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Friday, July 5, 2019

W.5- Exam Day on Centre Court

Friday was a moving day at Wimbledon. Players either moved on to next Monday and the Round of 16 or they moved out of the singles competition. Among those sticking around were a so-far-star-crossed Ukrainian, two former #1's and the 15-year old who has quickly evolved into the story of the first week of the fortnight.



Coco Gauff surely didn't *look* as if she was going to win her 3rd Round match with veteran Polona Hercog. For a set and a half, the Slovenian playing in her 36th major outplayed the teenager, experiencing a break-out at her maiden slam (just not the kind that kids her age usually deal with). She served peerlessly and frustrated the Bannerette like we haven't yet seen from her on the big stage.

It set the stage for a Centre Court pop-quiz that proved so telling that it morphed into a semester's grade-deciding exam. Not just for Gauff, but Hercog, as well.

After having taken the 1st set 6-3, Hercog led 5-2 in the 2nd without yet having faced a BP. Firing back slice slot after slice shot at the teen during rallies, she held a MP on Gauff's serve. Gauff saved it with a backhand slice of her own that stayed tight to the line, then died off the grass as it spun out of reach of the Slovenian. Gauff hunkered down to hold serve and force Hercog to win it on her own. Serving at 5-3 for her first career slam Round of 16, Hercog once again reached MP. She double-faulted.

And it was on. From that moment forward, Gauff passed nearly every test, while Hercog failed at almost all of those presented.



While Gauff rarely missed on her groundstrokes and took advantage of her openings, Hercog's mental and tactical lapses ultimately proved devastating to her chances. Up 6-5 with Gauff looking to force a tie-break, Hercog missed an easy overhead shot. After being called for a DF on game point, Gauff challenged the call and got another shot. Once she'd converted on her second GP, Gauff took a mini-break lead early in the tie-break off a net cord shot that was dumped just onto the other side of the court. Hercog got to within two points of the match at 5-3, but as she would in nearly all the crucial moments on the day, she remained content with firing back sliced shots at Gauff and hoping for a miss rather than moving forward toward the net, even after having fired replies that had put the teenager in a bad position on the court. Completing an overhead shot and winning a rally, it was Gauff who soon reached SP at 6-5. Gauff missed on a forehand, but at 6-6 saw Hercog mindbogglingly stop play mid-rally to challenge a Gauff shot on the baseline that had been called in. As it turned out, the call was right (and it really wasn't close). Finally, on her third SP of the TB, the teenager won a 32-shot rally by moving in behind her forehand and knocked off a swing volley winner to win 9-7 and force a 3rd.



Gauff exploded (along with her mother in the stands) into the between-sets break, during which Hercog left the court.

When the Slovenian returned, she didn't markedly change her approach. Instead, she maintained the slice-dominant, refuse-to-leave-the-baseline-unless-forced-to-do-so game style that continued to consistently leave potential opportunities unclaimed. Credit goes to her for at least managing to get back on serve after falling behind 3-1, but Hercog was then forced to serve from behind. Since it was Gauff who was playing the big points with an air of experience that belied her, well, *actual* experience, the 15-year old now held the advantage in every way. It just a matter of making her move. Then she did. Down 6-5, Hercog saw Gauff connect on a pair of overheads to reach 30/30.

After a Hercog forehand error failed to convert a GP, a few moments later Gauff reached her first MP. After Gauff had raced to to reach a drop shot, Hercog's attempt to lob over her head saw the ball sail beyond the baseline to give Gauff the 3-6/7-6(7)/7-5 win to reach her maiden slam 4th Round in her first appearance in a major. She's the youngest to do so at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.





Thus, while Hercog flunked when asked to provide the correct answers necessary to reach the Round of 16, Gauff survives to face an ever bigger (and more complicated) exam on Monday against #7 Simona Halep.




=DAY 5 NOTES=
...after falling behind 3-1 vs. Victoria Azarenka in the 1st set today, the Romanian took control and won 11 of the final 12 games of the match. Azarenka converted just one of seven BP chances on the day (1-of-5 in the ever important 1st when she couldn't build upon her early lead).



