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Tuesday, January 28, 2020

AO.9 - Barty's Party Ticket is Punched

Does this look like the face of a player feeling the pressure?

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Barty ?? party ?? rolls ?? on

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=DAY 9 NOTES=
...two days of women's quarterfinals under the sun (rather than the stars) kicked off on Tuesday. And the Party is still ongoing in Melbourne.

The first match up on the day, though, was the one between #14 Sofia Kenin and unseeded Ons Jabeur (world #77). For the (now seemingly) annual first-time slam semifinalist berth in this tournament, it pitted two players who'd taken mostly unconventional paths to such a moment.

The Moscow-born Kenin permanently moved to the U.S. with her parents as an infant, later catching the eye of Nick Bollettieri (all right, *that's* not so unconventional) and going on to have a great junior career (reaching the '15 U.S. Open girls final) while drawing comparisons to a young Martina Hingis. While she had no Gauffian coming out part as a teenager on the pro tour, her improvement over the last two seasons has been steady and affirming. While she'd seemed to be rolling the dice at first, U.S. Fed Cup captain Kathy Rinaldi began to show a growing (and nurturing) faith in Kenin two seasons ago after working with her as part of the USTA's player development program (and as the U.S.'s international junior team captain). While she didn't always win her matches for Team USA, it soon became clear that Rinaldi's instincts about Kenin's competitiveness were on point. A season ago, Kenin had her breakthrough campaign, winning three WTA titles, breaking into the Top 20 and upsetting Serena Williams at Roland Garros. Now the 21-year old finds herself on the cusp of the Top 10.

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Sofia Kenin is staying ?? in. _ #TeamUSATennis

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Meanwhile, Jabeur has quickly become an inspirational figure for female athletes not only in her native Tunisia, but the entire African region with her historic run to the first ever slam QF for a player with Arab heritage. Having been based out of Tunisia for her junior career (during which she reached back-to-back RG girls finals in 2010-11, winning in her second attempt), and then turning down offers to play college tennis in the U.S., Jabeur has the background necessary to instill hope in a new generation of players from a largely untapped talent pool. And she seems eager to play the part of role model, too. Rather than be a footnote in the history of the career of Caroline Wozniacki, Jabeur had made the Dane part of *her* story when she eliminated the former world #1 and AO champion from her final tour event last week, and then backed up her victory by winning two *more* matches to reach today's contest.

Still, even with such rich backstories, this match wasn't intended to be the showcase affair of the women's schedule on this day. Unfortunately, the match never really played "above its station," either.

Playing in her own first slam quarterfinal, Kenin wasn't at her best. Her level of play dipped and dived between the most important moments, and she let her frustration with her in-point consistency cause her to ask for (and lose) a series of woeful replay challenges that somehow managed to leave her without *any* remaining queries around mid-way through *both* the 1st and 2nd sets. But Kenin *did* find a way to rise just high enough just enough times to keep herself slightly ahead of her opponent throughout the match. Jabeur used her shotmaking skills to bring out some of that aforementioned frustration in Kenin, but *her* game was littered with too many errors to allow her to put on display the full set of abilities that had helped her roll out consecutive wins over the likes of Johanna Konta, Caroline Garcia, Wozniacki and Wang Qiang.

In the key moments of the 1st set, Kenin saved a pair of BP and held for 5-3, then battled to finally put away the set over the next two games. After failing to secure either of two BP/SP chances in game #9, she couldn't convert three more on her own serve in the following game. But on a point that featured dueling drop shots, Kenin lofted a perfect lob over Jabeur's outstretched racket to get her sixth SP chance. The Tunisian's missed forehand gave Kenin the 1st set at 6-4.



The 2nd set saw Kenin save three more BP to hold for 3-3, then break Jabeur on her fourth BP chance of game #7. She never relinquished the lead, eventually serving out the 6-4/6-4 win to become the fifth Bannerette to reach her maiden slam semifinal at the AO since 2013.




Kenin was outhit by Jabeur, who led 34-14 in winners, but she was by far the more opportunistic of the two. She converted 3-of-9 BP chances, while the Tunisian was just 1-of-7. Though her game is more inherently risky, Jabeur's 36 unforced errors (compared to Kenin's 14) proved to be too much to overcome.

Kenin will now move past Madison Keys into the #2 spot behind Serena Williams in the U.S. rankings, but will surely have to lift her game a bit to have a shot to play beyond the *next* round.

