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Sunday, July 1, 2018

Wk.26- The Devonshire Dane

Oh, yeah. I remember her.

Title #29 !! Thank you Eastbourne for a great week!! Next stop @wimbledon

A post shared by Caroline Wozniacki (@carowozniacki) on





*WEEK 26 CHAMPIONS*
EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND (Premier/Grass)
S: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 7-5/7-6(5)
D: Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan (CAN/CHN) d. Irina Camelia Begu/Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU/ROU) 6-3/7-5


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...is the Dane "back?"



Since her Australian Open title run, Wozniacki had gone just 15-8 as she made her '18 grass debut at Eastbourne. The '06 Wimbledon girls champ, who declared grass her "favorite" surface this weekend, made it a point to show that she's maybe not as "satisfied" as some much think, staging multiple comebacks against top players on her way to her first title on the surface since 2009. Wozniacki opened with a win over Camila Giorgi, came back a set down to defeat '17 Wimbledon semifinalist Johanna Konta and handled Nottingham champ Ash Barty in two sets. In the semifinals, she battled Angelique Kerber for three sets, saving a MP on a 24-stroke rally and dominating when it came to collecting the match's most important points (including 3-of-4 BP opportunities). In the final, her second straight at Devonshire Park, she overcame Aryna Sabalenka serving for both the 1st and 2nd sets, and holding 4-1 lead in the 2nd set TB, to win 7-5/7-6 to claim her second career title at Eastbourne. It's Wozniacki's second title of '18, and also the second in which she came back from MP down (AO 2r vs. Fett) earlier in the tournament en route to the crown.
===============================================


RISER: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...Latvian Thunder, who has celebrated her 21st birthday and announced a coaching switch from David Taylor to Glen Schaap since falling in the 1st Round in Paris, waited until Eastbourne to finally make her 2018 grass debut. She joined the fray in seemingly full (or close to it) stride. The 2014 Wimbledon girls champ allowed just two games to Kaia Kanepi, and only three to Mihaela Buzarnescu, the Romanian who'd upended her in Doha to record her first career Top 10 win. Ostapenko's run was ultimately undone by the resurgent Aga Radwanska and her bag-of-tricks-is-open-for-business-yet-again week at Devonshine Park, but the Latvian heads to Wimbledon, where she posted one of her more impressive '17 results (a QF just weeks after her maiden slam title run) a year ago, looking like she won't have to struggle to attempt to pull her grasscourt game out of mothballs, something which may occur with other top players who'll be making their '18 debut on the surface when they step onto the court for their 1st Round match at the AELTC.
===============================================
SURPRISES: Katie Boulter/GBR and Harriet Dart/GBR
...suddenly, there are a slew of young Brits putting up notable results on tour, especially on the grass.

21-year old Boulter has been lifting her game all season (putting her squarely in Backspin's "Name You'll Know..." contention for '19), culminating of late in a fine grass court campaign that had already seen the #144-ranked Leicester native reaching the $100K Surbiton QF and tour-level Nottingham QF, enough to garner a Wimbledon WC from the All-England Club. This week at the Southsea $100K she reached the biggest final of her career on the back of impressive wins over Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Jennifer Brady. In the final, she pushed veteran Belgian Kirsten Flipkens to three sets.




Meanwhile, another Wimbledon wild card recipient, 21-year old Dart, buoyed by a training camp move to Turkey last fall, added another good week to her own career-best grass season. After posting a $100K Surbiton SF, $100K Manchester QF and $100K Ilkley QF, Dart went to Eastbourne and recorded her first career WTA MD win with an upset of Kristyna Pliskova. She'll next head to Wimbledon where she'll face... hmmm, KAROLINA Pliskova in the 1st Round.


===============================================
VETERANS: Angelique Kerber/GER and Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU
...Kerber's "year after the year after" season started with a lit fuse back in January. She reached the semis in three of her first four events, and held 2 MP vs. Simona Halep for a chance to return to the Australian Open final. While the German hasn't slid back down the mountain in the months since, she's been more hit-and-miss on a weekly basis, and took some time off to physically recover. She found her groove again in Eastbourne, though, knocking off Dominika Cibulkova, Danielle Collins and Dasha Kasatkina to reach her first SF since February in Dubai. Again in the semis, Kerber came oh-so-close to more, holding a MP vs. Caroline Wozniacki, who'd win and then go on to take the title. Still, with the result, the German edges back into the Top 10, slipping past Madison Keys on the even of the season's third slam.

