Sunday, August 23, 2026

Wk.33- Welcome to Coco, Ohio

Summer is often the time for sequels. Is Coco Gauff about to star in the second installment of her own franchise?







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*WEEK 33 CHAMPIONS*
CINCINNATI (Mason, Ohio), USA (WTA 1000; Hard Outdoor)
S: Coco Gauff/USA def. Jessie Pegula/USA 6-2/6-4
WD: Marie Bouzkova/Linda Noskova (CZE/CZE) def. Magali Kempen/Alexandra Panova (BEL/RUS) 6-1/6-2



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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Coco Gauff/USA
...before Cincinnati, Gauff's season had been a character study of a player proving herself to be perhaps the tour's greatest fighter, but having nothing tangible to show for it in 2026. That changed over the past week, as all the wobbles -- on serve, or with her sometimes-troublesome forehand -- that she so often has to fight *against* and often win *in spite of* worked to her favor, making Gauff's solid forehand and elite speed and defensive skills all that much more effective.

The result was that after briefly being in trouble in her opening match vs. Liudmila Samsonova, trailing by a set and 4-4, Gauff turbo-charged her game at that precise moment and never let up. She didn't drop a set the rest of the way, having to win a TB set in order to finish off Ann Li in the 3rd Round, but other than that never dropping more than four games in any other of her last twelve sets.

Playing at a different level than her opponents, Gauff essentially breezed through the likes of Marie Bouzkova (3 & 2), Marta Kostyuk (2 & 2), Sara Bejlek (4 & 1) and Jessie Pegula (2 & 4 in the final) en route to her 12th career tour title. Cincinnati now represents the first big event (i.e. a major, WTAF or 1000) that Gauff has claimed more than once.

The win gives Gauff her first tour win since last October (Wuhan), ending her streak of losses in finals at two (Miami and Rome this year) and course-corrects her 1-4 mark in 1000 title matches since her win in Bejijing in 2024 (in the interim, of course, she *had* claimed both WTAF and RG titles).

Coco has been here before, and it worked out pretty well for her last time.

Three seasons ago, Gauff starred in a "Summer of Coco" blockbuster, riding a spark from a coaching change en route to 18 wins in 19 matches while claiming titles in Washington and Cincinnati, a stretch that culminated with what was then her maiden major title at the U.S. Open.

After a SF in Toronto before this title run, Gauff is (so far) 9-1 on summer hard courts (and 14-2 going back to her Wimbledon SF) this time around. With the women at the top of WTA, for various reasons, no sure thing heading into this U.S. Open, and with *all* the top rankings in the sport set to be in a state of flux once play begins at Flushing Meadows, no player arrives in the city with more momentum and confidence than Gauff.


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RISERS: Marta Kostyuk/UKR and Iga Swiatek/POL
...after falling to Swiatek in the 4th Round in Toronto in her first tournament since her Wimbledon SF run, her second straight at a major this season, Kostyuk continued her hardcourt momentum with a QF result in Cincinnati that should allow the world #11 to head into the U.S. Open with a Top 10 debut potentially on her racket depending on what happens in New York.

Her latest run saw Kostyuk join with Peyton Stearns to spoil the doubles return of the Williams sisters, then string together a trio of wins in singles. After rallying from 3-0 down in the 3rd to defeat Sofia Kenin, the Ukrainian took out Sloane Stephens in straights despite the veteran having led 3-1 in the 1st and served for the 2nd set. Kostyuk's eighth Top 10 win of the season (tying for the tour lead) saw her defeat Mirra Andreeva in their fourth meeting this year, eclipsing the teenager for a third time (though in their biggest match, in the RG semis, it was the Hordette who prevailed en route to her maiden slam title).

Coco Gauff left nary a crack in the door frame for Kostyuk to get her foot through in a 2 & 2 QF defeat that nonetheless left her with her second-best 1000 result of the sesaon (behind only her Madrid title run).



Meanwhile, with her big Toronto result coming just in the nick of time, Swiatek made the quick trip to Cincinnati looking to double-up on her sudden new/old success a year after winning the title there. She had a good week, but ultimately came up short in the SF with too many big misses at big moments to return to the final.

Things started well, though, with a 3 & love win over Emiliana Arango, then a 1 & 1 whiteswash of Maria Sakkari after dropping the 1st set against the Greek. With an almost immediate re-clash with Elena Rybakina after having dusted off the Kazakh in the Toronto final, and with Rybakina just two wins from claiming the #1 ranking, a retirement due to a foot injury ended things early as Swiatek advanced to her fourth straight SF in Cincinnati after playing just five games (Iga was up 4-1).

After claiming the 2nd set to take her SF with Jessie Pegula to a 3rd, Swiatek led 3-1 but couldn't hold off the Bannerette down the stretch as she held BP in Swiatek's last three service games, breaking to get back on serve in game 5 and then again to take the lead for good at 5-4 (w/ an Iga DF on Pegula's fourth BP of the game). Pegula then served out the win.

Now the question will be whether Swiatek's good results in the two biggest pre-Open summer hard court events -- during which she won ten straight matches -- will carry on with her to Flushing Meadows, or whether her faltering moments vs. Pegula will linger longer. Based on Iga's recent history, it's probably a 50/50 proposition.

While her Toronto run positively massaged her numbers for the past year, Swiatek's loss in Cincy gives her a 1-9 record in her last ten SF appearances. She's 5-10 vs. Top 10 opponents since winning the Cincinnati title last year, but *is* 4-2 in her last six opportunities beginning this spring.


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SURPRISE: Wang Xiyu/CHN
...much of Wang's week-plus in Cincinnati saw her opponents either wilting, retiring or deciding to not play her at all, but her overall finish added another item to what has been a pretty remarkable season resume that has mostly taken place below tour-level.

