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Sunday, April 5, 2026

Wk.13- Pegula Rises Again in the Lowcountry






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*WEEK 13 CHAMPIONS*
CHARLESTON (SC), UNITED STATES (WTA 500; Green Clay Outdoor)
S: Jessie Pegula/USA def. Yuliia Starodubtseva/UKR 6-2/6-2
WD: Desirae Krawczyk/Caty McNally (USA/USA) def. Anna Bondar/Magdalena Frech (HUN/POL) 6-3/6-2
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (WTA 250; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Marie Bouzkova/CZE def. Panna Udvardy/HUN 6-7(7)/6-2/6-2
WD: Caroline Dolehide/Irina Khromacheva (USA/RUS) def. Valeriya Strakhova/Anastasia Tikhonova (UKR/RUS) 7-6(5)/6-4




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jessie Pegula/USA
...it took a lot of work (about 13 hours of it), including a bit of overtime (in the form of four straight three-setters) and additional mettle (she was down a set in three straight matches, and trailed by a break in the 3rd twice), but Pegula continued her '26 mastery of nearly everything *not* named Rybakina to win again in Charleston and become the first repeat champion there in more than a decade.

A year after winning her first tour-level clay title on the green dirt, Pegula returned and immediately faced off against a Kazakh opponent. Thankfully, she wasn't named Elena, but Yulia Putintseva still led by a break in the decider before Pegula rallied to win. In the next round, she overcame a 4-1 3rd set deficit vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto, then in the QF staged a comeback from a set back to defeat Diana Shnaider. Pegula took the 1st set vs. Iva Jovic in the semis, but still had to play a 3rd to reach her 22nd career WTA final.

Against first-time finalist Yuliia Starodubtseva, Pegula finally was able to get off the court without putting in "extra time," winning the Easter Sunday afternoon contest 2 & 2 to claim her 11th career title.

With her five-win week, Pegula's eye-popping non-Rybakina mark in '26 looks even more remarkable. 0-3 this season vs. the Kazakh, Pegula is 24-1 against everyone else.


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RISERS: Marie Bouzkova/CZE and Yuliia Starodubtseva/UKR
...two years ago, Bouzkova played her way into her first tour-level clay court final in Bogota, only to fall to Camila Osorio in what was the Colombian's second of three (so far) title runs in her home country event. After falling in the QF in her return last year, the Czech was back for more.

This time Bouzkova finished what she started, getting an early round retirement from '26 ITF circuit star Hanne Vandewinkel, then taking down Darja Semenistaja and Jazmin Ortenzi to return to the Bogota final (her second on clay of her nine career WTA finals). After dropping a 9-7 1st set tie-break (Bouzkova had led 3-1 and had three SP, one at 5-3 and two more in a TB that she'd once led 5-0), the Czech swept through a pair of 6-2 sets to take the crown.

The win gives Bouzkova her first WTA title on clay court, and is her first singles win on the dirt as a pro since she prevailed at a $15K challenger in Orlando back in 2017 (she'd also won a small event in '14).

Bouzkova inches up two spots to #24, matching her career-high ranking from December 2022.



Starodubtseva, a former collegiate player at Old Dominion (in Virginia), has taken a circuitous route (see below) to WTA relevance, but she's gradually climbed the ladder to get to her new position as of this week in Charleston, that of a tour-level singles finalist and a nearly-Top 50 player (she'll climb to #53 on Monday).

Over the last few seasons, the 26-year old Ukrainian has begun to find some legit traction. She reached half a dozen ITF finals in 2023 (winning four), and a season later managed to make it through qualifying at all four slams (becoming the first woman to do it in the Open era), beginning what has become a run of nine straight appearances in the MD of majors (w/ 4 wins), including a 3rd Round run last year at RG. In 2024, she reached two WTA QF, one at the 1000 level in Beijing, and cracked the Top 100 later that season. Last year, she reached the Round of 16 at the Madrid 1000, and climbed as high as #63 in the rankings.

But after a 5-1 start to '26 in the Auckland/AO Q-rounds, she'd often found herself trapped in qualifying purgatory in the months since, falling before the MD in four straight 1000 events before finally escaping qualifying in Miami (she ultimately reached the 3rd Rd.).

