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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Decade's Best: 2016 Roland Garros

As the 2010's began to wind down in Paris in 2016, the decade ended with a stretch similar to that with which it'd been ushered in -- one that embraced star-turns featuring a run of first-time slam champions.



==NEWS & NOTES==
Garbine Muguruza came to Paris with great potential for success, as long as she could keep her head about her. Two years earlier, the Spaniard had looked like a future star. A season earlier, she moved center stage in the discussion of "next first-time slam champ." In the spring of '16, Muguruza proved all the speculation right, overcoming a possibly injury-related slow start, a few tough luck losses, emotional walkabouts and unbecoming on-court squabbles with coach Sam Suymk, to once again show the ability to lift her game on the biggest stages.


After dropping her opening set in the 1st Round to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Muguruza put her head down and ran off fourteen straight sets en route to her first slam crown (and just her third overall tour title) at Roland Garros, a run that included wins over former slam champs Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sam Stosur and #1 and defending champ Serena Williams (who'd defeated her for the '15 Wimbledon title) in the final, against whom she powered her way through with aggression and big groundstrokes. Defeating Williams for the second time in Paris (w/ her '14 2nd Rd. win), Muguruza simply outplayed Serena in the championship match, adding her name to the short list of woman who've beaten the (then) 21-time major winner in her twenty-seven career slam finals. The first Spanish woman to win a slam since 1998 (Sanchez), the first to reach a slam final since 2000 (Martinez), the first South American-born (Venezuela -- she said she considers herself "50%" Venezuelan) winner since 1990 (Sabatini), and the youngest slam champ since 2012 (Azarenka), 22-year old Muguruza rose to a career-best #2 and eventually held the #1 ranking for a month later in the seaon.

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Serena Williams had been attempting to equal Steffi Graf's Open era mark of 22 slam singles titles, but for the third straight slam she'd come up short, once in the semis ('15 U.S.) and in back-to-back major finals in '16. And it was raising eyebrows. Such are the incredibly high standards for the all-time great.

The 34-year old world #1, even while seen as having taken a slight "step back" as three first-timers claimed slams since Williams had last completed her second "Serena Slam," it was was still worth noting that she'd managed to reach finals at six of seven slams, winning four. And while clay is considered her "least favored" surface, Serena had still racked up an 80-5 record on the surface since 2012.

The "panic" didn't last long, as Williams tied Graf by taking the Wimbledon ladies title a month later, then surpassed her in Australia in 2017, leaving her one short of matching Margaret Court's "all-time" record of 24 major wins. As of this post, she's gone 0-2 in slam finals in *that* attempt.
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Four unseeded players reached the quarterfinals, including Kiki Bertens. Previously known as mostly a Fed Cup star, the 24-year old was barely ranked inside the Top 100 a few months before Roland Garros when she finally had her spring awakening. She nearly carried the Netherlands into the FC final, won her first singles title in four years, then ran her winning streak to twelve matches, posting wins over four seeds (#5 Angelique Kerber, #29 Dasha Kasatkina, #15 Madison Keys and #8 Timea Bacsinszky) and becoming the first Dutch woman to reach the semis in Paris in forty-five years (Marijke Schaar '71), the first in any slam since 1977 (Betty Stove/U.S.), and the first unseeded woman from any nation to get so far at Roland Garros since 2003. Ultimately, a calf injury slowed her down just enough to prevent her from pushing #1 Serena Williams to three sets.


Meanwhile, the U.S.'s Shelby Rogers upset #17 Karolina Pliskova, Elena Vesnina, #10 Petra Kvitova (6-0/6-7(3)/6-0... oh, Petra) and #25 Irina-Camelia Begu to reach her (so far) only career slam final eight. Kazakh Yulia Putintseva upset #28 Andrea Petkovic and #12 Carla Suarez-Navarro to reach her maiden slam QF, and #102 Tsvetana Pironkova brought her slam "serial killing ways" to a whole new venue after previously mostly being a major force only on the grass at Wimbledon ('10 SF, '11 QF and '13 '4th).

