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Monday, August 27, 2018

US.1 - In the Silence of the Day

After seeing Simona Halep follow up her Roland Garros triumph by coming to North America and appear to be a super-charged version of herself on summer hard courts, the world #1 seemed ready to be fitted for vestments and handed a scepter while she prepared to be the subject of a powerful sermon at the Church of Simona, the Holy Swarmette Queen.

But after coming within a match point of the first ever sweep of the Canadian and Cincinnati titles in back-to-back weeks, Halep's summertime journey, often punctuated by fight-back moments in which she scurried around the court and rallied from behind to claim victory, ended with a whimper in the debut match at the new Louis Armstrong Stadium. On Day 1, Halep fell to veteran Kaia Kanepi in straight sets in a contest in which she was overpowered and unable to figure out a way to climb back into contention, quickly becoming the first #1 seed to exit the U.S. Open in the 1st Round in the 50-year Open era.



Halep's 1st Round match-up with Kanepi was immediately circled on the draw sheet last week. The 33-year old hits a big, flat ball and, despite a career often bedeviled by injury, she's often played her very best tennis in the majors. The world #44 is a six-time slam quarterfinalist (two each at three of the four events), and reached the final eight at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier last year. Still, Halep's summertime guts-and-brilliance displays on the continent gave birth to the notion that she'd "find a way" to avoid getting tripped up.

One might point to the unfamiliar surroundings of Armstrong as a reason for Halep's inability to get up off the floor vs. her opponent today, or maybe fatigue, or what was *thought* to be a niggling Achilles injury that provided a reason for an easy withdrawal from New Haven last week in a year in which she's been bothered by lower leg injuries ever since badly turning her ankle all the way back in January en route to the Australian Open final. But, really, it was probably just Kanepi herself.

The Estonian's power was mostly unrelenting today, and Halep had no answer for it. She played nearly the entire match well behind the baseline, often chasing balls that were hit on such a flat angle that she couldn't catch up to them. Kanepi frustrated Halep, leading to one very mangled racket in the 2nd set, and it was an understandable reaction.

Kanepi broke early in the 1st set for a 2-1 lead, upped it to a double-break advantage at 4-1, then served out the set at love with a forehand winner to take the 1st 6-2. She immediately broke Halep, who'd left the court between sets, in the opening game of the 2nd, as well. The crushed racket -- it took two smacks on the court to do it, if anyone was counting, so score one for frame technology -- came in game #2. Things got worse for Halep before they got better. Another break made it 3-0 Kanepi, but the Estonian wobbled enough mid-set to open a door for a comeback. She badly mishit an overhead and fell behind 15/40. After the Romanian fans chanted "Si-mo-na!" Kanepi double-faulted to hand back one of the breaks.



With Kanepi up 4-3, Halep seemed to get back into the match. Another Kanepi DF contributed to a love break as the Estonian pulled back just enough in the moment to put her big day in jeopardy as the score was level at 4-4. She'd ultimately commit twice as many unforced errors in the 2nd as she did in the 1st. But just as Halep seemed to have caught a second wind thanks to her opponent, Kanepi surged back and reclaimed it. On a BP, the veteran approached the net and pulled off a mid-court forehand volley that angled crosscourt, bouncing into the deuce box and very nearly into the changeover area. Halep couldn't reach the ball in time, swatting it into the crowd once she did, as Kanepi prepared to serve for the match.

A 15/15 replay challenge failed to overturn a wide Halep shot, and Kanepi then went about running Halep across the baseline deep in the court once again in the match's closing points. She reached double MP, but only needed one, winning 6-2/6-4 to pull off her second career #1 win (Wozniacki, Tokyo '11) and christen Armstrong by handing Halep an historic U.S. Open defeat.



While the Romanian leads the tour in match wins, and will retain her top ranking after this slam is complete, she has now lost three straight matches at Flushing Meadows. One year after going out on Night 1 to Maria Sharapova, her 11 a.m. match start today means that her '18 Open experience ended even earlier than the short-lived 2017 version. The loss is the sixth in the 1st Round by a #1 in the Open era, and tops the two previous "worst" at the U.S. Open (2nd Round outs by Ana Ivanovic in '08, and Billie Jean King in '66 in the pre-Open era).