? Summer Days in Eastbourne ????#RoadToWimbledon

A post shared by Angelique Kerber (@angie.kerber) on



Buzarnescu's comeback story seems to have an unending stream of chapters. The latest came in Eastbourne, where the Romanian followed up her Nottingham QF and Birmingham SF with a 3rd Round finish that included wins over Peng Shuai and Elise Mertens (where she erased a 6-3/5-2 deficit) before falling to Alona Ostapenko, who got some measure of revenge for Buzarnescu's February win over her in Doha for her first career Top 10 victory. In doubles, Buzarnescu reached her second straight grass final, this time with Irina Camelia Begu. The Romanian has been solid in '18 no matter which player it happens to be that she's partnering, on whatever surface has been under her feet. Buzarnescu (who's reached WS finals on hard and clay courts, and had Top 6 wins on hard, clay and grass) has reached four WD finals on clay and grass surfaces with four different partners. Her and Begu's win over Eastbourne defending champ Latisha Chan (she'd won in '17 with Hingis, and was playing with Peng) was Buzarnescu's fourth over a DC this season, having also done do with Bara (Budapest/RG) and Cornet (Doha). She's posted additional wins over WD #1 seeds while playing with Olaru (Rosmalen) and Watson (Nottingham).


===============================================
COMEBACK: Aga Radwanska/POL
...over the past two seasons, injuries and inconsistency have pulled Radwanska from the ranks of a long-time Top 10 player to battling to just be seeded at the majors (she'll be #32 at Wimbledon, just escaping the wrath of the Serena #25 seeding -- sorry, Domi). But the grasscourt-loving Pole, back this past week in Eastbourne after being out for two months, looked as much like her old master magician self all week long as she has in quite some time. A surprisingly easy win over Timea Babos gave her a welcome return win, then she went deep into her bag of tricks (and maybe got a little "extra" help from her "old friend") against Dasha Gavrilova. The Aussie held two MP in the 2nd set in their match-up, but Gavrilova DF'd twice. Radwanska took the resulting TB, then won the 3rd set at love. Oh, and that match just happened to occur on June 26, the annual "Radwanska Remembrance" day for that crazy, upset-filled afternoon at Wimbledon back in 2013. A round later, Radwanska got a walkover from Petra Kvitova (hamstring), then defeated Alona Ostapenko to reach her first semifinal since New Haven nearly a year ago (and just her third since her Week 2 final in Sydney in January 2017). Aga was tripped up in three sets in the semis by Aryna Sabalenka.

A few of her oh-so-Aga points vs. Gavrilova...




===============================================
FRESH FACE: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...did Sabalenka just inject herself into the Wimbledon "dark horse" conversation, or did the 20-year old Belarusian (now author of the TWO youngest singles finalist berths on tour in '18) peak a week too early and will now be but a physical shadow of her Eastbourne self at the AELTC?



The big-hitting and emotionally fuel-injected Sabalenka played deep and long at Devonshire Park, going three sets in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, QF and SF rounds to reach her second '18 final, and third of her tour career. After posting wins over Sachia Vickery, Julia Goerges, Elise Mertens, Karolina Pliskova and Aga Radwanska, Sabalenka didn't quite push things to what would have been her 18th overall singles set in the final against Caroline Wozniacki. But she had the chance... two, in fact. She served for both the 1st and 2nd sets, but dropped both in the 7-5/7-6 loss, ending things by losing a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set TB as the Dane won six of the final seven points. Sabalenka will rise to a career-best #32 on Monday, but already missed out on being seeded at Wimbledon. As a result, she'll face #29 Mihaela Buzarnescu in the 1st Round. Sabalenka ALSO played four and a half sets (and two TB) in doubles during the week. She and Hsieh Su-Wei lost in the semifinals in an 13-11 3rd set breaker to eventual champs Dabrowski/Xu.
===============================================


DOWN: Karolina Pliskova/CZE
...when it comes to grass, Pliskova is definitely an adherent of the somewhat Pavlyuchenkovian School of Thought that if you allow yourself to be grudgingly dragged into the grass season your chances of success there, no matter that you've shown an ability to have it in the past, probably aren't very good.

