Sunday, September 20, 2026

Wk.37- ¡Hola! Iva!









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*WEEK 37 CHAMPIONS*
GUADALAJARA, MEXICO (WTA 500; Hard Outdoor)
S: Iva Jovic/USA def. Peyton Stearns/USA 6-4/6-2
WD: Cristina Bucsa/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (ESP/USA) def. Momoko Kobori/Peangtarn Plipuech (JPN/THA) 6-2/5-7 [10-5]
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (WTA 250; Hard Outdoor)
S: Kaitlin Quevedo/ESP def. Nadia Podoroska/ARG 4-6/6-4/6-2
WD: Dabrowski/Stefani (CAN/BRA) def. A.Rogers/Zamarippa (USA/USA) 6-3/3-6 [10-7]
Valencia, Spain (WTA 250; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Clara Burel/FRA def. Alicia Herrero Linana/ESP 4-6/6-0/6-2
WD: Dalila Jakupovic/Naima Karamoko (SLO/SUI) def. Irene Burillo/Nicole Fossa Huergo (ESP/ARG) 6-2/6-3
Ljubljana, Slovenia (WTA 250; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Samira De Stefano/ITA def. Mona Barthel/GER 3-6/6-1/7-5
WD: Lucija Ciric Bagaric/Angelica Moratelli/ITA 6-7(4)/6-4 [10-5]
Caldas da Rainha, Portugal (WTA 250; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Lisa Pigato/ITA def. Gabriela Knutson/CZE 6-4/6-2
WD: Gabriella Da Silva-Fick/Zhibek Kulambayeva (AUS/KAZ) def. Rutuja Bhosale/Elena Micic (IND/AUS) 3-6/7-6(5) [10-7]
WHEELCHAIR WORLD TEAM CUP (Orlando, Florida; Hard Court)
F: NED def. JPN 2-0




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Iva Jovic/USA
...though she's not the most publicized teenager on tour, 18-year old Jovic continues to arguably be the most consistent. Her Round of 16 result at the U.S. Open was her third second week run at a major this season.

Back in Guadalajara a year after winning her maiden tour title there a year ago, Jovic successfully defended her crown without dropping a set all week as she edges closer to the Top 10 (#13 on Monday).

Last year, the teenager took the title as an unseeded player ranked #73, winning a trio of three-setters en route. She returned this week as the #2 seed and world #16, posting wins over Zeynep Sonmez, Magdalena Frech, Cristina Bucsa, Liudmila Samsonova and Peyton Stearns while averaging just six games lost per match (just 2.6 per set after an opening match 1st set TB win)

Though Jovic will be at #13 going into next week, she's still a fair distance away from cracking the next ranking barrier. She'll be around 1200 points behind #10 Marta Kostyuk (but just around 100 back of #12 Bencic, and 500 behind #11 Anisimova for the US #3 slot behind Pegula and Gauff).
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RISERS: Peyton Stearns/USA and Cristina Bucsa/ESP
...the vast majority of Stearns' wins this season have come on hard courts (18 of 25, as she's 7-8 on clay/grass), and in Guadalajara she added to her personal top three '26 results (right in between her Austin title and Memphis QF) with a runner-up finish in the 500 event.

Straight sets wins over Emiliana Arango, Diane Parry, Sloane Stephens and Liudmila Samsonova sent the Bannerette into her fourth career tour final, but she fell short vs. defending champ Iva Jovic in the title match in a 4 & 2 loss.

Still, the result shoots Stearns' ranking up 24 spots, all the way to #36.



After flying high in Merida back in late February, sweeping the s/d titles, Bucsa fell into a deep singles rut in the months that followed. Heading into the U.S. Open, where she'd reached the Round of 16 last year, the Spaniard had gone just 3-10 since her 6-win run to her maiden tour title (and was 4-15 in '26 outside of that one tournament). Bucsa reached the 3rd Round in New York, her first multi-win event in more than six months.

She quickly posted her second straight such week in Guadalajara, getting wins over Bianca Andreescu, Panna Udvardy and Sara Bejlek to reach the SF before a straight sets loss to eventual champ Iva Jovic. She's now gone 5-2 in her last two events.



