Sunday, October 19, 2025

Wk.43- Buttoning Down in the Clutch








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*WEEK 43 CHAMPIONS*
NINGO, CHINA (WTA 500; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Elena Rybakina/KAZ def. Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS 3-6/6-0/6-2
D: Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Liudmila Samsonova (USA/RUS) def. Timea Babos/Luisa Stefani (HUN/BRA) 6-4/2-6 [10-5]
OSAKA, JAPAN (WTA 250; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Leylah Fernandez/CAN def. Tereza Valentova/CZE 6-0/5-7/6-3
D: Kristina Mladenovic/Taylor Townsend (FRA/USA) def. Storm Hunter/Desirae Krawczyk (AUS/USA) 6-4/2-6 [10-5]
Jihan, China (WTA 125; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Janice Tjen/INA def. Anna Bondar/HUN 6-4/4-6/6-4
D: Elena Pridankina/Ekaterina Reyngold (RUS/RUS) def. Rutuja Bhosale/Zheng Wushuang (IND/CHN) 6-1/6-3
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (WTA 125; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Simona Waltert/SUI def. Alice Rame/FRA 7-5/6-2
D: Leyre Romero Gormaz/Tara Wuerth (ESP/CRO) def. Irene Burillo Escorihuela/Ekaterine Gorgodze (ESP/GEO) 6-4/6-1
Tampico, Mexico (WTA 125; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Hanne Vandewinkel/BEL def. Cadence Brace/CAN 6-4/6-3
D: Kayla Cross/Amelia Rajecki (CAN/GBR) def. Weronika Falkowska/Kristina Novak (POL/SLO) 6-4/6-3




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...searching for her "clutch gene" all year, Rybakina's button-down season found an edge in Ningbo. In the middle of a fight for the final spots in the WTA Finals field, the Kazakh really needed to leave China with a title in hand to keep her hopes alive.

Well, she did just that.



After opening with a three-set win over Dayana Yastremska, Rybakina dominated Ajla Tomljanovic (2 & love) to set up a SF face-off with Jasmine Paolini, who last week passed her for the "live" final spot in the eight-player WTAF field. Perhaps with an unlikely assist from new Race #8 Mirra Andreeva, passed by Paolini during the week and whose absence from next week's Tokyo draw meant that Paolini was officially qualified for Riyadh, Rybakina handled a "less-incentivized" version of the Italian than the one we've seen as she's played her way into the WTAF field during the Asian swing.

Rybakina still needed to win the title, though, to be within reach of Andreeva. After dropping the 1st set vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova, she lost just two games the remainder of the match, taking her 10th career title and making 2025 her third straight season with multiple tour crowns.

But Rybakina's work is not yet finished. The Kazakh remains 15 points behind Andreeva for the #8 spot, and will need to win two matches (i.e. reach the SF) next week in Tokyo to wrap up the final berth in the field.



Well, unless Mirra has other ideas and decides it's time to think about 2026 and makes the decision to pull up stakes in '25 *now*. But that's *probably* not very likely, so "Clutch Elena" will need to stick around for a few more days, just to be sure.
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RISERS: Leylah Fernandez/CAN and Jasmine Paolini/ITA
...while Fernandez has never climbed as high as she did when she was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2021, she's never gone away, either.

With her title run this week in Osaka, the now 23-year old Canadian has gone 4-1 in tour singles finals *since* her Flushing Meadows star-turn. This season, she's reached multiple WTA finals for the first time since that '21 season, winning her biggest career crown (in Washington 500) and claiming multiple titles for the first time ever.

Fernandez posted straight sets wins over Hailey Baptiste, Dalma Galfi and Rebecca Sramkova in Osaka before having to win consecutive three-setters in the SF (vs. 35-year old Sorana Cirstea) and final (vs. 18-year old Tereza Valentova) to pick up career title #5.

The Canadian climbs to #22 on Monday, reclaiming the CAN #1 spot from Victoria Mboko (#23), and will stand exactly 100 points away from a return to the Top 20. She hasn't ranked that high since she returned to New York in 2022 a year after reaching the Open final.



