RISERS:Mayar Sherif/EGY and Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP
...after starting the year at 0-5 in non-BJK Cup (where she went 4-1) matches, Sherif has found her footing on the clay in recent weeks, going 7-3 in Madrid, Lleida (125) and Rome.
Coming off a 125 runner-up result (her first loss in seven 125 event finals), the Egyptian added wins over Petra Martic and Jasmine Paolini to reach the 3rd Round in Rome for the first time. Sherif had previously been 0-1 in MD matches in the tournament, and outside of Madrid ('23 QF, '24 3r) has had very little career success in 1000 events (going 2-14 in 1000 MD events elsewhere before this past week).
Facing off with Victoria Azarenka for a spot in the second week, Sherif forced things to three sets (she'd led 5-1 in the 2nd before Vika got the set to a TB, won 8-6 by the Egyptian) before being taken out by the former Rome finalist (2013).
— The Women's Tennis Page (@allwomenstennis) May 11, 2024
After reaching the singles 4th Round in Madrid (w/ wins over Pera, Svitolina & Azarenka), Sorribes Tormo ultimately won the doubles title on home clay with Cristina Bucsa last weekend. She didn't follow up by making the second week in Rome, but she continued her rebound from that 6-1/6-0 dismantling by Iga Swiatek in Spain, getting good wins over Nadia Podoroska and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the 3rd Round (her best result ever in the event).
Facing off with Alona Ostapenko at her most Ostapenkovian -- i.e. 72 winners and 69 unforced errors -- Sorribes Tormo won the 2nd set to force a decider, but fell to the Latvian in three.
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SURPRISES:Naomi Osaka/JPN and Rebecca Sramkova/SVK
...I honestly didn't think she'd live up to it, but Osaka *does* seem to be committed to posting some good results on the dirt in this first spring of her comeback. (Backspinner tips his hat to thee, Naomi.)
Osaka's best big event career results on clay (for now) remain back-to-back QF runs in Madrid and Rome in 2019, but she's pushing to add another entry to the list after first week wins over Clara Burel, Marta Kostyuk and Dasha Kasatkina, the latter two her first and second career Top 20 victories on clay.
After clay losses to Martina Trevisan and Liudmila Samsonova in two of her first three clay matches since 2022, Osaka could have said that she'd given it a nice try but it just didn't work out, then virtually limped through the next few weeks/months waiting for summer hard courts. It's nice to see a former slam winner with a dominant record on one surface putting in the effort to add some additional arrows to her career results quiver. Now we just need to see Iga Swiatek do the same on grass.
Osaka has said she wants to improve on grass, as well. But while Iga has shown progress (7-1 in '23) on the lawns, Osaka hasn't even *played* a match on the surface since 2019. This summer could be interesting.
While Osaka has previously soared to great heights, 27-year old Sramkova enters uncharted territory as she heads into the second week in Rome.
The week of her life ??
Qualifier Rebecca Sramkova, No. 120 in the WTA Rankings, defeats Kenin 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the last 16 in Rome!#IBI24pic.twitter.com/10YUnCsIlA
The Slovak qualified with wins over Harriet Dart and Darja Semenistaja, then posted three MD victories, including knocking off Katie Boulter and Sofia Kenin to reach her first 1000 3rd and 4th Rounds. Against Kenin, Sramkova came back from 3-1 down in the 3rd to get the victory.
Sramkova also qualified to make her 1000 debut earlier this season at Indian Wells (getting a 1r win over Wang Yafan), but she's 0-2 in slam MD (w/ 19 Q-round losses since 2016). #120 heading into Rome, she'll breeze past her career high (#111) and into the Top 90 in the live rankings.
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VETERANS:Madison Keys/USA and Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...they don't occur often, but Keys is in the middle of a rare, *consistent* stretch of good results. Coming off a Madrid semifinal, she's into the second week in Rome with wins over Camila Osorio and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Her (so far) 4th Round result continues her best season run at 1000 tournaments since 2016, as she's reached at least the 3rd Round in four straight such events this year, and now three consecutive 4th Rounds (I.W. 3r, Miami 4r, Madrid SF). Eight years ago, Keys reached at least the 3rd Round in six such events (including 4 consecutive QF+).
So far 6-1 in the Madrid/Rome combo, Keys has a chance at topping her most consistent single-season run (7-2 in '16) at the biggest pre-RG clay tournaments on the schedule.
Though Simona Halep is still not back full time on tour, Cirstea is keeping up the veteran Romanian presence in Rome. A dozen years after her best run in the Italian Open, 34-year old Cirstea is back in the headlines.
Cirstea got wins over a pair of Czechs -- Brenda Fruhvirtova and Marketa Vondrousova -- during the opening week, staging a comeback from 5-3 down in the 1st vs. the latter to force a TB (she won 7-1) and live to play in the Round of 16. The win over reigning Wimbledon champ Vondrousova is Cirstea's third over a Top 10 player this year (second over Vondrousova). It's her first on clay since 2012 (Bartoli in Madrid), and just her second since the 2009 Roland Garros (def. both Wozniacki and Jankovic).
Cirstea's best Rome result had been a 3rd Round (then Round of 16) in 2012, in what was her tournament debut. Before this week, she'd never advanced past the 2nd Round in five MD appearances since then.
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COMEBACKS:Angelique Kerber/GER and Paula Badosa/ESP
...prior to this past week in Rome, the best (and, really, only) run in Kerber's comeback had come in Indian Wells, where she reached the Round of 16 and got wins over Alona Ostapenko and Veronika Kudermetova.
Without a win on clay court since the 2nd Round of Roland Garros in '22, the German has been on point in Italy. She allowed just one game to Lauren Davis, then three to Kudermetova (a '23 Rome semifinalist). Against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Kerber trailed 5-2 in the 2nd set, but saved a pair of SP and knocked off the Belarusian in straights to reach the Round of 16 in Rome for the first time since 2018 (QF).
Kerber's best result in the event was a SF a dozen years ago.
Her best Rome result in 6?? years!@AngeliqueKerber erases a 2-5 deficit & two set points to see off Sasnovich 6-3 7-6(4), setting up a Round of 16 showdown with Swiatek!#IBI24pic.twitter.com/G3fcprnFjQ
Badosa has been playing through injury (most significantly, her back) for the past year, but could it be that she's finally made it through to the other side?
Even before Rome, though she had just a 1-3 record on clay this season, there had been some encouraging signs, including recent wins over the returning Simona Halep (Miami) and Diana Shnaider (Stuttgart), and taking Aryna Sabalenka to three sets (Stuttgart) before being forced to retire. In Rome, Badosa has added a trio of wins over Mirra Andreeva, Emma Navarro and (once again) Shnaider to level her season record to 9-9 and play into the second week.
Though Badosa's biggest titles (Indian Wells, Sydney) have come on hard court, her best slam results have come on the clay in Paris. She reached her lone major QF at RG in '21 and is 9-3 there in her career.
Rome ?? Paula @paulabadosa leaves it all on the court and defeats Shnaider in a three set epic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. She awaits the winner of Gauff v. Cristian! #IBI24pic.twitter.com/Ni40zdn6Ad
FRESH FACES:Zheng Qinwen/CHN and Diana Shnaider/RUS
...Zheng has been pretty quiet since reaching her maiden slam singles final in Melbourne in Janaury. She came into Rome at 5-6 in tour-level matches (+ 2-0 in BJK zone play) since the Australian Open.
Maybe her '24 Act Two has finally begun, though, as Zheng has followed up her '23 QF result in Rome by playing into the second week for a second straight year on the strength of victories over Shelby Rogers and Linda Noskova.
Diana Shnaider earns back-to-back WTA1000 main draw wins for the first time in her career at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia!
Beats compatriot Samsonova 6-1, 6-3 to reach the third round in Rome on her debut. Very solid performance from Diana! pic.twitter.com/FzW4muYONI
Shnaider posted her best career 1000 result in Rome, reaching the 3rd Round after knocking off Greet Minnen (2 & 3) and Liudmila Samsonova (1 & 3).
The Hordette carried over the roll in the 3rd Round, as well, taking the 1st set from Paula Badosa before the (healthy, it seems) Spaniard rallied to win in three.
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 11, 2024
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DOWN:Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS and Veronika Kudermetova/RUS
...it wasn't a good week (and hasn't been a good few weeks) for these Hordettes.
Alexandrova was ousted in her opening match in Rome by Aliaksandra Sasnovich, falling 6-0/6-1 (w/ 10 DF) to drop to 0-4 on clay this season. She's only won one set during the stretch (vs. Jabeur in Charleston), and has now gone down in five straight matches since posting back-to-back Top 5 wins over Jessie Pegula and Iga Swiatek to reach the Miami semifinals.
A year ago, Alexandrova's clay season included a Charleston QF, Madrid Round of 16 and Roland Garros 3rd Round.