After ending 2025 at #174, Wang didn't start her season until late March. She quickly made up for lost time, though, winning her first 13 matches and putting together a 21-1 run right out of the gate while winning three ITF titles (2 $50K and a $35K) and reaching a $100K final before qualifying and reaching the Round of 16 at Roland Garros, her best career result in a major.

Wang left Paris at 27-2 and back in the Top 100 (she was a Top 50 player in '23).

After qualifying in Cincinnati with wins over Bianca Andreescu and Polina Kudermetova, Wang saw Maria Timofeeva retire down 6-0/3-0 in the 1st Round. Wang's lone full-match MD win came over Leylah Fernandez, as she rallied from a set down to take out the Canadian, whose play fell off badly down the stretch (dropping five of eight service games, and ending the match with a DF).

Wang then advanced to the Round of 16 when Elina Svitolina withdrew due to injury, losing there to Madison Keys in straight sets.



Though her week (or so) was an odd one, Wang's Round of 16 result improves her season mark to 36-9 and will allow her to re-enter the Top 100 on Monday after she'd slipped out in the most recent rankings.
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VETERANS: Jessie Pegula/USA and Sloane Stephens/USA
...though her clay season in Europe left a bit to be desired (4-3 after her Charleston title, w/ a 1r exit in Paris), Pegula has been a consistent force on tour all season long. Thing is, she's never yet been able to claim a true *leading* role. Early on, Elena Rybakina stole her thunder, while this summer -- on grass and hard court -- she found herself on the wrong side of big finals vs. the likes of Linda Noskova (in Berlin, the week that sent the Czech to SW19 with a gust of wind behind her back) and Alex Eala (as she claimed her historic maiden title in Washington).

This week in Cincinnati, it happened again.

Pegula's road to her tour-best fifth final of the season didn't in any way resemble a straight path. After a pair of two-set sets wins over Simona Waltert and Emma Navarro, she had to battle through three consecutive three-setters. After winning the 1st set vs. Sorana Cirstea, Amanda Anisimova *and* Iga Swiatek, Pegula was nonetheless taken the distance before pulling away down the stretch, from 5-5 in the 3rd against Cirstea, in a deciding TB vs. Anisimova (after having served for the match) and after trailing 3-1 in the 3rd vs. Swiatek.

After Coco Gauff had buzzed through opponents to join Pegula in the final, the difference in the wear-and-tear on the bodies of the two good friends (and former doubles partners) was clear in the title match. Still, Pegula didn't go away without one last salvo, breaking Gauff when she served for the match in the 2nd set before then dropping her own serve at love in the next game.

All that said, due to the uneven nature of the seasons of both Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, Pegula still heads to the U.S. Open with at least a shot to rise above both those two *and* Gauff and claim the #1 ranking if things fall *just right*. It's probably not all that likely, but it *is* worth noting that the last time she played in the Cincinnati final (in 2024) she carried her run through the two weeks in New York to reach her (so far) only major final.

So you're telling me there's a chance?



Talk about good timing. Stephens, now 33 and nearly a decade past her U.S. Open title run in 2017, surely needed to show *something* this summer in order to avoid having to go through qualifying for the season's final major next week. If she failed to secure a MD slot in her home slam it would extend her absence in the event to a second straight year.

In 2025, Stephens missed most of the season with a stress fracture in her foot that required surgery, playing just six matches (going 0-6). When she opened 2026 with a loss in her first match, it was her 13th consecutive defeat going back to the 2024 season. At the end of July she was ranked outside the Top 300, and she arrived in Toronto sporting an 11-14 season mark, hardly numbers worthy of being gifted a wild card into Flushing Meadows.

But then Stephens managed to hit a good spot, her first in quite a quite, going 4-2 while posting multitle wins (w/ 2r and 3r finishes in both Toronto and this week in Cincinnati) in consecutive tournaments for the first in more than two years. In the most recent two-event run in 2024, she followed up a title in Rouen with a 4th Round result in Madrid.

After getting Cincy wins over Sinja Kraus and Anastasia Potapova, the latter her first Top 30 win since '24, Stephens managed to threaten Marta Kostyuk, as well. Stephens fell to the Ukrainian 7-5/7-5, but had led 3-1 in the 1st set (and was up 40/15 while trying to hold to force a TB, only to lose four straight points) and later broke for a 3-2 lead in the 2nd. That break was part of six consecutive breaks of serve between the two women, and during that stretch Stephens had a chance to serve out the set at 5-4. She was ultimately broken in her last four service games as Kostyuk survived and advanced.



The 3rd Round result is still not only Stephens' best in a 1000 event snce Madrid '24, but her best in *any* event in '26, during which her best finish had been a collection of five 2nd Round finishes.

On the same day that Stephens fell to Kostyuk it was announced that the former champion had received one of the U.S. Open's MD wild cards handed out by the USTA. While if Stephens hadn't had her Toronto/Cincinnati upticks, yet was still given the "free pass," she wouldn't have been the former champion-turned-WC with the *worst* '26 record (see Venus, and maybe Serena, too), one has to wonder if she'd limped through the summer hard court stretch -- literally and/or figuratively -- whether she'd have managed to make the cut.

Now comes the hard part.

Since her 2017 Open title and QF follow-up the next year (a 17-5 two-year run), Stephens has gone just 5-6 in New York (from 2019-24). Her last MD win in a major came at the 2024 Wimbledon.
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COMEBACK: Amanda Anisimova/USA
...though her time in Cincinnati didn't produce her best single result of the season, Anisimova unqualifyingly had her best tournament of the year.

Anisimova, on the back of a '25 season in which she reached two major finals, won a pair of 1000 titles, reached five finals and ended her season with a WTAF semifinal, reached a career-high #3 this past January. More than seven months later, though, her 2026 resume was pretty sparse as the summer hard court season quickly approached its final weeks.

