Wk.17- Hey Diddle-Diddle, Madrid's at the Middle
*WEEK 17*
[Madrid 1st-3rd Rd.]
RISERS: Mirra Andreeva/RUS and Jaqueline Cristian/ROU
...a year ago, during the week she turned 16, Andreeva reached the Round of 16 in Madrid in her maiden 1000 MD event. Well, Mirra's back.
Now about to turn 17 (on Monday), the Hordette is back in the 4th Round after posting wins over Taylor Townsend and Linda Noskva from a set down, then getting her second career Top 10 victory (w/ Jabeur, AO '24) with a straight sets upset of Marketa Vondrousova.
Andreeva is next set to meet Jasmine Paolini with a berth in the QF on the line.
Already with a Cluj SF, Charleston QF and historic BJK Cup comeback with Romania on her ledger in recent weeks, Cristian added her best career 1000 result in Madrid, qualifying and reaching the 3rd Round with victories over McCartney Kessler and Dasha Saville (in qualifying), and then Magdalena Frech (down 5-1 in the 1st, she won 12 of 14 games to finish) and Barbora Krejcikova (dominating the 2nd/3rd sets after dropping the 1st vs. the former RG champ) in the MD.
Cristian claimed the 1st set vs. Danielle Collins, as well, but couldn't end her blazing Final Countdown run as she extended her long winning streak by one with a three-set victory.
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SURPRISES: Olga Danilovic/SRB and Maria Lourdes Carle/ARG
...after starting '24 at 1-4, Danilovic returned in March after a two-month absence. The Serb's re-start has been an improvement, as she came into Madrid having reached a QF and SF in a pair of 125 events.
She qualified with good wins over Camila Osorio and Jule Niemeier, reaching just her fourth career 1000 MD. She recorded her first win with a comeback victory over Clara Burel, climbing out of a 6-3/4-0 hole and saving four MP. A round later, she battled Danielle Collins past midnight, serving for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd. As Collins pushed toward victory in the deciding TB, Danilovic again deflected a series of MP after falling behind 6-2.
She couldn't do it all night/morning, though, as Collins finally put away her sixth MP of the breaker. Still, her week gives Danilovic an 8-4 mark since her return.
Danilovic has been something of an enigma over the years, flashing great potential and then soon after sliding back into the shadows until she begins the cycle anew. In 2018 at age 17, she won her maiden WTA title (as a lucky loser, no less, in her tour MD debut) in Moscow, but didn't see another tour-level final until 2022 (Lausanne, her *only* other one). Meanwhile, in all four of her career slam MD appearances she's won at least one match, including a 3rd Round result last year in Paris. She reached a 125 final last year, as well, but has never climbed higher than #93 (last June) in the rankings.
Danilovic is around #107 in the live rankings.
Carle's continued spring run allowed her to reach the 3rd Round in Madrid in her 1000 MD debut, running her winning streak (all on clay) to eleven matches (over ITF, BJK, 125 and WTA play) with wins over Taylah Preston and Astra Sharma (in qualifying) and Emma Raducanu and Veronika Kudermetova (in the MD) before a loss to Alona Ostapenko.
The 24-year old Argentine has made her Top 100 debut this season (current #82) while grabbing singles titles in 125 and $75K tournaments.
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VETERANS: Sloane Stephens/USA and Ons Jabeur/TUN
...Stephens didn't roll out of her Rouen title run and into the second week in Madrid, but arrived on site and with little prep in the very different conditions and still outlasted Martina Trevisan in 3:16 in her opening match, then rallied from a set down to defeat Elise Mertens, extending her career-best clay court winning streak to seven (topping her six-win RG final run in '18).
Stephens fell in the 3rd Round to Maria Sakkari, but her result is her best in a clay court 1000 event since 2019 (Madrid SF) after having had 2r-1r-1r results in the event in her last three appearances. Already in '24, Stephens has won her first title in two years, and reached the AO 3rd Round for the first time in five (after four straight 1r exits).
Looking ahead, Stephens has had a similar recent lack of success in Rome, with five consecutive 1r/2r losses. In Paris, though, she's tracked differently, with RU-QF-2r-4r-QF-4r results since she won the U.S. Open in '17.
Meanwhile, Jabeur continues to round into shape just in time to take her shots in Paris and London. Still alive in the second week in Madrid, she's put up wins over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Leylah Fernandez in a pair of three-setters, posting her first multi-win event of 2024. In fact, Jabeur is now 3-0 in her last three matches to go the distance.
Jabeur was the 2022 Madrid champ.
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COMEBACKS: Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP and Mayar Sherif/EGY
...Sorribes Tormo is seemingly always up for a good marathon match, but so far in '24 she's only added one three-hour contest (which she lost) to the ongoing WTA season list. The Spaniard played in the longest tour-level MD match (3:51, RG 4r) a season ago, in '22 had the first (3:54) and fourth-longest (3:33) matches, and in '21 the second-longest (3:51).
The first week in Madrid didn't see Sorribes Tormo play any three-hour matches, nor even a three-setter. But her three consecutive straight sets victories -- over Bernarda Pera, Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka -- are a great rebound after she lost her first four matches of '24, had another four-match losing streak, and came into this week at 3-10 and having been ranked outside the Top 40 since August 2022 (she's the current #55).
Sorribes Tormo reached the QF in Madrid in her last MD appearance two years ago.
Meanwhile, despite a nice recent stint in BJK Cup play (4-1), Sherif came into Madrid at 0-5 this season in WTA events. After posting her best career 1000 result with a QF run there a year ago, she barely escaped the 1st Round this week after trailing Lauren Davis 6-4/5-3. But she rallied to down the Bannerette, then followed up with an even bigger win over Stuttgart finalist Marta Kostyuk. She lost to Elena Rybakina in straights a round later, but who's going to hold that against her?
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FRESH FACES: Sara Bejlek/CZE and Robin Montgomery/USA
...here comes another Crusher!
18-year old Bejlek qualified in Madrid to make her 1000 MD debut, and so far she's taken full advantage of it.
The Czech collected the two biggest wins of her career in the opening rounds, taking out a pair of Hordette Annas -- Blinkova and Kalinskaya -- then reaching the second week with a 3rd Round win over Ashlyn Krueger to set up a first-time match-up vs. Elena Rybakina.
Bejlek's five-win week (2 Q, 3 MD) comes after she'd gone just 3-5 since her AO qualifying run, but she's already climbed nearly 30 spots in the rankings this week from her #136 starting point, assuring herself of a new career high standing no matter what happens next.
Washington, D.C. native Montgomery may have had a revelatory week in Madrid, as the 19-year old former junior champ ('21 U.S. Open girls' s/d sweep) reached her maiden 1000 3rd Round with wins over Elina Avanesyan and Katie Boulter, then showed no nerves (until her lack of experience finally got the best of her late) vs. world #2 Aryna Sabalenka, winning a 2nd set TB to force a 3rd vs. the reigning Madrid champion and hanging close until the Belarusian broke to end the match with a 6-4 set win.
Ranked at #183 heading into the week, Montgomery has put on qualifying runs in Indian Wells and Rouen this year, going a combined 16-8.
