Backspin Sites

Monday, June 24, 2019

Wk.25- Barty On, Ash

Oh, I see. So Ash Barty is just going to take over the entire season? I gotcha.



First there was her breakthrough slam Down Under, followed by some Fed Cup brilliance. Next came Miami, the Top 10, and *more* Fed Cup heroics. A Roland Garros title run is barely in her rearview mirror, but the Aussie has already moved on to the grass season and won *there*, too. And now she's the #1 ranked player in the world.

via GIPHY


Hmmm...with the slam played on her favorite surface starting in one week's time, as well as an entire hard court summer, on deck. Oh, yeah. And there's *still* the Fed Cup final at the end of 2019, too.

So Ash Barty *is* just going to take over the entire season. Okay, then.




*WEEK 25 CHAMPIONS*
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (Premier/Grass Outdoor)
S: Ash Barty/AUS def. Julia Goerges/GER 6-3/7-5
D: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (TPE/CZE) d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Demi Schuurs (GER/NED) 6-4/6-7(4) [10-8]
MALLORCA, SPAIN (Int'l/Grass Outdoor)
S: Sonya Kenin/USA def. Belinda Bencic/SUI 6-7(2)/7-6(5)/6-4
D: Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson (BEL/SWE) d. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/Sara Sorribes-Tormo (ESP/ESP) 6-2/6-4
FED CUP - ASIA/OCEANIA II
PP (Dushanbe, Tajikistan/HCO): Taiwan def. Singapore 2-0
PP (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/HCO): Uzbekistan def. Hong Kong 2-1


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ash Barty/AUS
...even in the shadow of her win in Paris, there was a sense that Barty wasn't finished. She *still* might not be.

With the opportunity to be the first Aussie woman to reach #1 since Evonne Goolagong (she of similar Indigenous heritage, it should be noted) becoming a reality after Naomi Osaka's early loss, Barty seized it in Birmingham. She didn't drop a set while defeating the likes of Donna Vekic, Jennifer Brady, Venus Williams, Barbora Strycova and Julia Goerges, becoming the first player this season to win three titles (on three different surfaces, naturally) and matching Belinda Bencic's season-best mark with her twelfth straight win.

Best of all, never once was there a mention of any of that oh-she-can't-win-again-so-soon-after-her-first-major-title-because-everything-has-changed-forever-and-she's-just-a-young-woman-after-all-so-we-shouldn't-expect-so-much nonsense. Barty may or may not win another big title soon, but if she doesn't please don't start (as was recently the case *after* a player had won her *second* major, making it all the more ridiculous) with the let-the-losses-slide excuse-making about being "the hunted" rather than the "hunter." Please.




Actually, the Aussie's only disappointing moment all week might have been having to let Andy Murray down easy (though I'm sure he won't be left standing alone with his racket and a bucket of balls at the AELTC, so no worries)...



It was only right, though. Ash could very well be working all the way until the final weekend of the forthcoming fortnight.


===============================================
RISERS: Belinda Bencic/SUI and Petra Martic/CRO
...Bencic looked well on her way to claiming her second career grass court title in Mallorca, the third different tour-level event on the surface at which she'd reached a singles final (after playing in the Rosmalen deciding and winning Eastbourne in '15) in her pro career since winning the SW19 girls crown in 2013. She'd put up impressive wins over Amanda Anisimova and Angelique Kerber, coming back late in the 2nd in the latter to force a 3rd set and winning it in a TB, to get the chance. Her entire week in Spain has gone well, in fact. Her win over Kerber was her tour-best third over a #1 seed this season (no one else has more than one) and her eight Top 10 victory of '19 (tying her career single-year best with five months of season remaining). She and Viktoria Kuzmova even put out #1-seeds Elise Mertens & Zhang Shuai in the QF.

In the final, Bencic led Sonya Kenin 7-6/5-4, only to produce a three-DF game (en route to 13 for the match), squander three MP, and then see the Bannerette get a late 3rd set break and serve serve out a 6-4 set to steal away with the title.

It was still a great week for the #13-ranked player in the world, as she improved to 33-12 on the season. But this one will likely sting for a while.



In Birmingham, Martic was on the *other* end of an unlikely match result. After having put together one of the spring's best clay court seasons, during which she won her maiden tour title and reached her first career slam QF, the 28-year old Croat kicked off her grass season with her first semifinal on the surface. After wins over Russians Ekaterina Alexandrova and Margarita Gasparyan, Martic trailed Alona Ostapenko 7-6/5-2, and stared down 5 MP before ultimately coming out on top against the suddenly error-ridden game of the Latvian. She fell a round later to Julia Goerges, but this week returns to the career high ranking of #24 that she established two weeks ago.