Coming into Cincinnati, Anisimova had won no titles, reached zero finals (her last final-free season was 2023, when she played just 11 total matches), had just one QF finish in slam play (AO), and had posted just a single Top 20 win (vs. Andreeva in Dubai, after she'd had ten Top 10 victories in '25, including four over the Top 3) as her ranking had gradually slipped to #10 at the start of the event.

Her run ultimately ended in the QF with a three-set loss to Jessie Pegula (Anisimova had rallied from 5-3 down to force a deciding TB), but only after she'd collected her second Top 20 win of the season with a defeat of Alex Eala, ending an 0-5 run vs. Top 20 opponents, then followed up with a Top 10 win over #8 Linda Noskova before pushing #3 Pegula to the limit.



Last summer, Anisimova rebounded from her 6-0/6-0 loss in the Wimbledon final to reach the U.S. Open title match, posting wins over past champions Osaka and Swiatek before a loss to a third in Sabalenka.
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FRESH FACES: Sara Bejlek/CZE and Diane Parry/FRA
...another week, another Crusher upstart making a name for herself.

Prior to her career run in Cincinnati, Bejlek had been nibbling around the edges of the tour. The 20-year old Czech lefty, all five-foot-three of her, emerged from the juniors (where where was the '22 RG girls' champ) a few years ago. In 2024, in her 1000 MD debut, she reached the Round of 16 in Madrid. Last year in Paris, she posted her first career MD slam win (an upset of Marta Kostyuk a year before her RG SF run), then this past spring did it again (def. former RG finalist Sloane Stephens).

While Tennis Channel's coverage attempted, as per usual when it comes to any player outside of a "select group," to frame hers as an "out of nowhere" run to the SF this past week, calling her a "minor-league player" (during her upset of #1 Aryna Sabalenka), the fact is that seventeen of Bejlek's eighteen '26 events have been *tour-level* ones. She came into Cincinnati ranked just barely outside of seed range for the U.S. Open, having won her maiden tour title (Abu Dhabi) earlier this season and posted wins over the likes of Ostapenko, Tauson, Blinkova, Siegmund and Tagger.

If not for an abdominal injury in Dubai, Bejlek would likely have been ranked quite a bit higher, considering she immediately slipped into a 3-9 skid after the injury before hitting her stride on hard courts after Wimbledon. Lindsay Davenport (during the SF) referred to Bejlek's playing of a pair events in Europe before the start of the North American summer hard court stretch as a case of her "dropping down" to play 250-level tournaments (in Athens and Prague, the former of which was won by two-time slam champ Barbora Krejcikova), but the fact is that the Czech's consecutive QF results in those two efforts provided the stage and momentum for what she's done in August.

(That last one was a relatively minor note, but I surely wasn't going going to give a pass to the attempt to make "dropping down" refer to playing in *tour-level* events, as the very notion of that shorthand designation implies that a player is choosing to play in an event that is *below* tour-level -- i.e. a 125 or challenger circuit event -- that includes a field populated by so-called "lesser" competition, thereby making it too easy to judgementally declare success in those events as "irrelevent.")

Until 2026, Bejlek's only 1000 MD appearance had been her 4th Round in Madrid two years ago, but in '26 she's become a far more familiar face at that level, appearing in the MD at four of the season's first seven 1000 events before Cincy (as well as for the first time in *all three* of a season's opening majors), getting wins in two of those 1000s (withdrawing with an injury in Dubai, then notching another 1st Rd. win two weeks ago in Toronto).

With her feet finally under her again, Bejlek rank off Cincinnati wins over Karolina Pliskova, Krejcikova and Ekaterina Alexandrova before stunning Sabalenka for her first career Top 10 victory. She followed up with another upset of Madison Keys, after having trailed 6-3/3-1, fought off a pair of BP at 5-5, and rallied from 4-2 down in the deciding TB (and w/ Keys serving two at 5-4).

A high-flying Coco Gauff proved too big a hurdle to overcome in the semis, but Bejlek's 10-4 summer hard court run (improving her '26 hard court mark to 19-7) will allow her to crack the Top 30 and secure her first slam seed at Flushing Meadows.



While it seems as if Parry has been around for quite a while (she has, as she made her major debut seven years ago), but the FRA #1 is still only 23 and has posted some of the best results of her career just this year.

Already in 2026, Parry has reached her maiden slam Round of 16 (RG), claimed her first 125 crown in three years, played in her first tour-level SF (Ostava) since 2024, notched her first Top 10 win (Anisimova/RG) since 2022, and cracked the Top 50 for the first time in two years, reaching a career-high #47 in June.

In Cincinnati, the Pastry posted wins over Caroline Dolehide, Elise Mertens and Lois Boisson in an all-French 3rd Round, sending Parry into her first 1000 4th Round since Indian Wells in '24 (her only other 1000 3r+ result).

Parry was a quick victim of Iga Swiatek in the Round of 16, but will jump from #66 to #49, within reach of her career high heading into the U.S. Open, where last year she had a win over Petra Kvitova and reached the 3rd Round.

Parry has reached at least the 3rd Round in three of her last four major MD (starting with WI25), and has posted MD wins in all four.
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DOWN: Leylah Fernandez/CAN
...there was a time, up until this season, when Fernandez seemed immune to the typical bad luck and extended dry spells that have befallen most of the successful Canadians on tour. The likes of Rebecca Marino, Genie Bouchard, Bianca Andreescu and (of late) Vicky Mboko have all been slowed and/or eventually stopped by injury or various health issues.

Fernandez has long been the exception. Though she's not risen as high as her '21 U.S. Open final run, she's been the sort of consistent threat on tour over a long stretch that her compatriots were never able to be.

