this weekend she won her *second* straight ITF singles crown in Egypt.
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14. $35K Jackson (MS) USA Final - Monika Ekstrand def. Ana Sofia Sanchez
...6-3/6-4. Spring agenda for 17-year old Ekstrand...

March: commit to Stanford
April: win first pro title
May: ??


@monika.ekstrand

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15. $15K Heraklion GRE Final - Rositsa Dencheva def. Franziska Sziedat
...3-6/6-4/6-4. The 18-year old Bulgarian wins her second of back-to-back titles in a pair of $15K challengers in Greece.

Dencheva reached the Wimbledon girls' QF in 2024.
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1. Antalya 3 125 2nd Rd. - Lia Karatantcheva def. Tamara Zidansek
...2-6/6-2/7-6(0). The week after she claimed a doubles title in a $35K challenger, Karatantcheva brought her singles game to the 125 in Antalya.

The 21-year old Bulgarian qualified with a 3rd set win in the final round (she'd lost a 5-2 lead, but won a 7-0 breaker) over Tamara Zidansek. It was Karatantcheva's second career Top 200 win, and came a round after she'd gotten her *first* over Veronika Erjavec.

She lost in the QF to Astra Sharma, but it's still Karatantcheva's best career 125 result.
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Hmmm, WTA marketing arm, so such a thing *isn't* an impossibility. You know, this might be a good way to promote the... oh, nevermind.





















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*2025 TITLES FROM MATCH POINT DOWN*
Auckland - Clara Tauson, DEN (1 MP vs. Kenin, 2r)
Australian Open - Madison Keys, USA (1 MP vs Swiatek, SF)
Bogota - CAMILA OSORIO, COL (1 MP vs. Bektas, 2r)

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2025*
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (2-2)
4 - JESSIE PEGULA (2-2)
2 - Mirra Andreeva (2-0)
2 - Madison Keys (2-0)
2 - McCartney Kessler (1-1)
2 - Elise Mertens (1-1)
2 - Clara Tauson (1-1)

*2020-25 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
22 - 1/2/8/6/5/0 = Iga Swiatek
14 - 3/2/0/3/4/2 = 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 - 0/0/1/2/2/2 = JESSIE PEGULA
7 - 1/0/1/2/3/0 = Elena Rybakina
6 - 0/2/2/0/2/0 = Dasha Kasatkina

*WTA CLAY COURT TITLES IN 2020s*
10 - Iga Swiatek (1/1/3/2/3/0)
3 - CAMILA OSORIO (0/1/0/0/1/1)
3 - Zheng Qinwen (0/0/0/1/2/0)
2 - Danielle Dollins (0/1/0/0/1/0)
2 - Simona Halep (2/0/0/-/0/0)
2 - Ons Jabeur (0/0/1/1/0/0)
2 - Barbora Krejcikova (0/2/0/0/0/0)
2 - Bernarda Pera (0/0/2/0/0/0)
2 - Tatjana Maria (0/0/1/1/0/0)
2 - Elena Rybakina (0/0/0/1/1/0)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (0/1/0/1/0/0)
2 - Elina Svitolina (1/0/0/1/0/0)

*2025 MULT.DIFFERENT WTA FINALISTS BY COUNTRY*
8 - USA
...Anisimova,Kenin,Kessler,Keys,Krueger,Li,Navarro,Pegula
4 - RUS
...Alexandrova,M.Andreeva,P.Kudermetova,Potapova
2 - COL
...Arango,Osorio
--
1 - BEL,BLR,COL,DEN,ITA,JPN,LAT,POL,SUI,UKR

*2025 FINALISTS BY COUNTRY*
13 (7 wins) - USA (Pegula,Kenin)
5 (4) - RUS
4 (2) - BLR
2 (1) - BEL,COL(Osorio),DEN
1 (1) - SUI
1 (0) - ITA,JPN,LAT,POL(Kawa),UKR

*RECENT ALL-USA WTA FINALS*
2016 Rome - S.Williams d. Keys
2017 Australian Open - S.Williams d. V.Williams
2017 Stanford - Keys d. Vandeweghe
2017 US Open - Stephens d. Keys
2020 Auckland - S.Williams d. Pegula
2022 Adelaide 2 - Keys d. Riske
2024 Strasbourg - Keys d. Collins
2024 Toronto - Pegula d. Anisimova
2025 Adelaide - Keys d. Pegula
2025 Austin - Pegula d. Kessler
2025 Charleston - Pegula d. Kenin
--
NOTE: Keys or Pegula in all 7 in 2020s, Keys in two previous to that (2017)

*MOST WTA FINALS - 2020-25*
26 - 3/3/3/6/7/4 = Sabalenka (14-12)
25 - 1/2/9/8/5/0 = Swiatek (22-3)
17 - 5/0/3/4/5/0 = Rybakina (7-10)
16 - 1/0/2/5/4/4 = PEGULA (7-9)
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)