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DOWN: Peyton Stearns/USA, Sofia Kenin/USA and Alycia Parks/USA
...there have been some big moves by Bannerettes early in '24, from the likes of Navarro and Townsend to Kessler and Volynets (plus, of course, veterans Stephens and Collins). But the other side of the coin are players like these.
Stearns' inability to get over the three-set hump continued in Madrid, as she lost her sixth straight three-setter (vs. Tatjana Maria) to fall to 1-9 in such matches on the year (3-10 overall). Her ranking has fallen from Top 50 in January to around a live #83.
Last fall, Kenin looked primed for a comeback, reaching the San Diego final and Guadalajara semis in back-to-back weeks, getting wins over Ostapenko, Fernandez, Kalinina, Kudermetova, Navarro and Potapova. Since then she's gone 2-14, including 1-10 in '24. Her 3 & 4 loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Madrid was her ninth straight. After having ended the '23 season at #33, Kenin is at around #60.
Early last year, Parks starred in a maiden title run in Lyon, only to go 18-38 in the year-plus since. Her Madrid Q1 6-1/6-1 loss to Renata Zarazua drops her to 2-11 on the season, with ten consecutive defeats. #40 last August, Parks in now outside the Top 130.
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ITF PLAYERS: Jana Fett/CRO and Maddison Inglis/AUS
...Fett has put together quite a nice six-month run, reaching her biggest career final at a 125 last November, winning a $75K earlier this month, and this week claiming her biggest career crown at the $100K in Oeiras.
The Croatian ran off wins over Tena Lukas, Polona Hercog, Irina Maria Bara, Yulia Starodubtseva and Panna Udvardy in a 6-0/6-2 final, improving to 17-7 on the year (and 25-4 back to last fall, winning in three of five singles finals since August).
In Tokyo, Inglis won her biggest career title in the week's other $100K challenger, getting wins over Lily Miyazaki, Kimberly Birrell and Ena Shibahara in a 6-4/3-6/6-2 final, thwarting the Japanese (usually) doubles specialist's quest to claim a big prize for what would have been just her second career pro singles title (the first came in February).
Inglis, 26, has won eight career ITF titles, two this season.
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JUNIOR STARS: Wakana Sonobe/JPN and Kristina Penickova/USA
...at the Offenbach (GER) J500 event, Sonobe grabbed the biggest title of her junior career, topping the two J300 events she won last year. The 16-year old (jr. #17) from Japan posted wins over Jeline Vandromme and Alena Kovackova en route to the final, then topped Teodora Kostovic when the Serb retired down 6-3/3-1.
Last December, in one of her J300 wins, Sonobe put on an even more impressive run in the Eddie Herr championships, taking down the likes of Tyra Caterina Grant, Laura Samson, Rositsa Dencheva, Valerie Glozman and Vandromme over the course of a week.
14-year old Penickova, one half of a twin combo with sister Annika, claimed her biggest career title at the J300 Sarawak Cup in Kuching, Malaysia, allowing as many as three games in a set just twice over five matches.
Top seeded Penickova defeated Japan's Kanon Sawashiro (#13), who'd earlier defeated the #2 seed, by a 6-2/6-0 score in the final.
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[Madrid 1st-3rd Rd.]
1. Madrid 1st Rd. - Wang Xinyu def. Viktoria Tomova
...5-7/7-5/6-4. Comeback of the season (as Wang saves *10* MP)? It'll at least be in the discussion.
Tomova rallied from 5-3 down to win the 1st, and led 7-5/5-2, holding three MP on Wang's serve. She held seven *more* MP at 5-3.
After failing to take the match, Tomova immediately fell behind 0-4 in the 3rd. She recovered to make the scoreline respectable, but it wasn't enough to avoid a squandered victory.
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2. Madrid 1st Rd. - Olga Danilovic def. Clara Burel
...3-6/7-6(8)/6-4. Every once in a while, Danilovic flashes before slipping back into the field, leaving everyone to wonder where (and why) she went.
The qualifier did it again here, coming back from 6-3/4-0, and 5-2, to get the win. Burel served for the match and held 4 MP (1 serving at 5-3, 3 in the TB), but the Serb took a 10-8 TB and then won in three.
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3. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Danielle Collins def. Olga Danilovic
...4-6/6-4/7-6(8). Collins takes her (late night) show to Europe, winning her 14th consecutive match in a contest that carried half past midnight.
Danilovic broke and served for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd, but Collins was having none of it. She got the match-extending break, then took things to a deciding TB, where she raced to a 6-3 lead and finally put away the Serb -- through the rain -- on her sixth MP.
Collins came back from a set down to defeat Jaqueline Cristian in the 3rd Round, taking her streak to 15 matches and posting her best 1000 result (4r and counting) on clay courts. She reached the RG QF in 2020.
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4. Madrid 1st Rd. - Tatjana Maria def. Peyton Stearns
...6-7(4)/6-2/7-6(5). Some news out of this one was that Thomas Hill, ex-coach of Maria Sakkari, seems to have become a new fixture in Stearns' box.
Also, Tennis Channel's overlords major sponsor Fan Duel, as noted on air, showed the odds changed dramatically in Stearns' favor once the 3rd set began, an odd thing considering she came into the match having lost five straight three-setters (something the TC announcers didn't mention until the Bannerette was up 6-5, even after having had an earlier discussion about the "habit" of winning or losing that players can find themselves in) and gone 1-8 in such matches on the season.
As it turned out, Stearns (who'd won the 1st after trailing 4-1 and 5-3) led 3-0, love/30 on Maria's serve in the deciding set (and 5-4, love/30 again on return), but could never reclaim her break edge, and lost a 7-5 TB.
So, if anyone used Fan Duel's great knowledge of the situation to make a mid-match bet in Stearns' favor, I hope they enjoyed their money while they had it.
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5. Madrid 1st Rd. - Alex Eala def. Lesia Tsurenko
...2-6/6-4/6-4. The lone ranked player from the Philippines in professional tennis, 18-year old Eala (#170) notches her first 1000 MD win, and just the second overall of her WTA career (the last came in Cluj in 2020). #41 Tsurenko represents Eala's first career Top 50 victory.
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6. Madrid 1st Rd. - Wang Xiyu def. Ana Bogdan
...6-7(5)/7-6(4)/6-2. Bogdan returns from her big weekend in BJK Cup play two weeks ago, when she ended her five-match losing streak with a win over Elina Svitolina and then joined Jaqueline Cristian in winning the doubles to pull off a rare Cup comeback from 0-2 down vs. UKR.
Unfortuanately, the Romanian's return saw her revert to her previous form/luck. She won the 1st set after trailing 5-1, only to fail to convert a MP at 5-4 and then lose a 2nd set TB and then immediately fall behind 0-4 in the 3rd.
This is Bogdan's second match loss this season after holding MP.
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7. Madrid 1st Rd. - Emiliana Arango def. Amanda Anisimova
...1-6/6-4/7-6(2). Anisimova rallies from 3-1 back in the 3rd, but can't close out the victory. She led Arango 5-3, and had two chances (at 5-4 and 6-5) to serve things out.
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8. Madrid 1st Rd. - Jessica Bouzas Maneiro def. Paula Badosa
...2-6/6-3/6-3. Bouzas Maneiro finally notches a big stage win as well as her first at the WTA MD level, taking out countrywoman Badosa on Spanish clay in her first 1000 MD match.
