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Monday, August 30, 2021

US.1- Still Forever Simona

Contrary to previous reports, or at least it's seemed that way as she's been little more than a tour-level ghost for much of the season, Simona Halep is indeed alive and well in New York City.



So, you'd think that 2020 would be the season that will live in infamy in the career of Halep. After all, after back-to-back seasons of winning a major, and four straight in which she appeared in a slam final, the Romanian was forced off the tour due to the pandemic and decided to skip the U.S. Open, her first entirely missed slam in her decade-long pro career. She didn't even get the chance to defend her Wimbledon title, with the event cancelled for the first time since World War II.

But even in 2020 Halep won three titles, including a big one in Rome, reached a slam semi (AO) and finished the year at #2, her *seventh* straight year of finishing in the Top 2 in the year-end rankings. 2021 has seen none of that.

After a QF run in Melbourne, an opening stretch during which Halep started the year at 6-2, she hasn't reached a final this season (if she doesn't in '21, it'll be the first time since prior to her tour debut campaign in '10) and arrived in New York having played just ten matches since Melbourne, and only two since mid-May. A calf injury cost her Roland Garros (she'd never missed it) and (again) a chance to defend her '19 Wimbledon crown, causing her her to miss back-to-back slams for the first time ever. She also pulled out of yet another Olympics. After having at one time seemed to be a medal away from crossing off every item on her list of career goals, with Zika leading to her skipping Rio in '16, should Halep decide to play in Paris in '24 it'll be her only Olympic appearance other than a 1st Round exit in 2012, which was a year before she'd even won her maiden tour singles title.

Arguably, this season of the most successful female Romanian tennis player ever hasn't even ranked in the Top 5 of all her countrywomen in 2021. Sorana Cirstea and Gabriela Ruse have both reached a pair of WTA finals, going 1-1, and Irina-Camelia Begu just played in another this past weekend. Ana Bogdan, Mihaela Buzarnescu and Jaqueline Cristian have all won more matches than Halep. After a stunning 373-week run in the Top 10, eighth-best all-time in tour history and the longest WTA run in the 2000's, earlier this month Halep's prolonged absence knocked her out of such elite status for the first time since January 2014. The #12 seed next to her name in this U.S. Open draw is the lowest she's had in a major since her 2013 trip to New York (#21).

Ah, New York. The U.S. Open has never really been Halep's friend. I mean, how could it be when its draw does things such as, in recent years, hand her 1st Round opponents like a returning Maria Sharapova (2017) and giant killer Kaia Kanepi (2018). Halep's last three trips to Flushing Meadows resulted in 1st, 1st and 2nd Round (Taylor Townsend) exits. And then this time she was handed Montreal champ Camila Giorgi in the opener. Sheesh.

While Halep has been having a forgettable year, the Italian just had her career moment in Quebec, winning a WTA 1000 crown after never before reaching a QF in her previous 37 MD appearances in such events. At #71, she'd been the second lowest-ranked champion at that tournament level ever, behind only a #80-ranked Serena Williams in one of "those years" (2011 Toronto). But while that result provided tangible proof of what Giorgi is capable of -- including wins over three Top 20 players, as well as Coco Gauff and Jessie Pegula -- after years of supporting anecdotal evidence, history has shown the Italian to not be able to maintain such a high level for long, especially on the slam stage. She'd been dispatched quickly by Pegula a week later in Cincinnati, and in her last eight majors has had just one 3rd Round, four 2nd Round and three 1st Rounds exits. Her only second week run at a slam has been a Round of 16 at Wimbledon three years ago. Was Montreal a "one-off," or the start of something big? Giorgi had a chance to make it the latter today against a match-lite Halep.

But Simona is still Simona. At least for now at this Open.



Giorgi never fell into a hole in the match, but Halep was always in a farily comfortable position even while having played far, far less tennis while the Italian has totaled up a 16-5 mark the last two months. At 4-4 in the 1st set, Giorgi's double-fault handed Halep the first BP in the match. The Romanian grabbed the lead, then served out the set at love, closing with two aces, giving her four in a set in which she won 88% of her first serve points.

