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Wednesday, February 10, 2021

AO.3 - Oh Hsieh Can You See?

If you're coming back to play competitive tennis for the first time in about fifteen months, facing Hsieh Su-wei in your second match, while probably better than playing the unorthdox veteran in your *opening* match, is not exactly an easy avenue to success.

Bianca Andreescu learned that lesson the hard way on Wednesday. Oh, Hsieh can you see? As in Su-wei's flat, slicey, did-she-just-hit-THAT-shot?-oh-yes-she-did-and-it's-a-winner-because-you-know-who-could-have-anticipated-that? game.



After flashing her old '19 form in the clutch while closing out her 1st Round match against Mihaela Buzarnescu two days ago, the #8-seeded Canadian never quite got a handle on Hsieh. And just when she appeared as if she might, the handle changed. Or so it seemed. But that's normal when the 35-year old Taiwese vet -- ranked first in doubles, often standing just as high in the hearts of tennis fans around the world, and simultaneously close to last on virtually every WTA player's personal list of hoped-for opponents when the singles draw, especially at a major, is announced.



While Hsieh was right as rain right out of the box in Day 3's 2nd Round match, Andreescu was immediately a step behind. Hsieh went up a double break early at 4-0, and got within a game of the set at 5-1. Andreescu steadied things and got a break, climbing back into things at 5-3, only to then drop serve as Hsieh took the set at 6-3 a game later.

The story was similar in the 2nd, as Hsieh broke early and led 3-0, holding by virtually stealing a net point from the 20-year old, who'd seemingly won the impromptu head-to-head battle only to see her opponent flick a shot back that turned into a sudden winner. Andreescu could only smile and shake her head at the audacity of it all. Still, she once again seemed to finally get a gauge on Hsieh's shots, using her own bigger groundstrokes to begin to take command of some points. Andreescu got thing back on serve at 3-2 by smashing forehand return winner.



But Hsieh immediately got the break back, then held for 5-2. Serving to stay in the match, Andreescu saved a pair of MP in game #8, but DF'd on the third, falling 6-3/6-2. It's her first loss in slam competition since two years ago in Melbourne (Andreescu later withdrew from a 2r contest at Roland Garros against Sofia Kenin in what would have been a match-up of players who'd *both* win maiden slam titles over the next eight months).



While Hsieh moves on to her third 3rd Round in the last four AO (half of her eight career 3r+ slam results have come in Melbourne), Andreescu exits this slam unscathed in all the ways that matter after having missed a full year of action.

Bianca is back, and healthy. Even an early round slam defeat can't darken those skies.






=DAY 3 NOTES=
...while the Canadian women cornered a portion of the comeback market with 1st Round wins from Andreescu and Rebecca Marino, the AO stories of both came to an end on Day 3.

Marino, fresh off her first slam MD win in a decade, fell 6-1/7-5 to #19 Marketa Vondrousova today.



...elsewhere, #7 Aryna Sabalenka once again brushed off her momentum stopping loss last week to Kaia Kanepi, ralling from an early break disadvantage today against Dasha Kasatkina to force a TB, then close it out (at 7-5) to claim an opening set those flow was dictated by the balls coming off her racket (i.e. a 22/30 W/UE ratio vs. Dasha's 3/4). She put away the Russian via a 7-6(5)/6-3 score, reaching the 3rd Round for just the third time in her last eight majors. Sabalenka ended with 37/40 W/UE numbers (to the Russian's 8/8), even while winning the overall point total by just four (67-63). She's now on a 17-2 run dating back to last fall.



...while Kasatkina couldn't put a Russian into the Final 32, her countrywoman Anastasia Potapova did the honors with her straight sets win over qualifier Timea Babos. It means that at least one Hordette had reached the 3rd Round at 80 of the last 82 majors. At least one more will go through, as #32 Veronika Kudermetova and Varvara Gracheva have yet to finish their 2nd Round match today. Two more Russians play tomorrow.

Grampians finalist Ann Li continued her unbeaten Melbourne run with a straight sets win over Alize Cornet, saving two SP in the 2nd to win 6-2/7-6(6) and reach the 3rd Round for the second time in her three career slam MD appearances.



#10 Serena Williams advanced even more easily, handling Nina Stojanovic 6-3/6-0 to advance to the AO 3rd Round for the nineteenth straight time in Melbourne. The last -- and only -- time she didn't win at least two matches at the season's first major came in her debut appearance in 1998.

...#9 Petra Kvitova didn't have nearly as good a day as Serena, though.



Sorana Cirstea outlasted the Czech, taking a 6-4 1st set, then seemingly losing that control in the 2nd (falling down 4-0 and losing 6-1) before reasserting herself in the 3rd with an early break (2-0) and never looking back.



#17 Elena Rybakina wasn't so lucky, either, falling 4 & 4 to Fiona Ferro, who reaches the 3rd Round for the third time in her last four majors. Meanwhile, a year after notching her first career slam MD win in Melbourne, Rybakina is still looking for her major breakout. A seven-time tour finalist (2-5) since the start of 2019, through six career majors she's gone 5-6.

