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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

US.2 - Three For the Road

While Monday night's public sacrifice on the altar of Arthur Ashe Stadium dominated the conversation on Day 1, Day 2 was about those at the heart of some of the tour's most intriguing stories of the past twelve months stepping out onto the sun-drenched courts of Flushing Meadows for the first phase of their final opportunity at slam glory in 2019.

From the defending champ to the season's biggest winner to the year's breakout teenage star, on Tuesday we witnessed the authors of the GenPDQ-tinged next chapter of the women's game provide more evidence of the early stages of a possible triumvirate of WTA Power Rangers -- with both North American ties *and* roots that stretch back to their familial origins in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean -- who could be about to lead the tour into and *through* the 2020's.



2018 U.S. Open winner Naomi Osaka, having won a second slam title and ascended to and recaptured the #1 ranking over the past twelve months, while also becoming a star on the world stage *and* ending the coaching set-up that had finally helped her to discover the consistency and big moment focus that helped to make last summer's run in Queens a reality, returned to the scene of her greatest triumph on Tuesday. While Osaka arrived in New York as the #1 seed, the 21-year old hasn't won a title since the Australian Open in January, nor ever reached a final. She's dealt with lingering injuries (she's currently sporting a wrap on her knee after being forced to retire from a match in Cincinnati two weeks ago), and won just two matches (both at RG) in the season's two middle slam events.

After having managed to thrive in the cauldron of a U.S. Open final as well as yet another meltdown by Serena Williams on said stage, Osaka *knows* she can weather a hefty New York storm. But questions about her knee, and maybe those bouncing around within herself, left her a legitimate question mark coming into this event.



Against Russian Anna Blinkova, 20, Osaka started nervously, falling behind 4-1 in the opening set, but she stormed back to win it 6-4. Despite failing to put away three MP in the 2nd, one in a 7-5 TB that went to her opponent, Osaka remained strong willed in the 3rd (bringing to mind how she didn't lose focus while chaos was taking place across the net from her last September). She took a 3-1 lead in the decider, and kept Blinkova at bay en route to a 6-4/6-7(5)/6-2 win to improve her career Open record to 12-2.



Meanwhile, well under the radar on this day, and with far less swirling drama, 19-year old Bianca Andreescu made her U.S. Open debut today.



Yep, that's right -- her debut. The Canadian, who has yet to crush a grape in a slam despite having lifted Indian Wells and Rogers Cup championship trophies this season, lost in U.S. Open qualifying the last two years. With six unsuccessful attempts to qualify in majors in 2017-18, this is only her *fourth* career slam MD appearance, with her best results coming into Day 2 being a pair of 2nd Round results in Melbourne and Paris (the latter followed by a walkover exit) earlier this season.

As usual, Andreescu had some tape on various parts of her body, and she took a little while to get warmed up, but still managed to win the vast majority of the big points when they mattered most. The #15 seed defeated 17-year old wild card Katie Volynets 6-2/6-4, outhitting the Bannerette 29-6 in winners and thereby matching her career best slam result (you have to say it with a chuckle, you know?) in the process.



In the current "live" rankings, Andreescu has already climbed into the Top 10. Actually, that happened before she even played her first match at this Open, and with only challenger level points from '18 left to be defended the remainder of this season (she went 18-3 in $25K and $60K events after Flushing Meadows a year ago) it's really pretty much just a matter of *where* in the Top 10 the Canadian will finish at the close of 2019.

In the late-ending final match of the day session on Louis Armstrong stadium, 15-year old wild Coco Gauff also made *her* U.S. Open debut, two months after she burst onto the WTA scene at Wimbledon by qualifying, upsetting legend Venus Williams, and reaching the Round of 16 at the All-England Club. Since then, the teenager's name recognition has mushroomed exponentially ("Call Me Coco" is already a *thing*), and even Patrick Mouratoglou (whose academy Gauff has used as a base) admits that she's already being "given the slam champion treatment" as far as promotion and instant standing even while she's only actually played a handful of tour-level matches.

But there's a reason for it all, as just like Osaka and Andreescu, while she has yet to win as *big* as those two, Gauff has already proven adept at handling the pressures of grand slam stage. She did it again today against yet another teenager, 18-year old Hordette Anastasia Potapova, like Gauff a former junior #1 and girls slam winner.