While so many of the WTA's worn out stars are flagging and looking for the exit as the schedule makes its way through its *tenth* consecutive month, Paolini's smile keeps getting brighter as her results lift her through the standings and she "runs through the tape" of 2025.

The Italian's hunt for a second straight berth in the singles field of the WTA Finals proved successful in Ningbo (with a little assistance), and she's set to likely be the busiest woman on the court next month in Riyadh with a constant schedule of both singles *and* doubles matches.

After having passed Elena Rybakina for the eighth and final spot in the WTA Race last week, Paolini spent the week gaining on and passing then-Race #7 Mirra Andreeva. After notching a win over Veronika Kudermetova, Paolini pulled her QF match vs. Belinda Bencic back from the brink, denying the Swiss as she served for the match and then saving six BP at 5-5 before holding and then breaking Bencic to force a 3rd. The three-set victory set up a SF match with Rybakina that stood as the final hurdle that would officially clinch Paolini's WTAF berth with a win. But then Andreeva's decision to not play next week in Tokyo was announced pre-match, meaning that the Russian now couldn't catch Paolini in the Race, clinching the Italian's spot no matter what happened vs. Rybakina.

Hardly shockingly, with nothing more than her standing in the tournament she was only playing in order to reach the WTAF in the first place, Paolini went out fairly quickly to Rybakina, wrapping up a successful Asian swing for "Baozong" (the Chinese fans' name for Paolini) while still leaving more gas in her tank for a final run (or two) to close out her season a few weeks from now.


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SURPRISES: Priska Nugroho/INA and Simona Waltert/SUI
...so many young Asian players have made significant moves over the course of the 2025 season, and in the latter stages of the season Nugroho has added her name to that list with a SF run in the Jihan 125.

The 22-year old Indonesian reached the girls' singles QF at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2019 and won the AO junior doubles title alongside Alex Eala in '20. She played college tennis at North Carolina State in 2021-22, and soon had immediate pro success with five title runs in challengers during the '22 season.

Over the past year, Nugroho has won her biggest career title ($50K in December) as well as a pair of smaller challengers during the spring.

Ranked #323, Nugroho qualified in Jihan, then ran off wins over Bai Zhuoxuan, Whitney Osuigwe and Arina Rodionova en route to her biggest career semi. She lost there to Anna Bondar, but will jump inside the Top 290 on Monday. Her career-high is a #265 standing first attained in the summer of '23.



In Rio, Waltert continued with what has been a great 4Q for the Swiss.

In September, the 24-year old reached her biggest career final (a 125 in Ljubljana) and claimed her biggest title ($100K in Lisbon), then cracked the Top 100 for the first time on October 6. She entered this past week at a career-high #97, then put on a run in Brazil that included a comeback victory in the QF over Tara Wuerth after trailing 4-1 in the 3rd (Waltert won a deciding TB). After getting past Julia Grabher in the semis, the Swiss defeated Pastry Alice Rame 7-5/6-2 in the final to (again) set the mark for the biggest title of her career.

Waltert will climb to another new career high of #92 on Monday. She's gone 18-3 since falling in U.S. Open qualifying.
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VETERANS: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS and Ajla Tomljanovic/AUS
...Alexandrova opened the week by becoming the 17th woman representing the USSR or Russia (or whatever it was classified as at the time, name or flag-less or otherwise) to crack the WTA singles Top 10. She rode that wave all the way to her fourth '25 final (adding to her already best-ever season total) as she continues to burnish what has already been a "career year."



Alexandrova ran off wins over Yuan Yue, McCartney Kessler and Diana Shnaider without dropping a set to reach the title match, and claimed the 1st set there vs. Elena Rybakina. But the Kazakh, pursuing the final spot in the WTAF singles field, climbed out of that hole and swept through the Hordette in the final two sets.

BTW, the 30-year old Alexandrova, who turns 31 in November, isn't the oldest to debut in the Top 10 in WTA history. Roberta Vinci (33 in 2016) and Betty Stove (31 in 1976) were both a bit older.