...in her match-up with qualifier Sara Errani, 40-year old Venus Williams arrived with her left knee strapped, then when down 5-1 in the 1st badly rolled her right ankle. Hobbling across the court and whimpering in pain (Errani, in quite the opposite reaction to her slam match last year vs. an injured Kiki Bertens, called for someone to help her), Williams eventually made her way to the changeover area, where she was taped up while wiping away tears (so you know how badly it hurt).



Venus didn't retire, though (she's only done so once in her long slam career). She came back out and played through it, but there wasn't much left to see, other than Williams' steadfast refusal to quite (which I guess *is* quite something to watch, on some level). Errani won 6-1/6-0 to reach her first AO 3rd Round since 2015.

...the big guns come out at night on Day 3, as #2 Simona Halep faces Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic on MCA in the evening session, while #3 Naomi Osaka gets Caroline Garcia on Laver.

...at the Melbourne Wheelhcair Open, #1 Diede de Groot and #2 Yui Kamiji have won through to set up yet another meeting in yet another singles final. Yesterday in doubles, de Groot & Aniek Van Koot avenged their loss to Kamiji & Momoko Ohtani in last week's Victorian Open, winning a 7-5 3rd set to advance to the final. Today the pair defeated KJ. Montjane & Lucy Shuker 6-2/6-3 in the final.





...TRYING (LIKELY IN VAIN) TO CLEAN UP ONE FINAL (well, for now) MESS ON DAY 3:



...LIKE ON DAY 3:



...LIKE ON DAY 3:



John Cain Arena, by the way, is what was formerly called Hisense Arena, as well as Melbourne Arena.

...TIMELESS SU-WEI ON DAY 3:



...LIKE ON DAY 3:







Come now, you didn't think I was going to do a "Six Degress of David Bowie" series and now mention Jordis Unga, did you? She's sort of becoming the AO "And Finally..." version of Ace Frehley and "New York Groove" at the U.S. Open (and La Divine at RG?), after all.

The Minnesotan gained fans for life with some of her performances in the "Rock Star: INXS" singing competiton show on CBS, most notably Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World."




Singing Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box"...




23 at the time, Unga finished fifth in the 15-singer field. In 2012, with a different look, she was on "The Voice," reaching the quarterfinals. Here's her debut there, singing "Alone"...



When Bowie died, Unga posted this new reprise of her "The Man Who Sold the World" cover...



Unga appears to now be singing with a band in New York, though I'm not sure how *that* is going under the (still) current circumstances. Here's a video of her singing "A Bridge over Troubled Water" last March at the start of the pandemic...



To be continued...














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*SERENA WILLIAMS at THE SLAMS - Rd.-by-Rd.*
76-1...1st Round ['12 RG: Razzano]
73-2...2nd Round ['98 AO Venus; '14 RG Muguruza; '20 RG Pironkova w/o]
62-10..3rd Round * [in '21 AO 3rd]
53-8...4th Round ['18 RG walkover to Sharapova]
39-14...QF
33-6...SF [Venus '00, Henin-H. '03, Clijsters '09, Vinci '15, Ka.Pliskova '16, Azarenka '20]
23-10..F [Venus '01, Sharapova '04, Venus '08, Stosur '11, Kerber '16, Muguruza '16, Kerber '18, Osaka '18, Halep '19, Andreescu '19]
==
70-25 in slam three-setters
AO: 16-8
RG: 18-8
WI: 19-4
US: 17-5
==
WHEN LOSES 1st SET IN SLAM: 44-42

*VENUS WILLIAMS SLAM FINISHES*
1st: 15
2nd: 10
3rd: 13
4th: 11
QF: 16
SF: 7
RU: 9
W: 7

*MOST CAREER GRAND SLAM MD APPEARANCES - WOMEN*
88 - Venus Williams *
77 - Serena Williams *
71 - Francesca Schiavone
71 - Amy Frazier
69 - Svetlana Kuznetsova *
67 - Martina Navratilova
64 - Conchita Martinez
63 - Ai Sugiyama
[CONSECUTIVE SLAM MD APPEARANCES]
62 - Ai Sugiyama
61 - Francesca Schiavone
56 - Alize Cornet [active streak]
56 - Jelena Jankovic



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TOP QUALIFIER: Francesca Jones/GBR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Whitney Osuigwe/USA def. #22 Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU 2-6/7-6(1)/6-2 (trailed 6-2/5-2)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Naomi Osaka/JPN (def. Pavlyuchenkova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #23 Angelique Kerber/GER (1st Rd.-Pera/USA)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Olga Danilovic/SRB, Mayar Sherif/EGY, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS, Nina Stojanovic/SRB
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2r: Babos(L), Danilovic, Errani(W), Juvan, Marino(L), Samsonova(L), Sherif (LL: Schmiedlova-2r)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 2r: Gavrilova, Stosur
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: In 2r: Barty, Gavrilova, Tomljanovic, Stosur
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT (TBD): xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Marino (first GS win in 10 yrs.), Andreescu (return after 15 months), Gavrilova, Errani
CRASH & BURN: xx
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominee: Vondrousova (1r- down 6-2/3-1 vs. Peterson)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: nominees: return of the AUS tennis fans; "The Dasha Show" reboot; dash.lets
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: [jr. event to be held later in '21]





All for Day 3. More tomorrow.
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