The qualifier's run ended a round later vs. Alona Ostapenko, but she's now safely ranked in the Top 100, has picked up three singles titles this season (a 125, $75K and $50K) and is 30-8 overall (13-3 on clay).
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9. Madrid 1st Rd. - Sara Errani def. Caroline Wozniacki
...3-6/7-5/7-5. And if your Bingo card said we'd get a Wozniacki-vs.-Errani match in *2024*, you might have just won something.
Errani wins the battle of veterans (36 vs. 33), who first played all the way back in 2007. The Italian's last win over the Dane was *16* years ago.
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10. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Cristina Bucsa
...5-7/7-6(5)/6-3. With neither being able to hold serve often in the match, both women traded off big leads. Bucsa rallied from 5-1 down in the 1st (Kasatkina twice served for the set), while Kasatkina did the same after trailing 5-2 in the 2nd (Bucsa served for the match at 5-2).
In the end, there were 20 combined breaks of serve in 33 service games, with 20 of 26 BP converted.
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11. Madrid 1st Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Martina Trevisan
...6-3/5-7/6-4. Still jetlagged, and with only one hour of court time with which to make the transition to Madrid from her indoor title run in Rouen, Stephens takens a 6-3/5-3 lead and holds three MP in the 2nd. Trevisan battles back to force a 3rd, but Stephens comes along with her and wins in 3:16 to tie her career-best clay winning streak (6 matches).
Plus, her mom packed hand-warmers!
Again, the WTA is just a better place when Sloane is winning.
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12. Madrid Q1 - Laura Siegemund def. Tyra Caterina Grant
...4-6/6-2/6-2. In true tennis tradition, a 36-year old faced off with a 16-year old.
Siegemund was coming off a three-set loss to Marta Kostyuk in the 1st Round in the Stuttgart 500 event, while last weekend Grant had picked up a J300 title on the junior circuit.
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13. Madrid 1st Rd. - Shelby Rogers def. Zhang Shuai
...6-3/6-2. Make it 0-20 in her last 20 singles matches for Zhang.
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14. Madrid 1st Rd. - Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva def. Zhu Lin
...6-4/6-3. The 18-year old, the 2020 AO junior champ, picks up her first career 1000 MD win vs.
It was fun while it lasted. The Andorran posted just one game vs. Jasmine Paolini in the 2nd Round.
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15. Madrid Q1 - Rebecca Sramkova def. Clara Tauson
...7-6(6)/0-0 ret. Sigh. Thankfully, it looks like the Dane was just tired after two long weeks in Oeiras...
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16. Madrid 1st Rd. - Sara Bejlek def. Anna Blinkova
...4-6/6-3/6-3. Blinkova falls to 7-10 on the year. Yet she has wins over Rybakina (3-time '24 champ), Pliskova (1 titles), Pegula (3 semis), and Yastremska (AO semifinalist), who came into the week a combined 65-25.
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17. Madrid 1st Rd. - Caroline Dolehide/Desirae Krawczyk def. Donna Vekic/Elena Vesnina
...6-2/6-1. Vesnina finally makes her '24 comeback debut, as the 37-year old Hordette plays in her first match since the Tokyo Olympics in summer '21.
Things didn't go her way, but remember that Vesnina still stands just an AO title away from a Career WD Super Slam (all four majors, the WTAF and Olympic Gold).
After so many were saying last week that Garbine Muguruza (2 slam wins and a former #1) was a "sure-thing" Hall of Famer (personally, I'm not so sure about that), what does that make Vesnina, a four-time WD/MX slam champ, Olympic Gold ('16 WD w/ Ekaterina Makarova the Original) & Silver ('21 MX w/ Audrey Rublev) medalist, singles slam semifinalist, multiple Fed Cup champ and doubles #1?
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18. $50K Wuning CHN Final - Wang Qiang def. Lanlana Tararudee
...1-6/6-3/4-3 ret. In her fourth event back after sitting out since September 2022 (she also missed time after a one-match, short-lived return in January, not returning until earlier this month), former world #12 Wang picks up her first singles title since her career-best Asian swing at tour-level in 2018.
With her '24 ledger producing progressively better 1r-QF-SF-W results, Wang will climb significantly from her current #827. With the next rankings a week away, she's just outside the Top 600 in the live standings.
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19. $15K Telde ESP Final - Renata Jamrichova def. Maria Garcia Cid
...6-3/6-7(4)/6-2. Despite a combined 86 DF (!!) in the tournament, Jamrichova pulls off her second '24 pro title run, improving to 12-1 in her last 13 over ITF and BJK competition.
The 16-year old Slovak, the current junior #1, won the AO girls' singles crown in January.
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20. $75K Charlottesville USA Final - Louisa Chirico def. Kayla Day
...6-1/7-5. A one-time shocking Madrid semifinalist at age 19 back in 2016, Chirico claims her sixth career challenger title, and second in Charlottesville in the last three years.
Chirico got additional wins over Valentini Grammatikopoulou (QF) and Maya Joint (SF). She'd gone 2-9 since mid-January, and is at a live #228 (she was as high as #58 eight years ago).
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1. $100K Oeiras POR Final - Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge def. Yana Sizikova/Wu Fang-hsien
...6-2/6-0. A week after claiming their biggest career title in the 125 event in Oeiras, the Jorge sisters stay on home clay and win their *second*-biggest title.
They were the runners-up in the event last year.
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2. Madrid 1st Rd. - Irina-Camelia Begu def. Linda Fruhvirtova 6-4/7-6(0)
Madrid 1st Rd. - Arantxa Rus def. Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-2/6-4
...Linda was historically the first of the Czech Crusher generation to lift a tour title (Chennai '22), climbing inside the Top 50 last June. But she's now barely holding in the Top 150, ranked behind the likes of Linda Noskova (Top 30), her sister Brenda (8-4 on the year, and likely inside the Top 100 after Madrid) and Sara Bejlek (approx. #130).
Linda is 8-13 in '24.
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3. Madrid 1st Rd. - Mayar Sherif def. Lauren Davis
...4-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Sherif had a good run in BJK Cup play two weeks ago, but before this win had been 0-5 on tour in '24.
To get her first win she had to stage a comeback from 6-4/5-3. Davis served for the match at 5-3, and saved a pair of BP at 5-5 as the 2nd went into a TB. Sherif won 7-4, then took the 3rd.
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Ommmm... manifesting into reality that Petra's babe will be named "Pojd"... Ommmm.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmm, I wonder if he's going over some tactical changes to enact should Iga face a big-hitt--... yeah, probably not.
*LONG WTA (MD only) WINNING STREAKS - 2020s*
37 - Iga Swiatek (2022)
18 - Iga Swiatek (2023-24)
17 - Simona Halep (2020)
16 - Coco Gauff (2023)
15 - DANIELLE COLLINS (2024)
13 - Liudmila Samsonova (2022)
13 - Bernarda Pera (2022)
13 - Aryna Sabalenka (2023)
13 - Elena Rybakina (2023)
*ESP - ROUND OF 16+ IN MADRID*
2010 Anabel Medina Garrigues
2010 Arantxa Parra Santonja
2011 Arantxa Parra Santonja
2012 Anabel Medina Garrigues
2013 Anabel Medina Garrigues (QF)
2014 Carla Suarez Navarro
2015 Carla Suarez Navarro (QF)
2016 Carla Suarez Navarro
2017 Carla Suarez Navarro
2017 Lara Arruabarrena
2018 Garbine Muguruza
2018 Carla Suarez Navarro (QF)
2021 Paula Badosa (SF)
2022 Sara Sorribes Tormo (QF)
2023 Paula Badosa
2024 Sara Sorribes Tormo (in 4th Rd.)
All for now.
