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Monday, November 8, 2021

Wk.41- Raise a Cup to a Russian Tennis Renaissance in the Re-making

Armed with a new name, with the finals delayed for over a year, as well as relocated, the inaugural edition of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals event finally took place in Prague this past week.

In the spirit of the traditional/refreshed team competition, everything old turned out to be new again... as Team Russia (aka the Russian Tennis Federation, also newly named according to ITF rules) woke up the echoes of the Original Hordettes' former dominance to add a new chapter to the concept of the burgeoning Russian Tennis Renaissance, claiming the nation's fifth Cup title and first in thirteen years.







*WEEK 41 CHAMPIONS*
BILLIE JEAN KING CUP FINAL (Prague, CZE/Hard Court Indoor)
Russian Tennis Federation def. Switzerland 2-0
MIDLAND, MICHIGAN USA (WTA 125 CHALLENGER/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Madison Brengle/USA def. Robin Anderson/USA 6-2/6-4
D: Harriet Dart/Asia Muhammad (GBR/USA) def. Peangtarn Plipuech/Aldila Sutjiadi (THA/INA) 6-3/2-6 [10-7]
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (WTA 125 CHALLENGER/Clay Court Outdoor)
S: Anna Bondar/HUN df. Diane Parry/FRA 6-3/6-3
D: Irina Bara/Ekaterina Gorgodze (ROU/GEO) def. Maria Carle/Despina Papamichail (ARG/GRE) 5-7/7-5 [10-4]








BJK CUP SF/F MVP: Liudmila Samsonova/RTF [RUS]
...a week ago, Samsonova had never played a Fed or BJK Cup match in her life. Now she's a Russian tennis legend in the event after debuting with an undefeated week that saw her win a pair of deciding doubles matches to eliminate the defending champ (FRA) in rr play, as well as send the so-named (for now) Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) to its first final in six years. Once there, she was subbed in for an injured Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and "all" she proceeded to do was hand Belinda Bencic, previously a combined 4-0 on the week (3-0 singles), the loss that clinched the title.

Almost lost in the big doubles victories and clinching singles win was a SF tie-opening upset of Sloane Stephens (from a set down) in Samsonova's singles debut for the RTF, a win which likely paved the way for captain Igor Andreev to decide to go with her in the key singles slot in the final. Samsonova ended up going 5-0 on the week, playing a part in the clinching point in three of the four ties that Russia won along its path to a fifth title in the event. She joins Svetlana Kuznetsova (who did it twice) as the only Russian woman to clinch FC/BJK Cup titles with a singles victory in the final.

Needless to say, it was quite an introduction to Cup play for Samsonova. Now her name will simply live on in the competition's history forever.

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RISERS: Belinda Bencic/SUI (rr group MVP), Danielle Collins/USA (rr group MVP) and Marketa Vondrousova/CZE (rr group MVP)
...Bencic nearly carried the Swiss to something great in Prague, but stumbled just before the finish. Years ago, Bencic made her Cup debut at age 14 and by age 16 was sweeping through veterans (Cornet and Razzano) in World Group ties. Injuries have often kept her off Switzerland's teams ever since, but she more than pulled her weight in round robin play this time around, defeating Angelique Kerber and Barbora Krejcikova in singles and then joining with Jil Teichmann to win the deciding doubles match over Hradecka/Siniakova that eliminated the host Czechs. She allowed just five games to Ajla Tomljanovic in the semis as she cliched SUI's first final trip in 23 years, but then came up short vs. Liudmila Samsonova as the Russian clinched the title with a three-set comeback victory that sealed the Russian 2-0 sweep.



Collins gave every indication of maybe wishing to become captain Kathy Rinaldi's new right hand woman in Cup play, going undefeated on the week for what turned out to be an otherwise (barely) mediocre U.S. squad that still managed to reach the semis (and come within a win of the final) largely because of Collins' efforts. She allowed a total of six games to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (5) and Sara Sorribes Tormo (1, winning 83% of her first serves) in round robin play, then battled back after losing an 11-9 1st set TB to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets in the semis (firing 50 winners), ending the Russian's seven-match Cup winning streak. If only she'd gotten some help from the U.S. doubles combos, which went a combined 0-3, losing two deciding matches.



It was a pity that the Czechs just weren't themselves in Prague. But Vondrousova tried to hold up her end of the deal. The Olympic Silver medalist went 2-0 in round robin singles, sweeping all four sets vs. Andrea Petkovic and Viktorija Golubic to extend her Cup singles win streak to five matches. She never got a shot at Gold medalist Belinda Bencic in the Group D finale (a tiring Barbora Krejickova did, but lost), though, and one wonders if that may have been the difference between also-ran status and yet another legendary Czech result in Cup play.

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SURPRISES: Storm Sanders/AUS (rr group MVP), AUS and Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK
...Sanders' surprising season, naturally, only continued in BJK Cup. In her debut for Team Australia, she handed #18 Elise Mertens a stunning three-set defeat, winning a 7-5 2nd set TB and then bageling the Waffle in the 3rd to record her first career Top 20 win. She followed up with another victory over BLR's Yuliya Hatouka as Australia joined Russia as the only nations (of 12) in round robin play to win both of their ties. Sanders got just three games off Jil Teichmann in their SF meeting, but just like the rest of the Aussies, by then her (and their) work in Prague had already been done.



