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Thursday, July 4, 2019

W.4- Not Just Two Faces in the Crowd

One couldn't write the history of Wimbledon in the 2010's with the names of Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova being highlighted in the opening paragraph. As the only two women with multiple singles titles, they've been the female faces of the nine fortnights that have taken place before the current one.

Disappointingly, after facing off twice on the grass at the beginning of the decade, they've managed -- to our detriment -- to avoid each other in the draw ever since.

That may not change at *this* Wimbledon, either. But it's still possible.

Both Kvitova and Williams arrived at the All-England Club with significant questions about their championship viability. Nursing a forearm injury, Kvitova hadn't played in nearly two months, while Williams' knee had limited her to just three matches over the same stretch. While Serena has been a lethal force at SW19 this decade when healthy -- four titles and a final -- Petra began the week staring at the possibility of a full back-half of the 2010's without a second week run (3r-2r-2r-1r) at the AELTC since her 2014 title, something which would have been unfathomable after she won twice and posted a SF and two QF in the first five years.

The Czech, who was still questionable to play at all this past weekend, got through her 1st Rounder vs. Ons Jabeur quite well, but the Tunisian had retired from the Eastbourne semis with an ankle injury and had been a question mark for SW19, too. Kvitova's 2nd Rounder vs. Kristina Mladenovic was supposed to be a bit more of a test, even with the #6 seed's seven wins in eight matches against the Pastry, and twelve consecutive sets won. And it was. For a while.

Mladenovic grabbed the early break and led 3-1. At 4-3, she gamely saved three BP. At 5-4, 40/15 she had a golden opportunity to end Kvitova's run of dominance over her. But Mladenovic DF'd and then lost a rally in which the Czech had pinned her in the backcourt with deep-landing groundstrokes. At deuce, Kvitova got off a brilliant mid-point lob over the French woman's head, but then was unable to finish the point as she failed to keep in play her reply to Mladenovic's point-winning drop shot in play. No matter, on SP #3 Kvitova fired a winner.

Mladenovic, obviously employing a game plan devised by coach Sascha Bajin that tasked her to go big on her second serves, wasn't able to execute her intentions the same way the big-serving Naomi Osaka did in New York and Melbourne during his last coaching stint. Back-to-back DF's ended the game and knotted the set at 5-5. Serving down 5-6, Mladenovic fell behind 15/40, and when she wasn't able to get back Kvitova's big return of a second serve the Czech seized the 1st set at 7-5.

Mladenovic opened the 2nd with a break, but Kvitova turned up her game and the French woman wasn't able to keep up. The Czech won four straight games, and completed the 7-5/6-2 win to keep her no-sets-lost-since-2014 streak (now 14-0) vs. Mladenovic intact.



Later at the same Court 1 venue, #11 Serena Williams was similarly tested by 18-year old Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan, who pounced on Serenas' slow start. With Williams' serve not appropriately firing, the '18 Youth Olympics Gold medalist broke for a 2-0 lead and backed it up. With as many matches (4+) under her belt in the last ten days as Williams has in the last two months, Juvan reached SP on Serena's serve in game #8. When Williams missed on an overhead (her second in the point) the teenager got the break to win 6-2.



Typically for Williams, if she truly is (as she claims) playing as pain-free in her knee as she has since February, this would be where the 23-time slam champ gradually pulls her game together and utilizes her great edge in experience to take command in the final two sets. And that's what happened. After getting early breaks of Juvan's serve in both stanzas, she kept a step ahead to win 2-6/6-2/6-4.



It was an honorable debut on the big stage for Juvan, whose name might be one to start to know (wink, wink) from this stage forward.



While Serena did a good impression of what she's done quite a bit when lacking match play heading into a slam, an act which has often resulted in her being the last woman standing when all was done, and Kvitova flashed some of the game that won her two SW19 a titles and made all-time greats make googoo-eyes at her Wimbledon potential...



We really have no idea whether *that* Serena is, or ever will be during this fortnight, "in the building." The same can be said about Kvitova and her recapturing of her SW19 lightning in a bottle.

In fact, we might not really know that -- about either woman -- until they could potentially meet *each other* in a semifinal -- which would be their first meeting at Wimbledon since 2012. But there *could* be opportunities to collect more evidence soon. While Kvitova can't face a seed until the Round of 16 (#9 Stephens/#19 Konta), Williams faces '18 semifinalist Julia Goerges next. Be prepared to take mental notes for the proverbial can-she-or-can't-she "quiz" later.

The "deathly" top half of the women's draw was thinned out a bit today, but as long as these *two* survive there remains the possibility of something truly special happening at SW19 before this decade is through.

But, no disrespect to the others in their way between here and there, that really depends on two people and two people only: Serena and Petra.




