Sunday, February 23, 2025

Wk.8- She, Herself and Mirra

The future is... now?







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*WEEK 8 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, U.A.E. (WTA 1000; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Mirra Andreeva/RUS def. Clara Tauson/DEN 7-6(1)/6-1
D: Katerina Siniakova/Taylor Townsend (CZE/USA) def. Hsieh Su-wei/Alona Ostapenko (TPE/LAT) 7-6(5)/6-4




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Mirra Andreeva/RUS
...already worthy of first-name-only status, the teenager was the star of a "She, Herself and Mirra" production in Dubai that saw the 17-year old bring down the curtain (and the house) by becoming the youngest 1000 title winner in the history of the series. The event category debuted in 2009, a year in which Andreeva didn't see her second birthday until April.

Andreeva came into the week after a seven-match stretch in which she'd lost twice to #1 Aryna Sabalenka (getting just 8 total games in the two defeats) and was pushed to three sets in three of her four wins, closer-than-expected victories over Moyuka Uchijima, Magdalena Frech and Katie Volynets, as well as a three-set loss in Doha to Rebecca Sramkova. It was easy to wonder if it was the sort of start to a season that might endanger her new pairing with Conchita Martinez, no matter how winning the combo has so far been for the rest of us.

After Dubai, though, any potential doubts were brushed aside.

In an historic week-long run in the desert, Andreeva dropped just sixteen games in her first four rounds -- wins over Elina Avanesayn, Marketa Vondrousova, Peyton Stearns and Iga Swiatek -- and then rallied from 3-1 (a point from 4-1) down in the 3rd vs. Elena Rybakina in the semifinals, recording her second Top 10 win in a matter of days to reach her biggest career final.

Against Clara Tauson for the crown, Andreeva's defense, big shots, fitness and big-stage comfortability all ultimately came together to produce a performance, a 7-6(1)/6-1 victory, the likes of which will probably be replicated quite regularly over the course of the teenager's career, on far bigger fields of play than that of this particular 1000 event, too. Maybe even very, very soon.

With the win, Andreeva jumps into the Top 10 for the first time, the youngest to debut there since 2006.



Then, as has pretty much become "her thing," Andreeva showed gratitude to a slew of others after the match (especially Martinez, since the teenager readily admits that she's a "pain in the a**" for the Hall of Famer to deal with sometimes), then also thanked herself ("I would like to thank me for believing in me.") for her getting-bigger-all-the-time on-court accomplishments.



It's the sort of clip that I wonder if -- when Mirra inevitably wins something *huge* -- might find its way into a Nike ad down the line. We know it won't be used for anything by the WTA since, as we know... everyone promotes the WTA better than the WTA promotes the WTA.

It could come up in something similar to this Nike ad that aired during the Super Bowl...



One clip we *didn't* get in the post-match ceremony was something ugly involving the potentially dangerous Dubai champion's trophy. Not only is it heavy and gigantic, but the top of that thing could put an eye out!


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RISERS: Karolina Muchova/CZE and Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...both Muchova and Rybakina had fine weeks, but it still feels like the chances were there for a bit more.

While many of her Czech counterparts have been sidelined or slow starting due to injury in '25, Muchova has taken on the odd role of being quite possibly the healthiest of the bunch. Unfortunately, that still hasn't resulted in her finding her way to her first tour title since 2019.

Nonetheless, Muchova had a fine run in Dubai, knocking off Suzan Lamens, Emma Raducanu (in two tight sets), McCartney Kessler (in a 3rd set TB after the Bannerette had served for the match) and Sorana Cirstea (winning her tenth straight QF match) to post just her third career SF result at the 1000 level (not a total shock, considering she's missed more 1000 events due to injury than she's played since her '19 Miami debut). With far fewer potential opportunities, Muchova has had four SF+ results in majors since 2021, though.

Even though she had her moments (see the perfectly Muchovinian one below) in the Dubai semi, the Czech couldn't find a way past Clara Tauson, who ended Muchova's run in another three-setter.



On the bright side for Muchova, she *will* move past Barbora Krejcikova to #15 and finally become the new CZE #1.

Meanwhile, Rybakina also came up short in a week in which the rest of the Top 10 had fallen by the wayside prior to the SF and she *could* have maximized her better form in their absence. Still, Rybakina's Dubai SF was her best result in her four appearances in the event (and her 11th QF+ result in her last 14 1000 MD).