...in the women's match that everyone on Laver was waiting for, favorite daughter Ash Barty, already the first #1-seeded Aussie since 1977, faced #7 Petra Kvitova in her attempt to become the first home-grown semifinalist since 1984. It was a rematch of last year's QF, won by eventual finalist Kvitova, and the seventh meeting between the two since the start of 2017. While the Czech led their career head-to-head 4-3 (they first met in '12, when Barty was just 16), the Aussie had won their three most recent encounters. The power of Kvitova vs. the variety-filled, slice-heavy game of Barty produced a trio of three-setters on hard court in '19.

While it would prove to be another well-played match (especially in the opening set, a virtual back and forth tug-of-war), this meeting didn't ultimately produce the sort of high drama that might have been expected.

Both players opened the match by stringing together point streaks. Barty led 40/love, then faced BP, before holding to open the 1st set. Kvitova followed by sweeping eight straight points in the next two games. The Czech saved a BP in game #6, firing off two aces and holding for 3-3. In the next game, Kvitova's crosscourt backhand return winner gave her a love/40 lead on Barty's serve, but she then overcooked three consecutive UE's and netted a return. The game became a seven-deuce marathon in which Barty saved a total of five BP before holding to take a slim lead on the scoreboard. Kvitova saved a BP in game #8, and three games later held double BP at 5-5. But her long return leveled the game at deuce, and another wide return gave Barty a GP. Still another return miss handed Barty a 6-5 lead.

The set went to a tie-break, where Kvitova took an early 3-1 lead. Down 3-2, Barty's superior defensive skills kept alive what became a 22-shot rally that ended with a Kvitova error. A Barty ace soon gave her a 5-4 lead, but Kvitova's two holds of serve gave *her* the first SP of the day at 6-5. She didn't convert, then switched courts to play on the sunny side of the net on Laver, where she'd struggled earlier in the set. Barty swept the final two points, taking the TB at 8-6 when a Kvitova backhand sailed long.

While both woman had had just one break of serve, Kvitova's BP numbers (1/9 vs. Barty's 1/3) showed that she'd left more unclaimed in the set, and now faced the prospect of fighting back to win in three sets on a sunny day vs. a player with little worries about such a situation, and a big crowd that had her back and would do everything (within reason, one suspects) to lift her up if she needed it.

Needless to say, it didn't *sound* like a winning combination for a player who's often had difficultly playing in Australia's hot summer conditions.

Whether Kvitova was tired mentally or physically, or if Barty had simply caught a wave of adrenaline, but the Aussie burst into the 2nd set, breaking in game #1. Kvitova's DF in game #3 placed her behind 15/40, and when she couldn't put away multiple shots at the net (one on an overhead) it allowed Barty to stay alive and eventually claim the point and break via a perfectly placed lob, taking a 3-0 lead. The edge grew to 4-0 before Kvitova, now with little to lose, began hitting out and finally found something of a groove. She held serve, then broke to get to within 4-2. But with a chance to perhaps get back into the set a game later, she fell behind love/30, then faced a BP. Another DF gave Barty at 5-2 lead and the chance to serve out the match to become the first Aussie woman to reach the AO semis in thirty-six years.

Barty fell behind love/30, then 15/40. But the Czech's inability to convert her BP chances haunted her until the very end. She failed to win either point, dropping to 2-for-12 on BP for the day, and Barty soon found herself at MP. She fired a match-ending ace, winning 7-6(6)/6-2 while continuing to breathe life into the lungs of a dream long deferred for Aussie tennis fans.



Afterward, Barty showed just how comfortable she's become in the spotlight. Surely, the thousands of friendly home fans helped, as did the sight of her former doubles partner, Australian TV commentator Casey Dellacqua, watching from the sidelines of the court.



Rather than be (over)interviewed by Jim Courier (bless her) she called out Dellacqua to perform the duties, reveling in being able to razz her a bit by putting her on the spot to pull off an unexpected task. Dellacqua was initially a bit flustered and ill-prepared, but she made it work (at least until Courier butted in to make sure they got to a video piece of Barty in a closest-to-the-tee competition last year vs. Tiger Woods), while Barty teased her, as well as coach Craig Tyzzer, praised Kvitova, and charmed the crowd. Good on ya, Ash.