From 2020-25, Fernandez was able to lift a tour title in all but one season, and reach at least one final in every year of the decade, winning her bigget career title at the 500 in Washington just last summer. She's notched nine Top 10 wins in the 2020s, at least one every season in the first six years of the decade. The one season during which her results did take a significant dip, her title-less season of '23 during which she slipped outside the Top 80 in the spring/summer, she rebounded enough to finish at #35 and closed the season by leading Canada to its first Fed/BJK Cup title. She ended that year with a 41-24 overall mark, tying her career best single season win total.

Since her breakout 2021 campaign, Fernandez hasn't finished a season outside the Top 40. Last season, her #22 finish was actually slightly better than her Open finalist season (#24).

But 2026 has been no picnic for the Canadian. Though she's still ranked at #31, her 2nd Round loss in Cincinnati (from a set up) vs. Wang Xiyu dropped her to 15-22 on the year (3-3 on summer hard courts). To date, she's never finished a pro season under .500.

So far in '26, though, Fernandez has been stuck on "zero" in quite a few categories. No titles, no finals, no Top 10 wins, and even no wins in slam competition. She'll head to New York, five years after her big run, 0-3 in the majors this season for the first time in her career. She's never failed to *at least* post three MD wins in a season full of majors since her 2020 debut on the big stage.

Still, though she's yet to have a big run or big result, Fernandez *has* played her way into three tour-level QF, and even nearly upset Elena Rybakina (losing in a 3rd set TB after having had two MP; after which Fernandez's TB losing streak has now reached eight) in Stuttgart, where the Kazakh ultimately claimed her only singles titles since her AO win in January. She's also gotten wins this season over Iva Jovic (Madrid) and Alex Eala (Stuttgart).

Last 4Q, Fernandez went 10-4 after the U.S. Open, winning a title in Osaka and reaching the Hong Kong SF. Unless she can (at least) replicate that run this fall, 2026 will go down as her *most* forgettable year.
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ITF WORLD TENNIS: Jana Kovackova/CZE and Mia Ristic/SRB
...another week, another Crusher sweep, this time authored by a Kovackova.

This weekend in Prague, 16-year old Jana K. claimed her third and biggest career singles title in the $50K challenger, defeating older sister Alena in the semis (in a 7-5 3rd, after Alena had saved two MP at 5-4) and then Gao Xinyu in a 6-1/6-1 final.

The Kovackovas combined to win the doubles, improving the sisters' mark in pro finals to 8-0.

Assuming Jana K. is in the junior field for the U.S. Open, she'll have a chance to make even more history. Her girls' doubles win at Wimbledon made her the first player to complete a Girls Doubles Career Slam (only Mark Kratzmann has done it in boys' competition, from 1982-84). Kovackova has won the last four girls' doubles majors, the first two with Alena and the last two with fellow Czech Katerina Zajickova. If she were to win the U.S. Open she'd become the first player to complete a true single-season Grand Slam in junior doubles.

Meanwhile, on the weekend between the Toronto and Cincinnati finals, Serbian Ristic defeated Bulgaria's Rositsa Dencheva in the final of the $75K in Kuršumlijska Banja, SRB.

It's the 20-year old's second $75K win this season, with both being the biggest titles of her career. She'll crack the Top 200 in the new rankings.


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JUNIOR STAR: Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas/RUS
...carrying over her from from winning a pro title in a $15K in Kursumlijska Banja (SRB) this month, her second in her last two events, 16-year old Dorofeeva-Rybas claimed her biggest win on the junior circuit.

In Pancevo, also in Serbia, the top-seeded, #16-ranked Hordette defeated Ukraine's Anastasiia Nikolaieva in a 3-6/6-2/6-0 final to pick up her first career J300 crown.
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DOUBLES: Marie Bouzkova/Linda Noskova, CZE/CZE
...another 1000 event, another Crusher (or two) in the winner's circle, as Bouzkova & Noskova made Cincinnati the fifth 1000 of the last six this season to feature at least one Czech as a member of the triumphant doubles duo.

After taking a MTB over Dabrowski/Krejcikova in their opening match, the Czech pair defeated Routliffe/Sutjiadi and Jovic/McNally to reach their first WD final as a team. Once there they handled Magali Kempen/Alexandra Panova 1 & 2 to pick up both their biggest career doubles wins.

Bouzkova's seventh tour-level title is her second in a 1000 event (w/ Beijing '23) as she improved to 7-1 in her last eight WTA doubles finals, while Noskova's second WTA crown (both claimed this year) joins her WD win as part of her title sweep in Berlin during this summer's grass run-up before her title at Wimbledon.


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1. Cincinnati 4th Rd. - Sara Bejlek def. Aryna Sabalenka
...7-6(7)/6-4. Sabalenka's latest collapse. And she did it twice just to make sure it stuck.

Up a break twice in the 1st set, Sabalenka saw Beljek edge ahead and hold a SP at 6-5 before being forced into a TB. Given a reprieve, Sabalenka led 5-1, only to go down in a hail of UE and fall 9-7.



After fighting through an opening game that saw her lose serve again, Sabalenka righted the ship and took a 4-1 lead. But the prosperity was short lived, as Bejlek held firm while Sabalenka veered off course yet again. With her UE total pushing toward 50, she essentially broke herself in game 9 and handed the ball to Bejlek to serve out the match at 5-4.

The 20-year old didn't blink, and instead fired off three winners in a love hold, closing her maiden #1 (and Top 10) win with an ace just a few minutes after midnight.



The loss swung the door open wide for Elena Rybakina, who needed only to reach the final (w/ two wins) to snatch the #1 ranking from Sabalenka, who despite a 40-8 mark on the year feels like she's having a mess of a season that has never really been the same since she blew all those MP vs. Hailey Baptiste in the spring in Madrid.