Halep's bow blows a hole in what appeared to be maybe the most "loaded" quarter of the draw, as it included slam winners Halep, both Williams Sisters and Svetlana Kuznetsova. It's very possible none of those four will ultimately emerge, though surely Olympia's mom can now see an even less-cluttered path than anticipated to something grand. Kanepi, who fired 26 winners and converted five of seven BP on the day, considering her history, might also have reason to dream. Maybe *she's* next big story in the naked city playing host to The Most Interesting Tour.

Stay tuned.




=DAY 1 NOTES=
...while Halep was struggling on Armstrong, #7 seed Elina Svitolina had her hands full on grandstand with Sachia Vickery. Unlike the Romanian, though, Svitolina figured things out. In both the 1st and 2nd sets, the Bannerette jumped out to early break leads. 2-0 in the 1st, and 3-0 in the 2nd. Svitolina reeled off five straight games in the opening set, winning it 6-3, but saw Vickery push things to a 3rd set by taking the 2nd at 6-1. In the 3rd, Svitolina's (early round slam) experience paid off, as she comfortably took the set 6-1 to advance to the 2nd Round for the fifteenth time in her last sixteen slam appearances, avoiding a bad follow-up to her stunning one-and-out exit at Wimbledon (a loss to Tatjana Maria) earlier this summer.



...it didn't take long for the First Victory and First Seed Out honors to be handed out. In the former, Swiss qualifier Jil Teichmann recorded her maiden slam MD win with a quick 6-3/6-0 dispatching of Dalila Jakupovic to become the first player to reach the 2nd Round. As for FSO, it wasn't Halep. Instead, it was #31 Magdalena Rybarikova. If that sounds familiar, it should -- the Slovak was also the first seed to exit at this year's Wimbledon, where she'd reached the semifinals in 2017. Today she fell 6-2/6-2 to Asian Games singles Gold Medalist Wang Qiang, who managed to actually get to New York from Indonesia where others (Luksika Kumkhum, who'd been set to make her U.S. Open MD debut) weren't so fortunate.

Rybarikova's '17 SW19 semi came last year after she'd played thirty-five previous majors without reaching a Round of 16. She followed it up with a 3rd Round at Flushing Meadows (her best result there since '09) and a 4th Round finish in Melbourne. Her four consecutive slams with at least one MD win was a career-best string. Her back-to-back 1st Round exits, though, is a more common occurrence in her slam career. She had nine straight 1st Round exits from the '10 Wimbledon to '12 Wimbledon, as well as back-to-back such losses in 2013 (WI/US), 2014 (WI/US) and 2016 (RG/WI).

...#15 Elise Mertens, even more so than Svitolina, flirted with joining Halep on the sidelines. The Belgian has had a breakout season in '18, reaching the AO semis back in January, but all her singles and doubles success threatens to make the closing months of the schedule a physical test for her. She seemed to show some signs of fatigue (or maybe it was frustration, too) today. This was her 56th singles match of the year, along with 38 in doubles, and a combined five more in Hopman Cup in Week 1. After her 6-2/6-7(5)/7-5 win today over world #99 Kurumi Nara, Mertens' next match will (unofficially) be her 100th of 2018.

The Waffle could have gotten off the court a lot quicker than she did. After erasing a 4-1 2nd set deficit, she held three MP on her serve for a straight sets win, only to see the Japanese player increase her aggression and win a 7-5 TB to force a 3rd. Mertens led 2-0 there, fell behind 4-2, then got things back on serve with a 5-4 lead as both players rode a rollercoaster of momentum shifts. At 5-5, 40/love, Mertens played a few loose (tired?) points, double-faulting and firing a weak forehand into the net to fall down BP. She managed to hold, though, then took a 15/40 lead on Nara's serve a game later. She closed out the win to get her first MD victory in New York, improving her '18 slam mark to 11-3.