Meanwhile, Tomljanovic reached her first QF since May (Rabat), qualifying in Ningbo with wins over Maya Joint and Antonia Ruzic. In the MD, the Aussie took out Clara Tauson in three sets, then rallied from 0-5 down in the 1st to defeat Zeynep Sonmez 7-6/6-3 in the 2nd Round.



Of course, none of that helped Tomljanovic once Elena Rybakina came calling, as she notched just two games vs. the Kazakh. Still, her result will move the world #104 back inside the Top 100 after a two-week stint on the outside looking in.
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COMEBACK: Diana Shnaider/RUS
...a few weeks ago, though she'd had some '25 doubles success, Shnaider's singles season was looking to be a "lost" one, one year after her breakout campaign had seen her win four titles (on three surfaces), rack up 55 match wins, and come close to cracking the Top 10 earlier this season.

The Hordette was fumbling around .500 in match play and without a SF result (0-3 in QF) this season before a late summer addition of Sascha Bajin as coach just before the U.S. Open. The move proved to be genius igniter of the Russian's results, as she quickly won a tour title in Monterrey with the former Coach of the Year in her corner. Before the winning jaunt, she'd gone 1-5 in her last six matches.

Shnaider's results in Asia hadn't been great when she showed up in Ningbo, as she came into the week on a three-match losing skid, but the good feelings garnered from her "new relationship" were surely still clinging to her psyche (though they likely needed a refresh). She got it, with wins over Wang Xiyu, Karolina Muchova and Zhu Lin to reach her second SF of the season.

Shnaider lost there to Ekaterina Alexandrova, but her 8-5 run since late August has improved her season mark to 27-24 and will see her settling in at #18 on Monday.


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FRESH FACES: Tereza Valentova/CZE, Janice Tjen/INA and Hanne Vandewinkel/BEL
...Valentova's game may not produce the sort of lyrical highlight packages that are common for her countrywoman Karolina Muchova (of course, whose does?), but the 18-year Czech surely can string together the sort of moments -- whether they feature power, defense or touch -- that earmark her as a player to *really* keep an eye on once the 2026 season rolls around.



Throughout this season, the teenager has been knocking down career signposts as her footsteps have grown louder and louder in the distance. Multiple $75K titles early in the season were followed by slam MD debuts in Paris and New York (w/ 1r wins in both), a Top 100 ranking, a pair of 125 crowns, a first tour-level SF (in Prague) and now, this week, Valentova's maiden WTA singles final in Osaka.

Ranked #78, the Czech qualified to reach the MD, then handled Alex Eala (1 & 2) and Elise Mertens (4 & 1) before outlasting Olga Danilovic and Jaqueline Cristian in back-to-back three-setters to set up a final match-up with Leylah Fernandez.



Against the Canadian, Valentova's nerves got the best of her in a love 1st set, but she rebounded to win a tight 2nd and then rallied from 4-1 (and nearly 5-1) down in the 3rd to get back on serve in the decider before Fernandez finally prevailed.

The '24 RG girls' champ (and '23 U.S. Open jr. finalist), Valentova will climb to a new carer-high of #59 on Monday. The distance between Valentova -- who sure has the *look* of "The Crusher Most Likely..." -- and the big names of the WTA has closed significantly since the start of '25.

That trend might just accelerate exponentially come 2026.

Meanwhile, Tjen's introductory season of ITF success (6 titles), her slam debut and first win (both at the U.S. Open), and maiden WTA final (Sao Paulo) added another chapter with her biggest title in the 125 in Jihan that will kick her ranking to yet another new career high (rising from #98 to #80).

The 23-year old Pepperdine product posted wins over Wang Yafan, Polina Iatcenko, Gao Xinyu and Lulu Sun (saving two MP vs. the Kiwi) to reach her first 125 final, where she outlasted Anna Bondar in a 6-4/4-6/6-4 victory.



In Tampico (MEX), 21-year old Vandewinkel, with 125 & $100K QF results since the start of September, reached the final of and won her biggest career title in one of the three 125 events held in Week 43.

