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Sunday, August 1, 2021

Wk.27- She Got the Beat...and the Gold

Belinda, the Swiss who didn't miss (her chance).








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*WEEK 27 CHAMPIONS*
TOKYO OLYMPICS (Hard Court Outdoor)
WS Gold: Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Marketa Vondrousova/CZE 7-5/2-6/6-3
WS Bronze: Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Elena Rybakina/KAZ 1-6/7-6(5)/6-4
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WD Gold: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (CZE) def. Belinda Bencic/Viktorija Golubic (SUI) 7-5/6-1
WD Bronze: Laura Pigossi/Luisa Stefani (BRA) def. Veronika Kudermetova/Elena Vesnina (ROC) 4-6/6-4 [11-9]
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MX Gold: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Andrey Rublev (ROC) def. Elena Vesnina/Aslan Karatsev (ROC) 6-3/6-7(5) [13-11]
MX Bronze: Ash Barty/John Peers (AUS) def. Nina Stojanovic/Novak Djokovic (SRB) walkover
CHARLESTON, USA (WTA 125/Green Clay Outdoor)
S: Varvara Lepchenko/USA def. Jamie Loeb/USA 7-6(4)/4-6/6-4
D: Liang En-shuo/Rebecca Marino (TPE/CAN) def. Erin Routliffe/Aldila Sutjiadi (NZL/INA) 5-7/7-5 [10-7]
BELGRADE, SERBIA (WTA 125/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK def. Arantxa Rus/NED 6-3/6-3
D: Olga Govortsova/Lidziya Marozava (BLR/BLR) def. Alena Fomina/Ekaterina Yashina (RUS/RUS) 6-2/6-2


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...Bencic arrived in Tokyo having gone 1-3 since reaching the Eastbourne final. She leaves Japan a double Olympic medalist, and the first Swiss woman to win singles Gold.

Even with so many big names forgoing these Summer Olympics, and many of those who did play ultimately losing early (only two of the Final 16 from Rio -- Svitolina and Muguruza -- repeated the result five years later), Bencic wasn't a good bet to be the last woman standing in Tokyo. But that the 24-year old -- who has often shined with "SUI" literally or figuratively on her clothing in the past, be it in Fed or Hopman Cup -- was once again able to live up to her early-career (and sometimes mid-career, as well, when her momentum hasn't been slowed by injury) promise doesn't even come close to being as surprising as what we saw at the *last* Olympics when Monica Puig stunned the field all the way to the top step of the medal stand.

At these Olympics, #9-seed Bencic took out both Roland Garros finalists (Barbora Krejcikova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) in three sets, then rallied from six SP down in the 1st, a set and a break deficit and in the 2nd and 3-0 hole in the 3rd in her semifinal against Elena Rybakina. In the Gold final against Marketa Vondrousova, Bencic competed well, quickly recovering from an early break, and acted strategically (albeit in eyebrow-raisingly fashion, though she did nothing wrong by the rules) when she took a MTO up 4-3 in the 3rd (with Vondrousova set to serve after the changeover break) to have her big toe taped up for the (likely) final 15-20 minutes left in the match. The quick break of serve she grabbed against the suddenly (hmmm...) error-prone Czech provided Bencic with the edge she never relinquished as she became the ninth consecutive different woman to win the Olympic singles Gold starting with Steffi Graf's Golden Slam season victory in Seoul.

But Bencic wasn't finished, as she'd already become the fourth player (after Venus '00, Serena '12 and Nicolas Massu '04) since '88 to reach both the singles and doubles Gold finals at the same Olympics. Unfortunately for her, she didn't join those other three in completing a Gold medal sweep, falling alongside Viktorija Golubic to top-seeded Czechs Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova.



While the great depth of the Czech women has been well-chronicled over the years, and played out at the last two Olympics as seven different Czechs (even w/ none of them being named Pliskova) have reached the various tennis medal stands, and the steady top-level influence of the U.S. seen in the Games since the sport's return in '88 (though Tokyo proved to be the first without a U.S. tennis medalist), what the Swiss have done as a group is a little remarkable. While players from Switzerland haven't exactly overpopulated the tennis landscape, they've certainly managed to rise to the occasion. With Bencic and Golubic's medal runs in Tokyo, just about every Swiss player of real note over the last thirty years (save for Ms.Schnyder) has had Olympic success, with Marc Rosset, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky all previously having won either Gold or Silver.

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RISERS: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE and Elina Svitolina/UKR
...Vondrousova hasn't necessarily been renowned for her killer instinct, but when it came to these Olympics the Czech was No Mercy Marketa. It payed off quite well, too.



It all started early this season when Vondrousova determined that she would use her protected ranking from her wrist injury not long after she'd reached the 2019 Roland Garros final in order to bolster her chances of making the Olympic field. Though ranked #42, and the fifth-highest standing Czech on tour at the start of the Games, Vondrousova did manage to get into the draw, bumping #23-ranked countrywoman Karolina Muchova from the team roster. Oops... sorry, not sorry.

