Monday, June 30, 2025

W.1- Storytime in SW19













=DAY 1 NOTES=
...gather 'roud, for it begins again.

In barely an hour (1:02), #14 Elina Svitolina, one of the veteran dark horses at this event (as a former semifinalist in 2019 and '23), became the first player to complete the assigned task for Day 1, earning the First Victory honors with a 6-3/6-1 win over Anna Bondar.

BTW, Adidas has come to play with the white-with-green-trim outfits on the green courts. Nice.



...soon after, the stories got a bit more complicated.

A few days ago, #20 Alona Ostapenko limped off the court in Eastbourne. The Latvian made her Day 1 date on Monday at the AELTC, but didn't last more than a couple of hours, becoming the First Seed Out at the hands of Sonay Kartal, who last year became just the second British qualifier to reach the 3rd Round at Wimbledon in the Open era (and the first since 1997).

Ostapenko led Kartal 5-2 in the 1st set, served at 5-3 and held three SP on the Brit's serve at 5-4. But Kartal swept the final five games to take the set. Then, after the Latvian pushed things to a 3rd, Kartal raced to a 5-0 lead en route to a 7-5/2-6/6-2 win.



"...since Serena Williams." Whoops, sorry. Force of habit.

Ostapenko, author of one of the performances of the season when she won Stuttgart earlier this year by beating both the world #1 and #2, is nonetheless just 16-14 on the year. In the latest rankings, she'd slipped out of the Top 20, and since she was defending QF points from '24 will now slide down a bit further. She's exited in the 1st Round in three of the last four majors.



But while we expect at some point Ostapenko will rise up with a stunningly good result down the line, one wonders whether that day will ever come again for Ons Jabeur, whose Wimbledon dream is quickly becoming a nightmare. Today the former SW19 finalist (2022-23) retired from her 1st Round match with Viktoriya Tomova, going out 7-6(5)/2-0 after having taken an MTO early in the 1st set.



The Tunisian has been beset by injuries since her last Wimbledon final, with this exit her earliest in the event since 2019. After an eight-slam stretch in 2022-24 that saw Jabeur reach three finals, two QF and a Round of 16, Jabeur has now lost her last three matches in majors. Her "live" ranking is outside the Top 60.

The "ghost of Juan Martin del Potro" haunts so many WTA stars (Jabeur, Andreescu, Muchova...).



...hmmm, could #21 Beatriz Haddad Maia be a sneaky possibility to put up a really good result at this Wimbledon? She surely resembles the sort of player who might, especially if the draw goes all screwy. And it's SW19, so it could... I mean, will any more than two or three of the Top 10 seeds reach the QF (or at least can they honestly be *counted* on to get that far from here)?

The Brazilian has had past success on grass (2 titles), hasn't been allergic to the AELTC lawns (4r and 3r the last two years), has a *bit* of early draw protection with her seed, and after a really bad start to '25 has been trending upward of late (starting 3-14, with a 9-match losing streak at one point, but 6-5 coming into London, along with a recent WD title on grass).

Haddad Maia posted a 1st Round win today over Rebecca Sramkova, 7-6/6-4. If Amanda Anisimova was my pre-tournament "dark horse" pick for a second week run, considering the Bannerette's tendency to run hot and cold, what if Haddad Maia were to beat her in the 3rd Round (they could meet there)? Would she "inherit" the DH title?



Then again, #12 Anisimova burned especially hot today in a love & love win over Yulia Putintseva in 43 minutes, so maybe it won't matter.

...the mid-day part of the Monday schedule included a few barnburners.

Qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich survived a 3:24 contest with Varvara Gracheva, a match which included 21 breaks of serve on 50 BP chances and saw MP held by both women, winning 6-3/6-7(5)/7-6(10-8).

The Belarusian veteran had led 6-3/5-3, and held a MP at 5-4 on return, then served for the win at 6-5. After the Pastry forced a TB, Sasnovich led it 4-2 only to see Gracheva rally to win five of the last six points to force a 3rd set.

The first six games of the decider all included breaks of serve, and it was then Gracheva's turn to reach MP at 5-4 in her own service game. Things went to a deciding MTB, where Sasnovich led 6-3, but saw Gracheva push back (but never edge ahead) in the closing moments, getting to 8-8 before Sasnovich converted on her second MP.