Meanwhile, Kudermetova -- a semifinalist last year in Rome -- fell in her opening match to Angelique Kerber, 6-3/6-0. She's 1-4 since reaching the QF in Charleston, and is now 7-12 on the season. In 2023, she posted consecutive SF results at Madrid and Rome.
So far in 2024, Kudermetova has been virtually blanked in the schedule's biggest events, getting just a single match win combined in the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome.
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Many congrats to 19yo rising star Dominika Šalková on winning the title at Prague W75 in singles and in doubles with Jaimee Fourlis. In singles she stormed past Maja Chwalinska in the final by 63 60. Second title of the year. Breaking top 150 tomorrow. VÝBORNE DOMCO ??????????!!! pic.twitter.com/Mmen7uFga6
ITF PLAYERS:Dominika Salkova/CZE and Moyuka Uchijima/JPN
...another week, another Crusher champion.
19-year old Salkova picked up the $75K Prague crown, dropping just one set en route to her sixth win in six career ITF finals. The Czech defeated Pole Maja Chwalinska 6-3/6-0 in the final, and will rise to a live #150 (a new CH) in the rankings on Monday.
In Trnava (SVK), 22-year old Uchijima continued her great season on the challenger circuit, picking up her fourth title in four finals this season (12th overall) while improving to 32-9 on the year.
Uchijima extended her current winning streak to ten matches (she's on a 17-1 run) with a 7-6/6-3 victory in the final over German veteran Mona Barthel. She'll now crack the Top 100 in the live rankings (#93), and is the new JPN #1 as she moves just past Nao Hibino (while Naomi Osaka looms, still a bit back in the #130s... for now).
...hmmm, is this the leading edge of an "Osaka effect?"
On the heels of the '24 success of the likes of Maya Crossley (J300 title, $35K ITF final) and Wakana Sonobe (J500 title, $15K ITF final), another Japanese junior shined in Nonthaburi (THA) as 16-year old Goto (girls' #59) won the J300 Asia/Oceania regional championship.
Top-seeded Gotto posted wins over players from Kazakhstan, Australia, India and Malaysia before defeating fellow Japanese teen Shiho Tsujioka (the #7 seed, who'd defeated the #4 seed), 6-4/6-3 in the final.
Meanwhile, expect to hear the name of 17-year old Urhobo more as things move along, as she's been labeled a "phenom" and "prodigy" for years (check out the Twitter search of her name and how far some of the posts go back).
Qualifier Urhobo won the battle of teenagers over 16-year old wild card Iva Jovic at the $75K challenger in Zephyrillis, Florida, this week to claim her maiden pro title after nibbling away at the edges of the accomplishment all season long, including reaching a $100K final last week (w/ wins over Whitney Osuigwe and Varvara Lepchenko), and additional RU, SF and QF results in a trio of $35K events earlier in '24. She's only played one junior match all season (a loss in Indian Wells), but reached the SF at the Orange Bowl in December.
This week she got wins over Ann Li and Hanna Chang en route to the final, with the win over Jovic topping off her seven-victory week. She'll climb from #506 to inside the Top 360 in the live pro rankings heading into next week.
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???? CHAMPIONS ????
China, P.R. wins the #WorldTeamCup for the second time since 2017 as they beat Netherlands 2-0 and ends Diede de Groot’s 145 match win streak en-route pic.twitter.com/pgVP7LX8Ek
...well, it had to happen sometime, right? Right? Well, either way, Diede de Groot's three-year singles winning streak ended in Antalya (TUR) this weekend, and with it went the World Team Cup championship, claimed by China for just the second time (the Netherlands has won 33 crowns).
In an event that saw world #2 Yui Kamiji not available for the Japanese roster, it seemed it'd be something of a cakewalk for the Dutch. As expected, the nation breezed through the round robin and SF stages without dropping a match (9-0) or set (18-0) with de Groot, Aniek Van Koot and Lizzy de Greef/Jinte Boss (in WD) dusting off every opponent put in front of them.
But then Wang Ziying, previously 1-4 vs. the veteran, upset Van Koot 6-1/6-3 in the final's opener to give China the lead. More shockingly, de Groot then fell 6-3/6-2 to Li Xiaohui while trying to keep the tie alive, once again seeing her serve fail her, but also with her opponent employing a big backhand and collecting many points on her first serve, closing the door in a way that no other player has been able to do when de Groot has struggled on occasion in the past.
De Groot had defeated the 24-year old Li twice earlier this season, but had been taken to three sets at the Melbourne Open in January. Still, Li had scored just three total games against her in their last three sets after losing the 3rd set at love in Melbourne, then falling 2 & love in the Cajun Classic in Louisiana in March.
The loss ends de Groot's 145-match winning streak (her singles title and slam match win/title streaks remain active, of course).
2024 is only Li's second full season on the wheelchair pro tour. She won nine titles last season (none so far this year), but nothing above the Series 2 (w/ 2 wins) level, and with five coming in Futures tournaments. Ranked #12 in the world, Li has yet to make her slam debut.
NOTE: I'd include the video of the final, but the ITF's YouTube page includes both all-day Centre Court and Court 1 videos for five of the six days of the event, but does *not* include Day 5's Centre Court slate. Guess when the women's final took place. So, here's Li's MP vs. de Groot instead...
Here's the tennis story of the day.
An extraordinary win for Xiaohui Li over Deide de Groot in World Team Cup, snapping de Groot's 145-match win streak.
Li's win is incredible & underscores the magnitude of what de Groot has accomplished in this sport.pic.twitter.com/Ydo7J3IzIX
1. World Team Cup (WC) Final, Match #2 - Li Xiaohui/CHN def. Diede de Groot/NED
...6-3/6-2. 24-year old Li stuns de Groot, ending the world #1's 145-match winning streak and preventing the Dutch from lifting a 34th World Team Cup title. Instead, China wins its second (w/ 2017, when it also def. NED in the final).
As if often the case when de Groot struggles, her wayward serve played a big role. With 10 DF on the day, de Groot won just 26% of first serve points (5/19) and just 32% of her second (11/34). She won just 40 of the 101 points in the match, and failed to combat neither Li's first serve (winning just 36% of first serve points) nor the Chinese woman's big backhand.
2. Rome 3rd Rd. - Iga Swaitek def. Yulia Putintseva
...6-3/6-4. Well, at least she didn't squander a MP, right?
Putintseva's great spring 1000 run -- 13-3 (w/ Rome wins over Trevisan and Stephens) with an I.W. 4r, Miami/Madrid QF, her first Top 10 win since '22 (Zheng) and 2 MP held vs. Rybakina -- nearly pushed Swiatek to the limit, as well. After forcing Swiatek to play nearly an hour (50 minutes) to win the 1st, Putintseva held a 4-1 lead in the 2nd, with a BP for 5-1, only to see the world #1 rally to close things out in straights.
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 11, 2024
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Anna Blinkova ends a 5-match losing streak with a confident 6-2, 6-3 win over Diane Parry in the first round of the Internazionali BNL D'Italia!
Wins 6 straight games from 0-3 down in the second set to beat the player who started the losing streak for Anna back in Indian Wells. pic.twitter.com/T6doARK812
...6-2/6-3. Blinkova finally ends her five-match losing streak, getting her first victory since her consecutive wins over Karolina Pliskova and Jessie Pegula in Indian Wells in March.
4. Rome 1st Rd. - Sofia Kenin def. Lucia Bronzetti
...6-3/6-2. A week after ending her overall nine-match losing streak (in 125 Lleida), Kenin posts her first tour-level victory since the 1st Round in Hobart on January 9.
This was a match in which Kenin was forced to play through the rain, and got the bad end of things from the crowd, only to be proven correct when it started to rain *harder*. She won a point, yelled at the crowd... then proceeded to remove an Italian from the draw (i.e. a Roman hat trick).
Sofia Kenin yelling “F— you!” to the Italian Open crowd. Give her the trophy already pic.twitter.com/Xli1ZsdC8n
...7-5/2-6/6-4. Kenin followed up with a win over Jabuer (who had 60 UE), recording her first Top 10 victory since defeating Coco Gauff in that "last straw" match last summer at Wimbledon.
5. Rome 3rd Rd. - Rebecca Sramkova def. Sofia Kenin
...6-4/4-6/6-4. The Slovak's biggest career run comes at the expense of Kenin in a rollercoaster affair.
Sramkova rallied from 3-0 back to win the 1st, only to then drop the 2nd set after leading 3-1. But have no fear, just like a broken clock, sometimes a match is correct twice a day. Sramkova fell behind 3-1 in the 3rd, but pulled off the last comeback of the day to advance.
...4-6/6-0/7-5. Bouzas Maneiro is 30-9 on the season, but this one won't go on her highlight reel.
The Spaniard turned around a 3-1 deficit in the 3rd, and led 5-3. With Semenistaja serving in game 9, Bouzas Maniero led 15/40 and had three MP in the game. The Latvian held, but Bouzas Maneiro got another shot, having two *more* MP at 5-4, 40/15.
She didn't win another game.
