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Monday, July 1, 2019

W.1- 15 is the New 39

Sometimes when you look at 15-year old Coco Gauff patrolling a court it's as if the Tennis Gods took it upon themselves to reach back and pluck a young Venus Ebony Starr Williams out of 1995-96, give her a different name and face, and set her down in 2019 just to see how she'd do.

So, of course, they just *had* to meet. In a slam. On Day 1. At Wimbledon. On Centre Court. Reliably... boom!



With their the long limbs, legs gobbling up swaths of ground with every step and with a wingspan allowing the ability to cover nearly every angle at the net, you'd have to be blind not to recognize the similarities between the two. A 39-year old living legend and future Hall of Famer and her African-American tennis doppelgänger, by (already) longstanding reputation -- at just 15 -- perhaps the most elite prospect of a promising lot of young Bannerettes. A junior slam finalist at 13, a girls slam winner at 14 and the youngest to ever top the junior rankings, Gauff's three-match run *before* the 1st Round had even begun had already made her the youngest Wimbledon qualifier in the Open era. Meanwhile, though she's slipped in the rankings and was unseeded at this slam, it's never to be lost that Williams has won the Wimbledon Ladies crown on five different occasions, and just two years ago played in the singles final.

The instant the draw was dropped late last week, Venus vs. Coco was *THE* 1st Round attraction, and not just for curiosity's sake. For one, with so many big names in the top half of the draw, there was a *narrow* side alley for some extended success in the match-up's area of the draw (and then today the #10 seed, set to face the winner, was the First Seed Out) for the winner. But maybe more importantly (or at least intriguingly), much like last year's face-offs between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, it was the opportunity to see "the original" up against a competitor that they inspired. If Osaka has the best Generation PDQ physical/game comparison to Serena, then Gauff fills the same role when it comes to Venus.

The virtual epitome of the GenPDQ credo, Gauff's "Why wait?" early career path took it's turn in the spotlight on Monday in a match featuring the oldest and youngest players in the draw. A SW19 debutante against a veteran appearing twenty-two years after she'd made her maiden bow at the AELTC.

As anticipated, it produced a moment that won't soon be forgotten.



Venus came out firing her shots, but Gauff didn't back down. She got on the board early, and the two were even at 2-2. Then Williams fell behind love/30 game in #5 and soon faced a BP for the first and last time in 1st set. When Venus missed on a crosscourt backhand from deep in the court, Gauff had her break lead. She wouldn't give it up, either.

Showing no visible signs of nerves (of person, place or thing), the teenager held for 4-2 with a drop shot that Williams could only look at without having a chance to reach. Displaying the speed, top level return game and a sturdy serve (big and well-placed, on both her first and second swings), Gauff served for the match at 5-4. An ace gave her two set points. Williams' netted backhand saw the 1st set fall in Gauff's favor. In the stanza, she won 17-of-19 first serves, and committed just two unforced errors.



For the first time, Gauff's youth shined through the cracks in her otherwise shiny game early in the 2nd set. In game #2, she had a pair of double-faults, one on GP, but still held for 1-1. Then, three games later, Williams fell behind love/40 on serve and it was *her* DF that handed Gauff the break lead. Gauff held at 15 to lead 4-2, which was countered by Williams with a hold at love. Then, it happened again. Gauff's two DF's to open and close game #8 got the set back on serve at 4-4.

The opening seemed to be there for Williams to push things to a 3rd set, then hope her experience would win out. But on her way to a relatively easy hold, things suddenly got complicated. 30/15 and 40/30 leads turned into a deuce point. On Ad point for Venus, a Gauff return miss-hit sailed and appeared about to go long. The crowd reacted... then the heavily-topspinned ball suddenly fell out of the sky and landed in the corner, high-bouncing and causing Williams to whiff on a flailing swing. A point later, Gauff raced like a sprinter (well, her mother *was* a track athlete, and her father a basketball player) from behind the baseline to reach a short-bouncing ball to win a rally and reach BP. Just as she had on her first two opportunities, she converted it. Williams' missed volley gave Gauff a 5-4 lead.

Serving for the 2nd Round, and a MP moment that will surely be seen a bajillion times in future years, Gauff's second serve ace put her up 40/15. Williams saved both MP with winners, then a third when she directed a ball behind the teenager, who slipped and fell trying to change course. Soon faced with a BP, Gauff's second serve handcuffed Venus and extended the game. A framed return gave the kid a fourth MP, and Williams' netted forehand ended things. Gauff's 6-4/6-4 triumph is her first on the slam stage, and makes her the younger winner at SW19 since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.




For Williams, the result gave her a loss against the lowest-ranked player (#313) to ever defeat her, save for an unranked/out-of-retirement Kim Clijsters in 2009. Gauff was five at the time, still two years away from picking up a tennis racket.



