Wk.39- From Beijing with Love (& Upsets)
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Day 4 at the China Open ends with a bang as World No. 118 Alina Charaeva
stuns Elena Rybakina in her first match as World No.1 This is only the
second ti...
Day 4 at the China Open ends with a bang as World No. 118 Alina Charaeva stuns Elena Rybakina in her first match as World No.1
This is only the second time a freshly-crowned World No.1 loses her first match on top of the rankings. https://t.co/oBNfuTq7dY
Wang Xiyu takes women’s singles gold! ๐ฅ๐จ๐ณ
After yesterday’s hard-fought comeback, Wang delivered a commanding performance in the final, beating compatriot Zhang Shuai 6–2 6–1.
Gold for Wang, silver for Zhang—a proud day for Chinese tennis in Nagoya! ๐พ
#AichiNagoya2026 #AsianGames2026 #AsianTennis
...in Nagoya, Japan, the Asian Games' tennis competition took place in a scheduling situation reminiscent of the Paralympics' wheelchair tennis event, which is always held at a time that conflicts with the U.S. Open, preventing the rollers from participating in what is arguably *the* biggest annual WC event of the season. This year's AG schedule meant that any of the continent's top women's players who participated would be prevented from taking part in the Asian swing's biggest tournament stop in Beijing. This year's field included Alex Eala as the lone Top 50 player in the field likely for this very reason.
As it was, Eala won her second straight Bronze medal, losing to Wang Xiyu in the SF, while Yulia Putintseva shared the honor (after a SF loss to Zhang Shuai) to become the first player from Kazakhstan to win a tennis medal at the Asian Games (she went on to also claim a WD Bronze alongside Anna Danilina).
In the singles final, Wang defeated Zhang 6-2/6-1 to make this the sixth consecutive AG at which a Chinese player has won the women's singles Gold (she's the fifth *different* CHN woman to do it). Wang secures her spot in the 2028 Olympic field with the win, while Zhang wins her second straight Silver.
Four players, one proud moment on the podium! ๐ ๐พ
Celebrating the women’s singles medalists at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026:
๐ฅ Wang Xiyu — China
๐ฅ Zhang Shuai — China
๐ฅ Alexandra Eala — Philippines
๐ฅ Yuliya Putintseva — Kazakhstan
Congratulations to all four players on bringing home a medal for their nations! ๐จ๐ณ๐ต๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฟ
#AichiNagoya2026 #AsianGames2026 #AsianTennis
Speaking of schedules, with the WTA's just-announced 2027 slate including a first-time tour-level stop in Manila, where Eala is *sure* to want to take part, if the Filipina should be in the position to qualify for next year's WTAF (which will have to alter format somewhat to fit into its new five-day cubicle) she'd have to make a quick turnaround with *that* event taking place immediately after Manila... half way around the globe in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Snigur put together back-to-back comeback victories in Beijing to reach the 3rd Round at a 1000 event for the first time.
The Ukrainian rallied from a set down and 4-2 in the 3rd to nip Katarzyna Kawa in a 7-5 3rd set in the 1st Round, then defeated Jasmine Paolini from a set and 4-2 down in a 2nd set TB to win in three in the 2nd Round.
It's just another item added to the career resume of the 2019 Wimbedon girls' champ. In '26, Snigur has already put up her highest match win total (43 after the 2r) in a season, cracked the Top 50, reached her first tour-level final (Prague) as well as another SF (Cluj), posted her best result in a major (Wimbledon 3rd, with an upset of #8 Svitolina) and won her biggest-ever singles title in a 125 in Oeiras in February.
SURPRISES:Alina Charaeva/ARM and Alexandra Shubladze/RUS
...in what has been her best season as a pro, Charaeva added a career-making highlight in Beijing with an upset of new #1 Elena Rybakina in the Kazakh's first match since taking over the top spot.
Ranked #118, the 24-year old Aremenian (the '20 RG girls' RU) had already reached a pair of WTA QF in '26 and won her biggest title in a 125 (February in Midland).
She posted a win over Yuliia Starodubtseva in the 1st Round before her three-set upset of Rybakina, the first-ever victory by an Armenian over a world #1. Former Hordette Charaeva only began representing Armenia this summer.
Meanwhile, 21-year old Hordette Shubladze's breakout campaign (at least on the lower levels) added another benchmark with her first career 125 title in Jingshan, China.
Shubladze has been a star on the challenger circuit in '26, topping the season title list (w/ Brit Alicia Dudeney) with five wins after breezing through a 34-5 stretch from February through May. But she's yet to make her tour-level MD debut.
Shubladze got a little bit closer to that in Jingshan, posting wins over #3-seeded Emerson Jones (SF) and top seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in a 6-3/6-2 final. 55-15 on the year, she'll rise to a new "live" career high of #133 before the next rankings arrive in two Mondays, while looking to (hopefully) get a chance soon to play her first WTA MD contest.
21-year-old Alexandra Shubladze caps off her dream week in style! She defeats top seed and World No.96 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 6-2 to win the WTA125 Jingshan Open title and will crack the Top 140!
First career Top 100 win, and she was ranked 530+ at this point last year. https://t.co/smkhsECsoA
WTA125 Jingshan champion, Alexandra Shubladze!
This is her 70th match of the 2026 season and her 55th win. Ranked 676th at this exact time last year, she has improved her ranking by over 500 spots with strong results in the China ITF events over the year. https://t.co/ylwAmhUppc
Shubladze also reached the doubles final in Jingshan (w/ Sofya Lansere), losing to Brits Madeleine Brooks & Amelia Rajecki in a 10-6 MTB (after splitting a pair of TB sets).
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VETERAN:Leolia Jeanjean/FRA
...the 31-year old Pastry reached and won her first 2026 singles final (she'd been 0-3 in ITF/125 SF) at the 125 in Adana, Turkey, winning an all-French battle with Lois Boisson.
Having posted MD wins at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open for the first time in her career this summer, Jeanjean followed up her 125 SF in Barranquilla last month with wins over Suzan Lamens, Lucrezia Stefanini and top-seeded Antonia Ruzic to reach the final, where she battled Boisson through three sets, ultimately taking the title after having squandered numerous earlier opportunities to get out with the win.
Jeanjean had led the match by a set and 4-2, but lost four straight games (after a rain suspension w/ Boisson up 5-4), then failed to serve things out at 5-3 in the 3rd, holding a MP. Finally, after Boisson had taken a 40/love lead on serve at 5-4, Jeanjean rallied to finally salt away the title on her third MP chance.
The win, Jeanjean's biggest career title and her first singles crown on any level since 2024, moves her back into the Top 100 in the "live" rankings.
JEANJEAN BAT BOISSON EN FINALE ๐
Au terme d’un match marquรฉ par 13 breaks et une interruption pluie, Leolia Jeanjean domine Loรฏs Boisson et remporte le WTA 125 d’Adana. ๐ซ๐ท๐
La Franรงaise fait son retour dans le Top 100. ๐ https://t.co/0ltAFEPmVx
...Kartal got out of this season's opening gate in fine form, opening at 12-5 with QF in Auckland and Abu Dhabi, and reaching the Round of 16 at Indian Wells following wins over Emma Navarro and Madison Keys. But the Brit retired in that 4th Round match vs. Elena Rybakina with a back injury, and then didn't see the court again until the BJK Cup Finals event two weeks ago. As it turned out, it was Kartal who claimed the only set lost by the title-winning Czechs over three rounds (going 6-0 in singles) in a three-set loss to Marie Bouzkova.
In Beijing, where Kartal reached the QF in '25, she put up early round wins over Andrea Lazaro Garcรญa and Wang Xinyu before she'll face off not with Rybakina again in the 3rd Round, but the world #1's 2nd Round conqueror Alina Charaeva.
Britain’s Sonay Kartal marked her return to the WTA Tour with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Andrea Lazaro Garcia at the China Open.
The 24-year-old, who had been sidelined for almost six months with a lower-back injury, will face China’s Wang Xinyu next.
#SonayKartal #ChinaOpen #WTA #Tennis #BritishTennis
In Adana, Turkey, Boisson posted her best result since her latest return from injury.
A RG semifinalist last year after recovering from a knee injury, Boisson picked up her maiden tour title last July in Hamburg before being sidelined yet again in the fall with another leg injury, which was followed by knee and elbow issues during the offseason. She made her return to the court in April, but came into the week at just 4-12 in her comeback and having fallen all the way down to #274.