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7. Rome Q1 - Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Alycia Parks
...6-1/6-1. Parks' tendency to fall like a rock after a good result is miraculous. Last season, it came after a title run in Lyon. The loss to Sasnovich drops her to 2-13 on the year, with her 12th straight defeat. She's lost 22 consecutive sets, and 24 of the last 25.
Thing is, Parks' last win was a good one over #32-seed Leylah Fernandez in the 2nd Round at the Australian Open. She lost 6-0/6-2 to Coco Gauff a round later, and has barely come up for air since.
So, she's 2-1 in slam play this year, and 0-12 everywhere else. Make it make sense!
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Big win for Elina Avanesyan as she saves a match point to beat Cristina Bucsa 6-7, 6-0, 7-5 in the first round of the Internazionali BNL D'Italia!
Brilliant turnaround from Elina who looked to have lost the momentum but stepped up the aggression in her game which paid dividends. pic.twitter.com/9PN8xMLLiS
8. Rome 1st Rd. - Elina Avanesyan def. Cristina Bucsa
...6-7(3)/6-0/7-5. Bucsa won the 1st set in a TB, then lost eight consecutive games. The Spaniard rallied to lead 5-3 in the 3rd, but fell behind love/40 when serving for the win and never won another game on the day. She *did* hold a MP on Avanesyan's serve in the next game, though.
9. Rome 1st Rd. - Sara Errani def. Amanda Anisimova
...4-6/6-2/6-1. Anisimova falls again, for the third straight time on clay this season.
The Bannerette was a 2019 semifinalist at Roland Garros, but since Anismova's great 2022 clay court run -- Charleston SF, Madrid QF, Rome QF, RG 4r -- she's won just one match on clay (and played just five matches on the surface).
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10. Rome 2nd Rd. - Marketa Vondrousova def. Ana Bogdan
...6-2/3-6/6-4. Trailing 6-2/3-1, Bogdan reels off seven straight games to lead 2-0 in the 3rd. The Romanian held a 3-1 edge in the decider, only to see Vondrousova repay the favor with her own comeback to get the win.
Bogdan had upset Leylah Fernandez in the 1st Round. She still hasn't won back-to-back matches since her Cluj final run in early February.
Comeback Complete ?
Marketa Vondrousova fights back from a break down in the final set & sees off Bogdan 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.#IBI24pic.twitter.com/OTA1guA82I
11. Rome 1st Rd. - Lesia Tsurenko def. Donna Vekic
...6-2/3-6/7-6(5). Vekic forced a 3rd set TB after falling behind 3-0, but falls to 10-10 on the year with the loss. The Croat started '24 at a promising 4-1.
...Tsurenko lasted just two games a round later, offering up her second retirement/walkover of the '24 season after pulling the ripcord 15 times over the last three seasons combined (6 each in 2022 and '23, and 3 in '21).
...2-6/7-5/6-2. A nice comeback from The Bracelet, who rallied from 6-2/5-3 back, saving triple MP as Bai served up 5-4, 40/love. Krunic fell down a break at 2-1 in the 3rd, then swept the final five games.
Unfortunately, Krunic lost in the Q2 and failed to reach the MD. It would have been just her second (w/ Miami this year) 1000 MD appearance since 2019 (also in Miami).
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14. $75K Saint-Gaudens FRA Final - Claire Liu def. Selena Janicijevic
...6-1/6-7(3)/6-0. Liu, the '17 RG junior runner-up, wins her first singles title since grabbing a 125 crown two years ago.
Liu hadn't gotten past the 2nd Round in her previous ten events in 2014.
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After spending the last 6 months confined behind bars, sorry playing pickleball, Eugenie Bouchard triumphantly returns to the tennis court with a 6-1 6-2 win over #224 in the world ?? pic.twitter.com/3XuLwNqAF1
$75K Zephyrills (FLA) USA QF - Kayla Day def. Genie Bouchard 6-7(4)/7-5/0-0 ret.
...hey, I think I remember her.
Taking a break from the pickleball tour, world #446 Bouchard (via a wild card) plays her first actual tennis since last September. She posted a pair of wins, over #224 Justina Mikulskyte and #265 Fanny Stollar, and actually served for the match vs. #96 Kayla Day, but couldn't close the door and then retired after losing the 2nd set.
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[Rome 1st-3rd Rd.]
1. Rome 2nd Rd. - Dayana Yastremska def. Laura Siegemund
...4-6/7-5/6-2. Siegemund came in with a head of steam, making it through qualifying and posting back-to-back wins over young Argentines Julia Riera and Maria Lourdes Carle. She led AO semifinalist Yastremska 6-4/5-2, serving and holding a pair of MP at 5-3. Yastremska claimed the final four games to force a 3rd set, then after falling behind an early break at 2-1 went on another streak (5 straight games) to end the match.
Siegemund had one shot to get back on serve, but failed to put away her only BP in the final stretch when trailing 3-2.
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2. Rome 1st Rd. - Brenda Fruhvirtova def. Taylor Townsend 3-6/6-2/6-0
Rome 1st Rd. - Tatjana Maria def. Linda Fruhvirtova 7-6(5)/3-6/6-2
...both Fruhvirtova sisters made their way through qualifying, but only Brenda got a MD win in her Rome debut (the 17-year's second 1000 victory, along with Miami earlier this year). 19-year old Linda is now 0-2 in Rome MD matches.
Nikola Bartunkova: "I have never knowingly consumed any banned substances and me and my team have always paid the utmost attention to what goes into my body". Says they want to find out how the banned substance entered her body and try to have the temporary suspension lifted asap https://t.co/dSbF1mgmwZ
Nominations for the Heart Award in zone play:
Americas: Yuliana Lizarazo/COL and Julia Riera/ARG
Asia/Oceania: Jang Su-jeong/KOR and Wang Xinyu/CHN
Europe/Africa I: Suzan Lamens/NED and Clara Tauson/DEN
For once, I don't have any issues with these nominations. Usually, there are some "huh?" moments when these lists come out, but all (save for Wang, but *any* CHN player could have been chosen) were my picks as MVPs.
Maybe the Saskatoon Berries organiziation will allow an "elking demonstration" one night during the seventh inning stretch?
Seriously, though, the Berrypickers *would* be a better name than the Berries for a team playing minor league baseball, where names like the Biloxi Shuckers and Rocket City Trash Pandas thrive.
Of course, we know that it wasn't the Berrypickers who reached the 2022 World Elking Cup held across the Backspin Academy campus during that year's Winterfest.
FLASHBACK: In an historic match-up, the Herders of Mongolia defeated the Yukon Malamutes in two games, clinching the Golden Horn trophy by following up a defensive 18-17 win in Game 1 (the lowest scoring Cup match since 1976 in the deep snow of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) with a record-breaking 111-2 victory (the biggest Cup blowout ever!) in Game 2. Mongolia's Tahar, just 16, picked up the Crystal Hoof as the top player of the tournament, cementing his name in elking lore forever thereafter.
Tahar just recently became the international cashmere spokesperson for NAADAM, a company which "responsibly sources & produces luxury knitwear while preserving nomadic lifestyle in Mongolia." Trust me, this is a *very* big deal.
*DIEDE DE GROOT vs. IN STREAK, ended by Li Xiaohui*
[145-0, + 1 w/o W]
27 - Yui Kamiji, JPN (+1 w/o)
17 - Kgothatso Montjane, RSA
15 - Aniek Van Koot, NED
10 - Jiske Griffioen, NED
10 - Momoko Ohtani, JPN
7 - Angelica Bernal, COL
7 - Dana Mathewson, USA
7 - Lucy Shuker, GBR
4 - Macarena Cabrillana, CHI
4 - Pauline Deroulede, FRA
4 - Katharina Kruger, GER
4 - Jordanne Whiley, GBR
3 - Emmanuelle Morch, FRA
3 - Zhu Zhenzhen, CHN
2 - Li Xiaohui, CHN
2 - Viktoriia Lvova, RUS
2 - Cornelia Oosthuizan, GBR
2 - Saki Takamuro, JPN
2 - Manami Tanaka, JPN
2 - Maayan Zikri, ISR
1 - Shelby Baron, USA
1 - Abbie Breakwell, GBR
1 - Nalani Buob, SUI
1 - Meirycoll Duval, BRA
1 - Charlotte Fairbank, FRA
1 - Guo Luoyao, CHN
1 - Huang Jinlian, CHN
1 - Busra Un, TUR
1 - Britta Wend, GER
1 - Louie Charlotte Willerslev-Olsen, DEN
1 - Wang Ziying, CHN
Jimmy Connors, just chilling in life, minding his own business. All of a sudden he's trending...for the first time since the 80's. People wondering if he died. Nope Jimmy, some orange buffoon just got you confused with Jimmy Carter. Go back to enjoying whatever you were doing. pic.twitter.com/0Tewd2APXY
“Jeez, you take a few massive bribes from billionaires & preside over some cases which directly concern your insurrectionist wife and suddenly people say mean things about you,” says Clarence Thomas. If he hates Washington so much he can just fucking quit. https://t.co/OxX2OnDd1e
— ?? Scary Larry ?? ????????????? (@aintscarylarry) May 11, 2024
I'm old enough to remember when cheating on your pregnant wife with a porn star that reminds you of your daughter would hurt you with the evangelical vote in a Presidential campaign. https://t.co/RrdnUK02Ph
Man who kept his boat besides his house was ordered from the city to put up a fence to hide the boat from view. So he built the fence and hired someone to paint it. pic.twitter.com/wrkQh6RjXn
A short documentary on greenland shark in aractic ocean ????this shark was born in 1627...they often go blind due to parasite ???? pic.twitter.com/28qHoeRNsK
Greenland Shark sharks are known for their impressive longevity, with some estimates suggesting they can live for up to 400 years, making them one of the longest-living vertebrates on Earth. Their slow metabolism, adapted to the deep, cold waters they call home, is thought to… pic.twitter.com/rllFPUPu9u
...does the clay season *really* start before Iga wins a title on the surface?