Pliskova doesn't particularly rank grass court tennis high on her list of tennis preferences, but her past results have usually said she should think otherwise. Despite a lack of success at Wimbledon, where she's yet to advance past the 2nd Round (a distinction that used to apply to her results at ALL the majors), the Czech came into 2018 having reached four grass finals in the last three seasons, winning WTA titles in Nottingham (2016) and Eastbourne (2017). As the defending champion last week, she found herself out-hit by Aryna Sabelenka in a three-set QF loss in which she squandered a 4-1 3rd set lead. Pliskova thus ends her pre-Wimbledon grass campaign at 2-2, and with a potential 2nd Rounder vs. Vika Azarenka awaiting her THIS time around at a All-England Club.

The Czech's game really seems to have plateaued in the summer of 2016, where "Peak Pliskova," with her serve firing, movement much improved and confidence soaring, saw her win big on grass and hard courts, reach #1 and play in the U.S. Open final. While the slam-winning potential is still there, her name isn't offered up nearly as often these days as "the best slam-less player" on tour or as the "next first-time slam winner." Did she miss her best-available window to become a major champion?
===============================================
ITF PLAYER: Kirsten Flipkens/BEL
...the 32-year old Belgian added another leg to her very good grass court campaign (which included dual singles/doubles runner-up results at Den Bosch), sweeping the $100K Southsea challenger titles. Her singles win, via a 6-4/5-7/6-3 victory over Katie Boulter, gives the Belgian her biggest singles crown since winning her lone tour-level title in Quebec City in 2012 and (somewhat surprisingly) the very *first* grass court singles win ever for the 2003 SW19 girls champ, 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist and two-time Rosmalen singles finalist. Flipkens grabbed the doubles championship with Johanna Larsson.


===============================================
JUNIOR STAR: Elli Mandlik/USA
...the 17-year old daughter of Hall of Famer Hana Mandlikova (girls #50), Mandlik moved over from the junior circuit, where she just reached a Grade 1 final (Offenbach) and semi (Berlin) in recent weeks, to the ITF challenger tour. In just her fifth appearance at a pro event, after having gone 1-4 in MD matches, Mandlik picked up three wins this week, including one over Swarmette Georgia Andreea Craciun (a three-time ITF winner in '17) to reach the semifinals at the $15K in Curtea de Arges, Romania. She lost to #2-seeded Miriam Bianca Bulgaru, who went on to win the title. In doubles, she and Andreea Mitu (who lost to Bulgaru in the final) reached the final against the Italian Turati sisters (21-year old Anna & Bianca, both stars for the Texas Longhorns), where Mandlik grabbed her first pro title via a 6-4/7-5 score.
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DOUBLES: Gaby Dabrowski & Xu Yifan, CAN/CHN
...Dabrowski & Xu joined Mertens/Schuurs and Babos/Mladenovic as multi-title winning duos in this crazy, often mixed up, 2018 women's doubles season. The pair claimed the Eastbourne crown, their fourth together over the past season and a half, winning two 3rd set TB's (10-7 over Dart/Dunne in the 1st, 13-11 over Sabalenka/Hsieh in the semis) en route to the final, where they defeated Begu/Buzarnescu 6-3/7-5. It's the eighth career WTA win for both, and the third this season for Dabrowski, second behind only Demi Schuurs' five. She won an additional title in '18 with Alona Ostapenko (Doha), and picked up the AO Mixed crown with Mate Pavic, as well.


===============================================








Chakvetadze sighting!



1. Eastbourne SF - Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber
...2-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Wozniacki's second 2018 title after having staved off a MP was nearly lost here against the German in a seesaw match in which the Dane was out-pointed (101-95), out-winnered (42-34) and had more unforced errors (24-19). Wozniacki saved the MP by outlasting Kerber in a massive 24-shot rally in the 2nd set. She went on to take the TB to force a 3rd, where she led 4-0 before things got tight again in the end. Ultimately, Wozniacki's big point prowess won out, as she saved break points in both of her last two service games (Kerber was 4-of-12 on the day), while she converted three of her own four BP chances in the match.


===============================================
2. Eastbourne Final - Caroline Wozniacki def. Aryna Sabalenka
...7-5/7-6(5). Again, Wozniacki won the big points. Sabalenka served for both the 1st and 2nd sets, but lost both, then squandered a 4-1 TB lead in the 2nd, avoiding her sixth consecutive three-setter of the week by falling in straights. The Dane's 29th career title ties her with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario for 18th on the all-time WTA list, with Tracy Austin (30), Conchita Martinez (33) and Maria Sharapova (36) next up in the title-claiming pecking order.