Read more...
Wk.16- Queen of the Road
Elena's a woman of means by no means... Queen of the road.
*WEEK 16 CHAMPIONS*
STUTTGART, GERMANY (WTA 500/Red Clay Indoor)
S: Elena Rybakina/KAZ def. Marta Kostyuk/UKR 6-2/6-2
D: Chan Hao-ching/Veronika Kudermetova (TPE/RUS) def. Ulrikke Eikeri/Ingrid Neel (NOR/EST) 4-6/6-3 [10-2]
ROUEN, FRANCE (WTA 250/Red Clay Indoor)
S: Sloane Stephens/USA def. Magda Linette/POL 6-1/2-6/6-2
D: Timea Babos/Irina Khromacheva (HUN/RUS) def. Naiktha Bains/Maia Lumsden (GBR/GBR) 6-3/6-4
OEIRAS, PORTUGAL (WTA 125/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Suzan Lamens/NED def. Clara Tauson/DEN 6-4/5-7/6-4
D: Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge (POR/POR) def. Harriet Dart/Kristina Mladenovic (GBR/FRA) 6-0/6-4
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...though she played three straight three-setters on her way to the final (her fifth of the year, earlier in the season than anyone since Vika in 2012) and notched another #1 win (her fifth, behind only Venus, Svitolina and Petra amongst active players), it felt a bit like a "no sweat" sort of week for Rybakina in Stuttgart.
Veronika Kudermetova, Jasmine Paolini and Iga Swiatek all pushed the Kazakh to three sets after Rybakina had claimed the 1st, but she was the picture of button-down precision down the stretch vs. all three, including while getting her fourth win in her last five meetings vs. the world #1. Only this time she took down the Pole -- who employed (shocker!) the same game plan she used in her other losses -- in an event in which she'd never lost.
Hmmm, does this mean it could happen in Paris, too?
But before that we have to note that Rybakina, 5-0 in '24 semis but at times experiencing some difficulty in finishing off great weeks with titles (going 6-11 since the start of her breakout run in early '20, and dropping her last two this year), never really stressed her 2 & 2 win over Marta Kostyuk in *this* final to pick up career title #8.
15-2 on clay the last two seasons, with two wins over Iga (who's 21-1 vs. everyone else), Rybakina has proven capable vs. *anyone* on *any* surface the last few seasons. Maybe the only surface she's yet to conquer is asphalt.
Since...
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RISERS: Marta Kostyuk/UKR and Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
...what a couple of seasons ago felt like the "inevitable" rise of Kostyuk truly seems *this* close to becoming a reality in 2024. Though the 21-year old Ukrainian didn't win the title in Stuttgart, her week was surely one of the best we'll see all year when it comes to a player *not* walking off with the big(ger) trophy.
Kostyuk had twice failed to serve out the match in the 2nd set of her 1st Round encounter with Laura Siegemund, but ultimately won in 3:09. The resilence proved to be her "norm" for the week. Against Zheng Qinwen she saved 5 MP, and against Coco Gauff she rallied from a set down, a break down twice in the 2nd, 3-1 in the 3rd (Gauff served for the match) and didn't let squandering seven MP get in the way of her finally winning on #8. A third straight Top 10 win came vs. Marketa Vondrousova in the semis as Kostyuk reached her second 500 final this season (w/ San Diego) to go along with a SF in Indian Wells.
Though she did anything but fold, Kostyuk was never really able to find a way into the match in the final vs. Elena Rybakina, but she'll be on the cusp of her Top 20 breakthrough (at #23) on Monday.
Vondrousova went out by the hand of Kostyuk in the Stuttgart semis, but it was a nice run considering the Czech had arrived having played just two matches since Dubai. She ran off wins over Donna Vekic, Anastasia Potapova and Aryna Sabalenka, ending the world #2's three-year run of finals in the event (and ending her four-match winning streak vs. Vondrousova, defeating her for first time since 2018) as she swept the final three games of the 3rd to collect her first Top 10 win since her title run at Wimbledon last summer, reaching her first semi since SW19.
If this week means that Vondrousova is *back* for this spring/summer, top players are hereby advised to watch their back.
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SURPRISES: Suzan Lamens/NED and the Jorge sisters (POR)
...Lamens might think about moving to Oeiras full (or at least part) time, because the city seems to be pretty good to her.
After a sterling week in Portugal for BJK Cup play, where she led the Netherlands to the Playoffs this fall, she stayed around for the 125 event this week. By the end of the second week in town, she stood at 9-0 in singles (14-1 w/ doubles) and her biggest career title in hand.
Wins over Emiliana Arango, Julia Avdeeva, Aliona Falei and Kristina Mladenovic (by a very odd 4-6/6-0/6-0 scoreline... a match which would have nothing on the final) to get within one win of the crown. In the final vs. Clara Tauson, Lamens lost a 6-4/5-0 (and 3 MP) lead, fell behind 4-1 to the Dane in the 3rd, but then battled back to sweep the final five games to get the title.
The 24-year old Dutch woman, who started the year at #211, will climb another 29 spots on Monday to a new career high of #134.
Also in Oeiras, the homegrown Jorge sisters proved to be unexpected stars.
First, both progressed through the singles draw. Francisca (24, #190... she took Ostapenko to three sets in BJK last week) defeated Anastasia Zakharova and Renata Zarazua, while Matilde (20, #556) knocked off Harriet Dart (her first Top 100) win. Both reached the QF, one round from facing each other for a berth in the final. Well, at least until Francisca lost to top seed Bernarda Pera, and Matilde fell to Clara Tauson.
Ah, but their story didn't end there. There was still doubles to play!
Having played in 29 ITF finals together since 2021, winning 14 (though going 1-5 back to last fall, and being 0-3 in '24), the duo played into their biggest final ever this week, defeating the #4 (Barnett/Christie) and #1 (Kolodziejova/Siskova) seeds en route, then taking out #2 Dart/Mladenovic in a 6-0/6-4 final to claim their greatest prize to date in their nation's biggest women's event.
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VETERAN: Sloane Stephens/USA
...the WTA tour is always a better place when Sloane Stephens is winning. So this was a good week.
Any Stephens surge can no longer count as a "Future Sloane" sighting, as the now 31-year old's greatest career moments are now long enough ago (7 years? Eek.) that they qualify as being "Past Sloane." So consider her week in Rouen a nice reminder of "Peak Sloane," as she dropped the opening set of a 1st Rounder to Peyton Stearns and then promply ripped off the next nine (def. Karolina Pliskova, Yuan Yue and Caroline Garcia in straights), reaching her 11th tour final and winning the 1st set there vs. Magda Linette.
The Polish vet forced a 3rd, and Stephens finally put her away to win 6-1/2-6/6-2. Her run had already produced Stephens' first SF since last May (just her second SF in 47 events!), and career title #8 is her first since taking Guadalajara in February 2022.
