Friday, July 11, 2025

W.12- The Day Before the Day













=DAY 12 NOTES=
...no finals on Friday, but everything except for the Invitational and 14u Junior events have their final match-ups set after today's results.

In doubles, Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend's title defense bid was ended by Hsieh Su-wei & Alona Ostapenko, who reach their second slam final of the season (w/ AO). They'll face off with Veronika Kudermetova & Elise Mertens.

Hsieh will be playing for her eighth major WD crown (12th overall slam win) and fifth Wimbledon with a fifth different partner; while Ostapenko goes for her second WD win (w/ '24 US) to go with her '17 RG singles championship. If they take the title, Ostapenko will overtake Siniakova for the #1 doubles ranking (the first Latvian in tour history).



Mertens is playing for major #5, having previously won two of those titles alongside Hsieh ('21 WI, '24 AO); while Kudermetova looks for her maiden crown in her second Wimbledon final (she and Elena Vesnina lost to Hsieh/Mertens in '21).

...the girls' final will pit #6 Julieta Pareja (def. Mimi Xu) against Mia Pohankova (def. Vendula Valdmannova).

Though it's the first slam final for both, recent major junior title matches have surely included a lot of wins from other girls from their nations in recent years. A win from Pareja would not only see her sweep Roehampton & Wimbledon, but she'd be the third Bannerette to win at SW19 in the last four years (w/ '22 Liv Hovde and '23 Clervie Ngounoue). Earlier this year, 16-year old Pareja reached the SF in her tour-level on the clay in Bogota.

Pohankova would be the second straight Slovak champ, as Renata Jamrichova won the SW19 title last year.

Pareja is still alive for a s/d sweep, as well, after advancing today to the GD final with fellow Bannerette Thea Frodin. They'll face Valdmannova & Kristina Penickova. Penickova won the AO girls' doubles this year w/ her sister Annika.

...in wheelchair singles, it'll be all there for Yui Kamiji this weekend. The #1 seed defeated #3 Li Xiaohui 2 & 2 today to reach her second Wimbledon singles final. She'll face #4 Wang Ziying, who knocked off Kgothatso Montjane to become the second Chinese woman to reach a major singles final (after Zhu Zhenzhen last year at RG).

Wang (w/ Li) has already become the first CHN wheelchair slam champ with a doubles title at the AO this year, and now could do the same in singles. Li/Wang are also in the Wimbledon doubles final vs. Angelica Bernal and teenage Pastry Ksenia Chasteau.

Diede de Groot's hip surgery, as well as likely her playing in pain last summer, has really opened the door for Kamiji to fill in all the missing pieces on her career resume. She swept the Paralympic Games last year with her first Gold medals in singles and doubles, defeating de Groot in both finals.

Those wins left her just a Wimbledon singles title away from joining de Groot and retired men's champ (and fellow Japanese) Shingo Kunieda as the only WC players to ever win all eight slam s/d titles as well as complete a Golden Slam with s/d Paralympic wins, *and* additional titles in both s/d in the year-end Masters events for both disciplines. The latter concept is called a "Career Super Slam." Alfie Hewett has all eight slams and the year-end titles, but is missing the Paralympic singles Gold.

While it took *way* too long for Esther Vergeer to finally enter the Tennis Hall of Fame, de Groot (and the recently retired Kunieda) have already put together the sort of complete career resume that assures that they'll join her in Newport *some day*. A win from Kamiji would seem to do the same for her.

Really, since they don't allow retired wheelchair players to be eligible for enshrinement every year, the HoF *should* (they won't) set up something of a copy of the LPGA model that establishes that once a player accumulates a certain number of points (given for major titles, awards, etc.) they're automatically enshrined, even if they're still active players on tour.

Seems to me that winning *every* single major (plus the others) should be enough to do it in tennis, as well. They *could* do it with the regular tour players, too, though it'd be a rare occurrence -- it'd only mean that Serena and Djokovic would already be in the HoF (and Federer if you counted Olympic *doubles* Gold rather than only singles) instead of when are ultimately invited to their own ceremonies years after retirement.