Starodubtseva was supposed to play the qualifying rounds in Charleston, as well, but got a late reprieve when the withdrawal of Amanda Anisimova, the same player who'd ended her journey in Miami (Anisimova then lost her next match, parted ways with her "Coach of the Year"-winning coach, and withdrew from Charleston), opened up a direct entry slot into the 1st Round for the Ukrainian.

Starodubtseva took advantage of not having to gamble quite as much on the length of her stay in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, running off wins over Zhang Shuai, Ekaterine Gorgodze, Renata Zarazua, McCartney Kessler and (in her maiden tour SF) Madison Keys in a name-making upset that sent her into her first WTA final.



Jessie Pegula proved to be too much for Starodubtseva to overcome in the final, as the world #5 extended her tournament winning streak to ten matches with a successful title defense. But Starodubtseva will now jump 36 spots in the rankings from the #89 position she occupied upon her arrival in Charleston.
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SURPRISES: Panna Udvardy/HUN and Jazmin Ortenzi/ARG
...Udvardy's eventful 2026 got even more eventful in Bogota, but this time it was a *good* thing.

Just last month, Udvardy made headlines after reporting that while in Antalya she'd received threats against herself and her family on her phone which included personal information ("they knew where my family lives, what cars they drive and that they had their phone numbers," she said) as well as a photo of a gun. She said that as a result the local consulate had sent multiple police officers to one of her matches, while police protected her parents' and grandmothers' homes.

Flashforward one month, and Udvardy posted the best result of her tour career in Bogota.

Arriving with just a 4-7 mark on the season, though she's reached three 125 finals (winning one) just last year, the 27-year old Hungarian notched wins over '25 semifinalist Julieta Pareja and '25 runner-up Katarzyna Kawa to reach her maiden WTA SF, then local favorite Emiliana Arango (despite trailing 5-2 in the 3rd) to become a first-time tour singles finalist.

Against Marie Bouzkova in the title match, Udvardy took the opening set in a 9-7 TB (after having trailed in the breaker 5-0), only to get just four combined games in the 2nd/3rd sets as the Czech took home the victory.

Udvardy will rise to a new career-high of #71 on Monday.

Meanwhile, in what was just her second career WTA MD appearance, 24-year old Ortenzi qualified in Bogota and played her way into her maiden SF.

After a win over Irene Burillo, the Argentine upset three-time and two-time defending tournament champ Camila Osorio on home clay in a pair of tie-breaks to reach her first WTA QF, then rallied from a set down vs. countrywoman Julia Riera (a Bogota semifinalist last year) to get within a win of the final.



Ortenzi fell to top seed Marie Bouzkova in the semis, but the world #206 will jump more than 40 spots in the new rankings, cracking the Top 200 for the first time and settling in around #165 (as the ARG #2, behind only Solana Sierra).
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COMEBACK: Madison Keys/USA
...while Keys didn't put together one of her patented out-of-the-fog-to-the-winner's-circle title runs in Charleston, the '25 AO champ surely had her best run in any event in nearly a year.

After winning her maiden major title (AO25) and achieving a career-best ranking of #5 early last season, Keys had characteristically gone into "semi-slumber mode" (save for a good QF at RG, her best result in Paris since '18) for most of the time since. She came into Charleston at 8-5 on the year (9-9 since RG), and having nearly dropped out of the Top 20. But she once again rose to the occasion before her standing could begin to get murky, running off wins over Donna Vekic, Anna Bondar and Belinda Bencic (her best win since def. Muchova in Montreal last summer, a victory which preceded a seven-match losing streak vs. Top 20 opponents) to reach her first SF since her run on the the grass at Queen's Club. She'd lost in her last three QF matches.

Keys was finally knocked off by first-time semifinalist Yuliia Starodubtseva in straights, but may have awoken in time to post a handful of good-to-great results over the spring/summer that will allow her to maintain her Top 15/20 standing even while maybe only occasionally seeming to get the *most* of her many event appearances over the course of a long campaign. In other words, the pattern that Keys has pretty much managed to replicate in almost every one of her tour seasons for more than a decade.

She's finished in the Top 21 in ten of the last eleven seasons, but had a nine-year gap (2016/25) between Top 10 years (and a 7+ year gap between major finals).


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FRESH FACES: Iva Jovic/USA and Emiliana Arango/COL
...18-year old Jovic came into the 2nd Quarter of the season as the third-ranked teenager at #16, though she'd posted the best AO result (QF) of the lot (both Mboko and Andreeva went out in the 4th Rd.) at the start of 2026 after back-to-back SF in Auckland and Hobart as she began the new year at 11-3. Her trio of losses had come to two eventual tournament champions and world #1 Aryna Sabalenka (AO).