Stunned by her accomplishment, Gauff still found time to be respectful (thanking Venus, for she and Serena *had* inspired her to play the sport... waaaay back in 2011). Afterward, she even thanked the All-England Club for the qualifying wild card that set the stage for what is now her *four*-match winning streak in this event.

Time will tell if the course of women's tennis just changed forever. But if it did, well, we'll know where to start the new timeline.




=DAY 1 NOTES=
...in the first batch of matches to start the day, #8 Elina Svitolina led Dasha Gavrilova 5-3 and served for the 1st set at 5-4, only to be broken. But, but with a crack in the door slightly visible against the Ukrainian (who came in having gone 1-7 in her last eight matches, and lost in the 1st Round at SW19 last year, her only opening match slam loss since 2014), the Aussie failed to take advantage of the situation. Putting in two DF in game #11 (the last on SP), Gavrilova handed the 1st set to Svitolina and never won another game.

Svitolina will next get her chance for a do-over, as she'll face Margarita Gasparyan, who defeated her in Birmingham for just her second career grass court win. The Russian took out Anna-Lena Friedsam today, notching her first career Wimbledon MD win (and first outside of Melbourne, where she's posted 4th and 2nd Round results).



But neither of ot those matches were completed quickly enough to make their winners the first to advance to the 2nd Round. That honor went to #17 Madison Keys, who again arrived at a slam with a decided lack of preparation (having not played a grass match after leaving Roland Garros nursing an injury), but who also again found her form on the big stage. She defeated Luksika Kumkhum 6-3/6-2 to record the MD's First Victory.



...it didn't take long for a Top 10 seed to fall, as #10 Aryna Sabalenka (though she's actually ranked #11 as of today) was the First Seed Out, coming up short in a nightmare 1st Round match-up for a player still finding her way on grass (and in the majors, for that matter). Magdalena Rybarikova has often lost in the 1st Round at SW19 (nine times in her first eleven appearances), but the oft-injured Slovak is also a very good grass court player who reached the semifinals at the All-England Club just two years ago.

It was a perfect storm for the Belarusian, who didn't pick up much momentum from her Eastbourne QF result *and* saw Rybarikova arrive in good form. It was never really in doubt, as Sabalenka fell 6-2/6-4. The loss drops her to 3-3 in slam play this year (3r-2r-1r), all since her tight who's-going-to-breakthrough "Boom-Shaka-Osaka" defeat at the hands of eventual champion Naomi Osaka in last year's U.S. Open Round of 16. In fact, Sabalenka has had a better doubles result (RG semi) in a major this season than singles, and will now try to do so again alongside Elise Mertens.



...unlike at Roland Garros, Wimbledon's show courts don't begin play at the start of the day (i.e. they start at a time at least a bit less insane for most people *not* on-site at the AELTC). One of those matches featured the scheduled debut of the new (roofed) Court 1. There, #7 Simona Halep advanced past Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets, but it wasn't without a bit of worry.

At 5-4, Halep's left foot slid on the untouched grass behind the right baseline, slightly turning her ankle and hyperextending her knee (it was reminiscent of her similar slip at the 2018 AO, only far less violent). She closed out the set, but fell behind the Belarusian 5-2 in the 2nd and appeared to possibly be laboring a bit with the injury. But the Romanian turned things on and swept the final five games, if nothing else saving herself a slew of potential issues that might have been associated with a 3rd set, both during and after it was completed. She won 6-4/7-5, and if she *was* feeling the ankle she was able to use the adrenaline of the moment to put it out of her mind on MP, as she seemed unbothered by much with the finish line within easy reach.



...elsewhere, Polona Hercog rallied from 4-1 down in the 3rd set to take out Viktoria Kuzmova 4-6/7-6(5)/7-5. Kuzmova thus wraps up a winless (0-3) grass season.

Lucky loser Marie Bouzkova posted a 6-3/6-3 win over Mona Barthel, becoming the first LL to record a win in a major in 2019. It's the 20-year old Czech's first career MD slam win. She was the 2014 U.S. Open junior champ, as well as a Wimbledon girls doubles finalist that same season.



Iga Swiatek's disappointing grass campaign came to close. At this point, one wonders how much of a hit to her confidence that 1 & love thrashing at the hands of Halep in the Roland Garros Round of 16 might be lingering. Swiatek was the Wimbledon girls champ last year, so she should have good memories on the grass. But her SW19 debut 6-2/7-6 loss today to Viktorija Golubic drops her to 0-3 in MD matches this grass season (she *did* win three in Birmingham qualifying), with previous losses coming by love/2 and love/3 scorelines.

