Sunday, July 06, 2025

W.7- Grass Court Jungle Where Dreams are Made Of












=DAY 7 NOTES=
...with the Round of 16 set, it was time to slice the group in half on the middle Sunday of this Wimbledon.

First up of the four matches was one that featured a British woman. Not that long ago, such a notion would have seemed *far* out of left field, but Team GB's tennis depth has steadily grown over the last decade, overcoming the "false start" that was the idea that the fast-starting Laura Robson was going to be the "Andy Murray" of the British women.

Recent years have produced one slam champ in Emma Raducanu, a former top contending player in the retired Johanna Konta, and now a handful of others who can jump up with a big result (ala Katie Boulter) or are part of a new generation of youngsters (Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic, Mimi Xu) currently making the annual rite of Wimbledon handing out loads of wild cards for SW19 not look totally competitively obscene in retrospect. Last year, Sonay Kartal was one of those players given a free pass, and she became the first British WC to reach the 3rd Round in London this century.

The 23-year old came back for more this year, in the MD without needing a WC, and then opened the week with a win over #20 Alona Ostapenko (via ret.). Having won her maiden tour title last September (Monastir) and reached her first 1000 Round of 16 (Indian Wells) earlier this season, she rose to a career-high #49 last month. Kartal's win two days ago over Diane Parry put the Brit into her first slam 4th Round, where today she faced off on Centre Court with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a former junior superstar who has had an up and down pro career that has nonetheless produced some pretty big moments, with a slam final ('21 RG) and eight other QF runs (including one in January at age 33), twelve tour titles and nearly forty Top 10 victories in what has become one of the longer continuous stints on tour. She made her tour debut *nineteen* years ago this fall.

Pavlyuchenkova has always maintained that she's no good on grass, but she did reach a QF at Wimbledon back in 2016, and she arrived on Sunday to play to reach her second after previous wins over a seed (#31 Ashlyn Krueger) and former slam champ (Naomi Osaka). Meanwhile, Kartal was seeking to become the first British quarterfinalist in the event since Konta in 2019. Konta had also reached the semis in '17, part of what had been the tournament's best result by a home player since Virginia Wade in 1978.

Kartal found her way into the opening set, largely because of an egregiously missed call by the electronic line calling system (and an inactive chair umpire) on a *way* long Kartal ball on a Pavlyuchenkova GP in game 9. The Brit got the break, then served for the set at 5-4, holding a SP. But the veteran Hordette, who turned 34 a few days ago, broke back on her third BP and went on to take a 7-3 tie-break.

After exchanging breaks to open the 2nd, Pavlyuchenkova took a break lead at 3-2 and held it until the finish, serving out a 15 game to win 7-6(4)/6-4 and reach her tenth career major QF.



It's a so-very-Pavlyuchenkovian result line that shows the Russian with QF-1r-QF slam results (so far) in '25, as the ebb-and-flow of her long career has often had a similar feast-or-famine feel. Of her nine previous Last Eight (and once better) runs, she's only followed up with a result better than a 2nd Round at her next major twice (and both of those were just 3rd Rd. finishes).



...meanwhile, Laura Siegemund is busy trying to become the next Tatjana Maria.

Three years ago, Siegemund's fellow German became the oldest first-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist at age 34, then set another mark with her maiden SF. Both now 37, they were in the MD at this Wimbledon as the oldest competitors in the field, with Maria (who'd just won Queen's Club) slightly the senior of the two. But Maria fell out in the 1st Round, while Siegemund has gone on to produce a career run.

Earlier this year, Siegemund posted her first career win over a Top 10 player at a major, upsetting Zheng Qinwen in the 2nd Round in Melbourne. Two days ago, she got her second with a victory over Madison Keys in the Wimbledon 3rd Round. They're two of Siegemund's three *overall* Top 10 wins since the spring of 2017, truly coloring outside the lines of a career which had previously seen seven of the German's ten Top 10 wins before '25 coming in the same event, Stuttgart, between 2016-22.

With just two MD wins in her SW19 career before this past week, Siegemund had already become the oldest woman to be a first-time Wimbledon 3rd Round participant since 1970. Facing off today with Solana Sierra, the first lucky loser to reach the 4th Round in the event, the German's unorthodox and fiesty game clearly wasn't ready to fold up shop quite yet at this major.