The Bulgarian got past three seeds in Paris, defeating #16 Sara Errani, #19 Sloane Stephens and #2 Aga Radwanska, upsetting the Pole in a controversial match in which she trailed 6-2/3-0, and that took three days to complete, having seen suspended on its first scheduled day right when it appeared Radwanska was set to close things out, then rained out entirely the next day.

If the rain had held off for another fifteen minutes on Sunday one got the impression that Radwanska would have breezed through to her second career QF in Paris. Even after missing Monday's scheduled re-start, A-Rad's 11-2 head-to-head mark against Pironkova had seemed to signal a quick wrap-up. Another 15-20 minutes was probably going to suffice. But, well, then the conditions changed the entire ball game.
With the wet, super-slow and heavy conditions, Pironkova came out on fire, while Radwanska was out of sorts and way off her game as she lost the 2nd set. More rain seemed to possibly offer Radwanska a chance to regroup, but it just wasn't happening, as tournament officials refused to stop play on the grounds yet again. Having recently injured her wrist, Radwanska argued later that she was risking injury being forced to play in conditions with such heavy balls.

Pironkova grabbed a break lead early in the 3rd, and led 3-0 as the Pole was treated by a trainer for her wrist. The Bulgarian ran her streak to ten games (at 4-0) before Aga finally staged a brief rally. But it was too little, too late. Radwanska broke Pironkova in game #5, held for 4-2 and twice got to within getting back on serve in the 3rd set in game #7. But the Bulgarian held, then served out the match two games later for an improbable 2-6/6-3/6-3 victory, winning twelve of fifteen games to reach her first final eight in Paris.




Radwanska loudly objected to being forced to play in the conditions, as did Simona Halep that day after losing to Samantha Stosur.



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Australian Open champ Angelique Kerber had a career year in 2016, winning in Melbourne and at the U.S. Open and reaching the Wimbledon, Olympic and WTAF finals in a #1 season. But her success didn't extend to Roland Garros, the only major at which she's never reached the semifinals.

Dealing with a shoulder injury, the German became the fifth reigning AO champ in the Open era to lose in her opening match in Paris. The third since 2000, she was actually the second to fall in such a fashion in three years (Li Na '14). But that's the only way her loss to Kiki Bertens was a "true upset," though, as the Dutch woman was in the middle of a wildly successful run (the match was consecutive win #8). The loss would prove to be Kerber's first of three 1st Round RG exits in the final four years of the 2010's.

Timea Bacsinszky followed up her career-best semifinal run from 2015 with a quarterfinal finish that included a win over Venus Williams. It was her third QF-or-better slam result in the last five, after having never advanced past the 2nd Round in nineteen MD slam appearances (and four qualifying attempts) from 2005-14. In 2017, she'd reach her second RG semifinal in three years.

Meanwhile, Samantha Stosur reached the semifinal stage for the third time in the decade, defeating Simona Halep in Paris for the *third* time during the span (2010,'11 & '16). The two-day, 4th Round match was played in the same controversial, heavy, rainy conditions that caused many players, including Halep, to question the logic of forcing players to play (and risk injury) under such circumstances. The loss was the Romanian's fifth prior to the QF stage at the last seven slams.

As usual, the Aussie was a nearby participant/spectator to Roland Garros history, losing in the final four to eventual champ Garbine Muguruza. It was the third time in the 2010's -- w/ '10 Schiavone & '14 Sharapova -- that the RG champ went through Stosur to get the title. The same thing also happened in 2009 (Kuznetsova), and would occur again in '17 (Ostapenko).
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Italian prospects continued to swirl in Paris as the decade moved to 2016.

Flavia Pennetta had won the U.S. Open title the previous summer, but retired before the end of 2015. At Roland Garros, U.S. Open runner-up Roberta Vinci lost in the 1st Round, as did former RG finalist Sara Errani and '10 champ Francesca Schivavone. Camila Giorgi again failed to win more than one MD match in Paris, while Karin Knapp (3rd Rd.) turned out to be the most successful player from Italy in the competition, advancing past Victoria Azarenka in the 1st Round (via a 3rd set retirement) and reaching the 3rd Round.

