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Sunday, February 8, 2026

Wk.5- C-Z-E in the U-A-E

Yep, Sara crushed it.






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*WEEK 5 CHAMPIONS*
ABU DHABI, U.A.E. (WTA 500; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Sara Bejlek/CZE def. Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS 7-6(5)/6-1
D: Ekaterina Alexandrova/Maya Joint (RUS/AUS) def. Tereza Mihalikova/Olivia Nicholls (SVK/GBR) 3-6/7-6(5) [10-8]
OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLIC (WTA 250; Hard Court Indoor)
S: Katie Boulter/GBR def. Tamara Korpatsch/GER 5-7/6-2/6-1
D: Anastasia Detiuc/Sabrina Santamaria (CZE/USA) def. Lucie Havlickova/Dominika Salkova (CZE/CZE) 6-4/7-6(4)
CLUJ-NAPOCA, ROMANIA (WTA 250; Hard Court Indoor)
S: Sorana Cirstea/ROU def. Emma Raducanu/GBR 6-0/6-2
D: Kamilla Rakhimova/Sara Sorribes Tormo (UZB/ESP) def. Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai (CHN/CHN) 7-6(7)/6-3
Mumbai, India (WTA 125; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA def. Lilli Tagger/AUT 6-4/6-3
D: Polina Iatcenko/Elena Pridankina (RUS/RUS) def. Nicole Fossa Huego/Mananchaya Sawangkaew (ARG/THA) 7-6(3)/1-6 [10-5]




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sara Bejlek/CZE
...another week, another member of the Crush of Czechs makes a move. This time by becoming a first-time tour singles champion.

After the likes of fellow young Czechs Tereza Valentova, Nikola Bartunkova and others have been significant strides at tour level in recent weeks and months, Bejlek finally followed suit. After shining on the challenger level as a teenager, and sparking with a 4th Round run in Madrid in her 1000 debut (and, so far, only 1000 MD) two years ago, the 20-year old had struggled to get over the hump at tour-level, going 1-7 in slam MD play and with just a lone tour-level QF result (coming in Prague last year) on her resume.

What turned out to be the best week of her career saw Bejlek (#101) have to make her way through Abu Dhabi qualifying just to reach the MD, then rise to the occasion with wins over Ashlyn Krueger, Alona Ostapenko, Sonay Kartal and Clara Tauson (the Dane claimed the only set Bejlek lost in seven matches) and Ekaterina Alexandrova in back-to-back Top 20 wins in the SF/F.



Bejlek's 1-0 mark in WTA finals now stands quite well alongside her records in lower level finals, 4-0 in 125 events and 7-3 on the ITF circuit. She'll jump a whopping 63 spots to a new career high of #38, obliterating her former high of #75 and moving from CZE #8 to #5 by jumping up-and-comer Valentova, a multiple slam winner (Krejcikova) and a former-and-likely-future (again) WD #1 (Siniakova) in one giant leap.
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RISERS: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS and Hailey Baptiste/USA
...a year after winning her biggest career title in Linz (which has moved to April on the '26 schedule), Alexandrova reached yet another 500 final. The Hordette also *lost* another 500 final, dropping her to 0-4 in her last four tour-level singles finals (all 500s) and 1-6 (all but one a 500 event) in her last seven.



Alexandrova's path in Abu Dhabi to her 13th career WTA singles final included wins over Dayana Yastremska, Alex Eala and Hailey Baptiste (saving a MP), but she fell in straight sets to Sara Bejlek with the title on the line. She'll still return to the Top 10 on Monday, moving past dropping '25 Ahu Dhabi champ Belinda Bencic, who withdrew from this year's event due to injury after being drawn as the #1 seed.

Alexandrova rebounded later on Saturday to claim the doubles crown alongside Maya Joint.

Meanwhile, though she came up a point short of something bigger against Alexandrova, Abu Dhabi was still the site of yet another career leap for Baptiste, who rode previous wins over Teodora Kostovic, Emma Navarro and Liudmila Samsonova to her maiden tour-level SF. Her second set MP, and chance to serve out the win soon afterward, went by the wayside in her semi match-up with Alexandrova in what was the Bannerette's fifth consecutive three-set contest this season (and seventh in her last eight matches).

Thus far, Baptiste is a good 5-3 in the those outings, but if she'd been able to wring one more win out of the stretch she might have been making an even bigger leap on Monday than her new career high standing of #39.


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SURPRISES: Daria Snigur/UKR and Katie Volynets/USA
...Snigur's most memorable career match had a Romanian connection, as she was the player who upset Simona Halep in the 1st Round of the U.S. Open in 2022 before the fateful drug test that wreaked havoc with the next three years of Halep's career, ultimately ending it in Cluj-Napoca with her surprise retirement announcement one year ago after what was just her sixth match -- following a contentious, years-long fight to clear her name and return to the court -- since the Snigur defeat.

Well, Halep was back in Cluj this past week, as a guest working along with the tournament, and there was Snigur putting on a career-best run to her maiden tour-level SF. Wins over Sarah Rakotomanga, #2 seeded Romanian Jaqueline Cristian and Yuan Yue (who served for match vs. the Ukrainian) preceded a loss from qualifier Snigur to still another Romanian, eventual champion Sorana Cirstea.

Snigur will jump from #144 to #123 on Monday, getting closer to the career-high of #105 she set in November '22.



A former world #56 (in '24), Volynets will climb just a few more spaces inside the Top 100, up a few ticks from her #96 ranking, after a week that started out pretty well, and ended even better.



In Ostrava, the 24-year old reached her second career WTA semi, her first since Austin in 2023.

Volynets showed signs in the '25 4Q Asian swing of upward progression, with a 125 final (Suzhou) and tour-level QF run (Guangzhou) in October, and this week's wins over Linda Klimovicova, top-seeded Tatjana Maria and Alycia Parks (before a loss to eventual champ Katie Boulter) continued the trend.
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VETERANS: Sorana Cirstea/ROU and Tamara Korpatsch/GER
...Cirstea has said that this is her final season on tour, and that she intends to make it count. After her biggest January headlines involved a minor row with Naomi Osaka in Melbourne, the 35-year old Romanian let her results do the talking in Cluj-Napoca as she claimed her first title on home soil, and her second overall since last summer to became the ninth-oldest WTA singles champion ever.