After a qualifying loss to Fiona Crawley, Boisson entered the MD as a lucky loser and went on a season-making (so far) run, posting four additional wins (giving her five for the week, more than she'd had all season) over the likes of Lucia Bronzetti, Martyna Kubka, Anna Blinkova (her new fellow Pastry) and Erika Andreeva to set up an all-FRA final with Leolia Jeanjean.
THE ROAR๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐๐๐LOIS BOISSON https://t.co/iLfY68Wfwl
In the title match, Boisson forced a 3rd set from 6-3/4-2 down, and denied Jeanjean when she served for the win at 5-3 in the 3rd (w/ a MP). But after taking a 40/love lead while trying to hold and knot the decider at 5-5, Boisson couldn't slow Jeanjean down the stretch, as she ultimately came back to get the break and converted on her third MP chance.
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16 year old Sun Xinran defeats #35 Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 7-5 to reach the 3rd round in Beijing.
FRESH FACES:Sun Xinran/CHN and Nikola Bartunkova/CZE
...16-year old Sun had to work a bit to finally reach her goal on the junior circuit, as the girls' #1 fell in both the RG and Wimbledon junior finals earlier this year before finally claiming her maiden major title at the U.S. Open. She didn't need extra chances when it came to her tour-level debut.
A wild card entrant in Beijing, Sun dominated Eva Lys in the 1st Round before the German finally retired mid-way through the 2nd set, then the teenager followed up with an even biggest upset, carried off with just as much ease, over Cristina Bucsa to set up an experience-building match-up with none other than Coco Gauff in the 3rd Round.
Meanwhile, might Bartunkova be the next Czech who'll be making big waves in the late stages of big events come 2027? If so, she's already getting a head start on things.
Though she reached a SF at the Guadalajara 500 *last* year, 2026 has been the season during which the 20-year old has introduced herself to the majority of the tour. She reached the 3rd Round in her AO (getting a Top 10 win in just her second MD match in a major, def. Bencic), Wimbledon and U.S. slam debuts, as well as the Rome 4th Round in her first career 1000 MD appearance. With her wins in Beijing, Bartunkova has posted at least one win in each of her first 1000 MD appearances (in Rome, Toronto, Cincinnati and this week).
Installed as the #26 seed, after a victory over Magdalena Frech, Bartunkova slammed the hammer down on far bigger prey in the form of #2 Aryna Sabalenka, handing the Belarusian a rare straight sets defeat, 6-4/6-3, for the biggest win of her career.
Bartunkova d. Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-3 in Beijing
World #2 is out
Nikola gets the best win of her life
It’s hard to believe she’s only 20 years old by the way she plays tennis…what a beautiful all-court game
✅2nd WTA 1000 R16
✅2nd top 10 win
Czech talent is sizzling
๐จ๐ฟ❤️ https://t.co/kXIT9muQDY
ITF WORLD TENNIS:Tatjana Maria/GER and Lisa Pigato/ITA
...still at it and getting results, 39-year old Maria claimed her sixth career $100K crown in this week's event in Templeton, California. She won her first 19 years ago in 2007, defeating a 17-year old Petra Kvitova in Slovakia in what was then the Czech's biggest final (four years before she'd win at SW19).
Maria won an all-thirtysomething final over 36-year old Madison Brengle, 6-3/6-4. The match comes 17 years after the first meeting of the two, in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying in 2009.
The German won a 125 title on the grass at Newport earlier this summer, after having reached the final at tour-level Eastbourne. Currently, the only older player in the women's singles Top 250 is 40-year old Varvara Lepchenko.
And, just off her second 125 title run of the season, 23-year old Pigato picked up her third win at the challenger level with a three-set victory over Eva Vedder in the $75K in Quinta do Lago, Portugal.
Prior to the win in the final that extended her winning streak to ten matches, the Italian had posted wins over Polona Hercog and Katie Swan. She's at a "live" career high of #107 as she looks to crack the Top 100 by the end of the season.
World No. 114 Lisa Pigato d. Eva Vedder (#201) 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 to win the W75 here at @thecampusqdl in Quinta do Lago.
It’s her 2nd title in a row on Portuguese soil (won a WTA 125 in Caldas da Rainha two weeks ago) & 5th of the year. New career-high with a top 100 debut in sight. https://t.co/KIcDxZ4DYK
...I forgot to include this one last weekend, so it's a little late, but belated congratulations to 16-year old Bannerette Hazelitt for claiming her biggest career junior title at the J500 event in Osaka, where she swept both the singles and doubles, losing just one set in each draw (2 of a 20 combined sets).
The girls' #11, Hazelitt defeated Japan's Miyu Nishiwaki 6-3/6-2 in the final, and teamed with India's Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi to claim the doubles honors.
Jordyn Hazelitt (16, ๐บ๐ธ) won Osaka ๐ฏ๐ตJ500 both in singles & doubles w/Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi ๐ฎ๐ณ In singles Jordyn lost only one set in whole event in a really tough and close match vs 14yo Elizaveta Anikina ๐ช๐ช, who pushed her to 3 very close sets ๐ท Jordyn Hazelitt IG 1/3 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zbpWuUVHYh
Hazelitt won the North American Regional Championships (J300) in San Diego in March, and during the summer made her slam qualifying debut at this year's U.S. Open after winning the USTA's Qualifying Wild Card Challenger event (def. eventual girls' semifinalist Melije Clarke in the final).
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A FAMILY FEUD IN THE FINAL!! ๐ฅ
The decades-long beef culminates right back where it all started- at the Asian Games, twenty years on! Tomorrow, Hsieh Su-Wei takes on Chan Hao-Ching for a gold medal in the women's doubles at Aichi-Nagoya! https://t.co/hu71pHpNST
DOUBLES:Hsieh Su-wei/Liang En-shou (TPE/TPE) and Ena Shibahara/JPN
...the thought that the longtime feud between Hsieh and the Chan sisters might add another chapter at this year's Asian Games was present at the start of the doubles in Nagoya, even before Chan arrived in Japan after last week winning a tour-level title in Seoul. And we got just that.
In the Gold medal final, Hsieh and Liang En-shuo defeated Chan Hao-ching (seeking to defend the Gold she won with her sister at the last AG held in 2023) in a MTB to claim the top spot on the doubles podium for the first time. Hsieh has often been denied the opportunity for such team representation due to the presence of the Chan sisters (Latisha is now retired), which has played a large part in the combative nature of their situation.
And if one was hoping that the "national spirit" of the AG and/or the thrill of winning Gold would cause Hsieh to throw up a white flag when the duos met at the net, well, then disappointment ruled the moment, as Hsieh left Chan hanging when she offered her hand in congratulation, and then turned and walked away without a word.
Gold for Hsieh Su-wei and Liang En-shuo! ๐ฅ๐พ
The Chinese Taipei pair beat compatriots Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien 6–4 4–6 (10–5)in a closely contested women’s doubles final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026.
Hsieh also won a Bronze in the Mixed Doubles, but didn't have the opportunity to defeat Chan along the way.
Once again, here's the long history of the bitter (and still ongoing) feud between Hsieh and the Chan family...
The full beef between the Hsieh and Chan families, a 35-post thread ๐งต
If the Taiwanese tennis feud was a Netflix TV series...
As Su-Wei and Chan Hao-Ching prepare to butt heads again, I put together this edit to show what an intro to such a series might look like! Turn your sound on and enjoy ❤️ https://t.co/IS0iom4Jba
In the Mixed Doubles final, Shibahara teamed with Jay Friend to win her maiden Asian Games medal, taking the Gold with a 6-3/6-4 victory over another Japanese pair, Shuko Aoyama and Yusuke Kusuhara.
Shibahara and Aoyama have teamed up to win ten tour-level WD titles over the years, including a pair of 1000 crowns in Miami (2021) and Montreal (2023), as well as reaching the AO23 final (a loss to two Czechs... you can probably guess their names).
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WHEELCHAIR:Diede de Groot/NED
...de Groot extended her post-U.S. Open final defeat winning streak to six with a title run in Biot, France in the French Riviera Open 1000.
De Groot lost just fifteen games over four rounds with wins over Angelica Bernal, Lizzy de Greef and Guo Luoyao in a 6-2/6-2 final.