Riding an extended high, Bucsa also won her first doubles title since Merida, teaming with Nicole Melichar-Martinez to take the crown.
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SURPRISE: Samira De Stefano/ITA
...in Ljubljana (SLO), 22-year old Italian De Stefano claimed the biggest title of her career, winning her maiden 125 crown with a series of upsets and comebacks en route to a result that will lift her 64 spots to a new career high of #194.

After wins over Arantxa Rus and Barbora Palicova, De Stefano rallied from 6-4/5-2 down vs. Alice Tubello, saving a MP, to reach the final, where she staged another comeback from 4-2 back in the 3rd vs. Mona Barthel to win 3-6/6-1/7-5.

De Stefano adds this title to her three challenger circuit (aka World Tennis, formerly ITF) wins in four final appearances in '26.


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VETERAN: Nadia Podoroska/ARG
...in the much-delayed Sao Paulo final (to be played on Monday after rain pushed the start time back *all day long* on Sunday), Podoroska will attempt to claim her maiden tour title in what will be her first tour-level singles final appearance.

The 29-year old Argentine is a former slam semifinalist (2020 RG as a qualifier), but since then has taken time away from the tour due to recovery from a combination of injuries. She first missed ten months in 2022-23, then this season she returned in late March/early April after another injury-related absence of 14 months (hip).

She's posted good results at lower levels, winning $15K and $35K challenger events, reaching a $75K QF, and opening the season 22-2. After a disappointing spring/summer, with seven straight events without multiple wins, Podoroska caught fire again this week in the tour-level Sao Paulo event. She posted wins over Lucrezia Stefanini, Eva Lys, Suzan Lamens and Paula Badosa to reach her maiden final, becoming the first Argentinian woman to reach a WTA singles final since Paula Ormaechea in 2013.



Ranked #301, with a win in the final, Podoroska would be the fourth-lowest ranked WTA singles champion (not including a trio of unranked winners: Goolagong, Lucic-Baroni and Clijsters) of all time, behind only Angelique Widjaja (#579, 2001 Bali), Elina Svitolina (#508, 2023 Strasbourg) and Robin Montgomery (#484 this summer at Rosmalen).

UPDATE: though she opened the Monday final by winning the 1st set, Podoroska saw Quevedo rally to win in three to pick up her first WTA title.
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COMEBACKS: Liudmila Samsonova/RUS and Clara Burel/FRA
...The Flip remains on and is thriving, but it's still looking for an emphatically successful ending to a week. Still, it's getting closer.

Samsonova's now annual slow start (8-16 this year) is now full-on into its also now-annual late-season surge (11-6 following Guadalajara, an uptick that started with her Wimbledon 3r and summer wedding to coach Alessandro Dumitrache) to finish over .500 (19-22 so far) and have a season-ending finish in the Top 25/30 (after starting '26 at #17, she slid to #70 in July, but will be back up to #38 on Monday).

In Guadalajara, Samsonova opened with a win over Elsa Jacquemot, then had to fight to survive Kayla Day, who'd overcome a 4-0 3rd set deficit to force a TB, and Marta Kostyuk (w/ the Hordette surging back from 4-2 down in the 3rd to record her first Top 10 win since upsetting Jessie Pegula on the grass in Berlin *last* summer) while reaching her maiden SF of the season (the last came in that same Berlin event in '25).

After the win over Kostyuk, against whom she's now 5-0, it seemed as if Samsonova might have a real shot at a stride-highlighting title run, but she fell in her next outing against Peyton Stearns.

But Samsonova still has much room to maintain her climb back, as she isn't defending many points on this year's Asian swing, having gone just 3-3 last year.



Meanwhile, Burel's comeback from an ACL knee injury during BJK Cup play in the spring of 2025 has reached its high water mark (so far) with a title run in the Valencia 125.



The former junior #1 (2018), women's #42 (2024) and two-time tour finalist (2021 & '23) had already won a $25K title in June and reached a $50K final earlier this month, but her biggest win in nearly three years accelerates the Pastry's progress quite a bit. After reaching the final without dropping a set, Burel lost the opening set vs. Alicia Herrero Linana, but then allowed the Spaniard just two games in the 2nd/3rd sets.

Burel will climb from #301 to #218 on Monday and, on the more immediate front, enjoyed some water-related celebration to end her weekend...


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FRESH FACES: Kaitlin Quevedo/ESP and Lisa Pigato/ITA
...2026 had already been a breakthrough season for Quevedo, the Florida-born 20-year old who spent her junior years operating within the USTA system before switching her representation to Spain in 2024 and beginning to train in Barcelona.