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


SURPRISE: Kristyna Pliskova/CZE
...nine years after she won the Wimbledon junior title, Kristyna had another major career moment on English grass courts. After qualifying in Birmingham, the Czech knocked off Viktoriya Tomova in the 1st Round to set up a rare match (the first in six years) against her twin Karolina.

While her sister is the "Ace Queen," Kristyna is the twin who holds the record for aces in a match (31 in '16), and with the 24 she fired in this meeting she's now the only women in history with *three* matches in which she had 23 or more. Finally, after having lost on the other two occasions, Kristyna got the win this time. Her first career Top 5 victory, albeit at the expense of a family member, will lift her back into the Top 100 on Monday. Fellow Czech Barbora Strycova ended her run a round later.


===============================================
VETERANS: Julia Goerges/GER and Angelique Kerber/GER
...finally healthy and with a new coach (Sebastian Sachs) -- and just in time, too -- Goerges looks ready to have a go at defending her '18 Wimbledon semifinal. Playing on grass for the first time since her last visit to SW19, the German quickly put behind her her 7-11 slide since successfully defending her Auckland title in January. In Birmingham, the 30-year old defeated Dayana Yastremska (a two-time '19 title winner and former Wimbledon girls finalist), Evgeniya Rodina, Yulia Putintseva (a round after she upset #1 Naomi Osaka) and Petra Martic to reach the final. She lost to Ash Barty, but it was one of those odd/interesting tennis situations where the runner-up was seemingly as happy for the winner (who was also her doubles partner for the week, until they pulled out at the SF stage because their schedule was already full) as she'd been had *she* won, and both went about heaping praise on the other afterward for how great a person they were. And it was sincere, too.



In Mallorca, Goerges' 31-year old countrywoman Kerber gave at least some (hopefully) reliable evidence that she might be able to be playing at an optimal enough level to make her Wimbledon title defense interesting. In her first grass event since winning in SW19 (since which she's yet to win a title, and reached just one final), the German knocked off Ysaline Bonaventure, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Garcia to reach the semifinals. She appeared ready to go a step further, but wasn't able to close out Belinda Bencic in the 2nd set and then saw the Swiss beat her to the punch in the 3rd.

In her two previous slam defense attempts ('17 AO and US), Kerber failed to reach the QF stage in either Melbourne (4r) or New York (1r). But she's had more QF+ results at SW19 (4) than at any other major, so we'll how this goes.
===============================================


COMEBACK: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...sure, things didn't end will in Birmingham for Ostapenko. But, my, when things *were* going her way, she looked as Thunder-like as she has in quite some time.




After opening by allowing just two games to Iga Swiatek (in a match-up of former SW19 girls champs), Ostapenko defeated Johanna Konta in straight sets to end her 0-5 slump vs. the Top 20 in 2019 and reach her first QF of the season. Against Petra Martic, she led 7-6/5-2 and held 5 MP and, well, we'll just leave it at that. Needless to say, what happened involved a lot of unforced errors and the Croat celebrating in the end. Meanwhile, in doubles, the Latvian (w/ Galina Voskoboeva) upset #3-seeded Melichar/Peschke ('18 WI finalists) and reached the semifinals.

On the bright side, '18 Wimbledon semifinalist (yeah, so she's ranked #35 and will soon be defending *that*) Ostapenko showed that the Latvian Thunder moves *are* still in her. She just has to find a way to calm some of the between-the-lines demons that make her burn so hot but *also* so cold that results like the one against Martic are not only possible, but not exactly all that surprising.

Psst, new coach, new coach, new coach...

No, Alona, not "New Coke" (are you watching "Stranger Things" or something?)... new *coach.*
===============================================
FRESH FACE: Sonya Kenin/USA
...Kathy Rinaldi's grooming of Kenin in Fed Cup competition seems to have paid some dividends for both women. The 20-year old clinched the last FC tie for the U.S., and the match toughness the Bannerette has picked up in such atmospheres had led to some mighty personal results in 2019. Her maiden tour singles title in Hobart opened the season, and her upset of Serena Williams at Roland Garros en route to her first slam Round of 16 sent Kenin into the grass season with fully blossoming confidence. This weekend in Mallorca, she picked up her second title (and first on grass) in what she dubbed her "special tournament," knocking off Kirsten Flipkens, Ons Jabeur (ret.), Elise Mertens, three-time finalist Anastasija Sevastova and Belinda Bencic in the final. Against the Swiss, Kenin saw Bencic serve for the title with a set and 5-4 lead and hold three MP, only to fall in a 2nd set TB before Kenin break for 5-4 in the 3rd and served out the championship. Kenin is the sixth 2019 singles champion to come back from MP down to take the title.



