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Thursday, February 18, 2021

AO.11 - On Butterfly Wings

On women's semifinal day at this Australian Open, the battlefield that was the bottom half of the draw presented a match-up that everyone could get behind: Naomi Osaka vs. Serena Williams.

Multi-generational, with the appearance of a contest that pits the longtime queen of the sport against her heir apparent at different stages of what could be very similar careers, along with the added power of the cultural impact that the rise of both their careers have had (and continue to have), make it *the* latest marquee women's tennis match-up on the board, especially at slam time. It causes even casual and/or intermittent fans to perk up when they hear news of its arrival, and years from now history will surely peer with intense interest into its rearview mirror upon these clashes, seeing them as part of the era's ongoing "passing the torch" ritual that even now they appear to be.

With the feel of a final, the anticipation built over the last forty-eight hours as the fourth meeting between the two women (second in a major, after the '18 U.S. final) approached. Once play began, after a somewhat fluttering start, the #3-seeded Osaka, an AO champ just two years ago and already the winner of three majors at age 23, lifted her game and asked the 23-time slam champ to follow. She could not. As if carried on butterfly wings, Osaka took flight and gracefully carried herself into yet another slam final.



Both women brought long winning streaks into the match. #10-seeded Williams, in her 40th slam SF at age 39, was 8-0 in Australian Open semifinals, while Osaka sported a 10-0 career mark in slams from the quarterfinals forward, and had won the last nineteen times she'd hit the court over the past year.

It was Osaka who got off to a nervous start, falling behind 15/40 and seeing Williams get a break of serve to open the match. Williams dragged along a low first serve percentage in the opening games, but got away with it due to Osaka's not-quite-there-yet form. An Osaka double-fault put her down 30/40 in game #3, but it was then that she pulled out back-to-back big serves to get an important hold and avoid a 0-3 scoreboard deficit.

Osaka's escape proved to be a decisive missed opportunity for the veteran, as in game #4 Osaka's forehand was pulled out of mothballs, and it turned the momentum of the match on a dime, with the Japanese star going from GP down to holding a BP. Williams' flown forehand gave back her break advantage and knotted the score at 2-2. In the next game, Osaka, after pulling out a love/30 hole to get to deuce, saved a BP and held to take her first lead at 3-2.

An Osaka down the line forehand winner put her up 15/40 on Williams' serve in game #7, then she fired off a forehand winner to take a break lead. A love hold gave Osaka her fifth straight game -- and eighth point in a row -- as she took a commanding 5-2 lead. Williams pulled her game together for a hope-preserving hold that forced Osaka to serve out the set, but in that game a Williams backhand crosscourt return skipped out off the net cord and outside the side line to give Osaka a 30/love lead. After a DF, Osaka's big serve elicited a Williams error, resulting in a SP. A forehand winner secured the 6-3 set for Osaka. It was a set won despite a poor first serve percentage (36% - 12-of-33), and thanks to a series of well-timed big serves and a reclaimed forehand shot that had abandoned her in the opening games.

Williams hopes to restart things in the 2nd set were immediately thwarted when an error off a Osaka return put her down BP at 30/40 in game #1. Osaka's crosscourt backhand ended a rally and converted a BP to put her up 1-0, her seventh win in the last eight games. Kicking up her serve an extra notch, Osaka fired an ace to hold for 2-0 as, as seems to be the case every time these two women meet, Osaka/Williams once again took on the look of Williams appearing to be play a nearly two-decades-younger version of herself.

Osaka's retrieval of a Williams crosscourt shot produced a forehand down the line winner and a 3-1 lead. With a small crowd again allowed in the Laver stands today following a five-day absence due to the state of Victoria's COVID lockdown rules, the spectators seemed to try to boost Williams (and maybe vice versa). Serena got the hold for 3-2, but in the first game after the changeover break, Osaka's game-ending ace, the fourth in a consecutive string of big serves after she'd fallen behind love/15, gave her a 4-2 lead.

