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Sunday, November 15, 2020

Restart Wk.11- Gute Nacht, Aryna


What a strange trip 2020 has been. This week, at least as far as the WTA is concerned, that particular ride came to an end.

In Linz, Aryna Sabalenka finally put this unique, long, strange, disjointed, sometimes-glorious, oft-troubling, but ultimately resilient WTA season to bed with a title run that not only allowed her to close out the tour schedule with a nine-match winning streak (13 combined w/ doubles) that brought her back-to-back tournament championships (3) and gave her a tour lead-tying three on the year, it also assures her of her first-ever season-ending Top 10 singles ranking (at the expense of an all-time great... HINT: "baaaaaa").



Meanwhile, 2021 waits in the wings... and we all hold our collective breath.



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*Restart WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*
LINZ, AUSTRIA (Int'l/Hardcourt Indoor)
S: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. Elise Mertens/BEL 7-5/6-2
D: Arantxa Rus/Tamara Zidansek (NED/SLO) def. Lucie Hradecka/Katerina Siniakova (CZE/CZE) 6-3/6-4


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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...one thing that Sabalenka has been able to hang her hat on during her career is that she doesn't tire out in a season's closing weeks. Granted, 2020 is a totally different beast, but five of the Belarusian's eight career singles titles have come in the relatively short post-U.S. Open section of the schedule, as have half of her twelve finals. And this year her "safe haven" wasn't confined to China, as the Czech Republic (Ostrava) and Austria (Linz) proved to be just as favorable to her late season cause.

Coming off a singles/doubles title sweep in Ostrava a few weeks ago, Sabelanka entered the week with a shot to complete her first Top 10 season (surpassing #10 Serena Williams in the final '20 rankings) with a run to the final. She pulled it off with wins over Jasmine Paolini, Stefanie Voegele, Oceane Dodin and Barbora Krejcikova (her only three-setter) before a straight sets victory over Elise Mertens in the final to extend her winning streak to nine matches.



Sabalenka has now posted an 8-1 record in her last nine singles finals after having gone winless in her first three appearances in 2017-18. As it stands, even with her longstanding lack of a true slam breakthrough result, no woman has claimed more singles crowns than Sabalenka's eight since 2018 (Barty, Halep, Kvitova and Pliskova all have seven), and only Halep (12) has appearaed in more finals during the stretch.
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RISERS: Elise Mertens/BEL and Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
...while some players' performances and/or appearance schedule have been spotty in the Restart, Mertens has maintained an uncommonly consistent presence since the resumption of tour play in August. The Belgian's journey to the Linz final this weekend, her second appearance in a Restart final (w/ Palermo), pushed her combined record in the stretch to 23-7. Wins over Anhelina Kalinina, Vera Zvonareva, Veronika Kudermetova and Ekaterina Alexandrova, prior to her defeat at the hands of Ostrava-winning doubles partner Sabalenka, were enough to lift #21 Mertens back into the Top 20, giving her a spot there in the season-ending rankings for a third straight year.

While Mertens didn't win a singles title in '20, making this her first title-less year since 2016, she was the only player to reach Restart finals on both clay *and* hard court events (and joins Victoria Azarenka as the only women with both outdoor and indoor finals).



While Alexandrova's Restart didn't come close to matching her pre-shutdown season, her schedule-closing semifinal run in Linz puts a nice period at the end of the sentence for what stands as the best campaign of the 25-year old's WTA career so far. Wins over Katerina Siniakova, Varvara Gracheva and Nadia Podoroska carried the Russian into her third semifinal of the season (she took Elise Mertens to 7-5 in the 3rd before bowing out), and will assure her of finishing 2020 as the top ranked woman from her country for the first time at #33.

Alexandrova, who ranked #35 at the end of last season, had burst out of the gates of the '20 season way back in January, winning her first tour title in Shenzhen in Week 1 (def. Rybakina in the final) and running her record from Linz '19 to the start of the shutdown to an eye-opening 21-5. Her Restart stats weren't nearly as good, as she'd entered this week just 6-8 before her three match winning streak and first semi since Saint Petersburg in February.
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SURPRISE: Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
...Krejcikova's doubles success is well known, but the Czech's Restart work in singles has transformed her into an intriguing singles (or, at least, a dual-) threat heading into 2021.



