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Monday, May 27, 2019

RG.2- A Reluctantly Plain Dane

Twenty-four hours after a Russian teen pulled off the biggest win of Day 1, Veronika Kudermetova decided that it looked like fun.



After a nervous start against #13 seed Caroline Wozniacki, the 22-year old Hordette finally showed up -- fashionably late -- for her Roland Garros debut appearance, rebounding with élan after dropping a love 1st set vs. the hampered Dane (calf) on Chatrier Court. Amping up her game with more aggression, *both* feet planted firmly on the ground, her mind finally secured between her ears, and a growing confidence (weird how that works out) Kudermetova dominated what remained of the match, getting an early break in both the final two sets and out-hitting the former #1 and '18 slam champ once she realized that the match wasn't taking place on the lunar surface, winning 0-6/6-3/6-3 for her first career slam victory.



Of course, much like Kerber's exit on Sunday, this wasn't exactly an unforeseen occurrence. Wozniacki came in with an injury, and riding a three-match losing streak that included two retirements since her clay season-opening run to the Charleston final. Her loss today drops her to 9-8 on the season, as she seeks to get her health (remember, she was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis last summer) for what remains of '19, which is set to include title defenses in Eastbourne and Beijing.

For her part, Kudermetova has been one of 2019's most improved players. She came into Paris having won a WTA 125 title, reached four tour-level QF (as she's done in six of her first twelve WTA MD appearances), qualified for the AO (losing to Kenin in the 1st Round), reached two WTA doubles finals (Lugano/Charleston) and two other WD semis. She came in ranked at a career-best #68.



After her stuttering start, the Russian was ready for something more. While the opposite was the case with Wozniacki.

While she looked adequately mobile in the 1st, Wozniacki was proven to not yet be ready for primetime action the rest of the match, once Kudermetova was able to implement a game plan that truly tested her ability to cover the court. While it was a good idea, it's turned out that the Dane's addition of '10 RG champ Francesca Schiavone to her "clay team" this spring turned out to be a waste. Unfortunately, the Italian never really had much to work with. Maybe they'll revisit the relationship again at some point. But, really, one would hope that Francesca teams up *full-time* with some lucky player between now and next spring and gets the chance to spread her coaching wings. A la the likes of Sascha Bajin, as her still-current posted workout videos show, she'll be able to get between the lines in practices and get some first-hand knowledge about her (unnamed) charge's level of play from a position on the other side of the net, not to mention shoulder-to-shoulder in agility drills.


While the Caro/Schiavone connection didn't amount to much, it does provide a nice framing device for the past decade of play at Roland Garros. In 2010, Schiavone opening the 2010's with a title run included a QF win over the Dane, and now they both ended it together today.






=DAY 2 NOTES=
...unfortunately for Kaja Juvan, there's no such thing as a "deluxe lucky loser." But hope springs eternal for the 18-year old from Slovenia. Just no longer at this Roland Garros.

A few days ago, Juvan came oh so close to qualifying for her first career slam MD. She led #1 Q-seed Bernarda Pera by a break three times in the 3rd set in the final round of qualifying, serving for the match at 5-4 and getting within two points of her biggest career win, only to fall short.

But today the Tennis Gods had mercy on her soul and took out #6-seeded Petra Kvitova, who announced at the start of Day 2 that a forearm injury would mean she'd be pulling out of the draw. While it was a sad for the Czech and her fans, it did open up a spot for the star-crossed Juvan. Thanks, TG's.

Once again, this time against veteran Sorana Cirstea on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the teenager was on the cusp of a career moment. After winning the 1st set, she led 4-2 in the 2nd, only to lose four straight games. In the 3rd, she led 5-3, served at 5-4 and again came within two points of a win. But *again* it slipped through her fingers, as the Romanian swept the remaining games to win 5-7/6-4/7-5, perhaps getting an unofficial head start on the ten-year anniversary celebration of her win on Lenglen over Jelena Jankovic to reach her only major career QF back in 2009.



After a short injury break earlier this year, Juvan has pretty well burst into her first full pro season (after closing out her junior years by sweeping the singles and doubles Golds -- defeating girls #1 Clara Burel in the final -- at the Youth Olympic Games last fall). She came into today having gone 17-4, reaching two $25K challenger finals (winning one), since March. She's already raised her ranking around forty spots since the end of last season and should soon break into the Top 120 (or better) for the first time. But not yet.



Hmmm, so I *guess* this still qualifies as a notch in the belt of that "Name You'll Know..." label I hung on Juvan before this season, right? Still...

Oh, I see what you did there, Tennis Gods. You all are *so* awful, sometimes.

...meanwhile, there was a rare sight to be seen on Court 8 on Monday: a female player with a one-handed backhand. And a 16-year old Pastry, no less.