One could sense all the way back in Week 2 that there might be something to Stephens in 2024, when she lost in her 1st Round match to Yuan in Hobart. Yuan had led 4-1 in the 3rd, but Stephens flipped the switch and found herself serving at 6-5. She got within two points of the win three times in game 12, but Yuan ultimately forced a TB. Stephens led 5-4 there, but Yuan swept the final three points. As I noted then, it was a *good* sign for Sloane because "she was mighty PO'd at blowing those leads" after Yuan converted MP. Her first three losses of the season came in three-setters, further proof that she was again -- win or lose -- ready, willing and able to go the distance.
When Yuan came around again this week, Stephens won 2 & 2, and was the champion two rounds later.
Stephens will climb to #33 on Monday, and looks on target for a seed at Roland Garros. That hasn't happened at a major since the 2020 Roland Garros.
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COMEBACKS: Gabriela Ruse/ROU and Kristina Mladenovic/FRA & Timea Babos/HUN
...Ruse's season was put on pause in January when she missed a month and a half due to injury after an opening week qualifying run in Auckland.
The Romanian had her best week of the (still) young season in Rouen, qualifying and getting MD wins (her first at tour-level in '24) over Nao Hibino (off her big BJK weekend) and Clara Burel before falling to Caroline Garcia, in the fifth QF of Ruse's WTA career.
Ruse reached a pair of WTA finals in 2021 (going 1-1), and was RU in Cluj last October. The 26-year old, who's ranked as high as #51 (2022), will climb back into the Top 140 on Monday.
Mladenovic and Babos, great friends who have shared much success in doubles in the past, didn't reunite this week, but both posted resurgent results about 1180 miles (1910 km) apart.
A wild card entrant in Oeiras, Mladenovic ran off wins over Katherine Sebov, Francesca Jones and Varvara Lepchenko, reaching the SF while also playing into the WD final alongside Harriet Dart. All the court time took a lot out of her, though, as after winning the opening set in the semis vs. Suzan Lamens the Pastry was bageled in *both* the 2nd and 3rd set, when went out with Dart a few hours later and lost the doubles final 6-0 (a third straight love set on the day!), 6-4 to the Jorge sisters.
Mladenovic came into the week at #252 in singles and #56 in doubles, but did manage to level off her solo record in '24 to 8-8. It's no small feat, as her career numbers are shockingly poor for a player who has ranked in the singles Top 10 (along w/ being WD #1). Since 2013, she's finished 8 of 11 seasons under .500, even while finishing in the Top 50 in singles every year from 2015-20.
[https://tennistonic.com]
Mladenovic, even with a faltering season-ending singles ranking streak (40-49-92-112-249 from 2019-23) is still only 30 years old, so unless she (ironically) pulls a Muguruza there's still time to stage a legit comeback (at least, realistically, in doubles).
Meanwhile, in Rouen...
Babos teamed with Irina Khromacheva to win her first tour-level WD title since taking slam #4 in Paris in 2020 alongside Mladenovic. A four-time slam champ (and four-time RU... she's 4-3 in finals w/ Mladenovic), as well as a back-to-back-to-back WTAF doubles winner (two w/ Kiki in 2018-19), Babos has posted just two MD doubles wins in majors since that title run in Roland Garros almost five years ago.
Babos/Khromacheva defeated Brits Naiktha Bains & Maia Lumsden 3 & 4 in Rouen final, giving Babos 25 career tour titles.
===============================================
FRESH FACES: Mirra Andreeva/RUS and Clara Tauson/DEN
...with Conchita Martinez by her side (on a coaching trial), 16-year old Andreeva reached her second WTA QF this season (and second of her career) in Rouen, posting wins over Nadia Podoroska and Elina Avanesyan before falling to Anhelina Kalinina.
Though it's still part of a remarkably small sample size, Andreeva's numbers remain impressive. A 4th Round in Madrid and Wimbledon last year, an Australian Open 4th Round and a pair of QF already in '24. Coming into the week, she hadn't posted a win since Melbourne, and her three-match losing streak was the longest of her career in pro events.
She's still 83-23 as a pro.
Other than maybe Emma Raducanu, no player was more clutch during the opening BJK Cup week of the season than Tauson, as the Dane stepped up when Caroline Wozniacki was injured and went 5-0 in Oeiras while leading Denmark to the November Playoffs.
Still in Oeiras in Week 16 for this week's WTA 125 tournament, Tauson didn't let up. She reached the final without dropping a set, getting a walkover from top seed Bernarda Pera in the semis.
These were Tauson's words before the final...
In the final against Suzan Lamens, Tauson was medically treated early in the 2nd set, and soon fell behind 6-4/5-0, facing three MP. She survived and actually *led* 4-1 in the 3rd before dropping the final five games.
With so many twists and turns, it was surely one of the craziest set of swings that'll be seen all year. And it took place on a rather nice little court, too. Pity there weren't more people there to see it play out (unfortunately, the image reminds one of a WC slam final)...
===============================================
DOWN: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...off a lackluster-to-bad BJK Cup week in which she lost to Suzy Lamens and was taken to three sets by the likes of Francisca Jorge and Zenep Sonmez, Ostapenko was run out quickly in Germany by the sort of power shots from Linda Noskova that the Latvian employs against others.
After starting the season at 16-3 (w/ all three losses to Vika Azarenka), Ostapenko has now gone 3-5 in her last eight.
===============================================
ITF PLAYERS: Julia Riera/ARG and Veronika Erjavec/SLO
...once again, here comes Riera. The Argentine reached the SF in her tour-level debut in Rabat last May, and has since gradually climbed the rankings. This week she grabbed her biggest career title in the $75K challenger in Chiasso (SUI), defeating Anna Bondar 6-3/7-6 in the final to improve her current winning streak (w/ her great BJK Cup play) to 10. She's 14-2 on clay this season.
Riera will crack the Top 100 on Monday, giving Argentina three players (w/ Podoroska and Carle) there after so many post-Sabatini years of underachievement.
In Koper (SLO), Erjavec won the all-Slovenian battle on home clay vs. countrywoman Polona Hercog. The 24-year old, playing in her biggest career final, rebounded from a bad BJK Cup week (0-2 vs. SVK) to close out the weekend with a 6-4/6-3 victory that will jump her 34 spots to a new career high of #169. It's Erjavec's fifth ITF title since last April.
===============================================
JUNIOR STAR: Tyra Caterina Grant/USA
...the 16-year old Bannerette (jr. #8, #2 seed) picked up her second J300 title of the season, winning the tournament in Beaulieu-sur-Mer (FRA) with a 6-3/6-2 win over Austrian qualifier Lilli Tagger in the final.
Girls' #244 Tagger, 16, had earlier defeated the #4, #5 and #6 seeds to reach the final, losing no sets over her seven-match run.
===============================================
DOUBLES: Chan Hao-ching/Veronika Kudermetova, TPE/RUS
...two sisters are better than one, even when their other sisters are nowhere in sight.
Chan/Kudermetova didn't lose a set en route to the final in Stuttgart, defeating Mattek-Sands/Zhang in the semis, then won a 10-2 MTB in the final over Ulrikke Eikeri/Ingrid Neel (previously 2-0 in finals together) to claim their first title as a team. It's Chan's 21st on tour (second in '24), and #8 for Kudermetova.