=DAY 4 NOTES=
...while she's not really been one of *the* faces of Wimbledon this decade, Angelique Kerber *has* been a consistent presence throughout and was the defending champion. A *second* title run would put her on the short list, at least for a possible Top 3 Wimbledon spot for the 2010's. But the #5-seeded German just doesn't seem to be able to string together fully-formed seasons in back-to-back years at this point.

2016...great. 2017...not so great. 2018...resurgent. 2019...okay, but getting over "the hump" has been a problem. She's *almost* done it all over the world this season. She reached the Doha final (falling to Elise Mertens in a three-set SF), nearly won Indian Wells (RU to Bianca Andreescu in three), missed out on final berths in Monterrey (Azarenka won their semi in three) and Mallorca (SF three-setter vs. Bencic) and came to London having just lost the Eastbourne final to Karolina Pliskova.

In the majors, she's gone out in disconcerting fashion: love & 2 to Danielle Collins in the AO 4th, upset in the 1st by Anastasia Potapova in Paris and then today in SW19 in the 2nd Round by lucky loser Lauren Davis after winning the 1st set. Kerber tired down the stretch, and was out-hit and lost rallies in ways one doesn't expect where she's concerned. The German had 31 UE to just 13 winners against Davis, who had 45 & 50.




Davis is the first LL to reach the 3rd Round of Wimbledon since Dutch player Tine Zwaan in 1974, and the first ever to pull off the accomplishment without the boost of a 1st Round bye.

...the new era of British women's tennis continues, as both #19 Johanna Konta and wild card Harriet Dart have advanced to the 3rd Round.



Dart defeated qualifier Beatriz Haddad in three sets, recording her first back-to-back tour-level victories. The 22-year old Londoner will next face world #1 Ash Barty. #19 Konta advanced to her second career Wimbledon 3rd Round (w/ her 17 SF run) with a straight sets win over Katerina Siniakova.

...#4 Kiki Bertens very nearly joined the *other* Kiki on the sidelines today. The Dutch star had her back pushed against the wall by '13 Wimbledon girls finalist Taylor Townsend, as the 22-year old Bannerette served at 6-3/6-5 and was a MP away from her fourth career Top 10 win and first slam 3rd Round result since her debut in Paris in 2014. But Townsend's miss on a drop shot opened the door for a Bertens comeback, and closed one on her own hopes.

Bertens tooks things to a TB, won it 7-5, then quickly jumped ahead in the 2nd set. Once she led by a double-break at 3-0, it was pretty clear how things were going to go. Bertens won 3-6/7-6(5)/6-2 to reach the 3rd Round at the AELTC for the third time in four years (w/ a QF in '18).



...two days ago, Alison Riske rallied from 4-1 down in the 3rd set against Donna Vekic, but today she nearly squandered a 5-2 final set lead of her own against Ivana Jorovic. The Serb leveled things at 5-5, but Riske pulled out a 9-7 win to join five other Bannerettes in the Final 32, the most remaining of any nation.

And with Varvara Flink's loss to Julia Goerges today, it means no Russians reached the 3rd Round despite the good 1st Round results from four of the younger Hordettes (Potapova, Gasparyan, Kudermetova and Flink).



...in doubles, #5 Sam Stosur & Zhang Shuai defeated Alexandra Panova & Margarita Gasparyan in three sets, so that she's back on the court so soon must mean that Gasparyan's issues that led to her retirement yesterday against Elina Svitolina won't be a setback. Take that, Rad.

Also advancing were #3 Hsieh/Strycova, Cornet/Martic (def. #14 Ostapenko/V.Kudermetova), Brady/Riske (over '16 SW19 girls singles finalists Potapova/Yastremska) and Collins/Mattek-Sands.




THE GOOD ON JULY 4th/DAY 4: In traditional non-Trump Day activities on Independence Day in the U.S....




Not surprisingly, the Great One came to eat...




In the 103rd anniversary edition of the traditional July 4th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York, it was 35-year old super-eater Joey Chestnut who further expanded the stomach contents of his legend on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues by picking up an amazing twelfth Mustard Yellow Belt to once again keep pace with Rafa Nadal's number of Roland Garros titles to toss his stained t-shirt into the ring of conversation regarding the greatest athlete of our life and times.


A year after setting the world record with 74 hot dogs and buns consumed in ten minutes, Chestnut got off to blistering pace just after 12:30 in the afternoon today. For a while, not only was 75 squarely in his sights, but so was a gluttonous mark of Bob Beamon-esque serving proportions. Sadly, the pace slowed down the stretch and he "only" reached 71, topping 70 in the event for a fourth time (no one else has done it once). Fittingly, he crushed his competition, out-eating Darron Breeden by 21 dogs & buns. Geoffrey Esper finished 3rd, while Matt Stonie (who briefly dethroned Chestnut in 2015, in what we can now term an aberration on the epic level of Razzano over Serena in the 1st Round of a slam) was fourth.