Siegemund defeated the Argentine 6-3/6-1, advancing to her second slam QF (w/ '20 RG) and getting the shot to break Maria's three-year old mark as the oldest first-time slam semifinalist.



...at the top of the draw, #1 Aryna Sabalenka just keeps chuggin' along, today improving to 16-2 in slam play this season with a 6-4/7-6(4) victory over her former doubles partner, #24 Elise Mertens, getting her tenth straight win over the Belgian in their career series. The two won a pair of slam WD crowns between 2019-21.

As usual, Sabalenka played the late-set big points best. After having led 4-1 in the 1st, the Belarusian saw Mertens break to get back on serve at 4-3. Sabalenka had three BP opportunities a game later, but Mertens held. Serving to stay in the set at 5-4, the Belgian led 30/love, only to see Sabalenka's pull off a flurry of shots over the next four points, sweeping to secure the set 6-4.

Mertens had the early break lead in the 2nd, but it was erased mid-way through the stanza. Again, down 5-3, Mertens staved off BPs (two) to get the hold, and eventually forced a TB. But such a thing is simply a case of walking into Sabalenka's personal lair, as the won her fourteenth straight breaker at 7-4 to finish off the win. She has now reached the QF at the last eleven majors she's played.



Mertens had been the lone remaining of the six pre-Wimbledon singles title winners in the MD, and her loss continues what has become a long tradition of title runs in the grass court tune-up events not then translating into a follow-up Wimbledon championship.

With all six of this year's winners eliminated from contention, the Wimbledon title-less streak now stretches back over the last 85 pre-SW19 grass champs, with the last to win both before (at Birmingham) *and* at the AELTC being a 17-year old Maria Sharapova in 2004. Since Jana Novotna pulled the Eastbourne/Wimbledon double in 1998, Sharapova is also the only woman who has carried the roll into a SW19 win over the last 102 pre-Wimbledon grass events.

...the final women's 4th Rounder of the day turned out to be the only one to go three sets, as #13 Amanda Anisimova and #30 Linda Noskova engaged in a contest of shifting momentum.

After Anisimova had claimed the opening set, Noskova surged back to lead 5-3 in the 2nd. The Czech served at 5-4 and had a SP, but couldn't end things there. It took her breaking Anisimova in the following game, and then serving out a 7-5 set on her second try to force a decider.

With Anisimova clearly upset over having not finished up in two sets, Noskova took advantage and got the early break lead. But the Bannerette got back on serve mid-way into the 3rd, leading 4-3 and running off a streak of eleven straight points. Still on course for a tight finish, trailing 5-4, Noskova soon found herself down double MP at 15/40 after a few loose errors. Missing on her first serve on both points, the Czech couldn't survive the ordeal and Anisimova put away the 6-2/5-7/6-4 win with a soft put-away down the line on MP #2 to reach her second Wimbledon QF (w/ '22) in her last two MD appearances.



Anisimova moves into the Top 10 in the "live" rankings with this result (though she hasn't secured her breakthrough ranking quite yet).

...while Noskova was the last Czech to fall out of the Wimbledon draw, her countrywomen more than held their own this weekend on the ITF circuit, with three of the Crushers walking off with titles.

In Cary, North Carolina, 22-year old NCAA champ Dasha Vidmanova defeated Monika Ekstrand 6-1/6-3, picking up her third pro title of the season (sixth since last July) and the biggest (at $100K) of her career so far. That'll change, though.



Elsewhere, fellow Czech Nikola Bartunkova (19) knocked off Emily Seibold in the $35K at Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany for her second title of the year; while Lucie Havlickova (20) upended Katerina Tsygourova in the Mogyoród (HUN) $15K to also claim her second '25 crown.

And, finally, in Los Angeles, Veronica Miroshnichenko defeated Kylie Collins to win a $15K crown, the fourth of her career.

The 27-year old has one of the more interesting current bios in the sport, considering the world condition at the moment. Here's how her Wikipedia entry reads:

"Veronika Miroshnichenko (born 19 November 1997) is a Ukrainian tennis player who represents Russia. Miroshnichenko was born in Moscow to Ukrainian parents but grew up in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine before emigrating to the United States. Due to her birth, she has a Russian passport and was forced to represent the country, however she identifies as Ukrainian and as of 2023, is in the process of changing her passport officially."