After opening with a win over Elli Mandlik (who arrived having just won a $100K crown in Oklahoma), the Waffle carried on with additional victories over Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, Marina Stakusic, Harriet Dart and Cadence Brace in a 4 & 3 final to take the tournament honors. She'll make her Top 150 debut on Monday.


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ITF PLAYER: Darja Semenistaja/LAT
...since winning her second career 125 crown back in April, the 23-year old Semenistaja (LAT #2) has posted of series of good results that came up *just* short of her intended target.

Over the past six months, she's twice been a runner-up in 125 and $100K events, as well as four times coming up short of additional finals with losses in 125/$100K semis. At Wimbledon, she missed out on her slam MD debut with a Q3 defeat.

She finally got over that hump in New York, qualifying to make her major debut, and this week in the $100K in Les Franqueses del Valles (ESP) she got back into the winner's circle, as well, following up wins over the likes of Anna-Lena Friedsam and Daria Snigur with a 7-5/7-6 victory in the final over Linda Klimovicova to pick up career title #16 on the ITF level.



After being stuck in the #101-135 range for most of the past two seasons, Sememistaja will finally make her Top 100 debut on Monday.
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JUNIOR STARS: Eva Bennemann/GER and Mika Stojsavljevic/GBR
...another week, another German champion?

It's starting to look that way of late, and on home soil in Essen it was assured as 18-year old Bennemann faced off with 19-year old countrywoman Tessa Brockmann in a $15K final. Brockmann has picked up four challenger titles in '25, while this weekend Bennemann claimed her second straight with a 1-6/6-1/6-1 victory. On a nine-match winning streak, she's gone 11-1 in her last twelve.

Stojsavljevic, the '24 U.S. Open junior champ, won her second career pro title in the $35K in Birmingham (ENG), as the 16-year old defeated Katarina Kuzmova 6-4/6-0 in the final to improve to 12-2 over the last three weeks. During that stretch, the Brit has run off SF-RU-W results in a trio of $35K tournaments.


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DOUBLES: Kristina Mladenovic/Taylor Townsend, FRA/USA and Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Liudmila Samsonova, USA/RUS
...while Townsend and Katerina Siniakova are still booked as a duo at the WTA Finals, both were again in seperate cities this week. #1-ranked Siniakova (w/ Hsieh Su-wei) fell in a MTB in the Ningo semis, while #2 Townsend won a 10-5 MTB in the Osaka final alongside Kristina Mladenovic, defeating the team of Storm Hunter (just off a title run w/ Siniakova in Wuhan) & Desirae Krawczyk.

The first crown for the pair as a team, Townsend's win is the eleventh of her WTA career, with her four titles in '25 putting her in a tie at the top of the tour list this season. Mladenovic, often injured or playing singles (w/ hardly eye-popping success) rather than collecting doubles titles the last few seasons, picks up career win #29. But it's the former #1 and nine-time slam (6 WD, 3 MX) champion's first title at tour level since 2022 (!).

Mladenovic won a handful of ITF crowns in 2023-24, and had a lone 125 title run last year (w/ Siniakova, of course).

The last survivor on tour of what was a great generation of Pastry players (w/ the '25 retirement of Caroline Garcia, as well as -- I guess? -- Alize Cornet), Mladenovic had been just 8-6 in doubles in '25 (after a 6-2 start with an AO QF and Abu Dhabi RU) before this week, after injury prevented her from playing a match for seven months between February and September.



In Ningbo, Melichar-Martinez and Samsonova prevailed in MTB in three of their four outings, including vs. Hsieh/Siniakova in the SF and Babos/Stefani in the final, to win their second title together (w/ '24 Seoul).

Melichar-Martinez's 18th career title is her third this year, while two of Samsonova's three career tour WD titles have come alongside NMM during consecutive Asian swings over the last thirteen months. The duo also reached the final at Rosmalen during this year's grass season.