Once play began, sentimentality wasn't an issue. The Czech ended the retiring Kiki Bertens' singles career with a three-set victory in the 1st Round, then two rounds later sent Japan and social media fave Naomi Osaka packing, as well. In the QF, Vondrousova saw Paula Badosa succumb to the intense heat conditions and retire in the 2nd set, then she sent newlywed Elina Svitolina out in short order in the semis, allowing just four games to become the first Czech woman to reach the Olympic Gold medal singles final.

With the chance to become the lowest-ranked Olympic women's singles champ (Monica Puig was #34 in Rio), Vondrousova dropped the opening set (broken in game #12 for 7-5) to Belinda Bencic, but rallied to take the 2nd, as well as a break lead to open the 3rd. The two were on serve well into the final set. But then it was Bencic's own lack of sentimentality, taking a MTO for a seemingly relatively minor ailment when up 4-3 with Vondrousova next to serve, that provided the Swiss' final cushion for victory. After the long wait, Vondrousova contributed a handful or errors that immediately put her down love/40 and led to a break of serve. She didn't win another game, as Bencic swept her way to the title.

Still, Vondrousova follows up countrywoman Petra Kvitova's 2016 Bronze with a Silver of her own. Come 2024 in Paris, who knows which Czech will put her name into the mix, possibly for Gold this time around. RG finalist Vondrousova? RG winner Krejcikova? Or maybe even one of the growing pool of Czech teens who threaten to make the nation's depth an extra multi-generational affair?



One never knows what you're going to get from Svitolina, sometimes even in the same event. The gritty comeback artist with the ability to take down anyone on tour (including a *whole* lotta world #1's, though not any recently), or the head-for-the-exit, big stage-averse underachiever who can turn a good week into a demerit with one no-show elimination performance? In Tokyo, we got pretty much *all* that, but in the medal stand format of the Olympics, where 3rd place can feel like 1st, Svitolina got a "second chance" and made the most of it.

Arriving in Japan after having just gotten married in France, changing her social media and everyday life surname but not the one that has come to be her "brand" as a professional athlete on the tennis tour, Svitolina had to win three straight three-set matches -- def. Laura Siegemund, Ajla Tomljanovic and Maria Sakkari -- to avoid an early-exit follow-up to the Rio Games in which she knocked off Serena Williams.

Once #2 seed Osaka fell in the 3rd Round, #4 Svitolina was the highest seeded player to reach the QF. Somewhat surprisingly, the Ukrainian didn't immediately fold up shop once she was given such a view of the rest of the draw, and instead handled Camila Giorgi 4 & 4. She then declared the Olympics to be "equal" to a slam in her mind. Right on cue, Svitolina was then routed in the semis by Vondrousova in her next match.

Ah, but this wasn't a "regular" event, and a loss didn't end her week, as there was still a Bronze medal at stake. Against Elena Rybakina, Svitolina rallied from a set and a break down against the Kazakh, taking a TB to send things to a deciding set, then again staged a comeback from 3-0 down (and two BP for 4-0) in the 3rd, winning 6-4 on her seventh MP to become Ukraine's first tennis medalist.

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SURPRISES: Laura Pigossi/Luisa Stefani, BRA
...the Brazilians did some heavy lifting in Tokyo while becoming the first from their nation to win tennis medals, knocking off #7-seeds Dabrowski/Fichman in the 1st Round, saving four MP and defeating Ka.Pliskova/Vondrousova in a 13-11 MTB, and Mattek-Sands/Pegula in another (10-6). After losing in the semifinals to Bencic/Golubic, Pigossi & Stefani saved four more MP against Kudermetova/Vesnina in the Bronze medal match and took an 11-9 MTB to claim a spot on the medal stand.

Then a Fed/BJK Cup-style celebration broke out.

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VETERANS: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS and Varvara Lepchenko/USA
...2021 has turned out to be quite a year for Pavlyuchenkova. Having already climbed back into the Top 20, the Roland Garros singles finalist put on a good run in Tokyo, as well, reaching the QF with wins over Sara Errani, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Sara Sorribes Tormo. The Russian then took eventual Gold medalist Belinda Bencic to three sets.



But these Olympics will be tied to Pavlyuchenkova's career resume not because of that respectable result, but for her triumph in... mixed doubles. Her unexpected teaming with Andrey Rublev turned into a Gold medal run, as the Russian pair saved a MP in a pair of 13-11 MTB in both the semifinals (vs. Barty Peers) and final (vs. Vesnina/Karatsev). The win brings the Russian Olympic delegation (under whatever name) within a men's doubles title of having won Gold in every tennis event (after Dementieva '08 WS, Kafelnikov '00 MS, and '16 Makarova/Vesnina WD) since 1988.

Neither Pavlyuchenknova nor Rublev seemed to be able to comprehend their Cinderella run, but it's surely something they'll never forget.



In Charleston in one of the two WTA 125 events this week, Lepchenko picked up her biggest career singles title (in her biggest final since reaching the tour-level decider in Seoul in 2014). The 35-year old followed up a semifinal victory over Lauren Davis with a three-set triumph over Jamie Loeb in the final to claim just her third singles crown -- after ITF challenger wins in 2018 and in a $25K this February -- since 2011.