Soon after, #6 Madison Keys was the first top seed to see her SW19 life flash before her eyes, undertaking a ridiculously difficult three-setter vs. Gabriela Ruse, who came in 0-4 in her Wimbledon MD career. Of course, the Romanian has a history of bad SW19 draws, too.

In 2018, she faced off with Aga Radwanska in the 1st Round (losing a 7-5 3rd set), and in 2019 it was a seeded Julia Georges. Three years later in '22, she had to face Coco Gauff (another 7-5 3rd), and last year it was Elena Rybakina. So, hey, what's a reigning AO champion, right? Unfortunately, Ruse also has a history of rarely being 100% physically, and that was again the case today. She still put up a fight.



A few seasons ago, Keys would have likely let this one slip away. But "new Maddi," the type who wins the AO, didn't today. Still, after forcing a TB after having trailed 5-3 in the 1st, Keys found herself having to stage a comeback from a set down.

In the 3rd, Keys led 5-3 and served for the win at 5-4, only to see Ruse find four BP opportunities before Keys finally ran up too quickly on a short ball and when putting it away ran right into the net, giving the Romanian the point and tying the score at 5-5. But Keys immediately got the break back and then served out the win.



Wimbledon remains the only major (11/11) at which Keys has never lost in the 1st Round.

...2023 champ Marketa Vondrousova's match-up with #32 McCartney Kessler threatened to become "a thing," but then the Czech finally put a stop to such crazy talk.

In a contest between both of Week 25's singles champs (Vondrousova in Berlin, Kessler in Nottingham), Vondrousova led 6-1/5-1 and seemed on her way to kicking off a who-knows-what-the-heck-is-going-to-happen run at the major that she won two years ago as the only unseeded SW19 champion in the Open era, before last year (soon facing another surgery) becoming the first defending champ to lose in the 1st Round in thirty years.

Vondrousova failed to serve things out at 5-2, then at 5-4, getting broken at 15 both times. Kessler soon led 6-5. But Vondrousova finally held (at love) to force a TB, then broke out of a 3-3 tie to take a 7-3 breaker and get out of Dodge before they closed off Church Road to passage by any Marketas in the draw.

After winning seven matches at Wimbledon when taking the crown in '23, this is just Vondrousova's second *additional* win in the event. Her other appearances have produced four 1st Round exits and another in the 2nd Round.



Vondrousova will next face Emma Raducanu, with the winner possibly getting #1 Aryna Sabalenka in the 3rd Round.

...a year ago, the All-England Club world was Lulu Sun's oyster. Not so much this time around. Sort of like pretty much everywhere the New Zealander has played this season.

In 2024, the Kiwi qualifier upset Zheng Qinwen in the 1st Round, then took out Raducanu in the Round of 16 to reach the QF in just her second major MD appearance (she went three vs. Donna Vekic). Sun later reached the Monterrey 500 final. She retired from the 1st Round of the U.S. Open with a hip injury, and played just one more match before ending her season.

2025 has proven to be a tough follow-up, and today's 4 & 4 loss to Marie Bouzkova only furthers that reality. Sun is now 12-19 on the year, 8-19 in non-team play, and will see the bottom drop out of her ranking as she'll fall (at least) 37 spots to somewhere in the #80s at the conclusion of this event.

Thus, we now move into the era where she goes from being identified as "Lulu Sun, Wimbledon quarterfinalist" as a way to denote that she's someone to watch, to "Lulu Sun, former Wimbledon quarterfinalist," which plays as more of a callback to what once was. The New Zealander is 0-5 in slam MD outside of her SW19 run last year.

We'll see if Sun can change the narrative once again.

...31 of the scheduled 32 women's 1st Rounders were completed on Monday, with two of three seeds eliminated being taken out by Brits (who went a combined 4-3).

A few other Day 1 numbers of note: Aussies were 0-4, while South Americans went 2-0 (including a maiden slam MD win for Solana Sierra, who joined the draw late as a lucky loser, replacing Greet Minnen, and then defeated one of those winless Australians (Olivia Gadecki).

