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Thursday, January 20, 2022

AO.4 - Something Danish This Way Comes

Well, there she goes again.




Just sixteen months ago, Danish teen Clara Tauson announced herself on the slam stage with rare clarity, debuting in Paris in the fall version of Roland Garros as a qualifier and staging a 1st Round upset of a seeded Jennifer Brady in one of the more remarkable (and immediate) declarations of intent that we'd seen in years.

Since that big win, the '19 Austrailian Open junior champ has ridden the tour's recent wave of teen success, climbing into the Top 40 (she started this AO at #39) and claiming a pair of indoor hardcourt titles (in a trio of WTA finals last season) along the way. Last summer, just two weeks before the start of the U.S. Open, she handed British teen Emma Raducanu her last loss in a WTA 125 final in Chicago before the 18-year old would go on to win her maiden major title in New York.

What Tauson, 19, did on Thursday in Melbourne, though, was far more head-turning than that lone eyebrow-raising victory over Raducanu turned out to be. Facing off against #6-seed Anett Kontaveit on Margaret Court Arena, Tauson essentially hit the Estonian, the hottest player on the WTA tour down the stretch last season, off the court with a positively young-Kvitova-at-SW19 like display (minus the "Pojd!") of throw-your-hands-up power both off the ground and on serve, essentially taking the racket out of Kontaveit's hand and often leaving her flailing in her attempt to find answers to what the Dane was throwing at her.

Kontaveit had arrived in Melbourne looking to put up a solid slam result to back up the multi-title run in the final months of '21 that had lifted her into the Top 10 for the first time. Having finally found the key to consistently winning tour-level matches and titles, this slam was her opportunity to prove whether or not her current status on tour would be her "new normal," or whether her quick finish was one along the likes of Caroline Garcia's unsustainable (and ultimately misleading) late-season Top 10 push of a few years back that lifted her from the pack but didn't ultimately seperate her from it. Kontaveit was hoping to add (at least) another major QF result to her lone career such slam effort at the AO two seasons ago.

We'll have to wait to see about where Kontaveit *truly* stands on tour, because she never had a chance to plead her case today.

It didn't take long for Tauson to impose herself on the match, breaking Kontaveit's serve to open the contest, then consolidating her lead with a hold for 2-0. Firing power shots from the baseline, the Danish teenager didn't allow Kontaveit a moment to relax, and rarely gave her time to properly react. She carried out her early momentum to a 6-2 1st set win, winning 78% of her 1st serves, and tidily totaling ten winners to just four unforced errors while Kontaveit had a hard time keeping the ball in the court (16 UE) and an even more difficult time handling Tauson's serve (winning just 7 of 27 return points).

Tauson didn't pull back on her power shots in the 2nd set, but she did lose a bit of her accuracy and made a few bad shot selections, causing her to offer up the additional UE that gave Kontaveit an opening to get back into the match. The Estonian jumped on the chance in game #4, putting back a Tauson drop shot with a backhand winner down the line to reach BP. She missed on a long, rally-ending forehand, but when Tauson just missed on a crosscourt forehand the Estonian got a second BP. Tauson contributed another forehand error to hand Kontaveit a 3-1 lead. But it didn't last long, as Tauson immediately broke back.

A Tauson error on another drop shot attempt seemed to cause the Dane to briefly lose concentration a point later, giving Kontaveit a chance to get the break back. After having led 30/15, Tauson's netted backhand gave the Estonian a 4-2 edge, and she bounced her racket (though in a fairly understated way) in frustration.

It was but a spare moment of exasperation, but it seemed to wash the "bad" right out of Tauson's system.

From there, Tauson once again let her heavy shots speak loudly, taking a love/40 lead on Kontaveit's serve, then firing a backhand laser down the line on her second BP chance to get things back on serve at 4-3. By now, with Tauson firing with accuracy once more, Kontaveit just couldn't keep up with the teenager's power.

At 30/30, a big Tauson blast up the middle gave her a GP, then an ace made it 4-4. Kontaveit, searching for *anything* to hold on, overplayed a backhand off a high bouncing ball to drop the opening point of game #9. A point later, Tauson stepped in and unleashed a powerful return shot, pressuring Kontaveit into a sprayed error to make it love/30. The Estonian then wasn't able to handle yet another big return shot and fell behind triple BP. On her third BP chance, Tauson's deep return once more elicited a Kontaveit error as the ball flew off her racket, giving the Dane the opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4.

Tauson didn't waste any time. An ace gave her a 30/love lead, and then she overpowered Kontaveit again to make it 40/love. A big shot up the middle from the teenager caused a long Kontaveit forehand reply and it was all over. Tauson's 6-2/6-4 win is her first over a Top 10 player, and sends her flying into her maiden slam 3rd Round match.



With this win, that 2020 RG debut has proven to be an early preview of what Tauson is capable of. Her power, an asset the tour's previous Dane never really possessed (or needed, as it turned out), gives her a "puncher's" shot against any opponent. As with any player with such a weapon, though, whether she can consistently utilize it will write the story of what happens next.