It's de Groot's fifth singles title in '26, tying Barcelona for the biggest behind her Roland Garros win (her first major crown since WI '24, and her first such post-hip surgery run).
1. Beijing 1st Rd. - Alina Charaeva def. Elena Rybakina
...3-6/6-4/6-3. Rybakina has been pretty busy since winning the U.S. Open and rising to #1, and this was the first indication that it all might not have prepared her for a return to the court (also, apparently her allergies may have been acting up, as well).
She's still unlikely to lose her tight grip on the season-ending #1 ranking, but one of the things that would have to happen -- her going winless in a big event, with so many 4Q points to defend -- happened in Beijing as she fell in her first official match in the top spot to #118-ranked Charaeva. It's the second-lowest ranked win over a world #1 this decade (topped only by the back-from-injury #164-ranked Vondrousova's victory over Sabalenka last year), and Charaeva is apparently *the* lowest-ranked player to ever rally from a set down to defeat a world #1.
Rybakina finished '25 with only a 3rd Round in Beijing (so no great points loss), but did reach a Wuhan QF, won Ningbo, played in the Tokyo SF and got the WTAF title in her great season-ending close.
118 - Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, Alina Charaeva (#118) has become the lowest-ranked player to claim a comeback win against the World No. 1. Wild!#ChinaOpen | @ChinaOpen@WTApic.twitter.com/UJewnFnI4Y
2. Beijing 3rd Rd. - Nikola Bartunkova def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-4/6-3. A day after Rybakina loses, Sabalenka follows her out the door, failing to take advantage of the opportunity. A title run from the world #2 would have cut Rybakina's 2200-point lead in the rankings to about 1200.
This early exit officially meets Sabalenka's quota of the last few seasons, as it's just her second pre-4th Round exit (along w/ Rome 3r) in an event in 2026. She had a pair of such early exits in both the 2024 and '25 seasons.
She gets it done ๐ฅ
Nikola Bartunkova secures the win of her career defeating No.2 seed Sabalenka in straight sets!
#ChinaOpen https://t.co/2NHzzCGrKT
...6-1/3-0 ret. In her tour MD debut, 16-year old junior #1 Sun makes quick work of Lys, whose woeful '26 campaign continues as her mid-2nd set retirement drops her to 8-19 on the year. The German's "live" ranking has dropped outside the Top 130.
This level from Sun Xinran against Eva Lys is ridiculous https://t.co/2GWDJF1D6Y
16, 69 - Xinran Sun (16y 69d at tournament start) is now the fourth-youngest player to win a WTA-1000 main draw match since the format\\\'s introduction in 2009. Progress.#ChinaOpen | @ChinaOpen@WTApic.twitter.com/4qtyyBicRO
4. Beijing 1st Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Dasha Kasatkina
...4-6/7-6(7)/6-4. After a fast start, Kasatkina continued to battle, only to lose again as her season record falls to 20-20.
Kasatkina took the 1st, and held a 5-2 lead in the 2nd set TB. Badosa knotted the match with a 9-7 win on her third SP.
Badosa rallied from 4-2 back in the 3rd, sweeping the final four games. The Spaniard had lost her serve on her first three service games in the set, but ultimately ended things by breaking Kasatkina in *her* last three attempts to hold (and four of the last five).
The loss is the fifth straight for Kasatkina, the second in the stretch vs. Badosa (who won their 1st Rd. U.S. Open match-up). Since the Aussie won a straight sets match in the RG 2nd Round over Susan Bandecchi, she's gone 5-11. In all five of those victories she had to go to three sets to get the win, coming back from dropping the 1st set four times. In other words, Kasatkina has been *this close* to a 1-15 slide.
5. Beijing 2nd Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Paula Badosa
...7-6(5)/7-5. A round later, Badosa fell victim to the Ostapenko flow for the fourth time in their last five meetings, as the Latvian rallied from 5-3 down in the 1st and 2nd sets (w/ the Spaniard also serving for the match in *both*) to win in straights.
Badosa was up:
5-3 in set 1
5-3 in set 2
Sets won: 0
Pretty bad choke against big Ostapenko, who plays more doubles than singles these days. https://t.co/BVhLk9wVOh
...6-3/3-6/7-5. Arriving after a run to the Seoul final during which she'd trailed in the 1st Roudn vs. Yao Xinxin by a 6-2/5-1 score (and saved three MP in three different games), Joint didn't escape the early trap in Beijijng. The Aussie denied Kraus a MP at 5-4 in the 3rd, but then lost her serve a game later before the Austrian served out the win.
Beijing 3rd Rd. - Linda Noskova def. Viktorija Golubic 6-2/6-1
...both of the players who led the charge in Shenzhen to the latest Czech Cup triumph have carried over their roll into Beijing, with Muchova following up a 2nd Round win over Katie Boulter (the two didn't play in the CZE/GBR QF tie last week) with a come from behind truimph over Samsonova (who once again comes up just short of adding a big "get" to give the Flip a "signature" moment).
Meanwhile, Noskova has allowed just eight total games to Gabriela Ruse and Golubic in Beijing, improving her mark to 11-3 since winning Wimbledon.
Comeback complete ๐ค
@karomuchova7 outlasts Samsonova for a place in the Round of 16!
#ChinaOpen https://t.co/UqwhKMivOA
...2-6/7-5/6-4. Tjen outlasts Kalinina, just in from the BJK Cup final in Shenzhen, in both the 2nd and 3rd sets after they'd been tied up at 4-4. Tjen got the break for 5-4 in the 3rd on her fifth BP chance, then served out the victory at love.
...6-2/6-3. Doing the Tennis Gods' work.
Yuan quickly dispenses with Oliynykova at the start of MD play, surely now giving the attention-seeking Ukrainian still more time to nitpick and condemn as many players in her off-hours as possible.
Not that long ago, of course, she'd disparaged countrywoman Anhelina Kalinina for teaming up in doubles at the U.S. Open with Hungarian Anna Bondar (remember, she'd played in that Russian exhibition years ago) rather than a Ukrainian, as well as attacking the likes of Nadiia Kichenkok and Yuliia Starodubtseva (who snapped back, BTW) for having Russian friends on tour.
Of course, Oliynykova, the UKR #6, was left off the nation's recent BJK squad, though Kalinina and the *other* Kichenok sister (Lyudmyla) *were* included, ultimately leading to Ukraine's first appearance in the Cup final.
Hmmm, I can't imagine why Oliynykova wouldn't be asked to participate, I mean, since any such effort is *always* more successful if the team members have to worry about being publicly ridiculed (in an attempt to shame) by a fellow squad member because anything and everything they do or say doesn't meet with *her* approval, right?
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Qinwen Zheng advances to the 3rd round in Beijing as Anna Kalinskaya is forced to retire down 0-3 in the 3rd set.
It was an exciting match until Anna started struggling with something physically… sad way to see this end.
\\\\\\\— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 3, 2026
10. Beijing 2nd Rd. - Zheng Qinwen def. Anna Kalinskaya
...6-7(4)/6-4/3-0 ret. Another week, another Kalinskaya retirement. This gives her three retirements/walkovers in '26, and runs to number of tournaments exited under such circustances to *24* since the start of the 2021 season.
Kalinskaya had claimed the 1st set after trailing 5-3 and seeing Zheng serve for the set.
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๐ช๐ธ Charo Esquiva dio el salto al tenis profesional hace tres semanas tras participar en el cuadro junior del #USOpen a sus 18 aรฑos y…
➖ Challenger Valencia
๐ W50 Yecla
๐ W35 Baza
De la Vega Baja para capitanear el tenis femenino espaรฑol en el futuro. https://t.co/EiGAcMYjg3
...the three teenagers followed up their challenger title runs last week by continuing their winning ways this time around.
18-year old Spaniard Esquiva Banuls extended her winning streak to ten matches with her second career title run (both in the last two weeks). She reached the U.S. Open girls' QF last year, and the last eight in the RG juniors this past spring.
In Monastir, 14-year old Hordette Dotsenko also won *her* second straight title, having reached the final in all three of her events played at the pro level in '26 (going 14-1 over the past three weeks). She reached a pair of junior slam QF this season, losing to Alisa Oktiabreva (the eventual RG champ) in Paris and Anna Pushkareva (the WI jr. champ) in New York.
she won another one in the same place, cuz why not https://t.co/enSVQ5lbFK
— til polarity's end ๐พ⚡Slamdreeva era⚡⚫⚪ (@lildarkcage) October 4, 2026
And after winning in Simona Halep's hometown of Constanta last week, 16-year old Romanian Popa won her *third* straight challenger title in Varna, extending her winning streak to 15 matches since the start of September. Popa has won four pro titles in '26.
