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Tuesday, January 22, 2019

AO.9 - The Semifinalist No One Saw Coming (until it was too late)

The early (well, by Melbourne's standards, at least) women's quarterfinal on Tuesday was the one no one saw coming, as two unseeded players faced off to determine which would reach her maiden slam semi.



25-year old Danielle Collins spent four years playing college tennis, first at Florida and then Virginia, where she won two NCAA championships. She came to Melbourne having never won a slam MD match, but came into today as the first former college player to reach a slam QF since Lisa Raymond at the AO in 2004.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 27, was a very high level junior (reaching #1 and winning THREE slams, two at the AO in 2006-07), but has been a remarkably and frustratingly inconsistent big-result player as a pro, always teasing with the potential for something more, but almost always coming up short. She's never reached a slam SF (this was her fifth QF), and is in that unenviable mix of being in something of a game of chicken with Elina Svitolina to see which (or whether) either will end 2019 as the only player in tour history with thirteen titles, but no slam semis in their career. Svitolina has won 13, and tomorrow will get another chance to finally reach her first major final four. Pavlyuchenkova has won 12, and was trying to reach *her* first semi today.

No matter who won, it was already assured that this would be the seventh straight Australian Open with at least one first-time slam semifinalist, as well as the fifth in a row with an unseeded player in the final four.

In the 1st set, while Collins had seven BP chances, it was Pavlychenkova who played the big points better. After breaking to take a 1-0 lead, she held in what turned out to be about a 20-minute, 28-point game. Down 5-1, after being broken three straight times, Collins finally held serve on her fourth attempt. Pavlyuchenkova still won the set 6-2, but Collins had gotten *something*, and that seemed to be enough to light her inner fire. Already an unapologetically in your face competitor (her sudden, out of nowhere "come on!" yells always manage to take you aback, even if you should know they're coming), she gradually picked up steam from her first hold forward.

After taking a 5-2 lead in the 2nd, Collins saw Pavlyuchenkova threaten to block her path to a 3rd set. The Russian, seeking to end her nation's nine-slam streak without a semifinalist (the longest since before the '04 Revolution season), broke for 5-4 and soon served to take the set to a TB. A badly missed shot at the net put her down 15/30. After initially pulling herself out of trouble with some big serving, Pavlyuchenkova lost a fabulous point that included high volleys, a lob and any number of other things. It gave Collins a SP. The Hordette saved it, but Collins eventually got the job done on her third try, winning 7-5.

In the 3rd, Collins took full flight. Breaking for 2-0, she raced to a 5-0 lead and coasted to a 2-6/7-5/6-1 win to reach her first career slam SF in just her sixth major draw.




Thus Pavlyuchenkova comes up short again after having tantalized, only to eventually disappoint. Meanwhile, after starting this tournament at #35, Collins finds herself set up on the edge of the Top 20 now no matter how far she ultimately goes in the draw.

Collins arrived at this slam as a mostly unnoticed entity who'd sparked a few times last year in U.S.-based events. But what she's done so far in Melbourne -- tossing the First Seed Out in #14 Julia Goerges on Day 1, then following up by taking down #19 Caroline Garcia, destroying #2 Angelique Kerber and now outlasting Pavlyuchenkova -- means she won't be so easily forgotten.

And she wouldn't have it any other way, either. She's not called "Danimal" for nothing.



=DAY 9 NOTES=
...Petra Kvitova has a way of taking all the drama out of a match when she's at her best. In a good way. Is there another player -- aside from that Federling guy over the years -- who has brought more joy to people while pulverizing an opponent between the white lines than the Czech?

Having arrived for the AO off a Sydney title run, and having been fortunate enough through the first week to see generally mild weather in Melbourne make her breathing and longtime asthma issues a non-factor, Kvitova has been striding through the draw. With her consecutively allowing just 5,4,5 and 3 games to her first four opponents -- including making Amanda Ansimova look like a 17-year old after she'd come close to simply embarrassing Aryna Sabalenka a round earlier -- even the notion of Australia's Ash Barty bringing a party atmosphere to Rod Laver Arena seemed a gamble. They'd met in and played a great and dramatic Sydney final in Week 2, but even in an exhausted form Kvitova had managed to pull it out in a 3rd set TB.