...guess who also blew a lead and failed to take advantage of the hole in the draw created by Halep's loss.

#27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Don't worry, I wouldn't expect anyone to be shocked by that one. After winning the 1st set 6-1, then being forced to a 3rd, the Russian was a break up and led 3-1 in the 3rd... then didn't win another game. Peterson won 1-6/6-4/6-3 to record her first career MD U.S. Open win, and just the third of her slam career. They've all come in the last three majors.

Palvyuchenkova could have been the seed to fill the 3rd Round spot vacated by Halep (8-0 vs. the Russian) in their section. Now either Peterson, Vania King, Kanepi or Teichmann will.

Now the Hordette can go back to her regular season "competition" with Svitolina to see which of them can become the only player in tour history with at least thirteen singles titles (both currently have 12) but ZERO slam semifinal results.

...meanwhile, the fall from prominance of Aga Radwanska has encountered yet another noteworthy "first time since..." moment. The Pole lost today to Tatjana Maria 6-3/6-3. The 1st Round exit is the worst ever at the U.S. Open in her thirteen appearances. While Aga has never reached the QF in New York, the only slam at which she hasn't, she *has* posted five Round of 16 results over the years, and always had at least one MD victory. Maria, another of the many WTA moms, had only won seven total games vs. Radwanska in their previous three match-ups. Her win today is her third career MD victory at the Open, and her first in back-to-back years. Hardly shocking, considering her MD appearances have been pretty well spaced out, with the German showing up in 2007, '09, '12 and '15 before late-blooming career improvement has put in a better position for success the last two seasons.

Aga will drop out of the Top 50 following this Open, her lowest ranking since March '07.

...quite possibly the marquee day match on the docket pitted a pair of former champions, #16 Venus Williams (2000-01) and wild card Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004).

While the Russian is always up for "wild card" status (this time she actually *is* one, literally), in this match it was Venus, dealing with a knee injury, who had the most questions swirling around her. While Kuznetsova won a back-from-wrist-surgery title in Washington this summer, Williams went just 3-2 on hard courts and had little practice time due to the injury. Considering her condition, it was extra important for Venus to take advantage of every opportunity to get off the court with a win as quickly as possible, and not just because of the heated weather conditions, either.

She most definitely did *not* do that.

After falling behind 2-1 in the 1st, though, Williams *did* come back strong. She grabbed a 4-2 lead and took the set 6-3. She led 4-1 in the 2nd, and had numerous chances to build upon her advantage. She held GP for 5-1, and even had two MP on Kuznetsova's serve, but Sveta found her footing as Venus' injury seemed to slow her (and her serve) down. Still, she had the chance to serve out the match at 5-4, only to be broken at 15. Kuznetsova held at love, then avoided a Venus-goes-for-it-all-in-a-handful-of-points TB experience by breaking Williams to take the set 7-5 and, as is her wont, for a deciding 3rd.

Of course, just when you thought the match might zig, it zagged, then zigged again, then zagged a final time.

Rather than fall down the proverbial well, Venus came out firing. She broke Kuznetsova to open the 3rd set, and fired a clean backhand return winner two games later to go up double-break at 3-0. Then things got all wiggly again. Venus duffed a drop shot attempt off a Sveta drop shot on GP for 4-0, and ended up losing serve as Kuznetsova cut the break advantage in half at 3-1. With the Russian seemingly tiring, she DF'd and handed the break back, giving Venus a 4-1 lead in yet another set. Naturally, Williams then proceeded to drop serve in game #6.

Finally, Venus settled in the final games. Back to back holds from both put Williams at up 5-3 in the deciding set, then she took a "commanding" love/40 lead on Kuznetsova's serve. Forehand errors on MP #3 and #4 put Sveta on the verge of slipping off the hook again, but #5 proved to be too much, as Venus fired a crosscourt forehand winner out of reach of the stretching Kuznetsova. Williams' 6-3/5-7/6-3 win is the 77th of her U.S. Open career (fourth all-time behind Evert, Serena and Navratilova), which began twenty years ago this summer.