The first player standing in the doorway before Rybakina -- in an inadvertent defense of Sabalenka's top ranking -- was Iga Swiatek (who'd allowed Bejlek just three games in their recent meeting in Toronto)...
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2. Cincinnati QF - Iga Swiatek def. Elena Rybakina
...4-1 ret. Rybakina's immediate chance at a do-over of the Toronto final proved to be a big, primetime bust as she couldn't even get through one set, retiring with a foot/Achilles/calf(?) injury after losing four of the first five games in the match.

If it's the sort of injury that hinders her at the U.S. Open or costs her the whole tournament (or worse), the Kazakh's latest best chance to capture the #1 ranking could be a *humungous* lost opportunity.



On Day 1 next Sunday, Rybakina will be the "live" #1 as Sabalenka's title points will fall off, and even if Rybakina doesn't play (or barely does) it looks like Sabalenka will have to defend or Gauff or Pegula would have to win the title to take the top spot.


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3. Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Elina Svitolina def. Tereza Valentova
...3-6/7-6(5)/6-0. Valentova's expected climb up the tennis ladder had experienced some pitfalls this season, and the Czech's squandered work in her match vs. Svitolina likely rockets to the top of that list.

Valentova, facing Svitolina in the Ukrainian's first match since her own eleventh hour collapse vs. Swiatek in the Toronto SF, failed to secure seven MP in all, five at 5-4 in the 2nd (she led 15/40) and two more at 6-5. She then let go of a 5-2 lead in the TB, losing five straight points leading into a not unexpected love 3rd set whitewash.



Adding insult to injury (sort of), Svitolina didn't play again in the tournament, pulling out before her 3rd Round match.
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4. Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Janice Tjen def. Viktorija Golubic
...7-6(8)/5-7/7-5. Tjen reaches her second 1000 3rd Round of the season with a victory in a match with wildly swinging momentum changes.

Tjen rallied from 4-1 down in the 1st, and Golubic serving at 5-4, to convert on her fifth SP of the TB to take the lead. She then led 5-1 in the 2nd, holding a MP at 5-2 and then four more at 5-4 before Golubic swept the final six games to send things to the decider.

In the 3rd, Tjen's 4-2 lead was turned around into a pair of Golubic MP at 5-4, up 15/40 on return, before Tjen swept the final three games. From being MP down, Tjen ran off 12 of the final 13 points.
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5. Cincinnati QF - Sara Bejlek def. Madison Keys
...3-6/6-4/7-6(5). Another round, another Crusher win, and all credit to Bejlek for a career week.

But, seriously, at moments like this is sometimes *still* borders on remarkable that Keys managed to *win* the AO last year. It's become pretty clear since those two weeks that "New Madi" was actually "Aberration Madi" as she's since reverted back to her career-long Top-5-talent-but-perpetual-#11-to-#20-player form, rising on occasion but usually falling a round or two short of where she probably *should* finish.

The details on this one included holding a 6-3/3-1 lead, rallying from being 4-1 down (but just a single break) in the 3rd to get back on serve and hold two BP at 5-5 for chance to serve for the win. Bejlek held, and things would go to a tie-break.

Keys led 4-2, and later served two up 5-4 with the match on her racket. She lost the last three points.


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6. Cincinnati SF - Jessie Pegula def. Iga Swiatek
...7-5/4-6/6-4. Swiatek's attempt at the Canada/Cincinnati season double -- only Evonne Goolagong has done it, in 1973 -- falls a round short of the final, as does the title defense of the post-Wimbledon crown she won last year.

It was a match of swinging momentum, as Pegula's 4-2 1st set lead evaporated as Swiatek leveled things at 4-4. Pegula edged ahead again with a break from 40/15 down to lead 6-5, then served out the set as Swaitek's miss on a seemingly easy volley at the net sealed it.



In the 2nd, the script was flipped, as Swiatek's 4-2 lead turned into a 4-all deadlock before she broke Pegula to send things to the 3rd.

In the decider, Swiatek held an early break lead at 3-1. Pegula got things back on serve, then Swiatek tried to hold her off down the stretch. The Pole denied a BP at 3-3, then three more from love/40 down at 4-4, only to DF on Pegula's fourth BP chance. Pegula then served out the win to reach her tour-best fifth final this season.



Swiatek still holds a 7-6 edge in the head-to-head, but Pegula sports a 5-3 edge in their meetings since 2023.
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7. Cincinnati 3rd Rd. - Amanda Anisimova def. Alex Eala
...4-6/6-4/6-2. The second time was the charm for Anisimova, who broke Eala to lead 4-3 in the 1st but then couldn't close out the set win. After being 1-for-9 on BP chances up until that point, Anisimova broke to lead 4-3 again in the 2nd. This time she held her advantage, and carried it through to the finish in the 3rd.

This was just her second *Top 20* win of the season (after def. Mirra Andreeva in Dubai, after which she'd gone 0-5 vs. Top 20 foes), while Eala was a set away from getting *Top 10* win #8 (she's 7-3 overall in '26).


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8. Cincinnati 1st Rd. - Liudmila Samsonova def. Yulia Putintseva
...7-6(5)/5-7/7-5. Samsonova rallies from 4-2 down in the 3rd to add another "W" to her season turnaround.

The Flip in action...



But it also showed its current limitations.

After being *close* to an upset of Rybakina in Toronto, Samsonova pushed Coco Gauff in Cincinnati but again came up just short. From Samsonova leading 6-2/4-4, Gauff once again pulled out her match win divining rod and found the "W" in three sets, winning eight of nine points to close out the 2nd set, then breaking out into the lead in the 3rd with a break for 3-1 en route to a 2-6/6-4/6-1 win.



Still, with an 8-4 surge since her 8-16 start, Samsonova seems to be revving her engines for her customary 4Q success. But, before that (and the U.S. Open), she's the #1 seed at at a 125 in Philadelphia this coming week.
============================================
9. Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Maja Chwalinska def. Cristina Bucsa
...6-2/6-2. Chwalinska's first win since Roland Garros comes *70* days after her loss in the final in Paris to Mirra Andreeva.