Considering what happened to Raducanu *after* Tauson defeated her last August, it'd probably be best ot not leave *any* possibility off the table. Just a thought.




=DAY 4 NOTES=
...Tauson's dispatching of the #6 seed wasn't even the case of the highest-ranked player to lose on this very "Radwanskian Massacre" (lite) Day 4, as #3 Garbine Muguruza had one of *those* days (i.e. 33 UE in 17 games) while Alizé Cornet, playing in her 60th consecutive slam MD, once again pulled things together to produce the sort of slam moment (see Serena) that she's always been capable of. I mean, when the theatrics that often fuel her aren't also blocking her path to success.



Cornet's win ends Muguruza's 2022 AO early, one year after she'd held a pair of MP in the Round of 16 against eventual champ Naomi Osaka, and gives the French woman her biggest win since upsetting #2 Simona Halep in Madrid in 2015 (a season after her three wins over a #1-ranked Serena Williams). It's the 23rd Top 10, tenth Top 5 and sixth Top 3 victory of Cornet's career.



Of course, "Alizé is (and remains) Life." Sometimes messy, sometimes exhilirating, always complicated, with highs followed by lows, and great expections and deep disappointment working together to carve out a passable, but often uneven, path through existence. Even while Cornet could claim the all-time women's mark for consecutive slam MD appearances by the end of '22 (after which she *might* retire, apparently), unless she puts on the best run at a major in her career during this season she'll remain the woman who has played the most majors (this is #63) without having reached a QF.

Two days from turning 32, Cornet at the moment has the entirety of French women's tennis balancing on her shoulders. It's something that says as much about Cornet's countrywomen as it does Cornet. As a group, the Pastries were eight strong -- with the nation's Top 8 ranked players all in the field -- at this AO. Only the U.S. had more woman in the draw. But the French women went just 2-6 in the 1st Round, then saw Harmony Tan retire in the 3rd after having saved MP vs. Elina Svitolina to force a deciding set in the 2nd Round yesterday. Cornet, the highest-ranked on tour at #61 (still a # which is a hard-to-believe fact for a slam host nation that won a Fed Cup title two years ago) as well as the oldest player representing France in the Top 675 players in the world, is the last remaining of the group in Melbourne.

The likes of Clara Burel and Diane Parry, both 1st Round losers at this AO, hold the (near) future of French women's tennis in their hands, Fiona Ferro remains a question mark, while the should-still-be-in-their-prime Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia continue to look more like "the past." Back as doubles partners at this slam, their pairing acts as something of another (final?) mea culpa for the many bad career decisions made, mostly by Mladenovic, in the past.

By all rights, Cornet *shouldn't* be the #1-ranked Pastry, but she is just that. And it'd be difficult to argue otherwise at the moment.



The duality of Cornet was evident on Wednesday even as she completed her big win, as she celebrated with a wrap on her thigh (just like in the photo on her autobiography), signaling a lingering "imperfection" which seems to fit the self-described "perfectionist" like a glove.

...#3 Muguruza seemed set to be joined on the sideline by an even higher seed. Well, until she wasn't. But the final decision never really seemed safe, as #2 Aryna Sabalenka once again did battle against her own serve, somehow surviving to fight another day after a three-set win over Wang Xinyu that included 19 more double-faults.

Early on, after Sabalenka had had six DF in the very first game of the match, and twelve in the opening set, the Belarusian's commitment to power serving (even while her technique is consistently breaking down) looked as if it'd be her undoing. The 20-year old from China looked poised to take advantage of Sabalenka's weakness, claiming the 1st set at 6-1.



But as she did in the 1st Round against Storm Sanders, when she climbed out of a set and 3-1 down hole, Sabalenka hit (and missed) her way through the match, grabbing and early break in the 2nd and 3rd sets and serving out the final games that claimed both sets, giving her a 1-6/6-4/6-2 win.

With today's match complete, Sabalenka has now racked up DF totals of 18, 21, 12 and 19 in her first four matches of the '22 season.



...two days after upsetting #23 Leylah Fernandez, 133-ranked Aussie wild card Maddison Inglis backed up her career win today, defeating qualifier Hailey Baptiste in three sets to advance. After failing to serve out the 1st set at 6-5, Inglis claimed a 7-4 TB. After Baptiste had knotted the match, Inglis staged a comeback from 2-0 down in the 3rd, sweeping the final six games to join countrywoman Ash Barty in the final 32.



...the Russian Tennis Renaissance had a few misses at this AO, including today's loss by Liudmila Samsonova to #31 Marketa Vondrousova, but yesterday #28 Veronika Kudermetova's win over Gabriela Ruse assured that at least one Hordette would reach the 3rd Round at the 84th of the last 86 majors. Today, #25 Dasha Kasatkina and #10 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova joined her. Pavlyuchenkova's 6-2/6-2 victory over Samantha Stosur officialy ended the veteran Aussie's singles career.



...meanwhile, in doubles, Marta Kostyuk's Melbourne joyride added an upset (alongside Dayana Yastremska) of #8-seeded Caty McNally & Coco Gauff; while #1-seeds Krejcikova/Siniakova dropped just two games to Kerkhove/Rodionova.

