Thursday, June 11, 2026

2026 Clay Court Awards: La Destinée

Is it about the journey, or the destiny?










A quarter-season on the dirt...


Clay Court Top Players list & post-RG Ms.Backspin Update: HERE
Clay Court Top Players list & post-RG Ms.Backspin Update: HERE





#1 - ROMAN HOLIDAY, PART TRE ...Elina Svitolina wins her third title in Rome, defeating three of the Top 4 ranked players in the world -- #2 Elena Rybakina (QF), #3 Iga Swiatek (SF) and #4 Coco Gauff (F) -- in consecutive three-set matches to finish off her run. Her 20th career WTA title gives her an 8-0 mark in tour-level clay finals, as she claimed her first 1000 crown since her successful Italian Open title defense in 2018.
#2 - DESTINY'S CHILD CHAMPION ...though she never had to face a Top 10 opponent, 19-year old Mirra Andreeva wraps up a tour-best 22-win clay season by becoming the latest first-time major champion to be crowned in Paris, dropping just one set en route to becoming the first Hordette slam champ since 2014 (Sharpapova) while dropping no more than three games in any set from the 4th Round forward, posting wins over Sorana Cirstea (0/3), Marta Kostyuk (1/3, ending her 17-match run) and Maja Chwalinska (3/2, wrapping up her Cinderella tale).
#3 - ONCE UPON A TIME IN PARIS... ...Maja Chwalinska wins the hearts of tennis fans with a fairy tale Roland Garros run to become the second qualifier (Raducanu '21 U.S.) to ever reach a major final. The world #114, a former junior star with a pro career stunted by injury and a bout with depression, utilizes her unpredictable, variety-filled attack to win nine straight matches in Paris -- defeating an Olympic Gold medalist (Zheng), former RG semifinalist (Sakkari), three seeds (Mertens, Kalinskaya and Shnaider) and the last French player in the draw (Parry) -- before finally being clipped by Mirra Andreeva in the final. The Pole rose to #21 after the tournament.
#4 - THREE DOWN, ONE TO GO ...Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend claim their third major title together at Roland Garros, bringing them within a U.S. Open crown of completing a Career Doubles Slam. Having already won a Career Slam alongside Barbora Krejcikova, Siniakova would become the first player in tennis history to win a second with a *different* partner.
#5 - INEVITABLY, MARTA ...in the heart of what was a 17-match clay court winning streak (the longest on tour in '26), Marta Kostyuk claims her biggest career title in Madrid, following up her run in Rouen by losing just one set while dusting off #5 Jessie Pegula, spring riser Anastasia Potapova and soon-to-be RG champ Mirra Andreeva in the final.
#6 - JESSIE'S GREEN ENERGY ...it took a lot of work (about 13 hours of it), including a bit of overtime (in the form of four straight three-setters) and additional mettle (she was down a set in three straight matches, and trailed by a break in the 3rd in two), but Jessie Pegula becomes the first repeat Charleston champion in more than a decade with an Easter Sunday win over Yuliia Starodubtseva to defend the first career clay title she won a year ago.
#7 - LUCKY, BUT GOOD ...Anastasia Potapova runs off a string of results on the dirt to become the revelation of the '26 clay season. The Austrian won 17 matches in all, reaching the Linz final (the biggest of her career), the Madrid semis (as a lucky loser, for her career-best 1000 result), Rome 4th Round and RG Round of 16 (her second slam 4r), while notching Top 4 wins over Elena Rybakina (Madrid) and defending RG champ Coco Gauff in Paris.
#8 - HECK ON WHEELS ...After a hard-luck Sunshine Swing, Elena Rybakina rebounds in her element in the Stuttgart indoor event, hitting big and even pulling her way through tight, tough battles when her game wasn't at its *most* elevated level, making up for it by rising up on the *biggest* points. She saved two MP in a QF match-up with Leylah Fernandz, handled Mirra Andreeva in the semis, and out-hit Karolina Muchova in the final. When Rybakina won the tournament champion's new Porsche in the event in her last appearance two years ago (she skipped '25 to play BJK Cup), she didn't have a driver's license. Things have changed.
#9 - DIEDE (STILL) THE GREAT ...nearly two years after claiming her 23rd major wheelchair singles title, Diede de Groot finally gets #24 in Paris after coming all the way back from 2024 hip surgery. With half a dozen singles wins at RG, De Groot is now the only player in WC tennis history to be a six-time Career Singles Slam winner (6-6-6-6 titles at AO-RG-WI-US). Also, with the crown, de Groot's 43rd career major title (w/ 19 in doubles) passes mentor Esther Vergeer's all-time women's mark of 42 career WC slam wins. The all-time record: Shingo Kunieda with 50.
#10 - ELEVENTH-HOUR ELEVATION ...Sorana Cirstea continued what might be her "career year" in what the 36-year old Romanian says in her final season on tour. During the spring clay season, she posted her first career victory over a world #1 with an upset of Aryna Sabalenka in Rome (becoming the oldest player to post her maiden #1 win) on her way to a SF result, after which she became the oldest woman in tour history to make her Top 20 debut. At Roland Garros, Cirstea posted her third career slam QF, seventeen years after she'd reached her first in Paris in 2009.
#11 - TIN STEEL LIZZY ...NextGen wheelchair roller Lizzy de Greef comes of age in Rome, taking the 500 event with wins over three of the top four WC players in the world, including Yui Kamiji and Diede de Groot, against whom she'd been a combined 0-13 before her back-to-back victories. De Greef later lost in back-to-back matches to de Groot, in the Rome-follow up Barcelona event's final, then the 1st Round at Roland Garros. De Greef still managed a good run in Paris, though, reaching her first major doubles final alongside Jinte Bos.
#12 - INTRODUCING VERONIKA PODREZ ...19-year old Ukrainian qualifier Veronika Podrez impressively reaches the final in Rouen in her tour-level MD debut. Having lived in France since age 5, and essentially being a native Frech speaker, it was effectively a "home" event for Podrez, and she reacted accordingly by ousting Sloane Stephens in her tour debut match. A semifinal walkover likely didn't help her cause in the final vs. Marta Kostyuk in the first all-UKR final in tour history, as the overly-rested Podrez got off to a slow, error-prone start from which she never recovered (though she did have a break lead in the 2nd and was GPs away going up 5-4 on serve).



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*CHAMPIONS OF THEIR (TECHNOLOGICAL) TIMES*








*BUTTON-DOWN TEST DRIVER*


After winning the title in Stuttgart, it was time for the annual highlight of the women's trophy ceremony. You know, the moment when everyone holds their collective breath and the tournament sponsor and organizers hope to avert disaster when the champion drives her Porsche down a small ramp and onto the red clay.

Two years ago, the driver's license-deficit Elena Rybakina wasn't allowed to make the attempt...



Well, she's had a license for about a year now, even if she hasn't had a lot of actual driving time. But she was trusted enough to get behind the wheel this time around.

It seemed to go pretty smoothly (but, you know, one of these years someone is going to drive off the edge of one of those narrow tire ramps, or rev the engine a bit too hard and take out a net post... and a new viral star will be born).






*WHEN TROPHIES HAVE A PERSONALITY*







*FASHION SHOW*







*HANG IT IN THE LOUVRE*




"Exquisite Destruction"





*MIRRA DOING HER THING: ROLAND GARROS EDITION*







*QUARTERLY COCO-IN-ACTION APPRECIATION*






*THE THRILL OF VICTORY, AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT: MADRID EDITION*







*THE SIMPLE LIFE (IN PARIS) WITH MAJA CHWALINSKA*







*PROOF THAT THE TENNIS GODS HAVE A WICKED SENSE OF HUMOR*

In the BJK Cup Qualifiers, a former Bannerette (Kaitlin Quevedo) put up more singles wins in Portoroz during Team España's victory over Slovenia than the *entire* U.S. team (with 1, in doubles, after going 0-3 in singles) did in Ostend in a loss to Belgium.




