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Saturday, May 25, 2019

Wk.21- At Long Last, Putintseva

"It's been a long time comin', my dear
It's been a long time comin' but now it's here..."





*WEEK 21 CHAMPIONS*
STRASBOURG, FRANCE (Int'l/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Dayana Yastremska/UKR def. Caroline Garcia/FRA 6-4/5-7/7-6(3)
D: Dasha Gavrilova/Ellen Perez (AUS/AUS) d. Duan Yingying/Han Xinyun (CHN/CHN) 6-4/6-3
NUREMBERG, GERMANY (Int'l/Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Yulia Putintseva/KAZ def. Tamara Zidansek/SLO 4-6/6-4/6-2
D: Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan (CAN/CHN) d. Sharon Fichman/Nicole Melichar (CAN/USA) 4-6/7-6(5) [10-5]


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Yulia Putintseva/KAZ
...it took nearly a decade, seven seasons ranked in the Top 120 (well, #121 in '12), six career Top 10 wins, three tour-level finals, two slam QF runs (both in Paris) and a one-time Top 30 standing for Putintseva, still only 24, to finally claim her first tour title. But she did get it on Saturday in Nuremberg... after winning the tour's longest match of the season (3:21 vs. Anna-Lena Friedsam) in the QF, stiffing the attempt by her opponent (same) at a post-match handshake, leaving the court to a chorus of boos, and then coming back two rounds later from a set down in the final (vs. Tamara Zidansek) to win in three. Finally.



Putintseva hadn't won a single title on any level since 2012. She was 0-2 in WTA finals in 2017-18, but also 0-6 on the ITF circuit from 2012-15, giving her eight final match straight defeats before she won in Germany this weekend. She's the second Kazakh to lift a tour singles title, coming after Zarina Diyas' maiden triumph in 2017 (Yaroslava Shvedova's 2007 win came when she was playing for Russia).
===============================================
RISER: Caroline Garcia/FRA
...while fellow French woman Kristina Mladenovic has seen a surge in her results since last month's Fed Cup SF triumph by France, Garcia saw fit to follow suit in Strasbourg on the eve of the start of play at Roland Garros. Garcia put on her first SF/F run since her title-winning, season-gussying-up stint in Tianjin last October. She very nearly took career title #7, but came up short in a whale of a final match against Dayana Yastremka. The Ukrainian served for the match at 5-3 in 2nd, but Garcia got the break and staved off two MP. She won 7-5 to force a 3rd set, and had a MP of her own at 5-4. But the eventual TB went the teenager's way, as Yastremska took the crown on her fourth MP.



The result will inch up Garcia a little closer (#22) to a Top 20 return as she finally heads off the Paris, where she's posted QF and Round of 16 results the last two years after some early-career big stage struggles following her initial breakout performance in a loss to Maria Sharapova in 2011.
===============================================
SURPRISES: Chloe Paquet/FRA and Dasha Gavrilova/Ellen Perez, AUS/AUS
...24-year old Pastry Paquet will play (via a WC) in her second career slam MD in Paris in a few days, and she warmed up for that with her first career tour-level semifinal result in Strasbourg. It's just her second career semi in any event above a $25K challenger, and her best since a similar result in a $100K in 2016. The world #223 strung together wins over Sonya Kenin, Han Xinyun and Dasha Gavrilova en route to the final four, where she fell to Caroline Garcia. Still, Paquet now jumps 57 rankings spots to a new career high of #166.



Meanwhile, the all-Aussie duo of Gavrilova & Perez swept to the Strasbourg title in their first-ever pairing (as an alternate team fortunate enough to get into the MD), not dropping a set while upsetting #2 Hozumi/Ninomiya, #4 Jurak/Olaru (Olaru was also a defending champ) and Duan Yingying/Han Xinyun in the final. It's the first tour title for former University of Georgia player Perez (who made her AO debut in January), while Gavrilova now at least has a second career WTA WD title to help her get over what has been an otherwise disappointing season in singles (though she did win twice in *this* event, ending a five-match losing streak and reaching her first QF since October).

Gavrilova (*of course*) won her *other* tour title (Istanbul w/ Svitolina in '15) as part of an alternate duo that got into the main draw. It's the Gavrilovian way.