Let me back up, though, because Schiavone's '16 RG experience was, shall we say, unique?

On Day 3, 35-year old lost to Kristina Mladenovic in their 1st Round match, 6-2/6-4. But the story wasn't the match, it was that Roland Garros had tweeted out the Italian tennis legend's "retirement announcement," so when the crowd gave Schiavone a standing ovation as she left the court, bending down to grab a handful for red clay dust before she stepped out of sight, it was viewed by many as a lovely, intimate final tribute to a great champion.



But it'd meant even more, you know, if the "retirement announcement" had been legitimate. Which it wasn't. And Schiavone wasn't exactly pleased with the whole thing, either. She made a point afterward to say that SHE would be in charge of when she walks away, and that this was NOT the moment when it would happen. She'd be at Wimbledon, she confirmed, and didn't seem to close the door at all on being back in Paris in 2017, either (she actually played RG in 2017 *and* '18 before walking away for good).



Early in 2016, Schiavone had narrowly missed out on a record 62nd straight slam appearance in Melbourne, not being eligible for automatic entry and then losing in qualifying, thereby failing to play in a slam MD for the first time since the 2000 Wimbledon. She rebounded well, winning her first title in nearly three years in Rio and returning to the Top 100 before the start of play at Roland Garros.
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Two-time Roland Garros champ Maria Sharapova was forced to miss the first of back-to-back visits to Paris after being given a two year suspension (she served fifteen months) for a failed drug test at the Australian Open which detected the recently banned meldonium. It was the first time the Russian hadn't appeared in Paris since before her debut there (in her second slam MD) in 2003. She'd played in the junior competition in 2002, as well.


She'd return in 2018, reaching the quarterfinals, then miss 2019 due to injury.
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Fifteen years after her Roland Garros MD debut as an 18-year old, Daniela Hantuchova was forced to go through qualifying for the first time to play in Paris for a 14th year. Ranked #172, the 33-year old Slovak accomplished the task without dropping a set in three matches. After having won in her opening RG 1st Round match in 2001 to Alexandra Stevenson (she lost in the 2nd to Conchita Martinez), Hantuchova lost her opening match to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in 2016.

Hantuchova retired in the summer of '17, ending a career that was a successful one, but hardly the spectacular one that seemed possible early on. She reached three quarterfinals in her first nine career MD appearances in majors (2001-03) and climbed as high as #5 (2003), but reached just two more (one a SF in the AO in '08, the other a U.S. QF in '13) in her final fifty-one.

Meanwhile, a year after reaching her first slam semifinal in seven years in Paris, Ana Ivanovic played in her final Roland Garros. The '08 champ lost in the 3rd Round to Elina Svitolina (being coached that season by Justine Henin - below). AnaIvo lost in the 1st Round at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in her final two slam appearances in '16, then retired before the start of the '17 campaign.

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The tournament saw the RG MD debut of teenagers Alona Ostapenko (as the #32 seed) and Naomi Osaka (ranked #101), who faced off *against* each other in the 1st Round. Osaka won 6-4/7-5, making the Latvian the First Seed Out en route to what would be a 3rd Round finish (def. by Simona Halep). By the end of the 2018 season, *both* has been crowned grand slam singles champions, with Ostapenko winning the Roland Garros title in 2017.


2014 girls champ Dasha Kasatkina (as the #29 seed) made her MD RG debut, reaching the 3rd Round, where she dropped a 10-8 3rd set to Kiki Bertens.

Elsewhere, two Romanians (Halep & Irina-Camelia Begu) reached the Round of 16 in Paris for the first time since 1997 (Spirlea & Dragomir), '09 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova reached her eleventh RG Round of 16 in thirteen years, while Sloane Stephens' run of four straight ended. Former #1 Jelena Jankovic, a three-time semifinalist ('07-08 and '10) lost in the 1st Round for a second straight year after having previously reached the 4th Round or better seven times in eight years between 2007-14.
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Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic were crowned doubles champions, becoming the first all-French duo to win in Paris since 1971. They were the first all-French *born* Pastries to win since 1945, during the WWII stretch during which the tournament doesn't recognize the results as "official" (the event during those years is referred to as the "Tournoi de France")... so they were actually the first French-born WD champs since 1926! Half of that title-winning duo from ninety years earlier? None other than "La Divine" herself, Suzanne Lenglen... for which a stadium and the women's singles championship trophy are named.

