AO 6.5 - Lists-a-Palooza

More lists than reasons I can think of to never break down and try Vegemite even one more time. "Acquired taste," my calling bush birds.

Anyway...


=NIGHT 6 NOTES=...before the Lists-a-Palooza round-up, one must ask, "Did anyone catch the plates on the truck that ran over Maria Sharapova on Night 6?" I hear it was of German make. Sturdy, efficient and showing none the worse for wear. A 2016 model, maybe? Or at least it sure looked that way.

Make that 1??2?? wins in a row in 2018 for @AngeliqueKerber!

The 2016 champion sends a message to the rest of the tournament.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/QbXdVVW51y

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2018

Already riding a seven-match win streak (or eleven, if you wish), and quite possibly starting to think about rolling out another in just Melbourne alone, Angelique Kerber jumped on the Russian in their 3rd Round meeting on Laver, breaking her serve and then going about standing on the baseline and timing her groundstrokes to whack with full intensity every screaming shot that Sharapova sent back at her. Maria hadn't played Kerber since 2015, *before* the German's career-altering '16 campaign. Angie was good then, but nothing like this. So, at least Sharapova now knows what she missed two seasons ago. Maybe it wasn't such a poorly-timed "vacation," after all? Just a passing thought.

Committing just two unforced errors, Kerber took the 1st set 6-1, then went about trying to do the same in the 2nd. She led 2-0 before Sharapova finally found her range and made something of a set of it all. She got back to 2-2, and forced Kerber to fight off a break point to hold for 4-3. But that was as far as things progressed. Kerber broke for 5-3 a game later, then served out the match.

Then she stepped out of her invisible time machine and joined the rest of us back here in 2018.

“I have so many great memories from this court [@RodLaverArena] … This court is so special for me and with you guys, it’s even more special.”

- @AngeliqueKerber#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/nRm17cwoNK

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2018

The loss from Sharapova makes this AO just the third slam in the last seventy without a Hordette in the Round of 16, a run that began with the 2000 U.S. Open. This is only the second time it's happened (along w/ the "Radwanskian Massacre" Wimbledon of 2013) with Sharapova in the draw, and the first time at all in Melbourne since 2001.

...later, because this AO just hasn't yet had enough upsets, Hsieh Su-Wei took down Aga Radwanska 6-2/7-5. Thus, the 32-year old Taiwanese vet reaches her second career slam Round of 16, but her first since a similar AO run in 2008 as a qualifier.

Hip Hip Su-Wei!

ICYMI an emotional Hsieh is back in the fourth round for the first time in a decade and feeling right at home#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/YhR9ivqa2b

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2018

*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Simona Halep/ROU vs. Naomi Osaka/JPN
#20 Barbora Strycova/CZE vs. #6 Karolina Pliskova/CZE
Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE vs. #21 Angelique Kerber/GER
#17 Madison Keys/USA vs. #8 Caroline Garcia/FRA
Petra Martic/CRO vs. Elise Mertens/BEL
(Q) Denisa Allertova/CZE vs. #4 Elina Svitolina/UKR
#32 Anett Kontaveit/EST vs. Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP
#19 Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK vs. #2 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN




*2018 AUSTRALIAN OPEN WOMEN'S FINAL 16*[by ranking]
#1 - Simona Halep
#2 - Caroline Wozniacki
#4 - Elina Svitolina
#6 - Karolina Pliskova
#8 - Caroline Garcia
#16 - Angelique Kerber
#20 - Madison Keys
#21 - Magdalena Rybarikova
#24 - Barbora Strycova
#33 - Anett Kontaveit
#37 - Elise Mertens
#39 - Carla Suarez-Navarro
#72 - Naomi Osaka
#81 - Petra Martic
#88 - Hsieh Su-wei
#130 - Denisa Allertova
[by age]
32...Hsieh Su-wei
31...Barbora Strycova
30...Angelique Kerber
29...Carla Suarez-Navarro
29...Magdalena Rybarikova
27...Caroline Wozniacki
27...Petra Martic
26...Simona Halep
25...Karolina Pliskova
24...Denisa Allertova
24...Caroline Garcia
23...Elina Svitolina
22...Madison Keys
22...Elise Mertens
22...Anett Kontaveit
20...Naomi Osaka
[by nation]
3...CZE (Allertova,Ka.Pliskova,Strycova)
1...BEL (Mertens)
1...CRO (Martic)
1...DEN (Wozniacki)
1...ESP (Suarez-Navarro)
1...FRA (Garcia)
1...GER (Kerber)
1...EST (Kontaveit)
1...JPN (Osaka)
1...ROU (Halep)
1...SVK (Rybarikova)
1...TPE (Hsieh)
1...UKR (Svitolina)
1...USA (Keys)
[by career slam Round-of-16's]
20 - Caroline Wozniacki
17 - Angelique Kerber
14 - Carla Suarez-Navarro
12 - Simona Halep
9 - Madison Keys
6 - Elina Svitolina
5 - Karolina Pliskova
4 - Petra Martic
4 - Barbora Strycova
3 - Caroline Garcia
2 - Hsieh Su-wei
2 - Anett Kontaveit
2 - Magdalena Rybarikova
1 - Denisa Allertova
1 - Elise Mertens
1 - Naomi Osaka
[w/ consecutive slam Round of 16's]
4...Elina Svitolina
2...Madison Keys
2...Karolina Pliskova
2...Carla Suarez-Navarro
[by career AO Round of 16's]
6 - Caroline Wozniacki
5 - Angelique Kerber
3 - Simona Halep
3 - Madison Keys
3 - Barbora Strycova
3 - Carla Suarez-Navarro
2 - Hsieh Su-wei
2 - Karolina Pliskova
1 - Denisa Allertova
1 - Caroline Garcia
1 - Anett Kontaveit
1 - Petra Martic
1 - Elise Mertens
1 - Naom Osaka
1 - Magdalena Rybarikova
1 - Elina Svitolina
[w/ consecutive AO Round of 16's]
3 - Angelique Kerber
3 - Barbora Strycova
2 - Karolina Pliskova
[3] - Madison Keys = 3 straight, non-consecutive AO appearances (DNP 2017)
[AO Rd. of 16 - unseeded]
Denisa Allertova, CZE (Q)
Hsieh Su-wei, TPE
Petra Martic, CRO
Elise Mertens, BEL
Naomi Osaka, JPN
Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
[AO Rd of 16 - by region]
10 - Western Europe/Scandinavia (BEL-CRO-CZE-DEN-ESP-FRA-GER-SVK)
3 - Eastern Europe/Russia (EST-ROU-UKR)
2 - Asia/Oceania (JPN-TPE)
1 - North America/Atlantic (USA)
0 - Africa/Middle East (none)
0 - South America (none)
[WTA career slam Round of 16's - active]
55...Serena Williams
50...Venus Williams
37...Maria Sharapova
32...Svetlana Kuznetsova
27...Aga Radwanska
23...Victoria Azarenka
22...Jelena Jankovic
21...Patty Schnyder
20...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
18...Francesca Schiavone
16...ANGELIQUE KERBER, Petra Kvitova, Vera Zvonareva
14...Ekaterina Makarova, CARLA SUAREZ-NAVARRO
12...SIMONA HALEP, Samantha Stosur
10...Marion Bartoli, Garbine Muguruza
9...MADISON KEYS
8...Dominika Cibulkova, Sabine Lisicki, Lucie Safarova...
8...Sloane Stephens
7...Sara Errani, Kaia Kanepi, Peng Shuai...
7...Roberta Vinci
6...Genie Bouchard, Yaroslava Shvedova, ELINA SVITOLINA
5...Julia Goerges, Johanna Konta, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova...
5...Andrea Petkovic, Tsvetana Pironkova, KAROLINA PLISKOVA...
5...CoCo Vandeweghe, Yanina Wickmayer, (Zheng Jie)
4...Timea Bacsinszky, Alize Cornet, PETRA MARTIC...
4...Tamira Paszek, BARBORA STRYCOVA, Elena Vesnina
3...Belinda Bencic, Elena Bovina, Eleni Daniilidou...
3...Casey Dellacqua, CAROLINE GARCIA, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni...