She made her tour-level MD debut in January in Auckland, and later posted a win over Venus Williams in Madrid. In the spring, she led Team Espana to a BJK Cup Qualifiers win with a 2-0 singles mark, won a $75K crown in May, and soon after qualified at Roland Garros to make her major MD debut, where she notched a 1st Round win over Leolia Jeanjean (giving her a 9-1 mark in last ten matches). She cracked the Top 100 in July, the same month she reached a 125 SF before playing in her then-biggest final at a 125 in August and making her U.S. Open MD debut.

In Sao Paulo, Quevedo ran off wins over Anastasia Tikhonova, 16-year old Nana Silva, 19-year old Teodora Kostovic and Anna Blinkova (in three sets) to reach her maiden tour final.

She'll face off with Nadia Podoroska on Monday in the rain-delayed title match, looking to become the ninth first-time title winner on tour in 2026. Already set for a new career-high of at least #91, she could climb as high as #73 with a win.



UPDATE: after dropping the 1st set of the final on Monday, Quevedo surged back to force a 3rd, where she quickly took a 5-0 lead. Podoroska didn't quit, and Quevedo showed a few nerves, but after failing to serve out the title the Spaniard got the break back a game later to win 4-6/6-4/6-2 and claim her maiden title.

Meanwhile, 23-year old Pigato is still likely more well known for her "fangirl" reaction upon playing Serena Williams back in 2021 (she even got a post-match selfie), but as her career is progressing she might be setting herself up as the next in a long line of undersized Italians (see the likes of Errani and Paolini) who grow into hard-working, seemingly "overachieving" tour-level players who end up contributing to the Italian tennis machine that has produced so many team championships, clenched fists and shouts of "Forza!"

In Caldas da Rainha (POR), Pigato posted wins over Susan Bandecchi and Jeline Vandromme before a 6-4/6-2 win in the final over Gabriela Knutson to pick up her second 125 crown of the season (to go along with $35K and $75K titles).

Pigato will jump 24 spots to #113, as the ITA #3 closes in on cracking the Top 100.


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ITF WORLD TENNIS: Anna Siskova/CZE
...another week, another Crusher challenger champion.

In Le Neubourg (FRA), 25-year old Siskova picked up her biggest career title, outlasting Fiona Crawley in a final in which the Bannerette had led 4-1 (and serving) in the 3rd set, then served for the win at 6-5. Siskova took the match in a deciding TB for a 4-6/6-2/7-6(3) victory, claiming her tenth career singles title.

Most of Siskova's early-career success has come in doubles. This season alone she's won a 125 crown, reached a tour-level final (in Hobart) and claimed three titles at the challenger level (going 1-2 in three $100K finals).

But the Czech, following the lead of many others, seems to be making something of a belated move on the singles front. She's played in the slam qualifying rounds at three majors in '26 (she'd played just once before, in 2022), and reached four challenger finals, winning three, including two in the last five weeks. She's reached her two biggest career finals, both $75K events, this season.

Already at a career-best #196 at the start of the week, Siskova will jump 35 more spots in the rankings, climbing to #161. She'll rank just behind GER #6 Ella Seidel, though, of course, Siskova will only be the *14th* highest-ranked Czech.

Siskova's mother Katerina, was a WTA player in the 1990s, reaching the RG 3r in 1993 and ranking as high as #58.
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JUNIOR STAR: Nana Silva/BRA
...a wild card MD entrant in Sao Paulo for a second straight year, 16-year old Brazilian Silva (aka Nauhany Vitoria Leme da Silva) made it consecutive years with a tour-level 1st Round win. This year, Silva outlasted Aussie veteran Astra Sharma in three sets, 5-7/6-4/7-5.

The teenager (the girls' #7) arrived off a QF run in the U.S. Open juniors, the latest good result in a '26 season in which she earlier won three straight J300 titles in South America (Santa Cruz-Porto Alegre-Gaspar) while putting together a season-opening 16-match winning streak at the junior level (22 counting her Junior BJK Cup play to end '25).

Silva then went 5-0 (w/ 4 singles wins) in BJK Cup women's zone play in the spring, and reached a $35K SF and $75K QF in challenger action this summer.