The Bannerette is a former Top 20 player (#19 in '12) who has reached a pair of slam Round of 16's ('12 RG/'15 US) while winning thirteen ITF singles events dating back to 2005..

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COMEBACKS: Elena Vesnina/RUS and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK
...Vesnina's return after becoming a mother hasn't taken long to find its footing. The Russian, a '16 Rio doubles Gold medalist, arrived in Tokyo having already reached the RG mixed (w/ Aslan Karatsev) and WI doubles (w/ Veronika Kudermetova, holding a MP) finals, though she'd been unable to take home the crown in either.

In Tokyo, the veteran expanded her reach, upsetting Alona Ostapenko in singles, the #1 seeds (Mladenovic/Mahut, as well as teams w/ Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic) in MX and the #3 seeds in WD (Bertens/Schuurs), reaching the medal rounds (again with Karatsev and Kudermetova) in both doubles disciplines.



After falling to #1 Krejcikova/Siniakova in the WD semis (via a 10-6 Match TB), Kudermetova/Vesnina fell to Pigossi/Stefani in the Bronze match afer having held four consecutive MP (up 9-5) in the deciding MTB before losing 11-9, then held another MP in the MX Gold final (up 10-9 in another MTB) against Pavlyuchenkova/Rublev before falling 13-11 on Vesnina's 35th birthday.

Afterward, after sometimes playing the upbeat sister role alongside Karatsev (trying but usually failing to get him to smile and/or dance during a changeover) during the week, Vesnina had to correct him during the medal ceremony when he tried to swipe the Gold rather than the Silver.



Meanwhile, in the Belgrade 125 event held this week, Schmiedlova picked up her first singles crown since taking the tour-level Bogota title in 2018. Again ranked outside the Top 100 (#122), the unseeded AKS dropped just one set all week as she defeated Jana Fett, Jule Niemeier (3rd set TB), #1-seeded Anna Blinkova, Rebecca Sramkova and #2-seed Arantxa Rus on her way into the winner's circle. The Slovak will slip back into the Top 100 on Monday.

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FRESH FACE: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...this spring/summer, the Kazakh's game has started to regain some of the glow it had prior to last year's shutdown, reaching the QF at Roland Garros (after def. S.Williams), the Eastbourne semis (def. Svitolina), and Wimbledon Round of 16 (taking Sabalenka to three sets) as she's climbed into the Top 20. But she's still looking for something tangible -- i.e. a title, or medal -- to hold up for her efforts.



In Tokyo, Rybakina reached the semifinals without dropping a set, taking down the likes of Donna Vekic and Garbine Muguruza. Against eventual Gold medalist Belinda Bencic, she held six SP in the 1st before dropping the set, and lost a break lead in the 3rd. In the Bronze match against Elina Svitolina, Rybakina had a set and a break lead, as well as holding a 3-0 advantage in the 3rd before the Ukrainian rallied (with the help of far too many errors off the Kazakh's racket) to become *her* nation's first tennis medalist rather than Rybakina becoming the same for her own.
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DOWN: Kristina Mladenovic/FRA
...while there were many high profile singles losses -- Barty, Osaka, Kvitova, etc. -- prior to the medal rounds, nothing quite tilts as oblong as Mladenovic's combined Olympics.

The Pasty went 0-3 in Tokyo, not only (as expected, though she claimed the 1st set before dropping the 3rd at love in the overheated conditions) dropping her 1st Round match in singles to Paula Badosa, but also in doubles with Caroline Garcia (the duo held a MP vs. Bertens/Schuurs) and mixed alongside Nicolas Mahut (to Vesnina/Karatsev). Overall, Mladenovic is 1-7 in her Olympic career, with the former doubles #1 and seven-time slam winner (5 WD/2 MX) a combined 0-5 in doubles competition.

There was a time when Mladenovic was a much sought after doubles partner, and her success backed up such notions, but in her quest for elusive singles success (she's fallen all the way down to #60, though she *somehow* entered Tokyo as the French #1 -- which is sort of sad for a nation with such a history in the sport -- even while seemingly set to *barely* be overtake by Alize Cornet in the next rankings) she's essentially painted her way into a corner of *no* success.

Mladenovic has pretty much forsaken doubles (even w/ regular partner Timea Babos) in '21, and with her WD Olympic loss is just 4-4 on the year (with all four wins coming in a single event, a final run in Rome with Marketa Vondrousova). From 2018-20, Mladenovic was a combined 90-24 in doubles, including going 17-1 last year, while reaching six slam finals (4-2), winning back-to-back WTAF titles and eight overall tour crowns.
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ITF PLAYER: Ekaterine Gorgodze/GEO
...already on the best run of results in her career after qualifying at Roland Garros and reaching the tour-level Gdynia QF, 29-year old Gorgodze won her ninth straight ITF final (making her 17-14 in her circuit career) with a 7–6(7)/0–6/6–4 win in the $60K Grodzisk Mazowiecki (POL) final over Pastry Chloe Paquet, who'd been playing for her third 2021 crown. Earlier in the week, Gorgodze had defeated young Latvian Daniela Vismane, Greek Despina Papamichail and another French player, Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, who'd started *her* week by dropping that mouthful of a Monday final to Valentini Grammatikopoulou in Gorgodze's native Georgia (Telavi, to be specific).