An argument could be made that the Pastries were THE dominant figures of the clay court season in '16. They went 22-1, winning four titles in Charleston, Stuttgart, Madrid and Paris. Their titles came with wins in finals over the likes of the tour's best slam title-hoarding pairs -- Hingis/Mirza (twice), Mattek-Sands/Safarova and Makarova/Vesnina -- and in the middle of their multi-month run they also delivered the deciding doubles win (over NED's Bertens/Hogenkamp) in the semifinals that sent France to the Fed Cup final for the first time since 2005. Of course, by the next spring, they'd ended their partnership in nastily public fashion after Garcia decided to focus on her singles (and also skip Fed Cup), leading Mladenovic to attack her patriotism and intelligence in very unbecoming outbursts. Come 2019, the duo "reunited" (if only between the lines, but at least it was all amicable) on the doubles court to send France into another FC final.


Venus & Serena Williams competed in the RG doubles competition for the first time since they won the title in 2010 (they'd been in the '13 draw, but withdrew after the start of play), losing in the 3rd Round to Kiki Bertens & Johanna Larsson, who'd also defeated defending champs Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova in the 1st Round..

Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza came into Roland Garros looking to complete a non-calendar Grand Slam after having won three straight majors (and gone 12-2 during the clay season), only to be upset 6-3/6-2 in the 3rd Round by young Czechs Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, who'd been crowned the girls doubles champions in 2013 (a season during which they won three-quarters of a Junior Doubles Grand Slam). The Czechs didn't decide until a few days before the tournament sign-up date to actually play together in Paris, as RG was just their third tournament together in '16. They ultimately reached the semifinals.

Krejcikova & Siniakova would go on to win the RG title two years later and become the #1-ranked doubles players at the end of the '18 season.

Hingis rebounded from her disappointing doubles result, combining with Leander Paes to win the mixed (career slam #22 - 5 WS, 12 WD, 5 MX... to which she'd add another WD and 2 MX in '17). The duo defeated Mirza and Ivan Dodig in the final, the fourth of five seeds defeated in five matches -- and completed a Career Mixed Slam that came together over the course of just six majors dating back to the 2015 AO.

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Coming into 2016, there hadn't been a woman from Turkey in a slam singles MD since Ipek Senoglu in 2010. But at this Roland Garros there were TWO, as Cagla Buyukakcay and Ipek Soylu both made it through qualifying. For Buyukakcay, it came after twenty-one failed attempts to make it through the Q-rounds at a major dating back to 2010.

For her part, Buyukakcay transformed into "the Sania Mirza of Turkey," collecting more "first Turk to" honors than she'll ever have time to admire. Leading into Paris she reached her maiden career tour-level semi and final (both firsts for Turkey) in Istanbul, where she became the first Turk to win a WTA singles title. She climbed into the Top 100 (a Turkish first, as well), qualified for Roland Garros (the first Turk in the Open era in a slam MD, with Soylu right on her heels) and even notched her first career slam MD match victory (ditto) over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Soylu lost to Virginie Razzano in the 1st Round.



Buyukakcay would go on to play MD matches for the first time at Wimbledon (2016) and the Australian Open (2017), and post additional 1st Round wins in New York ('16) and Paris ('17).
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In a 2nd Round match, French Pastry Alize Cornet defeated Germany's Tatjana Maria, 6-3/6-7(5)/6-4. Of course, as has long been the case, with Cornet, there also comes drama, controversy, (some would say) over-celebration and (often, from opponents) charges of "bending the rules" (conservatively) to fit her personality between the lines. In this case, it all revolved around cramping, questions about said cramping, medical timeouts, questions about said medical timeouts, and the scene of the French woman not looking like she was cramping during points but then complaining of severe pain between them. Needless to say, Maria wasn't pleased.