Collins was the MVP of the group, but Kuzmova was a force to be reckoned with, and SVK was arguably the better team in Group C (even def. the advancing U.S. in their head-to-head). Kuzmova was 2-0 in singles, putting up wins over Carla Suarez-Navarro and Shelby Rogers, and came within mere points of carrying Slovakia into the semis with her doubles play alongside Tereza Mihalikova. Against ESP, they took the 1st set vs. Sorribes Tormo/CSN and rallied from 9-3 down in the match TB, saving four straight MP before falling 10-7. In SVK's second rr tie, the pair defeated Dolehide/Vandeweghe in a 12-10 match TB to down the U.S. 2-1, saving a MP and converting on MP #2 of their own.

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VETERAN: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RTF [RUS] (rr group MVP)
...Pavlyuchenkova (2-0 in two three-setters) was the Russian Tennis Federation's group play MVP, extending her Cup winning streak to seven matches after having previously had a streak of four straight losses from 2015-18, and a 1-8 mark from 2012-18 (largely under former RUS captain Anastasia Myskina). Pavlyuchenkova defeated Rebecca Marino to eliminate CAN in a 3-0 sweep in groups, then kept Russia alive vs. FRA with a match #2 win over Alize Cornet in the nation's second rr tie, eventually leading to the elimination of the defending champs. She saw Danielle Collins rally from a set down in the semis, taking a 3rd set TB that ultimately ended Pavlyuchenkova's week (Samsonova was an injury replacement for her in the final), but not that of the Hordettes.

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COMEBACKS: Dasha Gavrilova/AUS and the Russians
...it was a bit of a surprise that Gavrilova, who has spent much of the past two seasons rehabbing injuries, was even included on the Australian team roster for Prague. It was even more surprising that she was called upon to play the opening match in the nation's first tie vs. Belgium. And it was sort of shocking that the would-be social media star (she's tried *so* hard for so long) managed to post a huge win, in her first match since February, over Greet Minnen to fire the opening shot and set the tone for what turned out to be a stunning advancement to the semifinals two years after a very different set of Aussies (aside from Alja Tomljanovic) reached the nation's first final since 1993. Gavrilova didn't play again all week, but she really didn't have to. Why needlessly stain a good comeback story?



Meanwhile, the Russian Tennis Renaissance now officially has legs to stand on. And a new generation of depth is coming, too.

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FRESH FACES: Jil Teichmann/SUI, Francoise Abanda/CAN and Clara Burel/FRA
...the Swiss couldn't win their first Cup title ever in their first final appearance since 1998, and Belinda Bencic was the team's MVP in rr play last week. But, still, even with her opening match loss in the final against Dasha Kasatkina, 24-year old Teichmann *has* proven to be the full-run Cup revelation over the course of the 2020-21 competition cycle (i.e. her success predated the Samsonova drop in in Prague), which actually began pre-pandemic in early '20. In fact, in a year without a truly dominant Cup player (ala Ash Barty in '19, even with the Aussies' loss in the final), Teichmann is likely the competition's overall top player for the last two years. After all, prior to her loss to Kasatkina she'd been 7-0 in her short Cup career for Switzerland, including winning five straight during Switzerland's run to the final. She carried her team to victory over Canada in February '20 (2-0 in singles) in the opening round, was part of the deciding doubles win (w/ Bencic) over the Czechs in the Group D finale, then posted a singles win over Storm Sanders (against whom she won 16 straight points in one stretch) in the semis that put the tie on Bencic's racket a match later.

Abanda, 24, has proven to be the sort of player who posts her very best results when playing for the national team, and her round robin play-opening win over Fiona Ferro, which keyed the 2-1 tie victory (completed with a deciding doubles win from Dabrowski/Marino), seemed to set the stage for a possible Cinderella run for the Bianca, Genie & Leylah-less Canadian squad. As it turned out, Canada would be swept in its only other tie (vs. RTF) and *Australia* would ultimately fill the role of being this BJK Finals week's most surprising team.



Playing without the heart of the roster (mainly Mladenovic and Garcia) that won the '19 Fed Cup title, and with the Pastries collectively suffering through a lackluster WTA season (to say the least), some good news from the next generation of potential Cup stars was needed. 20-year old Burel's win over Ekaterina Alexandrova to open the final Group A tie against Russia surely counts as such. We'll just choose to disregard that deciding doubles loss (w/ Alize Cornet) vs. Kudermetova/Samsonova.

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DOWN: CZE and Barbora Krejcikova/CZE, GER, BEL and CoCo Vandeweghe/USA
...while the inaugural Billie Jean King Cup finals week produced a lot of stars shining brightly in Prague durings runs to the championship finale (Samsonova & Bencic) and semis (Collins and Sanders), as well as those whose performances in round robin play outpaced that of their teams (Kuzmova & Vondrousova), this means that there were also big disappointments.

