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Saturday, February 13, 2021

AO.6 - Pliskova Goes Pfffffttttt

Day 6 marked the first of what are to be five days at this year's Australian Open without fans in the stands due to Melbourne's new pandemic lockdown. After what happened today, Karolina Pliskova won't be around anymore, either.



Well, if 2021 was set up to be an experiment to see whether or not Pliskova's days to dream of slam titles are pretty much a thing of the past, the new season hasn't exactly done anything to produce optimism. In a 3rd Round match-up on Saturday, the #6 seed faced off with a player more than a little familiar with the Czech's history and game. Last season, #25 Karolina Muchova knocked off her countrywoman in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon, winning a 13-11 3rd set to reach the QF in her SW19 debut. Muchova's coach, David Kotyza, formerly held the same position in the Pliskova camp. And in the weeks leading up this AO, the two Czechs were quarantine practice partners.

The familiarity paid off, as an opportunistic Muchova jumped out to a 3-1 1st set lead. Pliskova rallied, though, taking a 4-3 edge and holding BP for more. But Muchova put in three big first serves *against* the (former?) "Ace Queen" to get a big hold of serve. A break for 6-5 (completed with a Pliskova DF) gave the 24-year old Czech a chance to serve out the set. Saving two BP, she held again for 7-5. Pliskova slammed her racket to the ground.



Pliskova's anger boiled over a bit more *off* the stage, as she left the court between sets, only to later be docked a point penalty for her racket abuse in the hallway (she came back out and it was announced that she would be serving after beginning the game immediately down love/15).

If her anger helped fuel her fire, Pliskova took advantage of the moment. For a while, at least. She raced out to a 5-0 lead in the 2nd, but was reeled by back in by Muchova to 5-4. Back on serve, Pliskova held two SP in a Muchova service game, but again Muchova managed to get the key hold for 5-5. A game later, Pliskova led 40/15, holding five GP in all, but Muchova got the timely break to get within a game of her first AO Round of 16. She served out the 7-5/7-5 win, handing her countrywoman a loss that might ultimately prove to be bigger and more landscape-changing than your usual single slam match defeat.



While Muchova maintains her forward progress and upward trajectory, and has how reached the second week at three of her last six majors, Pliskova continues to falter in '21. She's now 4-3, with her blown 5-0 lead setting on the shelf next to her loss in Week 1 to Anastasia Gasanova, which was her worst rankings defeat since 2013.

Last season marked the first time since '15 that Pliskova didn't reach a slam QF (3r-2r-2r), and her combined results from her last six majors are her worst since she failed the reach a Final 8 in the first seventeen MD appearances of her slam career. The six wins she's posted in her last four majors are her lowest in a similar slam stretch since 2015-16.

When Pliskova was dangling on the edge of the 2nd set today, I made a note about just how long the Czech's partnership with new coach Sascha Bajin might last *now* if she were to lose the match then and there. Already pessimistic about the set-up, in January I predicted the experiment would end sometime around Wimbledon. Might the over/under now be next month's Miami Open?



Ooh, that is *not* something a coach wants their charge to be saying, especially not early in a partnership. It could actually fast track things to making it *late* in the partnership.

Yeah, though the warning signs were already there heading into this AO, now you know a series of red flags are being planted. Considering Pliskova's recent fickleness when it's come to hiring/firing coaches, Bajin might want to watch his back. He could end up being a free agent yet *again* very soon.




=DAY 6 NOTES=
...while Pliskova's attempt to break through her slam ceiling when unheeded at this major, that of #5 seed Elina Svitolina (best results: RG and WI semis in '19) continues to hold on in Melbourne.

The Ukrainian maintained her spotless sets streak at this AO with a two-set victory over #26 Yulia Putintseva on Day 6. The Kazakh had held an early break lead in the 1st, with a GP for a quick 3-1 edge. But Putintseva dropped serve in that game, squandering her best chance to gain some sort of control in the match. She briefly regained her break advantage at 4-3 only to give it back a game later. After fighting out of triple SP on Svitolina's serve, getting the game to deuce, Putintseva saw Svitolina close out the set on SP #4.

Svitolina had no such worries in the 2nd. She pulled a "reverse Pliskova" after racing to a 5-0 2nd set lead, actually finishing off her opponent at love to advance to her twelfth career slam Round of 16.



...while Kristina Mladenovic's decision to focus on her singles while Down Under (giving up a chance to defend her AO WD title w/ Timea Babos) likely caused a secret, knowingly sly smile to briefly appear on the face of Caroline Garcia, it took until the Pastry's third event of '21 for her to finally get some traction in her solo act. She came into this AO without a season win after two straight sets losses to Gabrine Muguruza and, last week, Jessica Pegula in the Yarra Valley event in Melbourne. After notching back-to-back AO wins, especially an impressive 1st Round victory over #20 Maria Sakkari, Mladenovic's journey to the 3rd Round -- her best slam result since the '18 Wimbledon, and just her second 3r+ run in a major since 2017 -- would have to be viewed as a success. Or at least she *should* see it that way, since the journey abruptly ended today.

After losing 4 & 1 to Pegula last week, the U.S. woman put up a 6-2/6-1 win over Mladenovic this time around, making the 26-year old world #61 the only first-time slam Round of 16 participant in this year's Australian Open women's competition.



While Pegula had made it two Bannerettes (w/ Serena) in the Round of 16, she wasn't quite satisifed with that number.



Following orders, #22 Jennifer Brady made it three U.S. women to advance, handling qualifier Kaja Juvan, back after leaving everything she had on the court (or in a towel) during her win over Mayar Sherif two days ago, by a 6-1/6-3 score. The win gives Brady a fourth career Round of 16 result in a hard court major. She's 14-7 in eight US/AO main draws, but has won just four total matches at RG/WI.