So, that was quite the interesting Day 1 match, huh? Imagine if it'd taken place under the lights.

Venus gets Camila Giorgi in the 2nd Round, as the weather it slated to heat up even more at mid-week. Watch... *that* one will be the one scheduled under the lights.

...meanwhile, defending champ Sloane Stephens wobbled (slightly), but came nowhere near falling down. The #3 seed led Evgeniya Rodina 6-1/4-2 before the Russian put on a late push to even things at 4-4 and hold for a 5-4 lead. But Stephens calmly handled the moment, got the break back and then served out the 2nd at 7-5 to record her eighth straight U.S. Open match win.



Wild card Claire Liu, 18, got her maiden career U.S. Open MD win with a three-set victory over Polona Hercog. She led 4-1 in the decider over the Slovenian, only to see the score tighten to 4-4. Liu swept the final two games. The '17 RG junior finalist and Wimbledon girls champ has now posted a win in two of the three slam MD in which she's appeared, having done so at Wimbledon earlier this summer over Ana Konjuh.


HOW QUICKLY THEY FORGET ON DAY 1: Chris Evert has been on top of Halep's comment about her "next goal" being the Olympics for a while now, so it wasn't a shock that she dragged it back out into the light of day on Monday after Halep's loss. The Romanian's matter of fact press conference reaction to her defeat (which one might not be shocked by considering she recognizes all that she's already accomplished this season leads her to understand that one loss won't ruin her year) made it easy to do, but Evert once again questioning whether Halep still has the "desire" and "fire" to succeed in the back half of '18 does raise at least one eyebrow. A little.

I mean, didn't we all sort of put away that notion after Halep scraped and clawed her way through Montreal and Cincy, battling fatigue, weather, poor scheduling and game opponents to VERY NEARLY take BOTH of the summer's biggest non-slam hard court events? She not only looked like the old Simona, but actually a new-and-improved one playing "with house money." Didn't we all sort of breathe a sigh of relief that, yes, she *does* still *want* it -- because, let's be honest, Evert's assertion and worry wasn't a left-field observation by any means -- even if a medal for Romania *is* the next big deal goal on her agenda?

Thought so, but I guess not.

How quickly they forget.

LIKE ON DAY 1: Well, ummm, duh.




IS IT JUST ME...? ON DAY 1: Every time I see Julia Goerges now the only thing I can see/hear is her delivering an admonishing "Nein!" like she does in that Connecticut Open video.



LIKE ON DAY 1: Yep.



IMPROMPTU QUIZ ON DAY 1: I got 'em!



COMING UP ON DAY 2 ON DAY 1:

?? I‘m walking on sunshine ??

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



LIKE ON DAY 1: A rare moment where reason wins out over nonsense.



LIKE ON DAY 1: I see a one-handed backhand in there!



LIKE ON DAY 1: With an open like the old Michael Jackson "Black & White" video... in black and white.

“She Is. We Are. Embrace All.” The most recognizable names on the @wta tour, past and present, stand united as one voice on the importance of female athletes supporting each other. @teamsheis and the @usta aim to show the sports world and its fans that women’s sports are worth watching and supporting. Leave some ?? if you love women’s tennis! #SheISUSTAEmbraceAll __ ??: @serenawilliams, @sloanestephens, @angie.kerber, @mariasharapova, @garbimuguruza, @jelena.ostapenko, @madisonkeys, @cocovandey, @carowozniacki, @karolinapliskova, @matteksands, #LindsayDavenport, #MaryCarillo & #TracyAustin. @andymurray joins the conversation representing fathers with daughters. _ #sheis #wta #tennis #instatennis #womenwhoinspire #genderequality #womeninsports #femaleathlete #girlboss #tennis #usopen #futureisfemale #ustaembraceall

A post shared by US Open (@usopen) on



DISLIKE ON DAY 1: Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

Seriously, tennis is the only sport where if a commentator displays *any* knowledge of the actual athletes in the sport that a co-host will stop the action with a "Hold on! We have to inform the idiots out there who these people are!"