Still, the point is that Barty is no Sam Stosur, or any number of other Aussies from past years who have seemed to be overwhelmed by the pressure of performing their best in this slam. The moment may well *eventually* get to her -- and she *did* waver for a few minutes when she was up 4-0 in the 2nd today, even uncharacteristically griping at her player's box at one point -- but she surely *looks* capable of taking this thing all the way to the end.

...in doubles, three of the Top 4 seeds reached the semifinals on Tuesday, but #3-seeded U.S. Open champs Elise Mertens & Aryna Sabalenka weren't one of them, upset 7-6(7)/602 by the #7 Chan sisters, who thus reach their first slam semifinal as a team. #1 Hsieh/Strycova downed Brady/Dolehide, #2 Babos/Mladenovic eliminated Gauff/McNally, and #4 Krejcikova/Siniakova eliminated Dabrowski/Ostapenko.

In mixed, Latisha Chan (w/ Ivan Dodig) and Barbora Krejcikova (w/ Nikola Mektic) both won to keep alive their hopes of *sweeping* both doubles crowns at this AO. Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Jamie Murray defeated Alona Ostapenko & Leander Paes, as the Indian doubles legend played his final match at the Australian Open.






...LIKE ON DAY 9:

Well, it's about time!




...LIKE ON DAY 9:

Well, it's about time!




...REALIZED ON DAY 9:

Hmmm, I haven't seen a photo of it this year, so I guess EuroSport finally stop using those against-the-rail padded things on the tennis set that always made it look like Mats Wilander or Barbara Schett, when they leaned against them, were one wrong move away from tumbling backwards over the side.




...AND AWAY WE GO... ON DAY 9:






...ONE (other than Buis) FOR THE LAST TIME ON DAY 9:




...APROPOS OF NOTHING ON DAY 9:

On ESPN, after Barty fired an ace, Chris Evert noted that the Aussie had the hardest recorded serve -- around 113/114 mph -- in the event of the eight women who reached the quarterfinals. Then she couldn't help but note, "just to put it in perspective," that Coco Gauff's hardest serve had been 119 mph.

One, who really cares at this point? Two, what "perspective" was she referring to? I mean, other than that whichever player hit the hardest single serve didn't really mean a hell of a lot. Of course, we know *that* wasn't the point, as the if-there's-a-moment-of-dead-air-say-"Coco"-and-maybe-we'll-get-five-extra-viewers gamplan has no limits. Even if it seems to be a knock against the entire remaining field of players, or when the moment comes when there's a matching taking placing between players with three majors and a #1 ranking to their credit. Even when Gauff is no longer in the singles draw, but the player who defeated her is.

Of course, now Coco isn't in the doubles, either... so I guess they're going to have to get *really* creative the rest of the week.



Got on the Cyndi Lauper train on a whim, joined forces with Adam Lambert, and ended up with a half-naked (well, three-quarters, or more) Cher on a U.S. Navy battleship...


["True Colors" - Cyndi Lauper with Belinda Carlisle, 2019]



["Girls Just Want to Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper with Kesha (and others), 2019]
...she's still bopping around like she did thirty years ago



["Mad World" - Cyndi Lauper with Adam Lambert, 2012]



["Believe/If I Could Turn Back Time/I Got You Babe" - Adam Lambert & Cyndi Lauper at 2019 Kennedy Center Honors, for Cher]
...not sure why I missed this a couple of months ago



["If I Could Turn Back Time" - Cher, 1989]
...Naval recruitment program, or the forerunner of "Mission Accomplished?"





=SINGLES QF=
#1 Ash Barty/AUS def. #7 Petra Kvitova/CZE
#14 Sofia Kenin/USA def. Ons Jabeur/TUN
#28 Anett Kontaveit/EST vs. #4 Simona Halep/ROU
Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. #30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS

=DOUBLES SF=
#1 Hsieh/Strycova (TPE/CZE) vs. #4 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE)
#7 Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE) vs. #2 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)

=MIXED DOUBLES QF=
Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR) vs. Sai.Zheng/Vliegen (CHN/BEL)
Swiatek/Kubot (POL/POL) vs. (WC) Sharma/JP.Smith (AUS/AUS)
#6 L.Chan/Dodig (TPE/CRO) vs. #3 Dabrowski/Kontinen (CAN/FIN)
#5 Krejcikova/Mektic (CZE/CRO) vs. N.Kichenok/Bopanna (UKR/IND)