But one round later, in the same match-up that marked Chwalinska's most recent win (in the RG semis) before her win over Bucsa, Shnaider prevails the second time around, 6-2/7-6(3).

And, BTW, what a match point to end things...


============================================
10. Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Sorana Cirstea def. Anna Kalinskaya
...6-7(4)/6-1/5-0 ret. This was only Kalinskaya's second retirement loss this season, but the second in which she was a whistle or two away from final defeat before pulling the ripcord (after taking an MTO down 5-0 for a back/hip injury).


============================================



11. Cincinnati Final - Coco Gauff def. Jessie Pegula
...6-2/6-4. Gauff was not to be denied. After streaking toward the final with a series of dominant wins, and facing an opponent in Pegula who had to battle through a trio of consecutive three-set matches, Gauff led 6-2/5-2 before Pegula followed up three straight holds of serve with a break when Gauff was serving for the match at 5-3.

It only delayed the inevitable, though, as Gauff quickly took a love/40 lead in the next game and broke Pegula's serve on her first MP to win her second Cincinnati title in four years.

The last time she won, of course, a few weeks later this happened...


============================================
12. $50K Hamburg GER Final - Anna Siskova def. Rasheeda McAdoo
... 7–6(6)/1–6/6–3. Another week (*last* weekend, to be precise), another Crusher challenger champion.

Siskova, 25, picks up career ITF/World Tennis circuit win #9. It's by far the biggest of her career ($15K had been her previous best), and will push her ever close to her Top 200 breakthrough at #207. She'd be the 17th Czech there.
============================================






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1. Cincinnati 1st Rd. - Emiliana Arango def. Venus Williams
...6-2/6-2. 0-11 on the year, with 14 consecutive losses. 8-44 in the 2020s, with a 5-28 record in 28 consecutive singles MD appearances via a wild card entry.

Sigh... while this was nice when it started, it's time to start to have *the discussion.*

First off, doubles is an entirely different discussion here. Williams' appearances there are a fun ride, competitive, and there is an actual probability that, at the very least, she might be around for a few rounds (and, at some point, maybe more).

As for singles... yes, tournaments have the right to give WC spots to whomever they want, but at what point does it become bad for the game when the practice continually robs a player trying to climb the ladder and/or with great promise of a career-building MD slot in favor of another leg on what increasingly looks like just a nostaglia tour, and usually not a very competitive one at that?

The argument that Williams' presence brings fans to the stands (and equals $ for the tournament) has always been the response to any questioning of her series of wild cards. And, yes, it *used* to be a consideration, but not really anymore. How much monetary difference does it make when she's only around for a little over an hour in her entire singles run?

Williams has won *one* match since reaching the 2nd Round at this same Cincinnati tournament in 2023, going 1-18 since.

Seriously, what is the cut-off point? If/when Venus reaches twenty losses in a row, if nothing else than to save her from the potential indignity of legitimately approaching the longest losing streak ever?



Meanwhile, consecutive wild card #29 just arrived in the mail...


============================================



2. Cincinnati 1st Rd. - Marta Kostyuk/Peyton Stearns def. Serena Williams/Venus Williams
...6-2/1-6 [10-8]. The stands were packed, and the first pairing of the Williams sisters in doubles since the 2022 U.S. Open (a loss to a then 17-year old Noskova & then 37-year old Hradecka) had moments that woke up the echos...



But things got off to an ominous start...



After leveling the match and forcing a MTB, then rallying there from 6-0 and 8-2 down to get to 8-7, it turned out to be all for naught as things ended with a Venus Williams DF on MP.



Thus, the sisters remains winless as a duo since the 2018 Roland Garros.

For Stearns, the win avoided a second mark on her Williams Record, as *she* is the *1* in Venus' 1-18 singles record since Cincinnati 2023, losing in a 1st Round match in Washington last summer.

Meanwhile, if Venus stuck to doubles, she might not even need wild cards...


============================================
3. Cincinnati 2nd Rd. - Mirra Andreeva def. Oleksandra Oliynykova
...6-1/6-0. Oliynykova gets just one more game off Andreeva than the number of handshakes she wasn't going to give her after the match.

(Or maybe enough to only fill a drop in the bucket of the number of pathetic, assiduously researched personal attacks continually simmering in her head based on her opponent's birth nation).


============================================











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So, the WD #1/MD #1 combo of Siniakova/Patten have to *qualify* to reach the field, as did the reigning Wimbledon MX doubles duo (Ostapenko/Arevalo), at least they did before Ostapenko was replaced as Arevalo's partner by Kiki Mladenovic. Tell me again how this sideshow is *so successful* yet *isn't* still a desecration of the entire concept of what's supposed to be a serious event.

But, but... the crowds WANT TO SEE the legendary Anisimova/Tien and Navarro/Paul duos play doubles! Gotcha.

Ultimately, even Swiatek -- a finalist in this thing a year ago -- ultimately decided to opt out, along with several other "name" participants (Osaka, Venus, etc.).



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Wawrinka has won nine matches this year. Venus has won eight... this decade.

The USTA *should* be ashamed. But, you know, when you're shameless...


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Hmmm, I feel like this video might visually approximate any number of a rotation of WTA tour players at various times this season, from #1 on down...





















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Czech gonna Czech...




Wanna feel old? Well...









I love this: Nike selling Naomi and Serena posters.