Kenin will move up two spots to a new career high of #28 on Monday, hot on the heels of the likes of Andreescu, Anisimova and Muguruza (#25-27, and all within 101 points head of her).
===============================================
DOWN: Naomi Osaka/JPN and Elina Svitolina/UKR
...first it was dubbed "it's all new as the world #1" growing pains, with a touch of post-Sascha "figuring things out," and then came the clay court "learning curve," soon replaced by the "difficulties of the transition to grass." Now Osaka has finally lost her #1 ranking (after managing to dodge multiple attempts to swipe it for months, but not because of anything *she* did to prevent it). At some point, I suppose she'll be given something other than a "yeah, but..." pass for slipping back into many of her old ways, but it looks like that moment hasn't arrived *yet.* Still, trends matter, even when they overlap with the unique grass season.



Since winning in Melbourne, in four months, Osaka has lost six times (w/ two more walkovers) as the world #1. She's recorded 13 wins in the stretch, but when she's been beaten it has often been in very "pre-2018" ways: ousted in straights or after blowing leads, usually while looking lost and frustrated, and always firing far too many wayward shots, as all occurred during her 2 & 3 2nd Round defeat by Yulia Putintseva this week in Birmingham (after which she skipped all media access, something which the tour simply can't allow its #1 ranked player to slide by on). Essentially, Osaka has somewhat devolved into the talented but up-and-down prodigy she was *before* what she developed into in 2018. Will the trend continue through the end of the summer, and if it does will it stir any high-placed eyebrows to be raised? We'll soon see, I guess.

Speaking of trends, what of Svitolina? Can it actually almost be *July* and she's yet to win a title, or even reached a final?

Most of the Ukrainian's season has seen her either perform poorly in the clutch, be injured or seemingly distracted by things other than her tennis. Or precisely how 2019 should *not* have gone after her big-time close-out of 2018, which finally included a huge title in Singapore at the WTA Finals which *should* have sent her into this season on wings (as has occurred with Barty's win in the otherwise-forgettable-at-best late-year "Elite" Trophy).

Svitolina started the season 13-4, but since her QF defeat of Marketa Vondrousova in Indian Wells, beginning with a SF loss to Bianca Andreescu (hmmm, didn't Kiki M.'s bad run start with loss to the Canadian, too? Hmmm.), she's gone 1-6, including a three-set 1st Round defeat at the hands of Margarita Gasparyan this past week in Mallorca. Even during her good start, she didn't bear much resemblance to the player who toughed out the WTAF title in November. She'll drop another spot to #8 this week, and hasn't been outside the Top 10 since May 2017.

So, surely, Svitolina is busy regaining her focus, keying in on the process necessary to reverse her slide, right?



Well, maybe that'll happen after her early-round exit at the All-England Club.
===============================================


ITF PLAYER: Monica Niculescu/ROU
...with four SW19 wild cards having been awarded, a fifth was waiting for the winner of the $100K Ilkley final match-up between #142 Niculescu and #139 Timea Babos. 31-year old Niculescu's only other grass court final came in the tour-level '15 Nottingham event (def. Konjuh), and her 6-2/4-6/6-3 victory over Babos (in her first grass singles final since a 2009 $10K, and with just a 3-7 career mark at Wimbledon) gives the Romanian a third career $100K crown. It's her biggest title since a WTA 125 win in Limoges in 2017. Niculescu had posted earlier wins over Luksika Kumkhum, Robin Anderson, Tereza Smitkova and Jana Cepelova.
===============================================
View this post on Instagram

????

A post shared by ??Polina Kudermetova?? (@p.kudermetova) on



JUNIOR STAR: Polina Kudermetova/RUS
...after a few weeks during which older sister Veronika has posted some career-best results (RG 3rd Round, her first WTA semi), 15-year old Polina apparently saw it as her cue to take action. The girls #79, Kudermetova claimed her first career Grade 1 crown in Berlin, doing so without dropping a set all week and wrapping things up with a SF win over #2-seeded Marta Custic and 6-2/6-0 victory over Denmark's Hannah Viller Møller (jr. #436, who sprouted up from the draw after having been competing in Grade 4 events -- w/ QF-SF-RU results -- in recent outings).

View this post on Instagram

Ups! Winner G1??

A post shared by ??Polina Kudermetova?? (@p.kudermetova) on


===============================================
DOUBLES: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova (TPE/CZE) and Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson (BEL/SWE)
...while other duos got a head start on them (and have had a good deal many more outings), Hsieh & Strycova's Birmingham title run made the 33-year old pair the first WD team to win three titles in 2019.