A Top 10 junior (WTA #457), wild card Parry, recorded her first WTA win today with a 6-2/6-4 victory over Vera Lapko. Already the youngest player in the draw, she's now also the youngest MD winner in Paris this decade.



...the afternoon of Day 2 finally saw the debut at this Roland Garros of #10 Serena Williams, playing in just her second clay court match of the season. In fact, since her huge lost lead vs. Karolina Pliskova in Melbourne, Serena had as many walkovers/retirements as match wins. In Indian Wells she defeated Victoria Azarenka, then retired against Garbine Muguruza. In Miami she defeated Rebecca Peterson, then gave Wang Qiang a walkover. In Rome another win over Peterson was followed by a walkover to Venus.

Against Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, on the opposite end of a 6-0/2-0 retirement in the U.S. Open 1st Round four years ago that was a precursor to multiple seasons of injury struggles and surgeries (she was #553 in '16), it took Williams a while to find her clay court legs. With her movement out of sorts, Williams dropped the 1st set 6-2 and sent everyone scrambling for notes about Serena's only career 1st Round loss in a major -- against Virginie Razzano at RG in 2012, her only defeat in 70 such matches -- and the previous times both she and Venus exited a slam before the 3rd Round (2012 and '14 RG).

But while Diatchenko has rebounded well from her injuries, coming in at #82 and having already won five ITF challenger titles (she was 15-0 in a stretch) in '19, it's been a pattern for two decades that if Williams rights herself in a situation like this she could run away with the final two sets. Well, she did. She only lost one game the rest of the way.



...Indian Wells champ Bianca Andreescu (#22) made her '19 clay court debut on Monday, as well as playing in her maiden MD match in Paris (something the 18-year old *still* has yet to do in NYC, as this was only her fourth career slam match) against lucky loser Marie Bouzkova.

The rust on the game of the Canadian, out recently with a bad shoulder, was apparent. She converted just one of ten BP chances in the 1st (vs. the Czech's 2/4), losing it 7-5 despite a 22-6 edge in winners (w/ 24 UE, and a low 52% 1st serve pct.) over the course of the long (1:12) opening stanza. In the 2nd, Andreescu improved her BP numbers (5/10, vs. Bouzkova's 4/6) and took the set 6-4 as the clock neared 9:30 pm and play was suspended for the day.

To be continued.

...elsewhere, the number of seeds ousted thus far is five (not counting Kvitova), as #32 Aliaksandra Sasnovich dropped her resumed-from-Day 1 contest against Lugano champ Polona Hercog, while the injury-battling #18 Julia Goerges fell in straights to two-time RG quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi, who nonetheless today got just her first MD win in Paris since 2013. Goerges was the First Seed Out in this year's Australian Open. And #30 Mihaela Buzarnescu fell to yet another Russian pulling off an upset ("Upset Queens" award, anyone?), Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Yulia Putintseva and Dayana Yastremska, both tour title winners this weekend, couldn't make the quick turnaround today. Putintseva, a two-time RG quarterfinalist, made a fairly quick 6-3/7-5 exit vs. Rebecca Peterson; but Yastremska's loss had a bit more dramatic meat on the bone. Facing #38 Carla Suarez-Navarro, she with a history of *thirteen* straight 1st Round slam wins and two RG QF results, Yastremska took the 1st set and got within two points of the win. But CSN took the set to a TB, won it 7-0, then bageled the 19-year old Ukrainian in the 3rd. Ouch.

Meanwhile, spring clay court surprise Johanna Konta (#26) finally netted her first career match win (after being 0-4) in Paris, defeating qualifier Antonia Lottner 6-4/6-4.

Wild card Lauren Davis, playing in her first slam MD match since her marathon loss in Melbourne to Simona Halep last year, defeated Kristyna Pliskova, officially allowing the "Pliskova Cup" to be retained by Karolina, who has now bettered her twin's slam result in 24 of the 35 majors at which they've both appeared. Kristyna has "won" six times, while they've "tied" in the other five. Karolina is 52-27 in MD play, and Kristyna is 11-22.



Vera Zvonareva played in her first MD match at Roland Garros since 2011, but it was no fairy tale sort of day for the 34-year old Hordette. She lost to qualifier Aliona Bolsova, who got her first career slam victory.

Samantha Stosur won the all-vet battle with Barbora Strycova, 6-2/7-6(3). The Aussie is quite possibly the best player in Paris in the 2010's who didn't win the women's title, as she's surely in the discussion with the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova (though she *did* win in '09) and Sloane Stephens, as well as Jelena Jankovic in the decade's early years and Sara Errani in the middle stages. Today's win gives Stosur a 40-15 career mark at Roland Garros, including a 31-9 standing since 2010.

...Angelique Kerber's Day 1 loss and Kvitova's Day 2 withdrawal means we've already eliminated two of the five women with a shot to be #1 at the end of this event. Remaining are #1 Naomi Osaka (still to play), #4 Kiki Bertens (who won today) and #2 Karolina Pliskova (w/ a Day 1 win).