Potapova grabbed the opening set, but Gauff gradually seized control. After leading 4-1 in the 3rd, Gauff saw the Russian change the momentum of the set by coming out of an MTO break (shoulder) with the greater momentum. Gauff double-faulted on BP to allow the set to get back on serve, then Potapova held to seize a third consecutive game, saving a BP and knotting the 3rd at 4-4. But Gauff didn't falter, and instead raised her game, holding and then breaking Potapova to close out a 3-6/6-2/6-4 victory, her first at Flushing Meadows.

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Welcome to the show, Coco ?? - #USOpen

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Stationed in the top half of the draw, arguably the sport's three biggest story subjects of the past year could soon intersect en route to the women's final two weekends from now. Osaka and Gauff are wins from both away from setting up a *second* huge headline-grabbing women's match of the first week in the 3rd Round. Meanwhile, Andreescu (whose second week path could include a Round of 16 meeting with Romanian heroine, and Bianca tennis idol, Simona Halep) is eyeing a potential semifinal clash with whichever player comes out of Osaka's quarter of the draw if she can maintain the level of play she's sported (when healthy) all season long.

While ESPN can dress up a single, dread-worthy 1st Round primetime match as being "like a final," giggle-and-awe their way through the play-by-play call, bring in big names from other areas of the network to cover and comment on it (with no real-time current tennis knowledge required), and commemorate last year's final controversies with an unnecessary and unwanted documentary-style rehash, the REAL stories of note taking place on the court of play will *eventually* have their day.

For that, at least, we can be glad.




=DAY 2 NOTES=
...as usual, the Open provides something of a natural line by which to divide the current season's first eight months from the closing stretch during which a player can "make up" for their earlier mistakes and send themselves into the offseason with their head (and hopes) high, or limp to the finish while seeking out the offseason in order to lick their wounds, clear their heads, answer questions (and make coaching hires) in preparation to try and start over again in January as quickly -- and cleanly -- as possible.

There were a lot of players who arrived on the grounds on Day 2 knowing that a few hours later they'd know on which side of the divide they fall as the summer comes to a close.

#24 Garbine Muguruza was one of them, as she was trying to stop her slide down the rankings, which recently led to the end of the long coaching stint of Sam Sumyk. Against Alison Riske, Spaniard claimed the 1st set in fine fashion, but ultimately lost in three. She'll have to take solace in the fact that she didn't "Mugu" her way out of New York City. Instead, she had an early (1-0) break lead in the 3rd, and was simply outplayed down the stretch rather than having "given" the set away, losing 2-6/6-1/6-3. Perhaps it says a great deal about the "no woman's land" in which her game currently resides that not looking like she couldn't care less is a positive development. As it is, her game is still redeemable, but also hardly a quick fix away from returning to her past glories.

Of course, the Open has never provided Muguruza with a soft place on which to land, so it likely wasn't realistic to think it would this time around, either. Even during a span of time during which she's been ranked #1 and won two majors, she's lost in the 1st or 2nd Round at Flushing Meadows in six of seven Open appearances.



Recent first-time slam quarterfinalist (Wimbledon) Riske, too, came into the day having not seen much success in this event. Before her win ove Muguruza she'd lost five straight 1st Round matches at the Open, was one-and-out in six of seven tries, and hadn't reached the 2nd Round since 2013.



One still hopes that Alona Ostapenko can some day again resemble for an extended time the Latvian Thunder version of herself that won Roland Garros and struck constant fear in the hearts of fuzzy yellow balls. Now, though, you just tend to find enjoyment in the (often brief) stretches of time when she's not imploding in a hailstorm of errors, losing big leads and/or slipping farther down the ranking ladder. There was a lot of good in her 6-3/7-6(7) win today over Alekandra Krunic. so there you go.

Her 28/36 winner/UE numbers were acceptable, and her game had some of the old flow. Sure, the 12 double-faults are a worry, but she overcame that, right? Yeah, she *also* led 2-0 in the 2nd set, and twice unsuccessfully served for the win at 5-4 and 6-5. She then squandered a 3-0 lead in the 2nd set TB, dropping five straight points and ended up having to save two Krunic SP from 6-4 down. Hey, but Ostapenko also had a final surge, and put away her first MP with a swing volley off the line to win in straight sets.



Sometimes it's best to view things through Thunder-colored glasses, at least until (or unless) something changes.

...elsewhere, a week after reemerging in crisp form in Cincinnati and reaching the final... Svetlana Kuznetsova lost 6-2/7-5 to wild card Kristie Ahn.

Well, that's Sveta. But it should be noted that she apparently took several MTO's during the match.

Ahn, by the way, was playing in her first U.S. Open MD in eleven years. This is the first slam MD win ever for the New York-born 27-year old.