Having her best career slam to date, Barty was already the first Aussie woman in a decade (Jelena Dokic '09) to reach the AO QF, and was now looking to become the first to reach the semis since Wendy Turnbull in 1984. Even a New Zealander -- Belinda Cordwell in '89 -- has played in an AO semi more recently than that.

And then they started to play. And that's when *that* Petra showed up. You know the one.

Kvitova grabbed the match by the throat pretty quickly, just as she had against Anisimova. She won the 1st set 6-1, serving at a 78% clip (winning 71%) and using her power to prevent Barty from doing much to hurt her. She held a 12-2 winner advantage in the set and faced just a single BP.

But, to her credit, Barty never crumbled in the face of an in-form Kvitova. And it was an especially encouraging thing to see considering the fact that Kvitova never really let up. She tried different tactics. Some worked. Most didn't. But she tried. Up 2-1, Barty had a shot at making a real move. She held a BP but saw Kvitova lift her power game to sweep the final points to get the hold. The Aussie was showing signs of life, but it still felt as if it was just a matter of if (when?) Great Petra would snuff all that out.

Serving at 3-4 and 30/30, the Czech fired a big serve and followed it into the net for a put-away shot.

"Pojjjjjjd!!!"

She held for 4-4 two points later.



Barty had managed to stay close, but Kvitova was ready to wrap it up for the night. She broke the Aussie's serve a game later, and served for the match. An overhead smash gave the Czech a MP, and Barty's inability to get back a big serve ended the 6-1/6-4 contest, sending Kvitova to her first AO semi since 2012, and her first at any major since she won Wimbledon in 2014.



It's also the first since the December '16 home invasion that nearly cost her her hand and her career. As Jim Courier noted during their on-court interview, she's been through a lot since she last found herself here.



And that's why everyone loves Petra.

Oh, and...



...in doubles, the #1 seeded duo of Krejcikova/Siniakova were taken down in two TB sets by the veteran pair of Samantha Stosur & Zhang Shuai. It's nice to see Stosur, with diminishing returns in singles, more fully jumping into doubles again at age 34. I still maintain that she's got a few slam doubles titles in her, and that could solidify a Hall of Fame candidacy. She's already one of the few players from this era with slam WS/WD/MX titles on her resume.

In action, after Babos had lost earlier in the day, Stosur was actually the last woman alive in both the doubles and mixed competitions, but then she too exited via a 3rd set super tie-break loss late in the afternoon as Groenefeld/Farah defeated Stosur & Leander Paes in a very good match with tremendous fan involvement from the stands.




...LIKE ON DAY 9: Oracene. The One and Only.





...LIKE ON DAY 9: The sound... just a tiny bit louder in the distance than before.




...LIKE ON DAY 9: Sometimes a stupid question actually unintentionally provides the platform for a very good, precise and clear answer to said stupid question.



Of course, that doesn't mean stupid questions should be the new "in" thing to do, though, of course.


...SHOULD BE INTERESTING ON DAY 9:




...SERIOUSLY (there's ALWAYS that ONE slam commercial that is on ALL the time and makes you JUST want to...)... ON DAY 9: Where's John Wilkes Booth when you need him...?



...LIKE ON DAY 9: She'll be back. Better than she's been before, too.





Up next? The 2015 Australian Open...


==NEWS & NOTES==
Serena Williams returns to the winner's circle in Melbourne, defeating Maria Sharapova in the final to win her first AO title since 2010. It's her sixth AO crown, and the nineteenth of her career, tying Helen Wills-Moody (not British then, and still not British now) on the all-time women's list.


It's the third slam final victory over Sharapova for Serena since she lost to the then 17-year old in the Wimbledon final in 2004, and her sixteenth straight over the Russian since she lost to her in the WTA Championships to close out that same '04 season.
===============================================
Ekaterina Makarova reaches her second consecutive slam SF, following up her '14 U.S. Open run with another. She gets there by defeating Simona Halep 6-4/6-0 in the QF in an early "Cliffs of Simona" moment for the Romanian.