After a win over Moyuka Uchijima, Rybakina saved six MP spread over the 2nd/3rd sets as she downed Paula Badosa, then followed up with another win over Sofia Kenin.

The Kazakh seemed set to reach her first final of the season, serving up 3-1 (w/ a GP for 4-1) in the 3rd set vs. Mirra Andreeva in the semis. With the momentum clearly on her side, had she held serve Rybakina would have been well positioned to advance to her first final since April (where she would have had a shot at returning to the Top 5 w/ a win). But the teenager didn't give up, and ultimately ended the long game with a break of serve. She then shut out Rybakina on the scoreboard in what remained of the match.


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SURPRISE: Jana Kovackova/CZE
...last year, Kovackova was named the Tennis Europe 14-and-under Player of the Year, and won Wimbledon's 14s singles crown. Last month at the AO, she and her sister Alena (16) reached the junior girls' doubles final (falling to the Penickova sisters). This week, in her maiden pro event, the 14-year old played all the way into the final in the latest $15K held in Sharm El Sheikh (EGY).

The Czech lost to 33-year old Bulgarian vet Isabella Shinikova 3–6/6–0/7–6(9–7), but will remain the first player born in 2010 to play in an ITF final.



For Shinikova, almost two years more than a full Mirra Andreeva older than her opponent in the final, it's career title #24.
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VETERAN: Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...so what if her result in Dubai means that Cirstea will fall out of the Top 100 on Monday. She had a great week.

A wild card entrant in the event after reaching the SF a year ago, the #89-ranked Romanian came into the week with a 1-10 record since last May (along w/ a six-month injury-related absence that brought an early end to her '24 season last summer).

Cirstea opened with a win over Dasha Kasatkina, her first over a Top 20 player since May. Forced to play two matches on the same day, she followed up with a pair of three-set victories over Alycia Parks and Emma Navarro (career Top 10 win #24, with 14 of the last 15 coming on hard court since 2013) in a late night affair.

A day later, in her fourth QF+ result in a 1000 event since the start of 2023 (Cirstea had a total of four in Premier/1000 events from 2008-22), the Romanian finally fell to Karolina Muchova.

Though her ranking drops more than 30 spots on Monday, Cirstea's week was a highlight result that sends her off into the spring with high hopes, reclaiming the momentum of her pre-injury (post-age 32) resurgence over the last two years. During that 2023-24 stretch, Cirstea reached a pair of 1000 SF (and two 4r), played in her first slam QF in fourteen years ('23 US), and posted seven Top 10 wins (after having only two from 2015-22).
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COMEBACK: Sofia Kenin/USA
...the desert swing has been very good to Kenin, who entered the Middle East section of the schedule with a 3-3 record, then completed a three-event Abu Dhabi/Doha/Dubai stretch with a combined mark of 7-3.

In Dubai, Kenin strung together three straight Top 25 wins in an event for just the second time in her career (after Mallorca in 2019).

After opening with an upset of Donna Vekic, Kenin saved two MP before prevailing over Marta Kostyuk. Jasmine Paolini, who injured herself early in the 2nd set, became Kenin's third straight Top 25 victim, at #4 her biggest win since then-#2 Aryna Sabalenka in Rome two seasons ago.

Elena Rybakina didn't become the fourth straight in the QF, but Kenin will be back in the Top 50 on Monday.

The same year that Kenin last defeated three Top 25 opponents in an event was also the last time she'd knocked off *two* in the same tournament, doing so twice in back-to-back '19 events in Cincinnati (she lost in the SF to a third, Madison Keys) and Toronto. Kenin only defeated one Top 25 foe in both of her slam final runs in 2020, #1 Ash Barty en route to her AO title and #11 Petra Kvitova later that year at RG.
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FRESH FACES: Clara Tauson/DEN and Linda Noskova/CZE
...the dawn of the next Dane has arrived.

After already looking like a Most Improved Player contender in the opening weeks of the season, Tauson added a whole other layer of success in Dubai. After a win over Rebecca Sramkova, the 22-year old took down Elina Svitolina in three sets, then #1 Aryna Sabalenka (a little shockingly) in two after not being able to take advantage of several chances in their AO match-up in January, reaching her maiden 1000 QF. The Dane erased Linda Noskova for the second time this season (after the AO 1r), then outlasted Karolina Muchova in another three-setter to get to her biggest final.