Cirstea, at about 35 years and ten months, is the oldest of the WTA's group of 35-year old singles champions, with only wins from Billie Jean King (39), Kimiko Date-Krumm (38), Serena Williams (38), Tatjana Maria (37), Martina Navratilova (2 at 37, one at 36) and Francesca Schiavone (36) coming later in a career in tour history.

In Cluj, she didn't drop a set as she posted wins over Kamilla Rakhimova, Tamara Zidansek, Anastasia Potapova, Daria Snigur and Emma Raducanu. Cirstea lost three or fewer *total* games in three of her five maches on the week, and just five games combined in the SF/F.

All three of the titles that Cirstea has won in the 2020s, the first of which came in 2021 after a dozen and a half year tour title drought, have seen her take the crown without dropping a set in the tournament, with Cluj being added to a list that includes Istanbul (2021) and Cleveland (2025).

The Romanian is 10-2 on the season.



After reaching as high as #21 in both 2013 and '14, Cirstea is once again theoretically in the hunt for her belated Top 20 breakthrough. She'll climb five spots to #31 on Monday, about 500 points out of the Top 20. Should she finally crack the barrier this season, she'd become the oldest woman to ever make her Top 20 debut. She'll turn 36 in April, with the current record holder being Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who reached the Top 20 for the first time about two months after turning 35 in 2017.

In Ostrava, Korpatsch reached her second tour final (after her Cluj title run in '23), recording victories over Anna Siskova, #2-seed Emiliana Arango, Caty McNally and Diane Parry.



Ranked #124, the German will nearly return to the Top 100 (#102), where she hasn't been since July 2024.
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COMEBACKS: Katie Boulter/GBR and Emma Raducanu/GBR
...for the first time, two British women reached different WTA tour-level singles finals on the same weekend in this Week 5 (i.e. they didn't play each other in the same event, which *did* happen in Nottingham in 2023). But only one walked off with the title.

That honor would go to Boulter, who picked up career title #4 some fifteen months after claiming her last, following a struggle of a '25 season (aside from a few clay court moments with her maiden RG win and first clay title, at the 125 level) that saw her go 22-22 and fall from #24 at the start of last season to #120 heading into this past week.

Things finally game together again in Ostrava, as Boulter got victories over Lucie Havlickova, Viktorija Golubic, Linda Fruhvirtova, Katie Volynets and Tamara Kopatsch in a final in which the Brit rallied from a set down, allowing the German just three games in the final two sets.

It's Boulter's first WTA crown since her successful title defense in Nottingham in 2024.



Meanwhile, just when she seemed to be zigging once again (jettisoning yet another coach after AO26), Raducanu zagged, reaching her first tour-level singles final since winning the U.S. Open in 2021, resetting the clock once again when it comes to judging the ongoing progression -- or sometimes the lack thereof -- of her career.



Following her Romanian roots, Raducanu rode a wave with wins over Greet Minnen, Kaja Juvan (winning 7-5/6-1 after losing the first five games of the match), Maja Chwalinska and Oleksandra Oliynykova before notching just two games in the final against Sorana Cirstea.



Her week will lift Raducanu's ranking five spots to #25, her best standing since dropping her U.S. Open title points in 2022.
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FRESH FACES: Oleksandra Oliynykova/UKR and Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA
...after picking up steam in the lower levels in 2025, going 7-0 in 125/ITF finals and cracking the Top 100, Oliynykova has gone about the opening weeks of '26 becoming one of the newest personalities on the most interesting tour in the world.



Armed with a frustrating gameplan (for opponents), a unique on-court look (which for the Transylvania Open included temporary adjustments to her facial tattoos so that they resembled bats flying beneath her eyes), and a bold personal style (before her slam debut vs. DC Madison Keys, she expressed support during the AO for the long-put-away notion of banning RUS/BLR players, then the Ukrainian refused to shake the hand of her *Hungarian* opponent in Cluj... because she'd played in a post-invasion team exhibition event in Russia back in 2022), Oliynykova brought attention to herself with her between-the-lines action in Cluj by reaching the semifinals in just her second tour-level MD event.



Oliynykova opened with a late night win from a set down over Mayar Sherif, then followed up with defeats of Anna Bondar (minus a pre-match photo or a post-match handshake) and Wang Xinyu (when she saved 20 of 22 BP) before finally falling to Emma Raducanu in three sets, a win away from the final.

Somehow, this feels more like a beginning than a brief encounter.



Oliynykova now jumps 20 spots to a career high #71.

In Mumbai, Sawangkaew grabbed her biggest career title at the same 125 event at which she's reached her biggest career final a year ago (a loss to Jil Teichmann).

This time around, the 23-year old backed up her all-Thai SF win over Lanlana Tararudee with a straight sets victory in the final over streaking Austrian teen Lilli Tagger, ending the 17-year old's nine-match winning streak.

Sawangkaew, who opened the year with a $75K title run, will rise 24 spots to #212 with her 11-2 start to '26. She reached the Top 100 last summer, but then saw her ranking sink when she was forced off tour due to a back injury from June until late November.



Sawangkaew also reached the doubles final with Nicole Fossa Huego.
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DOWN: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...while she's found early season success in doubles -- with a title in Brisbane, and AO QF -- Ostapenko is having a hard time getting started on the singles side in '26.

After a 2025 campaign in which she briefly shined white-hot (reaching the s/d finals in Doha, with a win over Iga Swiatek, then a title run in Stuttgart during which she knocked off #2 Swiatek again, as well as #1 Sabalenka) yet finished the season having lost more times than she won (going 18-20), Ostapenko's slumping finish has carried over into the new year.

She ended '25 on a 3-9 slide, with two retirements and without a multi-win event since Roland Garros. With her close win over Oksana Selekhmeteva and then 2nd Round loss to Sara Bejlek in Abu Dhabi, the Lavtian stands at 2-4 in '26 (w/ another ret.).