Meanwhile, Madison Keys makes it three straight years with a 19-year old player from North America making her maiden slam semifinal run in Melbourne, following in the footsteps of Sloane Stephens (2013) and Genie Bouchard (2014). She hadn't been past the 3rd Round in any of her first ten slam MD appearances. Keys defeated Venus Williams in the QF, then lost to Serena a round later. But she didn't go out without a fight. Down 7-6/5-1, Keys saved seven MP on her own serve with a series of aces, thudding shots and a lack of nerves or dejection about her scoreboard deficit. She then saved an eighth MP on Serena's serve before making her first slam SF appearance as memorable in defeat as it was in accomplishment.
===============================================
Two years after defeating Sloane Stephens in the AO SF, and a year after handling her in similarly easy fashion in a 4th Round rematch a year later (she allowed just five games in both matches), Victoria Azarenka drew Stephens for the third straight year in Melbourne. This time it was in the 1st Round. And for the third straight year, save for the controversial ten-minute stretch two years ago, Vika dominated. She won 6-3/6-2... the exact same score as in their 2013 SF.

Meanwhile, Vika was seen in Melbourne wearing a dayglo yellow outfit that, conservatively, could probably be spotted from space.


===============================================
44-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm played in her final slam MD match, losing to Anna Tatishvili in the 1st Round. The Japanese vet announced her impending knee surgery after the AO. Four consecutive slam qualifying losses followed in 2015-16, and she retired in '17.
===============================================
Playing in their first event as a duo, Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova win the women's doubles title, defeating the likes of Babos/Mladenovic (the would-be '18 champs), Makarova/Vesnina (3-time major winners and Gold medalists) and Y.Chan/J.Zheng in the final. Mattek-Sands was utilizing a protected ranking after returning from 2014 hip surgery.


The ultimately dubbed "Team Bucie" would go on to claim five slams together, with both reaching the #1 ranking in 2017. That year, they'd arrived at Wimbledon one SW19 title run away from a Career Doubles Slam together, as well as seeking a fourth straight major victory. But BMS' awful knee dislocation injury in singles ended their chances. When Mattek was ready to return in '18, Safarova's own injury/health issues prevented them from teaming up again until the '18 Wimbledon. They lost in the QF, and with Safarova's recent retirement announcement they ultimately played just eight matches (4-4) together after Mattek-Sands' injury.

Before the injury, they'd gone 77-12 from 2015-17, winning eleven titles (going 11-2 in finals), including those five slams and two Premier Mandatory events, as well as reaching a WTAF final.
===============================================
Martina Hingis teams with Leander Paes to win the Mixed title, defeating defending champs Mladenovic/Nestor in the final to claim her first slam title of any kind since 2006. Already a Hall of Famer who'd won fifteen major crowns (5/9/1) in her "first career," Hingis had returned in 2013. She ended up putting together a *second* HoF-worthy run before retiring again after 2017, winning four WD slams and six in MX.

She and Paes would combine for a Career Mixed Slam as a duo, winning all four major titles during a six-slam stretch between the '15 AO and '16 RG.
===============================================
Dutch wheelchair star Jiske Griffioen, already a winner of eleven major doubles titles, wins her first slam singles crown in Melbourne, defeating #1-ranked Yui Kamiji in the final. The win prevented Kamiji, who concurrently held all the other AO/RG/WI/US wheelchair titles, from being the simultaneously reigning champ in all seven (there are now eight) slam s/d competitions. Kamiji had defeated Griffioen in the semifinals of all three slam singles competitions in 2014.


Griffioen, 29, would go on to win three more singles slams and the '16 Paralympic Gold, and served 106 weeks as the women's #1. In 2016, she became the first ever champion of the Wimbledon women's wheelchair singles title. She retired after the 2017 season.

Meanwhile, Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley defended their AO doubles title, winning their fifth consecutive slam title.
===============================================
Tereza Mihalikova wins the girls singles, defeating Brit Katie Swan in the final. She was the first Slovak to win the AO girls title, and the first from her nation to win a junior slam since 2007. Mihalikova would reach the AO girls final in '16, as well, but wouldn't be able to match Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's feat of back-to-back titles in 2006-07.
===============================================



==QUOTES==
* - "There is always nerves in the beginning." - Ana Ivanovic, after losing to qualifier Lucie Hracecka in the 1st Round, her worst slam result in four years. She'd rebound in Paris, reaching her first slam semi since winning Roland Garros seven years earlier, then go 5-6 in the next six slams and retire after the 2016 season.

* - "Can you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?"