In her fifth career tour title match, her second this season after her last had been in 2021, Tauson's long week (10+ hours on court) seemed to finally catch up with her vs. Mirra Andreeva. A tight 1st set devolved into a TB quickly lost, and then the Russian's game only rose from there as Tauson seemed to run out of gas.

Every time I see Tauson, I'm reminded a bit of Lindsay Davenport, and think of how she rode her big serve and baseline groundstrokes early in her career to hide her movement and footwork liabilities until she improved those areas over time. Unfortunately for her, the Williams sisters were still well ahead, and after Davenport won her third major at the '00 AO at just age 23, she'd win no more while going 0-4 vs. Serena/Venus in slam finals. Three of the four years Davenport finished #1, she didn't min a major.

But there isn't exactly a Williams-like presence on the tour these days and Tauson, though she'll never win a footrace with Swiatek or be as smooth a mover as a Muchova, has already improved her movement quite a bit the last few seasons. This 1000 final run might just be a taste of similar things to come.



15-4 on the season and up to a career-best #23 (from #38), Tauson sure seems like she could (should?) be Top 15 by the U.S. Open, maybe even by the start of summer hard courts. With a Roland Garros 4th Round (and 125 final) her most significant '24 spring/summer points defenses upcoming, producing something of note in I.W. (Q2 in '24) and/or Miami (Q and 2r), Madrid/Rome (1-1 in '24, though she's 27-10 on clay the last two years), or *anything* on grass (0-3 last year, and just 2-7 in her career), could speed up that timetable tremendously. The Dane was just 2-8 after RG through the U.S. Open last year, so there is a *lot* of moving-up opportunity out there for Tauson over the next six months.

Coming off a SF run in Abu Dhabi and (again) pushing Iga Swiatek in a three-set loss in Doha, Noskova managed in Dubai to produce another week that forcefully pushed forward her season since she was the First Seed Out at the AO (def. by Tauson), even if things ended once more at the hands of a familiar foe.

In Dubai, the 20-year old Czech reached her maiden 1000 QF with wins over Yulia Putintseva, Diana Shnaider and Jessie Pegula, the latter her eighth career Top 10 victory and second during this season's Middle East stretch. But then, lo and behold, Noskova faced off with the same player who'd knocked her down a few rungs in Melbourne, this time with a berth in the SF on the line.

After losing in three sets (as the #29 seed) vs. the Dane last month, Noskova fell 7-6/6-4 in her second shot at Tauson.


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DOWN: Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
...Kalinskaya had a career year in 2024. The Hordette may yet still have a great '25 campaign, but so far the difference couldn't be more stark.

A year ago at this point in the season, Kalinskaya had posted her best career slam result (AO QF), reached her biggest final (Dubai RU), and had already recorded four of what would be a career-best seven Top 10 wins in '24, including upsets of #1 Swiatek and #3 Gauff in Dubai (two of her three Top 10 victories that week alone).

In 2025, injury prevented her from even playing in Melbourne, and her return to Dubai saw her exit in the 1st Round vs. Elina Svitolina, dropping her to 3-5 on the year. All three of her match wins -- over the world #81, #179 and #132 -- came in her Singapore SF run, which ended with her retirement.

Kalinskaya, who reached a career best #11 in October, falls from #19 to #32 on Monday.


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ITF PLAYERS: Victoria Mboko/CAN and Gabriela Knutson/CZE
...well, it's nearly March and Mboko is still without a loss on the season.

In the Manchester (GBR) $35K, the 18-year old Canadian ran her season-opening winning streak to 22 matches (all in straight sets) as she picked up her fourth title of '25 with a 7-6/6-2 win in the final over Pastry Manon Leonard.

Mboko has been a world traveler through the opening two months of the season, winning two titles in France in January, then her third (a $75K) in the U.S. (Rome, Georgia) before heading back to Europe this past week for #4.



Mboko is knocking on the door of the Top 200, coming in at #212 on Monday.