Giorgi had her first BP chance at 1-0 in the 2nd, but Halep rallied to hold, then broke for a 3-2 lead. She served for the match at 5-4, but immediately her lack of match toughness showed. She fell behind 15/40, and though she saved a BP with an ace she dropped the game as her first serve abandoned her. Halep broke Giorgi again and once more served for the match at 6-5, only to again be broken and forced into a tie-break. She won it 7-3 to avoid the extension of her U.S. Open "curse," but whether Halep's game and health are in the position to keep things going for long is an open guess.



But, at least for a couple more days, the chants of "Si-mo-na" are alive again, figuratively (for sure) and maybe literally, on the WTA tour. They've been missed.




=DAY 1 NOTES=
...while Halep had the first opportunity to be the first woman through to the 2nd Round, serving up 5-4 in the 2nd, lucky loser Kristina Kucova, ironically, ultimately became the maiden winner at this U.S. Open. Up a set and 5-1 against Ann Li at the same time that Halep was trying to serve out the win, the Slovak finished off her opponent while the Romanian was made to work a little overtime. The two will face off in the 2nd Round.



...#9 seed Garbine Muguruza hasn't gotten a lot of play in tennis title contender chatter in recent months after seeing the momentum from her good '21 start halted due to injury issues. She reached three finals in her first five events this season, including the Doha/Dubai desert double (winning the latter), while compiling an 18-4 record. Coming into this Open she'd gone 13-9 since, and was just 1-2 on North American hard courts following her Olympic QF. She hasn't reached a semifinal since March.

Today she faced off with Donna Vekic, herself back from injury and with Muguruza's old coach (Sam Sumyk) in her corner. In a match that maybe the Spaniard would have lost if *she* were still linked to Sumyk (at the very least, things would have been far more dramatic... and not in a good way), Muguruza prevailed in a pair of tie-break sets.



Muguruza rallied from a break down (4-2) in the 1st, winning a 7-4 TB, then saw Vekic rally from a break down (5-2) in the 2nd to force another breaker. The Spaniard won that one 7-5.

Muguruza hasn't had much success in NYC, advancing past the 3rd Round just once ('17 4r) in her previous eight appearances. In fact, she needs a decent result here to salvage what has been a fully disappointing season in the majors. Back at the start of the year, when she was amongst the hottest players on tour, Muguruza reached the AO Round of 16 and held two MP vs. eventual champ Naomi Osaka. She was subsequently dumped out in the 1st and 3rd Rounds in Paris and London.

...while there have been a load of potential First Seed Out contenders (due to lingering injuries) that have chosen to save themselves the potential disappointment by simply deciding not to play the final slam of the year, *someone* had to be the first woman saddled with a number by her name to be sent packing. It turned out to be #31 Yulia Putintseva.

No shame, though, since the Kazakh was felled by a player -- Kaia Kanepi -- who would likely be considered an "old pro" at such big stage upsets, including a win over then-#1 Halep at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and #4 Sofia Kenin in the AO 2nd Rond this year. The 36-year old Estonian, a six-time slam quarterfinalist (two U.S.: 2010 & '17), took out Putintseva 2-6/7-6(4)/6-2.



...meanwhile, four years after they met in the final at Flushing Meadows, unseeded Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys faced off in the 1st Round today. Coming in a combined 26-27 on the year, both were in need of a win. While Keys, as is often the case when she's healthy enough to get on the court and give a good account of her talents, was often in control of the action but, as is also often the case, she wasn't able to carry her power through to a victory.

Stephens broke for a 6-5 lead in the 3rd set, only to drop serve a game later and head to a deciding TB. There Stephens grabbed a mini-break lead at 3-2, only to lose three consecutive points. The back and forth continued, but Keys never reached MP, while Stephens did three different times. After failing to put away 6-5 and 7-6 points, Stephens finally prevailed when Keys pulled a shot outside the lines to end the 9-7 TB.



...there have been a lot of goodbyes centering around Carla Suarez Navarro in recent months, but that she's around to give a wave is the story, not the match results in her return to the tour for a farewell spin about surviving her bout with cancer.

Today the Spaniard fell to #26 Danielle Collins in straight sets. CSN held at love in what will be the final service game of her slam career, then saw Collins serve out the win. Collins held an enormous lead in winners (41-5) and posted 10 aces to none for CSN.