If not, well, then it has *now* officially/unofficially commenced.
For most of her time in Madrid, Swiatek met little resistence. She handled Wang Xiyu 1 & 4, Sorana Cirstea 1 & 1 and Sara Sorribes Tormo 1 & love. Beatriz Haddad Maia managed to win a 1st set, but only after Swiatek had led 4-1, then fell love & 2 in the 2nd and 3rd. Madison Keys was taken out 1 & 3, sending Swiatek into her first clay final of the season and her second straight championship match in Madrid, a rematch with defending champ Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek somewhat stole a 1st set in which Sabalenka had led the way. Scoring her first point on the Belarusian's first serve in game #11, Iga broke and served out the set a game later. Sabalenka knotted the match in the 2nd, but Swiatek kept close throughout the 3rd, falling down a break twice but immediately breaking back a game later.
In the late going, the clash became classic, as Sabalenka held a pair of MP at 6-5 on Swiatek's serve, with Iga closing the door in the game with a forehand winner on the second, and then getting the hold to force a deciding TB. There, again, Sabalenka took a mid-way point mini-break lead at 4-3, but Swiatek immediately erased the edge with a deep return shot. Swiatek nosed ahead, holding a MP at 6-5 (Sabalenka fired an ace), but then had to save a third MP at 7-6. Sabalenka ended the match with three straight UE after holding her final MP, pushing Swiatek into the winner's circle for the first time in Madrid.
It's career title #20 for Swiatek (at 22, she's the quickest to 20 since Wozniacki in 2012), and her second career title run after having fought off a MP (w/ '21 Rome, 2 vs. Krejcikova 3r). Iga is now 64-6 on clay starting with her maiden RG title in 2020.
Hmmm, not sure what to make of the newly-redesigned Madrid trophy (I mean, other than it'd make a really good murder weapon)...
...on the bright side, Sabalenka emerged from her post-Melbourne hangover in Madrid. On the other side, Madrid really *should* have been her second successful title defense of the season. As it is, she avoided falling from #2 to #4, and posted a tremendous win over Elena Rybakina to keep herself in any sort of "Big 2" discussion that might crop up heading into Paris. Meawhile, the women's game continues to build upon the sort of oft-intense, always-competitive, and (maybe most importantly) multi-chaptered rivalries that mostly eluded it (except for maybe when Henin was involved) during the long Williams era.
Geez, I know... how boring, right?
Sabalenka came to Madrid at just 4-4 since her Australian Open title run, with the event representing her last title defense attempt remaining on the '24 schedule. With her result, she could either maintain her position at #2 in the rankings or fall as low as #4 for the first time since she won her maiden slam crown in Melbourne 15 months ago (the result of which could have major implications come RG draw time at the end of the month).
In the early going, she was hardly at her best, being forced to three sets in her opening two matches vs. Magda Linette and Robin Montgomery. Things seemed to finally "click" for the first time in months vs. Danielle Collins in the 4th Round, where Sabalenka won in three (her sixth straight three-set match over her last three events and ninth in eleven matches over the last five -- she'd gone 2-4 in those matches prior to Madrid) to end the Charleston/Miami champ's season's-best 15-match winning streak.
Finally with a gust of wind behind her, Sabalenka ended teenager Mirra Andreeva's tournament in straights, then rallied from 6-1/4-2 down vs. Rybakina (though she was one overhit swing volley away from going MP down) and won a 3rd set TB to return to the Madrid final (her 3rd in 4 years, having already won twice over then-#1's Ash Barty and Iga Swiatek) and hold onto her #2 ranking.
In a worthy addition to the 1-vs-2 oeuvre the spreads throughout WTA history, Sabalenka faced off with Swiatek in a second straight Madrid final. She held break leads twice in the 3rd, and had three MP chances (2 at 6-5, then another in a deciding TB) to repeat as the tournament's singles champ. She just couldn't keep the ball in the court on the very biggest points, committing UE on two of her three MP, then three straight to end the match after seeing her last MP at 7-6 in the breaker.
With the loss, Sabalenka falls to 2-8 in finals vs. Top 10 players this decade.
Fresh off her title run in Stuttgart, Rybakina threatened to double-up any other player on tour with a *sixth* final appearance less five months into the new season. She posted straight sets wins over Lucia Bronzetti, Mayar Sherif and Sara Bejlek. Then things got complicated.
In an all-KAZ QF with Yulia Putintseva, Rybakina staged a comeback from 5-2 down in the 3rd, saving a pair of MP while sweeping the final five games of the match to improve to 22-1 since her MTB loss in Melbourne to Anna Blinkova.
Already the first to defeat Iga Swiatek twice on clay, Rybakina found herself two points from an opportunity to try to do it three times. Against Sabalenka in the SF, despite losing a 6-1/4-2 lead, Rybakina still served for the match at 5-4, and at 30/30 had a clear path to a MP, only to pull a swing volley forehand. Taken to a 3rd set, the Kazakh stayed close at 5-5, but couldn't convert on two BP for a second chance to serve for the win, then lost a 7-5 deciding TB.
It's her first on-court loss on clay since a 2nd Round exit *last* year in Madrid (vs. Kalinskaya).
Rybakina is now 5-1 in '24 semis, with her 16-match undefeated clay run dating back to 2023 now over (it wasn't a winning streak, as she had a walkover due to illness after win #8 at last year's RG), and next heads to Rome as the defending champion.
SURPRISES:Yulia Putintseva/KAZ and Guiomar Maristany/ESP
...no matter what, Putintseva is gonna Putintseva.
After already having had a fine spring, including posting a 4th Round result at Indians Wells and QF in Miami, Putintseva made it back-to-back 1000 QF in Madrid after getting wins over Yuan Yue, Zheng Qinwen (ret.), Caroline Dolehide and Dasha Kasatkina. She then had Elena Rybakina on the ropes, winning the opening set, having a BP shot at 4-4 in the 2nd, then leading 5-2 in the 3rd, serving for the win at 5-3, and even holding double-MP on Rybakina's serve.
Of course, there's also the rest. Putintseva lost the match, as she never won another game after reaching MP at 5-2, 15/40, falling to 0-4 in QF matches this season.
Putintseva in annually good for 2 or 3 losses after holding MP. Coming into Madrid, she had managed to avoid any such WTA MD defeats in '24, and had even won one match after being *down* MP. She did lose a BJK Cup match after holding MP a few weeks ago, so the loss to Rybakina "unofficially* allows her to meet her season "quota," and it's only early May.
Putintseva will still climb nine spots to #41.
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 1, 2024
25-year old Spaniard Maristany fell a round short of her biggest career final in the Lleida 125, but maintains her upward progresssion in '24.
After picking up her biggest career title in a $50K challenger in January, the #290-ranked Maristany became the lowest-ranked SF+ player in a WTA or 125 event so far this year with her run this week, doing so after getting MD wins over Nao Hibino and Arantxa Rus (her first Top 50 win). She ultimately fell to Mayar Sherif in the semis, but will rise to a new career-high of #244 on Monday.
VETERANS:Danielle Collins/USA and Madison Keys/USA
...since she's walking off into the sunset once it's over, Collins has clearly decided to go pedal-to-the-metal throughout the '24 season. It's proven to produce the most exciting storyline of the season, but she's not going to win *every* match.
Already with Miami and Charleston titles under the belt, Collins brought her traveling farewell tour to Europe for the first time in Madrid. With a pair of spirited contests, going three sets vs. both Olga Danilovic (wrapping up after midnight on her sixth MP in a deciding TB, after the Serb has served for the match) and Jaqueline Cristian (from a set down), Collins' career-best winning streak stood at 15.
Having produced her best career result on clay in a 1000 event (she reached the RG QF in '20), she took the 1st vs. defending champ Aryna Sabalenka in the 4th Round before the Belarusian finally seized the momentum in the 3rd to improve her career record in their head-to-head series to 5-0.