*2025 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
32 - KATARZYNA KAWA (Bogota)
31 - JESSIE PEGULA (Charleston)-W
31 - Jessie Pegula (Miami)
31 - Jessie Pegula (Austin)-W
30 - Jessie Pegula (Adelaide)
30 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Linz)-W

*2025 QUALIFIERS IN FINALS*
Brisbane - Polina Kudermetova, RUS (L)
Merida - Emiliana Arango, COL (L)
Bogota - KATARZYNA KAWA, POL (L)

*2025 LOW-RANKED WTA FINALISTS*
#223 - KATARZYNA KAWA, POL (Bogota)
#157 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (Abu Dhabi)-W
#133 - Emiliana Arango, COL (Merida)
#107 - Polina Kudermetova, RUS (Brisbane)

*2025 FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
Auckland: Robin Montgomery, USA (20/#117)
Hobart: Maya Joint, AUS (18/#118)
Merida: Emiliana Arango, COL (24/#133)-RU
Miami: Alex Eala, PHI (19/#140)
Bogota: JULIETA PARAJA, USA (16/#550)

*2025 YOUNG WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
16 - JULIETA PARAJA, USA (Bogota)
17 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Brisbane)
17 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Dubai) - W
17 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Indian Wells) - W
18 - Maya Joint, AUS (Hobart)
19 - Alex Eala, PHI (Miami)
[125]
18 - Maya Joint, AUS (Cancun)
19 - Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND (Antalya 2)
19 - Alex Eala, PHI (Canberra)

*RECENT WTA MD DEBUT ACHIEVEMENTS*
2016: Rebeka Masarova to Gstaad SF (age 16)
2017: Jana Fett to Hobart SF (age 20)
2018: Olga Danilovic wins Moscow River Cup (age 17)
2019: Martina Di Giuseppe to Bucharest SF (age 28)
2019: Katarzyna Kawa to Jurmala Final (age 26)
2023: Julia Riera to Rabat SF (age 20)
2023: Maria Timofeeva wins Budapest (age 19)
2023: Noma Noha Akugue to Hamburg F (age 19)
2024: Laura Samson to Prague SF (age 16)
2024: Aoi Ito to Osaka SF (age 20)
2025: Julieta Pareja to Bogota SF (age 16)

*2025 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
4 (2-2) = ALONA OSTAPENKO
3 (2-1) = Jiang Xinyu
3 (2-1) = Wu Fang-hsien
2 (2-0) = Mirra Andreeva
2 (2-0) = Diana Shnaider
2 (2-0) = Katerina Siniakova
2 (2-0) = Taylor Townsend
2 (1-1) = CRISTINA BUCSA
2 (1-1) = DESIRAE KRAWCZYK
2 (0-2) = Hsieh Su-wei
2 (0-2) = Zhang Shuai

*2025 WTA 125 CHAMPIONS*
Canberra, AUS (hc) - Aoi Ito, JPN
Mumbai, IND (hc) - Jil Teichmann, SUI
Cancun, MEX (hc) - Emiliana Arango, COL
Antalya, TUR (rc) - Anca Todoni, ROU
Puerto Vallarta, MEX (hc) - Jaqueline Cristina, ROU
Antalya 2, TUR (rc) - Olga Danilovic, SBR
Antalya 3, TUR (rc) - Solana Sierra, ARG
La Bisbal d'Empordà, ESP (rc) - Darja Semenistaja, LAT







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THIS (which was somewhat my theory, too)...



How about that neither he *nor* his staff had any idea who Goebbels was? Because how could any public official quote Goebbels so matter of factly and believe it was fine? (Of course, at this point in the story, the truth could be the total *opposite* of that, too.)

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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:57 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

Osorio is 23 years old.

So far, it has been a disappointing year for Shnaider. I expected a better season from her.

Upcoming clay court tournaments predictions:

Stuttgart - Sabalenka
Madrid - Sabalenka
Rome - Swiatek
Roland Garros - Gauff

Mon Apr 07, 04:30:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Diane said...

Apparently, Kenin was coughing her lungs out on the breaks, so there was something going on with her physically during that final.

Mon Apr 07, 02:04:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

K-
Thanks. I *did* have her as 23 on the running list of champions-by-age (but I didn't post it this week, of course). :/

My (so far, though it *could* change) RG "prop bet" for champion is a scenario that doesn't include you-know-who lifting the Coupe-Suzanne-Lenglen. ;)

D-
Hopefully that doesn't hold Kenin back, since she's *finally* starting to find some consistent form again.

Mon Apr 14, 01:09:00 AM EDT  

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