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WHEELCHAIR: Manami Tanaka/JPN
...the Series 1 Japan Open was held this past week in Osaka, but the event lost its top seed (Yui Kamiji) early on as the world #1 withdrew from the all-Japanese field before playing her opening match.

In Kamiji's absence, 29-year old Tanaka (WC #13) swept the titles, claiming her first career singles S1 crown with a 6-4/6-2 win in the final over Saki Takamuro. The two joined forces to win the doubles, the discipline where Tanaka most makes her presence known on the wheelchair tour. The win is her fifth Series 1 doubles crown of '25, added to a Super Series win this season alongside (as were her other WD wins) Zhu Zhenzhen.

Last year, Tanaka was a doubles Gold medalist at the Paralympics with Kamiji.
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1. Ningbo 2nd Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Dayana Yastremska
...6-4/6-7(6)/6-3. Rybakina has often misplaced her closing ability this season, and with her WTAF spot in jeopardy she bobbled it all over this opening match, but ultimately survived.

The Kazakh rallied from 4-2 down to take the 1st set from Yastremska, but couldn't put away a pair of MP in the 2nd set TB, which the Ukrainian snatched away at 8-6. Rybakina pulled off the lone break of the 3rd, though, to take a 4-2 lead and eventually served out the win at love three games later.


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2. Ningbo QF - Jasmine Paolini def. Belinda Bencic
...5-7/7-5/6-4. Rybakina stayed in the WTAF game with the gutsy win over Yastremska, then it was Paolini's turn to do the same vs. Bencic.

The Swiss served for the win at 5-4 in the 2nd. But the Italian got the break, then saved six BP at 5-5 in the following game. She broke Bencic to send things to a 3rd, which she won to set up a showdown with WTAF berth competitor Rybakina.


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3. Ningbo SF - Elena Rybakina def. Jasmine Paolini
...6-3/6-2. Before this one even started, part of the drama of the contest was ruined (thanks, WTA) when Mirra Andreeva's name wasn't in next week's Tokyo draw, which mean the Hordette couldn't pass Paolini and the Italian was the seventh to qualify for the WTAF.



Of course, there was still the issue of Rybakina needing the win, but without a similar "need it" component in the mix for Paolini the juice was likely removed from the scoreline, as well.
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4. Ningbo Final - Elena Rybakina def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...3-6/6-0/6-2. After so many just-missed-it losses that could have already wrapped up a WTAF berth for Rybakina this season, she rallies to do her part in Ningbo.

To be continued...
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5. Ningbo 1st Rd. - Ajla Tomljanovic def. Clara Tauson
...1-6/7-6(4)/6-3. Surprisingly, this is becoming one of the more reliable head-to-head series on tour.

In their fifth meeting, Tomljanovic and Tauson combined to go three sets for a third straight time. This past summer in Cincinnati, Tomljanovic forced a 3rd set with a 2nd set TB win, but lost in three to the Dane. Here the Aussie forced another decider, but this time prevailed in the end to improve to 3-2 vs. Tauson (winning for the second time over that trio of three-setters).


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6. Osaka 1st Rd. - Katie Boulter def. Linda Noskova
...7-6(3)/6-3. Coming in, this felt like a case of the "less movable object" (aka Noskova) vs. a "quite resistible force" (aka Boulter). Noskova had been 7-2 on the 4Q Asian swing, with a final in Beijing and two Top 10 wins, while Boulter was 4-10 in her last fourteen matches.

So... one never knows.

But Boulter still lost in the 2nd Round, so her only multi-win event since Roland Garros remains Nottingham in June.
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7. Osaka Q1 - Taylor Townsend def. Mei Yamaguchi
...6-7(4)/6-3/7-6(3). Townsend's headline-grabbing U.S. Open experience ended with her failing to convert a handful of MP vs. Barbora Krejcikova, then her Asian swing had its own forgettable start -- complete with controversial culinary suggestions -- in China during BJK Cup finals week.

Back after a three-week break, and in her first singles match since the Open, Townsend dropped the 1st set vs. Yamaguchi after having led 5-3.

