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Monday, February 25, 2019

Wk.8- Better Call Bencic (Again)

For Belinda Bencic, it's like deja vu all over again.






*WEEK 8 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, UAE (Premier 5/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Petra Kvitova/CZE 6-3/1-6/6-2
D: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (TPE/CZE) d. Lucie Hradecka/Ekaterina Makarova (CZE/RUS) 6-4/6-4
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (Int'l/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL def. Marketa Vondrousova/CZE 1-6/7-5/6-2
D: Ekaterina Alexandrova/Vera Zvonareva (RUS/RUS) d. Fanny Stollar/Heather Watson (HUN/GBR) 6-4/4-6 [10-7]



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...it's been a long and winding road, but Bencic may have finally found her way back to where she once belonged.

In 2015, at just age 18, Bencic pulled off one of the greatest week-long, non-slam performances of the last decade, knocking four Top 10 players en route to the Rogers Cup title in Toronto. She racked up over 40 tour-level match wins that season, finished at #14 (and reached the Top 10 early in '16). In the next three seasons combined, though, she failed to total a combined 40 tour match wins as injuries and inconsistencies knocked her well down the rankings. She managed a finally get herself pointed in the right direction again in '18, though it really shouldn't have been enough to garner the tour's Comeback Player of the Year nomination that that she was ultimately given. What happened this week, though, surely makes her '19 campaign worthy of such recognition as, three and a half years removed from Toronto, Bencic again defeated four Top 10 players on her way to claiming a Premier 5 title, her first tour-level crown since that title run in Canada.



After opening with a close straight sets win over qualifier Lucie Hradecka, then winning 1 & 1 over fellow Swiss Stefanie Voegele (LL), Bencic's week *really* got interesting. She saved six MP in defeating #9 Aryna Sabalenka, then came back from a set down to outlast a tiring #2 Simona Halep, her biggest win since 2016 (#2 Kerber in FC), and biggest in a tour event since upsetting #1 Serena during the Toronto run in '15. In the semis, two-time defending champ and world #6 Elina Svitolina led 5-3 in the 3rd set and served for the match at 5-4 only to squander a big event SF lead for a second straight week. In the final, Bencic took control against an increasingly-erratic #4 Petra Kvitova to claim career title #3.



Bencic will be at #23 on Monday, her best standing since August 2016.
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RISER: Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL
...Elina Svitolina failed to secure her third straight title in Dubai, but Van Uytvanck survived a gauntlet that included being five MP down in the semis to win her second consecutive Budapest crown and become the second Belgian in successful weeks to emerge from her nation's Fed Cup debacle of two weekends ago by picking up a tour-level singles title.

The 24-year old Belgian has always shined in indoor events, as all three of her tour-level titles have come in such tournaments, as well as her lone WTA 125 crown and five of her eleven career ITF challenger victories. Van Uytvanck, after wins over Vera Zvonareva and Iga Swiatek, had to come back from a set down to defeat Kateryna Kozlova (QF), Ekatrina Alexandrova (SF, saving the 5 MP in the process) and Marketa Vondrousova (F) in consecutive matches to emerge as the champion in Budapest. All three of the Waffle's tour-level finals have gone the distance with Van Uytvanck ultimately prevailing in the end.

Meanwhile, Kirsten Flipkens had been scheduled to be the #2 singles seed and #1 doubles seed at the event before withdrawing with a viral illness, but ended up celebrating in the end anyway after serving as Van Uytvanck's coach, as she did in Saint Petersburg, an event in which they played each other in a 1st Round singles match.


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SURPRISES: Zhu Lin/CHN and Jennifer Elie/USA
...after three consecutive season finishes just outside the Top 100, 25-year old Zhu will at least get her first in-season breakthrough ranking this week courtesy of her 1st Round upset of Doha champ Elise Mertens in Dubai.



She lost a round later last week to Lesia Tsurenko, but her big moment was something she'd been building toward through the season's opening two months, which had already included a successful qualifying run at the Australian Open, the claiming of a $25K title, and back-to-back Q-runs in Doha and Dubai.