*NextGen MEETS *NEXT* NextGen*







*EVERYONE PROMOTES THE WTA BETTER THAN THE WTA PROMOTES THE WTA*







*WELCOME TO LILLI'S WORLD (you must be THIS tall to ride)*







*HORDETTE IDOL (Episodes 1 and 2)*







*SHNAIDER WITH THE SAVE! (on-court variety)*







*BOULTER WITH THE SAVE (and the postscript)! (off-court variety)*







*ALL HAIL "B.B.", HENCEFORTH aka "THE QUEEN OF THE BEES"*







*QUARTERLY KAROLINA MUCHOVA APPRECIATION CORNER*



In the honorary role of "BJK Cup Karolina Muchova"... Marie Bouzkova!







*BEST NOTION GLEANED FROM EAVESDROPPING ON A WTA MARKETING MEETING (or listening to an Oliynykova press conference)*







*PENKO BEING PENKO*







*FOR THE LOVE OF WIENER SCHNITZEL*







*A GOOD EFFECT THAT SHOULD BE USED MORE (see NFL Films' best work)*







*THE PRELUDE TO VICTORY...*




To be continued...





*THE "RISING WATER LIFTS ALL BOATS" PRINCIPLE OF TENNIS*




BTW, the current 29-slam run in which no woman has won back-to-back major titles is an Open era record, since Osaka won the '18 US and '19 AO. The previous longest runs were 20 straight (2004 AO to 2008 US, ended by Serena'a AO 2009 win) and 18 (1976 US to 1980 AO, ended by Mandlikova's '81 RG title).

Truth: it shows a healthy WTA that has a solid top tier of players who are capable of winning (multiple) majors, and who are set up to provide great competition at the slams and over the course of the season for a number of years. I've already seen discussions about how the title chart -- half a dozen players deep -- will ultimately shape up, with everyone winning at least two/three.

Some wanted to call the recent era of *men's* tennis, dominated by three all-time greats, a "golden era." Maybe, but was it as competitively entertaining as the Sampras-Agassi-Becker-Edberg-Courier stretch, or the Borg-McEnroe-Connors-Lendl-Wilander period that preceded it? As fas as "eras," it'd be an easy call from here.

Unpredictability, as far as which top (and proven) player will *win* a major, isn't the same as it being a "crap shoot" four times a year, or a the opposing situation of waiting around for two weeks waiting for the inevitable final match-up (which we saw for so many years on the men's tour, and had slipped into again until the oddity of this year's RG).




*THAT LOOK WHEN THAT FEELING OF DEJA VU WAS REAL AND YOU *ALMOST* WENT TO THAT "BAD PLACE" AGAIN (BUT DIDN'T)*







*CZECHS, DON'T-CHA-KNOW*







*A NICE EFFORT...*




But, I mean, you know...







*JUST A GIRL, SITTING ON A GIANT BOTTLE, DRESSED LIKE ANNIE HALL*







*(SOMETIMES) THE MOST UNINTENTIONALLY BALLETIC OF SPORTS*







*STILL WITH A SOUL FOR GETTING DOWN (just not on clay in '26)*







*YOU KNOW YOU'VE "MADE IT" WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR VERY OWN PERSONAL UMBRELLA KID ON A SUNNY DAY IN PARIS*







*SHOW ME YOU'RE FINE MAKING A QUESTIONABLE TACTIC WORSE WITHOUT ACTUALLY SAYING THAT YOU'RE FINE MAKING A QUESTIONABLE TACTIC WORSE*







*AND ALL THE BEST LINES, TOO*









*THE THRILL OF VICTORY: ROLAND GARROS EDITION*










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1. Madrid QF - Hailey Baptiste def. Aryna Sabalenka
...2-6/6-2/7-6(6). After having failed to convert on six MP vs. Belinda Bencic a round earlier (but getting the win on #7), Baptiste *saved* six MP vs. Sabalenka to notch her first career #1 win and end Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak and run of appearances in consecutive event finals at five (dating back to the WTAF).

The 3rd set evolved into a mini-masterpiece in its own right, as Sabalenka seemed to have escaped Baptiste's trap more than once to emerge unscathed. She'd recovered from going down love/40 at 2-2, only to see Baptiste again take a love/40 lead two games later and get the break. But Sabalenka immediately broke back to stay ahead.

Up 5-4 on Baptiste's serve, Sabalenka had her first two MP at 15/40, but Baptiste went on to save a total of *five* MP in the game (two w/ serve-and-volley moves on second serves, and another with a drop/lob combo) as the Bannerette began a run of sometimes-brilliant shotmaking under pressure.



Baptiste held for 5-5, then a game later set up a BP opportunity with a shocking running forehand winner down the line from well off the court.



Cued up to that specific point...



A Sabalenka error gave Baptiste the chance to serve out the win, but with the score knotted a 30/30 a DF and Sabalenka second serve return winner down the line forced a deciding TB.

Up 4-1, Sabalenka again seemed on her way to closing out the win, but Baptiste had another surge left in her. She erased the mini-break lead, getting the breaker back on serve at 5-4. But a slightly long forehand shot handed Sabalenka a sixth MP, this time on her own serve. With a backhand winner up the line perfectly set up, well ahead of Baptiste as she tried to get back into the rally from the other side of the court, Sabalenka's attempt to end the match slid *just* wide.

Sabalenka wouldn't win another point. A forehand error gave Baptiste her first MP at 7-6, then Baptiste's big swinging forehand seemed to be heading long before it suddenly dropped out of the air and landed in the corner. Everyone waited for a possible out call, but it never came, as the ball had found its way inside the court to close out Sabalenka's reign in Spain and lift Baptiste's (pre-knee injury at RG, as it turned out) game to another level in her quickly-rising career.


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2. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Coco Gauff
...4-6/7-6(1)/6-4. Potapova was the biggest breakout star of this clay season. More than Marta Kostyuk, who has nibbled on the edges of stardrom for a while now. More than Hailey Baptiste, who shined brightly in Madrid (def. Sabalenka) but couldn't follow up in Rome before her devastating exit via a knee injury in Paris. In a way, more than Maja Chwalinska, at least in that Potapova's star-turn covered multiple events rather than *just* the biggest one.

The newly-Austrian-ized Potapova reached the Linz final, the Madrid semis (as a lucky loser) and then the Rome Round of 16 (as a qualifier) before carrying over her new status to the draw at Roland Garros, where she'd already reached the second week once in her career (in 2024). Early round wins over Maya Joint and Katie Boulter were good, but not great, signs that Potapova might be a force to be reckoned with in this event. But the notion surely lingered.

But could the #28-seed *really* rise to the occasion against the defending champion (Gauff) in the biggest clay court event in the world on the most famous clay court in the sport (Philippe-Chatrier)?

Well, in a word. Yep.

While Potapova stated her case throughout the day in what turned out to be a crucible of a match, maybe the only *true* one on the women's side at this major (one epic collapse aside), it was never wise to underestimate Gauff, who has shown she can win with or without her best game on the big stage (see RG25), and with or without her best weapon, her backhand (I mean, other than her legs). As long as Gauff has her resilience -- which she pretty much always does -- she's never to be counted out.

In the 1st, Gauff staged a comeback from 4-2, after finding herself two BP from being down a double-break. Holding in game 7 to keep close, Gauff ran off four straight games to steal the 1st set.