* - "This old cat has a few tricks left." - Venus Williams, after coming back from 6-4/4-2, 40/love down to defeat Camila Giorgi in the 3rd Round

* - "This is vintage Azarenka right now." - ESPN's Pam Shriver, during the Azarenka/Wozniacki 2nd Round match won by the Belarusian 6-4/6-2

* - "Sometimes life deals you cards that you aren't expecting, but all you've gotta do is keep playing them and see what happens." - Venus Williams

* - "On the tennis tour you need good mental health." - Casey Dellacqua

* - "In the 3rd I think went into a trance. I just wanted to win." - Venus Williams, explaining her dominant final set performance against Aga Radwanska in the Round of 16. Winning 6-1, she allowed the Pole just two points on her own serve in the set and used a big serve, excellent court coverage and Wimbledonesque volleys to out-point Aga 30-16 as she reached her first slam QF in four and a half years.

* - "Dennis is doing good job -- he just makes one ace." - Li Na, announcing her pregnancy as only Li possibly could



=WOMEN'S SINGLES QF=
#16 Serena Williams/USA vs. #7 Karolina Pliskova/CZE
#4 Naomi Osaka/JPN vs. #6 Elina Svitolina/UKR
#8 Petra Kvitova/CZE def. #15 Ash Barty/AUS
Danielle Collins/USA def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF=
Stosur/Sh.Zhang (AUS/CHN) vs. Strycova/Vondrousova (CZE/CZE)
Brady/Riske (USA/USA) vs. Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)

=MIXED DOUBLES QF=
#1 Dabrowski/Pavic (CAN/CRO) vs. Martinez Sanchez/Skupski (ESP/GBR)
#3 Krejcikova/Ram (CZE/USA) vs. #5 Groenefeld/Farah (GER/COL)
(WC) Sharma/JP.Smith (AUS/AUS) vs. Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR)
#6 Spears/Cabal (USA/COL) vs. #2 Melichar/Soares (USA/BRA)

=GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Clara Tauson/DEN vs. Valentina Ryser/SUI
#9 Camilla Bartone/LAT vs. Priska Madelyn Nugroho/INA
Daria Snigur/UKR vs. Emma Navarro/USA
#11 Adrienn Nagy/HUN vs. #5 Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA
Manon Leonard/FRA vs. (Q) Veronika Pepelyaeva/RUS
(Q) Lisa Pigato/ITA vs. #4 Leylah Annie Fernandez/CAN
#7 Lulu Sun/SUI vs. (Q) Federica Rossi/ITA
Victoria Allen/GBR vs. Anastasia Tikhonova/RUS

=GIRLS DOUBLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Park/Wong (KOR/HKG) vs. Frayman/Rossi (RUS/ITA)
(WC) Gadecki/S.Smith (AUS/AUS) vs. #6 Avanesyan/Tikhonova (RUS/RUS)
#4 Custic/Pellicano (ESP/MLT) vs. Pepelyaeva/Sayfetdinova (RUS/RUS)
Kawamura/Kozaki (JPN/JPN) vs. #8 Beck/Navarro (USA/USA)
Nahimana/Uchijima (BDI/JPN) vs. Hennemann/Ryser (SWE/SUI)
Allen/Martins (GBR/GBR) vs. #3 Kawaguchi/Nagy (JPN/HUN)
#7 Bencheikh/Curmi (FRA/MLT) vs. Krupenina/Snigur (RUS/UKR)
Bartone/Morlet (LAT/FRA) vs. #2 Naklo/Sawangkaew (THA/THA)

=WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S SINGLES=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. Lucy Shuker/GBR
Marjolein Buis/NED vs. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
Aniek Van Koot/NED vs. Kgothatso Montjane/RSA
Giulia Capocci/ITA vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WHEELCHAIR WOMEN'S DOUBLES=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Capocci/Kamiji (ITA/JPN)
Montjane/Shuker (RSA/GBR) vs. #2 Buis/Ellerbrock (NED/GER)










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*FIRST-TIME SLAM SEMIFINALISTS SINCE 2013*
=2013=
AO: Sloane Stephens/USA
RG: -
WI: Kirsten Flipkens/BEL
US: Flavia Pennetta/ITA
=2014=
AO: Genie Bouchard/CAN
RG: Simona Halep/ROU (RU), Andrea Petkovic/GER
WI: Lucie Safarova/CZE
US: Ekatarina Makarova/RUS, Peng Shuai/CHN
=2015=
AO: Madison Keys/USA
RG: Timea Bacsinszky/SUI
WI: Garbine Muguruza/ESP (RU)
US: Roberta Vinci/ITA (RU)
=2016=
AO: Johanna Konta/GBR
RG: Kiki Bertens/NED
WI: Elena Vesnina/RUS
US: Karolina Pliskova/CZE (RU)
=2017=
AO: CoCo Vandeweghe/USA
RG: Alona Ostapenko/LAT (W)
WI: Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK
US: -
=2018=
AO: Elise Mertens/BEL
RG: -
WI: Julia Goerges/GER
US: Naomi Osaka/JPN (W), Anastasija Sevastova/LAT
=2019=
AO: Danielle Collins/USA
--
NOTE: Svitolina would be a first-time SF

