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Monday, August 31, 2020

US.1 - German Formula 16

While literal time travel doesn't seem to be an option, that doesn't mean that Angie Kerber can't give it the ol' German try.



Four years ago, Kerber put together a career season for the ages. Winning two majors in Melbourne and New York, she reached additional finals at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the WTAF en route to becoming the first women's season #1 hailing from Germany since Steffi Graf. She's been trying to recapture that lightning in a(nother) bottle ever since.


After becoming the WTA first year-end #1 to suffer a non-injury/retirement related fall from the Top 20 the following year, Kerber parted ways with longtime (and often) coach Torben Beltz following the 2017 season. With Wim Fissette in her corner, the German had mixed results over the next two seasons. She rebounded in '18 to win slam #3 at Wimbledon, but last year dropped outside the Top 10 again. After reaching finals in Indian Wells (thwarted by a dramatic Bianca Andreescu) and Eastbourne (a loss to Karolina Pliskova) that season, she ended the year on a 3-8 slide. Out went Fissette, in came Dieter Kindlemann.

The 32-year old Kerber opened '20 with a two-tie break loss to Samantha Stosur (in Australia, of all places, so that had to sting), then retired from her 2nd Round match in Week 2 in Adelaide. She recovered well in Melbourne, reaching the Round of 16, losing in three sets to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

We hadn't *really* seen her since.

During the shutdown, *something* changed. Whichever individual made the first move, Beltz, who announced the end of his coaching association with Donna Vekic via social media, was back, less than a year after Kerber had denied plans for yet another return by her countryman to the team (they've been linked as far back as 2003) following her 1st Round U.S. Open exit at the hand of Kristina Mladenovic.

While Kerber played a bit of shutdown tennis on the grass in the Bad Homburg Open in July, her true form wasn't known coming into this U.S. Open as she begged off appearing in any of the tune-up events. Instead she made her scheduled return today as the #17 seed against Ajla Tomljanovic on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Kerber had exited Flushing Meadows in the 1st Round twice in her three appearances since the '16 title run.

Kerber made her maiden Restart outing a good one, though, defeating the Aussie 6-4/6-4. It took her two attempts (and a MP during the first, up 5-2 in the 2nd) to serve out the win, but she got the job done. She was helped along by a perfect 5-of-5 record on break point opportunities.



Countrywoman Anna-Lena Friedsam is up next for Kerber, with the possibility of a rematch of the '16 U.S. Open final against top-seeded Karolina Pliskova in the Round of 16.



Who says time travel isn't possible? Kerber might tell you that, at least theoretically in "Angie's World," it *could* be.




=DAY 1 NOTES=
...right off the jump at this very unusual U.S. Open, many were expecting seeds to fall like respiratory droplets at a Trump rally. But such a thing didn't happen on Day 1.

#12 Marketa Vondrousova was the first player to advance on Monday, claiming her first MD slam victory since reaching the Roland Garros final last year. The Czech eliminated Greet Minnen 6-1/6-4 in 1:03, outscoring the Waffle 60-36 in total points.



Vondrousova's fellow Maiden, top-seeded (as the world #3, with five of the Top 8 women absent) 2016 U.S. finalist Karolina Pliskova, was one-and-out on the USTA grounds in last week's "Cincinnati" event. She then opened her 1st Round match today by dropping serve to Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina. But it was a false alarm, as the Czech rolled to a 6-4/6-0 victory.

Another Czech, #5 Petra Kvitova, handled Irina-Camelia Begu, the highest-ranked Romanian (#73) in the draw with #2 Simona Halep preparing for Roland Garros in Europe, via a 6-3/6-2 score in the early afternoon.

...meanwhile, seeded Pastries Kristina Mladenovic (#30) and Caroline Garcia (#32), who both benefited greatly seeding-wise from the thinned-out field, both advanced with wins, respectively, over wild card U.S. teen Hailey Baptiste and Italy's Jasmine Paolini.



The first "Zombie Queen of New York" nominee popped up very early, as Aliaksanda Sasnovich rose from the dead against Bannerette Francesca Di Lorenzo to get the win. The Belarusian saved a MP in the 2nd set TB to force a deciding 3rd despite having never seen a break point on Di Lorenzo's serve and putting up triple the amount (37-12) of unforced errors in the first two sets. Once she got a foothold, though, Sasnovich breezed, pulling off a match-ending bagel in the 3rd to win 2-6/7-6(6)/6-0. In the final set, she outpaced Di Lorenzo 23-9 in points, and had 11 winners to just 2 UE.

via GIPHY


...at the start of the year, the Backspin Prediction Blowout listed Elena Rybakina and Varvara Gracheva (the latter the official "Player Whose Name You'll Know..." top honoree) as two of the top players to watch. Rybakina burned through the WTA field pre-shutdown, reaching four finals (winning one), while Gracheva got off to a slow start. Both were in action on Day 1.

Hordette Gracheva came in at #102, just off her career high of #100 set in March, and the 20-year old was making her slam debut today against Paula Badosa, who'd notched her debut slam MD win earlier this year in Melbourne. Gracheva was just 3-6 before the shutdown, and had gone 1-3 since the Restart (all four wins came in qualifying rounds).