Meanwhile, a week after being unable to win the $15K Port Pirie final to claim her first ITF singles crown since 2012, 32-year old Elie reached another $15K final in Perth. Just like last week, though, she lost in a final clash vs. Swiss teen Lulu Sun. This weekend, though, she didn't leave empty-handed, taking the doubles crown with Irina Ramialison, her first pro title since 2015 and just her second since she won back-to-back ITF singles titles in Venezuela in 2012.
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VETERAN: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...Kvitova admitted to being mentally and physically tired during her week in Dubai. While what may have played a part in her being unable to close out her efforts by outlasting Belinda Bencic in the 3rd set of the final, it didn't prevent her from reaching her third 2019 final before anyone else has managed to yet reach a second on the season.

Reaching career final #35 took Kvitova winning three (shocking, I know) three-set affairs against Katerina Siniakova, Jen Brady and Hsieh Su-wei, the first and last of the trio after having dropped the opening stanza. A straight sets victory over Viktoria Kuzmova in the QF provided the Czech her only "breather" during the week, as she ultimately saw Bencic get some revenge for her 1 & 4 3rd Round loss to Kvitova at this year's Australian Open.

The callback hashtag is everything...



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COMEBACK: Greta Arn/HUN
...under the nose of most, 39-year old Arn crept her way back onto the WTA stage last week in Budapest. A one-time Top 40 player, she retired in 2014 (having not played since '13) only to return, Schnyder-style, at age 38 in the summer of '17. A two-time tour title winner (2007 & '11), Arn picked up an ITF crown in the fall of '17 just months into her comeback. She was in the Top 300 by the summer of '18.



After winning the Hungarian nationals, the world #443 took her Budapest qualifying WC and posted wins over Ekaterine Gorgodze and Paula Badosa to earn her first tour-level MD slot since the 2013 Australian Open. With her last high level MD win having come in the 1st Round of the U.S. Open in 2012 over Agnes Szavay, Arn's fellow Hungarian who saw her promising career lamentably hit the skids due to a series of injuries, the veteran fell in the 1st Round in Budapest, but only after winning the 1st set and taking #5-seed (and eventual semifinalist and WD champ) Ekaterina Alexandrova to three sets. Arn will be at #400 on Monday.
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FRESH FACES: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE and Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK
...it's been nearly two years since Vondrousova, now 19, truly challenged for a WTA title. The Czech burst onto the scene in just her second career tour-level MD appearance in the indoor event in Biel in April '17 as a #233-ranked qualifier. The expected climb up the rankings hasn't exactly come off like clockwork. She's climbed as high as #50, but finished the last two seasons at #67, posting her first slam Round of 16 at last year's U.S. Open. She arrived in Budapest, another small indoor event, at #81 and very nearly turned back the clock. The Czech took down qualifier (and FC star) Georgina Garcia Perez in straights, then outlasted Anna Blinkova and Irina-Camelia Begu in three to reach her first SF since last July (and just her second since Biel). A dominant straight sets win over Anastasia Potapova put Vondrousova in her second career final, where she got off to a quick start against top seed and defending champ Alison Van Uytvanck before the Belgian turned things around and won another title there in three. She'll be up to #62 on Monday, jumping Potapova and Bianca Andreescu to become the third highest-ranked teenager behind Dayana Yastremska and Amanda Anisimova.



In Dubai, 20-year old Kuzmova was ousted by Petra Kvitova in the QF, but only after she'd already knocked off Bernarda Pera, Kiki Bertens (saving a MP en route to recording her first career Top 10 win) and Sonya Kenin, enough to inch her ranking up to a new career high of #44.
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DOWN: Timea Babos/HUN and Miyu Kato/Makoto Ninomiya (JPN/JPN)
...Babos' 1st Round loss to Alize Cornet in Dubai dropped her singles record to 4-17 dating back to last year's Roland Garros, and 6-21 since reaching the Monterrey final last April. Babos was ranked at #44 when she lost that final to Garbine Muguruza, and will find herself at #110 on Monday, her worst ranking since October '14. Additionally, as the #1 seeds, Babos & Kristina Mladenovic lost their opening 2nd Round match to unseeded Arruabarrena/Christian via a 3rd set TB.