Having already had her Top 100 breakthrough due to her career-best slam Round of 16 run at Roland Garros last month, this week in Linz Krejcikova eschewed doubles altogether (partner Katerina Siniakova lost in singles in the 1st Round, but reached the WD final with Lucie Hradecka) and reached her first tour-level singles SF since May '17 in Nurnberg. The Czech posted wins over Harmony Tan, Greet Minnen (in 2:52) and Aliaksandra Sasnovich before taking Aryna Sabalenka the distance in a three-set loss. The week improves Krejcikova's singles mark in the Restart to 15-6. Coming into the week at a career-best #74, she'll make another jump to a season-ending #65 on Monday.
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VETERAN: Vera Zvonareva/RUS
...most of the Original Hordettes are either gone, long gone, or nearly so (I guess that's not counting Kuznetsova, who perpetually exists in "Sveta Land"). But Zvonareva is still kicking around and occasionally making noise.

Remember, the 36-year old Russian just recently walked off (w/ Laura Siegemund) with the U.S. Open doubles title. Ranked in the WD Top 50, she reached the Linz semis with Gaby Dabrowski this week, but also had a nice week in singles. A wild card entrant, Zvonareva upset Marta Kostyuk (4 & 2) and pushed Elise Mertens to three sets in the 2nd Round.



The week's work gives Zvonareva an 18-10 singles mark in '20, which has included a WTA 125 semi (Indian Wells) in March, a 3rd Round Cincy/NYC run as a qualifier and a $25K final last month. She's only up to #162 in singles, but that's a fairly impressive accomplishment considering she didn't play singles at all between last year's Roland Garros (due to an injury at Wimbledon) and this past February. When she'd last played in Paris she was ranked #78, but she found herself all the way down at #474 by the time she took the court again nine months ago.
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COMEBACK: Oceane Dodin/FRA
...the Pastry's return from her issues with vertigo continued in Linz, where Dodin made it through qualifying and then posted MD wins over Jil Teichmann and Sorana Cirstea before being forced to retire from a very competitve QF match against Aryna Sabalenka (who also defeated her in the 1st Rd. of this year's U.S. Open) with an ankle injury.



Not the best finish for Dodin, but her third tour-level QF of '20 pushes her ever closer to a return to the Top 100, as she'll end the WTA season at #107. She last ranked in the Top 100 in April '18, but her '20 finish will still be her highest standing since May of that same year (#105).
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FRESH FACES: Rasheeda McAdoo/Alycia Parks, USA/USA
...McAdoo & Parks claimed their first title together at the $25K challenger in Orlando, the first ITF doubles title for 19-year old Parks and the third for McAdoo, 25. The pair staged a massive match tie-break comeback against #2-seeds Jamie Loeb & Erin Routliffe (both former NCAA champs, Loeb in singles in '15 for North Carolina, with Alabama's Routliffe the 2014-15 doubles champ alongside Maya Jensen).

Loeb/Routliffe took the 1st set 6-4, then McAdoo/Parks took the 2nd 6-1. They trailed 9-4 in the first-to-10 TB, but saved five consecutive MP and swept the final seven points to win 11-9.
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DOWN: Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK
...as with so many things in 2020, so many of Kuzmova's hopes and dreams for this year seemed to go up in a whiff of smoke this season. In 2018-19, the then 20-year old Slovak seemed to be on a consistently rising elevator up the WTA ranks, reaching two tour-level semis (and three $100K challenger finals, winning two) in '18. Last year, she followed up with another semi (Auckland), three QF, and the RG 3rd Round while setting a career high (#43) and finishing just outside the Top 50. But she never found her way this season.