Everything came back around in Townsend's favor in the 3rd, where she saved three MP from love/40 down at 5-4, then three more two games later down 6-5, before winning a deciding TB.

Townsend failed to reach the MD, though, losing to Dalma Galfi in the final Q-round.
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8. Jihan 125 SF - Janice Tjen def. Lulu Sun
...4-6/7-6(7)/6-4. Sun rallied from 4-2 down in the 2nd, and served for the match at 6-5. After failing to do so, she led the TB 5-1 and held a pair of MP at 6-4.

Tjen survived with a 9-7 win, then took the 3rd to advance to her first 125 final a month after her maiden tour-level final appearance in Sao Paulo. After falling in the final to Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah that time, she outlasted Anna Bondar in three this time to claim her biggest title.
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9. Ningbo 2nd Rd. - Belinda Bencic def. Yuliia Starodubtseva
...5-7/6-4/7-5. Bencic got over her testy loss to Iga Swiatek in Wuhan quickly enough to triumph over Magda Linette in straights in her Ningbo opener, then won a 3:33 encounter -- the longest WTA MD match of the year -- over Starodubtseva.



It didn't help when she failed to serve out the match vs. Paolini a round later (in another three-hour affair), though.
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10. $75K Quinta do Lago POR Final - Maria Timofeeva def. Alexis Blokhina
...7-6(7)/7-6(3). Timofeeva hasn't quite kept pace with the stunning start of her career, when she won the title in Budapest in her tour-level MD debut (as a LL) in July 2023.

This $75K win is her second singles title on the ITF level this season, though, joining a $100K run in July.


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HM- $35K Santa Margherita di Pula ITA Final - Julie Struplova def. Jennifer Ruggeri
...2/6/6-2/6-4. Another week, another Crusher champion (but not one named Tereza).

Struplova, 20, wins career ITF title #6 (her second in '25) with a three-set win over an Italian foe in Italy.
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1. Ningbo 2nd Rd. - Zhu Lin def. Mirra Andreeva
...4-6/6-3/6-2. The result that helped push along the narrative for the rest of the week (and at least part of *next* week, too).

If she weren't in contention for a spot in Riyadh for her maiden WTA Finals competition, Andreeva might be the latest candidate to pull the ripcord on her season a few weeks early. Thing is, her late season swoon might keep her out of her out of the WTAF, even with two early season 1000 titles under her belt.

The 18-year old's efforts didn't include registering a win in Ningbo, as she dropped her third straight match and is 2-4 in her last six.

Starting off with a Race standing of #7, Andreeva was the latest to be passed by by Jasmine Paolini, who reached the Ningbo semis. Andreeva's absence in Tokyo, where she'd been expected to get a wild card, officially qualified Paolini ahead of her for the Finals.

Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina stands poised to knock Andreeva out of the field in the season's eleventh hour... if she can reach the Tokyo semis next week.

In the end, one wonders if missing out on Riyadh might be best for Andreeva, who at the moment seems to be a fatigued and emotional shadow of the player she was this past spring and summer. And, make no mistake, Rybakina *could* still fail to do what she needs to in Tokyo, sending what's left of 2025's version of Andreeva to Saudi Arabia, after all.

It might not be pretty.


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2. Osaka Final - Leylah Fernandez def. Tereza Valentova
...6-0/5-7/6-3. What looked like an intriguing final turned out to be just that, as after Fernandez dominated the 1st vs. the nervous Czech in her maiden tour final match, the Czech pulled things together and made the Canadian work for the trophy.

Tied at 4-4 in the 2nd, the two traded off three straight breaks before Valentova finally served out the set to force the decider. There, Fernandez again grabbed the early edge, then had to fight off the 18-year old, who again responded well to adversity.

Falling behind 3-1 (and breaking a lace, leading to a match interruption while she had to re-lace a shoe with the clock ticking, the crowd waiting, the TV crew filming, and the umpire staring down at her while Fernandez milled around in the backcourt -- talk about an odd bit of pressure!), Valentova fought off a BP at 4-1 and then turned the momentum back in her favor by breaking Fernandez to get back on serve at 4-3. She hit her way to deuce after falling behind 15/40 in the next game, but the Canadian's second serve return winner on BP #3 finally proved to give her a lead that Valentova couldn't erase.