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JUNIOR STAR: Johanne Christine Svendsen/DEN
...the 17-year old Dane, a junior J1 winner in Barranquilla in March, played in and won her debut professional event in Vejle, Denmark (in the club of her childhood). The girls #53 upset three seeds (#1, #2 and #6) en route to the $15K challenger title, including top-seeded Korean Park Sohyun in a 2-6/6-4/6-1 final.

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DOUBLES: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE
...in Toyko, Krejcikova & Siniakova became the first Czech Olympic women's tennis Gold medalists (Miloslav Mecir won the men's singles Gold in '88 representing Czechoslovakia), winning three match TB -- vs. Badosa/Sorribes (2r), Barty/Sanders (QF) and Kudermetova/Vesnina (SF) -- en route to the final, where they prevented Belinda Bencic from becoming a double Gold winner at the Games, defeating her and countrywoman Viktorija Golubic 7-5/6-1. Krejcikova & Siniakova ended the Czech streak of going 0-3 ('88/'96 Novotna/Sukova, '12 Hlavackova/Hradecka) in Olympic doubles finals.

Medals aside, the win gives the Czechs four title runs this year, tying Aoyama/Shibahara (who lost in the 1st Round in Tokyo to Bencic/Golubic) for the tour season lead. Krejcikova/Siniakova were already '21 slam (RG) and WTA 1000 (Madrid) champs, as well as slam runners-up (AO).

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1. Tokyo Olympics Gold Final - Belinda Bencic def. Marketa Vondrousova
...7-5/2-6/6-3. Bencic rose to the occasion late in both the 1st and 3rd sets, breaking the Czech to take the opener, then after having fallen down an early break in the 3rd (1-0, with a GP for 2-0) the Swiss won three straight games to take a 3-1 lead. Vondrousova got the set back on serve, but immediately dropped serve with a handful of errors following Bencic's semi-controversial MTO at 4-3.

After taking the break lead, Bencic served out the match to become the first woman from Switzerland to claim Olympic tennis Gold.

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2. Tokyo Olympics MX Final - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Andrey Rublev def. Elena Vesnina/Aslan Karatsev
...6-3/6-7(5) [13-11]. After Vesnina & Kudermetova failed to convert four MP in a MTB and missed out on WD Bronze, she and Karatsev held another at 10-9 in a MTB in the MX final.

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3. Tokyo Olympics SF - Belinda Bencic def. Elena Rybakina 7-6(2)/4-6/6-3
Tokyo Olympics Bronze - Elina Svitolina def. Elena Rybakina 1-6/7-6(5)/6-4
...for all the ground that Rybakina has made up on the field over the course of the past two seasons, her closing abilities are still in question. 1-4 in singles finals in 2020-21 (2-5 career), Rybakina lost leads in *both* the Tokyo semis and Bronze medal match and ultimately went home empty-handed.

Against Bencic, the Kazakh failed to put away the 1st set despite holding six SP and serving for the set. In the 3rd, she held a break lead at 3-2 and then dropped the final four games.

In her "do-over" in the Bronze match, Rybakina led Svitolina by a set and break at 3-2, then 3-0 (w/ two BP for 4-0) and 4-1 in the 3rd before losing the final five games. Rybakina didn't go away easily in the final game, but Svitolina eventually won on her seventh MP.

She still seems on the cusp of something significant, but there is obviously some work that remains to be done.

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4. Tokyo Olympics 2nd Rd. - Donna Vekic def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-4/3-6/7-6(3). Still relatively freshly back from surgery on her knee, Vekic battles back from 4-1 down (w/ BPs for 5-1) in the 3rd against Sabalenka. In a match that had just four combined breaks in 22 service games, Sabalenka's fate turned not on her winners (59 in a losing effort!) and aces (9) but on the ill-timed nature of her 34 UE.
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5. Tokyo Olympics 2nd Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Iga Swiatek 6-3/7-6(4)
Tokyo Olympics QF - Marketa Vondrousova def. Paula Badosa 6-3 ret.
...Badosa experienced the entire spectrum of emotion and physical well-being in Tokyo.

When she upset Swiatek, she played the role of big sister, comforting her young opponent.



Two rounds later, it was the Spaniard herself who needed the comforting as she was felled by the summer weather that threatened to make a mockery of the competition, and ultimately forced a reshuffling of the schedule that precipitated a later-in-the-day start for matches in the second half of the tournament.

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6. Tokyo Olympics 2nd Rd. - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Petra Kvitova
...5-7/6-3/6-0. One had to figure that Kvitova would go out via a 3rd set like this in the Tokyo heat, it just came a round later than it *could* have.