Though Collins' current run is over, the three-event, three-surface, two-continent stretch saw her raise her ranking from #53 to #15. And she still has more than six months to play with before it's all over. Well, unless she changes her mind. But since she's been pretty emphatic that that is *not* happening, with a catalog of reasons for why, at this point it just wouldn't really be polite to question it.
Right, Danielle...?
Meanwhile, with Garbine Muguruza now settled up with history, Keys stands alone shoulder-to-shoulder with Alona Ostapenko as one of the two players on tour who bring the most mystery to every match they play (i.e. they could literally beat *anyone*, or go down in UE flames in a bagel set to anyone else).
Personally, I've always found those traits with Ostapenko at times either endearing and/or exhilarating, while with Muguruza it mostly sowed frustration. With Keys, it's always been supremely aggravating and eye-rolling, and has always led me to habitually -- unlike the other two -- often disregard/forget about her being a force on tour, mostly because -- also unlike the other two -- it's never seemed possible they she could *ever* hold her powerful game together long enough to win the *biggest* titles to be had. To date, even with a slam final and five semis under her belt, that notion has proven out.
Of course, such a mindset when it comes to Keys also leads to her often seeming to "sneak up" on this space -- usually with the two or three really good results in big events that she gets every season -- and make me wonder how she's *still* in the Top 20 after having seemingly not been heard from in what *feels* like ages. She'll be at #16 on Monday.
Over a week and a half in Madrid, we saw the competing sides of the Keys game. In one case, all in one match. In the end, though, she was swiftly bundled out of the event by Iga Swiatek in the SF with Keys' blend of unforced errors and inconsistency eventually overwhelming her ability to (albeit almost blindly sometimes) blow just about anyone off the court off the ground (mostly with her well-clocked forehand).
Keys didn't start her '24 campaign until Indian Wells, and arrived in Madrid at 3-3 on the season (and 3-9 in the event during her career, with eight 1r/2r exits). She strung together wins over Irina-Camelia Begu, Liudmila Samsonova and Coco Gauff, the latter being Keys' 27th Top 10 victory. The win put her into her first QF since a U.S. Open SF last summer. Just reaching the 3rd Round had been significant for Keys, as combined with her I.W. 4th Round and Miami 3rd it marked the first time since 2016 that she'd gotten so far in three consecutive 1000 events (that season, she posted QF-3r-F-F-QF-SF runs in 1000s from Miami though Beijing).
Another Top 10 win followed, this time over Ons Jabeur after dropping the 1st set at love, but taking out Swiatek on clay proved a bridge too far as she fell 6-1/6-3 in 1:10. Keys *has* defeated the Pole in the past, getting her lone career #1 win in Cincinnati in '22.
One often thinks of hard court (and maybe grass) when recalling Keys' best results, but she *did* have back-to-back SF/QF results in Paris in 2018-19, though she hasn't reached a final on the red dirt in eight years (she won a green clay title in Charleston in '19). In the 2020s, with her 4-1 Madrid W/L stats included, she's moved over .500 on the surface in the decade at 16-14.
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COMEBACKS:Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA and Katerina Siniakova/CZE
...though nestled inside the Top 20 (#14) and with an AO 3rd Round and SF (Abu Dhabi) on her record this season, Haddad Maia stood at just 10-11 on the year when she began play in Madrid. With points for a pair of good results a year ago -- Rome QF, RG SF -- dropping off her totals soon, the Brazilian needed to get something going.
Wins over Sara Errani, Emma Navarro and Maria Sakkari (Top 10 win #11, second in '24) did the trick, as Haddad Maia reached her third career 1000 QF (and first since Rome).
She staged a comeback vs. Iga Swiatek in the final eight, rallying from 4-1 down to take the 1st set, only to then be granted just two games in the final two sets combined. Still, it was a productive two weeks that could set Haddad Maia up for the rest of the spring clay swing (and maybe the grass, too).
Meanwhile, the spring hadn't been kind to Siniakova. She retired from the 2nd Round in Miami, missed a month, then returned in Madrid and fell in the 1st Round. At the same time, a likely Hall of Famer for her doubles success, the Czech hasn't even take the court in WD since Indian Wells, *and* in recent weeks saw her '24 partner (Storm Hunter) suffer an Achilles injury that brought her season to a premature end.
With the two-week run of Madrid, 125 events were available this past week for those wishing to get more time on the dirt. With multiple wins in just one of her last eight events, Siniakova signed up... and never lost. Wins over Alycia Parks, Lina Gjorcheska, Ashlyn Krueger and recent Bogota champ Camila Osorio put her into her first singles final since winning a tour-level title last October.
Facing off with six-time 125 champ (the category record-holder) Mayar Sherif, Siniakova claimed the title, 6-4/4-6/6-3, handing the Egyptian her first singles final loss since August '21 (ending an eight final run which included her maiden WTA crown).
?? Katerina Siniakova, campiona del Catalonia Open WTA 125 - Torneig Internacional Terres de Lleida.
La txeca s’ha imposat en la final a l’egípcia Mayar Sherif per 6/4 4/6 6/3 en un duel que s’ha allargat fins a les 2h i 51 min.
FRESH FACES:Mirra Andreeva/RUS and Lois Boisson/FRA
...Andreeva carried over her opening week roll in Madrid -- during which she knocked off Taylor Townsend, Linda Noskova and Marketa Vondrousova to equal her '23 tournament debut 4th Round run -- by rallying from 5-2 down in the 1st (w/ a SP against) vs. Jasmine Paolini to win in straights, celebrating her maiden QF result on her 17th birthday.
With her next opponent, defending champ Aryna Sabalenka, having finally gotten her game in tune in her previous match win over Danielle Collins (ending her 15-game streak), Andreeva got a version of the Belarusian that we hadn't seen since her title run in Melbourne in January. Sabalenka won 6-1/6-4, sending the Hordette off to improve still more before their *next* match-up.
If the Sabalenka defeat wasn't enough of a reminder that Mirra is essentially still a "work in progress"...
Already an ITF circuit star in '24, 20-year old Pastry Boisson (#191) raised her level of competition this past week in the 125 event in Saint-Malo, and lifted her game accordingly to pick up her biggest career title, her fourth singles win this season (all on clay... so that RG wild card should be forthcoming).
A wild card in *this* event, Boisson knocked off Varvara Gracheva, Solana Sierra, Katie Volynets and Alize Cornet to reach the final, then rallied from 6-4/5-3 back vs. countrywoman Chloe Paquet (who twice served for the match) to win in three sets.
With the crown, Boisson stands at 31-6 at all levels this season, and will climb to a career high of #152 on Monday. She's 23-1 in her last 24.
Loïs Boisson is the Champion of St. Malo WTA 125??
- She defeated Paquet 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 - She also beat Gracheva, Sierra, Volynets & Cornet along the way - It’s the biggest title of her career - She has already won 3 ITF titles in 2024 - With this win, she’s locked in for a RG WC pic.twitter.com/J1kQRUZyCn
ITF PLAYERS:Julia Riera/ARG and Moyuka Uchijima/JPN
...Riera, 21, is most definitely a player on the rise. Last year, in her WTA tour debut, she reached a SF in Rabat. This January, she qualified and reached the 3rd Round in Brisbane, upsetting Ekaterina Alexandrova and taking Linda Noskova to three sets. She's cracked the Top 100 this season, won a $75K challenger last month, and went 5-0 in leading Argentina into the BJK Cup Playoffs.
This week, Riera picked up her biggest career title at the $100K in Wiesbaden (GER), defeating Dalma Galfi, Panna Udvardy and Darja Semenistaja before outlasting Jule Niemeier in a three-set final.
On a 15-1 run, and sporting a 19-3 mark on clay in '24, Riera should be making her slam MD debut in Paris later this month. She'll be at a career high #93 on Monday.
OTRO TÍTULO PARA JULIA RIERA ????
La pergaminense de 21 años se consagró en el W100 de Wiesbaden ???? y alzó el título más importante de su carrera ??
Además es la primera argentina en ganar un torneo de esta categoría ??
— Asociación Argentina de Tenis (@AATenis) May 5, 2024
Meanwhile, in Gifu (JPN), 22-year old Uchijimi picked up her third ITF title of the season, and second $100K crown in a month (winning on hard court, after a previous run on clay in April).
Uchijima posted wins over Maddison Inglis and Arianne Hartono, then defeated Arina Rodionova (the Aussie's best result since her Top 100 debut at age 34 earlier this season) in the final by a 6-3/6-3 score.
Also with an additional $50K win in January, Uchijimi is 27-9 this season.
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JUNIOR STAR:Mayu Crossley/JPN
...in just her sixth pro event, 17-year old Crossley reached her first singles final, going from qualifier to finalist in the $35K challenger in Boca Raton, Florida.
After winning a 3rd set TB over Allie Kiick in the semis to advance, Crossley fell to Sweden's Kajsa Rinaldo Persson, 7-5/7-6.
Crossley (former girls' #5) has won a J300 crown, reached a J500 final and played in another J300 semi in her only junior events in '24.