Amongst them were the usually stalwart Czechs, who came into the week with the unexpected bonus of being able to host the event when it was pulled from Budapest due to Covid policies. In a rare instance, though, the Maidens' longstanding depth didn't pull them through, as the doubles duo of Hradecka/Siniakova were bested by Bencic/Teichmann in the deciding doubles in the Group D finale, sending Switzerland into the semis. Though Marketa Vondrousova went 2-0 in rr play, without Pliskova or Kvitova, and with Strycova no longer around for such things, the Czechs found that fate didn't side with them. Barbora Krejcikova, clearly running on fumes at the end of a long season (further fuel for her to pull back from doubles a bit in '22), went 0-2 on the week and didn't join partner Siniakova in doubles. Still, to the team's eventual demise, Captain Petr Pala stuck with her in the singles #2 slot vs. SUI. The RG champ failed to put away the tie with CZE up 1-0, falling to Bencic, rather than possibly inserting Siniakova into the mix in singles and setting up Vondrousova with an Olympic final rematch with Bencic. This marks the second straight Cup season in which the 11-time champion Czechs have failed to reach the semis after having reached ten straight final fours from 2009-18.

One has to wonder if Krejcikova might be staring at one of those 0-3, cover-your-eyes performances at the WTAF at altitude in Guadalajara, as well.

While the failure to advance wasn't as newsworthy as the Czech Republic exit, Germany's 0-2 record in the same Group D rr was something of a disappointment, especially considering the unusual generational depth the Germans enjoyed in Prague, with veterans Angelique Kerber (who did notch a win over Krejcikova) and Andrea Petkovic joined with Anna-Lena Friedsam and newcomers Jule Niemeier and Nastasja Schunk.

Group B seemed Belgium's to lose, but the Waffles lost out to the upset-minded Aussies, getting swept in singles as Gavrilova defeated Greet Minnen in Dasha's first match since February, and Elise Mertens (playing for a second straight day) fell to Storm Sanders (who got her maiden Top 20 victory).

Lastly, Vandeweghe was Backspin's Fed Cup finals MVP in '17 in the U.S.'s last title run, and has always had an arm-in-arm partnership with captain Kathy Rinaldi. So, with her fortunes finally (sort of) turning slightly upward in '21 for the first time since her career season four years ago, Vandeweghe was not surprisingly aboard for the ride in Prague. The U.S., though it probably wasn't the most impressive team in Group C (SVK likely was), did somehow manage to reach the semis. Vandeweghe had nothing to do with it, alas, as she went 0-2 in rr doubles alongside Caroline Dolehide (incuding a deciding doubles loss vs. SVK), then fell a third time in the SF dd with Shelby Rogers vs. Kudermetova/Samsonova.

In her Cup heyday, Vandeweghe had a 13-0 run (8s/5d) for the U.S. team starting in 2015 and going slightly behond the '17 title season. In 2017, alone, she was a combined 8-0, collecting all three points in victories in both the semis (vs. CZE) and finals (vs. BLR). With her three losses this week, she's now dropped five straight Cup matches.
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DOUBLES: Veronika Kudermetova/Liudmila Samsonova, RTF [RUS]
...captain Igor Andreev may have been tempted to use bigger names (Kasatkina, Pavlyuchenkova, Alexandrova) in doubles, but instead settled on Kudermetova/Samsonova and stuck with them. The move paid off handsomely, as they went 3-0 overall, winning a pair of deciding doubles matches while eliminating defending champ FRA in the Group A finale and the U.S. in the semis to reach Russia's first Cup final since 2015 (and ultimately win a first title since 2008, the last in a stretch in which the Hordettes won four titles in five years).
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BJK CUP CAPTAINS: Igor Andreev/RTF [RUS] [overall #1] and Alicia Molik/AUS [rr]
...it looks like Russia may have finally found its Hordette Whisperer, as Andreev juggled his squad masterfully in one of the more impressive displays of roster management in quite some time, fielding four different singles lineups and seeing his designated doubles duo put away a pair of deciding doubles wins in both the round robin and semifinal stages. As it was, Dasha Kasatkina only had to play twice, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova proved to be key in advancing out of the rr but was ultimately unneeded in the SF/F. Meanwhile, first-timer Samsonova went undefeated while pulling duty in both singles and doubles, and her injury replacement for Pavlyuchenkova vs. Bencic in the final (a move which, had it failed, *could* have led to her having to play back-to-back s/d matches on Saturday, or the super-successful WD duo of Kudermetova/Samsonova being left on the sideline in the biggest match of the week) turned out to be the perfect move... once Samsonova came through with the victory.

Meanwhile, Molik's round robin maneuvering of the Barty-less Aussies was no less admirable. Even as a defending finalist from '19, Australia seemed to have little hope to advance out of Group B, but Molik got wins from Gavrilova, Tomljanovic *and* Sanders (two in her debut!) to return to the semifinals. Even with the nation's exit there vs. SUI being quick and fierce, it all has to feel like something of a victory considering the world #1 -- on whose back the final appearance was achieved two years ago -- was back home watching Down Under.

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WHEELCHAIR: Diede de Groot/NED
...Orlando played host to the conclusion of the greatest season in wheelchair tennis history, as world #1 de Groot did what she's been doing all season long -- win big.

The Dutch woman's collecting of the singles and doubles titles at the tour's season-ending Masters events wrapped up a campaign that had already seen her sweep the singles at all four slams (a true "Grand Slam) and the Paralympics (a "Golden Slam"), as well as win the doubles at three of the four majors (missing only at Wimbledon) along with another Gold. She also picked up the World Cup team event title with her Dutch teammates (a virtual annual ritual) as the Netherlands continued its multi-decade dominance of the event.