After a mediocre post-Melbourne stretch -- 4-4, including 1-2 on the Sunshine Swing -- she was back on her previous track in Charleston.

Jovic ran off straight sets wins over Alycia Parks, Sofia Kenin and Anna Kalinskaya to reach her third SF of the season. She battled top seed Jessie Pegula throughout, leading the defending champ 3-0 in the 1st before Pegula surged back to seize that set, then taking the 2nd with the set's only break in game 12. Jovic led by an early break in the 3rd, but Pegula (as she did all week) played her best with her back against the wall, closing out the teenager with a game 9 break on MP #3.

Pegula, of course, went on to become the *third* player this season to go through Jovic on her way to a tournament title (she also lost to hot-ticket Aussie Talia Gibson in Miami, so she's surely hoping for better draws from the TG Draw Division in the coming months).

Meanwhile, though she's only 25, Arango has a long history in the Bogota event, with the Colombian first appearing in her home tournament at age 15 back in 2016. Except for one QF run eight years ago, though, aside from the vision of her signature backward cap she hadn't caused many ripples in the draw. At least not until this year.

After a string of 1r-1r-QF-1r-1r-DNP-2r-1r-1r (w/ last year's exit coming at the hands of a LL) results, Arango suddenly found her groove on the Colombian clay this past week (she reached a pair of tour-level finals in 2025, but both came on hard court in Mexico). She ran off wins over Maria Lourdes Carle, Guiomar Maristany and Varvara Lepchenko to reach her first SF of the season.

Arango led Panna Udvardy 5-2 in the 3rd set in that match, twice serving for the win, but saw the Hungarian climb all the way to back to snatch away the victory in a deciding TB.



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ITF PLAYER: You Xiaodi/CHN
...29-year old You ended a long title drought, stopping her eight-match losing streak in finals with a three-hour, 6-4/6-7(2)/6-4 win over Sofya Lansere in the $100K in Lu'an, China, to claim her seventh career ITF win. It's her first since February 2020, and will lift her ranking back into the Top 200 for the first time since a one-week stint at exactly #200 in June '24 (it'll be her highest standing since 2021).

You's run of opponents was quite good, including Lanlana Tararudee, Mananchaya Sawangkaew, Harriet Dart and Wang Xiyu heading into the final.

This was You's third ITF final this season, following a pair of earlier $75K title match loses (one vs. Bianca Andreescu in February).


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JUNIOR STAR: Katerina Zajickova/CZE
...another week, another Crusher champ. This time at the junior level, as still another wave of Czechs gradually make their way to the big tour.

In Cairo, 16-year old Zajickova (jr. #140) claimed by far her biggest career title at the J300 event in Egypt, upsetting #1 seed Sonja Zhenickova (2r) and Giulia Safina Popa (SF) before a 6-1/6-7/6-3 victory in the final over Serbian Lana Virc.

The Czech also teamed with Turkey's Ayse Bal to win the doubles crown.


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DOUBLES: Desirae Krawcyzk/Caty McNally, USA/USA
...both Krawczyk and McNally have claimed their fair share of tour titles, but their championship run in Charleston as a pair produced the first WTA titles for either woman in more than a year.

After having knocking off top seeded Krunic/Zhang, the Bannerettes advanced to the final with a SF walkover from Cocciaretto/Putintseva, then handled Anna Bondar & Magdalena Frech in a 6-3/6-2 final match to get the win. It's their maiden crown as a team, while it's Krawczyk's 13th win at tour level (her first since February '25 in Singapore) in what was her third appearance in the Charleston final in four years ('23 title w/ Collins, and '25 RU w/ Dolehide) and McNally's ninth (first since Cluj in February '24).


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WHEELCHAIR: Guo Luoyano/CHN
...after coming into the Busan 175 event at just 3-6 on the year, 25-year old WC #15 Guo had quite the week on the clay, taking the 175 level honors with a string of wins over higher-ranked opponents en route to what was a singles *and* doubles title sweep.