...since the start of last year, Bucsa has become something of a potential doubles star. Though she'd had some WD success on the ITF circuit (winning 9 titles in 19 finals), Bucsa hadn't played it much at tour level until the last few seasons. Coming into this week, she was just 2-4 in slams and 0-4 in 1000 events, but had teamed with three different partners to reach three finals since late '22 (winning a pair of titles the last two seasons, including at Bogota last month).
Teaming with Sorribes Tormo for the first time in Madrid, the duo became the event's maiden Spanish female champions (in singles or doubles), knocking off Stuttgart champs Chan Hao-ching & Veronika Kudermetova, as well as Pavlyuchenkova/Potapova before facing veterans Barbora Krejcikova & Laura Siegemund (w/ a combined 32 titles, including 8 WD slam crowns) for the title. The Spaniards dominated play, winning 6-0/6-2.
While Bucsa gets title #3, Sorribes Tormo (who had a good first week in singles, then got *two* games off Iga in the final two sets of a three-setter) improves to 5-1 in tour finals, picking up her second career 1000 crown ('23 Beijing). Additionally, while Bucsa now has a big title under her belt, she also earned the respect of no less than Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday. The Czech had such a fear of Bucsa's great play that during the final's brief mid-match delay she told her coach and partner Siegemund that she didn't want to hit anything in Bucsa's direction (it just wouldn't be a smart move).
Hmmm, I hear that Krejcikova's old doubles partner might be needing a regular playing mate the rest of this year (just a thought).
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WHEELCHAIR:Angelica Bernal/COL
...in the week before the start of the World Team Cup competition in Antalya (TUR), #10-ranked Bernal swept the titles at the Series 2 Kemal Sahin Cup in the city.
The 29-year old Colombian was the top seed, and took the singles crown to match her biggest career win, defeating the likes of Viktoriia Lvova (QF), Lucy Shuker (#3 seed, SF) and 18-year old Pastry Ksenia Chasteau in a 6-0/6-4 final.
Chasteau, the current WC junior #1, had upset the #2 (Manami Tanaka), #4 (Maria Florencia Moreno) and #8 (Charlotte Fairbank) seeds en route to the final. She's the current pro WC #30, and to date hasn't won a title above the Futures event level.
Bernal also took the doubles crown, teaming with Moreno for the victory.
?? Doble consagración en Turquía
Angélica Bernal se llevó los dos trofeos en el ITF 2 Series de Antalya ???? para lograr su segundo título de la temporada https://t.co/yr8WWGiMbD
1. Madrid Final - Iga Swiatek def. Aryna Sabalenka
...7-5/4-6/7-6(7). With Sabalenka looking to defend and win her third Madrid title, while Swiatek was trying to win her first at the last big clay event she had yet to claim, the rematch of the 2023 final turned into a three-hour drama in which both players saved MP, Swiatek stayed alive by upping the MPH on her shots in the deciding set and, ultimately, Sabalenka went from holding MP to being dethroned in a three-point stretch in which she produced a trio of UE to end the match.
The Belarusian had been the better player in the opening set, but Swiatek still managed to take it. Sabalenka's inability to convert any of three BP when up 3-2 was key, though she also denied the Pole multiple BP after trailing 15/40 but holding to maintain an on-serve 4-3 edge. Sabalenka didn't allow a point on her first serve until the score was 5-5, but once Swiatek broke through she got the break and then held to take the set at 7-5. Coming into the match, Swiatek was 75-0 in 1000 event matches after winning the opening set.
Sabalenka twice went up a break in the 2nd, only to see Swiatek immediately break back. It only delayed the inevitable, as Sabalenka began to outhit the world #1, finally getting the break to take the set 6-4.
Swiatek had two BP chances at 1-1, but Sabalenka's power staved off both. The two exchanged breaks in games 4 & 5. Swiatek upped the power on her groundstrokes, but Sabalenka still maintained her slight edge, holding from love/30 for 5-4, then two games later for 6-5. In game 12 on Swiatek's serve, Sabalenka held a pair of MP, pushing a forehand down the line wide on the first, then seeing Swiatek's forehand winner wipe away the second. Iga got the hold to force the deciding TB as the match clock ticked to 3:00.
The first mini-break of the TB went to Sabalenka, who led 4-3. But a deep return from Swiatek produced an error that got it back. Sabalenka's long forehand gave Swiatek her first MP at 6-5, but the Belarusian erased it with an ace. A long Swiatek forehand gave Sabalenka her third MP at 7-6, but a long backhand down the line kept the title out of reach.
As it turned out, Sabalenka wouldn't win another point, as two additional back-to-back UE sealed her fate: a long return that gave Swiatek a second MP at 8-7, then a long backhand into the corner that ended it after 3:11.
Swiatek's first Madrid win improved her career record in WTA finals to 20-4 (w/ 8 straight wins since losing to Sabalenka in last year's Madrid title match). 7-3 vs. Sabalenka in their career series (now 3-2 since their SF clash at the '22 U.S. Open), the Pole is 11-1 in finals this decade vs. Top 10 players.
If the WTA had even a shred of marketing sense they'd turn the whole notion of one of their top-ranked players calling her sport "boring" on it's head and score major points by self-deprecatingly laughing at the daily absurdity (both good and bad) of the women's game by highlighting just how "un-boring" it is. But, well, you know.
This is why u don’t need best of 5!!! This is the perfect amount of time! It’s long enough and every minute has been quality! I said what i said! pic.twitter.com/3aAe0IkWcu
I mean, is there anything more "boring" in tennis than the first set and a half of a best-of-five match?
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2. Madrid QF - Elena Rybakina def. Yulia Putintseva
...4-6/7-6(4)/7-5. The all-KAZ affair goes the distance, with Rybakina once again showing her mental fortitude (while Putintseva reminds everyone that no one loses more matches after holding MP than she does).
Putintseva had and squandered many opportunities in this match, including not converting a BP at 4-4 in the 2nd set that could have given her a chance to serve to end things in straights. Naturally, she whacked her left thigh so hard afterward that she left a noticeable bruise behind. Meanwhile, Rybakina's long reply on a short ball on SP at 6-5 led to a TB to stay alive, which she did with a 7-4 win.
In the 3rd, Putintseva couldn't put away a BP for 3-1, but did so two games later to lead 4-2. She held at love for 5-2, then saw Rybakina's three consecutive UE give her double MP at 15/40 in the next game. Putintseva produced a great drop shot on the first MP that should have won it, but Rybakina's response was even better as she got to the ball and scooped it crosscourt just over the net and out of reach.
BUILT DIFFERENT ??
Elena Rybakina digs deep, saving TWO match points to defeat Putintseva for the very first time and reach her sixth semifinal of the year!#MMOPENpic.twitter.com/w0jUEN9gFX
Rybakina then fired an ace on MP #2, and soon secured the hold to stay alive. In her next two service games, Putintseva fell behind love/40. She was broken as she served for the match at 5-3, then broken at love at 5-5 as Rybakina earned her shot to serve out the win. She took a 40/love lead, missed on all three MP (including with a DF and forehand UE), but converted on her fourth try. As expected, Putintseva then killed her guilty racket with three crushing blows to the court surface.
Now, here's the actual final MP video, as correctly posted by Tennis Channel (more in a moment)...
And here's the post the WTA put up, using that truly aggravating zoom-in technique they they seem to like to employ, moving the camera back-and-forth in a way that almost makes me cross-eyed sometimes, and during which you can't see the full scoreboard in the corner to get the full context. In this case, you don't even see Rybakina after MP. Though we do get a good view of Putintseva murdering her racket, though... so there's that.
BUILT DIFFERENT ??
Elena Rybakina digs deep, saving TWO match points to defeat Putintseva for the very first time and reach her sixth semifinal of the year!#MMOPENpic.twitter.com/w0jUEN9gFX
3. Madrid SF - Aryna Sabalenka def. Elena Rybakina
...1-6/7-5/7-6(5). Rybakina escaped the Pit of Putintseva, but the Aryna Ambush proved to be her end in Madrid.
Rybakina seemingly had yet another final within her grasp, leading 6-1/4-2. Sabalenka got the 2nd set back on serve at 4-4, but immediately fell behind love/40 a game later and Rybakina soon had a chance to serve for the match. From love/30 down, Rybakina reached 30-all and was a swing volley forehand away from holding a MP, only to pull the shot wide. Opportunity missed, she then delivered a backhand error to end the following point and cede the momentum to Sabalenka.
Sabalenka held at love for a 6-5 lead, then on her third SP knotted the match when Rybakina dumped a volley into the net.
Rybakina pulled things back together in the 3rd, but at 5-5 failed to convert on a pair of BP chances (including on a long forehand down the line as Sabalenka attempted to race back across the baseline from the far side of the court). Sabalenka got the hold, then ran off to a 5-1 lead in the deciding TB. She reached triple MP at 6-3.
Rybakina's penchant for saving MP continued, for a bit, as she collected back-to-back points, only to see Sabalenka end things with a service winner on her third MP.