The only other (already enshrined) players to complete a "Career Super Slam" are Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.








*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#13 Amanda Anisimova/USA vs. #8 Iga Swiatek/POL

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#4 Hsieh/Ostapenko (TPE/LAT) vs. #8 V.Kudermetova/Mertens (RUS/BEL)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Siniakova/Verbeek (CZE/NED) def. Stefani/Salisbury (BRA/GBR) 7-6(3)/7-6(3)

*WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Yui Kamiji/JPN vs. #4 Wang Ziying/CHN

*WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
Bernal/Chasteau (COL/FRA) vs. #2 Li/Wang (CHN/CHN)

*GIRLS' SINGLES FINAL*
Mia Pohankova/SVK vs. #6 Julieta Pareja/USA

*GIRLS' DOUBLES FINAL*
#5 Frodin/Pareja (USA/USA) vs. #8 K.Penickova/Valdmannova (USA/CZE)

*INVITATIONAL DOUBLES FINAL*
x vs. Cara Black/Martina Hingis








...THUMBNAIL SKETCHIN'... ON DAY 12:




...WIMBLEDON PHOTOS TEND TO BE MORE ICONICALLY BEAUTIFUL (I guess it's the glow of the sun off the grass on Centre Court, and how it almost silhouettes the player)... ON DAY 12:




...YOUR MOUTH TO THE TENNIS GODS' EARS... ON DAY 12:




...SO WHAT DO YOU DO THE WEEK *AFTER* YOUR DREAM WEEK AT WIMBLEDON?... ON DAY 12:




...SU-WEI BEING HSIEH... ON DAY 12:




...WHY AM I GETTING A "STRANGERS ON A TRAIN" VIBE WITH THIS?... ON DAY 12:















kosova-font













kosova-font

*WHEELCHAIR SLAM SINGLES FINALS - active*
30 - YUI KAMIJI, JPN (10-19)
26 - Diede de Groot, NED (23-3)
17 - Aniek Van Koot, NED (3-14)
7 - Jiske Griffioen, NED (4-3)
1 - WANG ZIYING, CHN (0-0)
1 - Kgothatso Montjane, RSA (0-1)
1 - Momoko Ohtani, JPN (0-1)
1 - Zhu Zhenzhen, CHN (0-1)

*WON MOST DIFFERENT WHEELCHAIR SLAM TITLES (#-active)*
8 - Diede de Groot, NED [completed set w/ '19 RG singles]#
7 - Jiske Griffioen, NED (needs US Open singles)#
7 - Yui Kamiji, JPN (needs Wimbledon singles)#
7 - Aniek Van Koot, NED (needs RG singles)#
7 - Esther Vergeer, NED (DNP Wimbledon singles)
[men 8/8]
Shingo Kunieda, JPN [completed set w/ '22 WI singles]
Alfie Hewett, GBR [completed set w/ '24 WI singles]
--
NOTE: de Groot & Kunieda only w/ all 8 + Paralympic s/d Gold (Kamiji would match 10/10 w/ WI title)

*JUNIOR SLAM SINGLES CHAMPS - SVK*
2007 US: Kristina Kucova
2015 AO: Tereza Mihalikova
2024 AO: Renata Jamrichova
2024 WI: Renata Jamrichova

*WIMBLEDON GIRLS' SINGLES CHAMPS - USA*
1957 Miriam Arnold
1958 Sally Moore
1960 Karen Hantze
1964 Peaches Bartkowicz
1968 Kristy Pigeon
1970 Sharon Walsh
1973 Ann Kiyomura
1977 Lea Antonopolis
1978 Tracy Austin
1979 Mary-Lou Piatek
1981 Zina Garrison
1992 Chanda Rubin
2017 Claire Liu
2022 Liv Hovde
2023 Clervie Ngounoue