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ITF PLAYER: Talia Gibson/AUS
...the 21-year old Aussie continued her good run Down Under, adding to her AO 1st Round singles win over Anna Blinkova (and pushing of Diana Shnaider to three sets in the 2r) and doubles upset of #1-seeded Errani/Paolini in Melbourne with her 11th career challenger crown (fourth $75K) with a win in Brisbane. She downed veteran Nao Hibino in a 6-3/7-6 final.

Hibino, 31, had been looking to keep up her recent resurgence with what would have been her first singles title on any level in nearly three years. Last year, she recorded her first slam MD win in four years with a 1st Round victory in Paris.
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JUNIOR STAR: Janae Preston/USA
...the 15-year old Bannerette has now claimed *two* early-season J300 crowns, this weekend taking the title in Salinas (ECU) with a win in the final over fellow U.S. teen Sarah Ye.

Last month, the #71-ranked girl took home the honors in San Jose, Costa Rica.


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DOUBLES: Ekaterina Alexandrova/Maya Joint, RUS/AUS
...while Alexandrova came up short in the Abu Dhabi singles final, she took the doubles with Joint via a 10-8 MTB win over Tereza Mihalikova/Olivia Nicholls in the WD final a few hours later.

It's the Russian vet's second WTA doubles win, but first since 2019, while 19-year old Aussie Joint's second crown comes in her fourth doubles final since last May (she's also picked up a pair of WTA singles titles during the stretch).


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1. Abu Dhabi 2nd Rd. - Alex Eala def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
...2-6/6-4/7-6(5). Eala again brought the fans, and for a while brought the results, too.

The Filipina trailed Sasnovich 4-0 and 5-2 in the 3rd, facing a MP on her opponent's serve before breaking the Belarusian on her third BP chance. Sasnovich still served for the match again two games later, but still couldn't put away the win, then held a mini-break lead at 5-4 in the TB (w/ two serves incoming). She lost both, as Eala swept the final three points to advance.


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2. Abu Dhabi SF - Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Hailey Baptiste
...3-6/7-6(5)/6-3. Baptiste came "this close" to a superior week. After taking the 1st set, she saved four BP and held for 4-3 in the 2nd, carving out a MP chance two game later at 5-4 before Alexandrova saved it and soon forced a deciding breaker.

The Hordette veteran broke out of a 5-5 deadlock in the TB to win 7-5 and reach her 13th tour final.


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3. Cluj-Napoca 1st Rd. - Oleksandra Oliynykova def. Mayar Sherif 6-7(6)/6-4/6-4
Cluj-Napoca 2nd Rd. - Oleksandra Oliynykova def. Anna Bondar 6-4/6-4
...personality-plus Oliynykova had quite the headline-generating week in Cluj, winning a toe-to-toe battle with Sherif into the night, taking the 1st set after both players held set points, then overcoming a 3-1 3rd set deficit to notch her first tour-level MD victory on her fourth BP/MP in the final game.

In her next outing, she dragged out into the light Bondar's participation in a frowned-upon Saint Petersburg team exihibition -- the North Palmyra Trophies -- held in December 2022, and sponsored by a Putin-linked/war-fueling energy company, in defiance of the sport's ban on Russian events. The Ukrainian wanted an apology from Bondar, didn't get it, and then followed through with her decision to not have a pre-match photo taken together or shake the Hungarian's hand following the match.

A little history on that event: it's continued to be held at the end of recent years, and has mostly been populated by Russian players (Medvedev, Shnaider, V.Kudermetova, Bublik, Khachanov, etc.), Original Hordettes (Kuznetsova, Myskina and Vesnina in the first event) or current pros with Russian links (Potapova, Putintseva). Bondar has been one of the few non-RUS players to attend, along with the likes of Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova and Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor (Potapova's boyfriend, he attended the Dec. '25 event after being practically begged not to do so -- here's a good article on that situation, and the entire issue).

Expect Oliynykova to continue to be a headline-maker, for reasons both obvious, thought-provoking and, as far as her game in concerned, also quite entertaining.
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4. Cluj-Napoca 2nd Rd. - Emma Raducanu def. Kaja Juvan 7-5/6-1
Cluj-Napoca Final - Sorana Cirstea def. Emma Raducanu 6-0/6-2
...Raducanu had a "so-very-Raducanu-esque" week in Cluj.

With her Romanian roots, she had immediate rapport with the fans, but after arriving following *another* coaching move (naturally) she found herself down 5-0 in the 1st set of her 2nd Round match vs. Kaja Juvan, which served to cue all the "Raducanu can't play" real-time attacks on the Brit on social media. Then, mostly to crickets from the same corners, she rallied to get the win and played herself into her first final since winning the U.S. Open, reminding everyone that her appeal *did* have a legitimate game-based foundation in its origin story.

Then came the final.



Raducanu wasn't able to rise to the occasion vs. Cirstea, and needed some in-match medical attention (naturally), waking up all the social media detractors who'd crawled back into the shadows for a few days until it was safe to bring the hate once more. So the current State of Raducanu's Game report, I suppose, will depend on through which pair of glasses someone views the proceedings.

It can't get much more "signature week" than that for Emma, I guess.


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5. Ostrava Final - Katie Boulter def. Tamara Korpatsch
...5-7/6-2/6-1. The winning side of the two British finalist combo from Week 5, as Boulter gets a *much* needed good result, as well as an unsolicited compliment on her character from her fallen opponent.


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6. Abu Dhabi Final - Sara Bejlek def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...7-6(5)/6-1. Bejlek joins the three other qualifier champions since the start of last year: Tatjana Maria at Queen's Club, Sorana Cirstea in Cleveland, and Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Hobart just last month.

A season ago, the Abu Dhabi champion was a wild card (Belinda Bencic), who withdrew before this year's tournaments and opened the door for runner-up Alexandrova to earn back her Top 10 ranking next week.


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7. Abu Dhabi SF - Sara Bejlek def. Clara Tauson
...7-5/3-6/7-5. Tauson started 15-4 last season, but has had a rougher go of things in '26. She's 4-4 so far this season, but showed signs of life again in Abu Dhabi, only to come up short in a tight match (as she did vs. Mboko in Melbourne) once more.