The Czech won a Bronze in Rio, but she wasn't the only other 2016 competitor who didn't have a great follow up five years later:

Gold: Puig (DNP)
Silver: Kerber (DNP)
Bronze: Kvitova (2r)
4th: Keys (DNP)
QF: Svitolina (Bronze)
QF: Siegemund (1r)
QF: Kasatkina (DNP)
QF: Konta (DNP)
16: S.Williams (DNP)
16: Makarova (ret.)
16: Muguruza (QF)
16: Flipkens (DNP)
16: Suarez-N. (2r)
16: Errani (1r)
16: Kuznetsova (DNP)
16: Stosur (1r)
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7. Tokyo Olympics SF - Marketa Vondrousova def. Elina Svitolina
...6-3/6-1. Svitolina ultimately rewrote her Olympic ending, but the fact remains her two biggest career moments have arguably come in events -- the round robin-formatted WTAF and the Olympics -- where the fear of a loss ending your journey does not necessarily equally exist at all ports of call. There has to be a lesson in there somewhere.

Well, this pre-semifinals poll worked out well...

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8. Tokyo Olympics WD 2nd Rd. - Belinda Bencic/Viktorija Golubic def. Garbine Muguruza/Carla Suarez Navarro
...3-6/6-1 [11-9]. And with that, CSN bowed out of the Olympics for the final time. Expect more tears to come at the U.S. Open.

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9. Charleston 125 1st Rd. - Katrina Scott def. Madison Brengle
...6-0/6-3. The Bannerette teen upsets top-seeded Brengle to record her first career Top 100 win.

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10. Concord WTA 125 Q1 - Victoria Hu def. Whitney Osuigwe
...6-4/6-2. The 19-year old Princeton recruit, a #1027-ranked qualifying wild card, knocks off the 2017 Roland Garros junior champ.

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11. $60K Versmold GER Final - Elina Avanesyan def. Federica Di Sarra
...6–7(4)/6–2/6–2 . The Russian Renaissance continues, as 18-year old lucky loser Hordette Avaneysan grabs her biggest career title and third of '21. The Russian knocked off top-seeded Tamara Korpatsch in the 2nd Round, then Anna Danilina in the QF.

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12. $15K Monastir TUR Final - Ayumi Koshiishi def. Eliessa Vanlangendonck
...6-1/6-0. Two weeks ago, Vanlangendonck ended her career 0-for-12 run in ITF singles semis with a win over Koshiishi in Monastir, then claimed her maiden title. Last week. Koshiishi got a measure of revenge with a win over the Belgian in the QF. This week, the 21-year old from Japan won Part III of the Turkish trilogy to claim her own first career title.

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1. Tokyo Olympics 3rd Rd. - Marketa Vondrousova def. Naomi Osaka
...6-1/6-4. After a few days of being the favorite and lavishly lauded for her form in her first action back since her Roland Garros withdrawal, Osaka looked a bit like "old school Naomi" (i.e. pre-2018 Indian Wells title) with 32 UE and little seeming recognition or willingness to determine how to turn the momentum back in her favor.

Predictably, the Olympic Channel commentary from Mary Carillo and Rennae Stubbs (who should know better) fell into the "I can't believe this" trap of acting as if Vondrousova had suddenly emerged from the dark forest of Czechia and *hadn't* played in a slam final just two years ago. This wasn't even the Czech's first victory over a world #2.

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2. Tokyo Olympics 2nd Rd. - Karolina Pliskova def. Carla Suarez Navarro
...6-3/6-7(0)/6-1. CSN posted a three-set victory over Ons Jabeur in the 1st Round (her first singles victory in her farewell tour) but, as has been the case in her return from cancer treatments, didn't quite have the stamina for another three-setter.

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3. Tokyo Olympics WD Bronze - Laura Pigossi/Luisa Stefani def. Veronika Kudermetova/Elena Vesnina
...4-6/6-4 [11-9]. The Brazilians eradicate Vesnina's first attempt at claiming a medal in Tokyo, erasing the Russians' 9-5 MTB lead and saving four consecutive MP as they swept the final six points of the match to become the first from their nation to claim an Olympic tennis medal.

Had the Russians won, along with the MX Silver she'd later win, Vesnina would have joined Steffi Graf (1-1-1) as the only women to have won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals since tennis rejoined the Olympics in 1988.

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HM- Tokyo Olympics WD 2nd Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova/Elena Vesnina def. Kiki Bertens/Demi Schuurs
...6-3/3-6 [10-7]. The end.

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The news here is that, in 2021, for the first time ever there will be a Paralymics *and* U.S. Open wheelchair competition in the same season. The Paralympics tennis event in Tokyo is set to end during the first week of the Open, with the U.S. Open competition starting late in the second week at Flushing Meadows (usually, in a fit of horrible scheduling, the Paralympic tennis occurs when the Open is in its second week, creating a conflict that has led to the cancellation of the U.S. WC event in the past).

