Sunday, June 22, 2025

Wk.25- Marketa Czechs (Back) In








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*WEEK 25 CHAMPIONS*
BERLIN, GERMANY (WTA 500; Grass Outdoor)
S: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE def. Wang Xinyu/CHN 7-6(10)/4-6/6-2
D: Tereza Mihalikova/Olivia Nicholls (SVK/GBR) def. Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini (ITA/ITA) 4-6/6-2 [10-6]
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND (WTA 250; Grass Outdoor)
S: McCartney Kessler/USA def. Dayana Yastremska/UKR 6-4/7-5
D: Beatriz Haddad Maia/Laura Siegemund (BRA/GER) def. Anna Danilina/Ena Shibahara (KAZ/JPN) 6-3/6-2




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
...Vondrousova *always* manages to sneak up on people. It happened when she reached the RG final in 2019 as an unseeded teenager, then again when she won Silver at the Olympics in 2021 after using her protected injury ranking to get into the draw (then going on a show-no-mercy run to the Gold Medal final). It happened again when she won Wimbledon in 2023 as the first unseeded SW19 women's champion ever after again having come back from injury. Well, here we are again. And shame on anyone who can still be surprised by anything Vondrousova does... as long as she's something resembling healthy.

Back and playing with her usual protected ranking after hand surgery cost her the last half of the 2024 season, the Czech woke up the echoes of her not-so-distant past with her first title run since her Wimbledon championship two years ago. Along the way, all she did was knock off, amongst others, the reigning AO champ, a two-time Wimbledon finalist *and* the world #1.

The first sign that something big could be afoot in Berlin came early, as Vondrousova upset Madison Keys 7-5/7-6 in the 1st Round, notching her first Top 10 win on grass since the '23 Wimbledon. Next up was Diana Shnaider, then Ons Jabeur, the same player the Czech defeated in that '23 final. #1 Aryna Sabalenka stood in Vondrousova's way, too, but not for long. She beat her in straight sets, at #164 becoming the third lowest-ranked player to ever defeat the women's #1 and the lowest since #188 Julie Coin (remember her? She turned pro the same year Vondrousova was born.) took out Ana Ivanovic at the U.S. Open in 2008.

In the final, despite a fine effort from first-time finalist Wang Xinyu, Vondrousova (who'd saved 6 SP in the 1st and avoided being tasked with winning from a set down for the first time in any of her matches in Berlin) prevailed in three sets, 7-6(10)/4-6/6-2.

This is just Vondrousova's third career tour title, along with Wimbledon and her maiden win in Biel in 2017. When she won that Swiss tournament eight years ago, Vondrousova came in ranked #233. She's still the fifth lowest-ranked WTA singles champion over the past fifteen years. Clearly Vondrousova has a pattern, or could it be termed a "brand?"

The Czech will return to the Top 100 on Monday, jumping 91 spots to #73. She was ranked #42 when she was crowned a "shocking" champion at the All-England Club two summers ago.

Of course, last year at Wimbledon, Vondrousova returned and became the first defending champ to exit in the 1st Round since Steffi Graf in 1994 (now, Barbora, don't you go and match that next week in London!), then she missed the rest of the season. This year she'll arrive in SW19 as the most dangerous unseeded player in the draw. Again. Can lightning strike twice?



Even prior to this week's results, Vondrousova *did* factor into my upcoming Wimbledon champion "prop pick," as she was included in the fairly small group of "eligible" champions in the prediction. Based on this week, if she can hold her form (and health... please, Marketa, no more heart-in-throat stumbles and falls like she had in this weekend's final) into London, she might double (or more) the strength of the collective prediction all on her own.
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RISERS: Dayana Yastremska/UKR and Liudmila Samsonova/RUS
...Yastremska remains without a tour singles title since she won her third WTA crown in Strasbourg in 2019, but the Ukrainian continues to put herself in position to change that. Maybe at some point it'll actually happen.

Yastremska hasn't won a title in six years, nor reached a 1000 level QF in nearly the same length of time, but the 25-year old played her way into a stunning SF at the Australian Open a year ago, and her final this week in Nottingham was her second (w/ Linz) of the season so far. Wins over Olga Danilovic, Antonia Ruzic, Leylah Fernandez and Magda Linette sent Yastremska into her seventh career tour final (first on grass, after posting early career wins on hard and clay), only to see her drop her fourth straight in a 6-4/7-5 loss to McCartney Kessler.