A day later, Maria was still at it, threatening a lawsuit against the various organizations for not adhering to "their own rules." And, naturally, since The Most Interesting Tour in the World was involved, Cornet and Maria *just so happened* to also be schedule to play a doubles match against each other soon after their singles dust-up. Probably smartly (hmm, or maybe not), the RG organizers scheduled it on a remote court with no TV stream. Everything went smoothly, with Cornet coming out on top again, joining with Madison Brengle to defeat Maria & Magda Linette in three sets.
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16-year old Rebeka Masarova won the RG girls singles title, joining Martina Hingis (1993-94) and Belinda Bencic (2013) as Swiss junior champions at the event. The #12 seed, Masarova defeated the #1 Olesya Pervushina (SF) and #2 Amanda Anisimova (F) en route to the title. In 2018, Masarova began to represent Spain. Anisimova was the first U.S. girl to reach the final in Paris since Ashley Harkleroad in 2002.


Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who'd lost in the semis to the eventual champion in 2014 and '15, this time around was defeated by Pervushina in the 3rd Round (Vondrousova had a MP). The 3rd Round had also seen Polish qualifier Iga Swiatek defeat #10-seeded Bannerette Sonya Kenin, then lose to Russian Anastasia Potapova (#4) in the quarterfinals.

Flashforward three years to the 2019 Roland Garros women's draw: Vondrousova reached her her maiden slam final, Anisimova reached her maiden slam semi, Swiatek reached her first Round of 16 at a major, Potapova upset #5 Angelique Kerber and Kenin took out #10 Serena Williams.

The duo of Paula Arias Manjon & Olga Danilovic (ESP/SRB) won the girls doubles.
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28-year old Marjolein Buis became the latest Dutch player to become a slam singles champion, as her maiden win at Roland Garros added her name to the list (w/ Jiske Griffioen and Aniek Van Koot) of her fellow countrywomen to win major crowns in the wake of the retirement of THE Dutch WC legend, Esther Vergeer after the 2012 season. Buis defeated the 2013 winner, Germany's Sabine Ellerbrock, 40, in the final.


Yui Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley took the doubles title, their seventh slam as a pair. They won a Grand Slam in 2014, and with this win had claimed eight of the last ten WC doubles slam titles (and Kamiji 9 of 11, having won the AO with Buis in '16).


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FASHION REPORT: French wild card Alize Lim appeared in one of the more original "get-ups"... err, I mean fashionable outfits. Well, it was something...




While countrywoman Kristina Mladenovic went (modernized) old school with a look that brought to mind the head wraps days of French tennis/fashion/cultural icon Suzanne Lenglen...

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Then there was this, an About-What-You'd-Expect moment from a meeting between Aga Radwanska and Barbora Strycova. Enjoy...

[Best About-What-You'd-Expect Moment... i.e. Aga vs. Barbora]



[from "The World According to Garbi" - June 4, 2016]

On the final Saturday of play in Paris, for Garbine Muguruza it wasn't too cold. It wasn't too hot, either. Actually, it was just right for a new Roland Garros champion.

Meanwhile, for Serena Williams, it was a catch-22.



While world #1 Williams was once again seeking career slam title #22, as well as to join Steffi Graf as the only players to win all of the four majors at least four times each, her 22-year old Spanish opponent was seeking some history of her own. It'd been eighteen years since a woman from Spain (Arantxa Sanchez '98 RG) won a major title, and sixteen since another (Conchita Martinez '00) played for such an honor in Paris. Additionally, with a victory, Venezuela-born Muguruza would become the first women's slam champion born in South America since 1990 (Gabriela Sabatini '90 U.S.).

For Serena, though, a win would be a case of gilding an already-legendary career with yet another accomplishment, one of many on her racket in 2016, one season after she fell short in her attempt for a rare Grand Slam. ... But the task at hand didn't involve records and career accomplishments, it was about besting Muguruza. And unlike most of the players Williams faces, that's not necessarily a case of if-Serena-is-on-she'll-win. The big game of the Spaniard means she's capable of challenging Williams without the defending champ needing to have an "off" day for her to have an opportunity to notch a victory. ...