Right on cue, Potapova raced to another big lead in the 2nd, this time getting her double-break edge at 3-0. She had game points for 4-0, but Gauff broke her serve to avoid a runaway. It set off a string of six straight breaks of serve, as Potapova got her double-break lead back, gave it away, and then got it back again to lead 5-2. Serving for the set, Potapova held two SP (briefly converting one that was overturned on a mark check after she thought she'd leveled the match), but was broken for 5-3.

Gauff held to end the streak, then broke Potapova as she served for the set again, tying things up at 5-5. At 6-5, Gauff got within two points of the win, but Potapova held to force a TB and then went on to dominate it. She led 5-0, and won 7-1.

It was Gauff who took the break lead at 2-1 in the 3rd. A game later, Potapova led 15/30, but two consecutive backhand errors opened a path for a Gauff hold for 3-1. But momentum swing the other way again, and things were soon tied at 3-3.

At that point, a Potapova DF put her down 30/40, but she managed the hold for 4-3 as the match hung in the balance on a game-by-game basis, with the Austrian continuing to hit out on her shots and keeping her emotions in check (deep breath) on costly misses. Two games later, Potapova held for 5-4, edging closer to the finish.

Gauff led 30/love in game 9, but a DF (her 8th) tied the score at 30/30. A Potapova down the line winner set up her first MP, and moments later Gauff framed a forehand off a deep shot off the line, handing Potapova a monumental victory.


===============================================
3. Roland Garros SF - Maja Chwalinska def. Diana Shnaider
...7-6(4)/6-4. The penultimate chapter in *the* storybook story on the terre battue this spring.



One could easily mistake the SF between #25 Shnaider and qualifier Chwalinska as a 1st Round match in Strasbourg, not a major semifinal for a berth in a slam singles final.

But there was no chance that Chwalinska would even *be* in the MD of Strasbourg. Not because she was too busy playing RG qualifying in Paris at the time a few weeks ago, but because before this slam the 24-year old Pole had only appeared in *four* tour-level MD -- one per season -- between 2023-26. Ranked #114, she played her way into this RG, but as she continued to win she was worried about having the money to pay for her unexpectedly extended stay at a hotel while she was visiting the city.

My, how quickly things can change.

But what does stay true about women's tennis is that no matter how big the babes get, or how hard they hit the ball, there's always room for a small player with a versatile game, a creative mind, and the ability to remain calm in the face of the storm going on both around and inside her.

That became the very definition of Chwalinska as a player at this year's Roland Garros.

At the moment, there is maybe no one quite like her, riding a wave of lovable, did-I-do-that? disbelief in a creative game style that until the past two weeks had never been quite enough to even allow her to crack the Top 100, nor post a Top 50 win, reach a tour-level semifinal or even win more than just one match (almost four year ago at SW19) in her two previous slam MD appearances. The last time a qualifier truly took a major by storm, Emma Raducanu had *at least* reached the second week of Wimbledon in her lone major before her qualifier-to-champion run in New York a few months later.

Chwalinska's is almost a blank slate, but one now filled up with a racket bag full of memories that no one -- not just her -- will ever truly forget. Humble, with an everyone's "little sister" feel having developed around her over the course of the event, Chwalinska is clearly more than initially may meet the eye. Having battled injuries, depression and a size/power deficit pretty much every time she walks onto a tennis court in order to get here, the Pole's resilience, smarts and inventiveness became *the* story of the this Roland Garros.

On the other side of the net from Chwalinska, Shnaider was not a big ball basher, though her variety of shots at least made her closer in form to Chwalinska herself than the like of the Sabalenkas and Rybakinas of the WTA tour. The Hordette didn't reach *her* maiden slam semi with a fairy tale (only maybe more fanciful) run ala her opponent, but had done it by reeling off love 3rd set wins over Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka, benefiting just one day earlier from the world #1's epic collapse on a windy Chatrier.

With a closed roof and better tactics, the two settled into a 1st set here that was filled with long rallies and stunning winners. Thing is, Shnaider, especially with less rest between matches, paid for it. Meanwhile, Chwalinska *caused* it, an act that allowed her mini-legend to grow three sizes on this day.

Chwalinska held in a three-deuce game to start, then Shnaider saved a BP to hold in game 2. But after that the two would combine for one of the more enjoyable first sets you'll find in tennis this year, lasting as long (at 1:18) as the entire SF that preceded it, and filled with a series of slices, drops shots, lobs, surprising crosscourt passes, balls chased into the margins and points extended beyond reason that ended up going to the player who was, once again, "the most tenacious."

Oh, and *Shnaider* was pretty darn good in her own right, too.

After exchanging breaks of serve in games 4 and 5, both would manage to hold until reaching a tie-break faceoff. Shnaider took early 3-1 and 4-2 leads, but then Chwalinska's magic racket denied yet another opponent glory at this RG (make that #9). The Pole's drop shot tied things up at 4-4, then two points later she guessed right (I mean, unless she's psychic or something... hmm, you don't think?) on a Shnaider choice of shot on a ball at the net, reflexively lobbing a winner over the Hordette to reach SP. Shanider's missed backhand down the line put the qualifier, with the 7-4 win, one set from reaching an unexpected -- to stay the least - major final.



As the 2nd set played out, one thing was clear -- well, other than that the match's highlights package was going to be SICK -- and it was that Chwalinska wasn't going anywhere.

The two again exchanged breaks (this time in games 1 & 2), as well as visits from a physio after their physically draining opening set, but even as the rallies grew just a *tad* shorter because one of the two might occasionally wish to bring things to a close, for their own good, the head-spinning, smile-inducing, old-school nature of the creativity brought to mind any number of matches in years past involving Chwalinska's countrywoman, the incomparable Aga Radwanska.

Finally, not surprisingly, it was Chwalinska who drew the final blood in the match, going up 15/40 on Shnaider's serve in game 9, again utilizing a drop shot to perfection as the scrambling, tiring Hordette couldn't quite reach it in time to produce another magnficient tennis moment (even if it'd been a case of Maja responding with something *even better*). It gave the Pole a break lead at 5-4.

Serving for the match (and the final, unbelievably), Chwalinska took a 40/15 lead and, as it should have been, she ended things on her own terms with a backhand winner down the line to win a sure-fire nominee for the "Best Straight Sets Match" of 2026.



The match produced nearly fifty rallies of nine or more shots, with Chwalinska holding a commanding 31-18 lead.

Chwalinska became the second qualifier in the Open era to reach a major final (after Raducanu in 2021... has it been *five* years already?), the first to ever do it at Roland Garros, and just the third woman (after Evonne Goolagong in 1971, and Chris Evert in 1973) to reach the final in Paris in her first MD appearance in the tournament.



Oh, and like I said...


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4. Stuttgart QF - Elena Rybakina def. Leylah Fernandez
...6-7(5)/6-4/7-6(6). In a three-hour push-and-pull battle, Rybakina prevails to deny the Canadian her biggest win since her 2021 U.S. Open final run (def. then #2-Sabalenka in the SF).

Fernandez held a pair of SP in the 1st at 5-2, and served for the set at 5-4, but Rybakina forced a TB. The Canadian still won the set on SP #6. Then, in the 2nd, Rybakina ralled from 4-2 down to win 6-4.

In the 3rd, Fernandez again got the early break (3-2) and served for the win at 5-4, holding a MP before Rybkina broke on BP #2 to level the score at 5-5. In a deciding TB, again, Fernandez got the early lead, serving two at 3-2 (losing both) as well as 5-4 (a split), and held another MP at 6-5. But Rybakina surged last, sweeping the final three points and -- on her first MP -- pushed Fernandez outside the lines and then fired a forehand winner into the court behind her to close out the victory.