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3. Eastbourne 3rd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Elise Mertens
...7-5/2-6/7-6(4). Not only were Sabalenka's matches long at Devonshine Park, but so were many of her games. The first two games of this one against Mertens lasted twenty-seven minutes, with the two combining to go 0-for-14 on BP chances until the Belarusian finally converted #15 to take a 2-0 lead. It still took two and a half more sets, and a deciding TB, to take down the Belgian, who has once again loaded up on matches heading into a major, playing doubles AND singles all three weeks between Roland Garros and Wimbledon (a total of 15 matches).
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4. Eastbourne 1st Rd. - Kiki Mladenovic def. Heather Watson
...6-7(2)/7-5/6-3. Mladenovic wins in 2:45 even while having 14 DF in the sort of match that is pretty much de rigueur when these two meet. This was their fourth consecutive three-setter in four head-to-head meetings (counting Hopman Cup) since 2014. All have been won by the Pastry, including a very similar 7-6/6-7/7-5 victory in their last match-up in 2017 in Acapulco, a 3:32 marathon won by Kiki despite 20 DF on her side and 59 winners off the Brit's racket.
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5. Eastbourne 3rd Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Mihaela Buzarnescu
...6-1/6-2. Proof that Latvian Thunder has a Serena-esque memory and sense of reclaimed justice? In February, Buzarnescu knocked off Ostapenko 1 & 3 in Doha. This time, Ostapenko allowed just three total games, and won 22 of 26 points on serve. All right, then.
===============================================
6. Eastbourne 2nd Rd. - Mihaela Buzarnescu def. Kiki Bertens
...4-6/7-6(5)/6-3. The Romanian surged back from 6-3/5-2 down to win in 2:20.
===============================================
Meanwhile, in 2012...



7. Eastbourne Q1 - Ana Konjuh def. Taylor Townsend
...6-4/6-7(5)/7-6(4) This week, all the above then-juniors were in the tennis news. Konjuh, in just her third event back since 2017 elbow surgery (and just her second, with RG, since Week 1 in Brisbane) edged Townsend in Devonshine Park qualifying. Meanwhile, 2014 SW19 finalist Bouchard had to make her way through qualifying to return to the Wimbledon MD. Bencic, unseeded after being ranked as high as #7 in 2016, was drawn to face #6 Caroline Garcia in the 1st Round at the All-England Club.

Meanwhile, in 2014 ("dilly-dilly")...

===============================================
8. Eastbourne Q2 - Kurumi Nara def. Sachia Vickery
...6-2/6-4. Vickery has made great strides over the past year or so, but the real thing to watch of late has been her Twitter feed.

June 11...



This week (in posts since removed)...

"I’m tired of everyone thinking they can treat black people a certain way and get away with it , especially at these tennis tournaments." (June 26)
"quiet Sachia is gone, I don’t disrespect anyone because of their race, color, sexuality etc. I will no longer tolerate it and stay quiet" (June 26)
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9. $25K Bastad SWE Final - Allie Kiick def. Isabella Shinikova
...6-2/6-1. The Bannerette wins her first title since 2015. Since then, she's had a battle with melanoma, mono, injuries to both knees, missed more than two years, and experienced the public acknowledgement of her ex-NFL running back dad Jim's dementia. She's now ranked in the Top 260. She celebated her 23rd birthday on Saturday.


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10. $25K Stuttgart Final - Mandy Minella def. Anna Zaja
...6-4/4-6/6-1. Emma's mom has got it got it goin' on.


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HM- $15K Hammamet TUN Final - Fernanda Brito def. Andrea Lazaro Garcia
...6-1/6-0. The 26-year old Chilean wins her third consecutive title in Hammamet (career ITF win #21), and comes up just short of a third straight title sweep, falling in the doubles final with Guatemala's Melissa Morales.
===============================================