From last week's title run...
Incredibly vulnerable and illuminating update from Emma Navarro on what she’s been dealing with the last few years, and it’s far more complex than past reporting has indicated.
I highly recommend reading the whole thing on her Instagram. It’s just another reminder that you… pic.twitter.com/7X0SGq1bZE
Amanda Anisimova ends her 2026 season due to a wrist injury:
“Hi everyone, I will be wrapping up my season for the year ๐ซถ๐ป๐ฅน I sustained a wrist injury again, that I need to take care of. Time to get healthy, reset, and see you all in 2027 ๐๐ป☝๐ป๐ผ”
The WTA agreed to host their finals at a NBA stadium during the NBA season knowing they will have to cut their tournament from eight days to five days?
So with the shortening of the length of the WTA Finals, there will be some sort of format change. Clearly it'll move away from round robin to knock-out, which I personally prefer. It'd be great if they could find a way to use this to maybe increase the player field from the current eight, maybe by giving the Top 2 (or 4) seeds opening round byes.
Let's just hope they don't try to be "groundbreaking" and change playing out full 3rd set to a gimmicky first-to-10-points format or something stupid like that.
On this day in 1988, Steffi Graf completed the Golden Slam: ๐ Australian Open ๐ Roland Garros ๐ Wimbledon ๐ US Open ๐ฅ Olympics pic.twitter.com/NR3KDNOFYJ
TRUTH: All praise and appreciation to Muchova, but *I've* actually had to hit that shot -- 360-and-all -- several times in the past (the first one, of course, but not the second one... unfortunately) while charging the net trying to do a Novotna imitation. In Muchova's bag of tricks, it's a flashy, but still fairly minor, highlight.
Wimbledon champion, BJK Cup champion... the list of reasons to smile for Linda Noskova is steadily growing this year.. pic.twitter.com/6eDrDuYo9K
BJK CUP FINALS (Shenzhen, China; Hard Court Indoor)
F: CZE def. UKR 2-0 [MVP: Noskova/CZE]
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Leylah Fernandez/CAN
...seriously, when this happened way back in the second game of the opening set in the 1st Round, Fernandez should probably have figured that this week would belong to her.
Over the past five seasons, Fernandez has managed to pretty much outdistance, outlast and out-relevant both Bianca Andreescu (her fellow Canadian) and Emma Raducanu (her U.S. Open final opponent), the two tour players whose careers are most closely linked to her own.
While both those two have spent more time on the sidelines than on the court, and save for a pair of mid-level challenger events in January of this year (both claimed by Andreescu) neither has won a tour title since their two-years-apart championship runs in New York (in 2019 and '21), Fernandez has maintained a consistent presence just outside the tour's top tier in the half-decade-plus since the career high points of all three women, winning titles and reaching finals and generally being what she was when she had her original breakout moment: a consumate fighter who'll play to the last ball and will walk away on top a significant number of times, thus dispensing with any nonsense that her career high moments were somehow some sort of "fluke" unable to potentially be replicated under the right circumstances.
But, still, 2026 has been a rare disappointing season for Fernandez. She lost in the 1st Round in the first three majors of the year, started off at 3-8, and later lost four straight during the spring. Having never completed a sub-.500 season in her pro career, Fernandez stood at just 12-19 at the end of the grass court season.
But the same summer hard court stretch during which Fernandez made her name five years ago this season offered her an opportunity to turn things around, and she's taken advantage of her good fortune. Since the end of Wimbledon, Fernandez has gone 10-4, including a form-finding 4th Round run in Toronto and 3rd Round at the U.S. Open, ending her four-match slam losing streak.
In Singapore, Fernandez knocked off a whole list of season "checklist items," defeating Mirra Andreeva in the QF to record just her second Top 10 win in '26 (the other, in Toronto, also came at the expense of the Russian teen) to reach her maiden SF this year (she'd had 16 1r/2r exits in her first 23 events). A victory over RG finalist Maja Chwalinska (from a set down) extended Fernandez's streak of seasons with at least one tour-level final to seven, and her 7-5/6-0 win in the final over Talia Gibson grabbed the Canadian's sixth career title, her first since taking Washington last summer, adding to her all-time Canadian tour-level singles title total.
Though still not over .500 for the season (22-23), Fernandez is back inside the Top 30 at #26 ahead of her Osaka title and Hong Kong SF points defenses next month.
...Birrell has often been at her best during the 4Q, post-U.S. Open stretch in Asia, and that past reliability reared its head once again this week in Seoul.
Having reached a pair of tour finals in Osaka and Chennai in the closing months of the last two seasons, the Aussie put on her maiden tour title run in Seoul, posting wins over the likes of Tamara Zidansek, Katie Volynets (in a 7-5 3rd, avoiding a final TB by saving a BP and converting on her fifth MP chance) and Anna Bondar (in three) to reach her third career WTA title match. She won her maiden crown with a 6-4/6-2 win over fellow Australian Maya Joint.
Birrell had only played beyond the QF on two occasions in her previous 20 tour-level events this season, both SF finishes in Adelaide (her first in a 500) and Austin. She'd suffered through a 2-9 stretch from March through June, losing five straight over the summer.
With this result, though, she'll crack the Top 50 for the first time and settle into a career-best #41 ranking heading into next week.
— til polarity's end ๐พ⚡Slamdreeva era⚡⚫⚪ (@lildarkcage) September 25, 2026
SURPRISE:Tatiana Prozorova/RUS
...Prozorova's career week controversially ended earlier than she'd have preferred, but only after she'd won a string of nailbiters -- accumulating over nine hours of court time through three rounds -- as well as posted her biggest career win and reached her maiden tour-level SF.
In Singapore, the 22-year old Hordette (ranked #180) started her week by rallying from 7-5/4-2 down to nip Sofia Costoulas at the wire, then followed up with a comeback from 6-4/4-2 down against Alex Eala to collect her first career Top 20 victory. She then overcame a set deficit against Wang Xinyu to reach her first WTA SF, but then never got the chance to face off with Talia Gibson (also her doubles partner for the week) for a spot in the final.
It's been a crazy week for Tatiana Prozorova with three consecutive comeback wins from a set down over higher-ranked players, earning back-to-back wins over Top 50 players too.
Defeated Wang Xinyu 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Singapore semifinals before being forced to withdraw. pic.twitter.com/D3T9CCGtGI
Between her QF win and what would have been her tour-level SF debut, Prozorova took a shot to the head off her opponent's overhead smash (though she insisted later that the ball had just grazed her cheek and hit her shoulder) during doubles. After being taken off court by a physio, she was judged to have had a concussion that required she exit that match and, after the physio apparently pressed the issue after the match, will now have to miss six days of action, preventing her participation in Beijing qualifying, as well.
Afterward, Prozorova balked at the diagnosis, questioned the physio's judgment that she'd had a concussion based on the physical tests she'd been given off court (saying her long time on court in singles made it difficult to complete just one test -- standing on one foot with her eyes closed -- rather than any sort of head injury), and railed against the WTA's concussion rules preventing her from making her own decisions.
Prozorova just got hit hard in the face on an overhead, has been off court taking an MTO for a while now pic.twitter.com/f8ggewuv84
No matter how her week ended, Prozorova's work before the doubles incident will lead to a huge 57-spot rise in the rankings as she'll reach a new career high of #123 on Monday.
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VETERAN:Anna Bondar/HUN
...in Seoul, Bondar survived a trio of three-set contests to produce what was her second WTA SF+ run of the season (along w/ her final in Hamburg).
The 29-year old Hungarian rallied from a set down to defeat Renata Zarazua, then saved a MP (at 6-5 in the 3rd) against Alina Charaeva before outlasting Gabriela Ruse to reach the final four. Once there, she lost in her fourth three-set match of the week (and fifth in a row, after dropping her 2nd Rounder vs. Madison Keys at the U.S. Open after having led 5-2 in the 3rd and held 5 MP) against Kimberly Birrell.