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— Courtney Nguyen (@fortydeucetwits.bsky.social) August 23, 2026 at 12:28 AM












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*MOST ACCOMPLISHED TO NEVER RANK #1*
[3+ majors; Open era]
Hana Mandlikova (4) - high rank of #3
Virginia Wade (3) - high rank of #2
[2+ majors in Open era; high of #2]
Coco Gauff
Ann Haydon Jones (2 Open era, +1 in pre-Open era)
Barbora Krejcikova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Petra Kvitova
Elena Rybakina

*2020-26 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
26 - 1/2/8/6/5/3/1 = Iga Swiatek
19 - 3/2/0/3/4/4/3 = Aryna Sabalenka
12 - 1/0/1/2/3/3/2 = Elena Rybakina
11 - 0/1/0/4/3/2/1 = COCO GAUFF
10 - 0/0/1/2/2/3/2 = Jessie Pegula
9 - 0/3/2/2/1/0/1 = Barbora Krejcikova
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
7 - 2/1/0/1/0/1/2 = Elina Svitolina

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2026*
5 - JESSIE PEGULA (2-3)
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (3-1)
4 - Mirra Andreeva (3-1)
4 - Karolina Muchova (2-2)
4 - Elena Rybakina (2-2)
3 - Marta Kostyuk (2-1)
3 - Elina Svitolina (2-1)
3 - COCO GAUFF (1-2)
3 - Victoria Mboko (0-3)
2 - Marie Bouzkova (2-0)
2 - Linda Noskova (2-0)
2 - Barbora Krejickova (1-0 +L)
2 - Tamara Korpatsch (1-1)
2 - Emma Navarro (1-1)
2 - Emma Raducanu (0-2)
[2020-26]
35 - 3/3/3/6/7/9/4 = Sabalenka (19-16)
30 - 1/2/9/8/5/4/1 = Swiatek (26-4)
24 - 5/0/3/4/5/3/4 = Rybakina (12-12)
23 - 1/0/2/5/4/6/4 = PEGULA (10-13)
16 - 0/1/1/4/3/4/3 = GAUFF (11-5)
14 - 0/4/3/4/1/0/2 = Krejcikova (9-4+L)
14 - 0/4/2/2/6/0/0 = Kasatkina (6-8)
12 - 1/7/4/0 ret...Kontaveit (5-6-1)
12 - 1/1/2/2/1/4/1 = Alexandrova (5-7)
12 - 0/3/6/3/0/0/0 = Jabeur (5-7)

*2026 MULT.DIFFERENT WTA CHAMPIONS BY COUNTRY*
6 - USA: Gauff,Keys,Montgomery,Navarro,Pegula,Stearns
5 - CZE: Bejlek,Bouzkova,Krejcikova,Muchova,Noskova
2 - CRO: Marcinko,Vekic
2 - RUS: M.Andreeva,Liutova
2 - UKR: Kostyuk,Svitolina

*RECENT ALL-USA WTA FINALS*
2016 Rome - S.Williams d. Keys
2017 Australian Open - S.Williams d. V.Williams
2017 Stanford - Keys d. Vandeweghe
2017 US Open - Stephens d. Keys
2020 Auckland - S.Williams d. Pegula
2022 Adelaide 2 - Keys d. Riske
2024 Strasbourg - Keys d. Collins
2024 Toronto - Pegula d. Anisimova
2025 Adelaide - Keys d. Pegula
2025 Austin - Pegula d. Kessler
2025 Charleston - Pegula d. Kenin
2025 Wuhan - Gauff d. Pegula
2026 Austin - Stearns d. Townsend
2026 Cincinnati - Gauff d. Pegula
--
NOTE: Keys or Pegula in 9/10 in 2020s, 11/12, and 12/14 since 2016

*2026 WTA ALL-NATION FINALS*
(USA) Austin - Stearns d. Townsend
(UKR) Rouen - Kostyuk d. Podrez
(CZE) Wimbledon - Noskova d. Muchova
(USA) Cincinnati - Gauff d. Pegula
[WTA 125]
(UKR) Antalya - Kalinina d. Oliynykova
(AUT) Kitzbuhel - Kraus d. Grabher
(AUS) Vancouver - T.Preston d. Inglis

*2026 TOP 10 WINS; ()-#1 wins*
8 - Kostyuk, Svitolina, Rybakina(1)
7 - Eala, Pegula(1)
6 - Muchova
5 - Mboko, Sabalenka
4 - Gauff, Swiatek
[hard court]
7 - Rybakina(1)
6 - Pegula
5 - Mboko, Sabalenka, Svitolina
4 - Eala, Kostyuk
3 - Bencic, Muchova, Swiatek
[most events w/ multiple Top 10 wins]
3 - Marta Kostyuk (Brisbane/Madrid/RG)
3 - JESSIE PEGULA (AO/Dubai/Cincinnati)
2 - Alex Eala (Berlin/Washington)
2 - Karolina Muchova (Brisbane/Stuttgart)
2 - Elena Rybkina (AO/Indian Wells)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (Indian Wells/Miami)
2 - Elina Svitolina (AO/Rome)

*MOST WTA SF in 2026*
7 - JESSIE PEGULA (5-2)
7 - Elina Svitolina (3-4)
6 - Karolina Muchova (4-2)
6 - COCO GAUFF (3-3)
5 - Mirra Andreeva (4-1)
5 - Elena Rybakina (4-1)
5 - Aryna Sabalenka (4-1)
5 - Marta Kostyuk (3-2)

*CINCINNATI & U.S. OPEN FINALS - OPEN ERA*
1970 Rosie Casals, USA (W-RU)
1973 Evonne Goolagong, AUS (W-RU)
2010 Kim Clijsters, BEL (W-W)
2013 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (W-RU)
2014 Serena Williams, USA (W-W)
2016 Angelique Kerber, GER (RU-W)
2016 Karolina Pliskova, CZE (W-RU)
2020 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (w/o W-L)#
2020 Naomi Osaka, JPN (w/o L-W)#
2023 Coco Gauff, USA (W-W)
2024 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (W-W)
2024 Jessie Pegula, USA (W-RU)
-
NOTE: Premier 5/1000 since '09
#-both held in NYC in '20