In Prague, California-born Czech Knutson, a college/university tennis product in both the U.S. (Syracuse) and Great Britain (Durham), picked up her sixth and biggest career title, winning the $75K challenger with a 6-4/3-6/7-5 victory in the final over Destanee Aiava (at the AO last month, the Aussie finally recorded her maiden slam MD win eight years after her debut, and then took Danielle Collins to three sets in the 2nd Round).

Knutson, 27, will climb from #234 back into the Top 200.


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JUNIOR STARS: Zhang Rulen/CHN and Laima Vladson/LTU
...two J300 winners on the junior circuit this week.

In Casablanca, 16-year old girls' #85 Zhang claimed her second J300 title (first outside China), defeating Serb Luna Vujovic 6-2/7-6 in the final. Zhang also took the doubles crown alongside Turkey's Abu Kumru.

Meanwhile, 17-year old Lithuanian Vladson won her second J300 crown in two weeks in South America, following up her win in Ascuncion (PAR) with another in Porto Alegre (BRA), defeating 16-year old Bannerette Thea Frodin in a 2-6/6-2/6-2 final.



Frodin won the doubles alongside fellow U.S. junior Kaitlyn Rolls.
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DOUBLES: Katerina Siniakova/Taylor Townsend, CZE/USA
...the new Power Duo on tour, Siniakova/Townsend claimed their third (all big ones) title together in just over seven months (after the '24 Wimbledon and '25 AO, with a WTAF final in between) with a Dubai run that included a 10-7 MTB win over Haddad Maia/Siegemund in the QF, then straight sets wins over Mladenovic/Zhang in the SF and Hsieh/Ostapenko in a 7-6/6-4 final.

The result dropped Hsieh to 13-2 in 1000 finals, as she and Ostapenko lost for the second time in a '25 title match (AO) to Siniakova/Townsend.

Siniakova (with 140 on Monday) is now less than 100 weeks from Martina Navratilova's all-time record for weeks as the doubles #1. She picks up career WTA title #30 here, while for Townsend it's #9.



Siniakova/Townsend are a combined 25-5 as a pair, 9-0 this season.
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WHEELCHAIR: Maayan Zikri/ISR
...Israel's Zikri had quite the week in the U.K., winning *two* singles titles in Bolton.

The Bolton Indoor Series 3 event started before last weekend and finished mid-week, with 21-year old Zikri (#5 seed, and the WC #23) matching her biggest career title after stringing together wins over top seed Lucy Shuker and Dutch #3 Jinte Bos to set up a meeting with #4-seeded Pastry Pauline Deroulede. Zikri won 4 & 4.



Then, in a Series 2 event that started immediately afterward and concluded on Sunday, unseeded Zikri topped her early run by winning the even bigger crown to sweep both tournaments and extend her unbeaten run to eight matches.

Unseeded this time around, Zikri knocked off Katharina Kruger, Maylee Phelps, #3 seed Bos (again) and then #2 Ksenia Chasteau (the '23 US and '24 RG jr. champ) 6-2/6-1 in the final.


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1. Dubai 3rd Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Paula Badosa
...4-6/7-6(8)/7-6(2). Rybakina's season contniues to be a work in progress, both off and on-court.

Badosa claimed the 1st set after trailing 0-3, and nearly took out Rybakina in straights. The Kazakh served at 5-3, and held two SP at 5-4 before Badosa pushed the set to a TB, where she led 6-3. The Spaniard had four MP in the breaker, but couldn't convert any as Rybakina knotted the set with a 10-8 win converted on her fourth SP.



Rybakina again served, this time for the match, in the 3rd (at 5-4), but couldn't put away the win. Instead, Badosa eventually had two *more* MP at 6-5 (bringing her total to six) before Rybakina took things to a deciding TB, which she won 7-2.


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2. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Sofia Kenin def. Marta Kostyuk
...5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(5). Kostyuk rallied from 3-1 back to force a 2nd set TB, where she held a pair of MP. But Kenin won 9-7.

Kenin twice lost break leads (4-2, and serving at 6-5) in the deciding set, but after a brief rain delay after game 12 she grabbed a 4-1 lead in the concluding breaker. Up 6-4, the Bannerette put away her second MP to win 7-5.

In 2024, Kostyuk led the tour with the most MD match wins (3) after being MP down.