Yastremska has had moderately good success (w/ relatively few opportunities) at SW19 in the past. A junior finalist in 2016, she reached the Round of 16 in 2019 and is coming off a 3rd Round result in '24 in what was just her third MD appearance at the AELTC (less than or exactly half her total at each of the other three majors).



Samsonova's title defense at Rosmalen didn't go well in Week 24, as the Hordette was one-and-done vs. Carson Branstine. But she reached the doubles final in 's-Hertogenbosch, and picked up where she left off this week in Berlin, where she'd claimed her maiden tour title back in 2021.

After a three-set win over a game Naomi Osaka, Samsonova took out defending champ Jessie Pegula in an almost three and a half hour battle in which she saved two MP. Amanda Anisimova went out 1 & 1 a round later as the Russian reached her third SF of the season. Samsonova fell short of the final, though, becoming the latest in the line of upset victims of qualifier-turned-maiden-finalist Wang Xinyu.

Samsonova has reached the second week at two of the last three majors, but has suffered 1r/3r defeats the last two years at Wimbledon after reaching the 4th Round in her SW19 debut in 2021.
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SURPRISE: Rebecca Sramkova/SVK
...in many ways, despite the Slovak reaching three tour-level finals in 2024, Sramkova's SF result in Nottingham came out of nowhere. Not only was she 11-16 on the season coming into the week, but the last season she won more than one match on grass was 2016 (when she won seven, all in the same event as she went from qualifier to finalist in a $50K challenger).

Since that tournament, Sramkova had won a *total* of four matches on grass before this year, but she's now already won four in 2025. The first was over reigning Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova last week at Queen's Club, then this week in Nottingham she added three more. First, via a 3rd set TB over Laura Siegemund, then in follow-up three-setters vs. Yulia Putintseva and Linda Noskova to reach her first SF of the season.

The Slovak finally went out at the hands of McCarthy Kessler a round short of the final.
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VETERANS: Ons Jabeur/TUN and Beatriz Haddad Maia/Laura Siegemund, BRA/GER
...sometimes, second chances are golden. While Jabeur didn't take her lucky loser spot in the Berlin draw and coast to a title, or even a semifinal, she surely did a world of good for herself when it comes to any belief that *maybe* she could put up a nice run at the All-England Club starting in about a week.

The Tunisian's grass court season debut didn't go well in Berlin qualifying, as she barely escaped the opening round (Elsa Jacquemot let 4-2 in the 3rd, and had two MP before Jabeur won a deciding 13-11 TB on her own fifth MP), then she dropped a 6-1 1st and 6-0 3rd set vs. Wang Xinyu (who'd go on to become a finalist) in the final round.

But her LL berth provided a chance to make a comeback, and that she did.

Just 3-9 in her last twelve matches (after a good 11-4 start to '25), Jabeur took out Caroline Dolehide in the 1st Round, then topped '24 Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in the 2nd, getting her first Top 10 win on grass since her run to the Wimbledon final in 2023 (her second straight at SW19).

Marketa Vondrousova, the same player who defeated Jabeur in that '23 final, also handled her in the Berlin QF, then Paula Badosa's most recent injury prematurely ended the doubles run (they'd reached the SF) of Badosa/Jabeur, as well.

Still, after such a bad start, it turned out to be a good week.



In Nottingham, #3 seeds Haddad Maia & Siegemund took out the #2 (Khromacheva/Stollar in a 10-5 MTB) and #4 (Danilina/Shibahara in the final) seeds to pick up their first tour title as a pair in their third final appearance. The pair had reached the 2023 Indian Wells final, and also at Adelaide earlier this year.

It's Siegemund's 16th tour title, nine of which have come since the German's 32nd birthday as she's fairly seamlessly shifted toward focusing more and more on doubles in the late stage of her career (she's 37) while still managing to post some good singles results on occasion, including reaching a tour final last season and posting her first Top 10 wins after a five-year drought in 2022 (Sakkari) and '25 (Zheng at the AO).

It's title #8 for Haddad Maia, who previously won Nottingham in 2022 with Zhang Shuai.