*OUTSIDE TOP 16 SEEDS IN SLAM SF, since 2000*
8 - #17-19 (last 2: #17 S.Williams '18 US, #19 Sevastova '18 US)
17 - #20-25 (last 2: #20 Osaka, '18 US, #25 S.Williams '18 WI)
4 - #26-29 (last 2: #26 Pennetta '15 US, #28 Petkovic '14 RG)
4 - #30-32 (last 2: #30 Bacsinszky '17 RG, #30 Bouchard '14 AO)
26 - unseeded (last 2: Collins '19 AO, Mertens '18 AO)
4 - wild card (last 2: Henin '10 AO, Lisicki '11 WI)

*UNSEEDED/WILD CARD IN SLAM SF, since 2000*
un Jennifer Capriati - 2000 Australian
un Jelena Dokic - 2000 Wimbledon
un Elena Dementieva - 2000 U.S. Open
un Clarisa Fernandez - 2002 Roland Garros
un Nadia Petrova - 2003 Roland Garros
un Serena Williams - 2007 Australian (W)
WC Zheng Jie - 2008 Wimbledon
WC Kim Clijsters - 2009 U.S. Open (W)
un Yanina Wickmayer - 2009 U.S. Open
un Zheng Jie - 2010 Australian
WC Justine Henin - 2010 Australian (RU)
un Petra Kvitova - 2010 Wimbledon
un Tsvetana Pironkova - 2010 Wimbledon
WC Sabine Lisicki - 2011 Wimbledon
un Angelique Kerber - 2011 U.S. Open
un Flavia Pennetta - 2013 U.S. Open
un Peng Shuai - 2014 U.S. Open
un Madison Keys - 2015 Australian
un Roberta Vinci - 2015 U.S. Open (RU)
un Johanna Konta - 2016 Australian
un Kiki Bertens - 2016 Roland Garros
un Elena Vesnina - 2016 Wimbledon
un Caroline Wozniacki - 2016 U.S. Open
un Mirjana Lucic-Baroni - 2017 Australian
un CoCo Vandeweghe - 2017 Australian
un Alona Ostapenko - 2017 Roland Garros (W)
un Magdalena Rybarikova - 2017 Wimbledon
un Sloane Stephens - 2017 U.S. Open (W)
un Elise Mertens - 2018 Australian
un Danielle Collins - 2019 Australian
==
(W)-won title; (RU)-finalist

*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMEN IN AO SF, since 2000*
Unseeded - 2000 Jennifer Capriati, USA
Unseeded - 2007 Serena Williams, USA (W)
Unseeded - 2010 Zheng Jie, CHN
Unseeded - 2015 Madison Keys, USA
Unseeded - 2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
Unseeded - 2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO
Unseeded - 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
Unseeded - 2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
Unseeded - 2019 Danielle Collins, USA
Wild Card - 2010 Justine Henin, BEL (RU)
#32 - 2004 Fabiola Zuluaga, COL
#30 - 2014 Genie Bouchard, CAN
#29 - 2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
#22 - 2004 Patty Schnyder, SUI
#21 - 2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
#20 - 2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (RU)
#19 - 2005 Nathalie Dechy, FRA
#16 - 2010 Li Na, CHN
#13 - 2017 Venus Williams, USA
#12 - 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA (W)
#11 - 2012 Kim Clijsters, BEL
#10 - 2000 Conchita Martinez, ESP
#10 - 2007 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
#10 - 2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
--
NOTE: #16 S.Williams to play QF

*LOW-SEEDED AO CHAMPIONS - OPEN ERA*
Unseeded - 1978 Chris O'Neil, AUS
Unseeded - 2007 Serena Williams, USA
#12 - 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA
#7 - 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER
#7 - 2005 Serena Williams, USA
#5 - 1979 Barbara Jordan, USA
#5 - 2008 Maria Sharapova, RUS
#4 - 1995 Mary Pierce, FRA
#4 - 1997 Martina Hingis, SUI
#4 - 2014 Li Na, CHN