After surviving a 10-8 match tie-break vs. Jurak/Srebotnik early in the week, Hsieh/Strycova got a retirement from Atawo/L.Kichenok and defeated Ostapenko/Voskoboeva to reach their fourth WTA final as a pair since first teaming up (on a one-event basis) in Indian Wells last year. As it turned out, they ended the week as it began, by winning a 10-8 TB to defeat Groenefeld/Schuurs (0-3 in finals together in '19) and improved their record to 4-0 in title-deciders. They've won their three titles this season on three different surfaces, and are now a combined 19-5 (w/ an additional 5-0 in '18). Strycova now has 26 career WTA WD titles, while Hsieh has 23. Hopefully this made up for Strycova defeating Hsieh in singles last week en route to the semifinals.



In Mallorca, Flipkens & Larsson took the title to claim their second WTA title as a pair (2-4 in finals back to '16), winning a 28-point match TB over Rosmalen champs Aoyama/Krunic in the semis, then defeating Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez (a DC) & Sara Sorribes Tormo (in for Andrea Klepac) 2 & 4 in the final. It's title #14 for Larsson, but (a little surprisingly) just the fifth for Flipkens, who really only greatly increased her doubles output in recent years. All eleven of her tour-level WD finals have come since 2016, three years after she reached the Wimbledon semis in singles in '13.
===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN
...Zhu won't be in the Wimbledon singles draw, but she's posted wins this season over a quite a few players who will. This week, the 30-year old won the Series 2 Czech Open crown with victories over top-seeded Lucy Shuker in the 1st Round, then Argentina's Maria Florencia Moreno in the final. She's put together a 14-match winning streak since August, a run that included wins over Jordanne Whiley (2), Charlotte Famin, Dana Mathewson and (again) Shuker. Prior to the streak, she recorded '19 wins over Giulia Capocci and Manami Tanaka.
===============================================
FED CUP MVP's: Hsu Chieh-yu/TPE and Nigina Abduraimova/Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)
...over the past two weeks, some additional FC zone competition took place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and Kuala Lumpur as two nations advanced out of Asia/Oceania II to one level higher for 2020.

Two weekends ago, Taiwan repeated its path from the end of 2018 by claiming the one half of the A/O II zone, defeating Singapore 2-0 in the promotional playoff. While the Chan sisters contributed two doubles wins in round robin play in TPE's undefeated week, and teenager Liang En-shuo provided the clinching singles win in the PP, I'll single out Hsu's performance, largely because she'd never come close to anything like it in Fed Cup before. The 27-year old has won a handful of ITF titles over the years (5 in WS, 18 in WD), but she'd been 0-5 in singles in her FC career before going 3-0 here, accounting for nearly half of Taiwan's eight total points during the week.



This past week in Kuala Lumpur, Uzbekistan advanced from the other half of A/O II, defeating Hong Kong in a deciding doubles match in the promotional playoff. Undefeated in RR play, the Uzbekis were put behind the proverbial 8-ball when HKG's Wu Ho Ching upset Nigina Abduraimova in the opening singles match of the tie. Sabina Sharipova leveled things with a win over Eudice Chong, and then Abduraimova teamed with UZB's all-time FC queen Akgul Amanmuradova to win a 6-2/4-6/6-3 deciding doubles match over Chong & Wong Hong Yi Cody (who were playing their first WD match together for HKG).


Meanwhile, with Fed Cup action comes Heart Awards... just not for the action that just took place, or that anyone really likely remembers the details of. So *why not* have people vote in June for the best of April, in the tiny space between grand slams, while *other* FC action was taking place, right? Sounds logical to me.

The winners were Ash Barty (for leading AUS to the final) and Katie Boulter (she clinched the WG Playoff win over KAZ after dropping a clutch match a day earlier).

Of course, my favorite note on this is that the link to the story about the awards on the FC website (just like all the news items on the page) has led to a blank page all week long, which I thought was amazingly fitting.
===============================================


=WIMBLEDON WILD CARDS=
Harriet Dart, GBR (22): Dart is 0-2 in slam MD, and reached the AO draw via a successful qualifying run in January
Monica Niculescu, ROU (31): the Romanian gets the nod with her de facto WC playoff match win in the Ilkley $100K final over Timea Babos. She reached the Wimbledon Round of 16 in 2015, but (a bit surprisingly) her last slam MD win was at the U.S. Open in 2017.
Katie Swan, GBR (20): receiving a WC for a second straight year, Swan recently went public with a load of issues she's dealt with in the past year. She won a 1st Round match at SW19 in '18.
Iga Swiatek, POL (18): the '18 Wimbledon girls champ, Swiatek reached the Round of 16 in Paris. She qualified to reach the AO draw earlier this year.
Heather Watson, GBR (27): Watson made her slam debut as a WC at Wimbledon in 2010, and has reached the 3rd Round three times. She came within two points of her first slam second week run in '15 (coming that close to defeating Serena Williams), and has reached two MX finals at SW19 (winning in '16).




Meanwhile...