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES QF=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN
Marjolein Buis/NED vs. Aniek Van Koot/NED
KJ Montjane/RSA vs. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
Jordanne Whiley/GBR vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SF=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Buis/Zhu (NED/CHN)
Kamiji/Whiley (JPN/GBR) vs. #2 Ellerbrock/Montjane (GER/RSA)

=GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
Alexandra Vecic/GER vs. #15 Priska Madelyn Nugroho/INA
#12 Ane Mintegi del Olmo/ESP vs. Darja Vidmanova/CZE
#4/WC Alexandra Eala/PHI vs. #16 Wong Hong-yi Cody/HKG
Elina Avanesyan/RUS vs. Weronika Baszek/POL
#8 Polina Kudermetova/RUS vs. Aubane Droguet/FRA
#13 Bai Zhuoxuan/CHN vs. Diana Shnaider/RUS
Melania Delai/ITA vs. #9 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva/AND
(Q) Olivia Gadecki/AUS vs. #2 Robin Montgomery/USA

=GIRLS DOUBLES QF=
#1 Bartone/L.Fruhvirtova (LAT/CZE) vs. #6 Noskova/Selekhmeteva (CZE/RUS)
#4 Eala/Nugroho (PHI/INA) vs. #7 Droguet/Janicijevic (FRA/FRA)
Costoulas/Ruzic (BEL/CRO) vs. Broadus/Colemnan (USA/USA)
Keita/Kimchi (ROU/ISR) vs. Falkner/Mutavdzic (SLO/GBR)

=LEGENDS DOUBLES FINAL=
x/x vs. x/x





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Tofu is a better swimmer than me ??????

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-from Naomi. always with love.

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*FIRST-TIME SLAM SEMIFINALISTS AT AO SINCE 2013*
2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
2014 Genie Bouchard, CAN
2015 Madison Keys, USA
2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
2019 Danielle Collins, USA
2020 Sofia Kenin, USA
--
NOTE: Kontaveit and Pavlyuchenkova would be first-timers

*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMEN IN AO SF, since 2010*
Unseeded - 2010 Zheng Jie, CHN
Unseeded - 2015 Madison Keys, USA
Unseeded - 2016 Johanna Konta, GBR
Unseeded - 2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO
Unseeded - 2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
Unseeded - 2018 Elise Mertens, BEL
Unseeded - 2019 Danielle Collins, USA
Wild Card - 2010 Justine Henin, BEL (RU)
#30 - 2014 Genie Bouchard, CAN
#29 - 2013 Sloane Stephens, USA
#21 - 2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
#20 - 2014 Dominika Cibulkova, SVK (RU)
#16 - 2010 Li Na, CHN
#14 - 2020 Sofia Kenin, USA
#13 - 2017 Venus Williams, USA
#11 - 2012 Kim Clijsters, BEL
#10 - 2015 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
--
QF NOTE: (un) Muguruza vs. #30 Pavlyuchenkova; #28 Kontaveit to play

*AUSSIES IN AO SF+ - Open era*
1969 Margaret Court (W), Kerry Melville (SF)
1970 Margaret Court (W), Kerry Melville (RU), Karen Krantzcke (SF)
1971 Margaret Court (W), Evonne Goolagong (RU), Lesley Hunt (SF)
1972 Evonne Goolagong (RU), Helen Gourlay (SF), Kerry Harris (SF)
1973 Margaret Court (W), Evonne Goolagong (RU), Kerry Melville (SF)
1974 Evonne Goolagong (W), Kerry Melville (SF)
1975 Evonne Goolagong (W)
1976 Evonne Goolagong (W), Helen Gourlay (SF)
1977a Kerry Reid (W), Dianne Fromholtz (RU), Helen Gourlay (SF), Karen Krantzcke (SF)
1977b Evonne Goolagong (W), Helen Gourlay (RU), Kerry Reid (SF)
1978 Chris O'Neil (W), Diane Evers (SF), Christine Matison (SF)
1979 Mary Sawyer (SF)
1980 Wendy Turnbull (RU)
1981 Wendy Turnbull (SF)
1982-83 - none
1984 Wendy Turnbull (SF)
1985-19 - none
2020 Ash Barty (in semifinals)

*RUSSIANS IN SLAM SF - post-USSR*
20..Maria Sharapova (10-10)*
8...Elena Dementieva (2-6)
5...Svetlana Kuznetsova (4-1)*
5...Dinara Safina (3-2)
4...Vera Zvonareva (2-2)*
2...Ekaterina Makarova (0-2)*
1...W: Myskina
1...L: Chakvetadze,Kournikova,Likhovsteva,Petrova,Vesnina*
--
OVERALL: 22-28