"I hear the (Gracheva) train a comin'
It's She's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I she ain't seen the sunshine
Since, I don't know when"...

Gracheva, even after being checked by trainers for a shoulder issue, finally ate her piece of the grand slam pie on Monday, winning 6-4/7-5 to book a match-up with Mladenovic.



#11 Rybakina, off her opening match Cincy/NYC loss last week (she's still 21-5 on the season), begins her open in the early evening against Katarina Zavatska. Rybakina reached the 3rd Round at the Australian Open in January.

RYBAKINA UPDATE: Rybakina won 6-3/6-0

...the unfortunate tailspin of Dasha Kasatkina continued on Monday, as the Russian lost to Marta Kostyuk 6-1/6-2. Kasatkina came in ranked #70, after having ended 2019 at #69 following her Top 10 campaign a year earlier. That year, she reached back-to-back slam QF in Paris and London, but she's now gone 2-7 in majors ever since while playing sub-.500 ball (22-32) overall in 2019-20. The shutdown seems to have zapped any positive momentum Dasha had going at the start of the year, as she'd put together an encouraging 5-2 stretch before the world stopped. She returned in Palermo, only to lose a 3:09 1st Rounder to Jasmine Paolini, and has yet to rediscover whatever good mojo she might have gained had she defeated the Italian that day.



...at the start of Day 1, there were 31 U.S. women in the singles draw (nearly making up a full quarter of the whole, numbers probably not seen at a major since the days of the extra-"Aussified" Australian Opens when it was held over Christmas/New Year's several decades ago). But even with the numbers on their side, a good start wasn't in the cards for the Bannerettes. I'd wondered about such a thing recently, since the lack of a live crowd meant that the sort of "extra fuel" that usually propels the NYC runs of young/underdog players pretty much every year at this event meant that each player would need to be a self-starter.

Well, most weren't.

After the expected early losses by U.S. women (Baptiste and Di Lorenzo), things started to pile up. Caroline Dolehide's defeat by Anna-Lena Friedsam dropped the group to 0-3, then Whitney Osuigwe fell to Kateryna Kozlova.

Surely, one thought, Coco Gauff would stem the tide. But no. The 16-year old dropped her third straight Restart match (after a 3-0 open en route to the Lexington semis), coming up on the short end of a tight, back-and-fourth match with #31 Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3/5-7/6-4. Sevastova finally won on her fourth MP chance. Gauff battled her serve and forehand for much of the match, while Sevastova (mostly, save for that one launched ball) kept her temper in check and finally put away the big points late in the 3rd.



While the 30-year old Latvian entered today 0-7 in tour-level matches in 2020 (her only win came in Fed Cup... over Serena Williams), she has a history of big wins on U.S. soil. The FC win over Williams was in Washington state, and she posted QF-QF-SF U.S. open results from 2016-18.

Gauff, already now the *third* youngest Bannerette (behind Robin Montgomery and Katrina Scott) in this slam draw, had come into NYC 8-3 in her short slam career (w/ 4r-3r-4r results).

Danielle Collins took the 1st set from #14 Anett Kontaveit, but the Estonian stormed back to win 5-7/6-2/6-2 to put U.S. woman at 0-6. Wild card Allie Kiick took the 1st set from Kateryna Bondarenko, but then lost in three. 0-7.

After seemingly ready to push things to a 3rd set against Kaja Juvan, Usue Arconada (up 4-2 in the 2nd) dropped a 2nd set TB to fall in straight sets.

Make it 0-8.

At this point, though, the numbers remain strongly on the Bannerettes' side. Still to play on Day 1 as of this post: WC Cici Bellis, Madison Brengle, Shelby Rogers, #13 Alison Riske, Jessica Pegula, #28 Jennifer Brady, WC Robin Montgomery and Ann Li.

UPDATE:



...the wait for the First Seed Out continues to be an ongoing affair.

...tonight #4 Naomi Osaka finishes off the opening night session on Ashe against countrywoman Misaki Doi.

Last year, as the defending U.S. Open champ, Osaka had that memorable (at least both pre and post-match) face-off with (then) wild card Gauff in the 3rd Round, then made (probably a few too many headlines at the time, but so be it, especially with all we've seen everywhere since) for her kindness to the teenager during the on-court interview situation that followed.

Flashforward a year, and the two were somewhat linked again during the shutdown as the most active WTA voices during the protest-laden summer in the U.S. (as Osaka was again last week). Somewhat appropriately, they could have met again in Flushing Meadows in the 3rd Round this year, but Gauff's loss to Sevastova put an end to that.




LIKE ON DAY 1: It's not the U.S. Open without the official annual playing of "New York Groove". Take it away, Ace...



STORM CLOUDS ON DAY 1?:




NFL NEWSBREAK ON DAY 1 (non-Washington Football Team related, which is a rare thing in 2020):






NOTE ON DAY 1: Stories are life, and life is stories...