Had Rybakina won, then taken the title, Sabalenka would have fallen to #4 in the rankings. With the win here, Sabalenka kept her grasp on the #2 ranking over #3 Coco Gauff.
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4. Madrid 4th Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Danielle Collins
...4-6/6-4/6-3. Collins' 15-match winning streak comes to a close as Sabalenka wins her third straight three-setter in Madrid.
...7-6(4)/4-6/6-4. Wins over Arantxa Rus (love & love) and Dayana Yastremska had Gauff into her first Madrid 4th Round, but Keys takes a 3-2 in their head-to-head with her second straight win (w/ Eastbourne '23) in the series (in their first meeting on clay).
...4-6/7-6(8)/7-6(4). A Colombian comeback, as Osorio loses her 5-3 2nd set lead as Frech breaks her from 40/love down to take a 6-5 edge. Serving for the match, the Pole went up 30/love but lost the game and went to a TB. Osorio took a 4-1 lead, but Frech held three MP (at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7) before the South American rallied to win it 10-8.
In the 3rd, the pair traded breaks at the mid-way pint of the set, then went to a deciding TB. Frech led 4-3, but Osorio swept the final four points.
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7. Saint-Malo 125 Final - Lois Boisson def. Chloe Paquet
...4-6/7-6(3)/6-3. In an all-Pastry final on French clay, Paquet led 6-4/5-3. She served for the title at 5-4 and 6-5, but could only get as close as 30/30 in both games.
Boisson got the break, then raced to a 5-0 TB lead before leveling the match. After getting an early break edge in the 3rd, Boisson carried things out to their natural conclusion, winning for the 23rd time in her last 24 outings this year.
...6-4/1-6/6-1. Since going 2-0 (including a win over Putintseva) while taking the lead for Japan in a defeat of Kazakhstan to reach the BJK Finals, Hibino has gone 0-3.
...but one *does* come a round later, ending the Bannerette's six-match losing streak in three-set affairs. Hmmm, I wonder what FanDuel's odds were for *that* happening?
Anna Blinkova's rough patch on clay continues at the WTA125 L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo, falling to home favourite Jessika Ponchet 5-7, 3-6 in the first round.
Had the momentum late in the opening set and owned BPs for a double-break in the second set, but couldn't convert. pic.twitter.com/tXlZLpdT6v
...7-5/6-3. Blinkova drops her fifth straight since back-to-back wins over Pliskova and Pegula in Indian Wells, and is 5-9 since winning the 42-point TB over Rybakina in Melbourne.
...it took an opponent ranked #235 in a 125 event, and staging a comeback from 6-2/3-1 down, but Kenin finally ends her nine-match losing streak in Lleida.
...a round later, Kenin rallied again, this time from 6-3/5-3, with Krueger serving at 5-4. After saving a pair BP in game 11, Kenin broke Krueger to force a 3rd. Once there, Kenin fell behind 0-3 before knotting things at 5-5, only to see Krueger end the match with a break and hold of her own.
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12. Lleida 125 Final - Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez def. Katarzyna Piter/Mayar Sherif
...7-5/6-2. The #2 seeds in Madrid, Melichar-Martinez/Perez were upset in the 1st Round (by Pavlyuchenkova/Potapova), but then moved on to Lleida and picked up their first 125 crown as a pair.
They've gone 2-10 in WTA finals since the start of 2022 (w/ a win in San Diego this year).
WTA 125 L'Open de Saint Malo Women's Doubles Champion's Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar pic.twitter.com/dpicbG5ORo
13. Madrid Final - Cristina Bucsa/Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Barbora Krejcikova/Laura Siegemund
...6-0/6-2. Krejcikova/Siegemund had knocked off the #1 (Hsieh/Mertens) and #4 (Gauff/Townsend) seeds en route to the final, losing no sets.
But the vets (in their fourth event together) came up well short vs. the first-time Spanish duo in the final, as Bucsa led the way and Krejcikova proved to be the most error-prone player on the court.
The loss prevented former (future?) double partners Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova from *both* lifting trophies on the same Sunday, as the latter won in singles at the Lleida 125 event. Their most recent multiple trophy-winning weekend *without* being side-by-side remains last June in Berlin (Siniakova WD) and Birmingham (Krejcikova WD).
Winning the title in front of the home crowd ???? ??
The Spanish duo of Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo take down Barbora Krejcikova and Laura Siegemund 6-0, 6-2 to win the title in Madrid!#MMOpenpic.twitter.com/GOv1zhIm3N
14. Saint-Malo 125 SF - Lois Boisson def. Alize Cornet
...3-6/6-1/6-4. Cornet puts on a good run in Saint-Malo in the week after announcing that she'd retire at Roland Garros. She'd come into the week at 3-9 on the year with eight consecutive losses.
Paris will present a sad farewell, but we've gotten "bonus Alize" the last two seasons, as Cornet had originally intended to retire after 2022, only to open the year with a QF run in Melbourne, reach the 3rd Round or better in the other three majors, and play in a WTA final in what was her best season in quite a while.
Things haven't gone as well since then, and since her last deep tour-level run (a SF in Rouen in October) she's 11-16. In 2023-24, she's posted 1r-1r-2r-1r-1r results in slam play.
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Jil Teichmann just won her first title in almost 5 years at the W35 in Santa Margherita di Pula ?? pic.twitter.com/iPOoFxrhFt
15. $35K Santa Margherita di Pula ITA Final - Jil Teichmann def. Andrea Lazaro Garcia
...6-3/6-4. It happened in a very different environment than some of those on which Teichmann has occasionally starred over the years, but Teichmann's first singles title since 2019 (at tour level Palermo, her second WTA win that year) in her first final since '21 (Cincinnati 1000) surely *is* something to at least keep an eye on.
The 26-year old Swiss has only played in a handful of matches (all in qualifying) in tour events in '24, and is currently ranked just outside the Top 200, but it *was* less than two years ago that she was #21 and starring in the biggest pre-RG clay events on the schedule. She reached in Madrid semis in '22, then the Rome QF, leading into a Round of 16 run in Paris.
Teichmann's win over Lazaro Garcia came a week after she lost to the same Spaniard in the same city in *another* $35K challenger, only then in the semis.
...6-2/6-1. Toth improves to 21-4 this season, picking up her second title of the year.
The Hungarian now stands at 40-12 since "the incident," having won four challenger crowns. She'll crack the Top 400 on Monday.
Since then, Zhang Shuai has gone 0-7, and is riding a 20-match losing streak. Her last singles win came on January 31, 2023.
===============================================
HM- $100K Bonita Springs USA Final - Lulu Sun def. Maya Joint
...6-1/6-3. Former Texas Longhorn defeats current Texas Longhorn, as 23-year old Sun (a former SUI rep, but now playing for NZL, where she was born and whose flag she played under a tiny bit as a junior) defeats the Michigan-born Aussie, 18.
Sun's seventh career title will lift her to a new career high of #132.
===============================================
Lleida 125 Final - Katerina Siniakova def. Mayar Sherif
...6-4/4-6/6-3. Sherif is the all-time 125 title leader, having gone 6-0 in such finals coming into this match. It didn't matter much to Siniakova, though.
The loss here topped off a multiple-loss weekend for the Egyptian, who was also in the doubles final alongside Katarzyna Piter.
===============================================
Another format change for BJK Cup play (and a good one, I think), as the groups are gone for the Finals and a bracket set-up is in place, meaning *every* tie will be a battle to advance a round closer to the final.
You have to wonder if this might be an attempt to lure more big-name players to Seville (the bracket format means fewer matches) at the end of a season that will also include an even bigger "national" event in the Olympics, and with the BJK finale taking place just days after the completion of the WTAF in Riyadh.
The 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals Draw is set ??
(c) Switzerland v Serbia (c) Kazakhstan v Korea, Rep France v Colombia (c) (c) Slovenia v Netherlands Belgium v China, P.R. (c) (c) Ukraine v Austria (c) Brazil v Argentina Mexico v Denmark (c)
A little checkmark for that all-South American BRA/ARG face-off. Meanwhile, *again* Ukraine is in position to host a tie, but will have to choose a more beneficial neutral site.
Remembering the one in a million that was Elena Baltacha. Ten years has passed so quickly. ?? pic.twitter.com/IYSrkd3LZ0
#ad I’m honored to be a Wheaties champion on the newest limited edition @wheaties box.
Wheaties was a big part of my childhood. I started each day eating a bowl of it at our breakfast table in Long Beach, California. As I entered our kitchen, I would flex and say, "Wheaties,… pic.twitter.com/B2wQcSTXSg
So the WTA's new business partner just secretly sentenced a woman to 11 years in prison for what the Saudi government called "terrorist offenses" that essentially amounted to her "choice of clothing and support for women’s rights" (such as an end to guardianship rules).
“Manahel al-Otaibi’s social media accounts portrayed her as a young and progressive woman who loves fitness, art, yoga, travel, while also promoting women’s rights.”
WTA signed up for this ride for three years, this is just the beginning.
