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Friday, January 28, 2022

AO.12 - The Day Before the Day










=DAY 12 NOTES=
...a virtual "dream team" from the start, with the two already having won a combined twelve major doubles/mixed titles in their careers, #5-seeded Kristina Mladenovic & Ivan Dodig worked together to add another today by winning the Mixed Doubles title in Melbourne, defeating Aussies Jaimee Fourlis & Jason Kubler 6-3/6-4 to deny the home favorites in their bid to become just the second all-AUS duo to win the crown since 2005.



One wonders if this title run, her eighth major win (5 WD/3 MX), might mark yet another important course change in the Pastry's career. After starring in doubles in the 2010's, a few seasons ago Mladenovic began to pull back from much of her doubles work in favor of singles, only to see her singles results plummet and then have no real WD workload to sustain her (and boost her confidence) throughout the year.

Before this slam, Mladenovic hadn't played MX at a major since the '19 AO, and had done so only twice since reaching the 2016 semis in Paris. A season ago, she only participated in a single WD event at a slam (a 1r loss at SW19), despite the previous season having won both AO and RG titles (not back-to-back... remember, it was 2020), recently being the doubles #1, and winning four WD majors between 2018-20.

Even if the key to Mladenovic (now the singles #88, after having reached the Top 10 in late '17) regaining her singles form isn't the rediscovering of her doubles prowess, doubles-for-doubles-sake could still make the French woman, still just 28, one of the most successful tennis players in the world. Yes, there's the case of a Barbora Krejcikova, who rose to fame in doubles, then picked up her singles racket and has been able to sustain big results in both for over a year. But in '22 that feels more like an exception than any sort of new rule, and the way Mladenovic has gone about things she's managed to somehow go from peak success in one discipline and rising success in a second to hardly any success in either in recent seasons.

That hardly seems to be the way to go. Maybe this title run will change her thinking.

...in the junior singles semis, reigning Traralgon champ Sofia Costoulas (#8) of Belgium continued to carry over her pre-AO momentum, advancing into the girls final by defeating Aussie Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz 6-4/6-1. She'll be looking to become the first Belgium to win the AO girls crown since An-Sophie Mestach in 2011. With Kempenaers' loss, the last Aussie girl to win the crown remains Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995.



Both semis began simultaneously, but only the Costoulas/CKP match, on MCA, was able to finish without incident under a closed roof. Rain stopped play on the outdoor courts, forcing the second semi between #13 Liv Hovde of the U.S. and top-seeded Croat Petra Marcinko indoors (following the first semi) after play had been stopped with the score knotted 3-3 in the 1st set.

Marcinko ultimately prevailed in three sets, improving her junior mark since last October to 21-1 (w/ 1 walkover), including the s/d sweep at the Orange Bowl event in December that saw her leap into 2021's year-ending #1 ranking.

Marcinko will seek to become the third Croat girl to win the AO crown, after Mirjana Lucic (1997) and Jelena Kostanic (1998) in back-to-back years more than two decades ago.

...the girls doubles final remains to be played on Day 12, with #1 seeds Clervie Ngounoue & Diana Shnaider (USA/RUS) facing off with unseeded Canadians Kayla Cross & Victoria Mboko in the first GD final contested in Melbourne since 2020.





..FAREWELL ON DAY 12:




..WELL, IT'S REALLY FIVE, BUT... ON DAY 12:

I know what they did. They looked at her slam performance chart and forgot that RG (which de Groot didn't win) rather than the U.S. Open was the *last* slam to take place in 2020. Give her a few months and it might very well be six...





..NIGHT 11 ON DAY 12:




..THIS ON DAY 12:




..JUST IN CASE ANYONE WAS CURIOUS ON DAY 12:




..ALMOST TWO WEEKS LATER, THE AUDACITY OF THE ARROGANCE IS STILL STUNNING (not to mention hilarious) ON DAY 12:




..NEW MEMBERS OF THE CLUB ON DAY 12:




..AUSSIE ASH ON DAY 12:



Next she clicks her heels?









=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #27 Danielle Collins/USA

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF=
#1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. Danilina/Haddad Maia (KAZ/BRA)

=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
#5 Mladenovic/Dodig (FRA/CRO) def. (WC) Fourlis/Kubler (AUS/AUS) 6-3/6-4

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED def. Aniek Van Koot/NED 6-1/6-1

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) def. #2 Kamiji/Shuker (JPN/GBR) 7-5/3-6 [10-2]

=GIRLS SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Petra Marcinko/CRO vs. #8 Sofia Costoulas/BEL

=GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Ngounoue/Shnaider (USA/RUS) def. Cross/Mboko (CAN/CAN) 6-4/6-3


















kosova-font

*CAREER SLAM FINALS - ACTIVE*
33...Serena Williams, USA (23-10)
16...Venus Williams, USA (7-9)
8...Kim Clijsters, BEL (4-4)
5...Simona Halep, ROU (2-3)
5...Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2-3)
4...Naomi Osaka, JPN (4-0)
4...Angelique Kerber, GER (3-1)
4...Garbine Muguruza, ESP (2-2)
4...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (2-2)
3...ASH BARTY, AUS (2-0)*
3...Petra Kvitova, CZE (2-1)
2...Sofia Kenin, USA (1-1)
2...Sloane Stephens, USA (1-1)
2...Samantha Stosur, AUS (1-1)
2...Karolina Pliskova, CZE (0-2)
2...Vera Zvonareva, RUS (0-2)

