Sunday, January 12, 2025

AO25 - Dancing Like Everyone is Watching

And away we go...







=AO NOTES=
...this year's Australian Open began with a little of everything in Melbourne: rain, a win from Mirra, Blinkova on the brink, a seed taken out (again) by Tauson and, in the end, some dancing on Laver.

A quick spin arond the grounds on Sunday saw #14 seeded Mirra Andreeva become the first player to move through to the 2nd Round, via a 6-3/6-3 win over Marie Bouzkova while many of the matches taking place on other courts endured a rain delay.



...qualifier Anca Todoni (henceforth known in this space as "Anca!") gave #5-seed and '24 finalist Zheng Qinwen some early trouble, leading the 1st set 5-3 and holding three SP at 6-5 under the roof (in the Laver opener) before Zheng rallied to win the 1st in a TB and take a 6-1 2nd.



Still, Todoni, as she did down the stretch last year, shows loads of promise and is now on the brink of the Top 100. Might she be the top-ranked Romanian by year's end?

...the Netherlands' Suzan Lamens, in her maiden slam match after gaining automatic MD entry due to a surprising '24 campaign that included some BJK Cup heroics, her first tour title (Osaka) in October and a Top 80 ranking, notched her first career slam MD victory, defeating slam debuting qualifier Veronika Erjavec 7-5/7-6(2). Before Sunday, Lamens had never played any later than the second round of qualifying in any major, and sported a 2-8 Q-round mark in slam events.



...elsewhere, the oldest woman in the draw, 37-year old German Tatjana Maria, advanced past Bernarda Pera; while Anna Blinkova returned to the "scene of the crime," the major where the Hordette won a slam record 42-point MTB over Elena Rybakina in the 2nd Round a year ago. Her '24 season didn't go quite as she'd hoped after that, but she's back in Melbourne to start her "do-over."

Blinkova took out Aussie wild card Dasha Saville in three sets, throwing in some extra drama by staging a comeback from a set down and 3-1 back in the 3rd to get her first victory in Melbourne (and just her second win in any of the last four majors she's played) since that win over Rybakina.



...#29 Linda Noskova became the first seed to fall at this AO, one year after she'd upset then-#1 Iga Swiatek in Melbourne on her way to her first career slam QF (a run that also included wins over Bouzkova, McCartney Kessler, and Elina Svitolina via retirement). Ooh, ouch.

Who knocked her out? Well, Clara Tauson, of course. Because, you know, naturally... you could see that one coming from a mile away once the draw was made.



The Dane won Auckland in Week 1 (def. Week 2 champ Madison Keys along the way, and firing off 26 aces in a win over Sofia Kenin), and has now posted five career victories over slam seeds in her career since she debuted at the 2020 Roland Garros (with, of course, a win over a seeded Jennifer Brady). Those wins account for more than a third (5 of 14) of her career MD win total in majors. Tauson "only" had 13 aces in her AO 1st Round win on Sunday, though.

This was just an horrific draw for the Czech, and now Tauson (6-0 in '25) edges ever closer to an intriguing power match-up vs. #1 Aryna Sabalenka in the 3rd Round.

...two-time defending AO champ Sabalenka (looking for the first Melbourne three-peat since *1999*) handled Sloane Stephens 3 & 2 in the Laver night opener, garnering her 15th straight AO victory (she's now 28-1 in hard court majors since 2023), but the headlines came from what happened *after* the match as Sabalenka and Jelena Dokic added another chapter to their winning AO post-match relationship.

The two have already shared some lovely moments after Sabalenka's AO wins in the past, and we got another this time around as the Aussie encouraged Sabalenka to do one of her regular pre-event TikTok dances (a routine usually performed with her team) right then and there, only this time with the crowd *and* Dokic herself joining in.







...JELENA & ARYNA: actually making that "happy slam" thing seem real, and not just a hopeful gimmick::




...SHE'D RATHER BE THE *FINAL* WINNER, THOUGH (I'm sure she'd say that if anyone asked her, too):




...I CAN GET BEHIND THIS SENTIMENT AT THE FOUR BIGGEST EVENTS OF THE YEAR:




...MEANWHILE, IN PICKLEBALL LAND...:




...WELL, I GUESS THERE'S THAT...:




















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A flashback to last year's AO...













kosova-font

*TAUSON SLAM WINS OVER SEEDS*
2020 RG 1st Rd.: #21 Jennifer Brady (lost in 2nd Rd.)
2022 AO 2nd Rd.: #6 Anett Kontaveit (lost in 3rd Rd.)
2023 US 1st Rd.: #27 Anastasia Potapova (lost in 2nd Rd.)
2024 RG 2nd Rd.: #9 Alona Ostapenko (lost 4th Rd.)
2025 AO 1st Rd.: #29 Linda Noskova

*RECENT AO "FIRST VICTORY" HONORS*
2018 Duan Yingying, CHN (def. Duque Marino)
2019 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (def. Cirstea)
2020 Paula Badosa, ESP (def. Larsson)
2021 Naomi Osaka, JPN (def. Pavlyuchenkova)
2022 Camila Giorgi, ITA (def. Potapova)
2023 Jessie Pegula, USA (def. Cristian)
2024 Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS (def. Bektas)
2025 Mirra Andreeva, RUS (def. Bouzkova)

*RECENT AO "FIRST SEED OUT"*
2015 #32 Belinda Bencic, SUI (lost to Goerges)
2016 #17 Sara Errani, ITA (lost to Gasparyan)
2017 #4 Simona Halep, ROU (lost to Rogers)
2018 #13 Sloane Stephens, USA (lost to Sh.Zhang)
2019 #14 Julia Goerges, GER (lost to Collins)
2020 #32 Barbora Strycova, CZE (lost to Cirstea)
2021 #23 Angelique Kerber, GER (lost to Pera)
2022 #18 Coco Cauff, USA (lost to Q.Wang)
2023 #28 Amanda Anisimova, USA (lost to Kostyuk)
2024 #13 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (lost to Anisimova)
2025 #29 Linda Noskova, CZE (lost to Tauson)

*MAIDEN CAREER SLAM MD WINS AT AO - in 2020s*
[2020]
Paula Badosa, ESP
Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
Ann Li, USA
Greet Minnen, BEL
Elena Rybakina, KAZ
[2021]
Olga Danilovic, SRB
Liudmila Samsonova, RUS
Mayar Sherif, EGY
Nina Stojanovic, SRB
[2022]
Lucia Bronzetti, ITA
Jaqueline Cristian, ROU
Maddison Inglis, AUS
Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP
Gabriela Ruse, ROU
Wang Xinyu, CHN
Wang Xiyu, CHN
Maryna Zanevska, BEL
Zheng Qinwen, CHN
[2023]
Anna Bondar, HUN
Olivia Gadecki, AUS
Diana Shnaider, RUS
[2024]
Brenda Fruhvirtova, CZE
McCartney Kessler, USA
Alina Korneeva, RUS
Maria Timofeeva, RUS
Anastasia Zakharova, RUS
[2025]
Suzan Lamens, NED




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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: 1r wins: Lamens
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: in 2r: x
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1r wins: x
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1r wins: x
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: 1r wins: x
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: x
IT (TBD): x
COMEBACK PLAYER: x
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: Noskova (1r-Tauson; in '24 def. Iga and to QF)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: x
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: x
LADY OF THE EVENING: x
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: Nominees: Aiava dons old 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 @ 2:41 PM 

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