*"THE RADWANSKA REMEMBRANCE DAY" HISTORY*
=2013 (inciting event)=
June 26 (Wimbledon Day 3)
"The Radwanskian Massacre" - 7 former #1's lose, w/ 4 additional walkovers and three ret. on day filled with falls, slips and stumbles
=2014=
June 26 (Wimbledon Day 3)
First unofficial commemoration of The Radwanskian Massacre. With the Radwanskian Threat Level meter in place and all on guard and vigilent, calm prevails.
=2015=
June 26 (official)
Aga Radwanska & the seagull (in Eastbourne, bird swoops at Radwanska as she serves... one day later, she loses in the singles final)
Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
The hottest day ever recorded in Wimbledon history (35.7 C / 96 F), fire alarm evacuates Centre Court
=2016=
June 26 (official)/Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
The wet London weather rains... err, reigns. 74 singles and doubles matches are scheduled: 41 are cancelled, 15 interrupted and 18 completed. Only 6 matches were both started and finished solely on Day 3, with 4 of those played under the Centre Court roof. But Aga Radwanska opens the Centre Court schedule and wins without incident and, in a previously unscheduled C.C. match, Radwanska's '16 RG conqueror, Tsvetana Pironkova, loses.
=2017=
June 26 (official)/Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
Eastbourne defending champ Dominika Cibulkova loses in opening match to WC Heather Watson; 4 LL's win MD matches (one LL vs. LL match-up); LL Tsvetana Pironkova advances to 2nd Rd. w/ 1st Rd. bye when Petra Kvitova withdraws, wins 2nd Rd. match. At Wimbledon on Day 3, on "Flying Ant Day," newly-emerged insects swarm the AELTC grounds. Meanwhile, six women's seed fall, including two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova.
=2018=
June 26 (official)/Wimbledon Day 3 (observed)
In Eastbourne, Aga Radwanska, playing in her first event in two months, saves 2 MP vs. Dasha Gavrilova (both via DF), win a 2nd set tie-break, then takes the 3rd set at love. Gavrilova has 17 DF on the day.


1. Eastbourne 2nd Rd. - AGA RADWANSKA def. Dasha Gavrilova
...5-7/7-6(4)/6-0. Like (doomsday) clockwork, the machinations of our favorite malevolent entity seemed to be lingering in the shadows at Eastbourne on the annual Remembrance Day of the original June 26, 2013 "Radwanskian Massacre" at Wimbledon. On Tuesday it felt like old times, as a revitalized Aga, after having lost the first set to Gavrilova despite leading it 4-1, saw the Aussie DF on two MP at 6-5 in the 2nd. The Pole then took the 2nd set TB to force a deciding set, and then won it 6-0. Gavrilova had 17 DF in the match, which seemed destined to go way over the three-hour mark before the bagel 3rd. With a 28-minute final set added in, the contest came in at 2:56.

Oh, and remember three years ago when Aga, showing signs of her old "friend's" abandonment, felt the presence of a feathered minion overhead on June 26 at Devonshire Park, then lost in the final the next day?


Well, on June 27 this week, Alona Ostapenko wrapped up a win to set a date for a QF match with Aga... and, in you look closely, there was evidence of *something* in the air.


===============================================
2. Eastbourne QF - AGA RADWANSKA def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-2/7-5. Then, a day later, this match happened.

The only thing better than Aga's lob on this point might have been Alona's reaction to it:



I'm just sayin'. Nothing every *totally* leaves this earth.
===============================================
3. Eastbourne QF - Aryna Sabalenka def. KAROLINA PLISKOVA
...6-2/2-6/7-6(5). Sabalenka takes down the defending champion, outhitting her (40-32 in winners) in a match in which the total points were deadlocked at 100-100. Of course, Sabalenka then defeated Radwanska in the semis, then failed to serve out both sets in the final, and lost a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set TB. So... you know. There's still some juice in the ol' Rad legend.
===============================================
4. Eastbourne 1st Rd. - Harriet Dart def. KRISTYNA PLISKOVA
...7-5/3-6/6-3. Next up for Dart in the 1st Round of Wimbledon: KAROLINA Pliskova. If she just squints and trains her brain... you never know.


===============================================
5. $15K Jablo Nad Nisou CZE SF - Victoria Kan def. GABRIELA PANTUCKOVA 6-2/6-1
$15K Jablo Nad Nisou CZE Final - Victoria Kan def. MAGDALENA PANTUCKOVA 6-4/6-1
...Kan knocked off one Pantuckova sister in the semis, preventing their second match-up for a challenger title in three weeks. In the final, she took down the other Maiden sibling only slightly less harder. It's official, she's not invited to back to the Czech Republic for the holidays.
===============================================


Rightfully so, Viktoria Kuzmova is up for a Heart Award for her efforts in Slovakia's ultimately losing effort vs. Belarus. Not that anyone will have any true recollection of it, or real connection to what she did, since that tie happened MORE THAN TWO MONTHS AGO. An entire clay season, AND almost a full grass one, have passed since then. Not to mention an entire grand slam that ended three weeks back. But people are voting on winners for a mid-April competition in late June/early July just as play in beginning at ANOTHER major? Really, this campaign couldn't have taken place at least in the same season of the year (it happened in early SPRING, after all)? Idiocy.