In game #8, Osaka wobbled for the first time since finding her game early in the match, DF'ing consecutively to hand Williams a love/40 lead. Going for an ace up the T two points later, Osaka's third DF of the game leveled the 2nd set at 4-4. But Williams' breath of life didn't last, as she (perhaps unwisely?) tested Osaka's backhand and it was found to be up to any and all tasks. In fact, Williams wouldn't win another point in the match.

An Osaka angled backhand winner put her up love/30 on the Williams serve, then a Williams DF made it love/40. Another angled Osaka backhand winner, this time off a short ball, got the break back and gave her the chance to serve out the match at 5-4. It turned out to be a simple chore, completed in four quick points (Osaka ended the match on an eight-point streak) and concluding with a Williams backhand error.



Osaka's 6-3/6-4 win puts her into her fourth slam final, keeps intact her perfect slam mark from the QF forward (11-0), extends her unbeaten streak to twenty matches, and improves her career record vs. Serena to 3-1, with her winning holding a 2-0 edge in their slam meetings.



As she walked off the court, Williams stopped mid-way to the exit during her standing ovation, putting her hand over her heart and waving to the crowd before putting her head down and leaving Laver. Naturally, it set off a flurry of speculation about whether her actons were some sort of secret "goodbye" to the AO (what is it about the media trying to shoo the Williams sisters out the door? At least Venus has shamed everyone to the point where they've stopped asking the question.). In her post-match presser, when asked about the moment, Serena said that if she ever does say farewell she "wouldn't tell anyone about it." Soon after, though, she was choking up and had to walk out of the room.



As usual, Osaka was more than a bit respectful to her idol, and proved yet again that she's shaping up to be a worthy successor (or maybe one of many who'll step into Serena's shoes at some point) in whose hands the fate of the game is safe and secure.



But just as Osaka isn't finished at this Australian Open (and will look to become the latest slam champ who saved MP along the way -- two vs. Muguruza in the 4th Rd., remember?), Williams' isn't likely close to being finished, either. There's no need to rush her out the door, nor sift through her every word or action in the attempt to determine and announce *when* it's "all over" before she's ready to actually make it so.






=DAY 11 NOTES=
...while everyone was still ruminating over what had been the "main course" on semifinal day, #22 Jennifer Brady and #25 Karolina Muchova emerged as some sort of double-layered "after dinner mint" to determine the *other* AO singles finalist.

While Brady was playing in her second straight hard court slam semi, Muchova's appearance in her first had come after a series of comebacks to get there, including rallying from a 5-0 2nd set deficit to defeat Karolina Pliskova in straights in the 2nd Round, 4-0 and 5-2 holes in the 1st set against Elise Mertens in the 4th Round to win in two, and a turnaround from 6-1/2-0 down to upset #1-seeded Ash Barty in the QF.

Brady didn't exactly play a sterling set in the 1st, but it didn't matter. Even while sporting a 5/17 winner-to-UE ratio and a 53% first serve percentage (coupled with only winning 43% on her second), Brady's ability to win the most important points earned her the set. She converted both of her BP chances while winning 6-4, just enough to hold a 28-26 points edge in the set.

Muchova surged back in the 2nd, taking an early 2-0 lead and then never facing a BP chance by Brady to get the edge back. She won the set 6-3, as Brady again battled herself (7/13 W/UE, vs. the Czech's 9/1).

But perhaps Brady was just biding her time, for in the 3rd she struck back with an early break, holding onto it deep into the set, leading 4-2 and getting the chance to serve out the match at 5-4, having yet to face a BP in the set. The Bannerette nearly converted on her second MP after having taken a 40/15 lead, just missing clipping the baseline with a deep shot. From there, the game turned into an 18-point, 6-deuce, 3-BP, 5-MP puzzle that was not finally solved by Brady until a Muchova forehand landed long, officially ending her chances to stage yet another comeback. Brady had improved her W/UE stats to 8/8 in the final set.