Combined with her 1st Round win over #20 Donna Vekic, the victory over #21 Kostyuk is Kenin's first in back-to-back encounters with Top 25 players since 2019 in Cincinnati.
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3. Dubai 3rd Rd. - Clara Tauson def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-3/6-2. The two met in Melbourne when they were a combined 14-0 on the season, and Sabalenka gutted out a 7-6/6-4 win after Tauson had led 5-3 in the 1st (and served two up 5-4 in the TB), then was tied at 4-4 in the 2nd when she couldn't convert on six GP chances (or on two BP down 4-5 a game later).

The Dane didn't have to find a way to avoid squandering the big points this time, as she just won most of them, period.

Tauson won 19 of 24 first serve points to get her first #1 win (third Top 10, counting one over Sakkari in BJK zone play last year).

Sabalenka has lost three of four since reaching the AO final, and clearly isn't "feeling it" at the moment.



Still, the Belarusian holds onto her #1 ranking as she actually *improved* upon her 2nd Round result in Dubai from '24. In fact, Sabalenka increased her lead over #2 Swiatek (who reached the QF), going from 806 to 1091.

But with Sabalenka's "rut," Swiatek's slightly wavering stretch, and #3 Coco Gauff once again looking for a lifeline as she heads into the spring, might there be room for someone to crash the Top 3 party?

Thing is, with Sabalenka the only Top 10 singles title winner (in Week 1) two months into the new season, who is there to pose a true threat?

Rybakina? AO champ Keys, whenever we finally see her again... or maybe a certain Russian teen (newly Top 10) who was lifting her biggest title (so far) this weekend? At the moment, the biggest threats seems to be coming from over the Top 3's collective shoulder, not necessarily from each other.
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4. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Clara Tauson def. Elina Svitolina
...7-6(5)/3-6/7-6(4). Svitolina always fights, and both she and Tauson have tendencies to both lose *and* rally back from scoreboard deficits. That's what happened here, and in the end it was the Dane who fought best last and held things together long enough to get the "W."

Tauson trailed 4-2 in the 1st, but took the match lead by winning the TB. Svitolina then turned the tables in the 2nd, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to win six straight games and send things to a 3rd.

In the decider, Tauson led 3-1 and 5-3, and served for the win at 5-4 only to be forced into a match-ending TB. The Dane led 5-1, and ultimately staved off another Svitolina comeback attempt to finally get the victory on her fourth MP to win 7-4.

In Tauson's only other match vs. Svitolina, in a $100K in April '23 in the Ukrainian's third event back after becoming a mother, the Dane saved a MP in the 2nd set and went on to win in three.
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5. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Peyton Stearns def. Zheng Qinwen
...3-6/6-4/6-4. Stearns gets her first Top 10 win after previously being 0-7 (w/ four three-set losses) in such encounters. Afterward, she told the on-court interviewer that such a long match in the desert heat was fine with her. "I'm built for this," she said.



What she wasn't built for, though, was having to double up and play her 3rd Round match (because of rain the previous day) just a couple of hours later. She lost 1 & 1 to Mirra Andreeva, and also had to pull out of a scheduled doubles match on the same day.



With the loss, Zheng falls to 1-3 on the year (her lone win came on January 12)
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6. Dubai 3rd Rd. - Karolina Muchova def. McCartney Kessler
...6-3/1-6/7-6(5). Kessler's week, which included wins over Doha champ Amanda Anisimova and #3 Coco Gauff, ends with a deciding TB loss to the Czech.

The Bannerette led 4-2 in the 3rd, and served for the win at 5-4, only to see Muchova reach MP at 6-5. Kessler saved three MP, then took a 4-3 lead in the TB. But Muchova rallied once more by taking four of the final five points to win 7-5.
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7. Dubai 1st Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Anhelina Kalinina
...2-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Azarenka, without a win since her season-opening victory on New Year's Day, looked doomed to another early exit, with thoughts wandering to whether or not she's reaching *that* stage (you know the one, and any former great champion *never* wants to exist there) in her career.

But then the former #1 and two-time slam champ flipped a switch after falling down 6-2/5-2, with Kalinina serving for the win at 5-3 and then leading 4-2 in the 2nd set TB. In a flash, Vika had doubled her '25 win total.

But then Azarenka got just two games off of Iga Swiatek in the 2nd Round.