Yet, as of today, she's still "flag-free" and considered "Russian" (i.e. "blank") in official tennis records. May you live in interesting times," I guess.







*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. #24 Elise Mertens/BEL
Laura Siegemund/GER def. (LL) Solana Sierra/ARG
#13 Amanda Anisimova/USA def. #30 Linda Noskova/CZE
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS def. Sonay Kartal/GBR
#7 Mirra Andreeva/RUS vs. #10 Emma Navarro/USA
#18 Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS vs. Belinda Bencic/SUI
#8 Iga Swiatek/POL vs. #23 Clara Tauson/DEN
#19 Liudmila Samsononva/RUS vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro/ESP

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Siniakova/Townsend (CZE/USA) def. #15 Melichar-Martinez/Samsonova (USA/RUS)
#10 Bondar/Stefani (HUN/BRA) vs. #7 L.Kichenok/Perez (UKR/AUS)
#4 Hsieh/Ostapenko (TPE/LAT) def. #14 Alexandrova/Zhang (RUS/CHN)
Cirstea/Kalinskaya (ROU/RUS) def. #5 M.Andreeva/Shnaider (RUS/RUS)
Birrell/Joint (AUS/AUS) vs. Gadecki/Krawczyk (AUS/USA)
#16 Dolehide/Kenin (USA/USA) vs. Chan H-c./Krejcikova (TPE/CZE)
#8 V.Kudermetova/Mertens (RUS/BEL) vs. #11 Haddad Maia/Siegemund (BRA/GER)
#13 Khromacheva/Stollar (RUS/HUN) vs. #2 Dabrowski/Routliffe (CAN/NZL)

*MIXED DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
Siniakova/Verbeek (CZE/NED) def. Mihalikova/Gonzalez (SVK/MEX)
(WC) Silva/Paris (GBR/GBR) def. (Alt) Sutjiadi/Galloway (INA/USA)
Khromacheva/Withrow (RUS/USA) def. #3 Errani/Vavassori (ITA/ITA)
#8 Babos/Pavic (HUN/CRO) def. (WC) Lumsden/Stevenson (GBR/GBR)
Stefani/Salisbury (BRA/GBR) def. Muhammad/Molteni (USA/ARG)
Hsieh/Zielinski (TPE/INA) def. #4 Townsend/King (USA/USA)
Krawczyk/Skupski (USA/GBR) def. Panova/Lammons (RUS/USA)
#2 Zhang/Arevalo (CHN/ELS) def. Jiang/Bhambri (CHN/IND)








...WELCOME TO WIMBLEDON... ON DAY 7:




...ALSO WELCOME TO WIMBLEDON... ON DAY 7:




...PAVS CASUALLY DROPPING SOME CHARACTERISTIC HONESTY... ON DAY 7:




...MEMORIES... ON DAY 7:




...SOME TIDBITS ON DAY 6... ON DAY 7:




...UMMM... ON DAY 7:



Not really, since she hasn't played in the last eleven majors. This is the proper way to say it to avoid confusion...



The same goes for "winning streaks" when a player exits via a walkover. The *official* streak ends there, but "consecutive match wins" continues. If we're going to lace everything with "in the Open era," or (even better) when the WTA tries to designate (i.e. pigeonhole) accomplishments as "WTA (fill in here)" when the player has already done the (fill in here) in slam play, then you can't suddenly intentionally remove the context and/or details from whatever is being celebrated.





















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*LOW-RANKED WIMBLEDON QF*
#181 - Serena Williams, 2018 (RU)
#134 - Mirjana Lucic, 1999 (SF)
#133 - Zheng Jie, 2008 (SF)
#129 - Jelena Dokic, 1999
#129 - Severine Beltrame, 2006
#124 - Lulu Sun, 2024
#104 - LAURA SIEGEMUND, 2025
#103 - Tatjana Maria, 2022 (SF)
#99 - Gigi Fernandez, 1994 (SF)
#97 - Jule Niemeier, 2022
#96 - Yaroslava Shvedova, 2016