Czechs were 3-0 until qualifier Linda Fruhvirtova was ushered out by #24 Elise Mertens in the final women's match on court, while Katerina Siniakova's opener vs. #5 Zheng Qinwen was pushed back to Tuesday (blame the existence of men's best-of-five matches in the 1st Round).

...in weekend ITF action, Indonesia's Janice Tjen pulled into sole possession of the circuit title lead for the season, breaking a tie with Victoria Mboko by winning her sixth event of the year in the $35K in Taipei. It's Tjen's fifth straight singles title, running her match win streak to 25, and her win in the doubles gives her back-to-back-to-back s/d sweeps over the last three weeks. She's won a combined 37 consecutive s/d matches in the stretch.



Tjen, 23, could be a name to watch come U.S. Open qualifying time, as the former Pepperdine player has been on a tear since graduating from college last summer and taking on the pro challenger circuit. In addition to her six titles and 25-match win streak this season (and current 33-1 run), in the back half of '24 she put together a 20-match win streak (25-1 stretch) and then ended the year on another 15-match heater. Over the past year she's won thirteen ITF singles titles (in 14 finals) and added six more doubles crowns. She's nearly cracked the Top 200.

Since last June, Tjen is a cool 86-10 overall in singles, including a 68-9 mark on hard courts.

Meanwhile, USC's Eryn Cayetano picked up her third title of '25 with a $15K Lakewood, California title jaunt that concluded with a win in the final over Anne Christine Lutkemeyer Obregon (UCLA). It's the Trojan's second straight singles title, as well as the second s/d sweep by the 24-year in the last two weeks.



Elsewhere, 18-year old Clervie Ngounoue won the biggest challenger event of the weekend, claiming the $50K Palma del Rio (ESP) title on hard court -- her second $50K win of '25 -- with a straight sets victory in the final over Eva Vedder (NED).

The Bannerette won the 2023 Wimbledon junior title.







...MORE WORK FOR ONE LITTLE SOCIAL MEDIA POST THAN THE WTA HAS DONE IN YEARS TO PROMOTE THE ENTIRE TOUR... ON DAY 1:



Actually, one might even say that this could stand in as a visual representation of how the WTA -- in its mind's eye -- views the process of actually marketing and selling women's tennis. So TPTB ultimately just throw up their hands and do essentially nothing because they think it's too complicated.

BTW, unlike the first few days of Roland Garros, there were no signs of any weak attempt at ressurecting the rotting corpse of-- oh, I spoke too soon. Yes, #WTARallyTheWorld was pulled from the muck again right before the start of this Wimbledon. And, yes, the campaign still reeks of desperation, i.e. pushing the eye-rolling "inspiration" angle (because it's worked so well to date) in an attempt to continue to scavage the accomplishments of a group of women from mor than 50 years ago while contributing nothing new to the conversation.




...WIMBLEDON HAS *OFFICIALLY* BEGUN (Beckham's in the Royal Box)... ON DAY 1:




...ASTONISHING... ON DAY 1:




...WHY DO I FEEL LIKE SABALENKA SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR SOMETHING HERE?... ON DAY 1:




...YANINA WICKMAYER'S CAREER CAME TO AN END TODAY (Pammy Shriver says hey, IYKYK)... ON DAY 1:



Meanwhile, Renata Zarazua became the first woman to win a MD match at Wimbledon since 1995.


...JESS ARTICULATES THE REASON WHY I THINK THE WHOLE SABALENKA/GAUFF/RG THING -- unnecessary TikTok video included, because "everyone must adore each other 24-7-365, dontcha know... let's dance!" -- WAS THE BIGGEST "NON-STORY" STORY OF THE YEAR... ON DAY 1:



I can't believe we're still talking about this. The RG final was *almost a month ago*.

The only point I would make with what Pegula said is that it's not *really* about people who've never done something similar at a high level, per se, as I believe it's actually just about someone being able to understand the human condition and knowing that sometimes people are going to get emotional in certain moments of hurt/disappointment and it's not totally fair to judge them on what might slip out of their mouth in solely that precise instant. Once you realize that, you can (or should be able to) empathize with a player who has just lost something that was very important to them.

