Tuesday, January 14, 2025

AO25 - 64 Down, 63 to Play

Respect. (Wink.)









=AO NOTES=
...in a match-up of former women's college champions, it was the former U-Va. Cavalier (#8 Emma Navarro, the 2021 NCAA champion) who got the better of the former Texas Longhorn (Peyton Stearns, the 2022 NCAA champion) in a 3:20 battle which seemed to have tilted the way of the latter before the former's final rush sealed a 6-7(5)/7-6(5)/7-5 victory that turned around her slow '25 start and prevented her from falling to 1-3 on the season (and 1-5 since early October).



Of course, it also helps that Navarro had a secret weapon in her back pocket. Namely, Stearns herself, or at least her incredibly bad run in three-set matches over the past two-plus seasons.

Stearns had led the match 7-6/2-0, but soon found herself taken to three (again) after losing the match's second TB. She twice held break leads in the decider, and served for the win at 5-4.



But after Stearns took a 5-3 lead in the set, she barely put a scratch on the scoreboard the rest of the way, losing 16 of the final 19 points. Navarro held at love, broke Stearns at 15 (after taking a love/40 lead), took a 40/love lead and held at 15 to grab a 6-5 edge, and then took yet another love/40 lead on Stearns' serve with a third TB dangling in the balance. On her second MP, Navarro got another break at 15 to close out the win.

Stearns is the first player in 2025 to lose two three-hour contests in WTA/slam MD action.



Of course, the question that lingers in the mind here (no, not anything revolving around the "r"-word) after this one is whether or not Navarro would now admit to having any "inkling" that she might still be able to win this one despite facing such a deficit. You know, like she did after crushing Paula Badosa's "Espana in the City" run in the U.S. Open QF last summer after the Spaniard had held a big lead in that match-up. The post-match interview insinuation then was the Navarro was aware of Badosa's past late-(big) match collapses, and knew that if she just pushed her deeper into the match she'd eventually fall apart.

Badosa did, sorta (kinda) just how Stearns, no matter how much fight she shows and how entertaining she makes the battles, has a *really* hard time winning these sort of matches.

Navarro didn't mention any "inkling" during her post-match interview, so she apparently *can* display a bit of tact in public places, after all.

Stearns got off to a 0-3 start in '24 in matches that went the distance (having also ended '23 by losing her last five three-setters) and by springtime of last year had lost 14 of her last 15 such encounters before finally turning around her numbers the remainder of the season. She arrived in Melbourne having last both three-set matches she'd played in '25 (to Kasatkina and, incidentally, Badosa), making her 1-4 in such contests since last summer.

Fitness doesn't seem to be Stearns' issue in these moments, nor does any lack of drive or competitiveness. Hmmm.

Good on Navarro for winning this one but, well, I'm just sayin', you know?

Navarro is now 5-1 in the head-to-head series, as well, with Stearns' only win coming in a $25K in 2019, years before either was crowned NCAA singles champion.

...whether any woman from the South American continent would reach the 2nd Round was a legitimate question in Melbourne before the MD was set, as quite a few potential winners fell in the qualifying rounds and the top-ranked S.A. in play (#15-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia) was winless on the season coming into this AO. The Argentines went winless in two 1st Round matches on Days 1 & 2, and both Brazil and Colombia only had *one* player each in the draw to try to get an elusive "W."

As it turned out, one all-South American match-up (Brazil's Haddad Maia vs. ARG's Julia Riera) meant at least *one* would advance, but then Colombia's Camila Osorio came along and doubled the total.

Haddad Maia's three-set win over Riera finally got her on the board for 2025 (she'd been 0-3), but she had to fight for it. After dropping the opening set, Haddad saved five SP at 6-5 to avoid a 2nd set TB, holding to even the match and then going on to win 4-6/7-5/6-2.

She Haddad It Comin' If there's one thing Beatriz Haddad Maia is gonna do, it's stay on a tennis court for about 3 hours every time she plays. Brazil's most successful WTA player since Maria Bueno stays alive in Melbourne, rallying past Argentine qualifier Julia Riera, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, in 2h 42m.