Eleven months after Serena defeated her in the Wimbledon final, Muguruza got her second chance at Williams on a major final stage that has traditionally been a nondiscriminating cradle of maiden slam winners, crowning first-time slam champs of the premature (Ivanovic), moment-grabbing (Majoli, Myskina) and late-arriving (Schiavone, Li) variety with regularity over the years but, also, in true Goldilocks fashion, also showing a willingness to reward a truly special newcomer (Evert, Graf, Sanchez, Seles, Henin) at a time that was "just right," providing her with the taste of success that would be a prelude to so much more in a Hall of Fame career. ... In other words, while Williams was still the "favorite," unlike most times when Serena fails to be the last woman standing, anyone who was "shocked" or "stunned" by what happened on Court Chatrier on Sunday really hasn't been paying very close attention.

** ** **

Muguruza got the chance to serve out the match, the title, and the first moment of the rest of her life. A big forehand put her up 30/love. After a defensive volley from Muguruza, Williams pushed her reply outside the line. MP #5 had arrived, with the Spaniard up 40/love and her first slam title on her racket. Then, in an unexpected turn in a match defined by stinging groundstrokes, with Serena near the net, Muguruza lobbed a ball over her head. Williams gave chase. After initially looking as if it would go long, the ball suddenly dropped from the sky and landed in, causing even Williams to laugh at her own plight. Muguruza was just too good today. Even SHE couldn't beat her.

Welcome to the latest installment of The Most Interesting Tour in the World.


Serena applauded the shot then, after the (at first) disbelieving young Spaniard picked herself up off the terre battue, gave her a warm congratulatory hug. Muguruza had won 7-5/6-4. All tests passed. Breakthrough complete. ...

With the rare win over Serena in a slam singles final (the sixth in Williams' twenty-seven final appearances, but the second straight for the first time in her career), Muguruza concluded this Roland Garros on a fourteen-set winning streak, having been unwilling to surrender any since dropping her opening set of play on Day 2. At the time, I wondered what her ability to steady a potentially shaky ship in that first match might mean for her at this Roland Garros:

"Meanwhile, Muguruza can ponder whether this is the sort of match that can send her off on a big run at this Roland Garros, where her draw would seem to give her a brilliant chance at the QF, SF or even better result. She's 8-3 on clay this spring, and 9-2 at Roland Garros the last three years. Did the perception of her 2016 season change based on her survival in this match? Well, no... but it may have finally started the process. And that's not an unimportant thing.

It's after today that the baguettes get made."

Needless to day, the perception HAS been changed now. And Garbi has a pantry full of baguettes-for-life.



==QUOTES==
* - "It's not fair play ... She had cramps! She takes physio for her left leg because her right leg was cramping. She took a 15-minute break, and at the finish it was she who told me *I* was not [playing fair] ... Ask *her* -- I have no desire to talk to her." - an angry Tatjana Maria, following her controversial loss to dramatic Frenchwoman Alize Cornet

* - "She told me *I* was unfair. But it is *she* who was unfair, asking the umpire to give me time warnings. I did not violate the rules, and really had problems. It was tough for both of us." - Alize Cornet

* - "First it was the left leg, then the right leg ... The referee gave her a warning, then did not do anything. These are the rules. You cannot change the rules." - Tatjana Maria

* - "My husband is taking care of this ... maybe against the tournament, maybe it’s against the ITF, the WTA." - Tatjana Maria, a day after the Cornet match, threatening a lawsuit to remedy how things went down

* - "It was not the last one for me." - Francesca Schiavone, after the tournament erroneously reported that the 2010 champ was retiring

* - “I just tried to be calm even though inside I was like: ‘Aarrggh, there’s no way.'" - Garbine Muguruza, on winning the women's singles title

* - “I thought, how could Rafa have won nine of these? Right away I’m like: ‘That’s impossible to do it again.’ It’s great for us. For Spanish people this is the tournament. When you’re a kid and you practice on clay you’re always: ‘Oh, I wish I could win Roland Garros.’ Today is a great day.” - Garbine Muguruza

















All for now.
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