Bejlek rallied to take the 1st set from 4-2 down, then broke the Dane in game 11 of the 3rd, converting on her fifth BP chance (after Tauson had a pair of GP) to lead 6-5. The Czech then served out the win at 15 to reach her maiden tour final.
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8. Cluj-Napoca 1st Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Lucia Bronzetti
...5-7/6-4/7-5. Potapova hasn't been cut-and-pasting Dasha Kasatkina's 2026 results, at least, and she can be thankful for that.

In her first match since losing that double-TB affair vs. Sabalenka at AO26, the new Austrian rallied from 7-5/4-2 back to clip Bronzetti at the wire. After being forced to a 3rd set, the Italian also led by an early break in the decider, and served for the win at 5-4.
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9. Cluj-Napoca 2nd Rd. - Daria Snigur def. Jaqueline Cristian
...6-1/6-0. Cluj used to be a fun stop for Cristian, especially when she ushered in the occasion by wearing a Dracula cape during pre-match inroductions in the early years (2021-23) of the event. She stopped bringing the smirk after that, just like the tournament, which formerly leaned fully into its Transylvanian folklore roots with a vampire-heavy marketing strategy that made it the most entertaining event on the WTA calendar.

Things have cooled the last few years, and officially seemed to die when the tournament was moved off of its original Halloween week date, though "Dracula" did make a brief appearance at the trophy ceremony this year, while Oleksandra Oliynykova's bat tattoos helped keep up appearances. The return of Simona Halep (though not as a player) ramped up the heart(warming) rate of the entire affair, too. More of this, please.

But what of Cristian, who helped start it all? Well, ever since her initial QF run in the debut event, she's been a feast-or-famine prospect, with a SF in '24 and doubles final last year, but two 1r and two 2r exits in the other seasons.
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10. Cluj-Napoca Final - Kamilla Rakhimova/Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai
...7-6(7)/6-3. Rakhimova adds another good result to her new "UZB" record, picking up a tour-level WD title after winning a 125 singles crown in December under her new flag (over Week 5 Ostrava finalist Tamara Korpatsch).

Sorribes Tormo improves to 14-3 in pro doubles finals, winning her seventh WTA crown in eight finals (w/ 2-0 125, 5-2 ITF marks).


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11. Doha Q1 - Vera Zvonareva def. Zhang Shuai 6-3/6-3
Doha Q2 - Vera Zvonareva def. Magdalena Frech 6-3/7-6(1)
Doha 1st Rd. - Vera Zvonareva def. Peyton Stearns 2-6/6-2/6-3
...the 41-year old Original Hordette, who reached $100K singles/doubles finals in Dubai in December in her first event after a 19-month absence from the sport, has already reached a 125 doubles final in '26 (Canberra).

The Middle East continues to bring her success, as Zvonareva has picked up a trio of Top 100 wins in Doha, qualifying this weekend with wins over Zhang and Magdalena Frech, then notching her first tour-level MD win since 2023 with an upset (??) of Peyton Stearns in the 1st Round on Sunday.



Meanwhile, perhaps Peyton has a little *too much* respect for her elders...


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12. Ostrava QF - Diane Parry def. Nikola Bartunkova
...6-1/6-3. Parry was a Top 50 player two seasons ago, but has slipped well outside the Top 100 after reaching no tour-level QF last season in a sub-.500 (20-23) campaign. The Pastry reached a trio of SF in '24.

In Ostrava, she finally reached her first semi since Osaka more than fifteen months ago. She'll push back to #107 in the new rankings.
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13. Abu Dhabi 1st Rd. - Simona Waltert def. Dasha Kasatkina 7-6(5)/3-6/6-4
Doha 1st Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Moyuka Uchijima 4-6/6-3/6-0
...Kasatkina's follow-up to her poor non-slam campaign last year continued to be stuck in reverse in Abu Dhabi, as she fell to 1-4 with another one-and-done in Abu Dhabi. It's her 14th winless event since the start of last year.

She rebounded Sunday with a come from behind win over Uchijima, but can she follow it up? She'll next see Elise Mertens. It'd be her first Top 25 win since defeating Paula Badosa at last year's RG.
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14. Mumbai 125 Final - Mananchaya Sawangkaew def. Lilli Tagger
...6-4/6-3. Sawangkaew gets the win, but Austrian Tagger continues to shine.

Coming off a $100K title run, the 17-year old (who turns 18 in a week and a half) '25 RG girls' champ and tour-level finalist in Jiujiang last fall in her tour-level debut, had extended her winning streak to nine en route to the final.

Up to #115 on Monday, one of just two under-18 players in the Top 200 (w/ Emerson Jones), Tagger is 12-3 so far in '26.
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The currently-airing Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercials are essentially mini-movies about a serial killer, aka the piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch who likes to eat other Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Yes, these are actual commercials, though they could easily be fake ads running on "Saturday Night Live" or "Robot Chicken." The first ad features the "cannibal" holed up alone in his apartment, surrounded by cookbooks (one is called "Having Friends for Dinner") and with cut-up pieces of other Cinnamon Toast Crunch (w/ eyes) stored in his refrigerator, eating a bowl of cereal (filled w/ his own kind) while he talks about how "horrific" what he's doing is. Basically, he's a cereal version of Jeffrey Dahmer.




In the second ad, he stalks his next victim in the alley, murdering him and then eating him off the ground. I don't know if these things are in incredibly bad taste, or bordering on genius. Probably a version of both.









U2's in 2002 was one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows ever and, frankly, has become one of the most forgotten/overlooked, as well, thanks to the stunning one Prince pulled off a few years later that has ever since stood as the go-to for the top spot in any rankings.

Aside from the musical performance, the U2 set included a tribute to the victims of 9/11, which had occurred just five months earlier.