As it is, the Spaniard closes up the book on her slam career with a combined 86-48 mark (21-13 at the U.S.) with seven QF runs at the four majors (3/2/0/2) along with four Top 10 wins (from Venus in '09 in Melbourne to Garcia in NYC three years ago).



...there's a reason why Angelique Kerber is a future Hall of Famer. We saw a bit of it today as the #16 seed, the '16 U.S. champ, prevailed over her 21-year old Ukrainian opponent in three tough sets, staging a comeback from 5-3 down in the 3rd that highlighted the 33-year old's continued fight and still-elite defensive skills while showing that Dayana Yastremska, for all her big shots and talent, still hasn't quite found her mark. Of course, it doesn't help when much of your mostly-left-dangling season has been consumed with fighting a suspension over a failed drug test and overcoming a positive Covid diagnosis. Maybe one of these days she'll get settled and be able to rise to her appropriate level on tour.

Kerber, back in the Top 20 after putting together a great grass season and SF run at Wimbledon (after 1st Round AO & RG exits), looked about to become the Second Seed Out at this slam when Yastremska moved to within a game of the win. But the German vet held for 5-4 and put pressure squarely on the youngster's shoulder (or, in 2021 language, "how dare she... doesn't show know that's not good for her?").

With the match on her racket, a string of inopportunely-timed errors began to fly off Yastremska's sometimes-lethal weapon. She was broken at 15 for 5-5. Two games later, Kerber wasn't able to put the match away, though, as a single loose error of her own opened a door for Yastremska as the score was leveled at 30-all. Yastremska held to force a deciding TB, where Kerber played it like a pro, surging to a 5-1 lead and holding off Yastremska when she threatened to put on a mini-run. At 5-3, needing to get to MP (as surely Yastremska wouldn't go three straight points without an error in such a tight moment), Kerber finally got to 6 with the aid of, yes, an error from her opponent. When the umpire called another Yastremska shot long a point later, Kerber had won the 2:25 contest 3-6/6-4/7-6(3).



Yastremska's 57 unforced errors (vs. 42 winners) proved a deciding factor, as Kerber's more close-to-the-vest, defensive effort (6/20) won out in a match in which there was just a five-point difference (103-98) over the 32 games.

...wheelchair tennis action has already been underway over the past few days in Tokyo, with the events sets to wrap up in time for the rollers to, well, roll (after flying, of course) into New York next week to participate in the first-ever Paralympic/U.S. Open back-to-back. World #1 (and reigning '21 AO, RG and SW19 champ) Diede de Groot is still on course to become the sport's first Golden Slam winner, and is currently riding a 21-match winning streak. Meawhile, home star Yui Kamiji has thus far dropped just one game through her first two matches.



Seven of the top eight seeds have reached the singles QF, with only #6 KG Montjane being upset by China's Wang Ziying (the world #26, making her first tournament appearance since the start of the pandemic last year) in the 2nd Round. In the doubles semis, #1 de Groot/Van Koot are set to face the #5-seeded Japanese duo of Kamiji (who helped light the cauldron at the opening ceremonies) & Momoko Ohtani (who'll also face de Groot in the singles quarters).



...with 32 women's 1st Round matches scheduled for Monday (more and more, I'm liking the three-day 1st Round format of RG, just not the Sunday start), today was destined to go *way* long and likely late, so I'm just going to pull up stakes here.

Defending champ Naomi Osaka is set to make her '21 Open debut under the lights on Ashe tonight against Marie Bouzkova, FWIW.

It's not an "easy" match by definition, but the Czech has seemingly been bothered by injury of late, so the "closeness" of the contest may already be in jeopardy. At any rate, I'm sure Osaka will say something immediately deemed to be "inspiring" in the aftermath, win or "lose," and will then be given a figurative table-full of orange slices and participation ribbons on social media for having the strength to walk out on court.