Of course, maybe they're onto something: voting in an election months and months AFTER everyone has learned all the repercussions of the results, as well as the actions of all the parties involved. Hmmm.















One step at a time... ??????

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Look familiar right? It's that time...tomorrow..! #wimbledon #tennis

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Striving for progress not perfection #mondaymotivation ??

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**PLAYERS OF THE MONTH - JUNE**
1.Petra Kvitova, CZE
2.Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
3.Ash Barty, AUS
4.Aleksandra Krunic, SRB
5.Tatjana Maria, GER
6.Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA
7.Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU
8.Kirsten Flipkens, BEL
9.Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
10.Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
11.Andreja Klepac/Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, SLO/ESP
12.Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs, BEL/NED
13.Johanna Konta, GBR
14.Sonya Kenin, USA
15.Anastasija Sevastova, LAT
HM-Alicja Rosolska/Abigail Spears, SLO/USA
HM-Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan, CAN/CHN

**2018 SAVED MP EN ROUTE TO TITLE**
Australian Open: Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (2 - 2r/Fett)
Charleston: Kiki Bertens, NED (1 - SF/Keys)
Strasbourg: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS (2 - F/Cibulkova)
Rosmalen: Aleksandra Krunic, SRB (1 - SF/Vandeweghe)
Eastbourne: CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN (1 - SF/Kerber)

**MOST WTA FINALS in 2018**
5 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (5-0)
4 - Simona Halep, ROU (2-2)
3 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (3-0)
3 - Elise Mertens, BEL (3-0)
3 - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN (2-1)
2 - Timea Babos, HUN (1-1)
2 - Ash Barty, AUS (1-1)
2 - Kiki Bertens, NED (1-1)
2 - Julia Goerges, GER (1-1)
2 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1-1)
2 - Sloane Stephens, USA (1-1)
2 - Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU (0-2)
2 - Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (0-2)
2 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (0-2)
2 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (0-2)

**YOUNG 2018 WTA FINALISTS**
19 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Lugano-L) - 19,11m,1w
20 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (Eastbourne-L) - 20,1m,3w
20 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (IW-W) - 20,5m
20 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (Dubai-L) - 20,9m,2w
20 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (Miami-L) - 20,9m,3w
20 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (IW-L) - 20,10m,1w

**WTA FINALS - 2015-18**
17 [5/3/5/4] - Simona Halep (9-8)
15 [5/8/1/1] - Angelique Kerber (8-7)
16 [3/2/8/3] - Caroline Wozniacki (7-9)
14 [6/4/3/1] - Karolina Pliskova (7-7)
13 [4/3/1/5] - Petra Kvitova (11-2)
12 [1/3/5/3] - Elina Svitolina (10-2)
11 [5/5/1/0] - Serena Williams (8-3)
[semifinals 2015-18]
28 - Simona Halep, ROU
26 - ANGELIQUE KERBER, GER
25 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
23 - CAROLINE WOZNIACKi, DEN
22 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
20 - AGA RADWANSKA, POL
19 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
18 - Petra Kvitova, CZE

**2018 WTA DOUBLES FINALS**
6...Demi Schuurs, NED (5-1)
4...Kirsten Flipkens, BEL (1-3)
4...Elise Mertens, BEL (3-1)
4...MIHAELA BUZARNESCU, ROU (1-3)
4...Andreja Klepac, SLO (1-3)
4...Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP (1-3)
3...GABY DABROWSKI, CAN (3-0)
3...Katarina Srebotnik, SLO (2-1)
3...Timea Babos, HUN (2-1)
3...Kristina Mladenovic, FRA (2-1)
3...Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (1-2)
3...Ekaterina Makarova, RUS (1-2)
3...Katerina Siniakova, CZE (1-2)
3...Elena Vesnina, RUS (1-2)

**CAREER SLAM MD APPEARANCES - to Wimbledon '18**
79 - Venus Williams*
71 - Francesca Schiavone*
71 - Amy Frazier
68 - Serena Williams*
67 - Martina Navratilova
64 - Conchita Martinez
63 - Ai Sugiyama
62 - Svetlana Kuznetsova*
--
*-active






All for now.
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