*RUSSIAN/SOVIET AUSTRALIAN OPEN SEMIFINALISTS*
1975 Natasha Chmyreva (L)
2005 Maria Sharapova (L)
2006 Maria Sharapova (L)
2007 Maria Sharapova (W)
2008 Maria Sharapova (W)
2009 Elena Dementieva (L), Dinara Safina (W), Vera Zvonareva (L)
2011 Vera Zvonareva (L)
2012 Maria Sharapova (W)
2013 Maria Sharapova (L)
2015 Ekaterina Makarova (L), Maria Sharapova (W)

*AO WC SINGLES CHAMPIONS*
2002 Classic 8's: Esther Vergeer/NED
2003 Classic 8's: Esther Vergeer/NED
2004 Classic 8's: Esther Vergeer/NED
2005 Classic 8's: Mie Yaosa/JPN
2006 Classic 8's: Esther Vergeer/NED
2007 Esther Vergeer/NED
2008 Esther Vergeer/NED
2009 Esther Vergeer/NED
2010 Korie Homan/NED
2011 Esther Vergeer/NED
2012 Esther Vergeer/NED
2013 Aniek Van Koot/NED
2014 Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
2015 Jiske Griffioen/NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen/NED
2017 Yui Kamiji/JPN
2018 Diede de Groot/NED
2019 Diede de Groot/NED
2020 ?

*AO WC DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
2004 Classic 8's: Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2005 Classic 8's: Florence Gravellier/Maaike Smit (FRA/NED)
2006 Classic 8's: Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2007 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2008 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2009 Korie Homan/Esther Vergeer (NED/NED)
2010 Florence Gravellier/Aniek van Koot (FRA/NED)
2011 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven (NED/NED)
2012 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven (NED/NED)
2013 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot (NED/NED)
2014 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley (JPN/GBR)
2015 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley (JPN/GBR)
2016 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji (NED/JPN)
2017 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot (NED/NED)
2018 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji (NED/JPN)
2019 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot (NED/NED)
2020 ?


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TOP QUALIFIER: #31 Ann Li/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Serena Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - #5 Anna Kalinskaya/RUS def. Wang Xiyu/CHN 4-6/7-6(2)/6-2 (down 6-4/5-3, MP at 5-4)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki/DEN def. #23 Dayana Yastremka/UKR 7-5/7-5 (double-break down in both sets, 5-1 in 1st; staves off retirement)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): Nominee: 3rd Rd. - #27 Wang Qiang/CHN def. #8 Serena Williams/USA 6-4/6-7(2)/7-5 (first first week HC slam loss since '06)
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr./Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Paula Badosa/ESP (def. Larsson/SWE)
FIRST SEED OUT: #32 Barbora Strycova/CZE (1st Rd. - lost to Cirstea/ROU)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Paula Badosa/ESP, Barbora Krejcikova/CZE, Ann Li/USA, Greet Minnen/BEL, Elena Rybakina/KAZ
UPSET QUEENS: Spain
REVELATION LADIES: Kazakhstan
NATION OF POOR SOULS: BLR (0-2 1st Rd., #11 Sabalanka highest seed out, Azarenka absent)
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Harriet Dart/GBR, Nao Hibino/JPN, Barbora Krejcikova/CZE, Ann Li/USA, Caty McNally/USA, Greet Minnen/BEL (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARDS STANDING: Patricia Hon/AUS and Arina Rodionova/AUS (both 2nd Rd.) [PR: CiCi Bellis/USA - 3rd Rd.]
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Ash Barty (in QF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Kenin(*), Pavlyuchenkova, Muguruza, Kontaveit
IT (??): Ons Jabeur, TUN (first Arab in slam QF)
COMEBACK PLAYER: CiCi Bellis/USA
CRASH & BURN: #8 Serena Williams/USA (3r/Q.Wang - out of first week of HC slam for first time since 2006)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Coco Gauff (2nd Rd. - down 3-0 in 3rd vs. Cirstea/ROU)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: Pavlyuchenkova, Hsieh/Strycova
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Barty, Halep, Muguruza
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: Aces for Bushfire Relief program
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: Krejcikova, L.Chan
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 9. More tomorrow.
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