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5. Madrid 4th Rd. - Hailey Baptiste def. Belinda Bencic
...6-1/6-7(14)/6-3. Baptiste *had* this match in her back pocket in the 2nd, and she knew it. After quickly taking the 1st, she held her first MP at 6-5 in the 2nd set. And then the journey began.

Bencic broke to force a TB by converting on her fourth BP of game 12, then took a 4-1 lead in the breaker. But Baptiste rallied to reach double MP at 6-4. She got neither, and went on to have three *more* MP in the TB (giving her six in all in the set) before Bencic knotted the match on her own sixth SP to win a 30-point breaker at 16-14.

Baptiste didn't handle the whole situation very well in the moment, and proceeded to treat everyone to some *top-notch* racket destruction (Mr.Medvedev would like a word...).



But she left the frustration behind in the 2nd set and its immediate aftermath, and rebounded to put away her third Top 12 win (w/ Svitolina and Paolini) in a matter of weeks, albeit a little later in the day than it needed to be.


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6. BJK Cup Qualifiers M4 - Yulia Putintseva/KAZ def. Bianca Andreescu/CAN
...7-6(5)/3-6/7-6(4). Putintseva has a history of long battles in Cup play, no matter the level of opponent, but she's often come up short in such situations. Not this time.

Andreescu led 5-3 in the 1st, holding a SP on Putintseva's serve, but the Kazakh pushed things to a TB and used her early advantage there to take the lead in the match. In the 3rd, back-to-back breaks opened the set, as Putintseva broke the Canadian on BP #3 in an eight-deuce game 2 (Andreescu had six GP) to tie things at 1-all. They traded breaks again in games 7/8, as Putintseva leveled things once more after falling behind, then she saved four BP to hold for a 6-5 edge.

Things went to a TB, won 7-4 by the Kazakh, but ended unceremoniously by a second serve that Andreescu will surely try (as hard as it may be to do after battling for 3:39 only to come up short) to forget as soon as possible. Andreescu was also part of the losing CAN doubles match earlier in the day.


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7. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Iva Jovic
...7-6(5)/6-7(3)/6-4. The sun was good to Naomi Osaka on the middle Saturday in Paris. For one, it made her glittery entrance all the more sparkly, and then it shined a light on a resilience on clay courts that used to be a trait that the four-time hard court major champion simply did not possess.



The #16 seed faced off with 18-year old #17 seed Iva Jovic for a berth in the Round of 16, with the two engaging in a nearly three-hour battle in which they were knotted up on the scoreboard deep into both the 1st and 2nd sets, and threatened to repeat the process in the 3rd.

Osaka failed to put away either of a pair of BP chances at 6-5 in the opener, but went on to win a 7-5 TB on her fifth SP. The 2nd went to a TB, as well, this time with the teenager getting a 7-3 win to send things to a 3rd set.

With Jovic already with a slam QF under her belt at the AO this season, and Osaka seeking to reach the second week in Paris for the first time in her career, the decider nearly saw a replay of the first two sets, but Osaka got the first and only break of serve in the final stanza at just the right time, breaking Jovic to take the set 6-4.


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8. Madrid 4th Rd. - Mirra Andreeva def. Anna Bondar
...6-7(5)/6-3/7-6(5). One that *didn't* slip away, as well as foreshadowed the near future, as perhaps Andreeva seemed to be be starting to get her teenage emotions more under control here. The 19-year old avoided giving away a locked-in victory over a third straight Hungarian opponent in Madrid. Of course, that only came after dancing along the edge of oblivion once more...



After not serving out the 1st set at 6-5, then dropping a tie-break, Andreeva nearly squandered a 5-1 edge in the 3rd. After being unable to convert a MP at 5-3 she was taken by Bondar to another TB. *This* one didn't get away, as Andreeva won it 7-5 to reach the Madrid QF for a third straight year.


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*TWILIGHT ZONE: THE TENNIS MATCH*

Bogota Final - Caroline Dolehide/Irina Khromacheva def. Valeriya Strakhova/Anastasia Tikhonova
...7-6(5)/6-4. Dolehide and Khromacheva (also Russian) won this title, with Dolehide taking tour win #3 and Khromacheva #9 (third in Bogota, in her fourth final at the event), preventing Strakhova and Tikhonova from being the first maiden WTA doubles champions of 2026.

Tikhonova led the ITF circuit in the 1st Quarter with three doubles title (won w/ three different partners, none of them being Strakhova).



But the glaring combination of nations here is more interesting, with Strakhova representing Ukraine and Tikhonova being "flagless" as a Russian representative, at a time when the Ukrainian players still do not shake the hands of Russian opponents (or, usually, those of players who formerly represented Russia -- Kasatkina excluded -- or, in the case of Oliynykova, players from *other* nations who have played any sort of organized event in Russia since February 2022).

Thing is, this isn't as "norm-shattering" as it might appear, though, as the two have been occasionally playing together the last few seasons, winning 125 and $100K titles in '25. Strakhova was born in Crimea, an area close to the Russian border that was (illegally) annexed by Russia more than a decade ago, and Strakhova is seen by the Ukrainian tennis community as being "pro-Russia" despite her still officially playing under the flag of Ukraine (something they can't prevent her from doing).

Still an interesting situation.

From 2023:



BTW, in the 1st Round, Dolehide/Khromacheva had survived an April Fool's Day *44-point* 2nd set TB (23-21) to defeat Estelle Cascino & Nicole Fossa Huergo in straight sets.




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*BEST IN A LOSING EFFORT*

BJK Cup Qualifiers Q M1 - Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Marie Bouzkova/CZE 6-3/6-7(4)/6-3
BJK Cup Qualifiers Q M3 - Bencic/Golubic (SUI) def. Valentova/Vondrousova (CZE) 6-7(4)/7-6(0)/6-1
...if things had gone just a *bit* differently (as in converting one of her three MP vs. Noskova), Bencic would have been *the* star of 2026's first Cup weekend. As it is, the two wins in which she played a hand will have to stand as a testament to her overall effort, even if it all ultimately went for naught.



Bouzkova turned the opening match of the tie into tone-setting battle, rallying frm 6-3/3-0 (double-break) down, saving three BP to take a 6-5 lead, then staging a comeback from 4-1 down in the TB to force a 3rd. Bencic won it, but the die was cast.

Teamed up for doubles, Bencic & Golubic lost a 3-1 lead in the 1st, dropping the opener, and let a 4-2 edge slip away in the 2nd. But the Swiss dominated a 7-0 breaker, then took the 3rd at 6-1. A match later, Bencic was a point away (three times) from sending Switzerland to Shenzhen.

But, you know, the Czechs.

In all, Bencic spent 7:43 on the court spread out over three matches... for nothing.


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*TO BE FILED AWAY FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION*



Saint-Malo 125 QF - Tereza Valentova def. Lilli Tagger
...7-5/7-5. A first meeting between two of the hottest commodities amongst the NextGen set, and it lived up to the billing when it came to competitiveness.

In the 1st, 19-year old Valentova's 3-1 lead was turned into a 3-4 deficit by 18-year old Tagger. Serving in game 8, the Czech saved five BP to get the hold, then broke the Austrian to re-take the lead at 5-4. But she couldn't put away a SP a game later, as the set was tied again at 5-5. Valentova closed strongly, immediately breaking back and holding to take the set at 7-5.