Fernandez served out the win, taking a second WTA title (7,000 miles from the one she won in Washington) in a season for the first time. The eighth teenage tour singles finalist in 2025, Valentova is the first of the group to *not* walk off with the title.


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3. Osaka 1st Rd. - Naomi Osaka def. Wakana Sonobe
...6-0/6-4. Osaka faces off for the first time with one of the Japanese Great Wavers that she helped inspire, defeating reigning AO junior champ Sonobe (who was 10 years old when Osaka won her first major) in straight sets.


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HM- $75K Quinta do Lago POR Final - Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge def. Anna Siskova/Maria Timofeeva
...4-6/7-5 [10-7]. Portugal's Jorge sisters win another one, improving to 6-2 in '25 finals together (5-2 ITF, 1-0 125).

Overall, they've combined to win a pair of 125 crowns and 22 ITF challengers as a team in their careers.
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Now it's even more insulting that ESPN this summer replaced the longstanding use of Frehley's version of "New York Groove" in and out of commercials during the U.S. Open with a washed-out jumble of a version just so that they could tout that it was by a "2x Grammy nominee." It was horrific.







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*MOST WTA TITLES in 2020s*
25 - 1/2/8/6/5/3 = Iga Swiatek
16 - 3/2/0/3/4/4 = Aryna Sabalenka
10 - 0/1/0/4/3/2 = Coco Gauff
9 - 1/0/1/2/3/2 = ELENA RYBAKINA
[2025 finals]
8 - Aryna Sabalenka (4-4)
6 - Jessie Pegula (3-3)
5 - Amanda Anisimova (2-3)
4 - Iga Swiatek (3-1)
4 - Coco Gauff (2-2)
4 - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA (1-3)
[2020-25 finals]
30 - 3/3/3/6/7/8 = Sabalenka (16-14)
29 - 1/2/9/8/5/4 = Swiatek (25-4)
19 - 5/0/3/4/5/2 = RYBAKINA (9-10)
18 - 1/0/2/5/4/6 = Pegula (8-10)

*CON. YEARS WITH 2+ WTA TITLES - active w/ '25*
5 years (2021-25) - Iga Swiatek
3 years (2023-25) - Jessie Pegula
3 years (2023-25) - Aryna Sabalenka
3 years (2023-25) - Coco Gauff
3 years (2023-25) - ELENA RYBAKINA

*MOST WTA SF in 2025*
11 - Aryna Sabalenka (8-3)
9 - Iga Swiatek (4-5)
8 - Jessie Pegula (6-2)
8 - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA (4-4)
7 - JASMINE PAOLINI (2-5)
7 - ELENA RYBAKINA (2-5)
6 - Amanda Anisimova (5-1)

*MOST 2025 TOP 10 WINS*
11 - Aryna Sabalenka
9 - Coco Gauff
8 - Amanda Anisimova
8 - Iga Swiatek
6 - Mirra Andreeva
6 - Elena Rybakina
[most events w/ multiple Top 10 wins]
4 - Gauff (Madrid/Rome/RG/Wuhan)
3 - Sabalenka (Miami/RG/US)
2 - Alexandrova (Doha/Stuttgart)
2 - M.Andreeva (Dubai/IW)
2 - Anisimova (London/Beijing)
2 - Keys (Adelaide/AO)
2 - Ostapenko (Doha/Stuttgart)
2 - Rybakina (Cincinnati/Ningbo)
2 - Vondrousova (Berlin/US)

*CAREER WTA TITLES - CANADA*
5 - LEYLAH FERNANDEZ (2021-25)
3 - Bianca Andreescu (2019)
2 - Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983-87)
2 - Helen Kelesi (1986-88)
1 - Genie Bouchard (2014)
1 - Aleksandra Wozniak (2008)
1 - Jill Hetherington (1988)
1 - Patricia Hy-Boulais (1986)
1 - Victoria Mboko (2025)