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DOUBLES: Cristina Bucsa/Nicole Melichar-Martinez, ESP/USA
...Bucsa's recent singles resurgence carried over to doubles this week in Guadalajara, as she teamed with Melichar-Martinez to reach their third career final as a team (second in '26, w/ Rome) and picked up title #2 (w/ Monterrey '25).

The top seeds, they didn't lose a set en route to the final, then won a 10-5 MTB over Momoko Kobori/Peangtarn Plipuech to take the crown. It's Bucsa's eighth career tour WD title (#2 in '26), and the 20th (#2 in '26) for Melichar-Martinez, who successfully defends the Guadalajara title she won a year ago with Irina Khromacheva. She and Bucsa defeated Khromacheva and partner Caroline Dolehide in the QF.

In a sense, Bucsa is this year's WTA "Queen of Mexico," having swept the s/d titles earlier this year in Merida along with this title run (and singles SF).


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WHEELCHAIR: NED Wheelchair World Team Cup
...while the Netherlands' dominance at the slam level has waned a bit in recent seasons, the nation's considerable depth helps it maintain the lead role -- at least when Diede de Groot is healthy enough to participate -- in wheelchair's annual team event. Once again that was the case this year.

Held this week in Orlando after multiple years in Antalya, the World Team Cup was claimed for the 35th time by the Netherlands, and for the second year in a row. Only one other nation has won more than once since the event's 1986 debut.

NED never had to resort to a deciding doubles match over three rounds of competition, going 6-0 in singles. The younger set took care of the singles action in the QF, with Lizzy de Greef and Jinte Bos sweeping the U.S., while de Groot and Aniek Van Koot took over from there, defeating Ksenia Chasteau and Pauline Deroulede, respectively, in a SF win over France (captained by none other than Tatiana Golovin).

In the final vs. Japan, de Groot completed some quick revenge against Yui Kamiji just a week after losing to her in the U.S. Open final, winning 6-1/6-1 in the opening match to level their season head-to-head at 3-3 (improving to 50-22 in their career series). Van Koot then defeated Momoko Ohtani in three sets to salt away the title.


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1. Guadalajara QF - Liudmila Samsonova def. Marta Kostyuk
...4-6/6-2/7-5. Some might say this result was "inevitable," considering Kostyuk had *never* beaten Samsonova in four previous meetings. Not only that, but in their last meeting, nearly three years ago in Beijing in 2023, Samsonova had rallied from 4-2 down in the 3rd to get the win.

Well, *all that* happened again in meeting #5.

Again, Kostyuk led 4-2 in the decider, and again Samsonova came charging back. She got the break at 5-5 on BP #3, then served out the win at love, improving her head-to-head mark to 5-0 while also registering her first Top 10 win since June of last year.


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2. Guadalajara Final - Iva Jovic def. Peyton Stearns
...6-4/6-2. In the third all-U.S. final of the season (Austin/Cincinnati), the second featuring Stearns (who def. Townsend to win Austin), Jovic is the fourth repeat champion in singles this season (w/ Sabalenka twice, Pegula once), with three of those coming in events in North America (Miami/Charleston).

Jovic is also the seventh different Bannerette to win a tour singles title this season. It's the third straight season with at least as many, and is now just one away from tying for the most this century (8 in 2000, '24 and '25).
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3. Guadalajara 2nd Rd. - Liudmila Samsonova def. Kayla Day
...7-6(4)/2-6/7-6(5). Before her comeback vs. Kostyuk, Samsonova had nearly given away an even bigger lead a round earlier, as Day rallied from 4-0 down in the 3rd, winning five straight games to take the lead (on serve) as the set went into a deciding TB.

There, Samsonova took a 6-2 lead, and after dropping back-to-back points on serve when serving for the win finally put away MP #4 on return to advance to what would eventually be her first SF of the season.


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4. Sao Paulo Final - Kaitlin Quevedo vs. Nadia Podoroska
...for the second time this season, after Kristina Liutova and Dasha Vidmanova in Memphis, a pair of first-time tour singles finalists will face off for a tour title. At 29, Podoroska would be the oldest first-time champion of the season; while Quevedo would join Cristina Bucsa as the second Spaniard to win a maiden crown in '26 (the lone nation with more than one).

UPDATE: Quevedo rallied from a set down to take the final in three sets, 4-6/6-4/6-2.