On ESPN (naturally), after Patrick McEnroe and Chris Evert were casually talking about a handful of the young men's players -- Zverev, Tsitsipas, Shapovalov, Tiafoe, Fritz -- Chris McKendry steps in to talk about them rattling off names that "some at home" are going to be confused about.

Yeah, because there are lot of people out there watching Day 1 of the U.S. Open who don't know all, or at least MOST, of those players.

LIKE ON DAY 1: What does she have in store next?



Of course, we won't know until McKendry makes sure everyone's actually heard of her.

Hmmm... ON DAY 1: So, has the new Armstrong Stadium given the U.S. Open it's newest "upset court?"

Also, after noting that last week's Day 1 of qualifying saw the top two seeds fall, and we've already seen #1 go down in the main draw... should #2 Caroline Wozniacki, coming in nursing injuries, be worried?

Ummmm... ON DAY 1: Have we forgotten why the rules were instituted in the first place?



Those who forget (or never knew) history are bound to see it repeat. Speaking of...

LIKE ON DAY 1: On so many levels...



AND... ON DAY 1: Oh, imagine an age when *every* day isn't a constant game of White House Jenga, when the entire apparatus of government *isn't* embroiled in an attempt to maneuver the furniture around the fragile ego of the Presidential Baby.

On a day when the current occupant of the Oval Office once again slathered himself in his usual dishonor and petty venting of grievences (even beyond death), a counterpoint.



MEANWHILE... ON NIGHT 1:



...and, finally...

Come on, if you've been here for any amount of time you know it's a tradition that Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" is going to be showcased at some point in this space during the U.S. Open. Why not on Day 1? While the Open is celebrating 50 years of Open era competition (of note, so was Wimbledon earlier this summer but, you know, the AELTC isn't going to highlight something that's a measley half-century old), this version of the band Hello's 1975 hit by the former KISS lead guitarist had its *40th* anniversary in 2018. It was part of the band's four-pronged solo album releases in 1978. Frehley's album was the best selling, and "New York Groove" was the biggest and longest-lasting hit. Frehley, now 67, still sings the song in concerts around the world.

[1978]

[1996]

[2018]

[yes, it's even a karaoke selection]


From here on out in this spot at this slam I'll be once again injecting some music into the equation, pulling out some memories from a few decades-old songs re-discovered via recently-found containers filled with cassette singles (who remembers those?) stored in a box in a far-off corner of Backspin HQ, at the bottom of a pile that included (in theory) an old Jelena-Dokic.com "membership card," tattered original copies of what would become "Time Capsule" entries and Citizen Anna's very first fedora.

[The Two-Layer Cache]














Love is the ?? for everything?? #DDteam

A post shared by Daria Kasatkina?? (@kasatkina) on










**EARLIEST EXIT BY SLAM #1**
[pre-Open era]
1962 Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Margaret Court (lost to Billie Jean Moffitt)
[Open era]
1979 Australian Open 1st Rd. - Virginia Ruzici (lost to Mary Sawyer)
1994 Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Steffi Graf (lost to Lori McNeil)
1999 Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Martina Hingis (lost to Jelena Dokic)
2001 Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Martina Hingis (lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual)
2017 Roland Garros 1st Rd. - Angelique Kerber (lost to Ekaterina Makarova)
2018 US Open 1st Rd. - Simona Halep (lost to Kaia Kanepi)

**EARLIEST EXIT BY SLAM #1 at U.S. OPEN**
2018 1st Rd. - Simona Halep (lost to Kaia Kanepi)
1966 2nd Rd. - Billie Jean King (lost to Kerry Melville)
2008 2nd Rd. - Ana Ivanovic (lost to Julie Coin)