This means that AO/RG/WI champ Diede de Groot, should she win Gold in Tokyo, would have the chance at the first *true* Wheelchair Golden Slam. Hmmm, that'd be a very "Ms.Backspin"-like thing for her to do.






A post-Olympic update...



1. Ash Barty, AUS
...with a nod to Djokovic (and some bad scheduling), Barty kept one half-step ahead of Krejcikova by *at least* claiming a MX Bronze after her 1st Round exit in Olympic singles.

2. Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
...if she "needed" to out-do Barty in Tokyo in order to truly breathe down the Aussie's neck in the "Ms.B" race, then mission accomplished. She took Bencic to three sets in the 3rd Round of singles, then grabbed Gold in women's doubles with Siniakova. She'll need to do it again at Flushing Meadows.

3. Diede de Groot, NED
...maybe for the first time ever, she's a *legitimate* down-the-stretch roller threat for "Ms.Backspin." Should de Groot win Paralympic Gold and head to New York with a chance for a Golden Slam (hmmm, that Nike ad currently airing during the Olympics that calls her a "tennis legend" might prove prophetic), she might even be the *favorite* if she completes the set. Hmmm, what are the chances (should it still be possible) that a de Groot Golden Slam attempt gets even 0.00001% of the attention from the U.S. Open social media team that Djokovic's quest for a Grand Slam will?

HM- Naomi Osaka, JPN
...largely because a U.S. Open title isn't out of the question, her first two-slam season -- while also driving off-court conversation for a second straight spring/summer -- would leave her impossibe to ignore.





=TOKYO, JAPAN=



=CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA=



=BELGRADE, SERBIA=





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*WOMEN'S SINGLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Steffi Graf, West Germany
1992 Jennifer Capriati, USA
1996 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2000 Venus Williams, USA
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium
2008 Elena Dementieva, Russia
2012 Serena Williams, USA
2016 Monica Puig, Puerto Rico
2021 Belinda Bencic, Switzerland
[SILVER]
1988 Gabriela Sabatini, Argentina
1992 Steffi Graf, Germany
1996 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
2000 Elena Dementieva, Russia
2004 Amelie Mauresmo, France
2008 Dinara Safina, Russia
2012 Maria Sharapova, Russia
2016 Angelique Kerber, Germany
2021 Marketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic
[BRONZE]
1988 Manuela Maleeva, Bulgaria & Zina Garrison, USA
1992 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain & Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
1996 Jana Novotna, Czech Republic
2000 Monica Seles, USA
2004 Alicia Molik, Australia
2008 Vera Zvonareva, Russia
2012 Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
2016 Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
2021 Elina Svitolina, Ukraine





*MEN'S SINGLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Miloslav Mecir, Czechoslovakia
1992 Marc Rosset, Switzerland
1996 Andre Agassi, USA
2000 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia
2004 Nicolas Massu, Chile
2008 Rafael Nadal, Spain
2012 Andy Murray, Great Britain
2016 Andy Murray, Great Britain
2021 Alex Zverev, Germany
[SILVER]
1988 Tim Mayotte, USA
1992 Jordi Arrese, Spain
1996 Sergi Bruguera, Spain
2000 Tommy Haas, Germany
2004 Mardy Fish, USA
2008 Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
2012 Roger Federer, Switzerland
2016 Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
2021 Karen Khachanov, Russian Olympic Committee
[BRONZE]
1988 Stefan Edberg, Sweden & Brad Gilbert, USA
1992 Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia & Andrei Cherkasov, Unified Team
1996 Leander Paes, India
2000 Arnaud di Pasquale, France
2004 Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
2008 Novak Djokovic, Serbia
2012 Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
2016 Kei Nishikori, Japan
2021 Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Pam Shriver / Zina Garrison, USA
1992 Mary Joe Fernandez / Gigi Fernandez, USA
1996 Mary Joe Fernandez / Gigi Fernandez, USA
2000 Serena Williams / Venus Williams, USA
2004 Li Ting / Sun Tiantian, China
2008 Serena Williams / Venus Williams, USA
2012 Serena Williams / Venus Williams, USA
2016 Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina, Russia
2021 Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic
[SILVER]
1988 Jana Novotna / Helena Sukova, Czechoslovakia
1992 Conchita Martinez / Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
1996 Jana Novotna / Helena Sukova, Czech Republic
2000 Kristie Boogert / Miriam Oremans, The Netherlands
2004 Conchita Martinez / Virginia Ruano-Pascual, Spain
2008 Anabel Medina-Garrigues / Virginia Ruano-Pascual, Spain
2012 Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic
2016 Timea Bacsinszky / Martina Hingis, Switzerland
2021 Belinda Bencic / Viktorija Golubic, Switerland
[BRONZE]
1988 Steffi Graf / Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, West Germany
1988 Liz Smylie / Wendy Turnbull, Australia
1992 Natalia Zvereva / Leila Meskhi, Unified Team
1992 Rachel McQuillan / Nicole Provis, Australia
1996 Conchita Martinez / Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
2000 Els Callens / Dominique van Roost, Belgium
2004 Paola Suarez / Patricia Tarabini, Argentina
2008 Yan Zi / Zheng Jie, China
2012 Maria Kirilenko / Nadia Petrova, Russia
2016 Lucie Safarova / Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic
2021 Laura Pigossi / Luisa Stefani, Brazil