Kuzmova's 1st Round loss in Linz to Stefanie Voegele (who'd lost 13 straight WTA MD matches) drops her to 5-10 on the season, ending the "official" campaign with a five-match losing streak (all in straight sets) that will see her suffer a 44-spot drop in the season-ending rankings as she's slipped down to #96.
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ITF PLAYER: Alycia Parks/USA
...the 19-year old Bannerette claimed her maiden pro singles title at the $25K in Orlando, qualifying and then taking down the likes of Paula Ormaechea, #2-seeded Katarzyna Kawa (a $100K finalist last week), Jamie Loeb and Robin Montgomery in a 3-6/6-4/6-2 final. Parks reached two previous ITF finals in the $25K Redding (Sept. '19) and $15K Shreveport (June '19) events.

Parks took the doubles title with Rasheeda McAdoo, as well.

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JUNIOR STAR: Robin Montgomery/USA
...the 16-year old didn't win her second ITF title of 2020 (w/ Las Vegas in March), but Montgomery reached the final of the $25K Orlando challenger after posting wins over Hurricane Tyra Black and Hanna Chang. She led fellow Bannerette Alycia Parks by a set, but lost in three.

In addition to her U.S. Open MD debut, Montgomery also reached a pair of $25K QF last month.
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DOUBLES: Arantxa Rus/Tamara Zidansek, NED/SLO
...Rus & Zidansek grabbed their second Restart crown (w/ Palermo) with a title run in Linz that included wins over both top two seeded duos, #2 Dabrowski/Zvonareva in the semis (10-6 match TB) and #1 Hradecka/Siniakova (6-3/6-4) in the final. It's the third title for both players, who also climb to new career high rankings -- Zidansek #57 and Rus #81 -- in the season-ending standings.

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1. Linz Final - Aryna Sabalenka def. Elise Mertens
...7-5/6-2. Mertens defeated Sabalenka in the previous singles final match-up between these two doubles partners, with the Waffle winning in Lugano in '18 by the same 7-5/6-2 score by which the Belarusian prevailed this time around.

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2. Linz SF - Aryna Sabalenka def. Barbora Krejcikova
...7-5/4-6/6-3. The win that sealed Sabalenka's first Top 10 season, denying Serena her seventeenth. Additionally, with Martina Navratilova being the all-time WTA record holder with nineteen such seasons, Williams holding at sixteen may just put that particular mark out of her reach since, seeing as she turns 40 next September, it's "unlikely" she has three (or 4) more Top 10 seasons in her. Of course, she *is* Serena...

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3. Linz 1st Rd. - Jana Fett def. Tereza Martincova
...6-2/3-1 ret. Fett was a Top 100 player in 2017, but came into the week at #236. Still, after her qualifying run, this was the Croat's first WTA MD win since last September in Nanchang. She lost in the 2nd Ruond to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets.

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4. Linz 1st Rd. - Ulrikke Eikeri/Yana Sizikova def. Jodie Burrage/Sabine Lisicki
...5-6 ret. For every step forward for Lisicki, it seems there are always two steps *back* that soon follow. While she didn't qualify in singles, the German *did* get an encouraging Q1 win in her comeback. But then she injured her knee in the opening round in doubles. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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5. Linz 2nd Rd. - Nadia Podoroska def. Camila Giorgi
...6-7(4)/6-1/6-4. The RG semifinalist gets her final WTA win of '20, an "upset" (?) of the 2018 Linz champ.

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HM- Linz 1st Rd. - Greet Minnen def. Dayana Yastremska 6-4/6-3
Linz 2nd Rd. - Barbora Krejcikova def. Greet Minnen 5-7/7-6(7)/6-4
...with girlfriend Alison Van Uytvanck serving as coach, Minnen posted an impressive win over Yastremska, then took eventual semifinalist Krejcikova to three sets before falling in 2:52.