1. Mallorca Final - Sonya Kenin def. Belinda Bencic
...6-7(2)/7-6(5)/6-4. Bencic had the title on her racket, serving up 7-6/5-4. But a 3-DF game did her in, as she failed to convert three MP and Kenin forced a deciding 3rd set. Tied at 4-4, the Bannerette got the break and served it out. Somewhere Cap'n Rinaldi is smiling... again.


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


2. Birmingham QF - Petra Martic def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-7(4)/7-5/6-1. Yeah, Ostapenko led 7-6/4-0, and held a 5-2 advantage and triple MP (+2 more). Yeah, errors brought the whole house down. But remember when she lost a close match to Pliskova at the AO in '17 and still seemed almost giddy about it all because she KNEW? A few months later she won Roland Garros.

Well, the Latvian's performances on the grass this past week *should* have been enough to let her KNOW the Thunder still resides within her. Hopefully she'll take *that* with her to London, not how this one ended. It doesn't mean she'll win any big titles soon, but it means all hope is *not* lost.
===============================================



3. Birmingham Final - Ash Barty def. Julia Goerges
...6-3/7-5. There was a time when we didn't wonder about the mental makeup of grand slam champions, and about whether they could hold it together after winning a big title? Well, on many levels, Barty comes off as something of a "throwback" to the players of old. Hopefully this week was a sign that that notion is more than just skin deep.



===============================================
4. Birmingham 2nd Rd. - Alona Ostapenko def. Johanna Konta
...6-3/6-4. After a banner clay court season and renewed expectations for the former SW19 semifinalist, do you have a feeling that Jo and Wimbledon success might not be a good mix? I know I do.
===============================================


5. Birmingham 1st Rd. - Margarita Gasparyan def. Elina Svitolina
...6-3/3-6/6-4. You know how for so long, it was easy to disregard a certain Frenchman's big event chances because you just *knew* -- in your bone marrow -- he didn't have it in him to finish in a major because it just wasn't all that important to him? Well, after picking her to win her first slam at the start of the season, *that's* how I'm now seeing Svitolina in pretty much every tournament in which she appears.

Weird how that works, huh?
===============================================


6. Mallorca 1st Rd. - Maria Sharapova def. Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8)/6-0
Mallorca 2nd Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Maria Sharapova 6-3/6-2
...two sides of the Maria coin, but it's still nice to see her back. Hopefully her body allows her to stay around for the summer.
===============================================
7. Mallorca 1st Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Alison Riske
...6-7(2)/7-5/7-5. Riske served at 7-6/5-3, but the Rosmalen champ's grass court winning streak ended at 10.
===============================================
8. Birmingham Q1 - Naiktha Bains def. Claire Liu
...6-1/3-6/7-6(8). Bains, having just this spring gone from representing AUS to GBR (the family moved Down Under when she was 8) saved MP's here, and should soon add another intriguing young player to a deepening British FC roster already filled with another former Aussie (JoKo) and whole lot of Katies/Katys, just to name a few. At the very least, come 2020 she might make Wimbledon use an extra MD WC on her (since they're always so conservative when it comes to handing them out compared to the other slams).


===============================================
9. Mallorca SF - Sonya Kenin def. Anastasija Sevastova
...6-4/4-6/6-2. Sevastova didn't reach her fourth straight Mallorca final, but this was still her first SF since Moscow last fall.
===============================================
10. Mallorca 1st Rd. - Caroline Garcia def. Victoria Azarenka
...1-6/6-4/7-5. Vika needs to find some compromising photos of a few of the Tennis Gods in charge of main draw match-ups. This is her third early round meeting with Garcia (Cincy-Miami-Mallorca) since last summer. The Pastry has won all three.
===============================================
11. Birmingham 1st Rd. - Ash Barty def. Donna Vekic
...6-3/6-4. The Tennis Gods weren't moved by Donna's emotional response after last week's Nottingham final. Maybe they'll get back to her at Wimbledon. Or maybe they just like Ash.
===============================================
12. $60K Stare Splavy CZE Final - Barbora Krejcikova def. Denisa Allertova
...6-2/6-3. Krejcikova is back on the ITF horse, winning her fourth '19 title.


===============================================
13. $25K Madrid ESP Final - Mayar Sherif def. Eva Guerrero Alvarez
...6-2/6-3. Sherif's fifth '19 title ties Vitalia Diatchenko for the circuit lead, as she's currently on a 22-match winning streak.


===============================================
14. $25K Denver USA Final - Usue Arconada def. Alexa Glatch
...6-1/2-6/6-3. Arconada's second title of the season, and Glatch's first final since 2015 (a $25K Gatineau, CAN win over a 15-year old Bianca Andreescu).
===============================================
15. $15K Orlando USA Final - Natasha Subhash def. Tori Kinard
...6-1/6-2. Bannerette Subhash's second pro title.