[image or embed]

— Tick Tock Tennis (@ticktocktennis.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 10:00 PM


Osorio then outlasted #31 Maria Sakkari 6-4/6-7(4)/6-4, sending the Greek out in the 1st Round for the sixth time in her last nine majors. Sakkari's last four AO: 4r-3r-2r-1r.

...hailing from a farther north, 16-year old wild card Iva Jovic posted a win in her second straight slam 1st Round, following up her successful major debut in her home slam in New York with another victory over 33-year old Spanish veteran Nuria Parrizas Diaz, 6-2/6-1.



Jovic reached the Wimbledon girls' semis last summer, then as a women's WC at the U.S. Open upset Magda Linette in the 1st Round. She almost got another over #29 Alexandrova in the 2nd Round, but rebounded from a disappointing three-set loss to reach a second '24 junior singles slam SF the following week.

From in between the U.S. and South America, Mexico's Renata Zarazua took out Taylor Townsend, 6-7(6)/6-1/6-2, getting a MD win at consecutive slams for the first time ever (she's won once everywhere but Wimbledon). Her streak of five straight MD apperances in majors ties for the second longest by a Mexican woman in the Open era, behind Angelica Gavaldon's 13-slam streak from 1993-96. Gavaldon has the other five-event streak, as well.



...meanwhile, while the sun will rise in the morning, we're still waiting on Lulu Sun to appear in the 2025 skyline.

A stunning quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last summer, aside from a four-win final run in Monterrey in August (via two 3rd set TBs), Sun has had rough sledding ever since.

The New Zealander opened her '25 season in Auckland with a three-set loss to Rebecca Marino. In her second chance at a maiden new year win in Hobart, she fell in another three-setter vs. Sofia Kenin. On Tuesday, she lost to Danka Kovinic (for the Montenegrin's first '25 victory), 6-3/7-6.

Combined with her three-match losing streak to end '24 after reaching the Monterrey title match, Sun has now lost six straight. Her most recent match win came in August (five months ago) vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova via an 8-6 3rd set TB. She's gone 7-8 since leaving SW19.

...the early-round AO awards results are in. Well, some of them, anyway ("Crash & Burn" and "Zombie Queen of Melbourne" remained unresolved).

As anticipated, the Czechs pick up the "Nation of Poor Souls" papier mache crown off a 1-4 1st Round record.

Of course, things started out under a dark cloud for the Crushers young and older, with Petra Kvitova (maternity leave) and Karolina Pliskova (injury) still on extended absenses. Barbora Krejcikova pulled out with her ailing back before the draw was made, and was joined by Marketa Vondrousova after play had started. Marie Bouzkova's Day 1 loss to Mirra Andreeva gave her the first official loss of this AO, then #29 Linda Noskova (def. by Clara Tauson) was the first seeded player sent packing. Qualifier Sara Beljek fell to 0-5 in career slam MD matches, and Iga Swiatek handed Katerina Siniakova a straight sets loss.

It all left #20 Karolina Muchova as the last remaining hope, and she obliged by avoiding the total shutout with a win over Nadia Podoroska.

Of course, the Czechs weren't alone when it came to relative 1st Round futility. The French Pastries also went 1-4 (only Varvara Gracheva won), while the Argentinian contingent was a combined 0-3.

Despite having seven fewer players in the women's draw (12 vs. 19), the Hordettes top the Bannerettes in 2nd Round participants by a 9-8 count, with the collective 9-3 mark far outshining the U.S. group's 8-11.



Eva Lys' late addition to the draw as a LL (after Anna Kalinskaya's very late w/d) and her subsequent victory over Kimberly Birrell pushed the Germans to 4-0, getting them the "Revelation Ladies" honors with a generationally balanced attack featuring Tatjana Maria (37) and Laura Siegemund (36), the two oldest players in the women's MD, on one side of the see-saw, and Lys (23) and Jule Niemeier (25) on the other (w/ both getting their maiden AO wins).