*NATHAN'S HOT DOG EATING MEN'S CHAMPS - since 2000*
2000 Kazutoyo Arai
2001 Takeru Kobayashi
2002 Takeru Kobayashi
2003 Takeru Kobayashi
2004 Takeru Kobayashi
2005 Takeru Kobayashi
2006 Takeru Kobayashi
2007 Joey Chestnut
2008 Joey Chestnut
2009 Joey Chestnut
2010 Joey Chestnut
2011 Joey Chestnut
2012 Joey Chestnut
2013 Joey Chestnut
2014 Joey Chestnut
2015 Matt Stonie
2016 Joey Chestnut
2017 Joey Chestnut
2018 Joey Chestnut
2019 Joey Chestnut

Meanwhile, in the women's competition, Las Vegas' Miki Sudo downed 31 hot dogs and buns to win her sixth straight title, tying Takeru Kobayashi for second behind only Chestnut (12) for most career Nathan's belts claimed. Sudo's appetite for glory was true, as she gutted out her performance despite being ill, keeping a half-gulp ahead of three-time consecutive runner-up Michelle Lesco (26.5) throughout, while still somewhat coasting to the finish.



*NATHAN'S HOT DOG EATING WOMEN'S CHAMPS*
2011 Sonya Thomas
2012 Sonya Thomas
2013 Sonya Thomas
2014 Miki Sudo
2015 Miki Sudo
2016 Miki Sudo
2017 Miki Sudo
2018 Miki Sudo
2019 Miki Sudo




THE BAD SLIDE ON JULY 4th/DAY 4:






AND THE GOOD SENSE TO (eventually?) STAMP OUT THE UGLINESS ON JULY 4th/DAY 4:




LIKE ON DAY 4: So true, Charlie Brown...




ALMOST AS IMPRESSIVE AS... ON DAY 4: Well, you know.




LIKE ON DAY 4: Hsieh. Hsieh Su-wei.






A MEMORABLE JULY 4th SPEECH ON DAY 4: For all the right (though unfortunate) reasons...




BEST-COMIC-STRIP-EVER MEMORIES ON DAY 4: By the way.




GREAT PHOTO ON DAY 4: "Future Sloane's" new profile pic...




MEMORIES ON DAY 4: Just a kid, gettin' ready to take ov'a the world...




TRUTH ON DAY 4: The Queen of Cool doesn't care about such things...




DOUBLE BU-... awwl, come on, Maria... ON DAY 4:




Ummm... ON DAY 4: Yeah, not *too* much of a resemblance...




(NEW) ROYAL WATCH ON DAY 4:





At the end of a Wimbledon notable for its many shocking results, it was France's Marion Bartoli who was left standing in 2013. For some, it was the most "shocking" development of them all. But for Bartoli, it was an act of vindication.

2013 Recap















*WIMBLEDON "LAST WILD CARD STANDING"*
2008 Zheng Jie, CHN (SF)
2009 Elena Baltacha/GBR & Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR (2nd Rd.)
2010 none to 2nd Rd.
2011 Sabine Lisicki, GER (SF)
2012 Yaroslava Shvedova, KAZ (4th Rd.)
2013 Alison Riske, USA (3rd Rd.)
2014 Vera Zvonareva, RUS (3rd Rd.)
2015 Jelena Ostapenko, LAT (2nd Rd.)
2016 Tara Moore/GBR & Evgeniya Rodina/RUS (2nd Rd.)
2017 Zarina Diyas/KAZ & Heather Watson/GBR (3rd Rd.)
2018 Katie Boulter/GBR, Ons Jabeur/TUN & Katie Swan/GBR (2nd)
2019 Harriet Dart/GBR (in 3rd Rd.)

*WIMBLEDON "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING"*
=2006=
Severine Bremond, FRA (QF)
=2007=
Olga Govortsova, BLR
Nika Ozegovic, CRO
Tatiana Perebiynis, UKR
Agnes Szavay, HUN
Hana Sromova, CZE (all 2nd Rd.)
=2008=
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP
Barbora Strycova, CZE (all 3rd Rd.)
=2009=
Melanie Oudin, USA (4th Rd.)
=2010=
Kaia Kanepi, EST (QF)
=2011=
Misaki Doi, JPN (3rd Rd.)
=2012=
Camila Giorgi, ITA (4th Rd.)
=2013=
Eva Birnerova, CZE
Petra Cetkovska, CZE
Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR (all 3rd Rd.)
=2014=
Tereza Smitkova, CZE (4th Rd.)
=2015=
Olga Govortsova, BLR (4th Rd.)
=2016=
Julia Boserup, USA
Jana Cepelova, SVK
Marina Erakovic, NZL (all 3rd Rd.)
=2017=
Petra Martic, CRO (4th Rd.)
=2018=
Evgeniya Rodina, RUS (4th Rd.)
=2019=
Coco Cauff, USA (in 3rd Rd.)