Dubai 2nd Rd. - Iga Swiatek def. Victoria Azarenka
...6-0/6-2. Below is the stat that I mentioned a few weeks ago, a streak that has now reached 51 straight knock-out singles events (not a suprise that it's topping a list like this) since Swiatek's one-and-done loss to Ons Jabeur in Cincinnati in 2021.



If we go back to the Pole's title run at Roland Garros in 2020, which ended that season in October, Cincinnati '21 is *still* the only event in Swiatek's last *64* knock-out tournaments.
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8. Dubai 1st Rd. - Sorana Cirstea def. Dasha Kasatkina
...6-1/6-4. The #89-ranked wild card came into Dubai 1-10 since last May (w/ a six-month break thrown in), but notched her first Top 20 win since defeating Marketa Vondrousova in Rome last spring.



The Romanian did that one better with a Top 10 win over Emma Navarro (in her second match of the day, after another three-set win over Alycia Parks) in the 3rd Round a few days later.
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9. Dubai 1st Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Lulu Sun
...6-3/6-4. Sun managed to finally get a win in Doha, but was right back on the carnival ride in Dubai, dropping to 1-7 in '25 and 1-10 since she reached her maiden tour final in Monterrey last August.

Immediately prior to her current slide, the Kiwi had won 14 of 16, a stretch that included her Wimbledon QF run.
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10. Dubai 1st Rd. - Emma Raducanu def. Maria Sakkari
...6-4/6-2. Raducanu finally made good use of a wild card, ending her career-long four-match losing streak.

Sakkari -- *still* ranked in the Top 10 20 30 -- is eight weeks into the new season and already has eight losses on the year. She's 4-8, with two of her wins coming when her opponent retired.

Raducanu lost a tight two-setter (forcing a 1st set TB after trailing 4-0) to Karolina Muchova in her next match, during which she had to deal with other concerns, as well.


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11. Dubai 1st Rd. - McCartney Kessler def. Amanda Anisimova 6-2/6-3
Dubai 1st Rd. - Moyuka Uchijima def. Alona Ostapenko 6-3/6-3
...the turnaround is a tough one.

Barely a day after playing in the Doha final in clammy weather conditions, Anisimova and Ostapenko were in Dubai playing on a faster hard court surface. They were out of the running by Monday evening.
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12. Dubai 2nd Rd. - McCartney Kessler def. Coco Gauff
...6-4/7-5. This makes it *three* straight losses for Gauff.

And a bead of sweat drips down Matt Daly's cheek.


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HM- Dubai 3rd Rd. - Sofia Kenin def. Jasmine Paolini
...6-4/6-0. Defending champ Paolini was injured in the opening game of the 2nd set, but managed to finish the match, though she never won another game.


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1. Dubai QF - Mirra Andreeva def. Iga Swiatek
...6-3/6-3. Andreeva completes her second career win over a world #2 (she def. then-#2 Sabalenka at RG last year) to reach her first 1000 semifinal.

Meanwhile, two weeks ago before the start of the Middle East desert swing, Swiatek trailed #1 Aryna Sabalenka by 186 points, and led #3 Coco Gauff by 2232. After going a combined 5-2 in Doha/Dubai with SF and QF results, while Sabalenka and Gauff combined for a 1-4 mark, Swiatek now trails Sabalenka by 1091 and leads Gauff by 1652.

The Swiatek partnership with Wim Fissette (whom she angrily brushed by immediatly after the match) remains title-less since starting up in October, and her eight-and-a-half month title drought (since RG '24) is the second longest of her WTA career since she won her maiden title at Roland Garros in 2020. The longest was a nine-month stretch from May '21 to February '22.



She might be settling in at #2 for a while, too. Swiatek's Indian Wells/Miami Sunshine swing will see her defending W/4th Rd. results, while Sabalenka had 4th/3rd finishes in '24, as the Pole seems to *possibly* be experiencing her first "time in the barrel" in the wake of losing her #1 ranking last fall, then facing a positive drug test, changing coaches and so far in '25 again falling victim on the court in her four losses on the season vs. past "bullies" and/or big hitters (Ostapenko, Keys), players she'd previously dominated (Gauff) and, now, the youngest oppponent to defeat her as a pro in 17-year old Andreeva.
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2. Dubai SF - Mirra Andreeva def. Elena Rybakina
...6-4/4-6/6-3. Down 3-1 to Rybakina in the 3rd set, with the Kazakh holding a GP for 4-1, Andreeva (as she noted later) seemed to have accepted that this was not her day, but was proud of her fight all week. But she didn't give up, and that proved to be the difference.