*PARALYMPIC WHEELCHAIR SINGLES QF*
#1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. #5 Momoko Ohtani/JPN
#4 Jordanne Whiley/GBR vs. #8 Dana Mathewson/USA
Wang Ziying/CHN vs. #3 Aniek Van Koot/NED
#7 Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

*PARALYMPIC WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SF*
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED) vs. #3 Kamiji/Ohtani (JPN)
Wang/Zhu (CHN) vs. #2 Shuker/Whiley (GBR)







...STILL A SIGN O' THE TIMES... ON DAY 1:




...HMMM, SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE'S TRYING TO GET ANOTHER MAGAZINE COVER, OR A DAYTIME TALK SHOW, OR A WELLNESS-BASED PODCAST, OR A BOOK CONTRACT, OR CONSTANT VALIDATION FROM ALL CORNERS 24/7 (or, you know, all of that)... ON DAY 1:



I suppose one should add, "Fulfill all your job's press obligations? You're a champion." to that list, too, right? Granted, the comment comes off as a bit less self-serving in full context... but once one reads the entire thing you wonder if she might have to withdraw with a sore arm from patting herself on the back a bit too hard.




...RADKA & JESSIE ON DAY 1:




...AH, BUT HOW MANY SOULS DID THEY CASUALLY TAKE WITH THEM?... ON DAY 1:




...WHAT STARTED OUT AS A GREAT SEASON FOR THE AO FINALIST HAS SINCE TAKEN A BAD TURN... ON DAY 1:



Ostapenko and Konta also withdrew today. As of now, the women's draw has added *SIX* lucky losers.



...LIKE ON DAY 1:

Getting good notions about the "Wonder Years" reboot. The choice of Don Cheadle as the voiceover character is *genius.* I'd watch it just for that. (Well, for a while, anyway.)








It’s that time again. Time for a new WTA “fake marketing campaign.”

As I’ve noted for quite a while, the tour has been woeful beyond reason when it’s come to finding creative (let alone entertaining) ways to market the world’s top women’s professional sports organization, populated by some of the most recognizable faces in sport (female or otherwise), which usually sees its deep pool of talent and high level of competition hit its peak during the year’s very biggest events.

It shouldn’t be *so hard* a task, but the WTA has generally seemed incapable of even a modest success when it’s come to highlighting the engines that make it go -- the athletes.

After years of falling back on pretty pictures and dress-up photoshoots -- which weren’t bad in their own right, only repetitive after multiple campaigns, each one indistinguishable from the last -- the tour’s last two marketing campaign attempts have taken the angle of trying to inject a level of seriousness and purpose into the brand with its #ItTakesWTA and #WTAForTheGame slogans, two essentially interchangeable marketing pushes that told us that world class athletes value things like “courage” and “intensity” (we know because the campaigns literally connected a series of “strong” words -- such as “courage” and “intensity” -- to social media posts featuring individual players) and strive for success for reasons other than simply fame and money. Well, isn’t that special?



I suppose it’s an admirable, though dreadfully boring, way to go. But it’s hardly the sort of thing that would grow the appeal if the women’s game or pull in anyone who isn’t *already* watching the WTA tour. And isn’t breaking “beyond the bubble” the whole raison d'être for a marketing campaign in the first place?

Both campaigns, as they should have, died quick deaths. The 2019 #ItTakes was so D.O.A. that by the end of that season the tour was already seeking a new campaign to replace it to be debuted in 2020. The pandemic delayed the launch of a full “rebrand” (which at least produced an upgraded tour logo) until December. The accompanying #ForTheGame marketing campaign was so bad -- even *worse* than #ItTakes, as hard as it was to imagine, even though or maybe *because* it was an identical campaign different in hashtag only -- that it immediately evaporated into the social media ether and was gone not only before the season began in January, but was essentially judged to be irrelevant mush by the end of the following weekend just a few days later. It was a record-setting disaster.

Imagine, a marketing firm (Landor Australia) was actually contracted and compensated for such drivel. Of course, at this point, the fault likely has to be placed on the tour itself, which seems at a loss when it comes to selling a group of multi-generational players with an array of interesting personalities and backstories who often (without the tour lifting a finger) become viral social media stars (Hsieh Su-wei...hello), cultural and national inspirations, and even international conversation-starting figures (Serena, Naomi, etc.) all on their own.