*2026 PLAYERS WITH WTA S/D TITLES*
[s/d]
Mirra Andreeva, RUS (3/1)
MARIE BOUZKOVA, CZE (2/1)
Cristina Bucsa, ESP (1/1)
Sorana Cirstea, ROU (1/1)
LINDA NOSKOVA, CZE (2/2)
[wd/mx]
Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1/1)
[s/d/m]
none

*LONG WTA (WTA MD+BJK only) WINNING STREAKS - 2026*
17 - Kostyuk (April-June; ended by Andreeva)
15 - Sabalenka (March-April; ended by Baptiste)
11 - Sabalenka (January; ended by Rybakina)
10 - Svitolina (January; ended by Sabalenka)
10 - Svitolina (May-June; ended by Kostyuk)
10 - Muchova (June-July; ended by Noskova)
10 - Swiatek (August; ended by Pegula)

*2026 SLAM-WTAF/1000 CHAMPIONS*
Australian Open - Elena Rybakina, KAZ
Doha - Karolina Muchova, CZE
Dubai - Jessie Pegula, USA
Indian Wells - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Miami - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Madrid - Marta Kostyuk, UKR
Rome - Elina Svitolina, UKR
Roland Garros - Mirra Andreeva, RUS
Wimbledon - Linda Noskova, CZE
Canada - Iga Swiatek, POL
Cincinnati - Coco Gauff, USA
US Open -
Beijing -
Wuhan -
WTAF -
[doubles]
Australian Open - Mertens/Zhang, BEL/CHN
Doha - Danilina/Krunic, KAZ/SRB
Dubai - Dabrowski/Stefani, CAN/BRA
Indian Wells - Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
Miami - Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
Madrid - Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
Rome - M.Andreeva/Shnaider, RUS/RUS
Roland Garros - Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
Wimbledon - Guo/Mladenovic, CHN/FRA
Canada - Siniakova/Zhang, CZE/CHN
Cincinnati - Bouzkova/Noskova, CZE/CZE
US Open -
Beijing -
Wuhan -
WTAF -

*U.S. OPEN...
[MD wild card; *-slam MD debut]
Reese Brantmeier, USA (21)*
Thea Frodin, USA (17)*
Leolia Jeanjean, FRA (31)
Sofia Kenin, USA (27)
Carol Young Suh Lee, USA (24)*
Taylah Preston, AUS (21)
Sloane Stephens, USA (33)
Venus Williams, USA (46)
[MD protected ranking]
Lois Boisson, FRA (23)
Aoi Ito, JPN (22)
Jil Teichmann, SUI (29)
Mananchaya Sawangkaew, THA (24)
Nadia Podoroska, ARG (29)

*RECENT MX SLAM CHAMPIONS*
[2024]
AO: Hsieh Su-wei/Jan Zielinski (TPE/POL)
RG: Laura Siegemund/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (GER/FRA)
WI: Hsieh Su-wei/Jan Zielinski (TPE/POL)
US: Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA)
[2025]
AO: Olivia Gadecki/John Peers (AUS/AUS)
RG: Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA)
WI: Katerina Siniakova/Sem Verbeek (CZE/NED)
US: Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA)
[2026]
AO: Olivia Gadecki/John Peers (AUS/AUS)
RG: Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori (ITA/ITA)
WI: Alona Ostapenko/Marcelo Arevalo (LAT/ELS)

*RECENT U.S. OPEN MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
1998 Serena Williams/Max Mirnyi, USA/BLR
1999 Ai Sugiyama/Mahesh Bhupathi, JPN/IND
2000 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario/Jared Palmer, ESP/USA
2001 Rennae Stubbs/Todd Woodbridge, AUS/AUS
2002 Lisa Raymond/Mike Bryan, USA/USA
2003 Katarina Srebotnik/Bob Bryan, SLO/USA
2004 Vera Zvonareva/Bob Bryan, RUS/USA
2005 Daniela Hantuchova/Mahesh Bhupathi, SVK/IND
2006 Martina Navratilova/Bob Bryan, USA/USA
2007 Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi, BLR/BLR
2008 Cara Black/Leander Paes, ZIM/IND
2009 Carly Gullickson/Travis Parrott, USA/USA
2010 Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan, USA/USA
2011 Melanie Oudin/Jack Sock, USA/USA
2012 Ekaterina Makarova/Bruno Soares, RUS/BRA
2013 Andrea Hlavackova/Max Mirnyi, CZE/BLR
2014 Sania Mirza/Bruno Soares, IND/BRA
2015 Martina Hingis/Leander Paes, SUI/IND
2016 Laura Siegemund/Mate Pavic, GER/CRO
2017 Martina Hingis/Jamie Murray, SUI/GBR
2018 Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jamie Murray, USA/GBR
2019 Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jamie Murray, USA/GBR
2020 DNP
2021 Desirae Krawczyk/Joe Salisbury, USA/GBR
2022 Storm Sanders/John Peers, AUS/AUS
2023 Anna Danilina/Harri Heliovaara, KAZ/FIN
2024 Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori, ITA/ITA
2025 Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori, ITA/ITA






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bookmark this

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— LynnZ 🦋 (@zizij.bsky.social) August 23, 2026 at 10:25 AM


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The groveling defilers on the Kennedy Center board actually want to put Trump's name on it TWICE now. (And name the plaza after him, too.) This is from Rep. Joyce Beatty's request for an emergency injunction to prevent it: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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— Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News (@froomkin.bsky.social) August 21, 2026 at 10:40 AM


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The Navy is weighing renaming an aircraft carrier under construction that was set to honor Doris Miller, a Black war hero, and potentially switching it to honor Trump

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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 6:35 PM


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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 10:31 PM 

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