View this post on Instagram

Second pro singles title?? #notapethistime

A post shared by Natasha Subhash (@natasha_subhash) on


===============================================
HM- Eastbourne Q1 - Fiona Ferro def. Genie Bouchard
...6-2/6-0. Bianca Andreescu has only played one match since Miami, but she's still got more wins over that nearly three-month stretch than countrywoman Bouchard.
===============================================


It was twenty years ago this weekend...





It's funny how two photos of the same two people can show them in such different ways: one as equal teammates, and the other as something resembling a ballgirl pulled from the court's shadows for a few hits with a future Hall of Famer.







1. Birmingham 2nd Rd. - Yulia Putintseva def. NAOMI OSAKA
...6-2/6-3. Osaka was down 5-0 in the 1st, then 2-0 in the 2nd. After winning three straight games, she lost the last four.

Hmmm...???

via GIPHY

===============================================
2. Birmingham 2nd Rd. - KRISTYNA PLISKOVA def. KAROLINA PLISKOVA
...6-2/3-6/7-6(7). In the twins' first WTA MD match-up, Kristyna fired 24 aces and overcame Karolina's 4-1 2nd set lead to win in straights. In the TB, Kristyna led 6-5 after Karolina's DF, only to DF herself. Another Karolina DF gave her sister her third MP, which she finally put away with a service winner to secure her first Top 5 win.


===============================================
3. Birmingham 1st Rd. - NADIIA KICHENOK/Abigail Spears def. Harriet Dart/VENUS WILLIAMS
...4-6/7-6(3) [10-7]. Between 1997 and 2018, Venus played women's doubles with someone *not* named Serena on just two occasions in a non-Fed Cup match (Rubin in '04, Wozniacki in '08). She's done it twice in 2019, with Madison Keys in Rome, and Dart here.
===============================================
4. Birmingham QF - Ash Barty def. VENUS WILLIAMS
...6-4/6-3. Playing in a rare tune-up grass event (her first since 2011), Venus was in amazing spirits all week ("The new 39 looks amazing!"), notching wins over Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Wang Qiang before losing her fifth straight QF match over the last two seasons. Not sure if it means anything, but it was nice to see.


===============================================
5. $15 Orlando USA Final - ALLURA ZAMARRIPA/MARIBELLA ZAMARIPPA def. Kimmi Hance/Ashley Krueger
...6-3/6-1. Two weeks, two titles for the Zamarripa twins.
===============================================
HM- Birmingham 1st Rd. - HSIEH SU-WEI def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-3/2-6/7-6(1). Sabalenka's low-key five-month slippage continued in Birmingham, as she lost a 4-2 lead in the 3rd set, and DF'd on three different BP. Starting with the bum-rush loss to Anisimova in Melbourne, she's gone 13-13.
===============================================



Well, you know, who wants to see the closing moments of the 3rd set of a late-week women's match? On the other hand, we *must* see that 30/15 point in game #1 of a Federling match. Right?








































*2019 WTA FINALS*
4 - ASH BARTY, AUS (3-1)
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2-2)
3 - Kiki Bertens, NED (2-1)
3 - SONYA KENIN, USA (2-1)
3 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (2-1)
3 - Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (0-3)

*2019 WTA WIN STREAKS*
12...ASH BARTY, MAY/JUN [ACTIVE]
12...Belinda Bencic (w/ 2 FC), Feb/Mar [lost to Kerber]
11...Ash Barty (w/ 2 FC), MAR/MAY [lost to Halep]
11...Petra Kvitova, JAN [lost to Osaka]
10...Karolina Pliskova, January [lost to Osaka]
10...Bianca Andreescu , March [lost to Kontaveit-ret]

*2019 WINS OVER #1*
Sydney 2nd Rd. - #15 Barty d. #1 Halep
Australian Open 4th Rd. - #16 S.Williams d. #1 Halep
Dubai 2nd Rd. - #67 Mladenovic d. #1 Osaka
Indian Wells 4th Rd. - #23 Bencic d. #1 Osaka
Miami 3rd Rd. - #27 Hsieh d. #1 Osaka
Madrid QF - #18 Bencic d. #1 Osaka
Roland Garros 3rd Rd. - #42 Siniakova d. #1 Osaka
Birmingham 2nd Rd. - #43 PUTINTSEVA d. #1 OSAKA

*2019 TITLES FROM MATCH POINT DOWN*
Auckland: Julia Goerges (1 MP - QF/Bouchard)
Dubai: Belinda Bencic (6 MP - 3r/Sabalenka)
Budapest: Alison Van Uytvanck (5 MP - SF/Alexandrova)
Strasbourg: Dayana Yastremska (1 MP - F/Garcia)
's-Hertogenbosch: Alison Riske (5 MP - F/Bertens)
Mallorca: SONYA KENIN (3 MP - F/Bencic)