**U.S. OPEN "CRASH & BURN" WINNERS**
2007 Maria Sharapova, RUS (3rd Rd.)
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (2nd Rd.)
2009 Elena Dementieva, RUS (2nd Rd.)
2010 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2nd Rd.)
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE & Li Na, CHN (both 1st Rd.)
2012 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (1st Rd.)
2013 Samantha Stosur, AUS (1st Rd.)
2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (1st Rd.)
2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE (1st Rd.)
2016 Monica Puig, PUR (1st Rd.)
2017 Angelique Kerber, GER (1st Rd.)
2018 Simona Halep, ROU (1st Rd.)
[2018]
AO: Stephens/Vandeweghe/V.Williams, USA (3/4 '17 US SF lose on Day 1)
RG: Alona Ostapenko, LAT (first DC out RG 1st Rd. since 2005 / Kozlova)
WI: Petra Kvitova, CZE (pre-tournament "favorite" out 1st Rd. / Sasnovich)
US: Simona Halep, ROU (first #1 out US 1st Rd. in Open era / Kanepi)

**2018 WTA WINS OVER #1"**
Australian Open F - #2 Wozniacki d. #1 Halep
Saint Petersburg QF - #23 Kasatkina d. #1 Wozniacki
Doha SF - #21 Kvitova d. #1 Wozniacki
Indian Wells SF - #44 Osaka d. #1 Halep
Miami 3rd - #32 A.Radwanska d. #1 Halep
Stuttgart QF - #16 Vandeweghe d. #1 Halep
Madrid QF - #6 Ka.Pliskova d. #1 Halep
Rome F - #4 Svitolina d. #1 Halep
Wimbledon 3rd - #48 Hsieh d. #1 Halep
Cincinnati F - #17 Bertens d. #1 Halep
US Open 1st - #44 Kanepi d. #1 Halep

**U.S. OPEN "FIRST VICTORY"**
2009 Vania King, USA (def. Yakimova)
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA (def. Morita)
2011 Monica Niculescu, ROU (def. Mayr-Achleitner)
2012 Anna Tatishvili, GEO (def. Foretz-Gacon)
2013 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP (def. Davis)
2014 Aga Radwanska, POL (def. Fichman)
2015 Mariana Duque, COL (def. Kenin)
2016 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR (def. Falconi)
2017 Kristyna Pliskova, USA (def. Eguchi)
2018 Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)
[2018]
AO: Duan Yingying, CHN (def. Duque)
RG: Ekaterina Makarova, RUS (def. Sai.Zheng)
WI: Yanina Wickmayer, BEL (def. Barthel)
US: Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)

**U.S. OPEN "FIRST SEED OUT"**
2005 #28 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Schruff)
2006 #15 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER (Rezai)
2007 #29 Samantha Stosur, AUS (Cornet)
2008 #24 Shahar Peer, ISR (Li)
2009 #25 Kaia Kanepi, EST (K.Chang)
2010 #8 Li Na, CHN (K.Bondarenko)
2011 #5 Petra Kvitova, CZE (Dulgheru)
2012 #27 Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP (Hradecka)
2013 #29 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Mayr-A.)
2014 #25 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (Lucic-Baroni)
2015 #7 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (Cibulkova)
2016 #30 Misaki Doi, JPN (Witthoeft)
2017 #32 Lauren Davis, USA (Kenin)
2018 #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Q.Wang)
[2018]
AO: #13 Sloane Stephens, USA (Sh.Zhang)
RG: #9 Venus Williams, USA (Q.Wang)
WI: #19 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Cirstea)
US: #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Q.Wang)

**50 YEARS OF OPEN ERA TENNIS AT THE U.S. OPEN**
[U.S. Champions]
1971 Billie Jean King
1972 Billie Jean King
1974 Billie Jean King
1975 Chris Evert
1976 Chris Evert
1977 Chris Evert
1978 Chris Evert
1979 Tracy Austin
1980 Chris Evert-Lloyd
1981 Tracy Austin
1982 Chris Evert-Lloyd
1983 Martina Navratilova
1984 Martina Navratilova
1986 Martina Navratilova
1987 Martina Navratilova
1998 Lindsay Davenport
1999 Serena Williams
2000 Venus Williams
2001 Venus Williams
2002 Serena Williams
2008 Serena Williams
2012 Serena Williams
2013 Serena Williams
2014 Serena Williams
2017 Sloane Stephens
[U.S. Finalists]
1968 Billie Jean King
1969 Nancy Richey
1970 Rosie Casals
1971 Rosie Casals
1978 Pam Shriver
1979 Chris Evert-Lloyd
1981 Martina Navratilova
1983 Chris Evert-Lloyd
1984 Chris Evert-Lloyd
1985 Martina Navratilova
1989 Martina Navratilova
1991 Martina Navratilova
1995 Monica Seles
1996 Monica Seles (won 1991-92 as YUG)
1997 Venus Williams
2000 Lindsay Davenport
2001 Serena Williams
2002 Venus Williams
2011 Serena Williams
2017 Madison Keys