...after a sudden breakout season in '25, Joint has often had a difficult time finding her form in this follow-up campaign. The Aussie started the year at 3-15, and come the summer was forced to find encouragement in a three-set loss to Yuliia Starodubtseva in Nottingham and a close straight sets defeat at the hands of Emiliana Arango in Eastbourne, as she arrived at Wimbledon having gone 1-13 since reaching the Adelaide QF in mid-January.
Waiting for her in the 1st Round at SW19 was none other than Serena Willams, in her first match since 2022. Joint won that day, and pressed Alex Eala in a three-set loss a round later. Just like that, Joint had turned a corner. Starting with Wimbledon, she posted MD wins in three straight events, then had multiple victories in two of her next four tournaments.
She arrived in Seoul having fallen to #99 (she been #29 in February), and after rallying from 6-2/5-1 down in the 1st Round vs. Yao Xinxin (saving 3 MP in three different games), she pushed her way into the final (via a SF retirement from Alina Korneeva), her third at tour level (first on hard court) but her first since winning twice in May/June of 2025 (on clay and grass, the weeks before both RG and Wimbledon).
Joint lost in straight sets to fellow Aussie Kimberly Birrell, but will climb back to #82 on Monday, and suddenly has a narrow path toward climbing all the way out of her deep season hole if she can produce another run similar to this one before the end of the year. After Seoul, Joint is 16-23 after having gone 13-8 from the match against Serena Williams forward.
Taking down the No.7 seed in the quarterfinals, Talia Gibson is through to her FIRST tour-level final after being granted a walkover into the championship match.#GoAussiespic.twitter.com/y7JepvoEo2
FRESH FACES:Talia Gibson/AUS and Maria Timofeeva/UZB
...Gibson was one of the breakthrough stories of the early season, when the Aussie posted her second straight 1st Round win in Melbourne, won a $75K title in Brisbane and then rose still higher during the Sunshine Swing, reaching the QF in Indian Wells and 4th Round in Miami following qualifying runs in both events (going 11-2 in March, and 21-4 in the two months after the AO).
Gibson fell into a 1-5 slide during the spring, though, and had a pair of four-match losing streaks in the spring and summer. She arrived in Singapore having won three fewer matches since leaving Miami than she had during the whole Sunshine Swing, going 8-17 since the end of March.
But Gibson still had something more to achieve in '26, reaching her maiden tour-level SF and final following wins over Fiona Ferro and Maria Sakkari, and then getting a SF walkover from doubles partner (and singles breakout performer of the week) Tatiana Prozorova after she'd been hit in the head during a doubles match and deemed to have suffered a concussion.
Gibson lost 7-5/6-0 in the final to Leylah Fernandez, but will climb to a new career high of #41 on Monday, with the 22-year old assuming the top ranking amongst all the Australian women for the very first time.
In Porto, 22-year old Uzbeki Timofeeva picked up her second 125 crown of the season following a summer that saw her notch her first MD wins at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Timofeeva, a surprise tour singles champion back in 2023 when she won Budapest as a LL in her WTA MD debut appearance, has yet to reach a second WTA final, but this was her fourth at the 125 level since last September as she'll rise to a new career-high of #68 in the next week.
Timofeeva posted wins in Porto over Gabriela Knutson (QF), Mia Pohankova (SF) and, in the final, qualifier Reese Brantmeier.
Maria Timofeeva (n°87) ๐บ๐ฟ s'impose au WTA 125 de Porto (Portugal) !
Tรชte de sรฉrie n°1, elle a battu Reese Brantmeier (n°385) ๐บ๐ธ en deux sets 7-6 (8), 6-2 en finale.
ITF WORLD TENNIS:Ane Mintegi del Olmo/ESP and Alisa Oktiabreva/CZE
...multiple surgeries on her elbow had sidelined and thwarted Mintegi del Olmo's career by the end of the very same 2021 season in which she'd become the first Spaniard to win the Wimbledon girls' singles title. But over the past few years, her steady climb has seen the now 22-year old win in all seven of her appearances in singles finals at the challenger level back to 2023.
Her latest run came in the $50K in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where she closed out her week with a win in the final over 19-year old Bulgarian Elizara Yaneva, 2–6/6–1/6–3.
Yaneva had been on an impressive run, with nine staight wins and a 14-3 mark since her loss in U.S. Open qualifying.
In Santa Margherita di Pula (ITA), it was a case of another week, another Crusher champion due to a final match-up of a *pair* of teenage Czechs.
Reigning RG junior champ Oktiabreva, with the ink still drying on the papers that officially made her the latest new Czech tennis star and having *just* won her maiden pro title (*last* week in Santa Margherita di Pula) as a Czech representative, decided that she liked the idea so much that she went out and did it again, extending her winning streak to ten matches by claiming a second straight $35K title.
The 18-year old's 7-5/6-3 win in the final over another 18-year old Czech, Alena Kovackova (who won the doubles), improves Oktiabreva's career record in pro finals to 7-1. She's 25-6 in pro events this season.
...17-year old German Thamm (jr. #13) picked up her third J300 crown of the season, the first on hard court, in Sanxenxo (ESP) with a 7-6/6-1 win in the final over Brit Daniella Britton.
Britton, 15, had been on an 11-1 run coming into the final, winning the pre-U.S. Open Repentigny crown and with her only junior level loss during the stretch coming to Nana Silva in the 2nd Round of the girls' singles at Flushing Meadows.
Gran nivel na final feminina do ITF World Tennis Juniors Sanxenxo!
Noraboa รก tenista alemรก Mariella Thamm, que venceu รก britรกnica Daniella Britton por 7-6 e 6-1 neste torneo de categorรญa J300 que cada ano reรบne รกs promesas do tenis mundial pic.twitter.com/vwsmxNYdgB
DOUBLES:Erin Routliffe/Aldila Sutjiadi (NZL/INA) and Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge, POR/POR
...in the week's biggest event, Routliffe & Sutjiadi won their third title as a pair (along w/ Washington this season, and Austin in 2023), defeating Tang Qianhui & Xu Yifan in a 6-3/6-2 final in Singapore.
It's Sutjiadi's ninth career WTA win (3rd this year) and Routliffe's 14th.
Routliffe has won in her last seven tour-level finals, a combination of matches in which she's partnered four different women (Dabrowski-4, Sutjiadi-2, Ostapenko-1, Muhammad-1).
Meanwhile, in the Porto 125, the Portuguese sisters took the home court honors.
Francisca and Matilde Jorge, respectively ages 26 and 22, have still yet to pick up their first tour-level title, but this weekend's win gives them three 125 crowns over the past three years (along with their 24 career ITF circuit wins as a pair). The siblings outlasted the Canadian team of Ariana Arseneault & Raphaelle Lacasse in the Porto final, winning via a MTB, 6-3/3-6 [10-3].
...already back on the court after having followed up her U.S. Open title run by coming up short in last weekend's WC World Team Cup final, Kamiji claimed the 250 level Sardinia Open in Alghero, Italy.
After wins over Guo Luoyao and Zhu Zhenzhen, Kamiji received a walkover in the final from Ksenia Chasteau. It's Kamiji's eighth singles title of 2026, and her third career win in the event. The first came in 2015.
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...with the BJK Cup Finals' shift to an earlier September date, while it *maybe* allows for more top players to take part (which was the idea... but only five Top 10 players were eligible participants for the eight-nation field, with three -- two of them Czechs -- actually in Shenzhen with their teams), it also causes the finale (though the BJK Playoffs are still in November) of the premier women's team event to sort of get lost in the shuffle of what was otherwise a cluttered week (w/ two WTA events, three 125s, and even a more-publicized men's team event in the Laver Cup taking place at the same time).
Of course, the actual flagship of women's tennis doesn't exactly help the situation.
True to form, the WTA didn't even bother to publicize the event on its own social media platforms, sort of like how it treats its own 125 challenger circuit... as if it doesn't exist. It's yet another case of the *great* synergy that exists (not really) when it comes to any sort of a-rising-tide-lifts-all-boats, all-for-one-and-one-for-all style of promoting the top women's events during the season that causes so much to slip through the cracks as each individual entity only pays attention to its own "gated community" while driving by all the others without a passing glance. The rare exception to that is the social media teams of, especially, RG and the U.S. Open, which generally and steadfastly promote the important events/results of the others.