Not long after the tour’s latest marketing debacle, whether there was any actual link or not, this past January the WTA and ATP, in the tour’s own words, “transitioned to an integrated marketing operation, building on unprecedented collaboration between the tours over the past 18 months. Under the alignment, key leadership roles across social media, digital and branding are now responsible for maximizing engagement through joint storytelling and creating efficiencies on key projects. Collaboration across commercial and communications over the same period has further leveraged the unique appeal of both Tours.”

The most recent result of ths collaboration is the “Tennis United: CrossCourt” project that “goes behind the scenes of life on tour through a series of intimate one-on-one conversations between WTA and ATP stars.”



Whether or not this marks any sort of end to the sort of large scale WTA-focused marketing pushes that have failed so miserably in the past, while the partnership may help the sport’s visibility as a whole, it’s hard not to see -- on some level -- the women’s tour’s “joining forces” with the marketing arm of the men’s tour (which is getting, umm, *what* sort of expertise -- or even a modest level of competence -- from its WTA counterparts?) as something of an act of admitting a shortcoming. A throwing up of hands and “giving up,” if you will.

If the women’s tour can’t market itself without a helping hand from its “big brother,” then what does that say about the WTA? Surely nothing in the area of the talk of “equality” and indendence that fans, former stars and most players often push for on the public stage.

I’m just sayin’.

At any rate, dissatisfied with the lack of effort from the tour itself, in recent years I’ve developed a habit of using my own “marketing slogans” for use on Backspin, from “The Most Interesting Tour in the World” to “They Got the Beat” (tied to a WTA theme song: the Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat”).



Truthfully, I’ve gotten tired of looking at the various logos I’ve used the last two years, so I thought it was time for a “refresh.”

I considered something connected to the Cyndi Lauper song “True Colors,” but it felt a little too serious for my purposes, as well as a bit too on-the-nose with the tour’s rainbow logo and altered website/social media designs during LGBT Pride Month in June, something which the tour *did* handle quite well (and with which something utilizing “True Colors” as a theme song *would* work great with, by the way).



Ultimately, going the route I followed a while back when I did the WTA Theme Song series during the ’19 U.S. Open, I settled on... Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” as the centerpiece of my little fake marketing campaign.



I actually latched onto some of the video images from that song as far back as 2016, using Angelique Kerber as a stand-in for Palmer, with Karolina Pliskova as the model for the army of identical dancers forming a wall behind him.



I’m going to post my ideas for a series of WTA ads each day in this “And Finally...” space for the remainder of the U.S. Open, but I’ll start today with an “introductory video,” aka the song’s lyrics along with notes on the sequence of WTA images that could be used as various sections of “Simply Irresistible” are heard (and broken up into smaller sequences for shorter, 30-60 second ads).

So...

(I’d suggest maybe listening to the song play as you read along with the words/”images”)


BLACK SCREEN

We hear the familiar opening notes of “Simply Irresistible” -- “Duh-da-duh-da-da, duh-duh-da-da-da-da, do-do-daahh-daahh”...

FADE IN:

The opening of the iconic music video of the song, with Robert Palmer, dressed in a suit and tie, grasping a microphone as he sings the opening lyrics while backed by a wall of identically-dressed, nearly indentical-looking models swaying in rhythm with the music. He begins to sing the opening lyrics of the song.

ROBERT PALMER
How can it be...

The image shifts to Angelique Kerber, dressed in her tennis outfit, grasping a microphone as she lip-syncs the words over Palmer’s voice while backed by a wall of Pliskovas moving side to side in unison.

ANGELIQUE KERBER (lip-synching)
permissable?

Kerber winks to the audience as she completes the line. As the music continues, Kerber stares, ala Palmer in the original video, directly at the camera with a mischevious grin on her face.

KERBER (lip-synching)
She compromise my principle, yeah yeah

As she completes the lyric, a series of video and images of WTA players flash across the screen, in time with the music and lyrics (with occasional cuts back to both Palmer and Kerber performing on stage, as well as the Pliskovas, between the shots of WTA action)...