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*2026 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
35 - SORANA CIRSTEA (Cluj-Napoca)-W
31 - Elina Svitolina (Auckland)-W
31 - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA (Abu Dhabi)
30 - TAMARA KORPATSCH (Ostrava)

*RECENT WTA CHAMPIONS AS A QUALIFIER*
2024 Monastir - Sonay Kartal, GBR
2024 Osaka - Suzan Lamens, NED
2025 London - Tatjana Maria, GER
2025 Cleveland - Sorana Cirstea, ROU
2026 Hobart - Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ITA
2026 Abu Dhabi - SARA BEJLEK, CZE

*2026 FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
Hobart: Taylah Preston, AUS (20/#204)
Hobart: Antonia Ruzic, CRO (22/#71)
Abu Dhabi: SARA BELJEK, CZE (20/#101) - won title
Abu Dhabi: HAILEY BAPTISTE, USA (24/#56)
Cluj-Napoca: OLEKSANDRA OLIYNYKOVA (25/#91)
Cluj-Napoca: DARIA SNIGUR, UKR (23/#144)

*MOST TITLES WON w/o DROPPING A SET - 2020s*
11 - Iga Swiatek, POL
5 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (1 in '26)
3 - SORANA CIRSTEA, ROU (1)
3 - Coco Gauff, USA
2 - Ash Barty, AUS
2 - Madison Keys, USA
2 - Anett Kontaveit, EST
2 - Bernarda Pera, USA
2 - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS

*ALL-UNSEEDED WTA SF - 2020s*
[W/RU, SF/SF]
2020 Lexington = Brady/Gauff, Teichmann/WC Rogers
2020 Istanbul = Tig/Q Martincova, Q Bouchard/Badosa
2021 Eastbourne = WC Ostapenko/Rybakina, Kontaveit/Q Giorgi
2021 Gydnia = SE Zanevska/Kozlova, Kucova/Korpatsch *
2022 Dubai = Ostapenko/Halep, V.Kudermetova/Q Vondrousova *
2024 Rabat = Stearns/Sherif, Rakhimova/Tomova
2024 Hua Hin 2 = Sramkova/Siegemund, Q Hartono/Zidansek #
2024 Merida = Sonmez/Li, Korneeva/P.Kudermetova
2025 Guadalajara = Jovic/Arango, Jacquemot/WC Bartunkova
2026 OSTRAVA = Boulter/Korpatsch, Volynets/Parry *
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* - 7/8 unseeded QF
# - 8/8 unseeded QF

*RECENT EARLY-CAREER WTA BREAKOUTS*
[less than 5 WTA MD]
2025: Maya Joint to Hobart SF (4th WTA MD, age 18)
2025: Julieta Pareja to Bogota SF (1st WTA MD, age 16)
2025: Lois Boisson to Roland Garros SF (1st career GS MD/2nd WTA MD; age 22)
2025: Lois Boisson wins Hamburg (3rd WTA MD, age 22)
2025: Janice Tjen to Sao Paulo F (2nd WTA MD, age 23)
2025: Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah wins Sao Paulo (3rd WTA MD, age 19)
2025: Lilli Tagger to Jiujiang F (1st WTA MD, age 17)
2026: Oleksandra Oliynykova to Cluj-Napoca SF (2nd WTA MD, age 25)

*OLDEST WTA SINGLES CHAMPIONS*
Billie Jean King: 39y, 203d (1983 Birmingham)
Kimiko Date-Krumm: 38y, 364d (2009 Seoul)
Serena Williams: 38y, 108d (2020 Auckland)
Tatjana Maria: 37y, 311d (2025 London)
Martina Navratilova: 37y, 125d (1994 Paris Indoors)
Martina Navratilova: 37y, 20d (1993 Oakland)
[36]
Martina Navratilova: 36y, 301d (1993 Los Angeles)
Francesca Schiavone: 36y, 9m, 3w (2017 Bogota)
[35]
SORANA CIRSTEA: 35y 10m (2026 Cluj-Napoca)
Tatjana Maria: 35y, 8m (2023 Bogota)
Francesca Schiavone: 35y, 7m, 29d (2016 Rio)
Venus Williams: 35y, 7m, 28d (2016 Kaohsiung)
Helga Niessen Masthoff: 35y, 5m, 1d (1977 Monte Carlo)
Venus Williams: 35y, 4m, 22d (2015 Elite Trophy)
Sorana Cirstea: 35y, 4m, 2w (2025 Cleveland)
Serena Williams: 35y, 4m (2017 Australian)
Venus Williams: 35y, 3m, 16d (2015 Wuhan)
Marie Pinterova: 35y, 2m, 3d (1981 Japan Open)






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Facing racism in the sport head on, Surya Bonaly landed the banned backflip on one foot and made history anyway ⛸️ 💥

[image or embed]

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) February 8, 2026 at 1:42 AM


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All for now.
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Sunday, February 1, 2026

G'Day, Melbourne

It's all over Down Under for AO26.











=AO NOTES=
...on the final day of action in Melbourne, the junior singles title winners were finally crowned, and with the girls' result the AO gets it first Pastry junior champion this century in Ksenia Efremova.



The #3-seed defeated unseeded Hordette Ekaterina Tupitsyna 6-3/7-5, becoming the first AO junior winner representing France since Virginie Razzano in 1999.

Efremova had lost in the Traralgon final (to Xinran Sun, who was upset by Tupitsyna in the AO QF) leading into play in Melbourne, but will now rise to become the new junior #1.



The Moscow-born Efremova is the daughter of former tennis players (her mother Julia ranked in the Top 300). Her family moved to Nice in 2019, and after she and her mother and brothers filed naturalization papers in 2021, Efremova officially began representing France in 2023. Her father never made the move to France, and died while in Europe in '21.



Efremova, 16, has put together quite a run of junior and pro level results since last summer. Starting with her pre-U.S. Open Repentigny J300 title run in Canada, she's gone 35-3 at that level, reaching the U.S. Open junior QF and winning the J500 Osaka event, while also claiming a pro challenger crown (the fourth of her career) and playing in AO women's qualifying (her third tour-level appearance, after going 0-2 in Miami and RG qualifying in '25).

...meanwhile, on the ITF level, 17-year old Austrian Lilli Tagger picked up her biggest career title with a 6-4/6-2 win over Harriet Dart in the $100K Fujairah (UAE) final. It's not her biggest final, though, as she reached the title match at Jiangxi late last year in her tour-level debut event.



In the second $100K challenger of the week, Elli Mandlik will face Elvina Kalieva in the final in San Diego on Sunday.

And the lower level comeback of Bianca Andreescu has continued in Vero Beach, Florida, as the Canadian reached her second final in three weeks (w/ a SF in between). With a 12-1 mark on the season, Andreescu will play You Xiaodi for the title on Sunday (it'd be her second of '26).