*PLISKOVA vs. PLISKOVA*
2006 Jr. G5 Malta SF (hc) - Kristyna 6-4/6-1
2006 $10K Cavtat Q3 (rc) - Karolina 6-3/7-6(1)
2010 $50K Gifu SF (hc) - Karolina 6-4/6-2
2010 $50K Kurume F (grass) - Kristyna 5-7/6-2/6-0
2010 $25K Bratislava 2r (hci) - Kristyna 6-3/6-3
2011 $100K Ningbo 1r (hc) - Karolina 6-3/6-4
2011 $25K Vendryne QF (hci) - Karolina 6-1/6-1
2012 $25K Andrezieux-Boutheon QF (hci) - Kristyna 6-3/6-2
2012 $25K Grenoble F (hci) - Karolina 7-6(11)/7-6(6)
2013 Eastbourne Q3 (grass) - Kristyna 7-6(5)/3-6/6-3
2019 Birmingham 2r (grass) - Kristyna 6-3/2-6/7-6(7)

*WTA - ALL-TIME ACES*
31 - Kr.Pliskova, 2016 AO 2r - lost Puig
27 - Lisicki, 2015 Birmingham 2r - def. Bencic
24 - KR.PLISKOVA, 2019 BIRMINGHAM 2r - def. Ka.Pliskova
24 - Kanepi, 2008 Tokyo 1r - def. Safarova
24 - S.Williams, 2012 Wimbledon SF - def. Azarenka
23 - S.Williams, 2012 Wimbledon 3r - def. J.Zheng
23 - Kr.Pliskova, 2016 Linz 1r - lost Dodin

*2019 WTA SF*
6 - Kiki Bertens, NED (3-3)
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (4-0)
4 - ASH BARTY, AUS (4-0)
4 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (3-1)
4 - BELINDA BENCIC, SUI (2-2)
4 - Donna Vekic, CRO (2-2)
4 - ANGELIQUE KERBER, GER (1-3)

*MOST SINGLES TITLES - 2017-19 (active)*
9 - Elina Svitolina, 5/4/0
8 - Petra Kvitova, 1/5/2
7 - Kiki Bertens, 2/3/2
7 - Karolina Pliskova, 3/2/2
6 - ASH BARTY, 1/2/3
5 - Julia Goerges, 2/2/1
5 - Elise Mertens, 1/3/1
5 - Caroline Wozniacki, 2/3/0

*AUS - CAREER WTA TITLES*
92 - Margaret Court, 1968-76
68 - Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, 1970-80
17 - Kerry Melville-Reid, 1968-79
15 - Dianne Fromholtz-Balestrat, 1973-79
9 - Wendy Turnbull, 1976-83
9 - Samantha Stosur, 2009-17
6 - ASH BARTY, 2017-19
6 - Jelena Dokic, 2001-11
5 - Alicia Molik, 2003-05

*2019 WTA BY SURFACE...*
[finals on multiple - chronological]
3 - Bertens = Hard, Red Clay, Grass
3 - BARTY = Hard, Red Clay, Grass
2 - Kvitova = Hard, Red Clay
2 - Vondrousova = Hard, Red Clay
2 - Halep = Hard, Red Clay
2 - Ka.Pliskova = Hard, Red Clay
2 - Yastremska = Hard, Red Clay
2 - Garcia = Red Clay, Grass
2 - Riske = Hard, Grass
2 - Vekic = Hard, Grass
2 - KENIN = Hard, Grass
2 - GOERGES = Hard, Grass
2 - BENCIC = Hard, Grass
[titles on multiple - chronological]
3 - ASH BARTY = Hard,Red Clay,Grass
2 - Petra Kvitova = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Kiki Bertens = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Karolina Pliskova = Hard,Red Clay
2 - Dayana Yastremska = Hard,Red Clay
[titles on 3+ surfaces]
2010: -
2011: (3) Kvitova [HC/RC/GR], Wozniacki [HC/GC/RC]
2012: (4) S.Williams [GC/BC*/GR/HC]
2013: (3) S.Williams [HC/GC/RC], Halep [RC/GR/HC]
2014: (3) Petkovic [GC/RC/HC]
2015: (4) Kerber [GC/RC/GR/HC]
2016: -
2017: -
2018: (3) Kvitova [HC/RC/GR]
2019: (3) Barty [HC/RC/GR]
--
* - Madrid was played on blue clay in 2012

*WTA DOUBLES FINALS in 2019*
3...HSIEH/STRYCOVA, TPE/CZE (3-0)
3...Babos/Mladenovic, HUN/FRA (2-1)
3...Chan/Chan, TPE/TPE (2-1)
3...GROENEFELD/SCHUURS, GER/NED (0-3)