LIKE ON DAY 1:




Zzzzzzz... ON DAY 1: when you're ESPN and you're covering the U.S. Open. After starting the on-air version of the coverage an hour after the start of Day 1 play, you then begin *that* broadcast with yet another sleep-inducing, five-minute introduction piece narrated by Tom Rinaldi. Somewhere along the way, someone told ESPN that Rinaldi has the voice of an angel, I guess, so they fill WAY too much time at every major with interminable scenes featuring his voice-over.

By the way, after John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Chris McKendry chased their tail during the never-ending opening discussion, the first official tennis ball was finally struck in a live match on ESPN (not the online stream) at 12:37 p.m.


OF NOTE ON DAY 1:




DELIGHTFULLY INTRIGUING ON DAY 1:

(see thread for fun)




A REMINDER ON DAY 1:





NOTE ON DAY 1: blue checkmarks ≠ reading comprehension skills




INTERESTING PRETZEL-TWISTING MOMENT ON DAY 1: watching the ESPNers explain away Coco Gauff's 1st Round loss to her youth and a "sophomore slump," when you *know* that if she'd won they'd have been asking each other whether she could win the whole tournament


UPDATE ON DAY 1:




BUIS WATCH ON DAY 1:





In recent years, this space at the U.S. Open has evolved into something of a YouTube scavenger hunt for music performances. A year ago, the hunt for a fake WTA marketing campaign theme song produced the latching onto of the Go-Go's "We Got the Beat" as Backspin's adopted phrase a full year before the recent premiere of the documentary on the band and their immediate resurgence on the music charts. So that worked out quite well, I think.

This year, it's an important U.S. election year after and amidst a season of death, lies, protest and all the rest that. While all (on some level) have been issues for generations, they're now all being tossed together in a particularly toxic stew by the Powers (well, largely Power, singular) That Be to produce a current snapshot to the world of a nation that is often confusing, frightening, depressing and, honestly, quite embarrassing.

So *the plan* (and that's always subject to change, of course... though this year I've got most of the videos already lined up) is to attempt to call up songs and performances which hit on -- from various angles -- many of the topics, past or present, that plague the nation hosting the tennis world's *second* major of 2020, or the current tone pervading the national landscape.

First up, Green Day's "American Idiot," from 2004, when it spoke into the vacuum of the "Dubya" years following 9/11. This particular (really good live) performance is from October 2019 on Howard Stern's show. A few of the lyrics are updated here from the original -- "I'm not part of a redneck MAGA agenda." -- though I'm many sure the band could make a few more alterations after what's happened over the past seven months.

"Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn't meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We're not the ones who're meant to follow
For that's enough to argue

...Don't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind-f*ck America"











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**U.S. OPEN "FIRST VICTORY"**
2009 Vania King, USA (def. Yakimova)
2010 Francesca Schiavone, ITA (def. Morita)
2011 Monica Niculescu, ROU (def. Mayr-Achleitner)
2012 Anna Tatishvili, GEO (def. Foretz-Gacon)
2013 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP (def. Davis)
2014 Aga Radwanska, POL (def. Fichman)
2015 Mariana Duque, COL (def. Kenin)
2016 Cagla Buyukakcay, TUR (def. Falconi)
2017 Kristyna Pliskova, USA (def. Eguchi)
2018 Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)
2019 Ana Bogdan, ROU (def. Dart)
2020 Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (def. Minnen)
[2020]
AO: Paula Badosa/ESP (def. Larsson/SWE)
RG: (September)
WI: CANCELLED
US: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE (def. Minnen/BEL)

**U.S. OPEN "FIRST SEED OUT"**
2005 #28 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Schruff)
2006 #15 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER (Rezai)
2007 #29 Samantha Stosur, AUS (Cornet)
2008 #24 Shahar Peer, ISR (Li)
2009 #25 Kaia Kanepi, EST (K.Chang)
2010 #8 Li Na, CHN (K.Bondarenko)
2011 #5 Petra Kvitova, CZE (Dulgheru)
2012 #27 Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP (Hradecka)
2013 #29 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Mayr-A.)
2014 #25 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (Lucic-Baroni)
2015 #7 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (Cibulkova)
2016 #30 Misaki Doi, JPN (Witthoeft)
2017 #32 Lauren Davis, USA (Kenin)
2018 #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Q.Wang)
2019 #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (Jabeur)
2020 ??
[2020]
AO: #32 Barbora Strycova/CZE (1st Rd. - lost to Cirstea/ROU)
RG: (September)
WI: CANCELLED
US: ??











TOP QUALIFIER: DNP
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: DNP
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: #12 Marketa Vondrousova/CZE (def. Minnen/BEL)
FIRST SEED OUT: xx
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Day 1 wins: Gracheva/RUS
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
CRASH & BURN: xx
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Nominee: Sasnovich (1r: MP vs. DiLorenzo)
IT ("TBD"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: DNP Q
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: x
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: Day 1 wins: x
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: xx
BROADWAY-BOUND: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (in women's MD only; no jr. competition) Nominees: R.Montgomery and K.Scott (GS debuts at ages 15 and 16)




Be Safe. All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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