BILLIE JEAN KING CUP FINALS - QF
[Shenzhen, CHN - HCI]
(1) ITA d. CHN 2-1 [dd] (MVP: Paolini) (3) UKR d. BEL 2-1 [dd] (MVP: Kalinina) (4) ESP d. KAZ 2-1 [dd] (MVP: Bucsa/Sorribes Tormo) CZE d. (2) GBR 2-0 (MVP: Noskova)
...6-2/7-5. Even without Elena Rybakina in the mix, thanks to Yulia Putintseva's win over Bucsa in Match #2, the Spaniards needed all three matches to take care of the Kazakhs, as Bucsa returned to pull double-duty on the day to get Team Espana into the SF for the first time since 2008 (the last of seven such runs from 2000-08).
Look at that reaction from Team Spain’s bench ๐ค ๐ช๐ธ
Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo win their doubles match to advance Spain to the semi-finals ๐ช#BJKCuppic.twitter.com/XiOLdfQRbx
UKR/BEL QF M2 - Greet Minnen/BEL def. Elina Svitolina/UKR
...6-7(5)/6-4/6-4. Things would ultimately turn in her favor later, at least for one day, but Svitolina's week got off to a disappointing start as she lost a set lead and fell in three as Minnen sent things to the deciding doubles.
UKR 1-1 BEL
World #217 (former top 60) Greet Minnen gets the biggest win of her life, defeats #7 Elina Svitolina 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 to keep Belgium alive in this BJK Cup Finals.
...6-3/6-3. Swooping in to save the day was Kalinina. Off a singles win over debuting 21-year old Jana Otzipka, she returned to join forces with Kichenok and send Ukraine into a second straight Cup SF.
...6-3/5-7/6-3. The two-time defending Cup champions were required to go to the deciding doubles to return to the semis, with Paolini -- the star of the last two Finals events -- pulling the team out of a 0-1 hole (after Elisabetta Cocciaretto scored just two games off Zhang Shuai in Match #1) with a win over Zheng Qinwen, then joining once again with Cup stalwart Errani to bring what was a final bit of glory to Team Italia.
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BILLIE JEAN KING CUP FINALS - SF
(3) UKR d. ITA 2-0 (MVP: Svitolina) CZE d. (4) ESP 2-0 (MVP: Noskova)
CZE/ESP SF M1 - Karolina Muchova/CZE def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro/ESP
...7-5/6-4. All togther now: there is no lead that Jessica Bouzas Maneiro can't lose.
It happened again here, as the Spaniard led 4-2 in the 1st set, and was a game away from taking the match lead at 5-4, but ultimately fell in straight sets in what was Muchova's first Cup duty since 2022.
Linda Noskova's win over Cristina Bucsa sent CZE into the nation's first final since 2018, in Barbora Strycova's maiden year as Captain.
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UKR/ITA SF M1 - Anhelina Kalinina def. Tyra Grant
...6-3/6-4. Italian Captain Tathiana Garbin has usually played the right cards, but that was not the case here. After Cocciaretto had come up short in her QF singles match, Garbin went with Cup-debuting 18-year old Grant while Cocciaretto, Lucia Bronzetti and even Sara Errani sat idle on the bench.
It turned out to help send Italy to an early exit, wasting the absence of UKR's other Top 10er (Marta Kostyuk) and ending the nation's two-year title reign and three-year final appearance streak.
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UKR/ITA SF M2 - Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Jasmine Paolini/ITA
...6-2/6-2. Svitolina's redemption ended Paolini's six-match Cup singles winning streak (10 combined s/d) and sent Ukraine to its first Cup final.
The result prevented what would have been a tasty *first-ever* final match-up between the two most recently dominant Cup nations, Italy and the Czech Republic, winners of a combined 12 Cup championships since 2006 (including an eight-year run from 2009-16, with CZE winning five times and ITA three) and with appearances in 14 of the last 19 finals.
CZE and ITA split four SF ties between the two from 2010-14.
FINAL M1 - Karolina Muchova/CZE def. Anhelina Kalinina/UKR
...6-2/6-3. It's been a pretty good move in 2026 to take a ride on the Muchova train, and it was very much the case in Shenzhen as the Czech's return to Cup action (she went 2-0, skipping only the QF as Marie Bouzkova contributed a match win vs. GBR) proved to be a good luck charm.
Muchova's wins in the SF and Final helped assure that the Czechs (who went 6-0 in singles) never even had to play a deciding doubles match, leaving women's doubles #1 Katerina Siniakova serving as nothing more than a spectator all week long.
Kalinina, though under the radar, had been been UKR MVP up until this point, winning both s/d points vs. BEL in the QF, then downing Grant in the SF. This loss was her first ever in Cup play (she's now a combined 5-1).
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FINAL M2 - Linda Noskova/CZE def. Elina Svitolina/UKR
...6-3/7-6(5). We can now add Noskova's name to the list of Czech Cup greats. The Wimbledon champ was (according to this space) the overall MVP in the BJK Qualifiers in the spring, and her 3-0 mark in the week's final event only added to her legacy as the latest team leader on the court.
Noskova clinched the QF win over GBR with a win over Katie Boulter (w/ 15 aces!), clinched the SF over ESP with a win over Bucsa, and then salted away CZE's 12th overall title (seventh in the post-Czechoslovakian era, w/ the first coming in 2011) with the clinching win over Svitolina. She put away all three matches in straight sets.
Overall, Noskova went 5-0 in '26 Cup play, winning 10 of 11 sets, going 4-0 in TB (one in each of her last four matches). She's now 9-2 in her Cup singles career.
Meanwhile, the loss ended what wasn't a very good Finals for Svitolina. She managed to get the historic win over Paolini that sent UKR to its first Cup final, but went 1-2 overall, with her one win surely partly "credited" to Zhang Shuai for getting a QF win over Cocciaretto in the ITA/CHN QF and ultimately forcing Paolini to play twice in the previous tie just to get the defending champs to the SF before coming up short vs. Svitolina.
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The Cup title, the first claimed by the Czechs since 2018, comes in Barbora Strycova's maiden year as the team's new Captain (replacing Petr Pala after an untennisgodly successful run in the position). She joins Margaret Court, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King herself as individuals who've won Cup titles as both a player and captain.
The trophy lift from your 12-time World Champions ๐๐จ๐ฟ
Since 2009, the Czechs have posted Cup finishes of:
2009: SF
2010: SF
2011: W
2012: W
2013: SF
2014: W
2015: W
2016: W
2017: SF
2018: W
2019: QF
2020/21: BJK Finals event (rr)
2022: SF
2023: SF
2024: BJK Finals event (QF)
2025: lost in Qualifiers rr
2026: W
...2-6/7-6(7)/6-3. Joint's run to the final nearly derailed right out of the station, as she trailed Yao 6-2/5-1 and faced a MP on her own serve. After the Aussie held serve, then Yao failed to serve out the win in the following game, Joint was down another MP -- this time on return -- at 5-4 before breaking Yao for a third straight service game.
In the deciding TB, Yao had a *third* MP chance at 6-5, only to see Joint surge one final time and get the 9-7 win.
...6-0/5-7/7-6(4). The two sides of the Krejcikova coin. While it's great to see the Czech vet on the court staging rallies for exciting wins, which happened here, it usually comes with a price. That happened, too.
After winning a love 1st set, Krejcikova came back from 5-2 down in the 2nd to knot the score at 5-all, only to see Friedsam take the set at 7-5 to force a 3rd.
There, Krejcikova fell behind 5-3, with the German holding a pair of MP on serve. The Czech turned the tables and soon found *herself* serving for the win at 6-5. Friedman got the break to force a deciding TB, where Krejcikova finally put away the "W" on her second MP.
Unfortunately, that was Krejcikova's swan song for the week in Singapore, as she withdrw before her 2nd Round match with a sore lower back.
PURE GRIT ๐ค@BKrejcikova fends off two match points from Friedsam to come back and take the win 6-0, 5-7, 7-6(4)!
3. Singapore 1st Rd. - Tatiana Prozorova def. Sofia Costoulas
...5-7/7-6(2)/6-2. Prozorova's week started innocently enough, with a rally from 7-5/4-2 down to take out the young Belgian.
WHAT A COMEBACK! Tatiana Prozorova comes back from the brink, recovering from a 2-4, 30-40 deficit in the second set and turning the tables on heavy favourite Alexandra Eala.