Sao Paulo Final - Gaby Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani vs. Anna Rogers/Allura Zamarripa
...Dabrowski/Stefani look to get over a *little* of their U.S. Open disappointment after having lost an 8-2 MTB lead over Ashlyn Krueger/Robin Montgomery in the SF as the all-Bannerette pair advanced to their maiden slam final.

In this 250 final, the duo will once again face off against an all-U.S. team in Rogers/Zamarripa looking for their first tour title.

UPDATE: Dabrowski/Stefani won a 10-7 MTB after the resumption (in game 8 in the 1st set) of the final on Monday, with Brazilian Stefani successfully defending the home event title she won in Sao Paulo a year ago with Timea Babos.


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5. Guadalajara 2nd Rd. - Sloane Stephens def. Janice Tjen
...7-6(4)/7-6(3). After a 1st win over Carole Monnet that included a 2nd set TB, Stephens' QF run in Guadalajara -- her best result of '26 -- saw her win a second and third consecutive TB with her straights sets victory over Tjen. Neither woman dropped serve in the 1st set, while Stephens came back from 5-2 down in the 2nd to get off the court in two, saving a pair of SP.

She'd go on to lose in a fourth straight TB in the 1st set of a QF loss to Iva Jovic.

Stephens' QF run is her first at tour level since her title run in Rouen in 2024. With her 12-8 stretch since the start of RG, Stephens stands at 18-19 on the season.


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6. Sao Paulo QF - Anna Blinkova def. Alina Charaeva
...6-4/7-5. On the day that she officially became a Pastry, Blinkova handles another former Hordette in now-Armenian Charaeva.

Blinkova lost to Kaitlin Quevedo in the SF, her first since ending 2025 with a title in Jiujiang. With the "flag change," Blinkova immediately becomes the FRA #2 behind Diane Parry in the new rankings.
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7. Guadalajara 1st Rd. - Taylor Townsend def. Tatjana Maria
...6-7(0)/6-3/6-2. Townsend, just days from completing her Career Doubles Slam alongside Katerina Siniakova, dispatches the veteran German in three sets... and then soon after is out of the tournament and undergoing emergency surgery.

Over the past year, starting with that confrontation with Ostapenko at the U.S. Open, Townsend sure has moved up the Most Dramatic Career Moments lists.


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8. Sao Paulo 1st Rd. - Eva Lys def. Gabriela Ce
...6-1/5-7/7-5. Any win is a good win for Lys, without a multi-victory event on the year. Ranked #39 in January, the #99-ranked German is now trying to avoid bottoming out and finishing the season outside the Top 100.

Lys led Ce 6-1/5-3, and served at 5-4, but saw the Brazilian get the break on her third BP and go on to force a deciding set. In the 3rd, played the following day due to rain, it was Lys who had to rally from 5-3 back and Ce getting the chance to serve out the win. Lys swept the final four games, but after a loss to Nadia Podoroska in the 2nd Round still falls to 8-17 on the year as she slips one more spot in the rankings to #100.
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9. $50 Pazardzhik BUL Final - Elizara Yaneva/BUL def. Loes Ebeling Koning
...6-3/6-7(1)/7-6(5). The 19-year old Bulgarian, looking to soon crack the Top 150, takes her biggest career title.

Yaneva had led this match 6-3/5-3, then held a 5-2 edge in the 3rd, but ultimately had to stage a comeback of her own from 4-2 down in the deciding TB to get the crown.


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10. $35K Santa Margherita di Pula ITA Final - Alisa Oktiabreva def. Marta Lombardini
...6–1/4–6/6–3. Another week, another (new) Crusher champ.

The reigning Roland Garros junior champ, 18-year old Oktiabreva is now officially a Czech after quite a long delay, and this week she won her first title under the Crusher flag, outlasting Italy's Lombardini on Italian clay to improve to 6-1 in career pro finals.


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And suddenly there's a new FRA #2 behind Diane Parry...




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After her U.S. Open win, Elena Rybakina said in post-tournament interviews that she'll now focus on trying to win on clay at Roland Garros to complete a Career Slam, leading many fans to compare her (potential) mid-career clay court improvement to that of Maria Sharapova.

Of course, it's worth noting that Sharapova's journey included playing for years with a misdiagnosed shoulder injury, belatedly having surgery, and then being *forced* to change the focus of her entire game because otherwise her career would have nose-dived or ended entirely... and *then* becoming the best claycourter in the WTA.