Continuing what would be a theme throughout the day, Valentova saved a handful of BP in the second game of the 2nd, denying Tagger on five occasions to get the hold. But the two then proceeded to exchange breaks over the following two games. After leading 5-3, Valentova again couldn't put away a big point on serve -- a MP at 5-4 -- and was broken, but quickly got her break edge back a game later and served for the win at 6-5.

Valentova saved three more BP in game 12 -- making Tagger just 4-of-21 on BP chances for the day -- and secured the win on her fourth MP (third in the game).




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*REAL PLAYERS OF THE WTA TOUR: THE RULES OF TENNIS ETIQUETTE (Clay Court Edition)*

Roland Garros 2nd Rd. - Tamara Korpatsch def. Wang Xinyu
...6-2/2-6/6-3. All right, controversy in 3-2-1... bam.

And, no, it didn't include Ostapenko. It involved Korpatsch, no stranger to being angered by opponents (or doubles partners) who don't meet a certain standard (hers), and #32 seed Wang, (I don't believe) with no real history of skirting rules and/or angering anyone, as Korpatsch's ultimate three-set victory didn't include a post-match handshake -- though their hands were tantalizingly close, maybe out of habit -- because the German was still angry about her Chinese opponent crossing over onto her side of the court to look at and argue a line call (Wang received an unsportsmanlike penalty), with a bit of a shade of that moment with Martina Hingis (now) quite a while ago.








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1. Rome 1st Rd. - Anastasia Zakharova def. Dayana Yastremska
...4-6/7-5/7-6(6). One would be hard-pressed to find a more devastating way to lose a match than the way Yastremska lost this one.

After having already blown a 6-4/4-2 lead and being sent to a 3rd set by Hordette Zakharova, the Ukrainian managed to flip the script *back* by saving a pair of MP (at 6-5) and forcing a deciding TB. She then raced to a 6-1 lead, holding *quintuple* MP. But it wasn't a big enough scoreboard edge.

Zakharova swept the final seven points, winning 8-6. It still wasn't enough to earn a handshake, though.



BTW, the WTA's YouTube highlight package for this match was three minutes long, but somehow manage to show *zero* of the five consecutive MP that Zakharova saved (it literally jumps from Yastremska leading 2-0 in the 3rd to Zakharova's converted MP in the TB). It did show Yastremska's understandable reaction to the loss, though.



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2. Rome 2nd Rd. - Anna Kalinskaya def. Katerina Siniakova
...4-6/7-6(4)/7-5. Siniakova's loss in Rome wasn't quite as instantly dramatic (i.e. all her MP weren't consecutive), but she nearly doubled the aforementioned Yastremska's number of squandered MP on the day.

They *did* have almost the identical reaction to their shared situation, though the Czech didn't wait until the match was over for hers...



Siniakova led 6-4/4-2, serving for the match at 5-3 and then having five MP in game 9 on Kalinskaya's serve. The Hordette survived, then won a 7-4 TB to force a 3rd set.

In the decider, Siniakova led 5-3 once again, and served at 5-4, holding four *more* MP (for 9 in all) before dropping serve. Two games later, Kalinskaya broke serve again to complete the 3:29 comeback.


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3. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Leylah Fernandez def. Zeynep Sonmez
...6-7(2)/6-1/7-6(5). After posting her first career Top 10 win over Jasmine Paolini in the 1st Round, Sonmez seemed well on her way to a second Top 25 victory vs. the Canadian. Then Fernandez found some of her Leylah Magic.

Sonmez had rallied from 4-1 down in the 1st to serve for the set at 5-4 and 6-5 (holding a SP in the latter), but had to go to a TB to take the match lead. After Fernandez tied things up by taking the 2nd, the Turk raced to a 5-1 lead in the decider. Game, set, match... right?

Umm, no. Despite serving three times for the match -- only to be broken at 15, 30 and 15 -- Sonmez saw Fernandez force another breaker (the closest the Turk got to the win came at 30/30 at 5-3 on return). In the TB, Sonmez led again at 5-4, only to drop the last three points as the Canadian pulled off one of the biggest, no-MP-faced comebacks of the season.


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4. Madrid 4th Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Coco Gauff
...6-4/1-6/7-6(5). Noskova recovers from losing ten of twelve games after taking the 1st set, dropping the 2nd and falling behind 4-1 in the 3rd.

After taking the match to a deciding tie-break, the Czech had to erase a 3-0 deficit before winning 7-5 to record her first win over Gauff in three tries (though they hadn't played since 2023, before the Czech's recent rise up the rankings) and get just her second career Top 10 win on clay (first since def. Ostapenko in Stuttgart two years ago).


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5. Roland Garros 2nd Rd. - Camila Osorio def. Yulia Putintseva
...7-5/6-7(6)/7-5. Osorio's clay season wasn't up to her usual standards this year. Her usual annual run in Bogota ended in the 2nd Round, and she went 1-2 in Madrid/Rome. Only a 125 SF run in Parma, and then a quick pre-Paris trip to Rabat (she reached the QF), offered her a life preserver in the closing weeks. Apparently, she took her second chance to heart, and played her way into the RG 3rd Round for the first time in her career. It's her best result at a major since her 3rd Round at Wimbledon back in 2021. That run came in just second major MD, *nineteen* slam events ago.

The Colombian took out #14 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the 1st Round, and then outlasted Yulia Putintseva in a 3:30 marathon in the Parisian heat.

It didn't *have* to take so long, as Osorio held three MP at 5-4 in the 2nd set, then rallied from 4-2 down in a TB to have MP #4 at 6-5. Putintseva won the breaker 8-6 to force a 3rd set. The Kazakh took a 5-3 lead in the decider, and served for the match (getting within two points at 30/30). But the sixth break of serve in the first nine games of the 3rd kept Osorio alive.

Putintseva then went on to drop serve again two games later, allowing Osorio to serve out the win, converting MP #5.


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6. Rome 4th Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Iva Jovic
...5-7/7-5/6-2. After recovering from a double-break 3rd set deficit vs. Solana Sierra in the previous round, Gauff walked even *closer* to the cliff's edge vs. Jovic.

The younger Bannerette rallied from 3-1 down in the 1st to take the match lead, then led 5-3 in the 2nd, with a MP on serve before Gauff managed to get the break on her third BP of the game. Gauff then swept the next three games in the set, and finally took control in the 3rd. to better her Madrid result in her second of three big clay court defenses (Madrid/Rome finals, RG title) this spring.



Gauff's eventual run to the Rome final proved to be her best clay result of the year. Still, after posting RU-RU-W results in Madrid/Rome/RG in 2025, going 17-3, she took a step back with 4r-RU-3r finishes (9-3) this year.
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7. Rouen 1st Rd. - Jaqueline Cristian def. Sarah Rakotomanga
...2-6/7-6(5)/7-5. Rakotomanga led 6-2/5-3, and held three MP at 5-4 on Cristian's serve in the 2nd set before the Romanian forced a TB. The Pastry held a third MP at 6-5 in the breaker, but Cristian surged back to win 8-6.

Rakotomanga got a *third* chance to put Cristian away, but it still didn't prove to be a charm. She led 4-0 in the decider, and served at 5-3 before Cristian swept the final five games to advance.




Madrid 2nd Rd. - Jaqueline Cristian def. Yuliia Starodubtseva
...3-6/7-6(5)/6-4. A lucky loser who recorded a 1st Round win, Charleston finalist Starodubtseva led 6-3/4-2 here. After she and Cristian exchanged a pair of breaks over a four-game stretch, the Ukrainian served for the win at 6-5 and held three MP.