**BACKSPIN 2018 PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN: Angelique Kerber, GER
AO: Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
FEB/MAR: Petra Kvitova, CZE
I.W./MIAMI: Naomi Osaka, JPN
1Q: CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN
APR: CZE Fed Cup Team
MAY: Petra Kvitova, CZE
RG: Simona Halep, ROU
2Q Clay Court: SIMONA HALEP, ROU
JUN: Petra Kvitova, CZE
WI: Angelique Kerber, GER
2Q Grass Court: ANGELIQUE KERBER, GER
JUL/AUG: Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU
AUG: Simona Halep, ROU
[2018 Weekly POW Award Wins]
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
3 - Simona Halep, ROU
2 - Kiki Bertens, NED
2 - Angelique Kerber, GER
2 - Elise Mertens, BEL
2 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
2 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN

[2018 Fed Cup Overall Weekly MVP Wins]
(Feb) WG 1st Round: Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
(Feb) WG II: Ash Barty, AUS
(Feb) Zones: Alona Ostapenko/Anastasija Sevastova, LAT
(Apr) WG SF: Petra Kvitova, CZE
(Apr) WG PO: Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK (L)
(Apr) WG II PO: Alona Ostapenko, LAT
(Apr) Zones: Maria Sakkari, GRE
(Jun) Zones: Marcela Zacarias, MEX
(Jul) Zones: Charlotte Roemer, ECU
[2018 Fed Cup Overall Weekly Captain Wins]
(Feb) WG 1st Round: Jens Gerlach, GER
(Feb) WG II: Matej Liptak, SVK
(Feb) Zones: Toshihisa Tsuchihashi, JPN
(Apr) WG SF: Kathy Rinaldi, USA
(Apr) WG PO: Tatiana Poutchek, BLR
(Apr) WG II PO: Sylvain Bruneau, CAN
(Apr) Zones: Jens-Anker Andersen, DEN
(Jun) Zones: Agustin Moreno, MEX
(Jul) Zones: Raul Viver, ECU
[Most 2018 Fed Cup Team MVP Wins]
2...Ash Barty, AUS
2...Miyu Kato/Makoto Ninomiya, JPN
2...Alona Ostapenko, LAT

[2018 Wheelchair Players of the Week wins]
=AO to WI: slam champ and occasional; Wk.29-xx: weekly POW=
4 - Diede de Groot, NED
3 - Yui Kamiji, JPN
2 - Sabine Ellerbrock, GER
1 - Donna Jansen, NED
1 - Katharina Kruger, GER
1 - Natalia Mayara, BRA



TOP QUALIFIER: Genie Bouchard/CAN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: #23 Marta Kostyuk/RUS def. Valentyna Ivakhnenko/RUS 4-6/7-6(6)/7-6(4) (saved 6 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP ASHE NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: (Q) Jil Teichmann/SUI (def. Jakupovic/SRB)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK (1st Rd. - Q.Wang/CHN; second con. FSO at major for Rybarikova)
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
CRASH & BURN: #1 Simona Halep/ROU (lost 1st Rd. to Kanepi/EST; first #1 to lost 1st Rd. at U.S. Open in Open era)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: xx
IT ("??"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Kalinina/UKR, Muchova/CZE, Teichmann/SUI
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: C.Liu/USA
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: Day 1 wins: King, C.Liu, Stephens, V.Williams
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominee: Kanepi/EST (christens new Armstrong Stadium w/ Day 1 win over #1 Halep)
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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