===============================================
VETERAN: Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...the 29-year old Romanian hasn't played in a tour singles final since 2013, but did manage to produce a semifinal run this week in Nuremberg with wins over Kirsten Flipkens, countrywoman Laura-Ioana Paar (née Andrei), and Nina Stojanovic -- the latter two in three sets. She lost to eventual champ Yulia Putintseva, but it's Cirstea's best tour result since her Nuremberg semi two years ago.
===============================================
COMEBACK: Katerina Siniakova/CZE
...the young Czech's heroics in last year's Fed Cup final haven't exactly served as a prelude to a breakthrough singles season in which her talent finally lifts her through the rankings. In fact, since January she's dropped from her career high of #31 to fighting to stay in the Top 50. She entered the week at #43 and having gone just 8-13 in singles during the '19 season. In Nuremberg, Siniakova found a way to win a trio of three-setters over Mandy Minella, Johanna Larsson (the singles DC) and Madison Brengle to reach her first WTA singles SF since a similar run at this same tournament a year ago. She lost to Tamara Zidansek in straights to end her week, and will next face qualifier Elena Rybakina in Paris.
===============================================


FRESH FACES: Dayana Yastremska/UKR and Tamara Zidansek/SLO
...the 19-year old Yastremska had done just 1-6 in tour matches since winning the Hua Hin title in February, but she at least could hold onto the fact that four of those losses were three-setters to the likes of Muguruza, Pliskova and CSN (and Gavrilova, too), with additional defeats by Barty and Mladenovic. So she hadn't completely fallen off the table in the wake of her success, she was just bettered by more experienced foes. In Strasbourg, though, she got right back on the proverbial horse.

Straight sets wins over Pauline Parmentier, Sam Stosur, Fiona Ferro and Aryna Sabalenka put the Ukrainian in her third WTA final since October. She led Caroline Garcia 6-4/5-3 and served for the match, only to fail to put it away there, nor when she had two MP on the Pastry's serve a game later. Garcia forced a 3rd set, and even had a MP of her own at 5-4. But Yastremska was the last to rally, forcing a deciding TB and winning it 7-3 on her fourth MP. Thus, she joins Petra Kvitova, Kiki Bertens and Karolina Pliskova as two-time title winners in 2019, and improves to 3-0 in career WTA singles finals. She'll jump ten spots to a career-best #32.

Meanwhile, 21-year old Zidansek reached her maiden tour singles final with a week that included wins over Misaki Doi, Ajla Tomljanvoic, Vernika Kudermetova and Katerina Siniakova. The Slovene had reached a previous '19 semi in Hua Hin a few months ago, and enters RG (1st Rd. vs. #20-seed Mertens) with a low-key 10-6 (6-2 in her last eight) mark on clay this season. She'll break into the Top 60 for the first time in the pre-Paris rankings.
===============================================
DOWN: Sara Errani/ITA
...this used to be the time when Errani shined the brightest.

From 2012-15, the Italian recorded four straight QF-or-better singles results in Paris, reaching her lone major final in '12. At the same time, she teamed with Roberta Vinci to play in three consecutive RG double finals, winning the first of five slam crowns together in '12. Since 2016, though, she's only won two matches in Paris, a 1st Round singles match in '16 and her opener in doubles a year ago. A two-pronged drug test suspension (served even while her reasoning was ultimately accepted by the appropriate board of "deciders" on these matters) has set her back greatly in recent seasons as she's had to essentially "start over" in the rankings. Twice. She hasn't played in a WTA singles final in three years, nor one in doubles for almost a year and a half. Her last Top 10 was in 2015.

The 32-year old entered the week ranked #286 in singles (the former WD #1 was #414 there), and rather than preparing for RG (or fighting in the Q-rounds to reach the MD in Paris) found herself in the qualifying of Nuremberg. She lost in her first match, 6-4/6-3 to Cypriot Raluca Serban. Even her best recent result -- a QF in Bogota in April -- came in the role of a lucky loser who somehow made it through two MD rounds despite producing a DF total that would make Anna Kournikova blush in her ill-serving prime.

The last time Errani didn't appear in a singles draw at Roland Garros (Q or MD) was 2006.

As the last remaining member of the Greatest Italian Generation of women's tennis stars, how much longer will/can Errani hold on? With the Olympics a year away, and the relatively few top Italian stars who have followed in the Pennetta/Schiavone/Errani/Vinci wake (though a few did make noise in RG qualifying this week), one wonders if she might be eyeing Tokyo as an opportunity, goal and maybe even a conclusion, all wrapped up in one.
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NCAA PLAYER: ??
...the NCAA women's singles champion will be decided on Saturday night, as Georgia freshman Katrina Jokic (SRB) will try to do one better than she and her teammates did in last weekend's team final, facing off with Miami junior Estela Perez-Sommariba (ESP).