Guo upset top seed/AO champ Li Xiaohui, #3 Zhu Zhenzhen and #4 Jiske Griffioen in the final, as well as teaming with Zhu to defeat Li & Wang to take the doubles (possibly of note, though they made the final last year, Roland Garros is the only major title that Li/Wang have *not* won over the last five wheelchair slam events, while the slam singles titles that the two have picked up over the last year have come on grass and hard court, not clay).

Could this be the start of a great run from Guo? Last summer, she ran off 20 straight wins and claimed five titles in a row (all in events just below the top regular season tier), with the last coming in France (see below) with wins over veterans Zhu and Griffioen.


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1. Charleston 2nd Rd. - Renata Zarazua def. Hailey Baptiste
...3-6/6-3/6-4. After winning 2 & love over Sloane Stephens in the 1st Round, Zarazua experienced quite a bit more pushback from Baptiste before finally sending off another Bannerette.

In the 3rd, Zarazua stretched her lead to 4-1, but Baptiste broke on BP #4 to stay alive. Later, with the Mexican serving up 5-4, the two engaged in an epic 20-minute game as the Bannerette carved out four BP chances in her attempt to get the set back on serve.

In what turned out to be the *last* game, a nine-deuce affair in which Zarazua held three *MP* before Baptiste held any of her BP, Zarazua finally put away the win on MP #7.



In an afternoon match the next day, Zarazua didn't have as much to offer, taking just one game in a quick loss to Yuliia Starodubtseva.
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2. Charleston 2nd Rd. - Jessie Pegula def. Yulia Putintseva 4-6/6-4/7-5
Charleston 3rd Rd. - Jessie Pegula def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6/6-1/7-6(1)
...Pegula was winless against players from Kazakhstan in 2026, and had to fight to avoid falling to Putintseva after having already gone 0-3 against Elena Rybakina this season.

Putintseva led 2-0 in the 3rd, but Pegula climbed back into the set and, at 5-5, got the break on her fifth BP of game 11. Serving for the win, she quickly went up 40/love and served out the "W" to avoid a deciding TB.

Peglua is now 4-0 vs. Putintseva.

A round later, Pegula was taken to the edge again before rallying from 4-1 down in the 3rd vs. Cocciaretto before ultimately claiming a 7-1 TB to keep her title defense hopes alive.



And it didn't end there, as in the QF Pegula staged a comeback to win in three after dropping the opening set to Diana Shnaider, and *then* was taken to three sets in a victory over Iva Jovic in the semis.
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3. Charleston Final - Jessie Pegula def. Yuliia Starodubtseva
...6-2/6-2. Pegula's joins Aryna Sabalenka (Brisbane and Miami) as the only repeat singles champions on tour in 2026, successfully defending a title for the second time in her career, along with her two-year run in Canada in 2023-24 (Montreal/Toronto).

With the win, Pegula also becomes the ninth different woman to repeat as the champion in Charleston, but just the second this century after back-to-back (or more) title runs had been fairly commonplace in the 1980s and '90s.

The previous repeat winners: Chris Evert (five straight from 1974-78), Tracy Austin (1979-80), Martina Navratilova (1982-83), Evert (1984-85), Steffi Graf (1986-87), Gabriela Sabatini (1991-92), Conchita Martinez (1994-95) and Serena Williams (2012-13).


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4. Bogota 2nd Rd. - Jazmin Ortenzi def. Camila Osorio
...7-6(4)/7-6(5). Ortenzi reaches her first WTA QF by taking out the two-time defending and three-time Bogota champ Osorio.

Ortenzi surged to a 5-1 edge in the 1st, but saw her lead slip away and her be unable to serve out the set at 6-5. But the Argentine rallied from 4-1 down to take the TB at 7-4, then immediately jumped ahead in the 2nd, leading by a double-break at 3-1.

But, again, Osorio staged a comeback that saw the Colombian twice serve to knot the match, at 5-4 and 6-5. But when she wasn't able to do so, Ortenzi forced a second TB, then again rallied (from 5-4 down) and swept the final three points to advance.


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5. Charleston 1st Rd. - Bianca Andreescu def. Dalma Galfi
...1-6/6-4/6-1. While Andreescu came into Charleston at 18-5 on the season, most of her good work had come at lower levels. Thus, she was still without a tour-level MD win (0-2 in '26) since defeating Barbora Krejcikova in Montreal last summer.

The Canadian finally got on the board with a comeback victory over Galfi, ending her six-match WTA MD losing streak, though her time was short-lived as she fell a round later to Sofia Kenin.