Clinches her maiden Top 20 win with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 defeat and reaches her first WTA500 quarterfinal! pic.twitter.com/jILWdJU2dc
Singapore 2nd Rd. - Tatiana Prozorova def. Alex Eala
...4-6/7-5/6-3. Things picked up considerably when the Hordette faced off with Eala, notching her first career Top 20 win after having seen the Filipina come back from 3-1 down to take the 1st, finally holding on SP #7 in game 10 (saving 2 BP) to win 6-4. Eala then went up 4-2 in the 2nd.
After taking a 7-5 2nd set to force a decider, Prozorova denied Eala on three BP chances to hold for 4-3. She then broke at love and served out the win, the biggest of her career.
Singapore QF - Tatiana Prozorova def. Wang Xinyu
...3-6/7-5/6-4. Things had finally started to settle for Prozorova by the QF, at least comparatively, as she led 5-2 in the 2nd but had to stave off a Wang rally to tie things up a 5-5 (Prozorova broke and held to force a 3rd). The Hordette then went on to close out another three-set, three-hour battle.
But before she could play in her first WTA SF, Prozorova was beaned by an overhead smash (though not according to *her* account of things) and forced to pull out of the tournament.
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Australian tennis has a historic day coming up! ๐๐
Talia Gibson contests her first tour-level final in Singapore, while Seoul stages only the third all-Australian final on the WTA Tour this century.#GoAussiespic.twitter.com/ArdaVRAdWN
2005 - Two Australians (Maya Joint and Kimberly Birrell) will face each other in a WTA level hard court final for the first time since January 2005 (Alicia Molik and Samantha Stosur in Sydney). Aussies. #KoreaOpen | @WTA@TennisAustralia
...6-4/6-2. Three of the four tour-level singles finalists this weekend were Australian, so (at least) the first Aussie champ at the WTA level this season was assured. It turned out to be Birrell, winning her maiden title in her third career final appearance over Joint, also in her third WTA final but having previously been undefeated at 2-0.
Though the switching over of Dasha Kasatkina to Australian representation at first made it appear as the AUS #1 spot was hers to claim, that hasn't happened. She's slipped all the way down to #87, the fourth-highest Aussie standing at the moment.
Neither Birrell (#2) nor Joint (#3) are the top-ranked Aussie, though. That'd be Talia Gibson, who ended last year as the AUS #6 at #136.
Singapore Final - Leylah Fernandez def. Talia Gibson
...7-5/6-0. Gibson's first career final appearance jumps her up nearly 30 spots to AUS #1 at #37, though she could have been even higher if she'd been able to handle Fernandez in the final.
Instead the Canadian, having extended her seasons-with-a-final streak to seven, made 2026 her fifth season of the last six in which she's claimed a tour-level title as her own, closing out crown #6 with a love set.
5. Seoul 1st Rd. - Darya Astakhova def. Magda Linette
...3-6/6-1/7-6(2). In a back-and-forth final set, Astakhova and Linette exchanged breaks twice through the first six games, then again for a third time in games 9 & 10.
Linette had two MP opportunities on return at 6-5, but the 24-year old Hordette got the hold and then took command in the deciding breaker to record her first career tour-level MD victory.
24-year-old Darya Astakhova clinches her first career WTA250 main draw win, saving two match points to stun 7th seed Magda Linette 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 in Seoul.
After all her battles with injuries, this must have felt so sweet! Incredible as she was ranked 545th exactly last year. pic.twitter.com/RmxrpQuM3V
6. Seoul 1st Rd. - Alina Charaeva def. Sofia Kenin
...3-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Kenin's season highlight may have been her Night 1 win on Ashe over Venus Williams at the U.S. Open.
With her loss here after having led 6-3/4-2, and serving at 6-5, the former AO champ falls to 7-22 on the season.
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7. Seoul 2nd Rd. - Taylah Preston def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-4/6-1. Ostapenko managed to end her four-match losing streak with a 1st Round win, but saw her Seoul run end a round later as Preston notched her second win this season over a #1 seed in a tour-level event (matching Cirstea, Navarro and Rybakina for the most this season).
Meanwhile, further evidence that to ride the Alona rollercoaster is a sometimes head-spinning affair...
He dubbed it "Ostapenko Magic" in set 1. After a Penko fh winner for 30-15 lead, he says "the magic is back!" Afterwards? Penko bh ufe (๐คท♀️) 30-30 Penko missed wide 1st serve Penko missed wide 2nd serve; df 30-40 Penko 1st serve into net Penko 2nd serve into net; df Game, Preston pic.twitter.com/N5fACB6hDq
— C l a r a _ B u r e l _ i s _ c o o l ! LGK!!!!!!! (@kusmogx) September 24, 2026
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8. Singapore QF - Maja Chwalinska def. Elise Mertens
...6-2/6-2. Chwalinska, after having been 1-6 since reaching the RG final in the spring (a stretch which included a 1st Rd. injury -- on MP -- at Wimbledon that put a two-and-a-half-month gap between match wins for the Pole), strung together a trio of straight sets wins in Singapore en route to the SF.
One of those included her doing the work so that no one else had to (i.e. silencing Oliynykova, allowing just a single game).
...6-3/6-1. In Simona Halep's hometown, the 16-year old wins an all-Romanian battle with her fellow teenager (18).
For Safina Popa, it's her second consecutive $15K title run, and her third this season.
10. Ankara 125 Final - Berfu Cengiz def. Teodora Kostovic
...2-6/6-4/7-5. The 26-year old Turk wins on home ground, taking her biggest career title in her biggest career final (she'd already played in her previous biggest at a $100K final in August) with a win over the big-talking (yeah, her pre-Sabalenka match comments will follow her until something *bigger* happens) Serbian teenager, who'd arrived off her maiden tour-level QF in Sao Paulo and will crack the Top 140 on Monday (just outside the "Teen Top 10" behind Emerson Jones).
============================================
11. Tolentino 125 Final - Julia Grabher def. Guiomar Maristany
...7-6(5)/6-2. The 30-year old Austrian wins her third career 125 crown, matching her biggest career title. She'll climb back into the Top 100 on Monday.
Earlier this season, Grabher tripled her career slam MD victory total with 1st Round wins at AO & RG. She'd posted just one other in her career, in Paris in 2023.
============================================
12. $50K Berkeley USA Final - Kayla Day def. Janae Preston
...7-5/6-4. Day wins the battle over 16-year old Bannerette Preston, playing in her second pro final (in nine career events) after earlier this season winning three J300 crowns on three different surfaces (including on the grass at Roehampton) and reaching the Wimbledon girls' SF and U.S. Open QF.
============================================
1. Seoul Final - Chan Hao-ching/Wu Fang-Hsien def. Lee Ya-Hsin/Ye Qiuyu
...6-2/6-3. Chan & Wu take the Seoul title without dropping a set in what was their first appearance in a final as a duo since winning in Hua Hin in 2023.
It's Wu's fourth career tour title, while Chan -- with Hsieh Su-wei safely tucked away in Shenzhen for the week -- picks up #23, her second this season in her fourth '26 final.
2. Seoul 1st Rd. - Kamilla Rakhimova def. Polina Kudermetova
...6-3/6-2. In an all-Uzbeki match-up, Rakhimova couldn't secure a straight sets win over her former-and-once-again countrywoman despite leading 7-6/4-2. In the deciding 3rd set, Kudermetova served for the win at 5-4, but Rakhimova closed out the victory with a sweep of the final three games.
Neither are the top-ranked player representing Uzbekistan, though. Instead, that's be *another* former Hordette in Maria Timofeeva, who'll jumped 20 spots and into the highest ranking with her 125 title in Porto this weekend.
Still, having three players in the Top 104 isn't too shabby for a "tennis nation" that was essentially just a notion a year or so ago.
The next highest-ranked Uzbeki is Laima Vladson at #574. Vladson is a former Lithuanian who just started representing the nation late in 2025.
============================================
Meanwhile, the WTA continues to court engagement while simultaneously making itself look like a joke, and also pouring gasoline on the fires of animosity between fanbases and fostering social media hatred toward one of its own (in this case, Eala) all for the sake of a ridiculous popularity-contest-disguised-as-an-online-poll that crowns the winner of a 500 event the "star of the swing" over a grand slam champion.