Meanwhile, Anna Danilina's loss drops the Kazakh to 0-4 in '25 WD finals, but her record now includes a current three-week stretch in which she's reached back-to-back-to-back finals with three different partners (RG/Krunic, Queen's Club/Shnaider and and Nottingham/Shibahara).
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FRESH FACES: McCartney Kessler/USA and Wang Xinyu/CHN
...Kessler isn't one of the most talked about young Bannerettes on tour, if she's ever really talked about much at all, but she's been busy building up a nice resume over the past year.

The former three-time All-American player at Florida, now 25, reached three previous tour-level finals (all on hard court) between August and March, winning titles in Cleveland and Hobart. Earlier this year, Kessler notched her maiden Top 10 win with an upset of Coco Gauff in Dubai.

A year after making her way through Wimbledon qualifying, Kessler found another nice grass court groove in Nottingham, upsetting both the #1 seed (Beatriz Haddad Maia), overcoming scoreboard deficits in both the 1st and 3rd sets, and two-time defending champ Katie Boulter and still not looking back. A SF win over Rebecca Sramkova but Kessler into her fourth WTA final (third in '25), where she handled Dayana Yastremska in straight sets to pick up career title #3.

Kessler is the fourth woman this season to record victories over both an event's #1 seed and defending champ (the second to defeat *two* players to get the job done), and is the fourth of that group to go on to become the tournament champion, as well. Kessler will crack the Top 40 for the first time on Monday, coming in at #32 to slip onto the Wimbledon seed list at the eleventh hour.



In Berlin, Wang finally picked back up where she'd left off earlier this season, but not until after she flirted with a retirement in the opening round of qualifying last week. Thankfully, her team convinced her to stick it out... and the reward was the best week of the 23-year old's career.



When Wang reached the singles semifinals and doubles final in Singapore earlier this year, a breakout season seemed on the horizon. But a 5-10 skid followed that great week of results, and it had turned into a tough 2025 until she showed up this week in Berlin.

After posting qualifying wins over Talia Gibson (Wang trailed by a set and 3-1) and Ons Jabeur in a pair of three-setters, Wang took out the likes of Dasha Kasatkina and Coco Gauff (her third Top 10 win, after a pair of '24 upsets of Jessie Pegula, one of which came at Wimbledon) in straights before seeing Paula Badosa retire from their QF encounter. Wang picked up again with a two-set defeat of former Berlin champ Liudmila Samsonova to reach her maiden tour singles final.

Wang had chances to take the 1st set in the final against Marketa Vondrousova (she had 6 total SP), and ultimately fell in three sets to the former Wimbledon champ. Still, the Chinese woman will climb from just inside the Top 50 to just outside the Top 30 at #33 (Kessler's title run, barring some higher seed withdrawals, will prevent Wang from getting seeded at SW19).

And, with that, there's still time for '25 to be the breakout season it once appeared it could be.


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DOWN: Mirra Andreeva/RUS
...make no misake, Andreeva is still squarely in the middle of the Player of the Year discussion, but some red flags have also surely appeared in recent weeks.

In her relatively short pro career so far, Andreeva has shown in the past a propensity to let her emotions and anger get the best of her, but she's usually successful enough that it dissipates fairly quickly. But it's shown up in consecutive singles losses in recent weeks.

Andreeva let the crowd and frustration get the best of her vs. Lois Boisson at Roland Garros, firing a ball into the stands and generally spiralling toward the finish. In her first grass court outing, she fell in three sets to Magdalena Frech in Berlin, a loss that also showed a flash of anger. The thing is, it happened right after she'r *won* the 1st set and then dropped the *opening* game of the 2nd. If it's happening when she's in such a good match situation, what's going to happen when things get really tough and tight?



This is Andreeva's first losing streak in a year, since she followed up her '24 RG semifinal loss by going 0-2 during the grass season.

If she's going to be firing balls into walls and/or into the stands as soon as something goes wrong, it's going to be a long summer for the 18-year old. The wrong flick of the wrist, or slightly misjudged aim, and she could be defaulted at some point.
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ITF PLAYERS: Panna Udvardy/HUN and Dominika Salkova/CZE
...Udvardy and Salkova claimed the week's two clay court $75K challengers.

In Blois (FRA), Udvardy picked up the second biggest title of her career (behind only her lone 125 win in '22) with a 7-5/6-3 win in the final over Pastry Julie Belgraver. It's the 26-year old Hungarian's 12th career ITF win.