*GIRLS' SLAM SINGLES FINALS in 2020s (21 events)*
7 - (3-4) CZE
6 - (4-1) USA - Pareja
6 - (3-3) RUS
3 - (2-0) SVK - Pohankova
3 - (1-2) JPN
2 - (1-1) GBR
2 - (0-2) AUS
1 - (1-0) AND,AUT,CRO,ESP,FRA,PHI
1 - (0-1) ARG,BEL,BLR,GER,HUN,PER,POL
[2025]
W - AUT (Tagger), JPN (Sonobe)
L - GBR (Klugman), USA (K.Penickova)

*RECENT WIMBLEDON "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS*
2014 Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2015 Sofya Zhuk, RUS
2016 Dayana Yastremska, UKR
2017 Ann Li, USA
2018 Wang Xinyu/CHN & Wang Xiyu/CHN
2019 Daria Snigur, UKR
2021 Ane Mintegi del Olmo/ESP and Nastasja Schunk/GER
2022 Liv Hovde, USA
2023 Clervie Ngounoue/USA and Nikola Bartunkova/CZE
2024 Renata Jamrichova/SVK and Emerson Jones/AUS
2025 Julieta Pareja, USA







TOP QUALIFIER: Carson Branstine/CAN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #13 Amanda Anisimova/USA (7 games lost 1r/2r, double-bagel win in 1st)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #8 Iga Swiatek/POL (to first Wimbledon SF)
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): 1st Rd. - #6 Madison Keys/USA def. Gabriela Ruse/ROU 6-7(4)/7-5/7-5 - Ruse fights off Keys' comeback to claim 1st, then Keys fights off Ruse's comeback in 3rd, serves out on second try
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): QF - #1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. Laura Siegemund/GER 4-6/6-2/6-4 - down a break bk twice in 3rd, GP for 5-3 led
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: Veronika Erjavec/SLO, Solana Sierra/ARG, Zeynep Sonmez/TUR
UPSET QUEENS: Great Britain
REVELATION LADIES: Italy
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-6 1st Rd.; only new Aussie Kasatkina w/ win)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Diane Parry/FRA (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: no wins (0-8)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Caty McNally/USA (2nd Rd.)
LUCKY LOSERS: Solana Sierra/ARG (4th Rd.); 2r: Victoria Mboko/CAN
LAST BRIT STANDING: Sonay Kartal (in 4th Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Iga Swiatek/POL Additional nominees: Kamiji (WC), Wang Ziying (WC)
IT "Turk": Zeynep Sonmez/TUR (first TUR player into slam 3r)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Amanda Anisimova/USA
CRASH & BURN: #2 Coco Gauff/USA & #3 Jessie Pegula/USA - first slam w/ two Top 3 out in 1st Rd. (Gauff won RG, Pegula won grass title pre-Wimb.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: Solana Sierra/ARG (LL, first into WI 4th Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: Siniakova, Ostapenko
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Laura Siegemund/GER (oldest first WI QF at 37)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Julieta Pareja/USA
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: Petra Kvitova/CZE - plays final Wimbledon match







All for Day 12. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:26 PM 

3 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

Swiatek and Anisimova have never played each other before. Anisimova will definitely be nervous as she will be playing in her first slam final.

Swiatek is 5-0 in slam finals. Law of averages might hit her this time.

Fri Jul 11, 10:39:00 PM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Seles' name could get a workout this weekend w/ her opening career 6-0 mark in major finals coming into play in *both* Wimbledon finals.

Also I added a note in the post that says that Alfie Hewett has also won all eight slams, but is missing the Paralympic singles Gold for the "Career Super Slam." I'd accidentally left him off the 8/8 list, which is why I didn't think to do that yesterday. Grrr.

Sat Jul 12, 09:06:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Todd.Spiker said...

Yeah, so the list I've had for years and years and years (well, at least the women's one) didn't have Federer's 7-0 career start in slam finals, so that's the *overall* record, with (now) Seles and Swiatak at 6-0 for the women (and Alcaraz going for 6-0 on Sunday).

Hey, why not end this Wimbledon with my daily correction of a stat from the previous day, right? Wouldn't feel right without it, I guess.

Sat Jul 12, 12:26:00 PM EDT  

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