De Groot's title weekend began with her teaming with Aniek Van Koot to win the doubles, defeating Momoko Ohtani & Zhu Zhenzhen in the final, 6-3/6-3. It's their second Masters title together, and de Groot's fourth overall (she's also won with Lucy Shuker and Marjolein Buis). For Van Koot, it's #6 and her third straight (w/ Buis in '18).

De Groot wraps her doubles season with a 25-2 record (22-2 w/ Van Koot), closing on a 13-match winning streak.



De Groot swept her three round robin singles matches in Orlando, being pushed to three sets just once (the opener vs. Dana Mathewson), then handled Van Koot in straights in the semis. In an uneven final vs. #2 Yui Kamiji, de Groot rode mid-set waves of momentum to claim the 1st and 3rd and close out her fourth straight Masters singles crown. 41-1 on the season in singles, she ends the year on a 36-match winning streak.



Her 2021 accomplishments have been an amazing response to her "off" year of '20, which had begun with mentor Esther Vergeer beginning her bout with cancer, then later saw the pandemic push the sport to the sidelines for most of the year. Before and after the stoppage, de Groot (who struggled w/ her serve throughout) was surprisingly upset before the finals at two of the three slams (by Zhu and Ohtani) that were held. This year, de Groot was a combined 66-3 in ws/wd, winning seven (of 8) slam crowns, two Paralympic Golds, both season-ending Masters events and the WC tour's version of the BJK Cup. It's the greatest season the sport has ever seen.

Yes, Vergeer had her share of season sweeps (and that unthinkable decade-long winning streak in singles), but the only true unchallenged tennis "GOAT" played before the advent of a full slam season for the wheelchair athletes, never playing in a Wimbledon singles event nor being challenged to pull off a Paralympic/U.S. Open sweep. This year, de Groot was able to take advantage of the very first season in which the Paralympics and Open were both held (they usually take place concurrently, meaning the WC event at Flushing Meadows was always cancelled every four year cycle), and rode that wave of opportunity to never-before-seen new heights in the sport.

Thing is, as great and varied as de Groot season's was, she's *still* left a small door ajar for herself. No one has ever swept all *eight* slam titles in a season. Maybe that's what 2022 will be for.
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RISER: Anna Bondar/HUN
...had the BFK Cup Finals been held in Budapest as originally planned, Bondar may very well have been in attendance as part of the home team's roster. But with the move to Prague, Hungary was removed from the field, while Bondar was left to make the most of her opportunity in the WTA 125 challenger in Buenos Aires. She did, too, reaching and winning her biggest career final with a 6-3/6-3 win over French Pastry Diane Parry. Bondar had posted previous wins over Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, Despina Papamichail and top-seeded Mayar Sherif.

Bondar, 24, has made '21 her best season yet. She reached her first WTA QF in July (Gdynia), and will reach yet another career high (around #107) this coming week on the heels of a late season run that has also seen her reach a pair of $80K finals (def. another French youngster, Clara Burel, in the Wiesbaden final in September) in recent outings. Bondar has been quite busy this year, and is closing in what would be a nearly 100-match campaign. Her title run in Argentina upped her season mark to 57-26.

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SURPRISE: Robin Anderson/USA
...the former NCAA star, 28, reached her biggest career final in the same event at which she'd previously played in her biggest, at the Midland, Michigan event formerly a $100K ITF tournament (when Anderson was RU in 2016) now upgraded to a WTA 125 challenger. Anderson pulled off a string of victories over Tatjana Maria, Katarzyna Kawa, Katrina Scott and Caty McNally en route to the championship match, where she fell to Madison Brengle in straights and was the runner-up once again.

In 2015, Anderson, then a UCLA senior, won the old American Collegiate Invitational formerly held on the BJK USTA National Tennis Center grounds at Flushing Meadows during the U.S. Open.

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VETERAN: Madison Brengle/USA
...Brengle finished off her '21 campaign in fine form, ending with a 15-2 flourish and bringing down the final curtain with a WTA 125 title run in Midland, Michigan. The win matches the biggest prize of the 31-year old's career, a 125 in Newport Beach in January of last year.

Brengle worked her way past Asia Muhammad, Sachia Vickery (2 games), Lizette Cabrera (double-bagel in :46) and Danielle Lao (a 2:46 win that saw her both save a MP and win a love 3rd set) before defeating Robin Anderson 2 & 4 in the final. It's the 18th career pro singles title earned by Brengle, with all of them (17 ITF, 2 WTA 125) coming on U.S. soil (just like all 29 of her challenger finals). Her lone tour-level final came in Hobart, Australia in 2015.

This is Brengle's second win at the event, having been crowned champion in 2018 when the tournament was an ITF $100K.

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COMEBACK: Katie Swan/GBR
...the former AO junior finalist (2015) has seen her pro career often sidelined due to injury, but the 22-year old Brit has shown some signs of stirring once again this season, including putting on a successful Wimbledon qualifying run and picking up a pair of ITF titles. Season title #2 came this weekend in the $25K in Haabneeme, Estonia with a 7-6/6-3 win in the final over Russian Ekaterina Shalimovva. The victory improves Swan's career mark in challenger finals to 9-0.