*SLAM FINALS IN 2020's*
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (2-0)
2 - ASH BARTY, AUS (1-0)*
2 - Sofia Kenin, USA (1-1)
1 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (1-0)
1 - Emma Raducanu, GBR (1-0)
1 - Iga Swiatek, POL (1-0)
1 - DANIELLE COLLINS, USA (0-0)*
1 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (0-1)
1 - Jennifer Brady, USA (0-1)
1 - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (0-1)
1 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (0-1)
1 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (0-1)
1 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (0-1)
[by nation]
4 - USA (1-2)*
2 - JPN (2-0)
2 - AUS (1-0)*
2 - CZE (1-1)
1 - (1-0) GBR,POL
1 - (0-1) BLR,CAN,ESP,RUS

*ACTIVE SINGLES PLAYERS - FIRST SLAM FINAL*
1997 U.S. Open - Venus Williams
1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (W)
2001 Roland Garros - Kim Clijsters
2004 U.S. Open - Svetlana Kuznetsova (W)
2010 Roland Garros - Samantha Stosur
2010 Wimbledon - Vera Zvonareva
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova (W)
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka (W)
2012 Roland Garros - Sara Errani
2013 Wimbledon - Sabine Lisicki
2014 Roland Garros - Simona Halep
2014 Wimbledon - Genie Bouchard
2015 Wimbledon - Garbine Muguruza
2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber (W)
2016 U.S. Open - Karolina Pliskova
2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko (W)
2017 U.S. Open - Madison Keys
2017 U.S. Open - Sloane Stephens (W)
2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka (W)
2019 Roland Garros - Ash Barty (W)
2019 Roland Garros - Marketa Vondrousova
2019 U.S. Open - Bianca Andreescu (W)
2020 Australian Open - Sofia Kenin (W)
2020 Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek (W)
2021 Australian Open - Jennifer Brady
2021 Roland Garros - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2021 Roland Garros - Barbora Krejcikova (W)
2021 U.S. Open - Leylah Fernandez
2021 U.S. Open - Emma Raducanu (W)
2022 Australian Open - Danielle Collins

*RECENT WTA TOP 10 SINGLES DEBUTS*
2019 [3]
Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
Ash Barty/AUS
Bianca Andreescu/CAN
2020 [1]
Sofia Kenin/USA
2021 [6]
Iga Swiatek/POL
Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
Maria Sakkari/GRE
Ons Jabeur/TUN
Anett Kontaveit/EST
Paula Badosa/ESP
2022 [1]
Danielle Collins/USA

*AO MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 2014*
2014 Kristina Mladenovic & Daniel Nestor, FRA/CAN
2015 Martina Hingis & Leander Paes, SUI/IND
2016 Elena Vesnina & Bruno Soares, RUS/BRA
2017 Abigail Spears & Juan Sebastian Cabal, USA/COL
2018 Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic, CAN/CRO
2019 Barbora Krejcikova & Rajeev Ram, CZE/USA
2020 Barbora Krejcikova & Nikola Mektic, CZE/CRO
2021 Barbora Krejcikova & Rajeev Ram, CZE/USA
2022 Kristina Mladenovic & Ivan Dodig, FRA/CRO

*SLAM MX TITLES - active*
5...Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
4...Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
3...Latisha Chan, TPE
3...Desirae Krawczyk, USA
3...Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
3...Sania Mirza, IND
3...KRISTINA MLADENOVIC, FRA
3...Samantha Stosur, AUS

*RECENT MX SLAM CHAMPIONS*
[2018]
AO: Gaby Dabrowski/Mate Pavic (CAN/CRO)
RG: Latisha Chan/Ivan Dodig (TPE/CRO)
WI: Nicole Melichar/Alexander Peya (USA/AUT)
US: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jamie Murray (USA/GBR)
[2019]
AO: Barbora Krejcikova/Rajeev Ram (CZE/USA)
RG: Latisha Chan/Ivan Dodig (TPE/CRO)
WI: Latisha Chan/Ivan Dodig (TPE/CRO)
US: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jamie Murray (USA/GBR)
[2020]
AO: Barbora Krejcikova/Nikola Mektic (CZE/CRO)
[2021]
AO: Barbora Krejcikova/Rajeev Ram (CZE/USA)
RG: Desirae Krawczyk/Joe Salisbury (USA/GBR)
WI: Desirae Krawczyk/Neal Skupski (USA/GBR)
US: Desirae Krawczyk/Joe Salisbury (USA/GBR)
[2022]
AO: Kristina Mladenovic/Ivan Dodig (FRA/CRO)