Pro tennis more broadly as well, but WTA gets held to a higher standard, fairly or not. (Unlike the ATP, a business and not a cause, which has never once sought out anything resembling moral high ground.) https://t.co/5QkSYz7Iah
Let's see if any of the players utter a peep about this. I suspect not.
This past week (April 30), 31 years ago in Hamburg...
A Madonna-thon on what was a record-breaking weekend...
Next time someone question’s Madonna’s relevance, talent, calls her old, ugly or a has been, simply send them this tweet with a video of her performing to over a million people in Rio at the end of her Celebration tour, age 65, 42 years into her career. pic.twitter.com/Nrt1HD3YNW
— Inside The Groove (@insidethegroove) May 5, 2024
With 1.6 million people, @Madonna's Celebration Tour in Rio breaks the record for the largest standalone concert by any artist in history. Not female pop artist, but any artist; male or female, dead or alive.
— Madonna: The Living Legend (@MadonnaLegacy) May 5, 2024
The Queen of Pop, Madonna, gets Into The Groove with 1.6 million people attending her final tour stop for The Celebration Tour. #MadonnaInRiopic.twitter.com/novHyK9Tnt
— Madonna: The Living Legend (@MadonnaLegacy) May 5, 2024
É crente fazendo vídeo e textão, é católico indignado, é sodoma e gomorra nos trends, é ritual satanico, é oferenda ao diabo, é o povo não sabendo diferenciar governo estadual de federal, meu deus que domingo bom. Obrigada por tudo Madonna pic.twitter.com/IArq3zLLnP
??Holiday merges into Live To Tell to show the chilling and unexpected transition from the gay club scene in the 1970s into the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s.
— Madonna: The Living Legend (@MadonnaLegacy) May 5, 2024
Simplesmente o melhor momento do show. Madonna é a única artista que poderia fazer uma homenagem dessa ao Michael Jackson sem parecer presunçosa. Eles são a Rainha e Rei do Pop, é isso! pic.twitter.com/VlSl3tXhWk
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 2, 2024
"This Award is a motivator and also a reminder that with the biggest smile on my face, I can do anything and so can all the other little Diedes out there."
*SWIATEK vs. SABALENKA*
2021 WTAF rr (hc) - Sabalenka 2-6/6-2/7-5
2022 Doha QF (hc) - Swiatek 6-2/6-3
2022 Stuttgart Final (rci) - Swiatek 6-2/6-2
2022 Rome SF (rc) - Swiatek 6-2/6-1
2022 U.S. Open SF (hc) - Swiatek 3-6/6-1/6-4
2022 WTA Finals SF (hci) - Sabalenka 6-2/2-6/6-1
2023 Stuttgart Final (rci) - Swiatek 6-3/6-4
2023 Madrid Final (rc) - Sabalenka 6-3/3-6/6-3
2023 WTA Finals SF (hc) - Swiatek 6-3/6-2
2024 Madrid Final (rc) - Swiatek 7-5/4-6/7-6(7)
*2024 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
3 - IGA SWIATEK, POL = 1000(3)
3 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ = 500(3)
2 - Danielle Collins, USA = 1000,500
2 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT = 500(2) [2020-24]
20 - 1/2/8/6/3 = IGA SWIATEK
9 - 3/2/0/3/1 = Aryna Sabalenka
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
7 - 0/3/2/2/0 = Barbora Krejcikova
7 - 1/0/1/2/3 = Elena Rybakina
6 - 0/1/0/4/1 = Coco Gauff
*RECENT WTA #1 vs. #2 MATCH-UPS*
2014 Brisbane Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Azarenka
2014 Miami Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Li
2015 Australian Open Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Sharapova
2018 Australian Open Final - #2 Wozniacki d. #1 Halep
2019 WTA Finals SF - #1 Barty d. #2 Ka.Pliskova
2023 Stuttgart Final - #1 Swiatek d. #2 Sabalenka
2023 Madrid Final - #2 Sabalenka d. #1 Swiatek
2023 WTA Finals SF - #2 Swiatek d. #1 Sabalenka
2024 Madrid Final - #1 Swiatek d. #2 Sabalenka
*MOST WTA FINALS in 2024*
5 - Elena Rybakina (3-2)
3 - IGA SWIATEK (3-0)
3 - ARYNA SABALENKA (1-2)
3 - Dasha Kasatkina (0-3)
2 - Danielle Collins (2-0)
2 - Alona Ostapenko (2-0)
2 - Marta Kostyuk (0-2)
*2024 WTA TITLES, MOST SURFACES*
2 - Danielle Collins = Hard,Green Clay
2 - Elena Rybakina = Hard,Red Clay
2 - IGA SWIATEK = Hard,Red Clay [finals]
2 - Danielle Collins = Hard,Green Clay
2 - Dasha Kasatkina = Hard,Green Clay
2 - Marta Kostyuk = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Elena Rybakina = Hard,Red Clay
2 - ARYNA SABALENKA = Hard,Red Clay
2 - IGA SWIATAK = Hard,Red Clay
*CAREER WTA TITLES ON CLAY (active)*
9 - Simona Halep
9 - Venus Williams
8 - IGA SWIATEK
7 - Sara Errani
6 - Elina Svitolina
5 - Petra Kvitova [clay titles in 2020s]
8 - IGA SWIATEK (1/1/3/2/1)
2 - Danielle Collins (0/1/0/0/1)
2 - Simona Halep (2/0/0/-/0)
2 - Ons Jabeur (0/0/1/1/0)
2 - Barbora Krejcikova (0/2/0/0/0)
2 - Camila Osorio (0/1/0/0/1)
2 - Bernarda Pera (0/0/2/0/0)
2 - Tatjana Maria (0/0/1/1/0)
2 - Elena Rybakina (0/0/0/1/1)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (0/1/0/1/0)
2 - Elina Svitolina (1/0/0/1/0)
*2024 TITLES FROM MATCH POINT DOWN*
Linz - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1 MP vs. Tauson, 2r)
Madrid - Iga Swiatek, POL (3 MP vs. Sabalenka, F) [total titles from MP down in 2020s]
2 - Barbora Krejcikova (2021 Roland Garros, 2023 Dubai)
2 - Alona Ostapenko (2022 Dubai, 2024 Linz)
2 - IGA SWIATEK (2021 Rome, 2024 Madrid)
*TOTAL MP SAVED EN ROUTE TO TITLE - 2020s*
5 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (2022 Monterrey)
4 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (2023 Dubai)
3 - Jessie Pegula, USA (2022 Guadalajara)
3 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (2023 Abu Dhabi)
3 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE (2023 Nanchang)
3 - IGA SWIATEK, POL (2024 Madrid)
2 - Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ITA (2023 Lausanne - 2 matches)
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (2021 Australian Open)
2 - Iga Swiatek, POL (2021 Rome)
*MOST WTA SF in 2024*
6 - ELENA RYBAKINA (5-1)
5 - IGA SWIATEK (2-2 +W)
3 - ARYNA SABALENKA (3-0)
3 - Dasha Kasatkina (2-0 +W)
3 - Marta Kostyuk (2-1)
3 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (1-2)
3 - Coco Gauff (1-2)
3 - Emma Navarro (1-2)
3 - Jessie Pegula (0-2 +L)
*CAREER WTA FINALS (active)*
83 - Venus Williams
55 - Caroline Wozniacki
42 - Simona Halep
42 - Petra Kvitova
41 - Victoria Azarenka
33 - Karolina Pliskova
31 - Angelque Kerber
30 - Vera Zvonareva
27 - ARYNA SABALENKA
24 - IGA SWIATEK
21 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
21 - Elina Svitolina
*2024 MOST 3:00 MATCHES (WTA/GS MD only)*
3 - Dasha Saville (1-2)
2 - Kamilla Rakhimova (2-0)
2 - IGA SWIATEK (2-0)
2 - Wang Xiyu (2-0)
2 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (1-1)
2 - Ana Bogdan (1-1)
2 - Marta Kostyuk (1-1)
2 - Veronika Kudermetova (1-1)
2 - Laura Siegemund (1-1)
2 - Arantxa Rus (0-2)
*LONG WTA (MD only) WINNING STREAKS - 2020s*
37 - Iga Swiatek (2022; ended by Cornet)
18 - Iga Swiatek (2023-24; ended by Noskova)
17 - Simona Halep (2020; ended by Swiatek)
16 - Coco Gauff (2023; ended by Swiatek)
15 - DANIELLE COLLINS (2024; ended by Sabalenka)
13 - Liudmila Samsonova (2022; ended by Tomljanovic)
13 - Bernarda Pera (2022; ended by Samsonova)
13 - Aryna Sabalenka (2023; ended by Krejcikova)
13 - Elena Rybakina (2023; ended by Kvitova)
The Titanic II will soon be sailing the high seas ?? Australian billionaire Clive Palmer is the mastermind behind the vessel - with its maiden voyage set to take place in June 2027. The Titanic II will be a replica of the original.