Brady's 6-4/3-6/6-4 win makes her the tour's latest maiden slam finalist, and sets up another slam match-up against Osaka. The two met in last year's U.S. Open semis in as high quality and rock-solid a match as you'll ever see, though it came up a bit short (I thought) when it came to drama. Others went a little gaga over that one, but I actually thought the day's other semi -- Vika def. Serena -- was the "better" match that day because of its greater intrigue and dramatic undertones.

Still, if Osaka and Brady can reproduce anything close to the level of play in this final, half a world away from Flushing Meadows, it'll be a moment to behold in Melbourne that either christens Brady as the latest new U.S. star or produces yet another trophy case addition for Osaka en route to what looks like will likely be a double-digit slam title career (the first by anyone not named Serena since the Graf era).

...meanwhile, in the MX doubles, Barbora Krejcikova advanced to her *second* final at this AO, as she and Rajeev Ram knocked of Aussie wild cards Storm Sanders & Marc Polmans. Krejickova is the defending AO MX champion, having won in Melbourne in '20 along with Nikola Mektic in what would ultimately be the *only* slam mixed doubles competition held last season.

Their opponents could be the only Aussies left with a chance to pick up titles at this slam (well, other than Dylan Alcott, who won the Quad WC singles, as well as the doubles with countryman Heath Davidson), as wild cards Samantha Stosur & Matthew Ebden are still to face Desirae Krawczyk & Joe Salibury in the semifinals. If she makes the final, Stosur would be playing for her eighth career slam crown (1/3/3), and her second in Melbourne ('19 WD) in three years.



...in the Phillip Island event, the final was set on the courts usually reserved for the AO junior play at Melbourne Park.

First up, Dasha Kasatkina continued her good start to '21 (now 9-3) by reaching her first final since October' 18 (Moscow) with a three-set win over Danielle Collins (who was treated for a back injury). Collins, a former slam semifinalist (and w/ a QF) with five career Top 10 wins, still has yet to reach her maiden tour-level singles final.



In the other semi, Marie Bouzkova outlasted Bianca Andreescu (who had to battle to a 7-5 3rd set TB win over Begu in the QF) in a three-hour affair, overcoming a 4-1 3rd set deficit and 2 MP held by the Canadian to win 6-7(9)/6-2/7-5. Andreescu had had to endure a 17-minute TB to win the 1st set on her fourth SP.



I guess Bianca's getting her match time in, eh? Truthfully, it's probably fortunate that she lost. I'm not sure it'd been good for her health to play a *third* straight marathon match so early in her comeback.





...RADKA LEITMERITZ STRIKES AGAIN ON DAY 11:



...NEWS ON DAY 11:



...EYEROLLING ON DAY 11:

Chris Evert commentates a Serena Williams match, so (yawn) during and afterward she's pilloried with a slew of comments attacking her for being biased, racist, anti-Serena, "a hater," jealous and even for "jinxing" Williams. In truth, she said nothing offensive, biased, racist, anti-Serena, or "hating" toward Williams. This isn't the first Williams match she's called at this AO, and we all know if Serena had won the post-match social media storyline would have been the same, so we can cross off any ridiculousness that she "jinxed" Williams, too.

Her "fans" really do her a disservice sometimes.



Oh, and I beg to differ with Twitter referring to this as a case of "tennis fans" sounding off. More accurately, it's "Serena Williams fans" doing the sounding off. They all -- or most -- aren't *necessarily* members of the other group.

...READY, SET, GO (again) DAY 11:



Still the reigning champs. Yeah, it's difficult to count whatever that was last year as a "season"... at the very least the Nats and Dodgers are co-defending champs.





In the early early 1990s no one flew higher (literally, at times) than Garth Brooks. With widespread appeal garnered by a series of crossover hits, he burst onto the music scene while mixing rock and pop elements with country music and made himself -- not some boy band, rock group or pop star -- *the* #1 music star in the nation.