*WTA PLAYERS WITH EXACTLY 12 TITLES - BEST SLAM RESULTS*
Julie Halard-Decugis (QF)
Anke Huber (SF)
Angelique Kerber (W)*
Helga Niessen Masthoff (F)
Katerina Maleeva (QF)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (QF)*
Virginia Ruzici (W)
Dinara Safina (F)
Anna Smashnova (4th Rd.)
Vera Zvonareva (F)*
--
*-active

*BIGGEST AGE DIFFERENCE IN SLAM FINAL*
17y, 45d - Seles (17) d. Navratilova (34) = '91 U.S.
16y, 20d - Osaka (20) d. S.Williams (36) = '18 U.S.
15y, 180d - Martinez (22) d. Navratilova (37) = '94 WI
14y, 175d - Graf (18) d. Evert (33) = '88 AO
13y, 113d - Muguruza (23) d. V.Williams (37) = 17 WI

*AO "Ms. OPPORTUNITY" WINNERS*
2004 Fabiola Zuluaga, COL
2005 Nathalie Dechy, FRA
2006 Martina Hingis, SUI
2007 Serena Williams, USA
2008 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
2009 Vera Zvonareva, RUS
2010 Zheng Jie, CHN & Li Na, CHN
2011 Li Na, CHN
2012 Sara Errani, ITA
2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2019 Danielle Collins, USA

*AO "LADY OF THE EVENING" WINNERS*
2011 Andrea Petkovic, GER
2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2013 Laura Robson, GBR
2014 Li Na, CHN
2015 Genie Bouchard, CAN
2016 "The Dasha Show" (Gavrilova)
2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
2019 Garbine Muguruza, ESP

*WTA "CAREER SF SLAM" - active*
[with slam at which completed]
Victoria Azarenka - 2013 RG (30th)
Simona Halep - 2018 AO (31st)
Maria Sharapova - 2007 RG (18th)
Serena Williams - 2003 AO (18th)
Venus Williams - 2001 AO (15th)
Vera Zvonareva - 2010 US (31st)

*ALL-TIME CAREER SLAM SF - Open era*
52 - Chris Evert
44 - Martina Navrtailova
37 - Steffi Graf
36 - Serena Williams
36 - Margaret Court





TOP QUALIFIER: Astra Sharma/AUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #16 Serena Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - Astra Sharma/AUS def. #25 Irina Khromacheva 5-7/7-6(7)/7-6(10) (saved 3 MP, makes slam debut)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #18 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. Johanna Konta/GBR 6-4/6-7(3)/7-5 (ended at 3:12 a.m.)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Rebecca Peterson/SWE (def. Cirstea/ROU)
FIRST SEED OUT: #14 Julia Goerges/GER (1st Rd. - lost to D.Collins/USA)
UPSET QUEENS: United States
REVELATION LADIES: Teens - six teenagers win 1st Round matches - Andreescu/Anisimova/Potapova/Swiatek/Vondrousova/Yastremska; Anisimova and Yastremska reach 3rd Rd.
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Romania - 2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Bianca Andreescu/CAN, Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA, Astra Sharma/AUS, Iga Swiatek/POL, Natalia Vikhlyantseva/RUS (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Kimberly Birrell/AUS (3rd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Ash Barty (QF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Danielle Collins/USA
IT (Teen): Amanda Anisimova/USA (first player born in 2000s to reach slam 4th Rd.)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Kvitova (in slams), Stosur (WD)
CRASH & BURN: #10 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (after leading 3-0 in 1st set, loses 12 con. games in 1st Rd. loss vs. Bacsinszky)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominees: Osaka (3rd Rd. - down 7-5/4-1 vs. Hsieh); Svitolina (3rd Rd. - down double-break 3-0 in 3rd vs. Sh.Zhang; MTO's); Collins (1st Rd. - Goerges served for match at 6-2/6-5 30/love); S.Williams (4th Rd. - Halep 3 BP for 4-2 lead in 3rd set)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: S.Williams, Kvitova
LADY OF THE EVENING: Garbine Muguruza/ESP (3:12 a.m. finish vs. Johanna Konta in 2nd Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 9. More tomorrow.
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