*ROUND-of-16 OPEN ERA SLAM RESULTS BY LL*
1980 RG - Hana Strachonova, SUI (3r)
1982 RG - Dana Gilbert, USA (4r; 1r bye)
1988 RG - Nicole Jagerman, NED (4r)
1993 US - Maria Jose Gaidano, ARG (4r)
2023 RG - Elina Avanesyan, RUS (4r)
2025 AO - Eva Lys, GER (4r)
2025 WI - Solana Sierra, ARG (4r)

*PRE-WIMBLEDON GRASS TITLES AND WIMBLEDON TITLE*
1998...Novotna wins Eastbourne/Wimbledon
1998 0/1
1999 0/3
2000 0/3
2001 0/3 (Henin Rosmalen W + F)
2002 0/3
2003 0/3
2004...Sharapova wins Birmingham/Wimbledon
2004 0/2
2005 0/3
2006 0/3 (Henin Eastbourne W + F)
2007 0/3
2008 0/3
2009 0/3
2010 0/3
2011 0/3
2012 0/3
2013 0/3
2014 0/3
2015 0/4
2016 0/5
2017 0/5
2018 0/5
2019 0/5
2020 -
2021 0/5
2022 0/6 (Jabeur Berlin W + F)
2023 0/6
2024 0/6
2025 0/6...[0-for-85, 1-for-102]

*OLDEST FIRST-TIME SLAM SF - OPEN ERA*
34 - Tatjana Maria, GER (2022 WI)
33 - Barbora Strycova, CZE (2019 WI)
32 - Roberta Vinci, ITA (2015 U.S.)
--
NOTE: Siegemund (37) plays for first SF





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Sadly for many...

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— Captain Nicholas Elertis (@captainelertis.bsky.social) July 6, 2025 at 10:22 AM

????

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— Jess Piper (@piperformissouri.bsky.social) July 6, 2025 at 9:05 AM


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She’s right again, you know. She usually is.

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— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) July 6, 2025 at 6:10 AM


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In the spirit of radio-from-around-the world...



Television-from-around-the world...

Watch TV around the world for free. tv.garden

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— RS Washington (@rswashington.bsky.social) July 5, 2025 at 11:43 AM








TOP QUALIFIER: Carson Branstine/CAN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #13 Amanda Anisimova/USA (7 games lost 1r/2r, double-bagel win in 1st)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - #30 Priscilla Hon/AUS def. Victoria Mboko/CAN 4-6/7-6(4)/6-1 - Mboko led love/40 at 6-5 in the 2nd on Hon's serve, holding five MP
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #6 Madison Keys/USA def. Gabriela Ruse/ROU 6-7(4)/7-5/7-5 - Ruse fights off Keys' comeback to claim 1st, then Keys fights off Ruse's comeback in 3rd, serves out on second try
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #14 Elina Svitolina/UKR (def. Bondar/HUN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #20 Alona Ostapenko/LAT (1st Rd. to Kartal/GBR)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Veronika Erjavec/SLO, Solana Sierra/ARG, Zeynep Sonmez/TUR
UPSET QUEENS: Great Britain
REVELATION LADIES: Italy
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-6 1st Rd.; only new Aussie Kasatkina w/ win)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Diane Parry/FRA (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: no wins (0-8)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Caty McNally/USA (2nd Rd.)
LUCKY LOSERS: in 4r: Solana Sierra/ARG (2r: Victoria Mboko/CAN)
LAST BRIT STANDING: Sonay Kartal (4th Rd.)
Ms./Mrs. OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Bouzas Maneiro, Pavlyuchenkova, Tauson, (WC)
IT "Turk": Zeynep Sonmez/TUR (first TUR player into slam 3r)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Anisimova, Swiatek
CRASH & BURN: #2 Coco Gauff/USA & #3 Jessie Pegula/USA - first slam w/ two Top 3 out in 1st Rd. (Gauff won RG, Pegula won grass title pre-Wimb.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: Solana Sierra/ARG (LL, first into WI 4th Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Laura Siegemund/GER (oldest first WI QF at 37)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: Petra Kvitova/CZE - plays final Wimbledon match







All for Day 7. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 7:27 PM 

1 Comments:

Blogger khan35 said...

It would be hilarious if somehow Sabalenka loses to Siegemund.

In 2021, Raducanu got to the 4th round as a british WC.

Sun Jul 06, 11:16:00 PM EDT  

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