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FRESH FACE: Diane Parry/FRA
...the 19-year old, the girls #1 in 2019, reached her biggest career final in the WTA 125 challenger in Buenos Aires, notching wins over Beatriz Haddad Maia and Panna Udvardy before falling 3 & 3 to Anna Bondar. The Pastry arrived in Argentina having just won a $25K title in Seville, ESP (her third ITF win of the year) and exits with an 11-2 mark in her last thirteen matches.

Parry will crack the Top 150 for the first time on Monday.

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ITF PLAYER: Anhelina Kalinina/UKR
...the 24-year old from Ukraine continues to add to her career year, which has already included a new career high ranking (#57 last month, which she'll surpass on Monday), a maiden tour-level final (Budapest), and two slam MD wins (at the U.S. and RG, defeating Kerber at the latter). This week in Nantes, France she picked up her fifth ITF event title of the season, not dropping a set while defeating the likes of Karman Thandi, Erika Andreeva, Martina Trevisan and Oceane Dodin (ret. in the final) to pick up her 3rd $60K crown of '21 (she also won a $100K). Kalinina is 46-14 at all levels this season.

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JUNIOR STAR: Julia Middendorf/GER
...the 18-year old German, a U.S. Open girls quarterfinalist this summer, reached her second career ITF singles final at the $15K challenger in Monastir, Tunisia. Middendorf, who made her tour-level debut in Stuttgart in the spring (losing to Anett Kontaveit after a successful qualifying run), won a trio of three-setters before coming up short vs. China's Ma YeXin in a 6-4/6-2 contest.

After having been a combined 0-6 in her pro doubles career, Middendorf also teamed with Mariana Drazic in the event to reach her first WD final, falling to Yasmine Mansouri/Elena Milovanovic in two sets.
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DOUBLES: Irina Bara/Ekaterine Gorgodze, ROU/GEO and Harriet Dart/Asia Muhammad, GBR/USA
...a week after winning their maiden tour titles at Cluj on an indoor hard court, Bara & Gorgodze followed up with a WTA 125 challenger title run on red clay in Buenos Aires, the duo's second 125 win (Karlsruhe) since September. 11-0 as a team in '21, Bara/Gorgodze finished off this week's championship with a 10-4 match TB win over Maria Carle & Despina Papamichail in the final.



Meanwhile, Dart/Muhammad grabbed the title in the WTA 125 Challenger in Midland, Michigan by taking a 10-7 match tie-break in the final over Peangtarn Plipuech/Aldila Sutjiadi. The win is the biggest of Dart's career (she's won 14 previous ITF crowns), while it's Muhammad's second ('20 Indian Wells w/ Taylor Townsend) at the tour challenger level. In other pro doubles finals, Muhammad sports a spotless 6-0 in WTA deciders (she's 2-3 in 125 events) and has claimed 33 wins on the ITF level (three $100K) during her career.

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1. WC Masters Final - Diede de Groot def. Yui Kamiji
...6-3/2-6/6-2. #1-ranked de Groot claims the title, with both an uneven *and* clutch performance in a match in which #2 Kamiji had her chances at grabbing her second Masters crown (w/ 2013) before the Dutch woman took her third straight.

Played in a consistent wind, and seemingly directly next to an airport runway, the match's livestream featured not only CiCi Bellis assisting with commentary, but also a wonky series of subtitles that came up with hilarious takes on the names of de Groot (aka "D do the Group," "D Data Group" and "D Data Grew") and Kamiji ("You Comedian," "You Committee," "Eureka Me G," "Eureka Me Jitta," or "Kenichi"... with perhaps the latter a leftover from an old video from "Grease").

In the 1st, at 3-3, Kamiji failed to convert on a number of GP in a long game in which de Groot finally broke. She carried the momentum to a 6-3 set victory. In the 2nd, at 1-1, de Groot took a 40/love lead on serve and suddenly lost concentration. She was soon forced to stave off a BP before getting the hold. But the moment ultimately unraveled the set for her as Kamiji, often playing with a more aggressive style than usual and moving in from behind the baseline to retrieve balls off a short bounce, grabbed a break lead and then saw de Groot's back-to-back DF hand her a 5-2 advantage. She took the set 6-2 to send things to the 3rd.

Once there, the two traded breaks in the opening two games, then de Groot held after saving a BP in game #3. After falling behind 15/40, with Kamiji pressing her in what felt like a key moment on which the set would turn, de Groot again found a way to hold for 3-2. She quickly broke Kamiji at 15 to take a 4-2 lead, then saved another BP to hold for a 5-2 edge. Finally, a de Groot forehand winner completed wheelchair's best-ever season, giving the world #1 her 36th straight win and her 11th title out of a possible 12 in the season's biggest singles/doubles competitions (missing out only on the SW19 doubles crown).

The win over Kamiji improves de Groot's lead in their head-to-head series to 26-15. She's gone 24-4 in the last 28, including 9-1 in '21. De Groot has won 22 of their last 25 meetings in finals.

After her "blink" in 2020, de Groot now seems to be back to getting better and better on the court (while Nike begins to nurture her presence off it), with some of Esther Vergeer's career marks now legitimately visible on the horizon. Well, unless maybe the *next* "next one" -- Dutch junior #1 Lizzy de Greef? -- comes rolling in in a few seasons and causes some trouble, I guess (wink).
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2. BJK rr #1 - Dasha Gavrilova/AUS def. Greet Minnen/BEL 6-4/1-6/6-4
BJK rr #2 - Storm Sanders/AUS def. Elise Mertens/BEL 3-6/7-6(6)/6-0
...Australia's Day 2 upset overload (aka "The Day the Waffles Were Burned"), as Gavrilova comes up big in her first match since February and Sanders records her first career Top 20 win in her Cup debut.