On her third BP of the three-deuce game, the teenager got the break to get back on serve. Rather than pull away to the final, Rybakina didn't win another game.

Rybakina fell behind on serve love/40 two games later and was broken, but had four BP chances in game 8 to get back to even in the set. Andreeva saved them all and held for 5-3. The Hordette went up love/30 on return in the next game, and never had to deal with serving out the win, getting the break of Rybakina to advance to her first career 1000 final.


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3. Dubai Final - Mirra Andreeva def. Clara Tauson
...7-6(1)/6-1. Considering the hungry teenager's career arc, while Tauson surely had "a puncher's chance," it just felt like Andreeva would *not* let this big stage moment go by without taking full advantage of it. And that's just how things played out.

In a 1st set in which the two twice exchanged breaks in consecutive games (including when Andreeva served for the set at 5-4), things went to a TB where the Hordette led by a mini-break at 3-0. Tauson committed back-to-back errors on two serve points to fall behind 5-0 (and, soon, 6-0) as Andreeva quickly prevailed.



With Tauson either tiring or plagued by a nagging leg injury (or both) after 10+ hours of play over the course of the week, Andreeva pulled away in the 2nd en route to the win, becoming the youngest ever 1000 (since 2009) champion.



Though both Andreeva and Madison Keys (AO) both claimed titles over the first two months of 2025 that raised their rankings into the Top 10 the following Monday, only one of the season's first eleven events has been claimed by an actual Top 10 player (Sabalenka/Brisbane in Week 1).

It's a huge change from recent years, as going back to (at least, as that's as far as my easily-reachable files go) 2010 all but one season has seen four or more titles won by Top 10 players over the opening two months. The lone year that didn't happen until now: 2016 (w/ 2 wins).

In the 2020s, it's been 5-4-5-5-5-1.
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Some good reasoning from Coco Gauff from the article linked below:

World No.3 Coco Gauff noted how reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was always courtside watching matches and felt she would be a great resource: "She seems like she's someone that knows the game and is very smart and she’s always at the matches, watching them live. So I feel like she would be a pretty decent coach."



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This is one of those points where you marvel, "Where did she go?" before you see that Muchova (from somewhere) got a ball back over the net... even if the point eventually went to Tauson.




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Meanwhile, though the winner's cup was a bit *much,* the Dubai runner-up trophy is better looking than a lot of the *championship* hardware handed out at many other events during the season. This one is actually *substantial,* and not something of the silver coffee saucer variety that is generally handed to the player who finishes in 2nd place.



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This is pretty much my-, err, I mean "The Numbers Guy's" argument that goes back now quite a few years. Federer/Nadal will always fill the top spot in the "hearts & minds" categories of those who idolized them, but eventually the numbers will be all that is left once the majority of those making their personal decision in the "argument" don't have "feelings" and mind's/heart's eye memories clouding their judgment.

Aside from one narrow column (RG titles), Djokovic leads in every non-subjective category (next up: he's just 3 match wins behind Federer for the most AO wins all time and 8 back for the most at Wimbledon, 8 behind leader Connors at the U.S. Open and, though it's a long shot, even close enough to Nadal -- 16 wins -- to think about challenging his RG record total) and future generations (those in diapers now, or not that long out of them) will wonder ("rightly" or "wrongly") why it hasn't *always* been clear.



















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*TEENAGE WTA SINGLES CHAMPS - 2020-25*
17 - Coco Gauff (2021 Parma)
17 - Linda Fruhvirtova (2022 Chennai)
17 - Mirra Andreeva (2024 Iasi)
17 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (2025 DUBAI)
18 - Clara Tauson (2021 Lyon)
18 - Clara Tauson (2021 Luxembourg)
18 - Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open)
18 - Leylah Fernandez (2021 Monterrey)
18 - Coco Gauff (2023 Auckland)
[youngest Final combination - 2020s]
37 = 2021 US Open: Raducanu (18) d. Fernandez (19)
38 = 2024 Iasi: M.Andreeva (17) d. Avanesyan (21)
39 = 2022 Monterrey: Fernandez (19) d. Osorio (20)
39 = 2022 R.Garros: Swiatek (21) d. Gauff (18)
39 = 2025 DUBAI: M.Andreeva (17) d. Tauson (22)