In MX, a rare married duo took the court in newlyweds Luke and Dasha Saville. Hopefully, it's not an omen, but the Aussies lost to #4-seeded Guarachi/Putz 7-6/7-5.

In Thursday's night session, #17 Emma Raducanu (11-1 in slam play) returns, facing Danka Kovinic on MCA. As of this post, after being treated for a (maybe?) blister on her right hand, Radacanu dropped the 1st set 6-4 after having held a double-break lead at 3-0.

Later, #14 Simona Halep faces off with Beatriz Haddad on Laver.





..WHAT A NICE PHOTO ON DAY 4:




...BY THE WAY... DAY 4:

All the outrage tonight due to the coverage (or lack of it) of matches on ESPN+ (ESPN essentially forces everyone to buy the streaming service to watch the AO as it's barely shown the event this week on its actual channels, and when it *is* on air its people direct everyone to go there to watch matches, but then working links to feeds of most of the matches aren't even available) isn't really a surprise. And people talking about it on social media doesn't get the attention of people at the network and cause things to be fixed, either.

No one there pays attention to anything.

Remember, for two or three years they used an incorrect graphic showing the all-time women's slam title leaders that listed Helen Wills Moody (the Suzanne Lenglen rival, aka "The American Girl") as being a Brit. For two or three *years*, at every major that included Serena Williams, before someone finally realized the mistake.


..NEXT STOP: NEWPORT... ON DAY 4:

Well, then again... the Hall of Fame has been a bit "off" of late.





...Rule #43: Don't Take Your Phenoms for Granted...ON DAY 4:




...Hmmm...ON DAY 4:



What's going on? I'm actually not rolling my eyes at Monfils at this event. And the thought of him actually doing something big (for once... sorry, had to do it) is something I could actually jump on the bandwagon for.

Of course, to enjoy the full effect, Svitolina would also have to bomb out badly in the next round or two, I think. (Evil laugh.)


...BELATED NFL PLAYOFF WEEKEND RECAP ON DAY 4:









Obviously, I've never really been familiar with the AC/DC catalog (I've just never crossed paths w/ their music in any meaningful way... I mean, I knew of "Back in Black," but not much more), but I've often heard this (unannounced) song on the radio and thought that that was about as classic rock as classic rock can get. I only recently found out it was an AC/DC song. So there ya go.



Psssst, and Venus and Serena Williams are *actually* related, too. Did you *realize* that? I mean... wow.





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*RECENT AO "LAST WILD CARD STANDING" WINNERS*
2016 Han Xinyun, CHN (2nd Rd.)
2017 Ash Barty, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2018 Olivia Rogowska, AUS (2nd Rd.)
2019 Kimberly Birrell, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2020 Patricia Hon, AUS & Arina Rodionova, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2021 Dasha Gavrilova, AUS & Samantha Stosur, AUS (2nd Rd.)
2022 Maddison Inglis, AUS (in 3rd Rd.)

*RECENT AO "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING" WINNERS*
=2016=
Zhang Shuai, CHN (QF)
=2017=
Mona Barthel, GER (both 4th Rd.)
Jennifer Brady, USA
=2018=
Denisa Allertova, CZE (4th Rd.)
=2019=
Bianca Andreescu, CAN (all 2nd Rd.)
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
Astra Sharma, AUS
Iga Swiatek, POL
Natalia Vikhlyantseva, RUS
=2020=
Harriet Dart, GBR (all 2nd Rd.)
Nao Hibino, JPN
Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
Ann Li, USA
Caty McNally, USA
Greet Minnen, BEL
=2021=
Sara Errani, ITA (both 3rd Rd.)
Kaja Juvan, SLO
=2022=
Hailey Baptiste, USA (all 2nd Rd.)
Lucia Bronzetti, ITA
Martina Trevisan, ITA
Zheng Qinwen, CHN

*RECENT AO "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"*
2017 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., First Loss, 1st Seed Out, 3 Top 32 defeats)
2018 USA (0-8 start/1-9 on Day 1; 3/4 of '17 U.S. Open SF ousted)
2019 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed)
2020 BLR (0-2 1st Rd., #11 Sabalenka highest seed; Azarenka absent)
2021 CHN (1-5 1st Rd., two seeds, three Top 50 players ousted)
2022 CAN (0-2 1st Rd.; #23 Fernandez; Andreescu/Bouchard DNP)






TOP QUALIFIER: Hailey Baptiste/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Ash Barty/AUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
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): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
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 (in 3rd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: In 3r: Barty, Inglis
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT (TBD): xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominees: #11 Kenin (2r/1r exits since '20 AO title); #23 Fernandez (1r loss to #133 WC Inglis; first slam after U.S. Open final)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominees: #12 Rybakina (1r- saved MP in 2nd set vs. Diyas); #2 Sabalenka (1r- down set and 3-1 vs. Sanders; 19 DF in 2r); Q.Wang (2r- 2 pts from loss vs. Van Uytvanck)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Barty, Raducanu, Osaka
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: Nominee: "For the Good of the People" (Djokovic deported)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx





All for Day 4. More tomorrow.
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