Meanwhile, a week after reaching the SF in a 125 in Grado (as well as the WD final), 20-year old Czech Salkova improved to 7-0 in pro singles finals in her career with a 2-6/6-3/6-3 victory over Tara Wuerth on the Croatian's home dirt in Zagreb.


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DOUBLES: Tereza Mihalikova/Olivia Nicholls, SVK/GBR
...unseeded in Berlin, Mihalikova/Nicholls blazed a path through the doubles draw, taking out in order the #2 (L.Kichenok/Routliffe), #4 (Muhammad/Schuurs, winners last week at Queen's Club) and #1 seeds (Errani/Paolini, the leading duo of '25, in a 10-6 MTB in the final) en route to the title.

The pair had been 0-2 in tour finals (w/ an additional 125 defeat) together, including a loss last year at Rosmalen. It's Nicholls' third WTA win, and Mihalikova's second. Mihalikova cracks the doubles Top 30 for the first time on Monday, while Nicholls does the same by climbing into the Top 25.



The Slovak's success is welcome if belated, as it's been a full decade (plus) since Mihalikova reached back-to-back AO girls' singles finals (winning in '15) and played in three different slam GD title matches from 2014-16 (winning AO16).
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1. Berlin QF - Aryna Sabalenka def. Elena Rybakina
...7-6(6)/3-6/7-6(6). Sabalenka may have lost some of the biggest finals she's played in 2025, but the world #1 has consistently been more dialed-in on getting a "W" than any player on tour this season.

After so many potential three-setters have became two-set wins when Sabalenka has raised her game on the most important points, in this case a would-be loss turned into a win for the same reason.

First, Sabalenka had to rally from 4-2 down to claim the 1st, winning an 8-6 TB. Then, after Rybakina denied the Belarusian when she served for the win at 5-4 in the 3rd, Sabalenka staged another comeback after going down quadruple MP at 6-2 in the deciding tie-break. Four straight MP later, it was Sabalenka with the match on her racket. She ultimately swept the final six points to get another 8-6 victory, improving to 8-1 in QF matches this season.


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2. Berlin 2nd Rd. - Liudmila Samsonova def. Jessie Pegula
...6-7(8)/7-5/7-6(5). A week after being one-and-outed by Carson Branstine as the defending champ at Rosmalen, Samsonova flips the script and delivers Berlin DC Pegula her walking papers in *her* opening match.

Pegula had rallied from 5-3 down in the 1st, saving five SP, to take the opener, then erased a 4-2 Samsonova edge in the 3rd to have a pair of MP at 5-4. But the Hordette forced a deciding TB and won it (in 3:21) to set her grass court campaign back to level.


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3. Nottingham 1st Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Anca Todoni
...6-4/3-6/7-6(6). Fresh off her 125 title run on clay in Bari, Todoni lost in qualifying to Alex Eala but got a MD chance as a lucky loser. She nearly took full advantage, saving six BP to hold for 4-4 in the 3rd and then having two MP in the ensuing TB (at 6-4) before Noskova swept the final four points to get the victory.
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4. Berlin 1st Rd. - Marketa Vondrousova def. Madison Keys
...7-5/7-6(6). The first "uh-oh" sign of the week (for the rest of the draw) that hinted that Vondrouosova, even when playing with a "PR" next to her name (again), is still capable of anything if she's healthy and in form.

The '23 Wimbledon champ's victory over Keys was her first Top 10 grass win since her SW19 title run (def. Pegula and Jabeur), with a win over Sabalenka in Stuttgart last year having been her only other Top 10 win on any surface in the past two years.


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5. Berlin Final - Marketa Vondrousova def. Wang Xinyu
...7-6(10)/4-6/6-2. The battle between the player in the draw via a protected ranking who came to Berlin just wanting to win *one* match and the qualifier who almost retired from her first match in the event last weekend.

Wang had chances to make her maiden final appearance potentially even sweeter, as she led the 1st 5-3, twice served for the set, and held a 6-2 edge in the TB. She had six SP in all before Vondrousova converted on her third to win the 12-10 breaker.

Vondrousova ultimately won in three to take her first title since Wimbledon in 2023 *and* become the first Czech woman to win a WTA singles title in 2025.