At one point last season, Kato/Ninomiya seemed a workable WD pair. They went 5-0 in Fed Cup and put together a RU/W combo of results in Hiroshima and Tokyo in September. Coming off a FC deciding doubles loss to Spain, the Japanese duo fell to eventual champs Hsieh/Strycova in the 1st Round in Dubai, their fifth straight loss. 2-6 in 2019, they're now just 4-10 since those back-to-back final results last fall.
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ITF PLAYER: Ylena In-Albon/SUI
...in Kyoto, Japan, 19-year old In-Albon made the week's top title winner on the challenger circuit *also* a Swiss Miss. Claiming her sixth career (and biggest) title at the $60K event, In-Albon posted wins over the likes of Risa Ozaki, Kurumi Nari, Robin Anderson and Zhang Kailin in the final. The result lifts her 58 spots into the top 200 for the first time at #183.


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JUNIOR STARS: Lulu Sun/SUI and Ane Mintegi Del Olmo/ESP
...Bencic... In-Albon... so, of course, Sun, too.

The 17-year old Swiss picked up her second ITF $15K challenger title in as many weeks Down Under, following up her win in Port Pirie a week ago with another in Perth. Also in a repeat, she defeated veteran Bannerette Jennifer Elie in another final, winning 7-6/6-3 to extend her winning streak to ten matches during her first two career titles run.



Meanwhile, in Brazil, Spain's Del Olmo made noise in a second straight Grade 1 junior event. A week after qualifying at the Banana Bowl and reaching the QF, the 15-year old qualified again and racked up a total of eight wins on the week en route to her biggest career title. This week's impressive run in Porto Alegre included a 1st Round upset of #3-seeded Hurricane Tyra Black, to which was later added wins over #5 Ana Geller, #1 Diane Parry (last week's tournament winner) and then #4 Natsumi Kawaguchi in the final. The latter three victories by Del Olmo came in three-set matches. Having played in just eight official ITF junior events since last August, the Spaniard has picked up singles titles in exactly half: three in Grade 5 events before this maiden Grade 1 crown. Overall, she's gone 36-4.
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DOUBLES: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (TPE/CZE) and Ekaterina Alexandrova/Vera Zvonareva (RUS/RUS)
...it's unclear just how much Hsieh and Strycova are ever going to work together as doubles partners, but their success rate when they do is remarkably high. They've played ten matches in three events as a duo, winning nine times and taking titles last year at the Premier Mandatory Indian Wells and this week's Premier 5 Dubai event. Not too shabby.

The I.W. title came in their unscheduled first-time teaming and included wins over Rosolska/Spears, King/Srebotnik, Chan/Chan, Dabrowski/Xu and Makarova/Vesnina in the final. After falling in the 1st Round in a 3rd set super TB vs. Kudermetova/Ostapenko in Doha, the veteran duo rebounded this week to not lose a set while knocking off Kato/Ninomiya, Groenefeld/Schuurs, Chan/Chan and Hradecka/Makarova in the final. The win gives Strycova twenty-four career titles, while Hsieh has twenty-one.

The weekend title capped what had already been a superb week from Hsieh, who'd reached the singles semis after putting up wins over Anastasija Sevastova, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Angelique Kerber (6-0 3rd!) and Karolina Pliskova (from 5-1 down in the 3rd) before eventually falling in three to Petra Kvitova. The two Top 10 wins over Kerber and Pliskova give Hsieh five for her career, four since the start of 2018, and with all having coming since her first Top 10 victory at Roland Garros in 2017, by which she's already turned 31.

Now, the rare moment when Bara gets upstaged in front of a camera...



In Budapest, another singles semifinalist (Alexandrova) capped her week with a doubles title run, as the 24-year old Hordette picked up her maiden tour title while teaming with countrywoman Zvonareva. The 34-year old has now claimed nine WTA double crowns, with three coming over the past year since her return to the sport in '17 after having a baby. The unseeded pair were forced to three sets in three of their four matches during the week, winning 12-10 (1st Rd. vs. Stefkova/Vondrousova), 10-6 (SF vs. Blinkova/Potapova) and 10-7 (F vs. #3 Stollar/Watson) in deciding super tie-breaks.


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WHEELCHAIR: Giulia Capocci/ITA
...at the Series 2 event in Bolton, England, Jordanne Whiley very nearly won her second straight title in her return from a long pregnancy break, but the Brit was tripped up in the final by Italy's Capocci, who battled back from a set down to get the 3-6/6-2/6-4 win to end Whiley's nine-match run. #2-seed Capocci had put up victories over Dana Mathewson and Katharina Kruger (ret.), while Whiley had posted three more "upsets" (maybe not for long) of top-seeded Aniek Van Koot, Louise Hunt and Michaela Spaanstra.