Tying for third on the 1st Round winners list were Great Britain (4-1) and China (4-4), with Australia, Spain and Ukraine all coming in with three each. Kazakhstan (2-0) was the only nation other than Germany to go undefeated with multiple players in the draw.

The Brits get the "Upset Queens" award, even if it might be stretching things a big (hey, only five seeds are gone so far). Emma Raducanu took out #26 Ekaterina Alexandrova, Harriet Dart (as a LL) knocked off Jana Fett, and Jodie Burrage (in the draw with a PR) defeated Leolia Jeanjean. #22 Katie Boulter joins them all in the 2nd Round.

Raducanu's 7-6/7-6 win means the former U.S. Open champ has now notched at least one MD win in nine of her eleven major MD appearances, including in all four of her AO attempts. She's failed to reach the 3rd Round in seven of her previous ten slams, though.





...FIVE FEET OF FURY (good alliteration!):




...*SAKKARI* (but nobody's perfect):



For how much longer will a loss by the Greek -- *either* Greek, as her men's tour counterpart is already gone, too -- be worthy of a hey-look-at-that! mention at a major? Sakkari's streak of seeded positions at slams is going to need some work to reach 24 straight in Paris, as well. She has Indian Wells RU, Miami QF and Madrid/Rome 4th Rd. points to defend before then. Eek.


...UPCOMING TENNIS COMEDY DUO TOUR ALERT:




...ELSEWHERE IN THE HOUSE OF ANDREEVA:



Erika now has wins in three consecutive slam 1st Round matches.


...CIRCA JOVIC'S BRIEF EARLY RUN AT LAST YEAR'S U.S. OPEN:






















kosova-font

**AO 1st ROUND BY NATION - alphabetical**
0-3 - ARG
0-1 - ARM
3-5 - AUS
0-1 - AUT
1-1 - BEL
1-1 - BLR
1-0 - BRA
0-1 - BUL
1-1 - CAN
4-4 - CHN
1-0 - COL
1-2 - CRO
1-4 - CZE
1-0 - DEN
0-1 - EGY
3-1 - ESP
1-4 - FRA
4-1 - GBR
4-0 - GER
0-1 - GRE
0-1 - HUN
2-1 - ITA
2-1 - JPN
2-0 - KAZ
0-1 - LAT
1-0 - MEX
1-0 - MNE
1-1 - NED
0-1 - NZL
2-2 - POL
2-3 - ROU
9-3 - RUS
0-2 - SLO
1-0 - SRB
1-1 - SUI
1-0 - SVK
1-0 - TUN
0-1 - TUR
3-3 - UKR
8-11- USA
===
TOTAL MD NATIONS: 40
MOST IN 2nd RD. (29 nations): 9-RUS,8-USA,4-CHN,4-GBR,4-GER,3-AUS,3-ESP,3-UKR
UNDEFEATED 1st RD.: 4-0 (GER); 2-0 (KAZ); 1-0 (BRA,COL,DEN,MEX,MNE,SRB,SVK,TUN)
WORST 1st RD.: 0-3 (ARG); 0-2 (SLO); 1-4 (CZE,FRA)
SEEDS OUT: 5 (1-BLR,1-CZE,1-GRE,1-LAT,1-RUS)
DEF.SEEDS: 1-COL,1-DEN,1-GBR,1-ITA,1-SUI

*RECENT AO "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"*
=2020=
BLR (0-2 1st Rd., #11 Sabalenka high seed; Azarenka DNP)
=2021=
CHN (1-5 1st Rd., two seeds and 3 Top 50 players ousted)
=2022=
CAN (0-2 1r, #23 Fernandez out; Andreescu/Bouchard DNP)
=2023=
GER (1-4 1st Rd.; Petkovic ret., Kerber DNP/pregnant; NextGen 0-2)
=2024=
RUS seeds (1-4 1st Rd.)
=2025=
CZE (1-4 1st Rd.; no Kvitova/Pliskokva; Krejcikova/Vondrousova w/d; Bouzkova First Loss; Noskova First Seed Out; Bejlek 0-5 slam MD)