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6. Bogota Final - Caroline Dolehide/Irina Khromacheva def. Valeriya Strakhova/Anastasia Tikhonova
...7-6(5)/6-4. Dolehide and Khromacheva (also Russian) won this title, with Dolehide taking tour win #3 and Khromacheva #9 (third in Bogota, in her fourth final at the event), preventing Strakhova and Tikhonova from being the first maiden WTA doubles champions of 2026.

Tikhonova led the ITF circuit in the 1st Quarter with three doubles title (won w/ three different partners, none of them being Strakhova).



But the glaring combination of nations here is more interesting, with Strakhova representing Ukraine and Tikhonova being "flagless" as a Russian representative, at a time when the Ukrainian players still do not shake the hands of Russian opponents (or, usually, those of players who formerly represented Russia -- Kasatkina excluded -- or, in the case of Oliynykova, players from *other* nations who have played any sort of organized event in Russia since February 2022).

Thing is, this isn't as "norm-shattering" as it might appear, though, as the two have been occasionally playing together the last few seasons, winning 125 and $100K titles in '25. Strakhova was born in Crimea, an area close to the Russian border that was (illegally) annexed by Russia more than a decade ago, and Strakhova is seen by the Ukrainian tennis community as being "pro-Russia" despite her still officially playing under the flag of Ukraine (something they can't prevent her from doing).

Still an interesting situation.

From 2023:



BTW, in the 1st Round, Dolehide/Khromacheva had survived an April Fool's Day *44-point* 2nd set TB (23-21) to defeat Estelle Cascino & Nicole Fossa Huergo in straight sets.


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7. Charleston Q2 - Akasha Urhobo def. Elvina Kalieva 6-1/6-1
Charleston 1st Rd. - Akasha Urhobo def. Solana Sierra 7-5/3-0 ret.
...the 19-year old Bannerette, a two-time ITF champ this season, qualifies to reach her first tour-level MD since Merida in late 2024 (as a WC). Her win over Sierra was her maiden victory in a WTA 1st Round.


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8. $50K Nantes FRA Final - Jeline Vandromme def. Mona Barthel
...3-2 ret. 18-year old Waffle Vandromme, the 2025 U.S. Open junior champ and winner at last year's season-ending Junior Finals, picks up career title #5.

She'll jump nearly 40 spots in the rankings (to around #222) as she closes in on her Top 200 debut.


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1. Bogota SF - Panna Udvardy def. Emiliana Arango
...6-7(6)/6-3/7-6(5). Udvardy wins the nearly three-hour battle to reach her maiden tour final, staging comebacks in the 1st and 3rd sets to advance.

In the opening set, Udvardy led 4-2 and held a SP at 5-4 (on return), only to see Arango surge back and hold a SP of her own at 6-5. Things went to a TB, where the Colombian finally took the set on her third SP (8-6). In the 2nd, Udvardy swept the final four games to win 6-3 and force a decider.

The 3rd saw Arango lead 5-2 and twice serve for the win, but Udvardy forced a TB and won it 7-5, preventing Arango from becoming the ninth Colombian to reach the Bogota final in the event's 28-editon history (after four-time champ Fabiola Zuluaga, one-time winner Mariana Duque Marino and three-time champ Camila Osorio, who have combined to go 8-0 in the tournament final).


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2. Bogota Final - Maria Bouzkova def. Panna Udvardy
...6-7(7)/6-2/6-2. Bouzkova becomes the first-ever Czech singles champ in the quarter century-plus old tour stop in Bogota.

In fact, she's just the second Czech singles finalist in tournament history. The other? Why, that'd be Bouzkova in 2024.


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3. Charleston 1st Rd. - Yuan Yue def. Mayar Sherif
...2-6/7-6(4)/7-6(5). Sherif led this one 6-2/4-2, but was forced to a deciding 3rd by lucky loser Yuan. There, the Egyptian rallied from 4-2 down to hold a MP at 6-5 on return. But Yuan held to end a seven-deuce game and send things to a decisive TB.

Yuan led 5-3 before Sherif knotted things up at five, but the LL ran off the last two points to secure her *second* win this season after having been down MP (along w/ a win over Sramkova in February).


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4. Charleston 1st Rd. - Polina Kudermetova def. Oleksandra Oliynykova
...3-6/7-6(1)/6-4. After eight breaks of serve in the 2nd set's first twelve games pushed things into a TB, Kudermetova dominated to send things to a 3rd.