Also, #4 Simona Halep was forced to three sets by lucky loser Nicole Gibbs (rarely has that LL term both so totally appropriate *and* inappropriate, considering the year Gibbs has had with her cancer scare, but which also saw her manage to slip into her eighth straight U.S. Open draw despite falling in qualifying), but won 6-3/3-6/6-2 to end her three-match U.S. Open losing streak.

2018 U.S. Open girls champ Wang Xiyu, who'd lost in qualifying but didn't immediately get a spot in her maiden slam MD via a LL berth, *did* finally slip through when Lesia Tsurenko was the latest player to pull out of the event. That makes *twelve* LL's at the majors this season, and *six* at this tournament alone. The 18-year old lost today to Kirsten Flipkens... yet another lucky loser.

And the final numbers of the Andrea Petkovic vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu match looked like this:

Score: Petkovic 6-3/6-4
Petkovic winners: 25
Petkovic UE: 26
Post-win Petko Dances: 1

The German will face #6 Petra Kvitova next.

...#9 Aryna Sabalenka won the all-Belarusian battle with Vika Azarenka in the Armstrong night session, firing off a very much needed 3-6/6-3/6-4 victory to keep alive the hope of posting at least *one* slam result as good as those expected from her following her Round of 16 run in this event last year. So far, she's put up 3r-2r-1r finishes in the first three in 2019. As for Vika, maybe his (bad) luck-of-the-draw will *eventually* turn her way. Hopefully.



The day concluded with a big upset, as three-time 2019 slam qualifier Anna Kalinskaya finally recorded her maiden slam MD victory, sending '17 champ (and #11 seed) Sloane Stephens out via a 6-3/6-4 scoreline under the lights on Ashe.



Speaking of Sloane, with the 1st Round now complete, she gets the (dis)honor of getting one of the early-round awards...

"Crash-and-Burn": #11 Stephens ended up being the highest seed to fall in the opening round. This was just her second 1st Round exit (w/ '15) in eight U.S. Open appearances.

Upset Queens: I'm going to hold off on the "Revelation Ladies" pick (though the U.S., Chinese, French and Polish women are the top contenders at the moment), but I'll go with the UQ and pick the Russians, as Kalinskaya's win over Stephens means Hordettes knocked off *two* former Open champs in the 1st Round. Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Samantha Stosur, as well.

Nation of Poor Souls: some stiff competition here between the Aussie and Spanish contingents. The Australiams were very nearly a lock as they were just 1-4 (w/ only Barty winning) before Ajla Tomljanovic got a second win Tuesday. Even with a squad in the Fed Cup final, the bulk of the Australian "team" -- Stosur, Gavrilova, Hon and Sharma -- went winless in NYC.

Spain went 1-4, with seeded Muguruza and Carla Suarez-Navarro (2nd set ret.) both falling today. Only Aliona Bolsova reached the 2nd Round, defeating #31 Barbora Strycova.

Based on the losses by seeded players, I'm leaning toward Spain, but I'll wait until the next round to see what happens there before it's "official."

In all, not surprisingly, the Bannerettes put more players (12) into the Final 64 than any other nation, followed by China (4), Russia (4) and the Czech Republic (4).




EXACTLY... ON DAY 2:



It never did. That's what's so ridiculous. The Grand Slam is the Grand Slam, and any four-straight major title run covering two seasons is still a "non-calendar" slam.

To do otherwise is like calling a home run in baseball an "over the fence home run" rather than just, you know, a "home run" to differentiate it from the "inside the park" variety. This is tennis' version of the tail wagging the dog.


LIKE ON DAY 2:

One Greek player who was able to have a laugh today...




MEMORIES ON DAY 2:




LIKE ON DAY 2:

Though I'm not sure it's a *spectacularly* accurate likeness, I've surely seen worse.

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The legacy lives on... #USOpen