...LIKE ON DAY 2 DAY 1: Bonjour, Simonne...



Somehow, I think the U.S. Open would have done it a *little* differently. Just guessin'.



...DISLIKE ON DAY 2: the Roland Garros website starting the daily countdown of the tournament with the qualifying rounds on the Order of Play page. So, today isn't really Day 2, it's "Day 7." Really, who on earth is ever going to refer to a slam in this way?

Apparently, not even the people in charge of writing headlines for the site's front page.

..."Ummm..." ON DAY 2: not feelin' the zebras running around Paris...



...LIKE ON DAY 2: With a little reworking, though...



...LIKE ON DAY 2: Sort of a faux tuxedo feel...



...LIKE ON DAY 2:



...LIKE ON DAY 2: I'm sure there's a tennis equivalent to this, but even if there isn't...



...NOTE ON DAY 2: Rennae getting a taste of what it's like *not* being on air during a major...



...LIKE ON DAY 2:



...NOTE ON DAY 2: It's going to be very odd when Serena no longer single handedly skews certain stats...





One of the underrated notes about Roland Garros that I enjoy every year is the unveiling of the tournament's official poster. I don't even know if the other three slams have anything that is in any way equivalent to the annual "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" immediate reaction to whatever work of (often quite abstract) art that is chosen each year (there's something similar with the Indian Wells mural wall of champions, which may or may not actually resemble the players meant to be honored), but even if there was it wouldn't really be the same. It's sort of like the tennis fashions that are revealed for play at RG -- it's a thing at the other majors, but it isn't really as much of a *thing*, you know? I mean, it's Paris... the standard and level of expectation *should* be higher when it comes to being artistic, creative and unique. Right?

Anyway, while I don't think I'll ever like any RG poster more than the one (below) by Paul Thurlby, which wasn't even the *official* poster for the tournament...


Here's a quick ranking of how I'd rank the posters from the past decade...


1. 2012: weird-o, but memorable-o
2. 2018: abstract, but still recognizable as a bouncing tennis ball with minimal brushstrokes
3. 2011: those aren't tennis balls. I think they're... apples... or berries?
4. 2017: not bad, but still looks a little like a throwaway "arty" photo from a courtside photog
5. 2014: I don't mind this one at all, but it doesn't really stir much of anything, frankly
6. 2010: I like the "old" feel to it. The butterflies, something that looks like planets, and a tennis playing man (or is it a women?) make me stare at it, trying to figure it out.
7. 2013: not sure what this is supposed to be, honestly
8. 2019: there's abstract, and then there's "what the hell is that *supposed to represent*, anyway?"
9. 2016: it reminds me of the old AO logo-man that was made to resemble Stefan Edberg's service motion
10. 2015: you'd never know this was an event with men *and* women based on this
























*WON FIRST TWO CAREER SLAM TITLES CONSECUTIVELY - Open era*
1971 RG/WI - Evonne Goolagong, AUS
1974 RG/WI - Chris Evert, USA
1980 AO/1981 RG - Hana Mandlikova, TCH
2000 WI/US - Venus Williams, USA
2001 AO/RG - Jennifer Capriati, USA
2018 US/2019 AO - Naomi Osaka, JPN
[won first three in a row]
none

*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)
[RG]
2017 1st Rd. - Angelique Kerber (lost to Ekaterina Makarova)
2004 2nd Rd. - Justine Henin (lost to Tathiana Garbin)
2014 2nd Rd. - Serena Williams (lost to Garbine Muguruza)

*WORST RG RESULTS BY AO CHAMP IN OPEN ERA*
=1st Round=
1978 Chris O'Neil
1979 Barbara Jordan
2000 Lindsay Davenport
2014 Li Na
2016 Angelique Kerber
=2nd Round=
1987 Hana Mandlikova
2004 Justine Henin
2011 Kim Clijsters




TOP QUALIFIER: #22q Elena Rybakina/KAZ
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: #1q Bernarda Pera/USA def. #21q Kaja Juvan/SLO 6-4/1-6/7-6(1) [Juvan up break three times in 3rd, served at 5-4]
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #31 Petra Martic/CRO (def. Jabeur/TUN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #5 Angelique Kerber/GER (1st Rd./Potapova)
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Day 1/2 wins: Bolsova, Kucova
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1/2 wins: Davis, Parry
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Day 1/2 wins: Mladenovic, Parry
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "??": Nominee: Parry
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #5 Kerber (1st Rd.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
Légion de Lenglen HONOREE: Nominee: adidas RG fashion, Simonne-Mathieu (Greenhouse) Court, Parry (young RG winner since 2009)
Coupe LA PETIT TAUREAU: awarded on LPT Day/June 1





All for Day 2. More tomorrow.
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