*MEN'S DOUBLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Ken Flach / Robert Seguso, USA
1992 Boris Becker / Michael Stich, Germany
1996 Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde, Australia
2000 Sebastien Lareau / Daniel Nestor, Canada
2004 Fernando Gonzalez / Nicolas Massu, Chile
2008 Roger Federer / Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland
2012 Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, USA
2016 Marc Lopez / Rafael Nadal, Spain
2021 Nikola Mektic / Mate Pavic, Croatia
[SILVER]
1988 Emilio Sanchez / Sergio Casal, Spain
1992 Wayne Ferreira / Piet Noval, South Africa
1996 Neil Broad / Tim Henman, Great Britain
2000 Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde, Australia
2004 Rainer Schuettler / Nicolas Kiefer, Germany
2008 Simon Aspelin / Thomas Johansson, Sweden
2012 Michael Llodra / Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France
2016 Florin Mergea / Horia Tecau, Romania
2021 Marin Cilic / Ivan Dodig, Croatia
[BRONZE]
1988 Stefan Edberg / Anders Jarryd, Sweden
1988 Miloslav Mecir / Milan Srejber, Czechoslovakia
1992 Goran Ivanisevic / Goran Prpic, Croatia
1992 Javier Frana / Christian Carlos Miniussi, Argentina
1996 Marc-Kevin Goellner / David Prinosil, Germany
2000 Alex Corretja / Albert Costa, Spain
2004 Mario Ancic / Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia
2008 Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, USA
2012 Julien Benneteau / Richard Gasquet, France
2016 Steve Johnson / Jack Sock, USA
2021 Marcus Daniell / Michael Venus, New Zealand

*MIXED DOUBLES MEDALISTS, since 2012*
[GOLD]
2012 Victoria Azarenka / Max Mirnyi, Belarus
2016 Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Jack Sock, USA
2021 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova / Andrey Rublev, Russian Olympic Committee
[SILVER]
2012 Laura Robson / Andy Murray, Great Britain
2016 Venus Williams / Rajeev Ram, USA
2021 Elena Vesnina / Aslan Karatsev, Russian Olympic Committee
[BRONZE]
2012 Lisa Raymond / Mike Bryan, USA
2016 Lucie Hradecka / Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic
2021 Ash Barty / John Peers, Australia





*GOLD MEDAL MATCHES - women's singles*
1988 Steffi Graf/FRG d. Gabriela Sabatini/ARG 6-3,6-3
1992 Jennifer Capriati/USA d. Steffi Graf/GER 3-6,6-3,6-4
1996 Lindsay Davenport/USA d. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario/ESP 7-6,6-2
2000 Venus Williams/USA d. Elena Dementieva/RUS 6-2,6-4
2004 Justine Henin-H./BEL d. Amelie Mauresmo/FRA 6-3,6-3
2008 Elena Dementieva/RUS d. Dinara Safina/RUS 3-6,7-5,6-3
2012 Serena Williams/USA d. Maria Sharapova/RUS 6-0,6-1
2016 Monica Puig/PUR d. Angelique Kerber/GER 6-4,4-6,6-1
2021 Belinda Bencic/SUI d. Marketa Vondrousova/CZE 7-5/2-6/6-3
[BRONZE MEDAL MATCH]
1996 Jana Novotna/CZE d. Mary Joe Fernandez/USA 7-5,6-4
2000 Monica Seles/USA d. Jelena Dokic/AUS 6-1,6-4
2004 Alicia Molik/AUS d. Anastasia Myskina/RUS 6-3,6-4
2008 Vera Zvonareva/RUS d. Li Na/CHN 6-0,7-5
2012 Victoria Azarenka/BLR d. Maria Kirilenko/RUS 6-3,6-4
2016 Petra Kvitova/CZE d. Madison Keys/USA 7-5,2-6,6-2
2021 Elina Svitolina/UKR d. Elena Rybakina/KAZ 1-6/7-6/6-4

*REACHED OLYMPIC S/D-M FINALS IN SAME GAMES*
2000 Sydney - Venus Williams, USA (W/W)
2004 Athens - Nicolas Massu, CHI (W/W)
2012 London - Serena Williams, USA (W/W)
2021 Tokyo - Belinda Bencic, SUI (W/L)

*ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TENNIS MEDALS*
5...Venus Williams, USA
5...Kitty McKane, GBR
4...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
4...Serena Williams, USA