*2019 FED CUP HEART AWARD WINNERS*
=February=
WG: Simona Halep, ROU (nominees: Barty,Garcia-Perez,Sevastova)
E/A I: Johanna Konta, GBR (nominee: Vikhlyantseva)
AM I: Carolina Alves, BRA (nominee: Osorio Serrano)
A/O I: Zarina Diyas, KAZ (nominee: Sh.Zhang)
=April=
MVP vote: Ash Barty, AUS (nominees: Konta,Garcia,Suarez-Navarro)*
SF: Ash Barty, AUS (nominee: Garcia)
WG PO: Katie Boulter, GBR (nominees: Cibulkova,Golubic,Suarez-Navarro)
--
* - vote taken immediately after weekend's play (votes for rest were all months after play)

*2019 WEEKS AT #1*
[1Q]
12/31: Simona Halep
1/7: Simona Halep
1/14: Simona Halep
1/21: Simona Halep
1/28: Naomi Osaka
2/4: Naomi Osaka
2/11: Naomi Osaka
2/18: Naomi Osaka
2/25: Naomi Osaka
3/4: Naomi Osaka
3/11: Naomi Osaka
3/18: Naomi Osaka
3/25: Naomi Osaka
4/1: Naomi Osaka
[2Q]
4/8: Naomi Osaka
4/15: Naomi Osaka
4/22: Naomi Osaka
4/29: Naomi Osaka
5/6: Naomi Osaka
5/13: Naomi Osaka
5/20: Naomi Osaka
5/27: Naomi Osaka
6/3: Naomi Osaka
6/10: Naomi Osaka
6/17: Naomi Osaka
6/24: Ash Barty

*REACHED WTA SINGLES #1*
[year first reached #1]
1975 Chris Evert, USA
1976 Evonne Goolagong, AUS
1978 Martina Navratilova, USA
1980 Tracy Austin, USA
1987 Steffi Graf, FRG/GER
1991 Monica Seles, YUG
1995 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
1997 Martina Hingis, SUI
1998 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA
2002 Venus Williams, USA
2002 Serena Williams, USA
2003 Kim Clijsters, BEL
2003 Justine Henin, BEL
2004 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2005 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2008 Jelena Jankovic, SRB
2009 Dinara Safina, RUS
2010 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2016 Angelique Kerber, GER
2017 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2017 Garbine Muguruza, ESP
2017 Simona Halep, ROU
2019 Naomi Osaka, JPN
2019 Ash Barty, AUS

*2019 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#2 - Ash Barty, AUS (Birmingham)
#3 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Stuttgart)
#4 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (Australian Open)
#7 - Kiki Bertens, NED (Madrid)
#7 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (Rome)
#8 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (Brisbane)
#8 - Kiki Bertens, NED (Saint Petersburg)
#8 - Ash Barty, AUS (Roland Garros)
#9 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (Sydney)
#12 - Ash Barty, AUS (Miami)
#13 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Shenzhen)
#14 - Julia Goerges, GER (Auckland)
#18 - Madison Keys, USA (Charleston)
#19 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (Monterrey)
#21 - Elise Mertens, BEL (Doha)
#28 - Caroline Garcia, FRA (Nottingham)
#30 - Sonya Kenin, USA (Mallorca)
#39 - Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (Nuremberg)
#40 - Petra Martic, CRO (Istanbul)
#42 - Dayana Yastremska, UKR (Strasbourg)
#45 - Belinda Bencic, SUI (Dubai)
#47 - Dayana Yastremska, UKR (Hua Hin)
#50 - Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL (Budapest)
#51 - Maria Sakkari, GRE (Rabat)
#56 - Sonya Kenin, USA (Hobart)
#60 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (Indian Wells)
#61 - Alison Riske, USA (Rosmalen)
#65 - Wang Yafan, CHN (Acapulco)
#76 - Amanda Anisimova, USA (Bogota)
#89 - Polona Hercog, SLO (Lugano)
#146 - Jil Teichmann, SUI (Prague)

*2019 WTA CHAMPIONS BY AGE*
30 - Goerges
29 - Kvitova
28 - Hercog,Kvitova,Martic,Riske
27 - Bertens (2),Ka.Pliskova
26 - Ka.Pliskova
25 - Garcia,Muguruza
24 - Keys,Putintseva,Van Uytvanck,Wang Yafan
23 - Barty (2),Mertens,Sakkari
22 - Barty
21 - Bencic,Osaka,Teichmann
20 - Kenin (2),Sabalenka
19 - Yastremska
18 - Andreescu,Yastremska
17 - Anisimova


























All for now.
Posted by at