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Because it's only "ITF-logical" to have the overall junior rankings sponsored by one specific (and powerful) junior academy. Because that wouldn't look bad or raise any sort of potential questions or anything. AT ALL...




1. Dubai SF - Belinda Bencic def. Elina Svitolina
...6-2/3-6/7-6(3). A week after blowing a 4-1 (w/ 3 BP for 5-1) 3rd set lead vs. Halep in the Doha semis, Svitolina loses a 5-3 (and serving at 5-4) lead vs. Bencic. Serving to reach the final of the event she'd won the last two years, Svitolina fell behind love/40 and DF'd her way to 5-5, then had another DF to start game #12 as she fell behind down double MP at 15/40. She *did* manage to save 3 MP -- one w/ an ace -- to force a TB, but Bencic took control there early.



Is the Process still to be trusted?
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2. Dubai 3rd Rd. - Belinda Bencic def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-4/2-6/7-6(7). Bencic's six saved MP are the most averted en route to a title since Andrea Petkovic saved eight (all vs. Van Uytvanck) on her way to winning in Antwerp in 2015. Later that year in Toronto, Bencic saved a MP (vs. Lisicki, also in the 3rd Rd.) along the way to her four Top 10-win run there.


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3. Budapest SF - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
...3-6/6-4/7-6(7). If not for Bencic, Van Uytvanck's five saved MP *here* would have been the most faced by any champion since Petko saved eight against *her* four years ago. Alexandrova was up a break twice in the 3rd, only to see the Belgian finally close out the match on her own MP #2... on this challenge:


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4. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Viktoria Kuzmova def. Kiki Bertens
...6-2/4-6/7-6(6). It says something about the other matches this week that Kuzmova's one "measly" MP saved here on her way to pulling off her first career Top 10 win serves a mere afterthought.
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5. Dubai 1st Rd. - Zhu Lin def. Elise Mertens
...5-7/6-4/7-5. In case there was any lingering legitimacy questions about Mertens' injury issues during the Doha final vs. Halep...


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6. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Petra Kvitova def. Katerina Siniakova
...6-7(3)/6-4/6-4. Siniakova had a real shot at a season-turning upset of her fellow Maiden. But, you know, Petra vs. fellow Czechs...
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7. Budapest Q1 - Paula Badosa def. Adrienn Nagy 6-3/6-7(1)/6-2
Budapest Q2 - Greta Arn def. Paula Badosa 7-6(3)/6-0
...Badosa's two Hungarian qualifying opponents were separated by one round... and 22 years.
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8. Budapest Final - Alison Van Uytvanck def. Marketa Vondrousova
...1-6/7-5/6-2. There's just something about the Budapest facilities and their lighting that makes it look like the tournament is being played in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town.


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HM- Dubai Final - Belinda Bencic def. Petra Kvitova
...6-3/1-6/6-2. All right, Belinda. We'll waiting for the videos.


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1. Dubai QF - HSIEH SU-WEI def. KAROLINA PLISKOVA
...6-4/1-6/7-5. And the Tennis Gods said, "Now we're even, Karolina." If one was looking for the moment that would restore balance to the universe following Pliskova's win from 5-1 and MP down vs. Serena Williams at the AO, well the Czech losing here after seeming to have things wrapped up -- not coincidentally also after leading 5-1 in the 3rd, as if TG's thought we'd be too stupid to notice it otherwise -- would appear to be the real deal.
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2. Dubai 2nd Rd. - Kristina Mladenovic def. NAOMI OSAKA
...6-3/6-3. In her first post-AO title match (unimportant), her first since becoming #1 (not *that* important) and her first since dropping coach Sascha Bajin after a ridiculously strong 13-months (we'll soon see) it was clear that Osaka wasn't quite all there for this one. Mladenovic got her first career #1 victory, but as the match played out it would have been one of her worst losses ever had the Pastry *not* gotten the upset as it was pretty much served up on a platter for the taking. Still, Mladenovic's own game was up and down enough that she gave Osaka multiple opportunities to pull herself back into the match. She never fully did, though, and Mladenovic held serve just enough times to get the victory. She lost a round later to CSN, so it's hard to see this win as any sort of a "turnaround" moment, but (possibly) maybe as "a stepping stone to a stepping stone."