Another of the RG teen achievers, Paris finalist Marketa Vondrousova (#16 seed) was ousted today by Bannerette Madison Brengle. Brengle led 6-4/5-2, only to see the Czech get back on serve at 4-4. Two games later, she was broken to end the match. While Czechs have traditionally taken to the lawns of the All-England Club, Vondrousova is now 0-3 in career MD matches there. This is her first 1st Round exit in a tournament since Wuhan last September.



The *other* teen star from Roland Garros, Amanda Anisimova, plays tomorrow.



Three years ago, Anastasia Potapova defeated Dayana Yastremska at SW19 in one of the more memorable junior singles finals. They were both in action today. In her Wimbledon debut, Yastremska defeated '18 quarterfinalist Camila Giorgi 6-3/6-3. Potapova (who made her SW19 MD bow two years ago) followed up her 1st Round win in Paris over Angelique Kerber with a come from behind victory this time over Jil Teichmann, getting her first career MD win at Wimbledon via a 2-6/6-4/6-1 scoreline.

Mihaela Buzarnescu got her first win at a slam (def. Jessica Pegula) since her 3rd Round run at last year's Wimbledon, and will next face Halep (who pointed out that it'll be the first time she's played a fellow Romanian in a slam match); while Monica Puig saved herself from what might have been a real Day 1 face-plant against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. After dropping the 1st set to the Slovak, the Puerto Rican took control 6-4/4-1 over the next set and a half. But AKS broke for 4-2 and soon knotted the score at 4-all. But Puig got the break for a 6-4 lead, then served out the win to get her first victory at Wimbledon since 2013 (she'd lost five straight 1st Round matches).



Meanwhile, on Centre Court...



Just as she did in Birmingham two weeks ago, and Hobart last season, Yulia Putintseva proved to be too difficult a puzzle for #2 Naomi Osaka to figure out. Of course, the Kazakh is one of the few to have gotten multiple recent shots at the (now) former world #1. Osaka has often been there for the taking since abruptly altering course by parting ways with coach Sascha Bajin after winning her second straight slam in Melbourne and climbing atop the WTA rankings. All the advancements she appeared to have made under Bajin, from eliminating negative thoughts, keeping her game on the rails, and being patient and figuring out (before, during and after a match) how to solve the problems a particular opponent might present, are no where to be found now.



Putintseva's previous two wins over Osaka were by 6-2/6-3 scores, so the 7-6(4)/6-2 line today was actually an improvement for the Japanese star. She had her opportunities, too, as Putintseva adjusted to the new experience of playing on (and being inside) Centre Court, which she noted afterward was round rather than rectangular as most courts are (an obvious point, but a rarely noted detail that might be quite distracting/dizzying for a newbie). Osaka led 3-1 in the 1st set, then 3-1 in the tie-break. Putintseva pulled out a 7-4 win, though, then grabbed an early break in the 2nd. Any possible late surge from Osaka never came, as she fell down a double break at 5-2. Putintseva served out the win to advance to the 2nd Round at Wimbledon for the fourth time (she's never reached the 3rd).



Then, after skipping out on all media after her loss to Putintseva in Birmingham...




...#29 Dasha Kasatkina's exit from Wimbledon wasn't some sort of sudden, floor-dropping moment. For the Russian, it's been one long slide all season long. A year after back-to-back slam QF runs in Paris and London, her 6-3/6-1 loss today to Ajla Tomljanovic means she won just one match combined at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this time around. While she *has* posted '19 wins over the likes of Elise Mertens, Katerina Siniakova, and even Coco Gauff, Kasatkina is 7-14 overall on the season. At this point (though she could drop more by the end of Wimbledon), she'll only slip to the tail end of the #30's in the rankings. But unless something changes, she could be far, far lower than that come the end of the season.

While she's sometimes sparked this grass season, Alona Ostapenko is carving out the sort of ranking slide groove that Kasatkina could slot into quite soon. After falling from #7 to #22 over the course of 2018, the Latvian's 6-2/6-2 loss to #28 Hsieh Su-wei today will drop her (at least) into the late #70's come the end of this Wimbledon as her semifinal points drop off her totals.

#14 Caroline Wozniacki didn't get off to a good start today, falling behind Sara Sorribes-Tormo 4-0 in the opening set. But the Spaniard never won a game after that, retiring down 5-4.

And, in the final women's match of Day 1, lost in the shuffle of the afternoon (mostly the echo of Coco/Venus), #23 Caroline Garcia flew out of the draw in the blink of an eye, falling 6-4/6-0 to Zhang Shuai.




MAKING MEMORIES ON DAY 1: A GenPDQ moment embedded in history...




LIKE ON DAY 1: This is the sort of promotion the WTA should jump on.