*CAREER OVERALL SLAM TITLES - ACTIVE*
[singles/doubles/mixed]
39 - Serena Williams, USA (23-14-2)
23 - Venus Williams, USA (7-14-2)
9 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA (0-5-4)
8 - KRISTINA MLADENOVIC, FRA (0-5-3)
8 - Samantha Stosur, AUS (1-4-3)
7 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (1-3-3)
6 - Kim Clijsters, BEL (4-2-0)
6 - Sania Mirza, IND (0-3-3)
6 - Katarina Srebotnik, SLO (0-1-5)

*RECENT AO "Ms. OPPORTUNITY" WINNERS*
2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2019 Danielle Collins, USA
2020 Sofia Kenin, USA
2021 Jennifer Brady, USA and Karolina Muchova, CZE
2022 Danielle Collins, USA

*RECENT GIRLS DOUBLES SLAM CHAMPIONS*
[2018]
AO: Liang En-Shuo/Wang Xinyu (TPE/CHN)
RG: Caty McNally/Iga Swiatek (USA/POL)
WI: Wang Xinyu/Wang Xiyu (CHN/CHN)
US: Coco Gauff/Caty McNally (USA/USA)
[2019]
AO: Natsumi Kawaguchi/Adrienn Nagy (JPN/HUN)
RG: Chloe Beck/Emma Navarro (USA/USA)
WI: Savannah Broadus/Abigail Forbes (USA/USA)
US: Kamilla Bartone/Oksana Selekhmetova (LAT/RUS)
[2020]
AO: Alex Eala/Priska Madelyn Nugroho (PHI/INA)
RG: Eleonora Alvisi/Lisa Pigoti (ITA/ITA)
[2021]
RG: Alex Eala/Oksana Selekmeteva (PHI/RUS)
WI: Kristina Dmitruk/Diana Shnaider (BLR/RUS)
US: Ashlyn Krueger/Robin Montgomery (USA/USA)
[2022]
AO: Clervie Ngounoue/Diana Shnaider (USA/RUS)

*RECENT AO "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS*
2015 Tereza Mihalikova, SVK
2016 Sara Tomic, AUS
2017 Marta Kostyuk, UKR
2018 Liang En-shuo, TPE
2019 Clara Tauson/DEN and Anastasia Tikhonova/RUS
2020 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
2021 DNP
2022 Angella Okutoyi/KEN and Meshkatolzahra Safi/IRA

*JUNIOR SLAM HISTORIES" WINNERS*
[BEL winners]
1947 WI: Genevieve Domken
1949 WI: Christiane Mercelis
1993 WI: Nancy Feber
1997 RG: Justine Henin
2003 WI: Kirsten Flipkens
2003 US: Kirsten Flipkens
2011 AO: An-Sophie Mestach
[CRO winners]
1996 US: Mirjana Lucic
1997 AO: Mirjana Lucic
1998 AO: Jelena Kostanic
2013 US: Ana Konjuh



kosova-font







TOP QUALIFIER: Hailey Baptiste/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Ash Barty/AUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Madison Keys/USA
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - #8 Kamilla Rakhimova/RUS def. Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND 6-7(5)/7-6(8)/6-4 (VJK wins 1st from triple SP down; Rakhimova saves 2 MP in 2nd, winning 10-8 TB; 3:17)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2r - Clara Tauson/DEN def. #6 Anett Kontaveit/EST 6-2/6-4 (breakout performance of early rounds)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3r- #8 Paula Badosa/ESP def. Marta Kostyuk/UKR 6-2/5-7/6-4
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #30 Camila Giorgi/ITA (def. Potapova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #18 Coco Gauff/USA (1r lost to Wang Qiang)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: (9) - Lucia Bronzetti/ITA, Jaqueline Cristian/ROU, Maddison Inglis/AUS, Nuria Parrizas Diaz/ESP, Gabriela Ruse/ROU, Wang Xinyu/CHN, Wang Xiyu/CHN, Maryna Zanevska/BEL, Zheng Qinwen/CHN
UPSET QUEENS: Romania
REVELATION LADIES: China
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Canada (0-2 1r, #23 Fernandez out; Andreescu/Bouchard DNP)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Hailey Baptiste/USA, Lucia Bronzetti/ITA, Martina Trevisan/ITA, Zheng Qinwen/CHN (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Maddison Inglis/AUS (3rd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Ash Barty (in SF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Danielle Collins/USA
IT (Teen Stars-in-Waiting): Marta Kostyuk/UKR and Clara Tauson/DEN
COMEBACK PLAYER: Madison Keys/USA
CRASH & BURN: Emma Raducanu, GBR (2nd) and & Leylah Fernandez, CAN (1st) ['21 US F]
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Amanda Anisimova/USA (3rd Rd. - saved 2 MP, def. defending champ Naomi Osaka)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Alize Cornet/FRA and Kaia Kanepi/EST
LADY OF THE EVENING: Ash Barty/AUS
AUSTRALIAN LANGUARGE ARTS AWARD: Tennis Australia tries to push unvaccinated Novak Djokovic through Aussies borders, yet bans on-ground items featuring protests in support of Peng Shuai
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: Krejcikova/Siniakova, Danilina/Haddad
JUNIOR BREAKOUTS: Angella Okutoyi/KEN and Meshkatolzahra Safi/IRA





All for Day 12. More tomorrow.
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