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Now sure how Charlotte came into the picture, but for a tour struggling financially (largely because of mismanagement) looking to find a more amenable proving/playing ground, the notion of holding more events in the U.S., where the WTA's formulative years played out and where women's sports and tennis have more traction than anywhere else on the planet, has been a seemingly smart option too long ignored...



Meanwhile, lest we forget, the WTA Finals are also in the U.S. *this* year, at Indian Wells...



That that little nugget of information has sort of drifted off into the mist since it was first announced a while back is another example of the WTA not even being able to adequately promote its own events on its own platforms.

But, then again, as noted here before, that's hardly a surprise when you consider that one has to almost to play "Where's Waldo?" with the tour's own social media bases to even recognize clue that it's a *tennis* tour (find the tennis racket) rather than an automobile maker/seller...



Meanwhile, the ATP's...



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Oh, by the way, a new level of ridiculous on this graphic as, as they've now removed the flag and acknowledgement of Russia's Fed Cup (not "BJK Cup," BTW) titles from the dominant four-in-five-year title run FROM MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS AGO. How very Orwellian of them. (Two of the those four finals were even *played* in Moscow.)



To render useless that nonsense...


*FED CUP/BJK CUP FINALS*
1963 United States def. Australia 2-1
1964 Australia def. United States 2-1
1965 Australia def. United States 2-1
1966 United States def. West Germany 3-0
1967 United States def. Great Britain 2-0
1968 Australia def. Netherlands 3-0
1969 United States def. Australia 2-1
1970 Australia def. West Germany 3-0
1971 Australia def. Great Britain 3-0
1972 South Africa def. Great Britain 2-1
1973 Australia def. South Africa 3-0
1974 Australia def. United States 2-1
1975 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 3-0
1976 United States def. Australia 2-1
1977 United States def. Australia 2-1
1978 United States def. Australia 2-1
1979 United States def. Australia 3-0
1980 United States def. Australia 3-0
1981 United States def. Great Britain 3-0
1982 United States def. West Germany 3-0
1983 Czechoslovakia def. West Germany 2-1
1984 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 2-1
1985 Czechoslovakia def. United States 2-1
1986 United States def. Czechoslovakia 3-0
1987 West Germany def. United States 2-1
1988 Czechoslovakia def. USSR 2-1
1989 United States def. Spain 3-0
1990 United States def. USSR 2-1
1991 Spain def. United States 2-1
1992 Germany def. Spain 2-1
1993 Spain def. Australia 3-0
1994 Spain def. United States 3-0
1995 Spain def. United States 3-2
1996 United States def. Spain 5-0
1997 France def. Netherlands 4-1
1998 Spain def. Switzerland 3-2
1999 United States def. Russia 4-1
2000 United States def. Spain 5-0
2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1
2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain 3-1
2003 France def. United States 4-1
2004 Russia def. France 3-2
2005 Russia def. France 3-2
2006 Italy def. Belgium 3-2
2007 Russia def. Italy 4-0
2008 Russia def. Spain 4-0
2009 Italy def. United States 4-0
2010 Italy def. United States 3-1
2011 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2
2012 Czech Republic def. Serbia 3-1
2013 Italy def. Russia 4-0
2014 Czech Republic def. Germany 3-1
2015 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2
2016 Czech Republic def. France 3-2
2017 United States def. Belarus 3-2
2018 Czech Republic def. United States 3-0
2019 France def. Australia 3-2
2020-21 Russia (RTF) def. Switzerland 2-0
2022 Switzerland def. Australia 2-0
2023 Canada def. Italy 2-0
2024 Italy def. Slovakia 2-0
2025 Italy def. United States 2-0
[MOST TITLES]
18 - United States
11 - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia
7 - Australia
6 - Italy
5 - Russia/RTF/USSR
5 - Spain
3 - France
2 - Germany/West Germany
1 - Belgium
1 - Canada
1 - Slovakia/Slovak Republic
1 - South Africa
1 - Switzerland