It's an off-shoot of why I continue to refer to the Navarro/Zheng moment from last summer and how it should remain a major demerit on Navarro's "permanent record," as that wasn't an emotional response on her part. She doubled-down on it weeks later, and even admitted that she was thinking about it long before the match ended and thought she would have bashed her victorious opponent's character even if the result had gone the other way. *That* is truly "unprofessional" BS behavior... but she's a U.S. player, so the butt-kissing tennis media here effectively gave her a total pass on it. The act in itself doesn't make Navarro a bad person, and she can not like anyone she wishes, but to not acknowledge the high-level assery of it all isn't being honest, either.

Oh, and yes, if you're wondering whether someone left a comment on that post that tries to tar Pegula's level-headed and reasonable comments by attacking her for her family's wealth, well, you won't be disappointed.


...HONESTLY, ASIDE FROM IT BEING PLEASANT TO WATCH GRASS COURT TENNIS, I LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONCLUSION OF WIMBLEDON BECAUSE OF IT CUTTING TWO QUICK WEEKS OUT OF THIS WAIT... ON DAY 1:



Well, actually, it's because once Wimbledon is over, training camp will start in less than two weeks and then *it's on* until February.






















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*RECENT WTA TITLES ON HARD, CLAY & GRASS COURTS"*
2015: Angelique Kerber (won on both red/green clay)
2016: -
2017: -
2018: Petra Kvitova
2019: Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova
2020: -
2021: Ash Barty
2022: Caroline Garcia
2023: -
2024: Diana Shnaider
2025: Jessie Pegula

*RECENT WIMBLEDON "FIRST SEED OUT"*
2016 #25 Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU (Witthoeft/GER)
2017 #31 Roberta Vinci, ITA (Kr.Pliskova/CZE)
2018 #19 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Cirstea/ROU)
2019 #10 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Rybarikova/SVK)
2021 #10 Petra Kvitova, CZE (Stephens/USA)
2022 #31 Kaia Kanepi, EST (Parry/FRA)
2023 #15 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (Bogdan/ROU)
2024 #8 Zheng Qinwen, CHN (Sun/NZL)
2025 #20 Alona Ostapenko, LAT (Kartal/GBR)

*RECENT WIMBLEDON "FIRST VICTORY OF THE FORTNIGHT"*
2015 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (L: Kontaveit/EST)
2016 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (L: Duval/USA)
2017 Wang Qiang/CHN (L: Chang/TPE)
2018 Yanina Wickmayer/BEL (L: Barthel/GER)
2019 Madison Keys/USA (L: Kumkhum/THA)
2021 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR (L: Niculescu/ROU)
2022 Alison Riske/USA (L: In-Albon/SUI)
2023 Barbora Stycova/CZE (L: Zanevska/BEL)
2024 Varvara Gracheva/FRA (L: Tsurenko/UKR)
2025 Elina Svitolina/UKR (L: Bondar/HUN)




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A member of Taiwan's parliament stole a bill and ran off with it to prevent it from being passed

[image or embed]

— Raider (@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social) June 28, 2025 at 7:33 AM


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TOP QUALIFIER: Carson Branstine/CAN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - #30 Priscilla Hon/AUS def. Victoria Mboko/CAN 4-6/7-6(4)/6-1 - Mboko led love/40 at 6-5 in the 2nd on Hon's serve, holding five MP
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #14 Elina Svitolina/UKR (def. Bondar/HUN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #20 Alona Ostapenko/LAT (1st Rd. to Kartal/GBR)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Day 1: Solana Sierra/ARG
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Parry, Sasnovich
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: x
PROTECTED RANKING: Day 1 wins: x
LUCKY LOSERS: Day 1 wins: Sierra
LAST BRIT STANDING: Day 1 wins: Boulter, Kartal, Raducanu
Ms./Mrs. OPPORTUNITY: x
IT "??": x
COMEBACK PLAYER: x
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: Jabeur (1r ret.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: x
DOUBLES STAR: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: x






All for Day 1. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:24 PM 

1 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

Ostapenko's floor must be the lowest among her peers. Injured or not, she shouldn't have lost to Kartal.

It's unfortunate that branstine had been drawn to the #1 seed. She would probably have won her 1st round match if she had played someone outside top 20 in the rankings.

Mon Jun 30, 10:16:00 PM EDT  

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