I can't remember a time in my lifetime, at least, when the *biggest* music act in the U.S. was one from country music, at least not in the way that Brooks was (maybe Hank Williams Sr. back in the 1940s/50s was that, but that was based mostly on radio play, and Taylor Swift had really somewhat moved on from country when she might have qualified). Brooks maintained that high level of success for a great number of years, and completely changed the idea of how country stars perform, pioneering the use of pyrotechnics and stunts during his concerts at huge venues (and on a series of live specials aired on NBC), utilizing huge stages, surfing the crowd, and even being lifted into the air on cables at some points.



Of course, this should come as no surprise, as Brooks grew up a fan of the rock band Kiss, for which pyrotechnics and spectacle sometimes *were* the whole show. In fact, Brooks actually recorded a song with the band in 1994.

After a time, Brooks did slow his pace, from the restless (overreach) period of his "baseball career" in 1998 and his assuming the musical persona of the fictional "Chris Gaines" (I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time), to his brief "retirement" in 2001. He returned to live performances in '05, undertook a Las Vegas concert residency (2009-13), and a world tour (2014-17) tied to his first studio album in thirteen years. In 2015, he was nominated by the Academy of Country Music as Entertainer of the Year (and would be again in '18), fourteen years after his most recent nomination, and twenty-five years after his first of four consecutive wins from 1990-93.

In recently years Brooks has often appeared with chart-topping singer Trisha Yearwood (they've been married since 2005), and did so for a series of informal concerts on Facebook Live and CBS during the pandemic in '20, donating $1 million to relief efforts. Also last year, Brooks performed a concert that was broadcast at 300 drive-in theaters across North America. He released his fourteenth album later that year, and last month sang "Amazing Grace" at Joe Biden's inauguration.

Here's Brooks acting out (w/ help) "Friends in Low Places" from a 1990 awards show...



His performances of "Shameless" were an inspiration for the "The Bachelor" (well, not really, but...).



The Grammy-winning video for "The Thunder Rolls" was controversial at the time for its depiction of domestic violence but, in fact, such a thing has been the subject of many country songs over the years. The thought is that it sparked debate because, in the end, the abusive husband is killed by his wife at the close of the video rather than, you know, the other way around.



Here's Brooks singing "Hard Luck Woman" with Kiss (sans makeup) on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" in 1994.



Probably, in the end, "The Dance" might be the song that long outlasts Brooks' own career.



It certainly outlasts this "Six Degrees of David Bowie" series, because this post wraps that *up* for this AO. So, dropping the mic...









=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#22 Jennifer Brady/USA vs. #3 Naomi Osaka/JPN

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#3 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. #2 Mertens/Sabalenka (BEL/BLR)

=MIXED DOUBLES SF=
(WC) Stosur/Ebden (AUS/AUS) vs. Krawczyk/Salisbury (USA/GBR)
#6 Krejcikova/R.Ram (CZE/USA) def. (WC) Storm Sanders/Marc Polmans (AUS/AUS)

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED def. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN 6-3/6-7(4)/7-6(10-4)

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) def. #2 Montjane/Shuker (RSA/GBR) 6-4/6-1














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*CAREER SLAM FINALS - active*
33 - Serena Williams, USA (23-10)
16 - Venus Williams, USA (7-9)
8 - Kim Clijsters, BEL (4-4)
5 - Simona Halep, ROU (2-3)
5 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2-3)
4 - NAOMI OSAKA, JPN (3-0)
4 - Angelique Kerber, GER (3-1)
4 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (2-2)
4 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP (2-2)
3 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2-1)
2 - Sofia Kenin, USA (1-1)
2 - Sloane Stephens, USA (1-1)
2 - Samantha Stosur, AUS (1-1)
2 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (0-2)
1 - Bianca Andreescu, CAN (1-0)
1 - Ash Barty, AUS (1-0)
1 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1-0)
1 - Iga Swiatek, POL (1-0)
1 - JENNIFER BRADY, USA (0-0)
1 - Genie Bouchard, CAN (0-1)
1 - Sara Errani, ITA (0-1)
1 - Madison Keys, USA (0-1)
1 - Sabine Lisicki, GER (0-1)
1 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (0-1)
1 - Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (0-1)
[2020's]
2 - NAOMI OSAKA (1-0)
2 - Sofia Kenin (1-1)
1 - Iga Swiatek (1-0)
1 - JENNIFER BRADY (0-0)
1 - Victoria Azarenka (0-1)
1 - Garbine Muguruza (0-1)
[2020's - by nation]
3 - USA (1-1)*
2 - JPN (1-0)*
1 (W) = POL
1 (L) = BLR,ESP

*AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINALS - ACTIVE*
8...Serena Williams (7-1)
2...Victoria Azarenka (2-0)
2...NAOMI OSAKA (1-0)
2...Kim Clijsters (1-1)
2...Venus Williams (0-2)
1...Sofia Kenin (1-0)
1...Angelique Kerber (1-0)
1...JENNIFER BRADY (0-0)
1...Garbine Muguruza (0-1)
1...Simona Halep (0-1)
1...Petra Kvitova (0-1)

*ACTIVE SINGLES PLAYERS - FIRST SLAM FINAL*
1997 U.S. Open - Venus Williams
1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (W)
2001 Roland Garros - Kim Clijsters
2004 U.S. Open - Svetlana Kuznetsova (W)
2010 Roland Garros - Samantha Stosur
2010 Wimbledon - Vera Zvonareva
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova (W)
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka (W)
2012 Roland Garros - Sara Errani
2013 Wimbledon - Sabine Lisicki
2014 Roland Garros - Simona Halep
2014 Wimbledon - Genie Bouchard
2015 Wimbledon - Garbine Muguruza
2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber (W)
2016 U.S. Open - Karolina Pliskova
2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko (W)
2017 U.S. Open - Madison Keys
2017 U.S. Open - Sloane Stephens (W)
2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka (W)
2019 Roland Garros - Ash Barty (W)
2019 Roland Garros - Marketa Vondrousova
2019 U.S. Open - Bianca Andreescu (W)
2020 Australian Open - Sofia Kenin (W)
2020 Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek (W)
2021 Australian Open - Jennifer Brady

*RECENT EARLY-CAREER SLAM BREAKOUTS - SF+*
2014: Genie Bouchard to Australian Open semis (4th career GS MD, age 19)
2014: Genie Bouchard to Wimbledon Final (6th career GS MD, age 20)
2017: Alona Ostapenko wins Roland Garros (8th career GS MD, age 20)
2019: Danielle Collins to Australian Open SF (6th career GS MD, age 25)
2019: Amanda Anisimova to Roland Garros SF (4th career GS MD, age 17)
2019: Marketa Vondrousova to Roland Garros SF (9th career GS MD, age 20)
2019: Bianca Andreescu wins U.S. Open (4th career GS MD, age 19)
2020: Nadia Podoroska to Roland Garros SF (2nd career GS MD, age 23)
2020: Iga Swiatek wins Roland Garros (7th career GS MD, age 19)
2021: Karolina Muchova to Australian Open SF (9th career GS MD, age 24)

*RECENT FIRST-TIME SLAM CHAMPS - since 2010*
2010 Roland Garros - Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2011 Roland Garros - Li Na, CHN
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 U.S. Open - Samantha Stosur, AUS
2012 Australian Open - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2013 Wimbledon - Marion Bartoli, FRA
2015 U.S. Open - Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2016 Australian Open - Angelique Kerber, GER
2016 Roland Garros - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
2017 Roland Garros - Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2017 U.S. Open - Sloane Stephens, USA
2018 Australian Open - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2018 Roland Garros - Simona Halep, ROU
2018 U.S. Open - Naomi Osaka, JPN
2019 Roland Garros - Ash Barty, AUS
2019 U.S. Open - Bianca Andreescu, CAN
2020 Australian Open - Sofia Kenin, USA
2020 Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek, POL