*FED/BJK CUP SEMIFINALS - since 2000*
2000 2001 2002
United States (W)
Belgium
Czech Republic
Spain (RU)		 Russia (W)
Belgium (RU)
France (Group 2nd)
Spain (Group 2nd)		 Italy
Slovak Republic (W)
Austria
Spain (RU)
2003 2004 2005
Belgium
United States (RU)
Russia
France (W)		 France (RU)
Spain
Russia (W)
Austria		 Russia (W)
United States
Spain
France (RU)
2006 2007 2008
Belgium (RU)
United States
Spain
Italy (W)		 Italy (RU)
France
Russia (W)
United States		 Russia (W)
United States
China
Spain (RU)
2009 2010 2011
Russia
Italy (W)
United States (RU)
Czech Republic		 Italy (W)
Czech Republic
Russia
United States (RU)		 Italy
Russia (RU)
Czech Republic (W)
Belgium
2012 2013 2014
Russia
Serbia (RU)
Italy
Czech Republic (W)		 Czech Republic
Italy (W)
Russia (RU)
Slovak Republic		 Italy
Czech Republic (W)
Germany (RU)
Australia
2015 2016 2017
Czech Republic (W)
France
Russia (RU)
Germany		 Czech Republic (W)
Switzerland
France (RU)
Netherlands		 Czech Republic
United States (W)
Belarus (RU)
Switzerland
2018 2019 2020/21
Germany
Czech Republic (W)
France
United States (RU)		 Romania
France (W)
Belarus
Australia (RU)		 Russian TF (W)
United States
Australia
Switzerland (RU)
2022 2023 2024
Switzerland (W)
Czech Republic
Great Britain
Australia (RU)		 Czech Republic
Canada (W)
Italy (RU)
Slovenia		 Great Britain
Slovakia (RU)
Poland
Italy (W)
2025
Italy (W)
Ukraine
United States (RU)
Great Britain

























I synched-up all the Daily Backspin titles with the Jukebox during the U.S. Open this year, but wasn't able to include the song I would have used if Sabalenka had won the final (as in, "She Belongs to the City"). So...








I'm pleased to have my voice included in this tribute to the great #GloriaSteinem persimmontree.org/fall-2026/tr...

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— Diane Elayne Dees (@womenwhoserve.bsky.social) September 16, 2026 at 9:30 AM














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*2026 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Abu Dhabi - Sara Bejlek, CZE (20/#101)
Merida - Cristina Bucsa, ESP (28/#63)
Rabat - Petra Marcinko, CRO (20/#76)
Rosmalen - Robin Montgomery, USA (21/#484)
Prague - Lilli Tagger, AUT (18/#74)
Memphis - Kristina Liutova, RUS (16/#229)
Washington - Alex Eala, PHI (21/#28)
Monterrey - Diane Parry, FRA (23/#50)
Sao Paulo - KAITLIN QUEVEDO, ESP (20/#105)

*MOST DIFFERENT U.S. CHAMPIONS in SEASON (since 1998)*
=1999 (8)=
S.Williams,V.Williams,Capriati,Davenport,Frazier,Morariu,Rubin,Seles
=2000 (8)=
S.Williams,V.Williams,Capriati,Davenport,Raymond,Rubin,Seles, Shaughnessy
=2024 (8)=
Gauff,Kessler,Navarro,Collins,Stephens,Keys,Stearns,Pegula
=2025 (8)=
Anisimova,Gauff,Jovic,Kessler,Keys,Li,Navarro,Pegula
=2001 (7)=
S.Williams,V.Williams,Capriati,Davenport,Seles,Shaughnessy,Tu
=2002 (7)=
S.Williams,V.Williams,Capriati,Craybas,Raymond,Rubin,Seles
=2016 (7)=
S.Williams,V.Williams,Falconi,Keys,McHale,Stephens,Vandeweghe
=2026 (7)=
Gauff,Jovic,Keys,Montgomery,Navarro,Pegula,Stearns

*2026 WTA CHAMPIONS BY LOWEST RANKING*
#484 - Robin Montgomery (Rosmalen)
#229 - Kristina Liutova (Memphis)
#120 - Katie Boulter (Ostrava)
#105 - KAITLIN QUEVEDO (SAO PAULO)
#101 - Sara Bejlek (Abu Dhabi)
#97 - Mayar Sherif (Iasi)
#81 - Tamara Korpatsch (Hamburg)
#80 - Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Hobart)