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3. BJK rr #3 - Bencic/Teichmann (SUI) def. Hradecka/Siniakova (CZE)
...6-3/6-3. Captain Pala's roll of the dice comes up snake eyes, as the host Czechs are eliminated in the final Group D tie in the deciding doubles.

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4. BJK Final #2 - Liudmila Samsonova/RTF def. Belinda Becic/SUI
...3-6/6-3/6-4. Samsonova, replacing an injured Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, adds her name to the long list of Russian Cup heroes, salting away her nation's fifth championship in just her first week as an actual member of the squad, adding a clinching singles win to her pair of deciding doubles victories (and win over Sloane Stephens to open up the SF vs. the U.S.).

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5. WTA 125 Midland SF - Madison Brengle def. Danielle Lao
...6-7(2)/7-6(8)/6-0. Brengle's title path in Michigan included quite a few dominant turns, but also this 2:46 tussle in which she rallied from 6-7/1-3, 15/40 down, saving a MP, before finally taking out Lao.

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6. BJK rr #1 - Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK def. Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP 6-2/3-6/6-3
BJK rr #3 - Sorribes Tormo/Suarez-Navarro (ESP) def. Kuzmova/Mihalikova (SVK) 4-6/6-2 [10-7]
...the final turns of CSN's career on Day 1 of rr play in Prague. In her final win, she and Sorribes led 9-3 in the match TB before finally taking the tie on MP #5. A few days later, the Spaniard officially said farewell.

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7. BJK rr #3 - Kuzmova/Mihalikova (SVK) def. Dolehide/Vandeweghe (USA)
...6-2/6-7(5) [12-10]. Both teams saved MP in the deciding doubles, with the Slovaks staving off the loss at 10-9 before finally winning 12-10.

===============================================
8. BJK rr #2 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RTF def. Alize Cornet/FRA 5-7/6-4/6-2
...though she provided nothing beyond the round robin, losing in a three-setter to Danielle Collins in the SF and then being pulled from the final due to injury, Pavlyuchenkova's seventh straight Cup singles win saved the Russian squad from a defeat vs. France in the final Group A tie.



BJK SF #2 - Danielle Collins/USA def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RTF 6-7(9)/7-6(2)/6-2
...Collins (w/ 50 winners) wraps up her undefeated week and ends Pavlyuchenkova's undefeated Cup stretch. But it was the Russian posing for victory celebration pictures on the weekend.

===============================================
9. BJK rr #3 - Hradecka/Siniakova (CZE) def. Friedsam/Niemeier (GER)
...6-4/6-7(2)/10-8. Back on Day 1, it looked as if the Czechs' depth might prove to be commanding in the clutch once more. A few days later, the script had been flippped.
===============================================
10. BJK Final #1 - Dasha Kasatkina/RTF def. Jil Teichmann/SUI
...6-2/6-4. While Kasatkina's week in Prague didn't garner headlines, she went 2-0 and provided the tie-opening win in the final vs. the Swiss, delivering Teichmann her first career Cup loss (in the Swiss' eighth career match, sixth in the 2020/21 cycle). For her part, Kasatkina is 5-1 in her Cup singles career, with her only loss coming vs. Azarenka back in 2016.

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1. BJK rr #3 - V.Kudermetova/Samsonova (RTF) def. Burel/Cornet (FRA) 6-2/6-1
BJK SF #3 - V.Kudermetova/Samsonova (RTF) def. Rogers/Vandeweghe (USA) 6-3/6-3
...the Russian duo's pair of deciding doubles victories en route to the nation's first Cup title since 2008.

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Insert set of rolling eyes. And is that last tweet from 2011, because it's about a decade late?






=PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC=




=BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA=




=MIDLAND, MICHIGAN (USA)=






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*FED CUP/BJK CUP FINALS*
1963 United States def. Australia 2-1
1964 Australia def. United States 2-1
1965 Australia def. United States 2-1
1966 United States def. West Germany 3-0
1967 United States def. Great Britain 2-0
1968 Australia def. Netherlands 3-0
1969 United States def. Australia 2-1
1970 Australia def. West Germany 3-0
1971 Australia def. Great Britain 3-0
1972 South Africa def. Great Britain 2-1
1973 Australia def. South Africa 3-0
1974 Australia def. United States 2-1
1975 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 3-0
1976 United States def. Australia 2-1
1977 United States def. Australia 2-1
1978 United States def. Australia 2-1
1979 United States def. Australia 3-0
1980 United States def. Australia 3-0
1981 United States def. Great Britain 3-0
1982 United States def. West Germany 3-0
1983 Czechoslovakia def. West Germany 2-1
1984 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 2-1
1985 Czechoslovakia def. United States 2-1
1986 United States def. Czechoslovakia 3-0
1987 West Germany def. United States 2-1
1988 Czechoslovakia def. USSR 2-1
1989 United States def. Spain 3-0
1990 United States def. USSR 2-1
1991 Spain def. United States 2-1
1992 Germany def. Spain 2-1
1993 Spain def. Australia 3-0
1994 Spain def. United States 3-0
1995 Spain def. United States 3-2
1996 United States def. Spain 5-0
1997 France def. Netherlands 4-1
1998 Spain def. Switzerland 3-2
1999 United States def. Russia 4-1
2000 United States def. Spain 5-0
2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1
2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain 3-1
2003 France def. United States 4-1
2004 Russia def. France 3-2
2005 Russia def. France 3-2
2006 Italy def. Belgium 3-2
2007 Russia def. Italy 4-0
2008 Russia def. Spain 4-0
2009 Italy def. United States 4-0
2010 Italy def. United States 3-1
2011 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2
2012 Czech Republic def. Serbia 3-1
2013 Italy def. Russia 4-0
2014 Czech Republic def. Germany 3-1
2015 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2
2016 Czech Republic def. France 3-2
2017 United States def. Belarus 3-2
2018 Czech Republic def. United States 3-0
2019 France def. Australia 3-2
2020-21 Russia (RTF) def. Switzerland 2-0
[MOST TITLES]
18 - United States
11 - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia
7 - Australia
5 - Russia
5 - Spain
4 - Italy
3 - France
2 - West Germany/Germany
2 - Slovakia
1 - Belgium
1 - South Africa

*BACKSPIN FED CUP/BJK CUP AWARDS*
*-non-title winning nation
[FED CUP/BJK CUP PLAYER OF YEAR]
2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2006 Francesca Schiavone, RUS
2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2016 Caroline Garcia, FRA*
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2019 Ash Barty, AUS*
2020-21 Jil Teichmann, SUI*
[FED CUP/BJK CUP CAPTAIN OF YEAR]
2015 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA*
2016 Paul Haarhuis, NED*
2017 Kathy Rinaldi, USA
2018 Kathy Rinaldi, USA*
2019 Julien Benneteau, FRA
2020-21 Igor Andreev, RUS (RTF)
[FED CUP/BJK CUP FINALS MVP]
2002 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
2003 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2006 Francesa Schiavone, ITA
2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE
2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2016 Barbora Strycova, CZE
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
2019 Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
2020-21 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (RTF)

*FC/BJK CUP FINAL - SINGLES CLINCHER VICTORY; since 2000*
[finals event; 2000-2001]
2000 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2001 Kim Clijsters, BEL
[single-elimination bracket format; 2002-19]
2002 Janette Husarova, SVK
2003 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE
2013 Sara Errani, ITA
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
[finals event; 2020/21-current]
2021 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (RTF)

*WHEELCHAIR TENNIS MASTERS CHAMPIONS*
[singles]
1994 Monique Kalkman, NED
1995 Monique Kalkman, NED
1996 Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
1997 Maaike Smit, NED
1998 Esther Vergeer, NED
1999 Esther Vergeer, NED
2000 Esther Vergeer, NED
2001 Esther Vergeer, NED
2002 Esther Vergeer, NED
2003 Esther Vergeer, NED
2004 Esther Vergeer, NED
2005 Esther Vergeer, NED
2006 Esther Vergeer, NED
2007 Esther Vergeer, NED
2008 Esther Vergeer, NED
2009 Esther Vergeer, NED
2010 Esther Vergeer, NED
2011 Esther Vergeer, NED
2012 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2013 Yui Kamiji, JPN
2014 Aniek van Koot, NED
2015 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2017 Diede de Groot, NED
2018 Diede de Groot, NED
2019 Diede de Groot, NED
2020 DNP
2021 Diede de Groot, NED
[doubles]
2000 Daniela di Toro/Maaike Smit (AUS/NED)
2001 Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2002 Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2003 Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2004 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2005 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2006 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2007 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2008 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2009 Korie Homan/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2010 Aniek van Koot/Sharon Walraven (NED/NED)
2011 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven (NED/NED)
2012 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot (NED/NED)
2013 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley (JPN/GBR)
2014 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley (JPN/GBR)
2015 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot (NED/NED)
2016 Diede de Groot/Lucy Shuker (NED/GBR)
2017 Marjolein Buis/Diede de Groot (NED/NED)
2018 Marjolein Buis/Aniek Van Koot (NED/NED)
2019 Diede de Groot/Aniek van Koot (NED/NED)
2020 DNP
2021 Diede de Groot/Aniek van Koot (NED/NED)