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The first African American to win a Grand Slam title was Althea Gibson. Born to sharecropper parents on August 25, 1927, Althea achieved a level of success and fame astonishing at the time as an African American. Gibson showed incredible skill and natural talent at an early age. At 12 she was the New York City women’s paddle tennis champion. Despite her skill and growing reputation as an elite player, Gibson was barred from entering the premier American tournament, the United States National Championships. While there were strict rules prohibiting racial discrimination, players qualified by accumulating points at sanctioned tournaments, most which were held at whites-only clubs. Only after a scathing letter published by retired champion Alice Marble, did Gibson receive an invitation to the Nationals-where she made her debut on her 23rd birthday. In 1956 Gibson became the first African American athlete to win a Grand Slam tournament. In 1957 she was seeded first at Wimbledon-considered at the time, the “world championship of tennis”- and won the finals for the singles title. She was the first black champion in the tournament’s 80 year history, AND the first champion to receive the trophy personally from Queen Elizabeth II. Gibson said of this moment “Shaking hands with the queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus.” Gibson also had a career as a professional golfer, and in 1964, at the age of 37, became the first African American to join the LPGA tour. Of her time in golf it was said “she came along during a difficult time, gained the support of a lot of people, and quietly made a difference.” Happy 92nd Birthday to this incredible woman who still inspires us to strive for our dreams, Althea Gibson! #obscureborn #bornthisdayinhistory #altheagibson #grandslam #wimbleton #unitedstatesnationalchampionship #frenchchampionship #lpga

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ANNIVERSARY ON DAY 2:




LIVE-ACTION "BAMBI" ON DAY 2:





Born Stefani Germanotta in New York City, Lady Gaga became widely known in the early 2000's as much for her series of stage costumes (which brought to mind Elton John in his 1970's heyday), dance-infused performing style (ala Madonna), glam rock vibe (David Bowie) and award show publicity stunts (meat dress... 'nuff said) as she was for her music. Over the past decade, though, that's changed.

After modeling so much of her career on the aforementioned artists who influenced her musical and performing direction, she's gone on to become a trailblazer in her own right. With that in mind, the next "WTA Theme Song" selection for this space is her 2011 release "Born This Way."

In an interview with Billboard magazine, Gaga described "Born This Way" as her "freedom song."

"I want to write my this-is-who-the-fuck-I-am anthem, but I don't want it to be hidden in poetic wizardry and metaphors. I want it to be an attack, an assault on the issue because I think, especially in today's music, everything gets kind of washy sometimes and the message gets hidden in the lyrical play. Harkening back to the early '90s, when Madonna, En Vogue, Whitney Houston and TLC were making very empowering music for women and the gay community and all kind of disenfranchised communities, the lyrics and the melodies were very poignant and very gospel and very spiritual and I said, 'That's the kind of record I need to make. That's the record that's going to shake up the industry.' It's not about the track. It's not about the production. It's about the song. Anyone could sing 'Born This Way'. It could've been anyone."

The song would seem to fit into the WTA tapesty on any number of levels, with the differing lifestyles, outlooks, opinions and the like that populate the tour all falling under the same umbrella of acceptance and infused with a spirit of empowerment. At least on the best days. I mean, it wouldn't be The Most Interesting Tour if there weren't a few dust-ups, disagreements and drama along the way, right?


["Born This Way" - Lady Gaga, 2011 Grammys]


Personally, it took me a little bit of time to "get" Gaga, as initially she at least appeared to be more "show" than "substance" musically, as is so often the case with many of today's performance-based singers. I think her Grammy appearances earlier this decade, and then a concert documentary that aired on HBO finally showed me the light. As she's branched out, from attacking different musical styles to, now, acting ("A Star is Born"), she's proven to be a true multi-talented artist with a classic voice than all the costumes and stunts obscured in the early days.


["Shallow" (from A STAR IS BORN) - Lady Gaga w/ Bradley Cooper, 2019 Oscars]


Off stage, as something of an offshoot of the impact of "Born this Way," she's become known for philanthropy and social activism, including her work for LGBTQ rights, and for her nonprofit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on empowering youth and preventing bullying.


YouTube Research Finds:

["Gimme Shelter" - w/ The Rolling Stones, 2012]
...what she does in those heels should be an Olympic sport.



[Singing "Born This Way" A cappella for children at a foster care center in Mexico - 2016]


[The great A cappela version of "Born This Way" from the HBO documentary -2013]


["You and I" - 2013]
...my favorite Gaga song, and (though not the greatest video of it) the version similar to the one from the HBO concert doc




Next: the greatest music video performance ever?