#ItTakesSomethingMoreThanaFewWordsFromTheDictionaryAndBlackAndPhotosTo
PromoteAnEntireSportFilledWithPersonalitiesAndMomentsThatGetLittlePlay




PROVING MY POINT ON DAY 1: Svitolina may go on to have a fine Wimbledon, but she's almost proving my "focus-deprived" point without me even needing to stress it.



And that was a tweet shortly *after* her win. At first, I thought she was questioning the notion that she'd given "minimum effort" in her match. But no... she was concerned about a comment about her outfit. (Sigh.)


THE APPARENTLY-IT-WAS-NEVER-MEANT-TO-BE STORY OF ROBSON'S CAREER CONTINUES ON DAY 1:




WHEN "NEWS COVERAGE" IS LIKE A MOCKUMENTARY ON DAY 1: Turn it up to 11.




OH-GIVE-ME-A-BREAK ON DAY 1: And on ESPN's Wimbledon coverage, it's... Alex Rodriguez? (Sigh.)


LIKE ON DAY 1: The Wimbledon social media team always comes up with something different each year (the best is still the daily animated recreations of big moments), and this appears to be this year's offering...




WHEN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IS LIKE AN EPISODE OF "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM":







A month earlier in Paris, Serena Williams had been stunned, upset in the 1st Round of a slam for the first time in her career.

(Yeah, after that, we sort of *expected* what happened in London.)

2012 Recap

































via GIPHY




*WIMBLEDON "FIRST SEED OUT"*
2005 #10 Patty Schnyder, SUI (Ant.Serra-Zanetta/ITA)
2006 #28 Sofia Arvidsson, SWE (Birnerova/CZE)
2007 #30 Olga Puchkova, RUS (Vesnina/RUS)
2008 #30 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (J.Zheng/CHN)
2009 #23 Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN (Schiavone/ITA)
2010 #5 Francesca Schiavone, ITA (Dushevina/RUS)
2011 #22 Shahar Peer, ISR (Pervak/RUS)
2012 #16 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Giorgi/ITA)
2013 #5 Sara Errani, ITA (Puig/PUR)
2014 #17 Samantha Stosur, AUS (Wickmayer/BEL)
2015 #24 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Diyas/KAZ)
2016 #25 Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU (Witthoeft/GER)
2017 #31 Roberta Vinci, ITA (Kr.Pliskova/CZE)
2018 #19 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Cirstea/ROU)
2019 #10 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Rybarikova/SVK)

*WIMBLEDON "FIRST VICTORY OF THE FORTNIGHT"*
2009 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS (L: Cetkovska/CZE)
2010 Chan Yung-Jan/TPE (L: Schnyder/SUI)
2011 Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN (L: O'Brien/GBR)
2012 Samantha Stosur/AUS (L: Suarez-Navarro/ESP)
2013 Lesia Tsurenko/UKR (L: Arruabarrena/ESP)
2014 Elena Vesnina/RUS (L: Mayr-Achleitner/AUT)
2015 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (L: Kontaveit/EST)
2016 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (L: Duval/USA)
2017 Wang Qiang/CHN (L: Chang/TPE)
2018 Yanina Wickmayer/BEL (L: Barthel/GER)
2019 Madison Keys/USA (L: Kumkhum/THA)

*VENUS WILLIAMS LOSSES TO #100+*
NR - Kim Clijsters (2009 U.S. Open 4th)
#313 - COCO GAUFF (2019 WIMBLEDON 1st)
#223 - Peng Shuai (2016 Beijing 1st)
#152 - Bianca Andreescu (2019 Auckland QF)
#143 - Petra Kvitova (2008 Memphis 1st)
#140 - Sonya Jeyaseelan (1999 A.Island 2nd)
#125 - Barbara Schwartz (1999 RG 4th)
#119 - Kateryna Bondarenko (2015 Istanbul 1st)
#115 - Nathalie Dechy (1997 Toronto 1st)
#109 - Olga Puchkova (2013 Florianopolis SF)



TOP QUALIFIER: Coco Gauff/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: #20 Kaja Juvan/SLO def. Basak Eraydin/TUR 4-6/7-6(3)/6-3 (trailed 6-4/4-1 40/15)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Madison Keys/USA (1st Rd. def. Luksika Kumkhum/THA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR (lost 1st Rd. to Rybarikova/SVK)
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 win: Gauff (LL win: Bouzkova)
LAST WILD CARDS STANDING: Day 1 wins: xx
LAST BRITS STANDING: Day 1 win: Watson
IT ("??"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #2 Osaka (1st Rd.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominee: Gauff
RAD REMEMBRANCE DAY malevolent activity...
June 26 official: In Eastbourne, a day after her first Top 10 victory in over a year (and first consecutive wins in back-to-back events since last grass season), '18 Wimbledon semifinalist (and former SW19 girls champ) Alona Ostapenko is forced to retire from her 3rd Round match with a hip injury.
Day 3 observed: xx





All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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