===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Yui Kamiji/JPN
...clearly, Yui likes to play. For while Diede de Groot plays fairly sparingly (at least compared to Kamiji), the world #2 is out there almost every week.
This week it was the Series 2 Kobe Open in Japan, where she ran over the field like a steamroller, dropping just two games over three matches in singles (defeating Shiori Funamizu 6-0/6-1 in the final in what wasn't even her most dominant win of the week), improving her non-Diede '24 season mark to 28-0 (w/ 41 straight wins). She's 120-2 against *everyone else* from 2022-24.
Oh, and Kamiji and Kgothatso Montjane won the doubles, too. After a 1st Round bye, they produced three bagel sets in the four they played in the SF/F.
===============================================
1. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Marta Kostyuk def. Zheng Qinwen
...6-2/4-6/7-5. A huge one for Zheng to let slip, and a tremendous "get" for Kostyuk.
After sweeping the final three games to take the set (and extend the run to five games at 2-0 in the 3rd), Zheng had five MP at 5-4 in a six-deuce game before eventually DF'ing on Kostyuk's second BP.
Two games later, Zheng had a GP to force a deciding TB, but couldn't convert and, on Kostyuk's second MP, DF'd again.
It's Kostyuk's second WTA/slam MD match won this season from MP down, tying Linda Noskova for the tour lead.
===============================================
2. Stuttgart QF - Marta Kostyuk def. Coco Gauff
...3-6/6-4/7-6(6). Kostyuk follows up her five MP-saving Top 10 win over Zheng Qinwen with her biggest win yet vs. #3 Gauff, staging multiple comebacks over the course of the proceedings without ever facing a MP.
Gauff won the 1st set, and was twice up a break in the opening four games of the 2nd. She led 3-1 in the 3rd, as well. At 4-4, Gauff had three BP opportunities to get the chance to serve for the match. Kostyuk held, then had three MP chances on Gauff's serve in the following game. Gauff saved all three.
With another chance, Gauff got the break for 6-5 and *did* have a chance to serve out the win. But, again, Kostyuk battled back to force a deciding TB. The Ukrainian jumped out to a 6-2 lead, only to see Gauff save four more MP before Kostyuk took the breaker on MP #8 to win 8-6.
Stuttgart is the first multi-Top 10 win event of Kostyuk's career. She made it *three* straight Top 10 victories with a win over Marketa Vondrousova in the semis.
===============================================
3. Rouen 1st Rd. - Natalija Stevenovic def. Anna Blinkova
...7-6(2)/3-6/7-6(2). Blinkova continues to have perhaps the most odd season on tour, compete with at least one outrageous high (the 22-20 TB vs. Rybakina at the AO) as well as otherwise impressive wins over the likes of Pegula, Pliskova, Yastremska and Wozniacki. She reached a QF in San Diego. But the spectacular finish she had against Rybakina has been difficult to replicate.
Blinkova broke for a 6-5 lead in the 1st vs. Stevanovic, but couldn't serve out the set and lost a TB. She came back from a break down to the 2nd, then turned around a 4-1 deficit in the 3rd. Down 4-5, Blinkova took a 40/love lead in game 10. She needed five GP to get the hold to knot the score, then broke Stevanovic at love to lead 6-5. Serving for the match, Blinkova held triple MP at 40/love, but lost five straight points to head to a TB, where she dropped the opening two points and trailed 5-1. Stevanovic won the breaker 7-2, with the world #204 picking up her second career Top 50 win in 3:17.
Blinkova is 7-9 on the year.
===============================================
4. Stuttgart SF - Elena Rybakina def. Iga Swiatek
...6-3/4-6/6-4. It sounds like a broken record but, again, what does Tomasz Wiktorowski actually do?
The 2022 (wink,wink) 2023 WTA Coach of the Year's charge looks great when Swiatek runs roughshod over opponents she shouldn't have trouble with, as she did *before* he became her coach. But anytime Swiatek goes against anyone that hits the ball with any real intent it's like a potluck dinner on a 100-degree day -- spoilage is *really* possible, and in some cases quite probable.
It'd be one thing if she changed things up a bit while trying to combat an opponent she's consistently had issues with, such as Rybakina, in an attempt to find a "new" way other than hoping her opponent has trouble keeping the ball inside the lines. But that didn't happen here. It's the same roll of the dice every single time. Even the Tennis Channel commentator for this match -- Jason Goodall, maybe? -- noted that taking a step back to return Rybakina's serve on occasion might give Swiatek a split second of additional time that would allow her to more consistently contend during her service games. But that never happened, even in the 3rd when Rybakina was mostly holding serve quite easily and Swiatek got in to long, drawn out, multiple-deuce/BP games when *she* stepped up to the line.
In that deciding set, Swiatek managed to survive two BP in game 1, then five more in game 3 without being broken. Rybakina faced no BP in her follow-ups. Finally, Rybakina's 0-for-8 BP run in the set ended and she took a 3-2 lead with a big return and Swiatek error. The Kazakh saved a BP in the next game (w/ a drop shot off a short ball), then saved another two games later to lead 5-3. Rybakina converted on her second MP on Swiatek's serve to win 6-4, ending in 2:49 the world #1's two-year reign as Stuttgart champion.
Rybakina is now 4-2 vs. Swiatek, winning four of five, including a 2-0 edge on clay (and now in an event in which Iga had never lost to *anyone*).
As the Tennis Channel stats noted, a top player (especially hard hitters) getting up on Swiatek and forcing her to rally is a key to taking her down. She's 32-2 vs. the Top 10 when she wins the 1st set, but just 3-12 when she loses it.
===============================================
5. Rouen 1st Rd. - Caroline Garcia def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
...6-1/3-6/7-5. Cocciaretto has let slip quite a few opportunities for wins this season. This was just the latest.
The Italian led 5-3 in the 3rd, and was two points from the win at 30/30 on Garcia's serve. The Pastry held, then broke Cocciaretto as she served for the match in the following game. Serving to force a TB, Cocciaretto had a pair of GP, but saw Garcia get the break to end the match.
===============================================
6. Oeiras 125 Final - Suzan Lamens def. Clara Tauson
...6-4/5-7/6-4. A crazy one, indeed.
Lamens led 6-4/5-0 and had three MP in the 2nd set. Though Tauson had had a medical timeout early in the set, the Dane managed to fight back late to knot the match, then surged into a 4-1 lead in the 3rd. But Lamens won the final five games in the battle of last week's BJK Cup heroes, picking up her biggest title.
===============================================
7. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Emma Raducanu def. Linda Noskova 6-0/7-5
Stuttgart QF - Iga Swiatek def. Emma Raducanu 7-6(2)/6-3
...coming in off her BJK heroics, Raducanu continued to show great promise on the surface she's barely played on, further proving that we still don't know just what sort of player the Brit truly is/will be after watching an historic slam run in New York almost three years ago, the multiple injuries/surgeries that have followed, along with six coaching changes (up now: Nick Cavaday) and an admirable pile of evidence that she's got the goods to hang with and beat anyone when she's capable of taking the court.
*If* she can stay there...
Hey! Considering that photo, is this a rare action shot *of* @JJlovesTennis?
===============================================
8. Rouen 1st Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Peyton Stearns
...1-6/6-1/6-3. At some point, as she's always up for the fight, Stearns' results have to turn in her favor. But when?