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6. Berlin SF - Marketa Vondrousova def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-2/6-4. Vondrousova's first career #1 win, with her ranked at #164, is (technically) the third-biggest ranking upset of a top-ranked woman in tour history. The Czech is the lowest-ranked to pull off the feat since Pastry Julie Coin (#188) upset Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 U.S. Open.

The result also hands Sabalenka her first loss this season in eight SF appearances.

Meanwhile, Vondrousova's work in the point (below, at 1:04) before MP deserves consideration for a monthly award. I mean, it's no underarm serve on MP in a blowout match, but it's pretty impressive.


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7. Nottingham 2nd Rd. - Katie Boulter def. Sonay Kartal
...6-4/1-6/7-5. The Battle of Nottingham.

Two-time defending champ Boulter found herself down 4-2 in the 3rd in this clash of the #2 (#39 Boulter) and #3 (#50 Kartal) ranked Brits on tour, but fought back to hold two MP at 5-4. Kartal saved them both, but couldn't stave off a third as Boulter got the break two games later on MP #3 to end the contest, collecting her 12th straight win in the event.


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8. Nottingham Final - McCartney Kessler def. Dayana Yastremska
...6-4/7-5. Kessler's final appearance and victory extends the Bannerettes' collective tour lead in '25 to 18 singles finals (the U.S. had 19 overall in '24). The last time a nation posted 20+ finals was the U.S. with 23 in 2016.

The nine titles by U.S. women this season is on pace to surpass by a fairly decent margin (w/ the summer hard court stretch still to come) the twelve wins from Bannerettes last year.


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9. Berlin 1st Rd. - Wang Xinyu def. Dasha Kasatkina
...6-3/6-2. Dasha's crazy year -- good slam runs, not much good elsewhere, a country change, an engagement -- once again includes a sub-.500 record as the Aussie falls to 14-15 after this loss to Wang. She's 0-2 on grass so far, and hasn't finished without a winning record on the surface since 2019.
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10. Nottingham 1st Rd. - McCartney Kessler def. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...7-5/6-7(3)/7-5. Three years ago, Haddad Maia won back-to-back grass titles in Nottingham and Birmingham, winning 12 straight matches. With this loss, her second in three grass matches this season, the Brazilian fell to 7-18 on the season.

Haddad Maia led Kessler 4-2 in the 1st, and 3-1 in the 3rd, but dropped both sets.


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11. Nottingham 1st Rd. - Mimi Xu def. Katie Volynets
...6-3/6-3. In recent weeks ,17-year old Brit Xu reached back-to-back QF in the Nottingham $35K (hard court) and the Birmingham 125 (on grass, in her 125 MD debut), then posted a win a week ago in the Ilkey 125, as well.

This week, via a wild card, the world #350 (ex-jr. #8) made her tour-level MD debut, getting a Top 100 win over Katie Volynets before falling in the 2nd vs. Magda Linette.


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12. Berlin 2nd Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Emma Navarro
...7-6(2)/6-3. A rare *2nd Round* match-up of Top 10 players (thanks to so many Top 10ers in the draw), as Badosa and Navarro have been flip-flopping the #9 and #10 rankings every Monday for weeks (they've held the final two spots in the Top 10, in some order, for all but one ranking period since the end of the AO, and will so again on Monday).

Here, Badosa notches her first career Top 10 win on grass, only to retire from her QF match two days later due to yet another injury. Sigh. Afterward, the Spaniard expressed her own continued frustration.


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13. $50K Taizhou CHN Final - Janice Tjen def. Yang Yidi
...7-5/6-3. The 23-year old Indonesian takes her fifth challenger crown of 2025, tying Victoria Mboko for the ITF circuit season lead. Tjen leads the overall title race with eight (5s/3d).


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14. $35K Wichita (KAN) USA Final - Fiona Crawley def. Mayu Crossley
...6-0/7-5. Former NCAA #1 Crawley (North Carolina) takes home her fifth career ITF crown.

Crawley made it through U.S. Open qualifying two summers ago.
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15. Bad Homburg 1st Rd. - Emma Navarro def. Marta Kostyuk
...6-2/7-5. Kostyuk drops her third straight match, and fifth/sixth straight sets.

After a 10-5 start in '25, since that underarm service ace on MP a while back, Kostyuk has gone 7-6, lost a pair of hotly contested straight setters to Aryna Sabalenka and exited RG in the 1st Round.