*2026 WTA CHAMPIONS BY YOUNGEST AGE*
16 - Kristina Liutova (Memphis)
18 - Lilli Tagger (Prague)
18 - Mirra Andreeva (Adelaide)
18 - Mirra Andreeva (Linz)
18 - IVA JOVIC (Guadalajara)
19 - Mirra Andreeva (Roland Garros)
20 - Petra Marcinko (Rabat)
20 - Sara Bejlek (Abu Dhabi)
20 - KAITLIN QUEVEDO (SAO PAULO)

*2026 FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS*
Sara Bejlek, CZE (#101/20 = Abu Dhabi)-W
Taylor Townsend, USA (#119/29 = Austin)
Yuliia Starodubtseva, UKR (#89/26 = Charleston)
Panna Udvardy, HUN (#92/27 = Bogota)
Veronika Podrez, UKR (#209/19 = Rouen)
Petra Marcinko, CRO (#76/20 = Rabat)-W
Maja Chwalinska, POL (#114/24 = Roland Garros)
Robin Montgomery, USA (#484/21 = Rosmalen)-W
Daria Snigur, UKR (#54/24 = Prague)
Kristina Liutova, RUS (16/#229 = Memphis)-W
Dasha Vidmanova, CZE (23/#114 = Memphis)
Alex Eala, PHI (21/#28 = Washington)-W
Diane Parry, FRA (23/#50 = Monterrey)-W
NADIA PODOROSKA, ARG (29/#317 = Sao Paulo)
KAITLIN QUEVEDO, ESP (20/#105 = Sao Paulo)-W

*2026 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
7 (7-0) = Katerina Siniakova
6 (6-0) = Taylor Townsend
6 (3-3) = Maia Lumsden
5 (4-1) = GABY DABROWSKI
5 (4-1) = LUISA STEFANI
5 (4-1) = Zhang Shuai
5 (2-3) = NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ
4 (2-2) = CRISTINA BUCSA
4 (1-3) = Anna Danilina
4 (1-3) = Magali Kempen
4 (1-3) = Aleksandra Krunic

*2020-26 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
32 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/3/5/4/7)
17 - Taylor Townsend (1/0/0/3/3/4/6)
16 - LUISA STEFANI (1/1/2/3/1/4/4)
15 - GABY DABROWSKI (0/1/3/2/2/3/4)
15 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/1/1/0)
15 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/2/3/2/1)
14 - NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ (2/2/2/0/3/3/2)
13 - Erin Routliffe (0/1/1/3/3/4/1)
12 - Anna Danilina (0/1/2/1/5/2/1)
12 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/2/3/0/1)

*WHEELCHAIR WORLD TEAM CUP WINNERS, w/ host nation*
2026 [USA] - Netherlands
2025 [TUR] - Netherlands
2024 [TUR] - China
2023 [POR] - Netherlands
2022 [POR] - Japan
2021 [ITA] - Netherlands
2020 DNP
2019 [ISR] - Netherlands
2018 [NED] - Netherlands
2017 [ITA] - China
2016 [JPN] - Netherlands
2015 [TUR] - Netherlands
2014 [NED] - Netherlands
2013 [TUR] - Netherlands
2012 [KOR] - Netherlands
2011 [RSA] - Netherlands
2010 [TUR] - Netherlands
2009 [GBR] - Netherlands
2008 [ITA] - Netherlands
2007 [SWE] - Netherlands
2006 [BRA] - Netherlands
2005 [NED] - Netherlands
2004 [NZL] - Netherlands
2003 [POL] - Netherlands
2002 [ITA] - Netherlands
2001 [SUI] - Netherlands
2000 [FRA] - Netherlands
1999 [USA] - Australia
1998 [ESP] - Netherlands
1997 [GBR] - Netherlands
1996 [AUS] - Netherlands
1995 [NED] - Netherlands
1994 [GBR] - United States
1993 [AUT] - Netherlands
1992 [BEL] - Netherlands
1991 [USA] - Netherlands
1990 [USA] - Netherlands
1989 [USA] - Netherlands
1988 [USA] - Netherlands
1987 [USA] - Netherlands
1986 [USA] - Netherlands
---
35 - NED
2 - CHN
1 - AUS
1 - JPN
1 - USA






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Having lived through those years, I remember the fear many reporters faced but carried on despite all. Thank you.

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— Carole with an e (@crwright.bsky.social) September 20, 2026 at 3:08 PM


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All for now.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:30 PM  1 comments