At 4-4 in the decider, Kudermetova saved four BP en route to a hold, then broke Oliynykova for the win.

And in case one was curious, though she's now representing Uzbekistan rather than Russia (i.e. "flagless"), it meant little to the Ukrainian when it came to post-match acknowledgements.


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5. Bogota Q2 - Lia Karatantcheva def. Miriana Tona
...6-1/6-2. Lia, the 22-year old member of the tennis-playing Karatantcheva clan, qualifies to make her tour-level debut. She ultimately lost in three sets in her maiden MD vs. Varvara Lepchenko.

#288 Lia had failed to reach the MD in her previous five tour event qualifying attempts.

And, yes, 39-year old Lepchenko (40 in May) *has* played another Karatantcheva sisters in her career. She faced Sesil three times from 2009-16, winning twice.


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Hmmm, yeah. This would be a good argument from Iga if, you know, *she* didn't split with three different coaches not long after *winning* major titles with each of them. She didn't have any problem recognizing some differences -- especially in short-term results with the last two, Wiktorowski and Fissette -- and acting accordingly, seemingly assigning at least *some* blame to them. Yet, it's out-of-bounds to question the role of a "mental coach" when Iga's clearly, and admittedly, had issues the last couple of years in that area of her game and approach?

Okay, then.



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Needless to say, this had *better* work, right? Otherwise there'll be nowhere to hide.

Most recent clay final: 2024 Roland Garros (which completed a sweep of the Madrid-Rome-Paris titles that spring, winning 19 straight during a 23-match streak on the dirt that ended at the Olympics.).

She's gone 12-5 (good, but not claycourt Iga-like) on the surface since, with zero appearances in finals.

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Hmmm, random Hannah Montana references from the WTA social media team? It's allowable. (A rare thumbs-up.)



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I saw people questioning how Gauff could have finished 2nd ahead of Rybakina, but the real conundrum is how after Sabalenka won *both* events we still had 59% of the votes saying *someone else* was the "Star of the Swing."

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*2026 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
3 - Aryna Sabalenka = 2 1000/1 500
2 - JESSIE PEGULA = 1 1000/1 500
[2020-26]
25 - 1/2/8/6/5/3/0 = Iga Swiatek
19 - 3/2/0/3/4/4/3 = Aryna Sabalenka
11 - 1/0/1/2/3/3/1 = Elena Rybakina
10 - 0/1/0/4/3/2/0 = Coco Gauff
10 - 0/0/1/2/2/3/2 = JESSIE PEGULA
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
8 - 0/3/2/2/1/0/0 = Barbora Krejcikova

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2026*
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (3-1)
2 - JESSIE PEGULA (2-0)
2 - Elena Rybakina (1-1)
2 - Elina Svitolina (1-1)
2 - Victoria Mboko (0-2)
[nation]
6 (3 wins) - USA*
4 (3) - BLR
4 (1) - UKR*
3 (3) - CZE*
2 (1) - GBR
2 (1) - KAZ
2 (1) - RUS
2 (0) - CAN
1 (1) - ESP
1 (1) - ITA
1 (1) - ROU
1 (0) - CHN
1 (0) - GER
1 (0) - HUN*
1 (0) - POL
[2020-26]
35 - 3/3/3/6/7/9/4 = Sabalenka (19-16)
29 - 1/2/9/8/5/4/0 = Swiatek (25-4)
22 - 5/0/3/4/5/3/2 = Rybakina (11-11)
20 - 1/0/2/5/4/6/2 = PEGULA (10-10)
14 - 0/1/1/4/3/4/1 = Gauff (10-4)
14 - 0/4/2/2/6/0/0 = Kasatkina (6-8)

*2026 LOW-RANKED WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
#206 JAZMIN ORTENZI (Bogota)
#204 Taylah Preston (Hobart)
#144 Daria Snigur (Cluj-Napoca)