It's not exactly a dose of karmic retribution but, hey, the summer's not over by a long shot, either.
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HM- Bad Homburg 1st Rd. - Maria Sakkari def. Yulia Putintseva
...7-5/7-6(6). I found it interesting that while Sakkari told Putintseva "nobody likes you," afterward she still managed to say that she "respects (her) as a player." Hmmm. IYKYK.



Of course, I'm not sure Sakkari qualifies as the Great Arbiter of Tennis Etiquette that she thinks she is, though. At least she didn't say that Putintseva should be banned from the sport. So there's that. IYKYK.



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1. Berlin 1st Rd. - Liudmila Samsonova def. Naomi Osaka
...3-6/7-6(3)/6-4. Another early loss for Osaka, but at least she's *trying* to accomplish something on grass.

Again, Osaka came out of the box fast, taking the 1st and having a chance to get off the court in a 2nd set, first with BPs to serve for the match, then in a TB. But Samsonova took things to a 3rd, where Osaka remained close throughout, even having two BP chances in the final game of the match to get things back on serve. Samsonova converted on her second MP.

Osaka is 17-8 on the year, and something was made by some after this loss about her needing to win more three-set matches. Yes, five of her eight losses in '25 have been in three-setters (including her last three matches, all L's), with two of the other three defeats coming via retirement (only Camila Osorio has taken out Osaka in a full straight sets match). But Osaka has also *won* nine three-setters this year, so her numbers aren't really that worrisome. On hard court, she's 5-1 in contests that go the distance (so, 4-4 in clay/grass three-setters... pretty good for a player who's never been 100% herself on either).

While Osaka is still seeking to rediscover her ability to "close," she's surely shown a willingness to have a go this spring on what aren't considered her best surfaces since taking on Patrick Mouratoglou, and definitely shown progress and improvement on both. It'll be interesting to see her this summer when more comfortable hard court events fill the schedule.
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2. $15K Rancho Santa Fe (CAL) USA SF - Eryn Cayetano def. Avery Nguyen 6-1/6-0
$15K Rancho Santa Fe (CAL) USA Final - Eryn Cayetano def. Alexis Nguyen 6-7(6)/6-2/6-0
...you take on one Nguyen twin, you win. You take on a second Nguyen twin... well, at least in the case of Cayetano, you win there, too.

The 17-year old Nguyen twins, both UNC Tar Heel recruits, were *this close* to facing off for a pro single title, but Cayetano (who posted over 100 wins at Southern Cal) cleared the board of both, taking out qualifer Avery in the semis and then #4 seed Alexis in the title match.

Cayetano also took the doubles with fellow Trojan Lily Fairclough.


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Not sure which is the bigger insult, that (1) the U.S. Open has turned the MX doubles competition into a glorified exhibition that lines the pockets of top singles players rather than the doubles players (who could use the additional -- and now *big* -- payday) that have been set aside like last week's trash...



...or (2) the fact that the tournament's big social media announcement about the 16-team field included photos of 14 teams didn't see fit to include those of the defending champions of the Open's own event from last year (Errani/Vavassori, who also just won RG). They *are* in the field, as the only actual doubles duo rather than part of an all-star duo (Kyrgios, really?), some of which make no reliable sense as duos whatsoever or are clearly set up to titillate (see Alcaraz/Raducanu). It really just makes a mockery of the event, and it'll be hard to take the "champions" very seriously.

Oh, the dream of a third of the field pulling out after their opening match because they stubbed their toe in the previous match and wish to preserve their availability for the singles competition that will start a few days later. Tennis Gods, do your thing!

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Hope everyone is satisfied now, and we can all move on...




It's funny how some players are held accountable for being a (temporary) "sore loser" and have to publicly apologize, while others undertake actions that are equally or even more "unprofessional" and are seemingly given an immediate pass on it and never have their feet held to the fire in any way.

I can think of a handful of situations just over the past two seasons where players have acted far more unprofessionally than the understandably frustrated Sabalenka did in the moments after the RG final, but... (crickets).


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Meanwhile, Wimbledon doesn't even try to hide it...




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Nice try, though...




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This is why, I think, that I really only get interested in watching men's tennis these days if it's played on grass (or maybe during the U.S. Open night sessions)...



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I do like that the U.S. Open's yearly artwork has, in recent years, included images of players that clearly are identifiable. BJK a couple of years ago, and now Althea Gibson...