Jokic would be the fourth Georgia Bulldog to be crowned the WS champ, the first since Chelsey Gullickson in 2010. Miami's long singles winner was Audra Cohen in 2007.

UPDATE: Perez-Somarriba won...



2019 Australian Open semifinalist Danielle Collins (Va.) won the singles in 2014 and '16. Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) won back-to-back titles in 2012-13.

The women's doubles title will decided between Kate Fahey/Brienne Minor (Michigan) and Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield (UCLA). Minor won the singles at the NCAA Championships in 2017 and played in the U.S. Open MD that summer.

UPDATE: Andrews/Broomfield won...

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JUNIOR STAR: ??
...the Grade A Milan clay court event final will be decided between Bannerette Alexa Noel and Burundian Sada Nahimana. #6-seeded Noel defeated Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, who'd upset #2 Hurricane Tyra Black and #7 Anna Charaeva, in the semis, while Nahimana posted wins over #3 Emma Navarro, Maria Timofeeva (RUS) and Canadian Melodie Collard (w/ wins over Dana Guzman, Diana Shnaider, #9 Elli Mandlik and #14 Oksana Selekhmeteva) in the semis.

Noel, 16, is the #19-ranked girl and has already recorded RU (G1 Barranquilla) and SF (GA Porto Alegre) results in big events this season. She won the Grade 1 Astrid Bowl iN Belgium last year, as well. Just-turned-18 Nahimana's best big tournament result is a G1 runner-up in Casablanca in the spring of '18.
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DOUBLES: Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan, CAN/CHN
...in the rough-and-tumble-dry world of WTA doubles, nothing ever seems to last very long. But while Strasbourg champs Gavrilova/Perez were first-time partners, Dabrowski/Xu have been a regular duo for going on three seasons, and even survived as a pair after going title-less for eleven months. After not winning together since last June in Eastbourne, the twosome claimed their first clay court trophies together in Nuremberg (after being RU in Madrid earlier this month). The #1 seeds, they defeated #3 Atawo/Srebotnik (Srebotnik won the '18 crown with Schuurs) in the semis to reach their seventh career final without dropping a set. They lost the 1st vs. Fichman/Melichar in the championship match, but rallied and took their WTA crown via a 10-5 match TB. It's the ninth career title for both women.

Although...



One or both may have a future partner should they ever finally get tired of each other's company.
===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: ??
...the Open de Vendee Series 2 event will be decided between quite possibly the wheelchair tour's most improved player of 2019 -- 27-year old Italian Giulia Capocci, the world #5 currently riding an eight-match winning streak -- and Argentina's #17-ranked Maria Florencia Moreno.

Capocci has already won the doubles with Saki Takamuro, and recorded a singles win over Lucy Shuker. Moreno has upset the likes of Michaela Spaanstra, Katharina Kruger and Manami Tanaka.

Maybe a little of Serena's shine recently rubbed on off on Capocci...?


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



*TOP Q-PLAYERS*
1. Elena Rybakina, KAZ (19, #135)
...with her one year anniversary of representing Kazakhstan right around the corner, the Russian-born #22 seed posted wins over Liang En-shuo, Rebecca Marino (from 7-5/4-2 down) and #12 Nao Hibino to set up her slam MD debut in Paris. Rybakina has gone 3-1 in ITF finals this season.

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Nice day in Paris??

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2. Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (20, #161)
...the 20-year will make her slam MD debut after being the only surivor to record multiple wins over seeded players in the RG qualifying competition this week, adding victories over #23 Sachia Vickery and #10 Marie Bouzkova to her opening round squeaker over Martina Di Giuseppe, 6-7(4)/7-5/7-6(2).


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3. Antonia Lottner, GER (22, #149)
...after losing in the final round of AO qualifying in January, Lottner will make her RG debut after opening with a win over #7-seed Ysaline Bonaventure, the finishing with another over Georgina Garcia Perez. Lottner didn't lose a set in her three matches.