That kind of love is mythical (as Venus does a victory twirl and waves to fans)
She's anything but typical (an Iga tweener)
She's a craze you'd endorse, she's a powerful force (Serena fires aces past helpless opponents)
You're obliged to conform when there's no other course (Navratilova & King animated discussion in Royal Box)
She used to look good to me, but now I find her (Williams opponent concedes)
[in time with the music, Serena is shown lifting various slam title trophies]
Simply irresistible (Palmer)
Simply irresistible (Kerber)
Her loving is so powerful, huh (Muguruza forehand winner)
It's simply unavoidable (Stephens’ wide-eyed reaction to U.S. open prize money)
The trend is irreversible (McCoco leap and bump hips)
The woman is invincible (a Kvitova “Pojd!” moment)
She's a natural law, and she leaves me in awe (Andreescu wins U.S. Open)
She deserves the applause, I surrender because (Kasatkina hits leaping backhand down the line)
She used to look good to me, but now I find her (Halep slides into shot on clay)
Simply irresistible (Kerber)
Simply irresistible (Palmer)
Simply irresistible (Kerber)
(She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went) (images of Osaka ads & magazine covers)
Simply irresistible (Sakkari and Putintseva celebrations)
(She's all mine, there's no other way to go) (Barty to knees after Wimbledon win)
She's unavoidable, I'm backed against the wall (Cornet falls then scrambles to her feet)
She gives me feelings that I never felt before (Krejcikova looks to sky)
I'm breaking promises, she's breaking every law (Svitolina fist, Sabalenka roar)
She used to look good to me, but now I find her (Karolina Pliskova’s bended-waist, clenched fist celebration)
Simply irresistible (one of the swaying Pliskovas smiles at the camera)
(She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went) (shots of fans rising to their feet in the stands)
Simply irresistible (Petkovic dances)
(She's all mine, there's no other way to go) (Bencic falls, then hits shot from ground)
[Kerber leans back-to-back with one of the Pliskovas, who plays a mean guitar]
Her methods are inscrutable (crazy Hsieh shot)
The proof is irrefutable, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh (Hsieh smiles during on-court interview)
She's so completely kissable, huh (Badosa kisses clay)
Our lives are indivisible, yeah yeah (Barty celebrates with team)
She's a craze you'd endorse, she's a powerful force (classic Serena shots)
You're obliged to conform when there's no other course (Jabeur sinks to knees upon first title)
Well she used to look good to me, but now I find her (Halep kisses Wimbledon plate.)
Simply irresistible (Palmer)
(She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went) (various recent slam-winning moments and trophy lifts...not Ostapenko)
Simply irresistible (Kerber)
(She's all mine, there' no other way to go) (Ostapenko smirk, then Ostapenko lifting Coupe Lenglen)
Simply irresistible (Palmer)
(She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went) (Krejcikova/Siniakova timed leap w/ trophies)
Simply irresistible (Kerber)
(She's all mine, there's no other way to go) (Mladenovic celebrates winning Fed Cup title w/ Garcia and French team)
Simply irresistible (Original 9 raise a toast as the final note of music -- and "cha-ching" sound -- is heard)


In complete silence, Kerber smiles and drops the mic. As she does, the swaying Pliskovas all stop simultaneously -- as if their collective power cord has been cut -- and their chins immediately fall to their chests. Kerber’s footsteps can be heard as she walks away and the screen FADES TO WHITE

The WTA LOGO appears on screen, followed by, in lowercase letters (with a period), “simply irresistible.” The hashtag #WTAsimplyirresistible" then appears alone on the screen.



FADE OUT.


Or something like that.

To be continued...

















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**U.S. OPEN "FIRST VICTORY"**
2009 Vania King, USA (def. Yakimova)
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA (def. Morita)
2011 Monica Niculescu, ROU (def. Mayr-Achleitner)
2012 Anna Tatishvili, GEO (def. Foretz-Gacon)
2013 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP (def. Davis)
2014 Aga Radwanska, POL (def. Fichman)
2015 Mariana Duque, COL (def. Kenin)
2016 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR (def. Falconi)
2017 Kristyna Pliskova, USA (def. Eguchi)
2018 Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)
2019 Ana Bogdan, ROU (def. Dart)
2020 Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (def. Minnen)
2021 Kristina Kucova, SVK (def. Li)
[2021]
AO: Naomi Osaka, JPN (def. Pavlyuchenkova) = W
RG: Ana Bogdan, ROU (def. Cocciaretto) = 3rd Rd.
WI: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (def. Niculescu) = SF