Meanwhile, progress on the attempt to thread the needle once again (aka Wimbledon "prop pick")...

Though with this prediction format I don't pick a single winner, it's still difficult to predict Wimbledon, even if you're trying to cast a relatively wide net like I have (though a bit less so here) since I started doing "prop picks" last year. I mean, the last two SW19 champs have been unseeded Vondrousova in '23 and Krejcikova, who'd barely played all season, in '24. Since 2017, just one #1 seed has won the title, and just one other Top 8 seed. Seeded winners have been #14, #11, #17 and #31.

My champion's "net" for this Wimbledon was mostly narrowly focused on a few players, but it looks significantly "wider" now after the results this past week for *both* 2023 finalists, so at least there's a little more bit to play with in the pool of "eligible" winners now.

Could someone like Sabalenka (who's not in the champion's pool) win? Sure, but it's just as likely (more?) that she'd reach the final and lose at a third straight major this year. She *does* fit into the group for my second finalist pick, as do quite a few top players, as many haven't reached the title match at the AELTC.



WIMBLEDON "PROP PICK" PREDICTIONS (as of now)
1. The Wimbledon champion will be a former SW19 finalist (as of today, that'd be from a MD group that includes Krejcikova, Paolini, Rybakina, Vondrousova, Jabeur and Kvitova) or an unnamed first-time Czech Wimbledon finalist. This one looks a bit better after Vondrousova and Jabeur's results this week. And, of course, I have to throw the Czech part in because, well, IYKYK... plus, it might act as my Get Out of Jail Free card in the end.
2. The runner-up will be a first-time Wimbledon finalist who *has* reached a final at another major. Quite a few legitimate possibilities are in the running here, from Sabalenka to Pegula to Keys and others.
3. Dark horse: Amanda Anisimova For a "YES" she'd need to reach the QF, or the Round of 16 with, say, an upset of a Top 4/5 player.
4. A final four member will be a first-time slam semifinalist, and be outside the Top 20 seeded players (possibly unseeded, and probably more likely so). This one almost feels too common a pick for Wimbledon, but I'm going with it and (kinda) hoping for something of a layup "YES" w/ this one.
5. ???? Maybe another one next week on a specific player, like Coco or Iga, but maybe not.












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*LOW-RANKED TO DEFEAT #1*
#226 Zhang Shuai def. Dinafa Safina (2009 Beijing 2r)
#188 Julie Coin def. Ana Ivanovic (2008 US Open 2r)
#164 MARKETA VONDROUOSVA def. Aryna Sabalenka (2025 Berlin SF)
#133 Zheng Jie def. Ana Ivanovic (2008 Wimbledon 3r)
#133 Kim Clijsters def. Lindsay Davenport (2005 I.W. Final)
#132 Chang Kai-chen def. Dinara Safina (2009 Tokyo 2r)
#129 Jelena Dokic def. Martina Hingis (1999 Wimbledon 1r)

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2025*
7 - Aryna Sabalenka (3-4)
4 - Jessie Pegula (2-2)
3 - McCARTNEY KESSLER (2-1)
3 - Elise Mertens (2-1)
3 - Coco Gauff (1-2)

*2025 FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS*
Polina Kudermetova, RUS (#107/21 = Brisbane)
Emiliana Arango, COL (#133/24 = Merida)
Maya Joint, AUS (#78/19 = Rabat)-W
WANG XINYU, CHN (#49/23 = Berlin)

*2025 QUALIFIERS IN FINALS*
Brisbane - Polina Kudermetova, RUS
Merida - Emiliana Arango, COL
Bogota - Katarzyna Kawa, POL
London - Tatjana Maria, GER (W)
Rosmalen - Gabriela Ruse, ROU
Berlin - WANG XINYU, CHN

*2025 WTA TITLES, MOST SURFACES*
2 - Jessie Pegula = Hard,Green Clay
2 - Aryna Sabalenka = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Elise Mertens = Hard,Grass
2 - McCARTNEY KESSLER = Hard,Grass
[most surface finals]
2 - Alona Ostapenko = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Jessie Pegula = Hard,Green Clay
2 - Aryna Sabalenka = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Elise Mertens = Hard,Grass
2 - Amanda Anisimova = Hard,Grass
2 - McCARTNEY KESSLER = Hard,Grass
2 - DAYANA YASTREMSKA = Hard,Grass