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1. Elena Rybakina, KAZ ...Rybakina's big 2025 4Q lives on in 2026, in the form of her second major title after rallying from 3-0 down in the 3rd vs. #1 Aryna Sabalenka in a rematch of the AO23 final that she'd lost in the deciding set. She's 20-1 since mid-October, with ten straight wins over Top 10 players (and eleven such wins since the U.S. Open). And they're not "cheap" ones -- i.e. over a Navarro, Sakkari or someone similar -- as she's 8-0 vs. Sabalenka, Swiatek, Anisimova and Pegula over the stretch. Rybakina now has nine career #1 wins, nearly putting her in the Top 5 all-time in WTA history (6th place Sabatini had 10, while 5th place Graf had 11).
2. Aryna Sabalenka, BLR ...she was perfect in '26 through 11 matches and 22 sets, defending her Brisbane title and then having a 3-0 lead (two points from 4-0) in the 3rd set vs. Elena Rybakina in what was her fourth consecutive AO final, but Sabalenka again failed to hold a late lead deep into a major. Having played in the last seven hard court slam finals, Sabalenka is (a still very good) 4-3, but has left multiple "attainable" slam titles (including a non-hard court one at RG last year) on the table over the last few seasons.
3. Elina Svitolina, UKR ...opened the season by going 10-0, winning in Auckland and then picking up two Top 10 wins (vs. Andreeva and Gauff) at the AO on her way to her fourth career slam SF (her first in Melbourne). Svitolina returns to the Top 10 this week.
4t. Li Xiaohui, CHN (WC) and Wang Ziying, CHN (WC) ...the rollers defended their AO WC doubles title (their fourth win in the last five majors), while Li claimed her first singles slam win by handing Diede de Groot another streak-ending loss. The two have won six of the ten s/d WC majors since the start of '25.
5. Mertens/Zhang, BEL/CHN ...Zhang picks up her second AO doubles crown, while Mertens gets her third and moves into the #1 ranking for the tenth time in her career (her next week in the top spot will her 40th). Zhang, apparently some sort of January good luck charm, also teamed with soon-to-be-former (for now) #1 Katerina Siniakova to win in Adelaide.
6. Mirra Andreeva, RUS ...the 18-year old is still looking for that *huge* slam run, but January saw her win the Adelaide title (def. Mboko in the final) and reach the Round of 16 in Melbourne for the third time in three tries
7. Jessie Pegula, USA ...the best Bannerette in the AO, Pegula posted a pair of Top 10 wins in Melbourne (over countrywomen, defending champ Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova, who combined to reach three major finals in '25), and had her third straight slam QF win (after starting her career 0-6) as she played in her second straight major semifinal
8. Karolina Muchova, CZE ...healthy in January, a rare occasion, the Czech was the only player to defeat Rybakina (Brisbane QF, one of two Top 10 wins in Week 1), then went on to post her best AO result (4r) since 2021
9t. Victoria Mboko/CAN and Iva Jovic/USA ...both teenagers reached pre-AO singles finals (Mboko in Adelaide, Jovic in Hobart), then went to Melbourne and posted career-best AO results (a 4r for Mboko, and QF for Jovic). Both are now ranked in the Top 20, with Mboko nearing her Top 10 debut.
10. Olivia Gadecki, AUS ...last year, Gadecki & John Peers were the first Aussie pair to take the AO MX since 2013. This year, their successful title defense was the first at the event since 1989, and the first by an all-AUS duo since 1964 (granted, the AO didn't have a MX event from 1970-86)
11. Belinda Bencic, SUI ...got off to a great start in United Cup play, getting Top 10 wins over Jasmine Paolini and Iga Swiatek while leading Switzerland to the final and returning to the Top 10 on her own accord (though she falls out after the AO). She couldn't carry her momentum to the AO, as she was then upset in the 2nd Round in Melbourne by Czech Nikola Bartunkova.
12. Maddison Inglis, AUS ...three years after her lone career slam run (AO 3r), Inglis was back after making her way through qualifying (after saving a MP in the Q1 round). She played all the way into the Round of 16, the best result by any AUS woman this year, putting up back-to-back three-hour wins in the 1r/2r.









...RED IS ALMOST ALWAYS A GOOD CHOICE on Day 15:




...RELATABLE ELENA (with "My name is Anna" vibes)... on Day 15:




...NOT A SERENA-RELATED STAT, BUT... on Day 15:

In case one was wondering, Williams was 21.





...LOOK OUT, HERE SHE COMES on Day 15:






...(Shakes head) HOPELESS on Day 15:

During the Djokovic/Alcaraz men's final on ESPN, new studio host Malika Andrews made a reference to that grass court tournament in England. You know, "Wimbleton."

But I thought we were told when she showed up mid-week after years of NBA duty that she was "showing her range" and was such a *big* tennis fan. Yeah, okay.


...SENSIBLE ELENA on Day 15:




...PROP PICKS UPDATE on Day 15:

Well, things didn't go all that well with this AO's pre-tournament "Prop Picks," as they sort of "pulled an Iga Swiatek" in Melbourne, i.e. they stuck around for a while but didn't really accomplish much.

1. The AO26 champion will come from the list of players who reached the final of one of the North American hard court 1000+ events last summer
...NO. I'd *tried* to find an interesting "grouping" that would include Rybakina as a possible champion, but couldn't find one and rolled the dice on the potential of someone from the eligible group of '25 finalists -- Sabalenka/Anisimova, Mboko/Osaka and, to a lesser degree, Swiatek/Paolini -- would get the win. And at 3-0 in the 3rd things still looked pretty good.

2. The AO26 runner-up will be a first-time Australian Open finalist
...NO. Both Sabalenka and Rybakina had reached an AO final before, so this one ended after the SF. If Pegula had completed that comeback, though...

3. After four Top 8 seeds reached the AO QF in '25, just two will do so this year (as was the case in both 2023 and '24)
...NO, and a big miss on this one. SIX Top 8 seeds reached the QF.

4. Multiple teenagers will reach the singles 4th Round, with at least one making the QF
...YES/YES. Three teens (Andreeva, Mboko and Jovic) reached the Round of 16, with Jovic making the QF.