*TITLES AS A TEEN in 2020s*
6 - Coco Gauff (2021,2023-24)
3 - Iga Swiatek (2020-21)
2 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (2024-25)
2 - Leylah Fernandez (2021-22)
2 - Clara Tauson (2021)
1 - Linda Fruhvirtova (2022)
1 - Ashlyn Krueger (2023)
1 - Linda Noskova (2024)
1 - Camila Osorio (2021)
1 - Emma Raducanu (2021)
1 - Diana Shnaider (2024)
1 - Maria Timofeeva (2023)

*RECENT WTA TOP 10 SINGLES DEBUTS*
[2020]
Sofia Kenin/USA
[2021]
Iga Swiatek/POL
Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
Maria Sakkari/GRE
Ons Jabeur/TUN
Anett Kontaveit/EST
Paula Badosa/ESP
[2022]
Danielle Collins/USA
Coco Gauff/USA
Jessie Pegula/USA
Emma Raducanu/GBR
Veronika V.Kudermetova/RUS
[2023]
Elena Rybakina/KAZ
Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
Karolina Muchova/CZE
[2024]
Zheng Qinwen/CHN
Jasmine Paolini/ITA
Emma Navarro/USA
[2025]
Mirra Andreeva/RUS

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2025*
2 - Madison Keys (2-0)
2 - Elise Mertens (1-1)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (1-1)
2 - CLARA TAUSON (1-1)

*#1 WINS OVER SABALENKA (8)*
[2023]
Beijing QF - #5 Elena Rybakina/KAZ
WTA Finals rr - #5 Jessie Pegula/USA
WTA Finals SF - #2 Iga Swiatek/POL (W)
[2024]
WTA Finals rr - #5 Elena Rybakina/KAZ
WTA Finals SF - #3 Coco Gauff/USA (W)
[2025]
Australian Open Final - #14 Madison Keys/USA (W)
Doha 2nd Rd. - #26 Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
Dubai 3rd Rd. - #38 Clara Tauson/DEN
=
(W) - won title

*2025 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
3 (2-1) = Jiang Xinyu
3 (2-1) = Wu Fang-hsien
2 (2-0) = KATERINA SINIAKOVA
2 (2-0) = TAYLOR TOWNSEND
2 (0-2) = HSIEH SU-WEI
2 (0-2) = ALONA OSTAPENKO
[2025 finals - duos]
3...Jiang/Wu (2-1)
2...SINIAKOVA/TOWNSEND (2-0)
2...HSIEH/OSTAPENKO (0-2)

*2020-25 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
23 - KATERINA SINIAKOVA (1/6/6/3/5/2)
14 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/1/0)
12 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/2/3/0)
11 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/2/3/0)
10 - Desirae Krawczyk (2/2/1/3/1/1)
10 - Laura Siegemund (1/0/3/5/1/0)
9 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/2/1/0)
9 - Anna Danilina (0/1/2/1/5/0)
9 - Nicole Melichar-Martinez (2/2/2/0/3/0)
9 - Demi Schuurs (2/2/1/2/2/0)
9 - Ena Shibahara (1/5/0/2/1/0)
9 - Luisa Stefani (1/1/2/3/1/1)
9 - TAYLOR TOWNSEND (1/0/0/3/3/2)

*CAREER WTA DOUBLES TITLES - active*
35 - Hsieh Su-Wei
33 - Latisha Chan
33 - Sara Errani
30 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands
30 - KATERINA SINIAKOVA
28 - Kristina Mladenovic
26 - Timea Babos

*WTA ALL-TIME WEEKS AS DOUBLES #1*
237 - Martina Navratilova
199 - Liezel Huber
163 - Cara Black
140 - KATERINA SINIAKOVA (w/ week of Feb.24)
137 - Lisa Raymond
124 - Natasha Zvereva
111 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
110 - Roberta Vinci






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wearing sunglasses inside and following an event where he at times had a hard time speaking coherently, Elon Musk walks off the CPAC stage waving around a chain saw. this is the guy currently running our government. Congrats, America!

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 20, 2025 at 5:48 PM


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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 5:47 PM 

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