*2025 FINALISTS BY COUNTRY (w/ wins)*
18 (9) - USA (Kessler)
7 (3) - BLR
6 (4) - RUS
3 (2) - BEL
3 (1) - UKR (Yastremska)
2 (1) - COL,DEN,ITA,LAT
2 (0) - ROU
1 (1) - AUS,CZE (Vondrousova),GER,KAZ,SUI
1 (0) - CHN (Wang),JPN,POL,SRB

*2025 WTA CHAMPIONS BY LOWEST RANKING*
#41 - Amanda Anisimova (Doha)
#42 - McCARTNEY KESSLER (Nottingham)
#50 - Clara Tauson (Auckland)
#54 - Camila Osorio (Bogota)
#67 - McCartney Kessler (Hobart)
#78 - Maya Joint (Rabat)
#86 - Tatjana Maria (London)
#157 - Belinda Bencic (Abu Dhabi)
#164 - MARKETA VONDROUSOVA (Berlin)

*UNITED STATES - WTA TITLES (active)*
10 - Madison Keys (2014-25)
9 - Coco Gauff (2019-25)
8 - Sloane Stephens (2015-24)
8 - Jessie Pegula (2019-25)
5 - Sofia Kenin (2019-20)
4 - Danielle Collins (2021-24)
3 - Amanda Anisimova (2019-25)
3 - McCARTNEY KESSLER (2024-25)
3 - Alison Riske-Amritraj (2014-21)
--
ALSO: V.Williams (49)

*MOST WTA SF in 2025*
8 - ARYNA SABALENKA (7-1)
5 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (1-4)
5 - Iga Swiatek (0-5)
4 - Jessie Pegula (4-0)
4 - Madison Keys (2-2)
3 - Coco Gauff (3-0)
3 - McCARTNEY KESSLER (3-0)
3 - Elise Mertens (3-0)
3 - Mirra Andreeva (2-1)
3 - Amanda Anisimova (2-1)
3 - Clara Tauson (2-1)
3 - Jasmine Paolini (1-2)
3 - Elena Rybakina (1-2)
3 - LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA (1-2)

*2025 DEFEATED #1 SEED & DEFENDING CHAMPION*
Madison Keys - Adelaide [F-Pegula,2r-Ostapeko]
Madison Keys - Australian Open [F-Sabalenka]
Belinda Bencic - Abu Dhabi [SF-Rybakina]
Mirra Andreeva - Indian Wells [F-Sabalenka,SF-Swiatek]
McCartney Kessler - Nottingham [1r-Haddad Maia,QF-Boulter]
--
NOTE: all won tournament title

*2025 WTA DOUBLES FINALS - DUOS*
4...ERRANI/PAOLINI (3-1)
3...Jiang/Wu (2-1)
2...M.Andreeva/Shnaider (2-0)
2...Babos/Stefani (2-0)
2...Muhammad/Schuurs (2-0)
2...Siniakova/Townsend (2-0)
2...HADDAD MAIA/SIEGEMUND (1-1)
2...Krunic/Santamaria (1-1)
2...MIHALIKOVA/NICHOLLS (1-1)
2...Hsieh/Ostapenko (0-2)






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Netanyahu has spent the better part of two decades trying to strong arm the United States into an unprovoked war against Iran and finally found a president stupid enough to do it for him. Unbelievable.

— David Faris (@davidfaris.bsky.social) June 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM

If you were too young in 2003 here is what Bush told the American people: 1) The Iraq War won’t cost a lot of money 3) We won’t need a lot of troops 4) We’ll bring peace and freedom to Iraq 5) We’ll find WMDs 6) We’ll be welcomed as liberators 7) It will be easy 8) It won’t take long All lies.

— Molly Knight (@mollyknight.bsky.social) June 21, 2025 at 10:47 PM

Just a reminder going forward... (cartoon from 2003)

[image or embed]

— Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes.bsky.social) June 22, 2025 at 10:53 AM

Our country needs to be stopped

— ElieNYC (@elienyc.bsky.social) June 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM


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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:50 PM 

1 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

Thank you!

It's upsetting that both Krejcikova and Muchova are just coming back from injury and/or are injured yet again. They would have both, imo, been favorites to win Wimbledon. Fingers crossed that Marketa stays healthy!

Sun Jun 22, 07:46:00 PM EDT  

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