**U.S. OPEN "FIRST SEED OUT"**
2005 #28 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Schruff)
2006 #15 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER (Rezai)
2007 #29 Samantha Stosur, AUS (Cornet)
2008 #24 Shahar Peer, ISR (Li)
2009 #25 Kaia Kanepi, EST (K.Chang)
2010 #8 Li Na, CHN (K.Bondarenko)
2011 #5 Petra Kvitova, CZE (Dulgheru)
2012 #27 Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP (Hradecka)
2013 #29 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Mayr-A.)
2014 #25 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (Lucic-Baroni)
2015 #7 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (Cibulkova)
2016 #30 Misaki Doi, JPN (Witthoeft)
2017 #32 Lauren Davis, USA (Kenin)
2018 #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Q.Wang)
2019 #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (Jabeur)
2020 #32 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (Flipkens)
2021 #31 Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (Kanepi)
[2021]
AO: #23 Angelique Kerber, GER (Pera)
RG: #26 Angelique Kerber, GER (Kalinina)
WI: #10 Petra Kvitova, CZE (Stephens)

**2021 SLAM LUCKY LOSERS w/ MD WINS**
AO: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, SVK (2nd Rd.)
WI: Kristie Ahn, USA (2nd Rd.)
US: Kristina Kucova, SVK
US: Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS

**BACKSPIN 2021 WTA PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN/FEB: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
AO: Naomi Osaka, JPN
FEB (post-AO): Iga Swiatek, POL
MAR/APR: Ash Barty, AUS
1Q...OSAKA
APR: Ash Barty, AUS
MAY: Iga Swiatek, POL
RG: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
2Q Clay Court...KREJCIKOVA
JUN: Alona Ostapenko, LAT
WI: Ash Barty, AUS
2Q Grass Court...BARTY
JUL: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
OL: Belinda Bencic, SUI
AUG (pre-U.S.): Ash Barty, AUS
[2021 Weekly POW Award Wins]
5 - Ash Barty, AUS
3 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
2 - Danielle Collins, USA
2 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
2 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Iga Swiatek, POL

**BACKSPIN 2021 WHEELCHAIR PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN: Diede de Groot, NED
AO: Diede de Groot, NED
MAR/APR: Aniek Van Koot, NED
1Q...DE GROOT
APR/MAY: Diede de Groot, NED
RG: Diede de Groot, NED
2Q Clay Court...DE GROOT
JUN: Yui Kamiji, JPN
WI: Diede de Groot, NED
2Q Grass Court...DE GROOT
JUL: Diede de Groot, NED
PARA: TBD
[2021 Weekly WC POW Award Wins]
7 - Diede de Groot, NED
3 - Yui Kamiji, JPN
1 - Jiske Griffioen, NED
1 - Aniek Van Koot, NED

**BACKSPIN 2021 ITF PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN: Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
FEB: Clara Tauson, DEN
MAR/ARP: Linda Noskova, CZE
1Q...TAUSON
APR: Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
MAY: Weronika Falkowska, POL
2Q Clay Court...KALININA
JUN: Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL
2Q Grass Court...VAN UYTVANCK
JUL: Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
AUG: Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP
[2021 Weekly ITF POW Award Wins]
4 - Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
3 - Linda Noskova, CZE
2 - Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
2 - Weronika Falkowska, POL
2 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
2 - Yuliya Hatouka, BLR
2 - Claire Liu, USA
2 - Rebeka Masarova, ESP
2 - Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP
2 - Nastasja Schunk, GER
2 - Clara Tauson, DEN






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TOP QUALIFIER: Rebecca Marino/CAN (first US MD since '11)
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Katie Boulter/GBR def. #8 Kristina Kucova/SVK 7-5/2-6/6-4 (from break down at 4-2, wins final 4 games to reach first U.S. Open MD)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Kristina Kucova/SVK (def. Li/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Yulia Putintseva/KAZ (1st Rd./lost to Kanepi)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: 1r wins: xx
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
CRASH & BURN: xx
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: xx
IT ("xx"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Danilovic (LL: Kucova, Rakhimova)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: xx
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: xx
BROADWAY-BOUND: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx







All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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