Also, considering Mladenovic has apparently weathered whatever it was that happened during Fed Cup week without popping off and saying anything stupid, once might look at this result as something of a "karmic reward." But we'll have to see where she takes things from here, just to be sure.
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3. Dubai 3rd Rd. - HSIEH SU-WEI def. Angelique Kerber
...5-7/6-4/6-0. Angie's Su-wei nightmares are just more acutely frightening than those of others. She bolts right up in a flash. Kind of like what happened here.
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View this post on Instagram

It is with sadness that I am announcing that myself and Philippe Dehaes are parting ways after a very successful partnership. I owe Philippe a huge amount for the success I've had over the past two years since we started working together but after deciding I need to take control and responsibility for my own tennis, I felt I needed to do this alone and take a break from working with Philippe but as he has a family and children to support, I understand this is not possible for him and it's best we go our separate way. Who knows what the future holds, never say never. I'd just like to go on record as saying thank you again to Philippe, you'll always mean a lot to me and I wish you the very best. Thanks for everything coach, you will always have a special place in my heart. Gonna miss yours on court coachings and all the song you’ve been singing in the car. Dashka??

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








**2019 FROM MATCH POINT DOWN TO WIN TITLE**
Auckland - Julia Goerges, GER (1 MP - QF/Bouchard)
DUBAI - BELINDA BENCIC, SUI (6 MP - 3rd/SABALENKA)
BUDAPEST - ALYSON VAN UYTVANCK, BEL (5 MP - SF/ALEXANDROVA)

**#50+ def. #1 - since 2005**
#226...2009 Beijing 2nd - Zhang Shuai d. Safina
#188...2008 US Open 2nd - Coin d. Ivanovic
#133...2005 Ind.Wells F - Clijsters d. Davenport
#133...2008 Wimbledon 3rd - Zheng Jie d. Ivanovic
#132...2009 Tokyo 2rd - Chang Kai-chen d. Safina
#116...2018 Beijing 1st - Jabeur d. Halep
#95...2009 Marbella 1st - Zakopalova d. S.Williams
#94...2008 Montreal 3rd - Paszek d. Ivanovic
#78...2014 Charleston 2nd - Cepelova d. S.Williams
#76...2011 Cincinnati 2nd - McHale d. Wozniacki
#73...2011 Bastad 2nd - Arvidsson d. Wozniacki
#68...2017 Rome 2nd - Kontaveit d. Kerber
#67...2019 DUBAI 2nd - MLADENOVIC d. OSAKA
#52...2009 US Open 3rd - Kvitova d. Safina

**SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED 2019 WS TITLES**
Auckland - Julia Goerges, GER
BUDAPEST - ALISON VAN UYTVANCK, BEL
[multi-year runs left to defend]
2017-18 Acapulco - Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
2017-18 Rome - Elina Svitolina , UKR
2017-18 Birmingham - Petra Kvitova, CZE

**2019 YOUNGEST WTA SINGLES FINALISTS**
18 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (Auckland-L) - 18,6m,3w
18 - Dayana Yastremska, UKR (Hua Hin-W)
19 - MARKETA VONDROUSOVA, CZE (BUDAPEST-L)
20 - Sonya Kenin, USA (Hobart-W)
20 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Brisbane-W)

**2019 OLDEST WTA DOUBLES FINALISTS**
43 - Kveta Peschke, CZE (Brisbane-W)
35 - Renata Voracova, CZE (Shenzhen-L)
34 - Samantha Stosur, AUS (AO-W)
34 - VERA ZVONAREVA, RUS (BUDAPEST-W)
33 - Kirsten Flipkens, BEL (Hobart-L)
33 - LUCIE HRADECKA, CZE (DUBAI-L)
33 - HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE (DUBAI-W)
33 - Alicja Rosolska, POL (Sydney-L)
33 - Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER (Doha-L)
[oldest combo]
68 - Melichar(25) & Peschek(43) = Brisbane W
65 - HSIEH (33) & STRYCOVA (32) = DUBAI W

**ACTIVE TOP 10 WEEK STREAKS - as of February 25**
266...Simona Halep, ROU
129...Karolina Pliskova, CZE
93...Elina Svitolina, UKR
54...Petra Kvitova, CZE
48...Sloane Stephens, USA
35...Angelique Kerber, GER
25...Naomi Osaka, JPN
21...Kiki Bertens, NED
5...Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2...Serena Williams, USA





















All for now.
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