5. Dasha Kasatkina will be Last Aussie Standing in her first AO as an Australian
...NO. She was upset in the 1st Round. I would *never* have guessed Maddison Inglis would be the lone second week survivor.

HM- Dark Horses (4r/QF): Tereza Valentova or Linda Noskova
...NO/NO. Valentova was a big ask, as she had Rybakina in her path in the 3rd Round (still a good result), but #13-seed Noskova seemed on her way to at least the 4th Round before being upended by Wang Xinyu in the 3rd Round.

OVERALL: 2/8... after finding a way to "correctly predict" the winner at four of the previous six majors, it looked like Sabalenka would salvage the AO picks by at least checking off the champion's box, but nope. Onto Roland Garros, and let's win there.


...DIANE'S TOP 10 IS HERE! on Day 15:







...with the new rankings coming out on Monday, a quick update on the new state of things...

* - The Top 10 will include nine of the same ten women, with some additional shuffling. AO semifinalist Elina Svitolina returns for the first time since 2021, while '25 champ Madison Keys falls out (to #15). 2026 AO winner Elena Rybakina moves up from #5 to match her previous career-best #3 standing, 368 points behind #2 Iga Swiatek (but still 3380 behind #1 Aryna Sabalenka). Meanwhile, Coco Gauff slips two slots to #5, leaving #4 Amanda Anisimova as the US #1 (as she was for one week in early January).

* - There will be three teenagers in the Top 20, with #7 Mirra Andreeva joined by Victoria Mboko (up three to a CH #13) and Iva Jovic (new at #20, the sixth U.S. woman in the Top 20).

* - TOP 50 UPS & DOWNS: Aussie Maya Joint rises three more to another new CH of #28, one spot ahead of Emma Raducanu. Joint won a pair of small tour titles in '25, while Raducanu hasn't played in a final in four and a half years. AO Round of 16er Wang Xinyu jumps 13 spots to #33, just one off her career high, while Tereza Valentova (#44) and Janice Tjen (#47) make their Top 50 debuts. Alex Eala reaches a new CH of #45, while Peyton Stearns, with the news that her coach (Rafael Font de Mora) is being investigated for alleged misconduct and inappropriate relationships with players during his previous coaching stints, climbs 18 spots to return to the Top 50.

Paula Badosa, who followed up her '25 AO semi with a 2nd Round exit, falls 39 to #65.

* - RISERS: After her Round of 16 run in Melbourne, Maddison Inglis climbs 55 to #113 (CH #112), while 3rd Rounder Nikola Bartunkova lands at a CH #108 (up 18). Lilli Tagger, a $100K title winner this weekend, jumps 27 to a CH #128 and is the youngest player in the Top 150 (though slightly younger Emerson Jones lurks at #161).

There are five teens in the Top 100 (Sara Bejlek, who turned 20 this weekend, is #101) and eight in the Top 150, with six of the seven top-ranked teenagers -- Mboko, Jovic, Joint, Valentova, Bartunkova and Tagger -- all sporting new career highs on Monday.

Off her 3rd Round result at the AO, Oksana Selekhmeteva climbs 25 to a new career high of #76 (her previous CH was #96), while the Pride of Turkey, Zeynep Sonmez, sees her 3r run in Melbourne translate into a 33-spot bump back into the Top 80 (#79). Her career high is #69.

* - FALLS: Eva Lys, a 4th Rounder as an AO lucky loser a year ago (1r exit in '26), falls 20 spots to #59, while Dasha Kasatkina (4r to 1r) slips 19 all the way down to #62, her low standing since early 2021. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (QF to 1r) plummets 53 to #100, while Donna Vekic holds onto her Top 100 ranking (#95, dropping 23 after losing her AO '25 4r points) with her Manila 125 final run.

Bianca Andreescu's three-week run in the challengers has her at #170 (she was #228 the week of January 19), with the chance to rise a bit more to #161 with a second '26 title with a win on Sunday.

* - JUNIORS: Brit Hannah Klugman rose to the #1 ranking in the mid-AO girls' rankings, but will quickly be replaced by new AO junior champ Ksenia Efremova on Monday.

* - RACE UPDATE: Naturally, Elena Rybakina assumes the early lead in the WTA Race, which currently features three teenagers -- #5 Andreeva, #6 Mboko, #7 Jovic -- in the Top 8. Outside the WTAF "bubble" after one month are Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff (tied for #9), and Amanda Anisimova (#11). Karolina Muchova, who has never made the WTAF field, is at #13. The highest-standing Bannerette? #4 Jessie Pegula.

* - DOUBLES: AO champ Elise Mertens returns to WD #1, replacing '25 AO winner Katerina Siniakova, for the first time since 2024 (and the tenth time in her career). The slip freezes the Czech's career weeks at #1 (for now) at 180, third all-time behind Martina Navratilova (237) and Liezel Huber (199).

The other '25 AO doubles champ, Taylor Townsend, dips from #3 to #5, while new champ Zhang Shuai returns to the Top 10 (#7). 2026 AO finalists Aleksandra Krunic doesn't crack the Top 10 (she would have w/ the title) but rises to a career-best #13.

Mirra Andreeva drop four spots, but stays in the Top 20 (#20), keeping pace with Jasmine Paolini (#8, #3) as the only women in the Top 20 in both disciplines. Three others are close: Mertens (#22 WS, #1 WD), Diana Shnaider (#21 WS, #16 WD) and Alona Ostapenko (#24 WS, #8 WD).