*RECENT AO "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS*
2017 United States
2018 Ukraine
2019 United States
2020 Spain
2021 United States
2022 Romania
2023 Ukraine
2024 France
2025 Great Britain

*RECENT AO "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS*
2017 Australia
2018 Estonia
2019 Teens (6 in 2nd Rd.)
2020 Kazakhstan
2021 Estonia
2022 China
2023 Czech Republic
2024 Unseeded Russians
2025 Germany

*MEXICAN WOMEN IN SLAM WS MD, since 2000*
2000 AO - Angelica Gavaldon (2r)
2020 RG - Renata Zarazua (2r)
2022 RG - Fernanda Contreras (2r)
2022 WI - Fernanda Contreras (1r)
2024 AO - Renata Zarazua (1r)
2024 RG - Renata Zarazua (1r)
2024 WI - Renata Zarazua (1r)
2024 US - Renata Zarazua (2r)
2025 AO - Renata Zarazua
--
MOST RECENT QF: 1995 AO - Gavaldon (3r: 1995 WI/US)
--
[MEX w/ SLAM MD WINS; Open era; #-mult.wins]
Elena Subirats#
Angelica Gavaldon#
Renata Zarazua#
Fernanda Contreras
--
[MEX - MOST RECENT CON. MAJOR MD]
13 - Gavaldon, 1993 AO-1996 AO
5 - Zarazua, 2024 AO-active
5 - Gavaldon, 1990 AO-1991 AO






kosova-font






TOP QUALIFIER: Maja Chwalinska, POL
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1 - #20 Maja Chwalinska/POL def. Dominika Salkova/CZE 7-6(3)/5-7/7-6(12-10) - Chwalinska in 3:23, was down a break twice in the 3rd. Salkova served for the win at 5-4, led 7-3 in the deciding MTB and held a pair of MP.
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #14 Mirra Andreeva/RUS (def. Marie Bouzkova/CZE)
FIRST SEED OUT: #29 Linda Noskova/CZE (1st Rd.- Tauson/DEN)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Aiava/AUS (6th MD), Gibson/AUS (2nd MD), Lamens/NED (1st MD), Sramkova/SVK (5th MD)
PROTECTED RANKING BEST: in 2r: Bencic/SUI, Burrage/GBR, Kovinic/MNE
LUCKY LOSER BEST: in 2r: Dart/GBR, Lys/GER
UPSET QUEENS: Great Britain
REVELATION LADIES: Germany
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Czech Republic (1-4 1st Rd.; Kvitova/Pliskova/Krejcikova DNP; Vondrousova; Bouzkova First Loss; Noskova First Seed Out; Beljek 0-5 slam MD)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: in 2r: Aiava/AUS, Ruse/ROU
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: in 2r: Gibson/AUS, Jovic/USA, Tomljanovic/AUS, Zhang Sh./CHN
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: in 2r: Aiava, Gibson, Tomljanovic
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: x
IT (TBD): x
COMEBACK PLAYER: x
CRASH & BURN: Nominees: Noskova (1r- Tauson; in '24 def. Iga and to QF); Fett (1r- in first AO match since lost w/ 2 MP vs. Woziacki in '18, loses to Dart after having 2 MP)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominees: Aiava (1r- Minnen led 7-5/5-2, 2 MP at 5-4); Dart (1r- late LL add; saved 2 MP vs. Fett, who twice served for match in 3rd); Uchijima (1r- saved MP vs. Linette; down break three times in 3rd); Mertens (1r- down set and Golubic 2 MP in 2nd set TB); Navarro (1r- Stearns up break twice in 3rd, served at 5-4; Navarro 16/19 pts. to end)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: x
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Sabalenka/Dokic
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: Nominees: Aiava dons iconic Ivanovic/Sharapova dress designs during Q-run; Sabalenka/Dokic & crowd dance on Laver
DOUBLES STAR: x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x





All for now. More soon.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:36 PM 

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