*de Groot vs. Kamiji*
2021 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters Final - DE GROOT 6-3/2-6/6-2
2021 World Team Cup Final - DE GROOT 7-5/6-1
2021 US Open Final - DE GROOT 6-2/6-2
2021 Paralympics Final - DE GROOT 6-3/7-6(1)
2021 French Riviera Open Final - DE GROOT 6-2/6-1
2021 Roland Garros Final - DE GROOT 6-4/6-3
2021 Barcelona Open Final - DE GROOT 6-4/6-1
2021 Australian Open Final - DE GROOT 6-3/6-7(4)/7-6(10-4)
2021 Melbourne WC Open Final - KAMIJI 6-1/6-4
2021 Victorian WC Open Final - DE GROOT 6-1/7-5
----------------------------------------------------
2020 US Open Final - DE GROOT 6-3/6-3
----------------------------------------------------
2019 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters Final - DE GROOT 6-2/6-3
2019 US Open USTA WC Chsp. Final - DE GROOT 6-4/4-6/6-3
2019 US Open Final - DE GROOT 4-6/6-1/6-4
2019 British Open SF - DE GROOT 6-2/6-2
2019 Roland Garros Final - DE GROOT 6-1/6-0
2019 World Team Cup Final - KAMIJI 3-6/6-2/6-1
2019 Japan Open Final - DE GROOT 6-3/7-6(8)
2019 Australian Open Final - DE GROOT 6-0/6-2
2019 Melbourne Open Final - KAMIJI 3-6/7-5/7-6(11) - saved 5 MP
----------------------------------------------------
2018 NED Wheelchair Tennis Masters Final - DE GROOT 6-3/7-5
2018 US Open Final - DE GROOT 6-2/6-3
2018 British Open WC Tennis Chsps Final - DE GROOT 6-2/3-6/3-6
2018 BNP Paribas Open de France Final - DE GROOT 7-5/6-4
2018 Roland Garros Final - KAMIJI 2-6/6-0/6-2
2018 Australian Open Final - DE GROOT 7-6(6)/6-4
---------------------------------------------------
2017 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters Final - DE GROOT 7-5/6-4
2017 Open d'Amiens Hauts de France Final - DE GROOT 1-6/7-5/6-3
2017 US Open Final - KAMIJI 7-5/6-2
2017 US Open USTA WC Chsps Final - KAMIJI 5-7/6-3/7-6(12)
2017 British Open WC Tennis Chsps Final - KAMIJI 6-4/6-3
2017 BNP Paribas Open de France SF - KAMIJI 6-4/6-3
2017 Japan Open Final - KAMIJI 6-2/6-2
2017 Melbourne Wheelchair Tennis Open SF - KAMIJI 6-3/6-4
2017 Apia Int'l Sydney WC Tennis Open SF - DE GROOT 7-5/7-6(5)
---------------------------------------------------
2016 Paralympic Games Bronze - KAMIJI 6-3/6-3
2016 BNP Paribas Open de France Final - KAMIJI 6-3/7-6(4)
2016 Toyota Open Int'l de L'ile de Re SF - DE GROOT 4-6/7-5/1-0 ret.
---------------------------------------------------
2015 Sardinia Open QF - KAMIJI 6-1/6-1
2015 BNP Paribas Open de France QF - KAMIJI 6-2/6-4
2014 Swiss Open Starling Hotel Geneva 1st Rd. - KAMIJI 6-1/6-2
--
de Groot leads 26-15 (24-4 last 28); 22-8 in singles F (22-3 last 25); 8 con. wins; 9-1 in 2021 season

*WTA SEASON-ENDING #1's - w/ finish the following season*
1975 Chris Evert, USA (1)
1976 Chris Evert, USA (1)
1977 Chris Evert, USA (2)
1978 Martina Navratilova, TCH (1)
1979 Martina Navratilova, TCH (3)
1980 Chris Evert-Lloyd, USA (1)
1981 Chris Evert-Lloyd, USA (2)
1982 Martina Navratilova, USA (1)
1983 Martina Navratilova, USA (1)
1984 Martina Navratilova, USA (1)
1985 Martina Navratilova, USA (1)
1986 Martina Navratilova, USA (2)
1987 Steffi Graf, FRG (1)
1988 Steffi Graf, FRG (1)
1989 Steffi Graf, FRG (1)
1990 Steffi Graf, GER (2)
1991 Monica Seles, YUG (1)
1992 Monica Seles, YUG (8)
1993 Steffi Graf, GER (1)
1994 Steffi Graf, GER (1)
1995 (co) Steffi Graf, GER (1) and Monica Seles, USA (2)
1996 Steffi Graf, GER (28 = injury)
1997 Martina Hingis, SUI (2)
1998 Lindsay Davenport, USA (2)
1999 Martina Hingis, SUI (1)
2000 Martina Hingis, SUI (4)
2001 Lindsay Davenport, USA (12 = injury)
2002 Serena Williams, USA (3)
2003 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL (8)
2004 Lindsay Davenport, USA (1)
2005 Lindsay Davenport, USA (25 = injury)
2006 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL (1)
2007 Justine Henin, BEL (retired)
2008 Jelena Jankovic, SRB (8)
2009 Serena Williams, USA (4)
2010 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (1)
2011 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (10)
2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2)
2013 Serena Williams, USA (1)
2014 Serena Williams, USA (1)
2015 Serena Williams, USA (2)
2016 Angelique Kerber, GER (21)
2017 Simona Halep, ROU (1)
2018 Simona Halep, ROU (4)
2019 Ash Barty, AUS (1)
2020 Ash Barty, AUS (1)
2021 Ash Barty, AUS





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I think we'll be able to trace the official fall of Western civilization to whenever it was on the timeline that Joe Rogan -- a less-than-mediocre one-time comedian who was the *only* unfunny person on the sitcom "NewsRadio" before becoming the host of the do-stupid-things-on-camera show "Fear Factor" -- somehow became someone that anyone looked to to help them decide what they believed about anything at all, let alone to assist in the maintenance of one's own health.



So, Rodgers is going to be Randy Quaid in about twenty years, right? Or maybe Ted Kaczynski?

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All for now.
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