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Sunday, February 6, 2022

Wk.5- The In-Between

The WTA took a break during Week 5 (aka "the in-between"), but tennis didn't.








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*WEEK 5*

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ITF PLAYER: Tatjana Maria/GER
...the active contingent of German veterans includes *one* more, as Maria is still working her way back on the challenger tour since returning last July (after an 11-month absence) after becoming a mother for the second time last spring. This weekend in the Rome, Georgia (US) $60K, the 34-year old claimed her 16th career circuit title, her first win in singles since winning her lone tour-level crown in Mallorca in 2018.

Since her return last summer, Maria didn't win multiple matches in an event until last month in a $60K in Orlando (w/ both coming in qualifying). She started her latest comeback by going 7-17 heading into that Orlando event. Since then, though, she's gone 9-1, and this week in Rome her 7-win (2 Q/5 MD) streak (her best since that Mallorca title) included six straight sets victories over the likes of Tara Moore, Usue Arconada, Wang Xiyu, Katie Volynets and Emma Navarro that she then followed up with a three-set (6-4/4-6/6-2) triumph in the final over big-serving 21-year old Bannerette Alycia Parks (who'd also reached the final w/o dropping a set).

Maria, a one-time Top 50 player, entered the week at #311 and should jump back inside the Top 240 in the next rankings.

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JUNIOR STARS: Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE and Nikola Daubnerova/SVK
...another week, another major Fruhvirtova move on the tennis chess board.

This week, in just her third pro event, 14-year old Brenda took home her first title at the $25K Tucumán challenger in Argentina. The girls' #4 (WTA #1079), after a 2nd Round at the WTA 125 in Seoul in December and qualifying run (and 1r exit) last month at $25K Monastir, reached her first final with back-to-back Top 200 wins over #3-seed Elina Avanesyan (QF) and #1 Paula Ormaechea (SF). In the final, she handled #5 Carolina Alves in a 6-3/6-3 straight sets victory that adds her name to the list of Czech teens -- including Barbora Palicová in '22, after Linda Noskova, Sara Bejlek and Brenda's sister Linda last year -- who've had recent title-winning success on the ITF circuit.



Back on the junior circuit, 16-year old Slovak (jr. #50) Daubnerova claimed her biggest career title at the J1 Inka Bowl in Lima, Peru without dropping a set. The #3 seed, Daubnerova handled top-seeded Sayaka Ishii in the semis, then defeated fellow Slovakian Nina Vargova in a 6-3/7-6 final to improve her record to 10-2 in her last twelve junior matches in '22, a run which has included additional J1 QF (Barranquilla) and SF (Salinas) results.


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DOWN: Kristina Mladenovic/FRA
...fresh off her AO Mixed Doubles win (but 1st Rd. singles exit) the #98-ranked Pastry fell this weekend in the opening round of qualifying in Saint Petersburg. Mladenovic lost in three sets to 17-year old wild card Hordette Erika Andreeva, who recorded her first career Top 100 win (good thing she didn't meet Kiki in a few weeks, I guess.). Mladenovic was the Saint Petersburg champion -- her *only* WTA singles win -- in 2017, but has now lost five straight matches in the event, starting with a defeat at the hands of Petra Kvitova in the '18 final when the Pastry was attempting to repeat.

Though she came perilously close in '21, Mladenovic has *yet* to see her once high ranking fall all the way out of the Top 100, but that could change very soon. She hasn't had a triple-digit ranking since September 2012.

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1. Saint Petersburg Q1 - Caty McNally def. Kristinca Kucova 4-6/7-5/7-6(5)
Saint Petersburg Q2 - Caty McNally def. Anna Kalinskaya 6-4/2-6/6-4
...two impressive three-set wins for McNally, who *still* needs to take out Kaja Juvan in the Q3 to reach the MD. A win would be a good way to celebrate her home town Bengals playing in next Sunday's Super Bowl.


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2. $60K Rome USA Final - Sophie Chang/Angela Kulikov def. Emina Bektas/Tara Moore
...6-3/6-7(2) [10-7]. Chang, 24, has already this season picked up her biggest singles title ($25K Vero Beach) and a pair of doubles crowns (w/ Vero Beach with Allie Kiick).
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1. Saint Petersburg Q1 - Erika Andreeva def. Kristina Mladenovic
...6-3/6-7(8)/7-5. This loss might just look a bit better in a few years, as 17-year old Andreeva is one of the Renaissance Hordettes on the rise (sort of like how Mladenovic was nearly upset by Ane Mintegi del Olmo a few weeks before the Spaniard won the Wimbledon girls title last summer). But, as of this week, it's a defeat at the hands of the world #300 while the Pastry is currently struggling to stay in the Top 100 herself.

Andreeva nearly pulled off the win in straights, as she held three MP in the 2nd before Mladenovic won a 10-8 TB to force a 3rd. The Russian eventually won on her seventh MP, picking up her first career Top 100 win and handing '17 tourament champ Mladenovic a fifth straight match loss in Saint Petersburg.


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2. Saint Petersburg Q2 - Erika Andreeva def. Viktoria Kuzmova
...7-5/4-6/6-1. Not a *second* Top 100 win (Kuzmova is #148), but the Slovak (as opposed to Kiki) was 6-2 on the season coming in.
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3. $15K Antalya TUR Final - Hurricane Tyra Black def. Ilay Yörük
...6-2/4-6/6-4. 20-year old Black continues to put up results on the lower end of the ITF circuit, defeating Turkey's Yörük (14-2 on the year prior to the final) to claim her third challenger win since last November. She won her first (#4) last June, after having none at the start of '21.
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HM- $15K Monastir TUR Final - Chiara Scholl def. Haruna Arakawa
...6-2/6-4. The 29-year old Bannerette picks up her eleventh career circuit crown, securing just her second singles win since 2017.
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*2022 ITF SINGLES TITLES*
2 - Hurricane Tyra Black, USA
2 - Elizabeth Mandlik, USA
2 - Sapfo Sakellaridi, GRE

*2022 TOP JUNIOR EVENT CHAMPIONS*
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (COFFEE BOWL) J1: Sonya Macavei/USA
TRARALGON, AUS J1: Sofia Costoulas/BEL
SVYATOPETRIVSKE VILLAGE UKR (VICCOURT CUP) J1: Linda Klimovicova/CZE
BARRANQUILLA, COL J1: Sayaka Ishii/JPN
AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Petra Marcinko/CRO
SALINAS ECU J1: Luca Udvardy/HUN
LIMA, PERU (INKA BOWL) J1: Nikola Daubnerova/SVK





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All for now.
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