=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#5 Elena Rybakina/KAZ def. #1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-4/4-6/6-4

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#4 Mertens/Zhang (BEL/CHN) def. #7 Danilinia/Krunic (KAZ/SRB) 7-6(4)/6-4

=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
(WC) Gadecki/Peers (AUS/AUS) def. (PR) Mladenovic/Guinard (FRA/FRA) 4-6/6-3 [10-8]

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#3 Li Xiaohui/CHN def. Diede de Groot/NED 6-1/6-2

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Li/Wang (CHN/CHN) def. #2 Kamiji/Zhu (JPN/CHN) 6-4/6-3

=GIRLS' SINGLES FINAL=
#3 Ksenia Efremova/FRA def. Ekaterina Tupitsyna/RUS 6-3/7-5

=GIRLS' DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 A.Kovackova/J.Kovackova (CZE/CZE) def. Hermanova/Zoldakova (CZE/CZE) 6-1/6-3

=GIRLS' WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Luna Gryp/BEL def. #2 Seira Matsuoka/JPN 6-4/6-4

=GIRLS' WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
#2 Foyster/Matsuoka (GBR/JPN) def. #1 Gryp/Heald (BEL/USA) 6-3/7-5










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*AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS FINALS - since 2017*
2017 Marta Kostyuk/UKR d. Rebeka Masarova/SUI
2018 Liang En-shou/TPE d. Clara Burel/FRA
2019 Clara Tauson/DEN d. Leylah Fernandez/CAN
2020 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND d. Weronika Baszak/POL
2021 DNP
2022 Petra Marcinko/CRO d. Sofia Costoulas/BEL
2023 Alina Korneeva/RUS d. Mirra Andreeva/RUS
2024 Renata Jamrichova/SVK d. Emerson Jones/AUS
2025 Wakana Sonobe/JPN d. Kristina Penickova/USA
2026 Ksenia Efremova/FRA d. Ekaterina Tupitsyna/RUS

*RECENT GIRLS SLAM CHAMPIONS*
2020 AO: Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
2020 RG: Elsa Jacquemot, FRA
2021 RG: Linda Noskova, CZE
2021 WI: Ane Mintegi del Olmo, ESP
2021 US: Robin Montgomery, USA
2022 AO: Petra Marcinko, CRO
2022 RG: Lucie Havlickova, CZE
2022 WI: Liv Hovde, USA
2022 US: Alex Eala, PHI
2023 AO: Alina Korneeva, RUS
2023 RG: Alina Korneeva, RUS
2023 WI: Clervie Ngounoue, USA
2023 US: Katherine Hui, USA
2024 AO: Renata Jamrichova, SVK
2024 RG: Tereza Valentova, CZE
2024 WI: Renata Jamrichova, SVK
2024 US: Mika Stojsavljevic, GBR
2025 AO: Wakana Sonobe, JPN
2025 RG: Lilli Tagger, AUT
2025 WI: Mia Pohankova, SVK
2025 US: Jeline Vandromme, BEL
2026 AO: Ksenia Efremova, FRA

*AO GIRLS SINGLES FINALS - FRA*
1981 Corinne Vanier
1982 Pascale Paradis
1988 Emmanuelle Derly
1996 Nathalie Dechy
1999 Virginie Razzano (W)
2018 Clara Burel
2026 Ksenia Efremova (W)

*RECENT AO "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS*
2017 Marta Kostyuk, UKR
2018 Liang En-shuo, TPE
2019 Clara Tauson/DEN and Anastasia Tikhonova/RUS
2020 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
2022 Angella Okutoyi/KEN and Meshkatolzahra Safi/IRA
2023 Mirra Andreeva/RUS and Alina Korneeva/RUS
2024 Renata Jamrichova, SVK
2025 Annika & Kristina Penickova, USA/USA
2026 Ksenia Efremova, FRA






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TOP QUALIFIER: Guiomar Maristany/ESP
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #6 Jessie Pegula/USA (lost 5 games in 1r/2r)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #6 Jessie Pegula/USA (def. DC Keys and #4 Anisimova to reach first AO semi)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): #5 Elena Rybakina/KAZ
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - Guiomar Maristany/ESP def. Tatiana Prozorova/RUS 6-2/2-6/7-6(10-7) - saved four MP (at 6-5 in the 3rd), reached maiden slam MD
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - Elsa Jacquemot/FRA def. #20 Marta Kostyuk/UKR 6-7(4)/7-6(4)/7-6(10-7) - 3:31; first three-TB women's match at AO; Jacquemot saves MP in 2nd set, wins 10-7 MTB in 3rd for first Top 20 win
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - #1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. Anastasia Potapova/AUT 7-6(4)/7-6(7) - Sabalenka sweeps TB, wins in two after led 2nd 4-0 and failed to serve out match at 5-4, then fell behind 6-3 in TB and saved 4 SP
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): Final - #5 Elena Rybakina/KAZ def. #1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-4/4-6/6-4 - rallies from 3-0 down (30/30 in game 4) in 3rd to win first AO title
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: (WC) Talia Gibson/AUS (def. Anna Blinkova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #26 Dayana Yastremska, UKR (1r- lost to Gabriela Ruse/ROU)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Nikola Bartunkova/CZE (1st slam MD), Linda Klimovicova/POL (1st), Petra Marcinko/CRO (1st), Taylah Preston/AUS (3rd), Oksana Selekhmeteva/RUS (5th)
PROTECTED RANKING BEST: Karolina Pliskova/CZE (3rd Rd.)
LUCKY LOSER BEST: 0-1 in 1r
UPSET QUEENS: The Crush of Czechs
REVELATION LADIES: Australia (6 in 2r most since 1992)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Russia (4-5 1st Rd.; only 9 in MD after AO-best 9 to 2r in '25; has lost 7 notable players to other nations since '23; lost 2 Top 20 seeds)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Maddison Inglis/AUS (4r)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Talia Gibson/AUS, Priscilla Hon/AUS and Taylah Preston/AUS (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Maddison Inglis (4th Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
IT (Beloved Turk): Zeynep Sonmez/TUR
COMEBACK PLAYER: Diede de Groot/NED (WC)
CRASH & BURN: #26 Dayana Yastremska/UKR and #20 Marta Kostyuk/UKR (first two seeds out lose in back-to-back ANZ Arena matches on Day 1
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Maddison Inglis/AUS (saved 2 MP vs. Leyre Gormaz Romero in 3-hr. Q1 match, then won back-to-back 3-hr. matches in 1r/2r en route to maiden slam Round of 16)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Venus Williams/USA (at 45 years and 7 months, breaks 2015 record of Kimiko Date as the oldest woman in an AO singles MD match)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Elina Svitolina/UKR
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: ["Show Pony Fashion Sense"] Naomi Osaka's jellyfish-inspired, "My Fair Lady" nighttime intro outfit
DOUBLES STAR: Olivia Gadecki, AUS (con. AO MX titles)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Ksenia Efremova/FRA






All for now.
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