*LOW-SEEDED AO CHAMPIONS - OPEN ERA*
Unseeded - 1978 Chris O'Neil, AUS
Unseeded - 2007 Serena Williams, USA
#14 - 2020 Sofia Kenin, USA
#12 - 2001 Jennifer Capriati, USA
#7 - 2016 Angelique Kerber, GER
#7 - 2005 Serena Williams, USA
#5 - 1979 Barbara Jordan, USA
#5 - 2008 Maria Sharapova, RUS
#4 - 1995 Mary Pierce, FRA
#4 - 1997 Martina Hingis, SUI
#4 - 2014 Li Na, CHN
#4 - 2019 Naomi Osaka, JPN
--
IN 2021 FINAL: #22 Brady

*LONG WTA WINNING/UNDEFEATED STREAKS - last 15 seasons (2006-21)*
34 - Serena Williams, 2013
32 - Justine Henin, 2007-08
27 - Serena Williams, 2014-15 [w/o after #5 and #12]
26 - Victoria Azarenka, 2012
25 - Serena Williams, 2013-14
24 - Serena Williams, 2015 [w/o after #12]
20 - NAOMI OSAKA, 2020-21 [w/o after #4 and #14]
--
LONGEST SINCE 2000: 35-Venus Williams, 2000



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I remember going to Trump's casino in AC during the summer with my mother when I was in high school (or maybe college... at any rate, I was old enough to play the slot machines, but wouldn't do it), and the only lasting memory I have of it is being surprised by how second-rate it seemed inside. The word was that people didn't like to go there because the slots didn't pay out as well as some of the other casinos on the boardwalk and, in retrospect, that fits the longstanding Trump narrative since to have people other than himself make even a little bit of money at his expense would make him seem like a "sucker" in his eyes.

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A note... for all the Democrats, moderates, progressives, liberals and, well, just even-keeled and right-thinking humans, really, who have at least *tried* to not be nasty today when commenting on the death of Rush Limbaugh, just know that the same allowances for civility, humanity and family would not be matched by the vast majority of those on the other side of that political fence if the shoe were on the other foot.

That isn't permission to attack at will, just a reminder that, when we/they/us talk about trying to be the "better" in the equation, *sometimes* it's probably a good thing to actually back it up in words and actions. Even when you know it won't be reciprocal down the line. In many ways, that makes it *more* important to practice what one preaches on such an occasion, at least if only to avoid the complete collapse of one's soul into the abyss of what the U.S. political landscape has devolved into over the past few decades.

There was a time, almost too long ago to remember now, when Limbaugh -- for all his loud bluster -- was at heart a longtime radio guy putting on "a show" that caught fire, and then playing to the audience it garnered in a theatrical way. Yes, he was bombastic and threw red meat to the right, mostly in the form of Clinton bashing in his national show's early years, but back then he was a *voice* and only that.

When I was in college, between classes, I would often listen to Baltimore's (at least once) great WBAL 1090 AM at a time when different shows of opposing political persuasions could mix, from the glorious, oft-goofy and left-leaning Allan Prell (you'd have to have hear his annual Allie-Elf show at Christmas time to believe it) to staunch convserative Ron Smith. They'd co-host a Friday show together that would often end up with them yelling at each other, but they were never disrespectful or nasty. They just didn't agree.

NOTE: Max Weiss, who I sometimes share the tweets of here, once co-hosted a wonderfully fun Movie Talk and other shows with Prell, who died in 2016.