Meanwhile, #3 Karolina Pliskova was stretched to three sets by #28 Hsieh Su-wei, but the Czech finally overpowered the veteran to win 6-3/2-6/6-4.

Once again, #8 Elina Svitolina found herself struggling to corral a lower ranked opponent, but once again she found a way to move forward in the draw, matching her career-best (2017) Wimbledon Round of 16 result. She did need her opponent crumpling to the court, as occurred with Margarita Gasparyan a round ago, to do it against #31 Maria Sakkari, but she did need to undertake multiple comeback to get the job done.

In the 1st, the Ukrainian won 6-3 after having trailed 3-1. After losing the 2nd in a TB after having held two MP in game #11, Svitolina *finally* found her way in the 3rd, winning a 6-2 set on MP #7.



Could she be battering her self into form?

...the other four 3rd Round matches presented a collection of firsts, as Dayana Yastremska (def. Viktorija Golubic) and Karolina Muchova (def. #20 Anett Kontaveit) advanced to their first career slam Round of 16's. Up next for the Czech? Another Czech named Karolina, as in Pliskova.



With a three-set win over Caroline Wozniacki, Zhang Shuai reached the second week at Wimbledon for the first time, after having been 0-5 in MD play at SW19 before this week. Of course, she's no stranger to such a thing. Remember, she was 0-14 in *all* slam 1st Rounds before her QF run in Melbourne three years ago. She's the first Chinese woman to reach the 4th Round at the All-England Club in five years, and will next face Yastremska..



And, fresh off her first career slam QF result in Paris, #24 Petra Martic's three-set win over Danielle Collins means she's a win away from doing it in back-to-back majors. After posting one slam 4th Round finish in her first 21 majors (+9 other failed qualifying attempts), Martic has done so at five of the last 10.

With three straight three-setters at this Wimbledon, the first two after dropping the 1st set, Martic maybe more than anyone in the bottom half of the draw will benefit from the extra day off between now and her next outing (vs. Svitolina) on Monday.

...in mixed doubles today, Venus Williams won her opening match with Frances Tiafoe, while Hsieh advanced alongside her brother Cheng-peng (Akon).



Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Jamie Murray won, while Sam Stosur & Leander Paes lost to the all-Brit duo of Eden Silva & Evan Hoyt.



The only seeded WD duo to fall was #12 Flipkens/Larsson, to Abigail Spears & Nadiia Kichenok.




OH-BLOODY-HELL! ON DAY 5:




ANOTHER REASON IT'S NICE TO SEE THE BRITISH FANS LOVING COCO GAUFF ON DAY 5: It proves they don't hold you-know-who against *everyone* from the States.


LIKE ON DAY 5: Any way but the highway, baby.










=WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
#8 Elina Svitolina/UKR vs. #24 Petra Martic/CRO
#3 Karolina Pliskova/CZE vs. Karolina Muchova/CZE
#7 Simona Halep/ROU vs. (Q) Coco Gauff/USA
Zhang Shuai/CHN vs. Dayana Yastremska/UKR










*WIMBLEDON "IT" WINNERS*
2006 Li Na, CHN
2007 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2008 Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2009 Sabine Lisicki, GER
2010 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 Sabine Lisicki, GER
2012 [Alter Ego] "The Radwanska"
2013 [Upstart] Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
2014 [New Wheelchair Star] Yui Kamiji, JPN
2015 [Vandeweghe] CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2016 [First WC Champ] Jiske Griffioen, NED
2017 [Next WC Great?] Diede de Groot, NED
2018 [GenPDQ Pole] Iga Swiatek, POL
2019 [Kid] Coco Gauff, USA



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 4th 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 ("Kid"): Coco Gauff, USA
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); Riske (1st Rd.: Vekic up 4-1 in 3rd); Bertens (2nd Rd.: Townsend MP in 2nd set); Gauff (3rd Rd.: Hercog 2 MP in 2nd set)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREE: (Bad Donna) Vekic/CRO + ??
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
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 5. More tomorrow.
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