*MULTIPLE OLYMPIC MEDALS, since 1988; #-active in 2021*
5...Serena Williams, USA #
4...Venus Williams, USA #
4...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
3...Mike Bryan, USA
3...Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
3...Fernando Gonzalez, CHI
3...Steffi Graf, FRG/GER
3...Conchita Martinez, ESP
3...Andy Murray, GBR #
3...Rafael Nadal, ESP #
3...Jana Novotna, TCH/CZE
2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR #
2...Belinda Bencic, SUI #
2...Bob Bryan, USA
2...Juan Martin del Potro, ARG #
2...Elena Dementieva, RUS
2...Roger Federer, SUI #
2...Gigi Fernandez, USA
2...Zina Garrison, USA
2...Lucie Hradecka, CZE #
2...Goran Ivanisevic, CRO
2...Nicolas Massu, CHI
2...Miloslav Mecir, TCH
2...Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP
2...Jack Sock, USA #
2...Helena Sukova, TCH/CZE
2...Elena Vesnina, RUS #
2...Todd Woodbridge, AUS
2...Mark Woodforde, AUS

*CZECH WOMEN'S OYLMPIC MEDALS*
1988 Seoul Doubles Silver - Jana Novotna / Helena Sukova
1996 Atlanta Singles Bronze - Jana Novotna
1996 Atlanta Doubles Silver - Jana Novotna / Helena Sukova
2012 London Doubles Silver - Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka
2016 Rio Singles Bronze - Petra Kvitova
2016 Rio Doubles Bronze - Lucie Safarova / Barbora Strycova
2016 Rio Mixed Bronze - Lucie Hradecka
2021 Tokyo Singles Silver - Marketa Vondrousova
2021 Tokyo Doubles Gold - Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova

*SWISS WOMEN'S OYLMPIC MEDALS*
2016 Rio Doubles Silver - Timea Bacsinszky / Martina Hingis
2021 Tokyo Singles Gold - Belinda Bencic
2021 Tokyo Doubles Silver - Belinda Bencic / Viktorija Golubic

*RUSSIAN WOMEN'S OYLMPIC MEDALS*
2000 Sydney Singles Silver - Elena Dementieva
2008 Beijing Singles Gold - Elena Dementieva
2008 Beijing Singles Silver - Dinara Safina
2008 Beijing Singles Bronze - Vera Zvonareva
2012 London Singles Silver - Maria Sharapova
2012 London Doubles Bronze - Maria Kirilenko / Nadia Petrova
2016 Rio Doubles Gold - Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina
2021 Tokyo Mixed Gold - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2021 Tokyo Mixed Silver - Elena Vesnina

*AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S OYLMPIC MEDALS*
1988 Seoul Doubles Bronze - Liz Smylie / Wendy Turnbull
1992 Barcelona Doubles Bronze - Rachel McQuillan / Nicole Provis
2004 Athens Singles Bronze - Alicia Molik
2021 Tokyo Mixed Bronze - Ash Barty

*SOUTH AMERICAN WOMEN'S OYLMPIC MEDALS*
1988 Seoul Singles Silver - Gabriela Sabatini, ARG
2004 Athens Doubles Bronze - Paola Suarez / Patricia Tarabini, ARG
2021 Tokyo Doubles Bronze - Laura Pigossi / Luisa Stefani, BRA

*2021 WTA FINALS*
5 - Ash Barty, AUS (4-1)
4 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (3-1)
3 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (2-1)
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (2-1)
3 - BELINDA BENCIC, SUI (1-2)
3 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1-2)

*2020-21 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
6 - 1/5...KREJCIKOVA/SINIAKOVA, CZE/CZE (5-1)
5 - 1/4...Aoyama/Shibahara, JPN/JPN (5-0)
5 - 5/0...Hsieh/Strycova, TPE/CZE (4-1)
5 - 1/4...Melichar/Schuurs, USA/NED (3-2)
5 - 2/3...Carter/Stefani, USA/BRA (1-4)
[2021]
5...KREJCIKOVA/SINIAKOVA, CZE/CZE (4-1)
4...Aoyama/Shibahara, JPN/JPN (4-0)
4...Melichar/Schuurs, USA/NED (2-2)
3...Bouzkova/Hradecka, CZE/CZE (2-1)
3...Carter/Stefani, USA/BRA (0-3)
2...Guarachi/Krawczyk, CHI/USA (2-0)
2...Jurak/Klepac, CRO/SLO (1-1)
2...N.Kichenok/Olaru, UKR/ROU (1-1)

*2021 WTA 125 FINALS*
Saint-Malo, FRA (rc) - Viktorija Golubic/SUI def. Jasmine Paolini/ITA
Bol, CRO (rc) - Jasmine Paolini/ITA def. Arantxa Rus/NED
Bastad, SWE (rc) - Nuria Parrizas Diaz/ESP def. Olga Govortsova/BLR
Charleston, USA (gc) - Varvara Lepchenko/USA def. Jamie Loeb/USA
Belgrade, SRB (rc) - Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK def. Arantxa Rus/NED





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By the way, Ledecky nearly "pulled a Venus" the other night when NBC's coverage questioned whether her final Gold-winning swim of the Tokyo Games might be her *final* Olympic appearance. When she was asked about it immediately afterward, she scoffed at the notion, saying that she's definitely competing until the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and maybe 2028 in Los Angeles, too. Missed it by THAT much, NBC.



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All for now.
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