*WIMBLEDON "EARLY-ROUND TOP PLAYER" WINNERS*
[w/ final result]
2002 (Week 1 POW) Venus Williams, USA [RU]
2003 (Week 1 POW) Venus Williams, USA [RU]
2004 (Week 1 POW) Lindsay Davenport, USA [SF]
2005 (Week 1 co-POW) Lindsay Davenport, USA [RU] & Maria Sharapova, RUS [SF]
2006 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL [RU]
2007 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA [4th]
2008 Serena Williams, USA [RU]
2009 Venus Williams, USA [RU]
2010 Venus Williams, USA [QF] & Serena Williams, USA [W]
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE [W]
2012 Agnieszka Radwanska, POL [RU]
2013 Serena Williams, USA [4th]
2014 Maria Sharapova, RUS [4th]
2015 Petra Kvitova, CZE [3rd]
2016 Simona Halep, ROU [QF]
2017 Johanna Konta, GBR [SF]
2018 Simona Halep, ROU [3rd]
2019 Ash Barty, AUS

*BEST 2019 SLAM RESULTS*
[qualifiers]
4th Rd. - Aliona Bolsova, ESP (RG)
3rd Rd. - Anna Blinkova, RUS (RG)
??? Rd. - Coco Gauff, USA (WI) [in 3rd Rd.]
2nd Rd. - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (AO)
2nd Rd. - Varvara Flink, RUS (WI)
2nd Rd. - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (AO)
2nd Rd. - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (WI)
2nd Rd. - Kaja Juvan, SLO (WI)
2nd Rd. - Kristina Kucova, SVK (RG)
2nd Rd. - Kurumi Nara, JPN (RG)
2nd Rd. - Astra Sharma, AUS (AO)
2nd Rd. - Iga Swiatek, POL (AO)
2nd Rd. - Natalia Vikhlyantseva, RUS (AO)
2nd Rd. - Yanina Wickmayer, BEL (WI)
[wild cards]
3rd Rd. - Kimberly Birrell, AUS (AO)
??? Rd. - Harriet Dart, GBR (WI) [in 3rd Rd.]
2nd Rd. - Lauren Davis, USA (RG)
2nd Rd. - Zoe Hives, AUS (AO)
2nd Rd. - Priscilla Hon, AUS (RG)
2nd Rd. - Monica Niculescu, ROU (WI)
2nd Rd. - Diane Parry, FRA (RG)
[lucky losers]
??? Rd. - Lauren Davis, USA (WI) [in 3rd Rd.]
2nd Rd. - Marie Bouzkova, CZE (WI)
[protected ranking]
3rd Rd. - Timea Bacsinszky, SUI (AO)
2nd Rd. - Shelby Rogers, USA (RG)




TOP QUALIFIER: Coco Gauff/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): Ash Barty/AUS
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): 1st Rd. - Alison Riske/USA def. #22 Donna Vekic/CRO 3-6/6-3/7-5 (Vekic led 4-1 in 3rd; first Ct.1 roof closure)
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: Slovenia
REVELATION LADIES: Russia
NATION OF POOR SOULS: BLR (1-3 1st; 3/4 of "Dream Team" lose, including #10 Sabalenka)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Coco Gauff/USA (in 3rd Rd.) (LL: L.Davis/USA in 3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Harriet Dart/GBR (in 3rd Rd.)
LAST BRITS STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Dart,Konta
IT ("??"): Nominee: Gauff
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominee: L.Davis
CRASH & BURN: #2 Naomi Osaka/JPN (1st Rd. - lost to Putintseva/KAZ)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: Nominees: Svitolina (2nd Rd.: Gasparyan two points from win, retires when leading match); Hercog (1st Rd.: down 4-1 in 3rd vs. Kuzmova); Riske (1st Rd.: Vekic up 4-1 in 3rd); Bertens (2nd Rd.: Townsend MP in 2nd set)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: Nominee: Vekic (Bad Donna)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominee: Gauff
RAD REMEMBRANCE DAY malevolent activity notes...
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: Margarita Gasparyan, having overcome three knee surgeries and missing most of two years between 2016-18, comes within two points of defeating #8-seeded Elina Svitolina at 7-5/5-4. Five minutes later, she serves and lands awkwardly on her "bad" leg and immediately doubles over in pain. She is treated for cramping, and ultimately, in tears, retires while still leading 7-5/5-6, with an 82-81 points edge and 42-15 lead in winners.




All for Day 4. More tomorrow.
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