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*MULTIPLE WTA SINGLES TITLES in 2020*
3 - Simona Halep, ROU [Dubai,Prague,Rome]
3 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR [Doha,Ostava,Linz]
2 - Sofia Kenin, USA [Australian Open,Lyon]
2 - Elina Svitolina, UKR [Monterrey,Strasbourg]

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2020*
5 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (1-4)
3 - Simona Halep, ROU (3-0)
3 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (3-0)
3 - Sofia Kenin, USA (2-1)
3 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (0-2+W)
2 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (2-0)
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (1-0+L)
2 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (1-1)
2 - ELISE MERTENS, BEL (0-2)
[2018-20 - active]
12 - Simona Halep (7-5)
11 - ARYNA SABALENKA (8-3)
10 - Ash Barty (7-3)
10 - Petra Kvitova (7-3)
10 - Karolina Pliskova (7-3)
10 - Kiki Bertens (6-4)
8 - Naomi Osaka (5-2+L)
7 - Sofia Kenin (5-2)
7 - Elina Svitolina (6-1)
7 - Elena Rybakina (2-5)
6 - ELISE MERTENS (4-2)
6 - Serena Williams (1-5)

*YEARLY WTA SINGLE TITLE LEADERS (since 2010)*
2010 (6) - Caroline Wozniacki
2011 (6) - Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki
2012 (7) - Serena Williams
2013 (11) - Serena Williams
2014 (7) - Serena Williams
2015 (5) - Serena Williams
2016 (4) - Dominika Cibulkova
2017 (5) - Elina Svitolina
2018 (5) - Petra Kvitova
2019 (4) - Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova
2020 (3) - Simona Halep, ARYNA SABALENKA

*MOST WTA SF in 2020*
5 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ (5-0)
5 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (3-2)
4 - Simona Halep, ROU (3-1)
4 - Jennifer Brady, USA (1-3)
3 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (3-0)
3 - Sofia Kenin, USA (3-0)
3 - ELISE MERTENS, BEL (2-1)
3 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (2-1)
3 - Ash Barty, AUS (1-2)
3 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (1-2)
3 - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA, RUS (1-2)
3 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1-1+L)

*2020 WEEKLY BACKSPIN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK*
Week 1: Serena Williams, USA
Week 2: Ash Barty, AUS
AO Q: Ann Li, USA
AO: Sofia Kenin, USA
Fed Cup WG MVP: Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR
Fed Cup Zones MVP: Dayana Yastremska, UKR
Week 6: Kiki Bertens, NED
Week 7: Simona Halep, ROU
Week 8: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Week 9: Elina Svitolina, UKR
Restart Week 1: Fiona Ferro, FRA
Restart Week 2: Jennifer Brady, USA
Restart Week 3: Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Restart Wk.4/5: Patricia Maria Tig, ROU
US Open: Naomi Osaka, JPN
Restart Week 6: Simona Halep, ROU
Restart Week 7: Elina Svitolina, UKR
RG Q: Mayar Sherif, EGY
Roland Garros: Iga Swiatek, POL
Restart Week 10: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Restart Week 11: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR

*WTA CAREER YEAR-END TOP 10 RANKINGS, 1975-current*
=19=
Martina Navratilova
=16=
Serena Williams*
=14=
Chris Evert, Venus Williams*
=13=
Steffi Graf, Monica Seles
=11=
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
=10=
Lindsay Davenport, Gabriela Sabatini, Maria Sharapova
=9=
Manuela Maleeva-F., Conchita Martinez
=8=
Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, PETRA KVITOVA*, Aga Radwanska, Pam Shriver, Caroline Wozniacki
=7=
Elena Dementieva, Zina Garrison, SIMONA HALEP*, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo, Jana Novotna, Mary Pierce, Wendy Turnbull
=6=
Kim Clijsters*, Mary Joe Fernandez, Angelique Kerber*, Svetlana Kuznetsova*, Hana Mandlikova, Helena Sukova
=5=
Tracy Austin, Victoria Azarenka*, Evonne Goolagong-C., Jelena Jankovic(*), Billie Jean King, Keri Melville-R., KAROLINA PLISKOVA*, Virginia Wade
=4=
Dianne Fromholtz-B., Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Li Na, ELINA SVITOLINA*, Vera Zvonareva*
=3=
Sue Barker, KIKI BERTENS*, Kimiko Date, Anke Huber, Ana Ivanovic, Andrea Jaeger, Iva Majoli, Garbine Muguruza*, NAOMI OSAKA*, Samantha Stosur*, Betty Stove, Nathalie Tauziat
=2=
BIANCA ANDREESCU*, Marion Bartoli, ASH BARTY*, Bettine Bunge, Rosie Casals, Jelena Dokic, Sara Errani*, Sylvia Hanika,Daniela Hantuchova, Johanna Konta*, Olga Morozova, Anastasia Myskina, Nadia Petrova, Barbara Potter, Dinara Safina, Patty Schnyder, Natasha Zvereva
=1=
Belinda Bencic*, Genie Bouchard*, Anna Chakvetadze, Dominika Cibulkova, Amanda Coetzer, Margart Court, Jo Durie,Francoise Durr, Bonnie Gadusek, Caroline Garcia*, Julia Halard-Decugis, Kathy Jordan, Dasha Kasatkina*, SOFIA KENIN*, Madison Keys*, Anna Kournikova, Maggie Maleeva, Katerina Maleeva, Alona Ostapenko*, Barbara Paulus, Flavia Pennetta, Andrea Petkovic*, Nancy Richey, Kathy Rinaldi, Chanda Rubin, ARYNA SABALENKA*, Lucie Safarova, Barbara Schett, Francesca Schiavone, Irina Spirlea, Sloane Stephens*, Greer Stevens, Ai Sugiyama, Nicole Vaidisova, CoCo Vandeweghe*
---
* - active; CAPS - 2020 year-end Top 10