After being ranked #48 in January, she's now barely holding onto a Top 90 position.
Stearns' loss to Stephens drops her to 1-8 in three-setters this season, including in her last five such affairs.
===============================================
9. Stuttgart QF - Marketa Vondrousova def. Aryna Sabalenka
...3-6/6-3/7-5. Sabalenka's run of three straight Stuttgart finals ends (losses to Barty, Iga and Iga) at the hands of Vondrousova, who ends her personal four-match losing streak vs. the Belarusian by getting the key break in game 11 and serving out the match in the 3rd.
Since winning her second straight Australian Open title, Sabalenka has gone 4-4.
===============================================
10. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-3/6-1. Noskova gets her third Top 10 win already this year, after notching three *all* season in '23. She didn't get a chance at a fourth, losing in the 2nd Round to Emma Raducanu, when a win would have set up a *fourth* '24 meeting with Iga Swiatek.
===============================================
11. Rouen 2nd Rd. - Yuan Yue def. Varvara Gracheva
...6-4/4-6/7-6(6). Gracheva's comeback, in her first event in France since she began to represent the nation a few weeks after last year's RG, from 3-0 down in the 3rd is thwarted.
Yuan failed to convert a pair of MP at 5-4, and soon had to stave off a MP on her own serve at 6-5, then two more at 6-4 in a deciding TB before finishing off the final four points of the match.
===============================================
12. Stuttgart Final - Elena Rybakina def. Marta Kostyuk
...6-2/6-2. Coming soon to a roadway near you (she promises).
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13. Rouen Final - Sloane Stephens def. Magda Linette
...6-1/2-6/6-2. With Stephens at 31 and Linette at 32, this was the "oldest" singles final contested between thirtysomethings on tour since S.Williams/Kerber at Wimbledon in 2018.
It was just the third 30-vs.-30 tour-level championship match in the 2020s, joining '21 Konta/Zhang and Pliskova/Bogdan from earlier this year (which this edged by just one year).
In the end, an additional nod to Linette, who came into the week at just 5-10 on the year. Charleston (3r) had been her first multi-win event of '24, and this run was just her second SF+ at tour-level since she reached the Australian Open final four last year.
===============================================
14. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Ons Jabeur def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...2-6/6-3/7-6(1). Finally!
After five straight losses (though the last two had come in three-setters), Jabeur gets on the board with a "W" for the first time since February 7.
The spring/summer slam season is just around the corner (and the Olympics, too). So, game on?
The Tunisian fell in the next round to Jasmine Paolini in straights, but had a pair of SP in the 1st. Steps are being made, no matter how halting.
===============================================
15. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Sara Errani
...6-1/6-0. "Thanks for helping me win those two WTA doubles titles, Sara. Now take that!"
At the net, Errani didn't seem to have any hard feelings about taking such a beating from her countrywoman and doubles partner, though.
Of course, the Italian pair lost their 1st Round doubles match in Stuttgart the following day, too.
===============================================
16. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Ons Jabuer 7-6(8)/6-4
Stuttgart QF - Elena Rybakina def Jasmine Paolini 6-3/5-7/6-3
...Paolini didn't carry her flow all the way to the final weekend of another big event, but picked up her fourth career Top 10 win over Jabeur before belatedly (on a different surface) finally getting that QF match-up with Rybakina (who'd withdrawn) that she avoided en route to the Doha title earlier this year.
The Italian continues to consistently knock down career signposts. In 2021, she got her first WTA title. In 2022, she reached the Top 50 and posted her first Top 10 win. In 2023, she climbed into the Top 30 and played in her first 1000 QF. This year, she's reached her maiden slam Round of 16, won a 1000 title and is now ranked in the Top 20.
Up to #13 on Monday, with the likes of Top 10ers Jabeur and Alona Ostapenko slipping, the next logical jump is into the Top 10 (she's only 500 points away).
===============================================
17. Stuttgart 2nd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Paula Badosa
...7-6(4)/4-6/3-3 ret.. Badosa's ongoing plight.
Even when the Spaniard plays well enough to pull off what would have tied for her second-biggest career win (#2 Sabalenka at the '21 WTAF, after #1 Barty in Charleston that same year), her body won't allow her to finish the job. At least it wasn't her back.
===============================================
18. $15K Antalya TUR Final - Denisa Hindova def. Chantal Sauvant
...6-2/6-7(3)/7-6(5). Another week, another Crusher champion.
This time it's 21-year old Hindova who picks up her first title.
There might have been a second, but Lucie Havlickova handed Ayla Aksu a walkover in the $35K Santa Margherita di Pula final. Havlickova reached and lost another final in the city *last* week.
===============================================
HM- $35K Hammamet TUN Final - Alyson Van Uytvanck def. Sada Nahimana
...6-4/6-2. The Waffle -- ranked at #491 after missing time between February-October of last year -- improves to 23-8 in pro finals (5-0 WTA, 3-1 125, 15-7 ITF).
===============================================
1. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova def. Barbora Krejcikova
...5-7/6-4/6-4. Already out of her usually successful doubles loop with her partnership with Katerina Siniakova taking (at least) a one-year hiatus, Krejcikova has been a bit invisible in singles this season, too. She's currently ranked outside the Top 20 in both disciplines (and could be outside the Top 30 soon).
Against Kudermetova, Krejcikova lost a 4-1 3rd set lead, and was unable to put away any of three GP for a 5-2 edge after serving at 4-2, 40/15. The Hordette swept the final games to win in 3:06, as the Czech fell to just 5-4 in 2024, sixteen weeks into the new year.
Granted, Krejcikova's losses haven't come against a collection of schlubs, as before Kudermetova she was taken down by the likes of Sabalenka and Samsonova. But since reaching the AO quarterfinals, she's lost of three of four matches.
===============================================
2. Stuttgart Final - Chan Hao-ching/Veronika Kudermetova def. Ulrikke Eikeri/Ingrid Neel
...4-6/6-3 [10-2]. A rare double-not-my-sister combo for the win!
Hao-ching is still 12 behind her sister Latisha when it comes to titles, while Veronika holds an 8-0 edge over Polina.
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3. Oeiras 125 QF - Bernarda Pera def. Francisca Jorge 6-4/6-1
Oeiras 125 QF - Clara Tauson Pera def. Matilde Jorge 6-1/6-3
...the Portuguese sisters both reach the QF in Oeiras, but fall a match short of a QF meeting that would have been by far the biggest match-up in their career head-to-head series. They've met five times, all in either the 1r/2r in $25K challengers over the past two seasons.
Francisca leads 3-2, but Matilde has won the last two (most recent: June '23).
The two siblings ended their week well, though, coming together to win the doubles title.
Well, at least there were a *few* more fans in Oeiras for that one.
===============================================
4. Rouen 1st Rd. - Martina Trevisan def. Naomi Osaka
...6-4/6-2. Hey, at least Osaka is *playing* on clay. She *said* she would, but I was skeptical.
From 2020-22, before sitting out all of '23, she played just eight matches on the surface (going 3-5). She *was* 9-2 in 2019, with a Stuttgart SF, QF in Rome and Madrid and 3rd Round in Paris (her best RG result, w/ 2016 & '18).