*2025 FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS*
Polina Kudermetova, RUS (#107/21 = Brisbane)
Emiliana Arango, COL (#133/24 = Merida)
Maya Joint, AUS (#78/19 = Rabat)-W
Wang Xinyu, CHN (#49/23 = Berlin)
Alex Eala, PHI (#74/20 = Eastbourne)
Lois Boisson, FRA (#63/22 = Hamburg)-W
Anna Bondar, HUN (#77/28 = Hamburg)
Victoria Mboko, CAN (#85/18 = Montreal)-W
Tiatsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, FRA (#73/19 = Sao Paulo)-W
Janice Tjen, INA (#130/23 = Sao Paulo)
Iva Jovic, USA (#73/17 = Guadalajara)-W
TEREZA VALENTOVA, CZE (#78/18 = Osaka)

*2025 YOUNGEST WTA FINALISTS*
[17]
Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Dubai - W)
Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Indian Wells - W)
Iva Jovic, USA (Guadalajara - W)
[18]
Victoria Mboko, CAN (Montreal - W)
TEREZA VALENTOVA, CZE (Osaka - L)
[19]
Maya Joint, AUS (Rabat - W)
Maya Joint, AUS (Eastbourne - W)
Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, FRA (Sao Paulo - W)

*2025 WTA TOP 10 SINGLES DEBUTS*
Mirra Andreeva/RUS
Amanda Anisimova/USA
Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
[USSR/RUS - all-time]
1975 Olga Morozova, USSR
1988 Natalia Zvereva, USSR (later BLR)
1998 Anna Kournikova, RUS
2001 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2003 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2004 Nadia Petrova, RUS
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2004 Vera Zvonareva, RUS
2006 Dinara Safina, RUS
2007 Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
2013 Maria Kirilenko, RUS
2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
2018 Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (now AUS)
2022 Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
2025 Mirra Andreeva, RUS
2025 Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS

*2025 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
4 - Sara Errani, ITA
4 - Jasmine Paolini, ITA
4 - Erin Routliffe, NZL
4 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE
4 - TAYLOR TOWNSEND, USA
3 - Timea Babos, HUN
3 - Gaby Dabrowski, CAN
3 - NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ, USA
3 - Luisa Stefani, BRA

*2025 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
7 (2-5) = Anna Danilina, KAZ
6 (4-2) = TAYLOR TOWNSEND, USA
5 (4-1) = Sara Errani, ITA
5 (4-1) = Jasmine Paolini, ITA
5 (4-1) = Katerina Siniakova, CZE
5 (3-2) = NICOLE MELICHAR-MARTINEZ, USA
5 (2-3) = Aleksandra Krunic, SRB
5 (2-3) = Alona Ostapenko, LAT
5 (2-3) = Guo Hanyu, CHN
5 (1-4) = Zhang Shuai, CHN
[duos]
5...Errani/Paolini (4-1)
4...BABOS/STEFANI (3-1)
4...Guo/Panova (2-2)






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Maybe Mike meant "stood on" Capitol Police?

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— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) October 15, 2025 at 12:19 PM


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It's almost like we're becoming a parody of an actual nation...


The U.S. military demonstration that shot live-fire artillery rounds over Interstate 5 dropped metal shrapnel on a California Highway Patrol vehicle, resulting in damage, agency officials said.

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— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes.bsky.social) October 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM


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I have a new post on my author bog: Recently published poetry dianeelaynedeesauthor.blogspot.com/2025/10/rece... #poetry #poetrycommunity #WritingCommunity

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— Diane Elayne Dees (@womenwhoserve.bsky.social) October 14, 2025 at 4:57 PM

I'm pleased to have another poem published in the Delta Poetry Review. I invite you to read "Weather Report." deltapoetryreview.com/2025oct-dees... #poetry #poetrycommunity #WritingCommunity

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— Diane Elayne Dees (@womenwhoserve.bsky.social) October 14, 2025 at 4:31 PM


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All for now.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 8:00 PM 

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