*2020 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#1 - Ash Barty (Adelaide)
#2 - Karolina Pliskova (Brisbane)
#2 - Simona Halep (Dubai)
#2 - Simona Halep (Prague)
#2 - Simona Halep (Rome)
#5 - Sofia Kenin (Lyon)
#5 - Elina Svitolina (Strasbourg)
#7 - Elina Svitolina (Monterrey)
#8 - Kiki Bertens (Saint Petersburg)
#9 - Naomi Osaka (US Open)
#10 - Serena Williams (Auckland)
#11 - ARYNA SABALENKA (LINZ)
#12 - Aryna Sabalenka (Ostrava)
#13 - Aryna Sabalenka (Doha)
#15 - Sofia Kenin (Australian Open)
#30 - Elena Rybakina (Hobart)
#34 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Shenzhen)
#42 - Magda Linette (Hua Hin)
#53 - Fiona Ferro (Palermo)
#54 - Iga Swiatek (Roland Garros)
#59 - Victoria Azarenka (Cincinnati-NYC)
#63 - Jennifer Brady (Lexington)
#69 - Heather Watson (Acapulco)
#88 - Patricia Maria Tig (Istanbul)

*2020 WTA CHAMPIONS BY AGE*
19 - Iga Swiatek (Roland Garros)
20 - Elena Rybakina (Hobart)
21 - Sofia Kenin (Australian Open)
21 - Sofia Kenin (Lyon)
21 - Aryna Sabalenka (Doha)
22 - Naomi Osaka (US Open)
22 - Aryna Sabalenka (Ostrava)
22 - ARYNA SABALENKA (LINZ)
23 - Ash Barty (Adelaide)
23 - Fiona Ferro (Palermo)
25 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Shenzhen)
25 - Elina Svitolina (Monterrey)
25 - Jennifer Brady (Lexington)
26 - Patricia Maria Tig (Istanbul)
26 - Elina Svitolina (Strasbourg)
27 - Heather Watson (Acapulco)
27 - Karolina Pliskova (Brisbane)
28 - Magda Linette (Hua Hin)
28 - Kiki Bertens (Saint Petersburg)
28 - Simona Halep (Dubai)
28 - Simona Halep (Prague)
28 - Simona Halep (Rome)
31 - Victoria Azarenka (Cincinnati-NYC)
38 - Serena Williams (Auckland)

*2020 ITF TITLES - USA*
1 - CiCi Bellis
1 - Ann Li
1 - Grace Min
1 - Robin Montgomery
1 - Asia Muhammad
1 - Alexa Noel
1 - ALYCIA PARKS
1 - Shelby Rogers
1 - Sofia Sewing





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Be Safe.
All for now.
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