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5. Rouen QF - Anhelina Kalinina def. Mirra Andreeva
...6-4/7-5. Kalinina's run ended in the SF (vs. Linette), but the Ukrainian has turned around what had been a bad season start (0-4, and 2-6). Since then, she's gone 9-5 with two SF (Austin/Rouen), and 4th (Miami) and 3rd Round (Charleston) results.
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6. Rouen 1st Rd. - Karolina Pliskova def. Polina Kudermetova
...7-5/1-6/7-5. After three straight losses, Pliskova finally notches her first win since the Dubai 2nd Round in February. She lost in the 2nd Round to Sloane Stephens.
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7. $50K Calvi FRA Final - Urszula Radwanska/Valentina Ryser def. Sarah Beth Grey/Amandine Hesse
...6-3/6-2. Aga's younger sister, now 33, wins her first doubles title since 2012, and first title of any kind since 2021 (ITF singles $25K).
Radwanska's biggest WD win was her lone tour-level crown (w/ Aga) in Istanbul in 2007.
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8. $35K Santa Margherita di Pula ITA Final - Elena Christofi/Lia Karatantcheva def. Eleonora Alvisi/Federica Urgesi
...6-0/6-4. Sesil's younger sister, 20, wins her second career ITF title.
Actually, all *four* of the Karatantcheva sisters are tennis players...
===============================================
Meanwhile, Tennis Twitter has the memory of an elephant...
Hmmm, so you're saying Katerina Siniakova now needs a new regular doubles partner (Hunter/Siniakova in 2024: 14-3, Dubai W, I.W. RU, AO/SD semis)?
I know someone...
Haha... good for her! By the time that thing got into her hands, it was probably filthy with germs.
Later (maybe she wiped that thing down)...
*2024 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
3 - ELENA RYBAKINA, KAZ = 500(3)
2 - Danielle Collins, USA = 1000,500
2 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT = 500(2)
2 - Iga Swiatek, POL = 1000(2)
[2020-24]
19 - 1/2/8/6/2 = Iga Swiatek
9 - 3/2/0/3/1 = Aryna Sabalenka
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
7 - 0/3/2/2/0 = Barbora Krejcikova
7 - 1/0/1/2/3 = ELENA RYBAKINA
6 - 0/1/0/4/1 = Coco Gauff
*MOST WTA FINALS in 2024*
5 - ELENA RYBAKINA (3-2)
3 - Dasha Kasatkina (0-3)
2 - Danielle Collins (2-0)
2 - Alona Ostapenko (2-0)
2 - Iga Swiatek (2-0)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (1-1)
2 - MARTA KOSTYUK (0-2)
*CAREER #1 WINS - active*
15 - Venus Williams
7 - Elina Svitolina
6 - Petra Kvitova
5 - ELENA RYBKINA
4 - Alize Cornet
4 - Belinda Bencic
4 - Aryna Sabalenka
4 - Caroline Wozniacki
*30-vs-30 FINALS - since 2014*
2014 Miami - S.Williams (32) d. Li (32) = 64
2014 Quebec City - Lucic-B.(32) d. V.Williams (34) = 66
2015 US Open - Pennetta (33) d. Vinci (32) = 65
2017 Aust.Open - S.Williams (35) d. V.Williams (36) = 71
2017 Ind.Wells - Vesnina (30) d. Kuznetsova (31) = 61
2018 Wimbledon - Kerber (30) d. S.Williams (36) = 66
2021 Nottingham - Konta (30) d. S.Zhang (32) = 62
2024 Cluj-Napoca - Pliskova (31) d. Bogdan (31) = 62
2024 Rouen - STEPHENS (31) d. LINETTE (31) = 63
*MOST WTA SF in 2024*
5 - ELENA RYBAKINA (5-0)
4 - IGA SWIATEK (1-2 +W)
3 - Dasha Kasatkina (2-0 +W)
3 - MARTA KOSTYUK (2-1)
3 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (1-2)
3 - Coco Gauff (1-2)
3 - Emma Navarro (1-2)
3 - Jessie Pegula (0-2 +L)
*2024 OLDEST WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
36 - Sara Errani (Bogota)
34 - Victoria Azarenka (Miami)
34 - Victoria Azarenka (Brisbane)
33 - Sorana Cirstea (Dubai)
32 - Anastasia Pavlychenkova (Doha)
32 - Anastasia Pavlychenkova (Linz)
32 - MAGDA LINETTE (Rouen)-RU
*CAREER WTA TITLES - active USA*
49 - Venus Williams
8 - SLOANE STEPHENS
7 - Coco Gauff
7 - Madison Keys
5 - Sofia Kenin
4 - Danielle Collins
4 - Jessica Pegula
*CAREER WTA TITLES - KAZ*
8 - ELENA RYBKINA (2019-24)
2 - Yulia Putintseva (2019-21)
1 - Zarina Diyas (2017)
1 - Elena Likhovtseva (1993)-later RUS
--
NOTE: Shvedova won 1 rep. RUS in '07; 0-1 in finals as KAZ
NOTE: Pervak won 1 rep. RUS in '11; never in final as KAZ
*WEEKS AT WTA SINGLES #1 (w/ titles/slam)*
377 Steffi Graf (107/22)
332 Martina Navratilova (167/18)
319 Serena Williams (73/23)
260 Chris Evert (154/18)
209 Martina Hingis (43/5)
178 Monica Seles (53/9)
121 Ash Barty (15/3)
117 Justine Henin (43/7)
100 - IGA SWIATEK (19/4)
--
NOTE: as of week of April 22
*WTA DOUBLES TITLES - active*
34 - Hsieh Su-Wei
33 - Latisha Chan
30 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands
29 - Sara Errani
28 - Kristina Mladenovic
25 - TIMEA BABOS
24 - Katerina Siniakova
22 - Venus Williams
21 - CHAN HAO-CHING
20 - Elise Mertens
*2024 FIRST-TIME WTA WD FINALISTS*
Linda Noskova, CZE (Abu Dhabi)
Olivia Gadecki, AUS (Austin)-W
Ashlyn Krueger, USA (Charleston)-W
NAIKTHA BAINS, GBR (Rouen)
MAIA LUMSDEN, GBR (Rouen)
*2024 WTA 125 CHAMPIONS*
Canberra, AUS (hc) - Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP
Mumbai, IND (hc) - Darja Semenistaja, LAT
Puerto Vallerte, MEX (hc) - McCartney Kessler, USA
Charleston, USA (gc) - Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ITA
Antalya, TUR (rc) - Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
San Luis Potosi, MEX (rc) - Nadia Podorosa, ARG
La Bisbal d'Emporda, ESP (rc) - Maria Lourdes Carle, ARG
Oeiras, POR (rc) - Suzan Lamens, NED
*STUTTGART/MADRID FINALS*
2009 Dinara Safina (RU-W)
2012 Victoria Azarenka (RU-RU)
2014 Maria Sharapova (W-W)
2017 Kristina Mladenovic (RU-RU)
2021 Ash Barty (W-RU)
2021 Aryna Sabalenka (RU-W)
2023 Aryna Sabalenka (RU-W)
2023 Iga Swiatek (W-RU)
Martina for the score...
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Continuing the Backspin tradition of personally not giving a crap about anything soccer, but always liking David Beckham.
All for now.
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