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*OTHER RG QUALIFIERS*
Anna Blinkova, RUS (20/#120) - the last of three Hordettes to qualify for the MD, Blinkova finally makes her RG MD debut after doing so at the other three majors in 2017-18
Aliona Bolsova, ESP (21/#140) - the Spaniard makes her slam MD debut. She's 10-6 on clay this year.
Giulia Gatto-Monticone, ITA (31/#167) - the Italian vet makes her slam MD debut. GGM reached her career high (#162) in April, and before this week's run had only played *two* matches at the slam level in her career -- Q1 U.S. Open loses in 2011 and '14.
Kristina Kucova, SVK (29/#189) - she didn't lose a set, but didn't play a seed. Kucova is 0-2 in the RG main draw.
Varvara Lepchenko, USA (33/#130) - the oldest slam qualifier so far in '19, Lepchenko also went the Q-route in Melbourne. She reached the RG Round of 16 in 2012.
Kurumi Nara, JPN (27/#236) - wins over Swiss women #3 Bacsinszky and Perrin did the trick, as Nara will get a chance for her first slam MD win since the '17 U.S. Open. Last season she went on a 2-14 slide, including ten straight losses in the spring. After a 5-3 finish, she's gone 17-9 this season.
Jasmine Paolini, ITA (23/#210) - the Italian didn't lose a set en route to securing her slam debut spot. She's played 25 clay matches this season, winning 17.
Bernarda Pera, USA (24/#83) - the #1 seed came back from a break down three times in the 3rd vs. #21 Juvan in the final Q-round. She'll play in her sixth straight slam MD.
Sofya Zhuk, RUS (19/#169) - the '15 Wimbledon girls champ makes her RG debut. Her big win this week was over #20-seeded Arantxa Rus.

*RG LUCKY LOSERS*
Timea Babos, HUN (26/#138) - though she lost in qualifying to Bolsova, Babos keeps her consecutive slam MD streak alive. She's played in twenty in a row.
Marie Bouzkova, CZE (20/#121) - the '14 U.S. Open junior champ, her RG debut comes after falling to Samsonova in the final Q-round


1. Strasbourg Final - Dayana Yastremska def. Caroline Garcia
...6-4/5-7/7-6(3). A hard fought final a day before the start of MD play in Paris, with Yastremska becoming the fourth player this year to win a singles title after facing down MP. Of course, *that* came after she'd served for the match up a set and 5-3, and held two MP at 5-4. Garcia had a MP at 5-4 in the 3rd, but Yastremska grabbed her second '19 title by winning the deciding TB.


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2. Nuremberg QF - Yulia Putintseva def. Anna-Lena Friedsam
...7-5/6-7(5)/7-6(2). In 3:21, the longest match on tour this season, Putintseva won her toughest battle en route to her maiden title. And then came her impromptu "The Art of Winning Friends and Influencing People" seminar...




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3. RG Q3 - #1 Bernarda Pera def. #21 Kaja Juvan
...6-4/1-6/7-6(1). 18-year old Juvan came oh so close to making her slam MD debut. She was up a break three times in the 3rd, and had a chance to serve out the win at 5-4 (she got within two points). In the end, she still recorded nine more points than Pera in the match.
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4. RG Q1 - #23 Sachia Vickery def. Claire Liu
...4-6/6-3/7-6(10). In a match that didn't end until nearly 9:30 pm, two Bannerettes battled in a dramatic affair. Liu held for 4-4 in the 3rd in a 24-minute game in which she saved eight BP. Vickery -- with an MTO, racket abuse violation and argument over challenging a call -- saved three MP before getting through.
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5. RG Q1 - Rebecca Marino def. Tessah Andrianjafitrimo 6-7(5)/6-4/7-5
RG Q1 - #22 Elena Rybakova def. Rebecca Marino 5-7/7-6(4)/6-4
...Marino arrived from Japan after winning a $60K carpet title, but was able to overcome a 5-1 3rd set deficit (saving 2 MP) to defeat the Pastry. But it all eventually caught up with the Canadian a day later, as she lost a 7-5/4-2 lead against Rybakina in a match in which she fired 37 winners and had three more total points than the Kazakh.
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6. RG Q1 - Katie Swan def. #2 Jil Teichmann 6-4/6-2
RG Q2 - Katie Swan def. Wang Xiyu 6-4/0-6/7-5
RG Q3 - Kristina Kucova def. Katie Swan 6-4/7-5
...recently back from injury, Swan topped Prague champ Teichmann and staged a comeback from 5-3 down in the 3rd vs. Wang. She couldn't get past Kucova to reach her first slam MD outside of SW19, but sometimes even a defeat is a victory in itself...