Cristian forced a TB, where she rallied from 4-2 down to win 7-5, then went on to take the 3rd at 6-4 to claim her tour-leading third win this season after having faced a MP.
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8. Rome 2nd Rd. - Karolina Pliskova def. Jaqueline Cristian
...6-7(5)/7-6(2)/6-4. It was Cristian who pulled the rabbit out of her hat in the 1st, first breaking back to level the score at 2-2 (on BP #4), then saving seven BP in game 7 to hold for 4-3. The Romanian then ralled from 5-4 down in the TB to take the match lead. She took a 6-5 lead in the 2nd, holding three MP. Pliskova saved all three, then raced to a 6-0 TB lead en route to taking the breaker 7-2 to knot the match.

After Cristian grabbed an early break lead (2-0), Pliskova took control and soon went up 5-3. After failing to convert her first MP on Cristian's serve, the Czech did so on her own on MP #3 to end the 3:12 contest.

It's Cristian's first match lost in 2026 after having held match point.
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9. Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Hailey Baptiste def. Barbora Krejickova
...6-7(7)/7-6(6)/6-2. Baptiste and Krejcikova had a thing going on.



#26-seeded Baptiste, a semifinalist in Madrid (where she notched two Top 10 wins, including an upset of #1 Aryna Sabalenka after saving six MP), nearly became the first seeded woman to exit this year's RG. But the resilience she showed often in Madrid (where she also bounced back after *failing* to convert six MP and losing a 30-point TB before downing Belinda Bencic in three sets) made another appearance, just in time.

Krejcikova, an RG champ in '21, is always lurking, if she can just be in the physical condition to put on a run, well, she could win anywhere. But she can only extend herself *so many* times at this stage of her comeback, and her previous week's run to a 125 final likely gave her a limited path to victory here. She nearly traveled down it, though.

Krejcikova saved a SP in the 1st at 6-5 in an opening TB, and claimed the breaker 9-7 on her own second SP. In the 2nd, she again denied Baptiste a pair of SP at 6-5, and on a hot day it was imperative that she get off the court in two sets if she was going to have a decent shot to advance. Forcing a TB, she took a 4-2 lead. But Baptiste slapped a forehand return winner to get back on serve at 4-3, giving one pause about what was about to happen (as tends to happen with the Czech contingent, who find themselves in get-off-the-court-now-or-else-your-body-will-make-you-pay situations quite a bit).

But Baptiste gave the mini-break edge back a point later, and it seemed as if Krejcikova might just escape after all. She held double MP at 6-4, but two (tired?) forehand errors (along w/ a Baptiste second serve that skipped off the net cord on MP and landed in the box) pulled her back from the finish. Baptiste's backhand winner down the line gave her her third SP, and Krejickova's dumped volley gave the Bannerette a fourth straight point and 8-6 win, knotting the match.



As feared, Krejcikova labored through the 3rd set, dropping serve to go down 1-0 and soon trailing 4-1. She managed to carve out two BP in game 6 to provide herself a faint hope, but it was only that. Baptiste held for 5-1, and won soon afterward.
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10. Rome 3rd Rd. - Elise Mertens def. Jasmine Paolini
...4-6/7-6(5)/6-3. The wins-from-MP-down avalanche of results in Rome continued into the weekend, as Paolini's attempt to defend her '25 crown was run off the road despite the Italian leading 6-4/4-2 and hold three MP on Mertens' serve at 6-5.

After her first eight career Top 10 wins came on hard court between 2017-21, the dirt has provided the most likely big stage for Mertens since. Career Top 10 win #13 is her fourth on clay in the last five, from 2021-26.


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11. Bogota SF - Panna Udvardy def. Emiliana Arango
...6-7(6)/6-3/7-6(5). Udvardy wins the nearly three-hour battle to reach her maiden tour final, staging comebacks in the 1st and 3rd sets to advance.

In the opening set, Udvardy led 4-2 and held a SP at 5-4 (on return), only to see Arango surge back and hold a SP of her own at 6-5. Things went to a TB, where the Colombian finally took the set on her third SP (8-6). In the 2nd, Udvardy swept the final four games to win 6-3 and force a decider.

The 3rd saw Arango lead 5-2 and twice serve for the win, but Udvardy forced a TB and won it 7-5, preventing Arango from becoming the ninth Colombian to reach the Bogota final in the event's 28-edition history (after four-time champ Fabiola Zuluaga, one-time winner Mariana Duque Marino and three-time champ Camila Osorio, who have combined to go 8-0 in the tournament final).


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12. Charleston 2nd Rd. - Jessie Pegula def. Yulia Putintseva 4-6/6-4/7-5
Charleston 3rd Rd. - Jessie Pegula def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6/6-1/7-6(1)
...Pegula was winless against players from Kazakhstan in 2026, and had to fight to avoid falling to Putintseva after having already gone 0-3 against Elena Rybakina this season.

Putintseva led 2-0 in the 3rd, but Pegula climbed back into the set and, at 5-5, got the break on her fifth BP of game 11. Serving for the win, she quickly went up 40/love and served out the "W" to avoid a deciding TB.

Peglua is now 4-0 vs. Putintseva.

A round later, Pegula was taken to the edge again before rallying from 4-1 down in the 3rd vs. Cocciaretto before ultimately claiming a 7-1 TB to keep her title defense hopes alive.



And it didn't end there, as in the QF Pegula staged a comeback to win in three after dropping the opening set to Diana Shnaider, and *then* was taken to three sets in a victory over Iva Jovic in the semis. She took the final in straights, though, claiming her second consecutive Charleston title.
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HM- Rabat QF - Jil Teichmann def. Yasmine Kabbaj
...6-1/5-7/7-6(6). Moroccan Kabbaj's historic QF run nearly (and probably should've) had still another chapter, as she led Teichmann 4-2 in the 3rd, held two MP on serve at 5-4, 40/15 and then a third when leading 6-5 in the deciding TB.

Teichmann swept the final three points to get the win, reaching her first tour SF since her runner-up in Iasi last July.


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*NO, NOT AGAIN...*

Parma 125 SF - Dayana Yastremska def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
...7-6(5)/6-7(4)/7-6(5). Having gone to Parma and become a late entrant there after falling in the 1st Round in Rome despite holding quintuple MP vs. Anastasia Zakharova, Yastremska found herself in another predicament against Bouzas Maneiro.

On Friday, play was suspended with Yastremska serving for the 1st set at 6-5, 40/40. When play resumed a day later, she was broken (after having had two SP) and taken to a TB, finally winning it 7-5. She led 4-0 in the 2nd, holding four MP at 5-4, then two more at 6-5. But Bouzas Maneiro forced and won a TB to take things to a decider.

There, the Spaniard raced to a 4-1 lead. But, Yastremska trials and tribulations aside, no one loses leads like Bouzas Maneiro, and she did it again here. Yastremska rallied to force a third TB, which she won (again) at 7-5 to end the 3:27 contest.


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*ALONA WHO?*

Stuttgart QF - Mirra Andreeva def. Iga Swiatek
...3-6/6-4/6-3. Well, it's a good thing Wim Fissette wasn't there. I mean, he *was* the problem, after all. Right?

Against Andreeva, Swiatek proved that she could let slip an advantage (or two) and then watch the entire match fall away without the Belgian's assistance. She sure showed him.

Acting in the role of Ostapenko's proxy after she'd beaten the Latvian in the previous round to prevent Ostapenko/Swiatek VII (Alona leads 6-0 in the series), Andreeva improved her *own* record against the Pole to 3-1, staging a comeback from a set down to hand the two-time Stuttgart champ her sixth straight Top 10 defeat while picking up the first of her own since last summer's Wimbledon (and her first on clay since the '24 RG).

Swiatek claimed the 1st set, and had an opening to possibly get the chance to serve for the match in the 2nd, but couldn't pull off the break at 4-4, up 15/30 on Andreeva's serve. The Russian held, then broke Swiatek to knot the match.