*MOST WTA SF in 2026*
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (4-0)
4 - JESSIE PEGULA (2-2)
4 - Elina Svitolina (2-2)
3 - Elena Rybakina (2-1)
3 - IVA JOVIC (1-2)
3 - Karolina Muchova (1-2)
2 - Victoria Mboko (2-0)
2 - Coco Gauff (1-1)
2 - Kimberly Birrell (0-2)
[nation]
16- USA (6-10)***
8 - UKR (4-4)*
6 - CZE (3-3)*
4 - BLR (4-0)
3 - AUS (0-3)
3 - KAZ (2-1)
3 - RUS (2-1)
2 - CAN (2-0)
2 - CHN (1-1)
2 - GBR (2-0)
2 - ITA (1-1)
1-0 = ESP,GER,HUN*,POL,ROU
0-1 = ARG*,COL*,CRO,DEN,FRA,GRE,LAT,PHI

*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)
[doubles]
Dominika Salkova, CZE (Ostrava)
Isabelle Haverlag, NED (Merida)
MAGDALENA FRECH, POL (Charleston)
ANASTASIA TIKHONOVA, RUS (Bogota)

*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)

*2026 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*
35 - Sorana Cirstea, ROU (Cluj-Napoca)-W
32 - JESSIE PEGULA, USA (Charleston)-W
31 - Jessie Pegula, USA (Dubai)-W
31 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (Dubai)
31 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (Auckland)-W
31 - Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS (Abu Dhabi)
30 - Tamara Korpatsch, GER (Ostrava)
[doubles/MX; 35+]
41 - Vera Zvonareva (Dubai)
40 - Hsieh Su-wei (Doha)
40 - Hsieh Su-wei (Brisbane)-W
38 - Sara Errani (Miami)
37 - Laura Siegemund (Dubai)
36 - Zhang Shuai (AO)-W)
36 - Zhang Shuai (Adelaide)-W)
[duos]
68 - Dubai: Siegemund/Zvonareva (41/37)

*2026 YOUNGEST WTA SEMIFINALISTS*
18 - Iva Jovic, USA (Auckland)
18 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS (Adelaide)-W
18 - Iva Jovic, USA (Hobart)-RU
18 - IVA JOVIC, USA (Charleston)
19 - Victoria Mboko, CAN (Adelaide)-RU
19 - Victoria Mboko, CAN (Doha)-RU

*2026 3 WTA SF FROM SAME NATION*
USA: Dubai = Pegula (W); Anisimova (SF), Gauff (SF)
USA: Austin = Stearns (W), Townsend (RU); Krueger (SF)
USA: Charleston = Pegula (W); Keys (SF), Jovic (SF)
--
OTHER RECENT 3+ U.S. SF: (4 - '17 U.S. Open; 3 - '23 San Diego, '24 Toronto, '25 Charleston, '25 Beijing)

*UNITED STATES - MOST WTA TITLES (active)*
49 - Venus Williams (1998-16)
11 - JESSIE PEGULA (2019-26)
10 - Madison Keys (2014-25)
10 - Coco Gauff (2019-25)
8 - Sloane Stephens (2015-24)
5 - Sofia Kenin (2019-20)
4 - Amanda Anisimova (2019-25)
4 - Danielle Collins (2021-24)

*WTA TITLE LEADERS - CZE, active*
17 - Karolina Pliskova (2013-20)
8 - Barbora Krejcikova (2021-24)
5 - Katerina Siniakova (2017-22)
3 - MARIE BOUZKOVA (2022-26)
3 - Marketa Vondrousova (2017-25)
2 - Karolina Muchova (2019-26)
1 - Sara Bejlek (2026)
1 - Linda Fruhvirtova (2022)
1 - Linda Noskova (2024)

*2020s - MULTIPLE #1 SEEDS WIN TITLES*
[2020 - Week 9]
Monterrey: Svitolina
Lyon: Kenin
[2021 - Week 25]
Budapest: Putintseva
Lausanne: Zidansek
[2024 - Week 29]
Palermo: Zheng Q.
Budapest: Shnaider
[2025 - Week 9]
Merida: Navarro
Austin: Pegula
[2026 - Week 1]
Brisbane: Sabalenka
Auckland: Svitolina
[2026 - Week 13]
Charleston: Pegula
Bogota: Bouzkova






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Remember when Dan Quayle misspelled a word and it was the end of his political career?

— Jacob T. Levy (@jacobtlevy.bsky.social) April 5, 2026 at 3:22 PM


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I’m shocked shocked SHOCKED that Trump wouldn’t be loyal to someone who was so slavishly loyal to him.

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— Max Weiss (@maxthegirl.bsky.social) April 2, 2026 at 1:26 PM


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