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7. RG Q1 - #11 Whitney Osuigwe def. Myrtille Georges
...2-6/7-6(3)/7-5. The '17 RG junior champ, who barely missed out on the USTA's WC into the MD, came back from 3-0 and Georges being up a break three times in the deciding set. Surprisingly, though, she went out 0-6/6-3/6-1 a round later to Allie Kiick.
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8. RG Q2 - Valentini Grammatikopoulou def. #5 Heather Watson
...7-5/6-7(6)/7-6(3). Watson served for the match at 5-3, 40/15, but ultimately lost the 2:46 contest. With Katie Boulter out injured and Watson and Swan losing in qualifying, Jo Konta is the only Brit in the RG MD.
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9. RG Q1 - Rebecca Sramkova def. #24 Peng Shuai
...3-6/7-6(5)/6-0. Peng led 5-2 in the 2nd set TB, only to drop nine straight points and then the 3rd set at love.
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10. RG Q1 - Robin Anderson def. #17 Barbora Krejickova
...6-4/2-6/5-1 ret. So much for that 18-1 ITF record (the last 15 wins in a row). Krejcikova is 1-2 in slam qualifying this year.
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HM- RG Q1 - #8 Natalia Vikhlyantseva def. Yanina Wickmayer
...6-3/6-0. The last time the Waffle wasn't in the MD in Paris was 2007.


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day off in Paris ??

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*2019 WTA #1 SEED WON TITLE*
Brisbane - Arya Sabalenka, BLR [def. Tsurenko]
Budapest - Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL [def. Vondrousova]
Nuremberg - YULIA PUTINTSEVA, KAZ [def. Zidansek]
[doubles]
Hobart - Chan/Chan, TPE/TPE [def. Flipkens/Larsson]
Istanbul - Babos/Mladenovic, HUN/FRA [def. Guarachi/Santamaria]
Rabat - Martinez-Sanchez/Sorribes T, ESP/ESP [def. Garcia Perez/Kalashnikova]
Nuremberg - DABROWSKI/XU YIFAN, CAN/CHN [def. Fichman/Melichar]

*2019 WTA FINALS*
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2-2)
3 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (2-1)
2 - Kiki Bertens, NED (2-0)
2 - DAYANA YASTREMSKA, UKR (2-0)
2 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (1-1)
2 - Ash Barty, CAN (1-1)
2 - Sonya Kenin, USA (1-1)
2 - Simona Halep, ROU (0-2)
2 - Johanna Konta, GBR (0-2)
2 - Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (0-2)

*2019 WTA TEEN CHAMPIONS*
17 - Amanda Anisimova, USA (Bogota -def.Sharma)
18 - Dayana Yastremska, UKR(Hua Hin-def.Tomljanovic)
18 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (I.Wells-def.Kerber)
19 - DAYANA YASTREMSKA, UKR (Strasbourg-def.Garcia)

*2019 WTA FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS*
Hobart - Sonya Kenin, USA (20/#56)
Acapulco - Wang Yafan, CHN (24/#65)
Indian Wells - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (18/#60)
Bogota - Amanda Anisimova, USA (17/#76)
Istanbul - Petra Martic, CRO (28/#40)
Prague - Jil Teichmann, SUI (21/#146)
Rabat - Maria Sakkari, GRE (23/#51)
Nuremberg - YULIA PUTINTSEVA, KAZ (24/#39)

*2019 WTA FIRST-TIME FINALISTS*
Auckland - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (#152, 18, Q)
Hobart - Sonya Kenin, USA (#56, 20) [W]
Acapulco - Wang Yafan, CHN (#65, 24) [W]
Lugano - Iga Swiatek, POL (#115, 17)
Bogota - Astra Sharma, AUS (#138, 23)
Prague - Jil Teichmann, SUI (#146, 21, Q) [W]
Prague - Karolina Muchova, CZE (#106, 22, WC)
Nuremberg - TAMARA ZIDANSEK, SLO (#68, 21)

*2019 WTA FIRST-TIME SEMIFINALISTS*
Auckland - Bianca Andreescu, CAN [RU]
Lugano - Iga Swiatek, POL [RU]
Lugano - Fiona Ferro, FRA
Bogota - Astra Sharma, AUS [RU]
Prague - Jil Teichmann, SUI [W]
Prague - Karolina Muchova, CZE [RU]
Strasbourg - CHLOE PAQUET, FRA

*NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS*
[recent singles winners]
2009 Mallory Cecil, Duke (USA)
2010 Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia (USA)
2011 Jana Juricova, California (SVK)
2012 Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA)
2013 Nicole Gibbs, Stanford (USA)
2014 Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA)
2015 Jamie Loeb, North Carolina (USA)
2016 Danielle Collins, Virginia (USA)
2017 Brienne Minor, Michigan (USA)
2018 Arianne Hartono, Mississippi (NED)
2019 Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (ESP)
[recent doubles winners]
2010 Hilary Barte / Lindsay Burdette (Stanford)
2011 Hilary Barte / Mallory Burdette (Stanford)
2012 Mallory Burdette / Nicole Gibbs (Stanford)
2013 Kaitlyn Christian / Sabrina Santamaria (USC)
2014 Maya Jansen / Erin Routcliffe (Alabama)
2015 Maya Jansen / Erin Routcliffe (Alabama)
2016 Brooke Austin / Kourtney Keegan (Florida)
2017 Francesca Di Lorenzo / Miho Kowase (Ohio State)
2018 Jessica Golovin / Eden Richardson (LSU)
2019 Gabby Andrews / Ayan Broomfield (UCLA)



*ROLAND GARROS "Q-PLAYER OF THE WEEK" WINNERS*
2006 Julia Vakulenko/UKR
2007 Timea Bacsinszky/SUI & Raluca Olaru/ROU
2008 Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP & Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
2009 Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ
2010 Kaia Kanepi/EST
2011 Sloane Stephens/USA
2012 Kiki Bertens/NED
2013 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova/SVK
2014 Grace Min/USA
2015 Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR
2016 Viktorija Golubic/SUI
2017 Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
2018 Francesca Schiavone/ITA
2019 Elena Rybakina/KAZ
[2019 slams]
AO: Astra Sharma, AUS
RG: Elena Rybakina, KAZ

*YOUNGEST 2019 SLAM...*
=WC=
RG - Diane Parry, FRA (16)
AO - Whitney Osuigwe, USA (16)
RG - Selena Janicijevic, FRA (16)
AO - Clara Burel, FRA (17)
AO - Destanee Aiava, AUS (18)
AO - Kimberly Birrell, AUS (20)
AO - Priscilla Hon, AUS (20)
=Q=
AO - Iga Swiatek, POL (17)
AO - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (18)
RG - Sofya Zhuk, RUS (19)
RG - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (19)
AO - Anna Kalinsakya, RUS (20)
RG - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (20)
RG - Anna Blinkova, RUS (20)

=OLDEST 2019 SLAM...=
=WC=
AO - Peng Shuai, CHN (33)
=Q=
RG - Varvara Lepchenko, USA (33)
AO - Varvara Lepchenko, USA (32)
RG - Giulia Gatto-Monticone, ITA (31)
RG - Kristina Kucova, SVK (29)
=LL=
RG - Timea Babos, HUN (26)
RG - Maria Bouzkova, RUS (20)

=MAKING SLAM MD DEBUTS=
=WC=
AO - Kimberly Birrell, AUS
AO - Clara Burel, FRA
AO - Zoe Hives, AUS
RG - Audrey Albie, FRA
RG - Selena Janicijevic, FRA
RG - Diane Parry, FRA
=Q=
AO - Paula Badosa Gibert, ESP
AO - Ysaline Bonaventure, ESP
AO - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
AO - Astra Sharma, AUS
AO - Iga Swiatek, POL
RG - Aliona Bolsova, ESP
RG - Giulia Gatto-Monticone, ITA
RG - Jasmine Paolini, ITA
RG - Elena Rybakina, KAZ
RG - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS

=LOW-RANKED 2019 SLAM QUALIFIERS=
#240 - Jessika Ponchat, FRA (AO)
#236 - Kurumi Nara, JPN (RG)
#230 - Astra Sharma, AUS (AO)
#210 - Jasmine Paolini, ITA (RG)
#189 - Kristina Kucova, SVK (RG)
#178 - Iga Swiatek, POL (AO)
#176 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (AO)
#169 - Sofya Zhuk, RUS (RG)
#167 - Anna Kalinsakaya, RUS (AO)
#167 - Giulia Gatto-Monticone, ITA (RG)
#161 - Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (RG)
#158 - Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL (AO)
=LL=
#138 - Timea Babos, HUN (RG)
#121 - Marie Bouzkova, RUS (RG)

=Q/WC STREAKS - through 2019 RG=
Priscilla Hon, AUS - 2 consecutive slam wild cards
Varvara Lepchenko USA - 2 consecutive slams as qualifier
Chloe Paquet, FRA - 3 consecutive RG wild cards
Jessika Ponchet, FRA - 2019 AO qualifer + 2019 RG wild card

















Karmic Kiki = good fashion karma, too?


All for now. Daily Backspin on Sunday.
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