Limbaugh was also aired on that station, and it was in the midst of him truly becoming a huge voice and influence, first in conservative radio and then in the actual politics of the GOP. I don't think it necessarily started that way, but at some point Limbaugh *did* sort of lose his soul to the bigotry, divisive and libelous tone on which he grew his brand, and I think even started to believe what he was saying at some point, and what his gushing followers said about him. I remember, at the time, that even back then I could only listen to him for a while before I had to turn the station, but even then the offenses were more eye-rolling than dangerous (I once heard him literally "report" something that he'd "been told" from someone that "thought they'd heard something" on CNN "that might have happened" and then railed against the horrific nature of what he'd "learned"... and yes, that's pretty close to an accurate quote there, too).

Anyway, that was a long time ago. He grew more and more monstrous in his words over time, and that, social media and the outsized power he wielded have gone a long way toward helping to create and perpetuate the toxic environment that pervades so much of conversation in the U.S. today, political and otherwise.

I guess my point here is that all one has to do to get their point across about the vile things that Limbaugh has said and instigated is to simply recall and/or report them as they came out of his mouth. As hard as if might be for some to avoid falling into the trap, it's largely counterproductive to sink to the depths to which he ultimately did to denounce his legacy, and him personally, now that he's gone.



But maybe that's just me being naive in holding onto the sliver of hope that Limbaugh, Alex Jones and Trump -- and people just like them -- haven't pushed the nation to a dark place from which we can never fully recover. Well, at least *partially* recover to reclaim *some* sort of "normal civility" with which to go forward.

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Hmmm, actually you CAN experience "Allie Elf." I FOUND THIS TODAY! (By the way, if you listen... I'm sorry. Haha.)



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TOP QUALIFIER: Francesca Jones/GBR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #3 Naomi Osaka/JPN
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #10 Serena Williams/USA
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Whitney Osuigwe/USA def. #22 Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU 2-6/7-6(1)/6-2 (trailed 6-2/5-2)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #2 Simona Halep/ROU def. Ajla Tomljanovic/AUS 4-6/6-4/7-5; 2:34; trailed 5-2 in 3rd, Tomlj. for match; won last 5 games
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #3 Naomi Osaka/JPN def. #14 Garbine Muguruza/ESP 4-6/6-4/7-5
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): Nominee: WC Final - #1 de Groot/NED def. #2 Kamiji 6-3/6-7(4)/7-6(10-4)
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Naomi Osaka/JPN (def. Pavlyuchenkova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #23 Angelique Kerber/GER (1st Rd.-Pera/USA)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Olga Danilovic/SRB, Mayar Sherif/EGY, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS, Nina Stojanovic/SRB
UPSET QUEENS: United States
REVELATION LADIES: Estonia
NATION OF POOR SOULS: China (1-5, 2 seeds out 1r & all 3 Top 50; Wang Xiyu w/d with COVID)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Sara Errani/ITA, Kaja Juvan/SLO (both 3rd Rd.) + (LL: Schmiedlova-2r)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Dasha Gavrilova/AUS, Samantha Stosur/AUS (both 2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Ash Barty (QF)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Jennifer Brady/USA and Karolina Muchova/CZE
IT (Egyptian): Mayar Sherif/EGY (1st Eqyptian slam MD win)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Rebecca Marino/CAN (first GS win in 10 yrs.; battled depression)
CRASH & BURN: Sofia Kenin/USA (2nd Rd. to Kanepi; earliest AO DC exit since 2003)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Simona Halep/ROU (2nd Rd.- down 5-2 in 3rd vs. Tomljanovic, sweeps final 5 games)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Hsieh Su-wei/TPE (first career WS slam QF at age 35) (Nominee: Stosur)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Simona Halep/ROU
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: nominees: Osaka & the butterfly; Day 7 bottom half Rd. of 16: combined 51 slam titles (7 players), 460 weeks at #1 (5 players), 70 slam finals (all 8 players), 183 combined WTA s/d titles (all 8); Stosur alive for 8th career slam title (1 WS-3 WD-3 MX) in AO MX
DOUBLES STAR: Nominee: Krejcikova (in WD and MX finals)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: [jr. event to be held later in '21]





All for Day 11. More tomorrow.
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