After Andreeva had pushed things to a 3rd set, Swiatek was on the edge of taking over again. Up an early break, she held a BP for a double-break, 3-0 lead, but the teenager held to get back on serve, then broke her in Swiatek's next two service games as she won just one of the final seven games of the match.



Swiatek's Top 10 losing streak would end in Rome (def. Pegula), though she's still 2-9 since winning in Cincinnati last summer; while this win proved to be Andreeva's *only* Top 10 win of the '26 clay season (and the entire year heading into the grass). But I doubt she cares much after lifting the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen.



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*NEW CAPTAIN, SAME OL' CZECHS...*

BJK Cup Qualifiers M4 - Linda Noskova/CZE def. Belinda Bencic/SUI
...6-3/3-6/7-6(9). Czech Cup history, already filled will too many big moments to count, added another with this one, as Noskova came within a point -- on three Bencic MP -- of seeing the maiden tie of Barbora Strycova's captaincy end in defeat, only to come roaring back and hand the baton to Marie Bouzkova to take over the finish line.

In the 3rd set, Bencic twice saved a pair of BP in games 2 and 4, and found herself up a break at 4-3. She served for the match (and the tie for the Swiss) at 5-4, but was soon forced to a TB by the Czech.

In the breaker, Noskova led 4-1. But Bencic ran off five of six points to reach MP at 6-5. She'd ultimately have three -- leading also at 7-6 and 8-7 -- before Noskova edged back ahead, finally winning 11-9 on her second MP.



Bouzkova then arrived in the "closer's" position, handing Victorija Golubic a 7-6(4)/6-3 defeat to send the Czechs back to the BJK Cup Finals event.




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1. Roland Garros QF - Diana Shnaider def. Aryna Sabalenka
...3-6/7-5/6-0. This quarterfinal was supposed to be a "stepping stone" for Sabalenka, a stop on her way to returning to the final in Paris and attempting to belatedly claim the Roland Garros title she'd left dangling there a year ago.

But a day that started out being about getting another chance soon turned into one about the weather (specifically, the one *true* tennis variable: the wind), then it soon became about Sabalenka herself. In the end, it was #25-seeded Shnaider -- seen as just a "supporting character" in the drama just a few hours earlier -- who unexpectedly added another chapter to her RG26 story.



As it turned out, while Sabalenka had gone about her business through the first four rounds of this major, and the draw has cooperated to remove many of the players who have served in the "nemesis" role when she's fallen short of claiming slam titles as her own over the years, the trickiest two opponents were lurking in the shadows all along. The aforementioned wind, the traditional bane of the gameday existence of a first-strike power hitter like the world #1, but also Sabalenka herself.

After fighting for years to control her emotions in tight situations, Sabalenka had prevailed to go on to become a multi-major title winner, and is currently closing in fast on a 90-week streak in possession of the top ranking. But even while she's won big, and won often, the whispers of all the major titles she'd managed to let slip through her fingers have lingered and remained. Last year, she lost in two tight (AO/RG) finals before finally "saving" her season with a win in New York. This year, she'd already dropped an AO final in which she wasn't far from claiming the crown, a year after squandering a lead in Melbourne in the title match as she'd tried to three-peat as champion.

This RG was supposed to be different. It was... this time she didn't even reach the final.

The cold, windy conditions on Court Chatrier, with the decision to not close the roof (well, not during *this* match, at least), immediately put Sabalenka on notice. From the start, she struggled to keep her unforced error totals in check, but found a way to keep a step ahead of the reaper, taking a 4-1 lead after saving a pair of BP in game 5, holding serve with a drop shot/forehand combination.

Sabalenka then broke Shnaider to lead 5-1 with a drop shot and backhand pass, having claimed eight of nine points. Serving for the set in game 7, while often having to wait for gusts of wind to settle before attempting her toss, Sabalenka battled out of love/30 hole. She held two SP, DF'ing on the first and then missing on an overhead to fall BP down, before two final forehand errors in succession handed the break to her Hordette opponent.

Getting another chance to finish off the 1st set two games later, Sabalenka again had to erase an early deficit (15/30) and save a BP before finally putting away a 6-3 win on her third SP (with a Shnaider error). The set was a stuggle, but Sabalenka had prevailed.

Having seemingly survived the worst of things, even while still battling the conditions, Sabalenka drove toward the finish. She broke Shnaider at love to go up a double-break in the 2nd set at 4-1, then led 30/love on serve in game 5. But an ill-timed double-fault turned the game, though not the entire day. Not yet.

Shnaider claimed four straight points to cut Sabalenka's break lead in half, then saved a BP a game later, holding for 4-3. But, still, after falling behind love/40 down in game 8, Sabalenka settled herself and followed the routine that has saved her so often in the past, pulling out some big serves (saving, ultimately, four BP) and holding to lead 5-3. Two games later, she served for the win.

While her play was far from crisp, and decidedly choppy, Sabalenka still seemed well-equipped to pull through, and would soon be laughing in her post-match interview as she thanked the Tennis Gods for sparing her on this day, all while hoping that the "wake-up call" would either prove beneficial to her title run, or (most likely) be quickly forgotten. But that didn't happen.

Instead, up 30/15, Sabalenka got too close to the net and reacted awkwardly to a Shnaider shot, pushing a forehand volley out rather than into an open court that would have given her double MP. A forehand error followed, and the world #1 was suddenly BP down again. Shnaider's lefty forehand winner into the corner did the honors this time, breaking Sabalenka to knot the score at 5-5 and getting the young Russian back into the match.

But, little did we know at the time that the match was *already* over. For Sabalenka wouldn't win another game.

After a Shnaider hold to lead 6-5, Sabalenka looked to force a TB (which would seem to have been to her benefit), and led 30/15. But a Shnaider lob winner erased the Belarusian's edge (in more than ways than one), and two points later the set was hers as she avoided a breaker and tied the match at one set each with a 7-5 win.

What happpened over the course of the 3rd set, though, made what happened in the 2nd seem routine.



The start of Sabalenka's total collapse down the stretch today can *officially* (though maybe it happened earlier, when she let the 2nd set slip away) be traced back to her dropping serve in game 2 of the decider after having led 40/15. She held four GP in the game before being broken on Shnaider's fourth BP chance.

From there, Sabalenka, as we've come to know her, was no more on this day. She won just one point in the next two games, falling behind 4-0 and seemingly having no answers are how to turn the tide back in her favor, and no real energy to try to discover any. Meanwhile, while Sabalenka's groundstrokes lost their sting, Shnaider picked up the pace on her own and quickly began to out-hit the most ferocious ball-striker in women's tennis *off the ground*. Surreal.

The Hordette held for 5-0, and then Sabalenka stepped to the service line... to try and avoid a love set. She didn't have any fight left in her, quickly falling behind love/40 and, after a brief stall, went down and out on Shnaider's third MP. Sabalenka lost her last *five* service games, and the last *ten* games of the match.



The loss for Sabalenka comes after she'd won 13 of her previous 14 slam QF matches (not counting an additional walkover win), and ends her streak of six straight SF+ results at majors.

Now we'll have to see just how resilient Sabalenka really is.


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2. Roland Garros 2nd Rd. - Yuliia Starodubtseva def. Elena Rybakina
...3-6/6-1/7-6(10-4). The biggest thump of the early days of RG26 came by the hand of Starodubtseva, who felled the tallest tree in the RG forest of seeds to go down in the opening week, upsetting #2 Rybakina in a three-set battle in which she rallied from an early deficit and then held on late as the reigning AO champ threatened to find an escape hatch leading to the 3rd Round.