The thing is, all they'd have to do to have their cake and eat it, too, would be to simply declare the reigning slam winner (at all four majors, during the "Australian" and various surface "swings") the Player of the (insert correct schedule period here), appropriately celebrating them, and then have a separate poll for fans to pick the (oh, just to pick out a few applicable terms) a "Rising Star" or "Fresh Face" to represent the player who improved or "broke out" the most during each swing.
But, you know, it's the WTA. So...
More than one (okay, maybe almost all) of these made me laugh out loud...
Novak- human trafficking Rafa- pedo Iga- kidnapped a baby from the maternity ward Coco- online scammer Medvedev- drunk man who slaps people and dances naked at a train station Carlos- beat up an 90-year-old man Rybakina- stalking a college dude Jess- shoplifter ๐ญ https://t.co/SqGrqEC4Vf
For the first time since Rio de Janeiro 1984 and just the second time in the Open era, three South Koreans have made it to the second round in a WTA event.
*2026 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Abu Dhabi - Sara Bejlek, CZE (20/#101)
Merida - Cristina Bucsa, ESP (28/#63)
Rabat - Petra Marcinko, CRO (20/#76)
Rosmalen - Robin Montgomery, USA (21/#484)
Prague - Lilli Tagger, AUT (18/#74)
Memphis - Kristina Liutova, RUS (16/#229)
Washington - Alex Eala, PHI (21/#28)
Monterrey - Diane Parry, FRA (23/#50)
Sao Paulo - Kaitlin Quevedo, ESP (20/#105)
Seoul - KIMBERLY BIRRELL, AUS (28/#60)
*2026 FIRST-TIME WTA FINALISTS*
Sara Bejlek, CZE (#101/20 = Abu Dhabi)-W
Taylor Townsend, USA (#119/29 = Austin)
Yuliia Starodubtseva, UKR (#89/26 = Charleston)
Panna Udvardy, HUN (#92/27 = Bogota)
Veronika Podrez, UKR (#209/19 = Rouen)
Petra Marcinko, CRO (#76/20 = Rabat)-W
Maja Chwalinska, POL (#114/24 = Roland Garros)
Robin Montgomery, USA (#484/21 = Rosmalen)-W
Daria Snigur, UKR (#54/24 = Prague)
Kristina Liutova, RUS (16/#229 = Memphis)-W
Dasha Vidmanova, CZE (23/#114 = Memphis)
Alex Eala, PHI (21/#28 = Washington)-W
Diane Parry, FRA (23/#50 = Monterrey)-W
Nadia Podoroska, ARG (29/#317 = Sao Paulo)
Kaitlin Quevedo, ESP (20/#105 = Sao Paulo)-W
TALIA GIBSON, AUS (22/#63 = Singapore)
*2026 FIRST-TIME WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
Hobart: Taylah Preston, AUS (20/#204)
Hobart: Antonia Ruzic, CRO (22/#71)
Abu Dhabi: Sara Bejlek, CZE (20/#101)=W
Abu Dhabi: Hailey Baptiste, USA (24/#56)
Cluj-Napoca: Oleksandra Oliynykova, UKR (25/#91)
Cluj-Napoca: Daria Snigur, UKR (23/#144)
Austin: Taylor Townsend, USA (29/#119)=RU
Bogota: Jazmin Ortenzi, ARG (24/#206)
Bogota: Panna Udvardy, HUN (27/#92)=RU
Charleston: Yuliia Starodubtseva, UKR (26/#89)
Rouen: Veronika Podrez, UKR (19/#209)
Rabat: Petra Marcinko, CRO (20/#76)=W
Roland Garros: Maja Chwalinska, POL (24/#114)=RU
Memphis: Kristina Liutova, RUS (16/#229)=W
Memphis: Dasha Vidmanova, CZE (23/#114)=RU
Memphis: Elvina Kalieva, USA (23/#132)
Monterrey: Nikola Bartunkova, CZE (20/#38)
Sao Paulo: Kaitlin Quevedo, ESP (20/#105)=W
Singapore: TALIA GIBSON, AUS (22/#63)=RU
Singapore: TATIANA PROZOROVA, RUS (22/#180)
*2026 TOP 10 WINS ON THREE SURFACES*
Coco Gauff (2 HC, 1 CC, 1 GR)
Karolina Muchova (3 HC, 2 CC, 1 GR)
Emma Navarro (1 HC, 1 CC, 1 GR)
LINDA NOSKOVA (1 HC, 1 CC, 2 GR)
*CAREER WTA DOUBLES TITLES - active*
39 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE
36 - Sara Errani, ITA
36 - Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE
31 - Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
24 - Elise Mertens
24 - Gaby Dabrowski, CAN
23 - CHAN HAO-CHING, TPE
23 - Serena Williams, USA
22 - Venus Williams, USA
--
ALSO: 30 - Mattek-Sands; 29 - Babos
*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
2022 Switzerland def. Australia 2-0
2023 Canada def. Italy 2-0
2024 Italy def. Slovakia 2-0
2025 Italy def. United States 2-0
2026 Czech Republic def. Ukraine 2-0 [MOST TITLES]
18 - United States
12 - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia (7 as CZE)
7 - Australia
6 - Italy
5 - Russia/RTF/USSR
5 - Spain
3 - France
2 - Germany/West Germany
1 - Belgium
1 - Canada
1 - Slovakia/Slovak Republic
1 - South Africa
1 - Switzerland
*BACKSPIN FED CUP/BJK CUP AWARDS*
*-non-title winning nation [FED CUP/BJK CUP PLAYER OF YEAR - season]
2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2006 Francesca Schiavone, ITA
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*
2022 Belinda Bencic, SUI
2023 Leylah Fernandez, CAN
2024 Iga Swiatek, POL*
2025 Elina Svitolina, UKR*
2026 Linda Noskova, CZE [FED CUP/BJK CUP CAPTAIN OF YEAR - season]
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)
2022 Alicia Molik, AUS*
2023 Tathiana Garbin, ITA*
2024 Matej Liptak, SVK*
2025 Tathiana Garbin, ITA
2026 Barbora Strycova, CZE [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
2021 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (RTF)
2022 Belinda Bencic, SUI
2023 Leylah Fernandez, CAN
2024 Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini, ITA
2025 Jasmine Paolini, ITA
2026 Linda Noskova, CZE
*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)
2022 Belinda Bencic, SUI
2023 Leylah Fernandez, CAN
2024 Jasmine Paolini, ITA
2025 Jasmine Paolini, ITA
2026 Linda Noskova, CZE
*FC/BJK TITLE AS PLAYER and CAPTAIN*
Margaret Court/AUS
Chris Evert/USA
Billie Jean King/USA
Barbora Strycova/CZE
*FED/BJK CUP SEMIFINALS - since 2000*
2000
2001
2002
United States (W)
Belgium
Czech Republic Spain (RU)
Russia (W) Belgium (RU)
France (Group 2nd)
Spain (Group 2nd)
Italy Slovak Republic (W)
Austria Spain (RU)
2003
2004
2005
Belgium United States (RU)
Russia France (W)
France (RU)
Spain Russia (W)
Austria
Russia (W)
United States
Spain France (RU)
2006
2007
2008
Belgium (RU)
United States
Spain Italy (W)
Italy (RU)
France Russia (W)
United States
Russia (W)
United States
China Spain (RU)
2009
2010
2011
Russia Italy (W) United States (RU)
Czech Republic
Italy (W)
Czech Republic
Russia United States (RU)
Italy Russia (RU) Czech Republic (W)
Belgium
2012
2013
2014
Russia Serbia (RU)
Italy Czech Republic (W)
Czech Republic Italy (W) Russia (RU)
Slovak Republic
Italy Czech Republic (W) Germany (RU)
Australia
2015
2016
2017
Czech Republic (W)
France
Russia (RU)
Germany
Czech Republic (W)
Switzerland France (RU)
Netherlands
Czech Republic United States (W) Belarus (RU)
Switzerland
2018
2019
2020/21
Germany Czech Republic (W)
France United States (RU)
Romania France (W)
Belarus Australia (RU)
Russian TF (W)
United States
Australia Switzerland (RU)
2022
2023
2024
Switzerland (W)
Czech Republic
Great Britain Australia (RU)
Czech Republic Canada (W) Italy (RU)
Slovenia
Great Britain Slovakia (RU)
Poland Italy (W)
2025
2026
Italy (W)
Ukraine United States (RU)
Great Britain
Italy Ukraine (RU)
Spain Czech Republic (W)
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