3...Virginie Razzano, Anastasija Sevastova, Katerina Srebotnik
2...Kiki Bertens, Jennifer Brady, Sorana Cirstea...
2...Zarina Diyas, Kirsten Flipkens, Dasha Gavrilova...
2...Camila Giorgi, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, HSIEH SU-WEI...
2...Alisa Kleybanova, Ana Konjuh, ANETT KONTAVEIT...
2...Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Kristina Mladenovic...
2...Monica Niculescu, Alona Ostapenko, Aravane Rezai...
2...Laura Robson, MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA
1...DENISA ALLERTOVA, Mona Barthel, Annika Beck...
1...Irina-Camelia Begu, Alona Bondarenko, Kateryna Bondarenko...
1...Madison Brengle, Veronica Cepede Royg, Petra Cetkovska...
1...Miskai Doi, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Margarita Gasparyan...
1...Olga Govortsova, (Jamie Hampton), Andrea Hlavackova...
1...Bojana Jovanovski, Sesil Karatantcheva, Dasha Kasatkina...
1...Michaella Krajicek, Aleksandra Krunic, Alla Kudryavtseva...
1...ELISE MERTENS, Sania Mirza, Andreea Mitu...
1...NAOMI OSAKA, Pauline Parmentier, Kveta Peschke...
1...Monica Puig, Yulia Putintseva, Alison Riske...
1...Shelby Rogers, Arantxa Rus, Tereza Smitkova...
1...Alexandra Stevenson, Anna Tatishvili, Ajla Tomljanovic...
1...Lesia Tsurenko, Alison Van Uytvanck, Aleksandra Wozniak...
1...Zhang Shuai
[WTA slam Round of 16's since 2010 - active]
23...Serena Williams
20...Maria Sharapova
19...Aga Radwanska
18...Victoria Azarenka
16...ANGELIQUE KERBER, CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
15...Venus Williams
14...Svetlana Kuznetsova, Petra Kvitova, Ekaterina Makarova
12...SIMONA HALEP, CARLA SUAREZ-NAVARRO
10...Jelena Jankovic, Garbine Muguruza, Samantha Stosur
9...MADISON KEYS, Sloane Stephens
8...Francesca Schiavone
7...Sara Errani, Sabine Lisicki, Peng Shuai...
7...Lucie Safarova, Roberta Vinci
6...Genie Bouchard, Dominika Cibulkova, Kaia Kanepi...
6...Yaroslava Shvedova, ELINA SVITOLINA, Vera Zvonareva
5...Marion Bartoli, Julia Goerges, Johanna Konta...
5...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Andrea Petkovic, Tsvetana Pironkova...
5...KAROLINA PLISKOVA, CoCo Vandeweghe
4...Timea Bacsinszky, PETRA MARTIC, BARBORA STRYCOVA...
4...Yanina Wickmayer
3...Belinda Bencic, Alize Cornet, CAROLINE GARCIA...
3...Anastasija Sevastova
2...Irina-Camelia Begu, Kiki Bertens, Jennifer Brady...
2...Casey Dellacqua, Zarina Diyas, Kirsten Flipkens...
2...Dasha Gavrilova, Camila Giorgi, Ana Konjuh...
2...ANETT KONTAVEIT, Varvara Lepchenko, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni...
2...Kristina Mladenovic, Monica Niculescu, Alona Ostapenko...
2...Tamira Paszek, Laura Robson, MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA...
2...Elena Vesnina, (Zheng Jie)
1...DENISA ALLERTOVA, Mona Barthel, Annika Beck...
1...Alona Bondarenko, Madison Brengle, Veronica Cepede Royg...
1...Petra Cetkovska, Sorana Cirstea, Misaki Doi...
1...Anna-Lena Friedsam, Margarita Gasparyan, Olga Govortsova...
1...(Jamie Hampton), Andrea Hlavackova, HSIEH SU-WEI...
1...Bojana Jovanovski, Dasha Kasatkina, Aleksandra Krunic...
1...Bethanie Mattek-Sands. ELISE MERTENS, Andreea Mitu...
1...Pauline Parmentier, Monica Puig, Yulia Putintseva...
1...Alison Riske, Shelby Rogers, Arantxa Rus...
1...Tereza Smitkova, Anna Tatishvili, Ajla Tomljanovic...
1...Lesia Tsurenko, Alison Van Uytvanck, Zhang Shuai


Whew!

Caption this...#AusOpen #sleepisfortheweak pic.twitter.com/UehGFNsskZ

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2018

All for Night 6. More tomorrow.