The 26-year old Old Dominion University (in Virginia) product has been a part of the MD at the last ten majors, reaching the 3rd Round in Paris a year ago. Earlier this spring, she reached her first tour-level final in Charleston, a loss to Jessie Pegula.

Here, after Rybakina won a 6-3 1st, Starodubtseva, took control in the 2nd set, winning it 6-1 and racing to a double-break lead at 3-0 in the decider. Then things got a bit trickier.

Starodubtseva gave one of the breaks back, but held BPs for 4-1 on Rybakina's serve to get it back. The Kazhak held for 3-2, the saw a BP of her own a game later to get back to even. Starodubteva denied her and got the hold for 4-2, but the Rybakina surge was on. She broke to tie the score at 4-4.

It was then that Starodubtseva held firm. After losing serve in game 8, the Ukrainian lost just one combined *point* in her last two service games in the set, forcing a match tie-break for the 3rd Round.

Things were tied up there at 2-2, but it was the errors (mostly on her forehand side) of Rybakina that ultimately closed the door on a final comeback in the match, opening it wide for Starodubtseva, who soon led 6-2. Starodubtseva reached *sextuple* MP at 9-3, and on her second opportunity saw Rybakina throw in one final forehand error to end the 10-4 MTB as Starodubtseva posted her first career Top 10 win.



Rybakina's 2nd Round exit is the earliest the reigning AO champ has lost in Paris since Naomi Osaka went out in the 2nd Round in 2021. She was the eighth woman's AO champ in the Open era to lose in the 1r/2r at RG.
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3. Rome 3rd Rd. - Sorana Cirstea def. Aryna Sabalenka
...2-6/6-3/7-5. After Sabalenka got off to a hot start, a tweaked back and Cirstea's returns of Sabalenka's diminished second serves led the world #1 down a rarely-traveled path that ended in an early-round exit.

After taking an MTO for her back part-way through the 3rd, Sabalenka managed to get herself back into the set soon afterward, breaking Cirstea as she served for the match at 5-4. But she couldn't back it up, dropping serve again a game later and finally seeing the Romanian serve out first career #1 win at 7-5.

At 36, Cirstea is the fifth-oldest player to defeat a world #1 (behind only Serena, Venus, Martina the Original and BJK), and the oldest to pull off her maiden #1 win. The loss snapped a streak of 17 consecutive tournaments at which Sabalenka made the QFs or better
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4. Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Kimberly Birrell def. Jessie Pegula
...1-6/6-3/6-3. #5-seeded Pegula seemed about to move along, as she led Aussie Birrell 6-1 with a break edge for 2-1 in the 2nd. But from there forward the veteran's hopes simply went off the rails as the world #83 rallied to pull off the biggest upset of her career.



While model-of-consistency, two-years-running Charleston champ Pegula had had just one 1st Round exit in a major since the 2020 RG (at last year's Wimbledon) until this loss, up until her exit in the Rome QF to Iga Swiatek she'd started 2026 with a 28-0 record this season against anyone not named Elena Rybakina (0-3) or Marta Kostyuk (0-2).

Birrell had lost her last *nine* 1st Round matches in majors, and was just 3-13 in slam opening matches in her career.
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5. Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - Diane Parry def. Amanda Anisimova
...6-3/4-6/7-6(10-3). Parry, who was at 0-4 on clay this season just a few weeks earlier, upsets #6-seed Anisimova -- a two-time slam finalist in '25 -- to make it three straight years with a French woman reaching the RG second week (after the home contingent was shut out in three of four years from 2019-23). The win gives Parry her first second week slam run (in MD #21) and a second career Top 10 win, with the other coming over Barbora Krejcikova at RG in 2022.



Parry's 125 win in Paris two weeks prior came with a QF walkover and retirement in the final from Madison Keys, so it was hard to gauge just how ready her game was for RG. But her Round of 16 run saw her upset Anhelina Kalinina, Ann Li and Anisimova.

For Anisimova, RG was her first event since Miami after missing time with a wrist injury.
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6. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Caty McNally def. Victoria Mboko
...6-4/6-1. Mboko falls in her '26 clay court debut, with McNally notching her maiden Top 10 win.


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7. Bogota 2nd Rd. - Jazmin Ortenzi def. Camila Osorio
...7-6(4)/7-6(5). Ortenzi reaches her first WTA QF by taking out the two-time defending and three-time Bogota champ Osorio.

Ortenzi surged to a 5-1 edge in the 1st, but saw her lead slip away and her be unable to serve out the set at 6-5. But the Argentine rallied from 4-1 down to take the TB at 7-4, then immediately jumped ahead in the 2nd, leading by a double-break at 3-1.

But, again, Osorio staged a comeback that saw the Colombian twice serve to knot the match, at 5-4 and 6-5. But when she wasn't able to do so, Ortenzi forced a second TB, then again rallied (from 5-4 down) and swept the final three points to advance.


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8. Rome Q2 - Noemi Basiletti def. Daria Snigur 6-3/6-7(6)/6-4
Rome Q2 - Federica Urgesi def. Veronika Erjavec 6-4/6-1
...both Italians -- #427 Basiletti and #410 Urgesi -- made their way through *pre*-qualifying to earn wild cards into the qualifying draw. Then both played their way into the main draw, too.

Basilietti posted back-to-back Top 100 wins over Emiliana Arango and Snigur, while Urgesi's wins over Renata Zarazua and Erjavec allowed the former junior doubles star (AO23 girls' doubles winner) to play in the Italian Open 1st Round for a *second* straight season. Last year, a wild card allowed her to make her tour-level MD debut (a loss to Andreescu).




Rome 1st Rd. - Noemi Basiletti def. Ajla Tomljanovic
...7-5/6-4. Basiletti carried over her unexpected journey through the opening round whens he knocked off the Aussie in her tour-level MD debut, posting her third Top 100 win of the week.


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*TEAM GB SINKS THE AUSSIES DOWN UNDER*

BJK Cup Qualifiers M1 - Mika Stojsavljevic/GBR def. Talia Gibson/AUS
...7-6(4)/7-5. Gibson came home after posting a 21-4 post-AO mark, but the 17-year old Brit made her Cup debut a memorable one.

Despite losing a 3-1 mid-set edge in the 1st. Stojsavljevic seized control of the TB to take the match lead, then avoided letting the 2nd set slip away in similar fashion. The Brit led 5-2, and served for the win at 5-3, but Gibson pulled even at 5-5. At that point, the teenager saved five BP to hold for a 6-5 lead, then broke the Aussie at 15 to complete the upset. Australia never recovered.



BJK Cup Qualifiers - Great Britain (A) def. Australia (H)
...3-1. Anne Keothavong's British squad, despite two consecutive BJK semifinals (and three in four years), remains the most underrated group in Cup play. Still, one would have been hard-pressed to think that they'd travel all the way to Melbourne with a largely unproven group and take down the home Aussie squad (w/ Sunshine Swing star Talia Gibson leading the way), but that's just what they did.

17-year old Stojsavljevic, the '24 U.S. Open junior champ, only played one match in the tie, but her key opening upset of Gibson in her Cup debut set the tone and pushed the home squad into an unexpected corner; while Harriet Dart's three-set win over Kimberly Birrell to close out Day 1 made the deficit too large for Sam Stosur's group to overcome.

Dart teamed with Jodie Burrage to take down Storm Hunter/Ellen Perez in straights in Match #3 to secure the win in the tie, with the final score only "sullied" by the mop-up win from another 17-year old, as Australia's Emerson Jones defeated Katie Swan to avoid the shutout.







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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:22 AM 

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