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Always looking up ??: @coryschlossimages

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**U.S. OPEN "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS**
2004 Russia
2005 United States
2006 France
2007 Russia
2008 China
2009 United States
2010 Taiwan
2011 Romania
2012 Romania
2013 United States
2014 United States
2015 United States
2016 China
2017 Japan
2018 Sweden
2019 Russia
[2019]
AO: United States
RG: Russia
WI: Slovenia
US: Russia

**U.S. OPEN "CRASH & BURN" WINNERS**
2007 Maria Sharapova, RUS (3rd Rd.)
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (2nd Rd.)
2009 Elena Dementieva, RUS (2nd Rd.)
2010 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2nd Rd.)
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE & Li Na, CHN (both 1st Rd.)
2012 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (1st Rd.)
2013 Samantha Stosur, AUS (1st Rd.)
2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (1st Rd.)
2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE (1st Rd.)
2016 Monica Puig, PUR (1st Rd.)
2017 Angelique Kerber, GER (1st Rd.)
2018 Simona Halep, ROU (1st Rd.)
2019 Sloane Stephens, USA (1st Rd.)
[2019]
AO: Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (1st Rd.)
RG: Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1st Rd.)
WI: Naomi Osaka, JPN (1st Rd.)
US: Sloane Stephens, USA (1st Rd.)

**WOMEN'S 1st ROUND WON/LOST - BY NATION**
12-11...United States
4-4...China
4-5...Czech Republic
4-7...Russia
3-0...Belgium
3-2...Germany, Romania
3-3...France
2-0...Croatia, Estonia, Latvia
2-1...Belarus, Poland, Ukraine
2-4...Australia
1-0...Denmark, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Taiwan, Tunisia
1-1...Canada, Great Britian, Netherlands, Japan, Sweden
1-2...Kazakhstan
1-3...Switzerland
1-4...Spain
0-1...Italy, Luxembourg, Puerto Rico
0-2...Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia

**BACKSPIN 2019 WTA TOP PERFORMANCE WINNERS**
JAN: Petra Kvitova (Sydney)
AO: Naomi Osaka (WS)
FEB/MAR: Belinda Bencic (Dubai)
I.W./MIAMI: Bianca Andreescu (Indian Wells)
1Q: [Andreescu - Indian Wells]
APR: Petra Kvitova (Stuttgart)
MAY: Kiki Bertens (Madrid)
RG: Ash Barty (WS)
2Q Clay Court: [Bertens - Madrid]
JUN: Ash Barty (Birmingham)
WI: Simona Halep (WS)
2Q Grass Court: [Halep - Wimbledon]
JUL/AUG: Jil Teichmann (Palermo)
AUG (pre-U.S.): Bianca Andreescu (Toronto)

**BACKSPIN 2019 FED CUP OVERALL MVP WINNERS**
(Feb) WG 1st Round: Ash Barty, AUS
(Feb) WG II: Georgina Garcia-Perez, ESP
(Feb) Zones: Johanna Konta, GBR
(Apr) WG SF: Ash Barty, AUS
(Apr) WG PO: Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
(Apr) WG II PO: Johanna Konta, GBR
(Apr) Zones: Anastasia Kulikova, FIN
(Jun) Zones: Nigina Abduraimova/Akgul Amanmuradova, UZB
(Jul) ITF World Team 14s: Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE (jr.)
[Overall MVP Captain winners]
(Feb) WG 1st Round: Julien Benneteau, FRA
(Feb) WG II: Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
(Feb) Zones: Anne Keothavong, GBR
(Apr) WG SF: Julien Benneteau, FRA
(Apr) WG PO: Kathy Rinaldi, USA
(Apr) WG II PO: Igor Andreev, RUS
(Apr) Zones: Laura Arraya, PER
(Jun) Zones: Peter Lebed, UZB
(Jul) ITF World Team 14s: Tomas Josefus, CZE



TOP QUALIFIER: Peng Shuai/CHN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: Isabella Shinikova/BUL def. Sachia Vickery/USA 6-1/4-6/7-6(6) - Shinikova MTO down MP at 6-5 in 3rd set TB, then comes back and wins 3 con. pts. to advance. Shinikova limps to net for her handshake, then Vickery airs out her frustrations on Twitter after the leaves the court.
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Ana Bogdan/ROU (def. Dart/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (1st Rd. - lost to Jabeur/TUN)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
CRASH & BURN: #11 Sloane Stephens/USA (1st Rd. - '17 champ lost to qualifier A.Kalinskaya on Ashe for first career slam MD win)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: xx
IT ("??"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1st Rd. wins: Babos, Bogdan, Bolkvadze, Kalinskaya, Peng, Townsend (LL: Flipkens)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1st Rd. wins: Ahn, Di Lorenzo, Gauff, McNally
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: 1st Rd. wins: Ahn, Collins, Davis, Di Lorenzo, Gauff, Kenin, Keys, McNally, Riske, Townsend, S.Williams, V.Williams
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Nominee: Ahn, Gauff, McNally, Di Lorenzo, Townsend, Riske
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominee: Kalinskaya
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 2. More tomorrow.
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