Her two-week Aussie run, which included a Gippsland final and two Top 10 wins, finally caught up with Kaia Kanepi today. Well, it was either that or Donna Vekic.

The 35-year old Estonian led the #28-seeded Croat 7-5/3-0 in their 3rd Round match on Saturday, and held a MP at 5-4 in the 2nd. But Vekic's run of 11-of-13 points to end the set claimed a 7-2 tie-break to knot the match. It was the first set Kanepi has dropped at this AO, and just the second since she ended Aryna Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak in the 2nd Round at Gippsland last week.

Vekic grabbed a 3-1 3rd set lead, only to see Kanepi tighten things on the scoreboard, getting the break back running neck and neck with Vekic at 4-4. After a service hold, Vekic reached her first MP at 40/30 on Kanepi's serve, and converted on her second attempt to win 5-7/7-6(2)/6-4.



The win completes Vekic's "Career Slam Round of 16" collection of second week results in (all four) majors. She does it in her 29th career slam MD, making hers the third longest journey amongst the twenty-three active women to have accomplished the feat, behind that of only Alize Cornet (57th slam/2020 U.S.) and Petra Martic (32nd slam/2019 U.S.).



...in the final women's match before the concurrently played women's night matches on Laver and MCA, #18 Elise Mertens sent off #11 Belinda Bencic in quick fashion, reaching her eighth career slam 4th Round, and her third in four years in Melbourne.



...in the dueling women's night matches, #1 Ash Barty rebounded on MCA from her iffy 2nd set against Dasha Gavrilova last time out, staging comebacks in both the 1st (down 2-0) and 2nd (4-2) sets to defeat to #29 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2/6-4. She's yet to drop a set at this AO and has won her first six matches of the '21 season (after going 12-3 before the shutdown in '20 in her most recent action before the start of this year).

All seven of Barty career slam MD runs of the 4th Round or better have come in her last seven appearances in majors, starting with the 2018 U.S. Open (her 17th career slam).

On Laver, Shelby Rogers dealt another blow to Estonian tennis on Day 6, handing the nation its second loss of the day with her 6-4/6-3 defeat of #21 Anett Kontaveit. Afterward, a smiling Rogers blew kisses to all the empty seats in the four corners of the arena. Fully back to form following her knee injury, Rogers has now reached back-to-back hard court slam Rounds of 16 ('20 U.S. QF). She'd only done so at Roland Garros (QF/2016) in her first twenty slam MD between the '10 U.S. and '20 AO.



Rogers is the fourth Bannerette in the Round of 16, the most from any nation.

Barty and Rogers, who met last week in the Yarra Valley QF (Barty won one of those 10-point TB in the 3rd), face off against one another in the 4th Round.

...play in the Philip Island event on the AO grounds, for the players ousted earlier in the draw (and played on the courts left unused due to the postponement of the AO juniors event). Wouldn't you know it, Sloane Stephens just couldn't exit the city without another defeat, falling to Varvara Gracheva 6-2/6-2 to drop to 0-3 in '21, and 1-7 dating back to her exit at last year's U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, Dasha Kasatkina got right back on the proverbial horse, taking out Katie Boulter. While Irina-Camelia Begu knocked off Nadia Podoroska.

...in AO doubles, top-seeded Hsieh Su-wei & Barbora Strycova were upset in a 7-5 3rd set by Darija Jurak & Nina Stojanovic.





...WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING OUTSIDE AND MOM CALLS YOU FOR DINNER?... ON DAY 6:



...LIKE ON DAY 6:

Another Radka Leitmeritz triumph (and, no, Muchova doesn't come in before the final photo to push Pliskova to the floor).



...HEARD SAID BY A HOST ON A WASHINGTON D.C. SPORTS RADIO SHOW ON DAY 6:

"And Serena Williams defeated Anastasia...(pause)...Potapova. (audible sigh) Wow, what a name."

I mean, really? You get tripped by the name "Anastasia Potapova?" Probably the most straightforward-in-pronounciation name of all the Russian ova's. What do you do when you talk about basketball -- w/ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, etc. -- or, you know, about three-quarters of the roster of the Washington Capitals?

...WHEN YOU SEE IT TO BE A POLITICAL ASSET TO "ADMIT" THAT YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO ACCURATELY READ THE EASIEST TO READ INDIVIDUAL IN PUBLIC LIFE IN THE U.S. OVER THE PAST THREE-PLUS DECADES... ON DAY 6:



As I've noted often over the last five years, Trump showed everyone who he was way back when most people didn't yet know him.

In the 1980s Trump bought his way into the USFL spring football league, purchasing the New Jersey Generals because he narcissistically wanted to have the status and fame accorded an NFL franchise owner in New York City. With his eye on the growth of his national prominance, he then convinced/bullied his business partners (the other USFL owners) to threaten to move to an in-direct-competition-with-the-NFL fall schedule (something that had never been part of their business plan) and then go "all-in" with a Hail Mary lawsuit vs. the NFL over being a monopoly (as far as TV contracts with the major networks at the time were concerned, though the league *could* have signed on with the then-fledgling ESPN, which it already had a deal with for the spring games).

The real goal, though, was the hope that the lawuit would force a merger (giving Trump what he wanted from the start, a ego-feeding "upgrade" in status).

The other USFL owners took the bait, ultimately "winning" the lawsuit but only being awarded a single dollar in damages (tripled to $3 because it was an anti-trust case) since the jury saw the league as the author of its own demise. The merger didn't happen. The USFL collapsed. But Trump moved forward, seeking his next vanity project to destroy.

Substitute the buying the Generals with "running for president," the team owners with "the Republican base" (and "leaders"), and the USFL itself with "the GOP" (and very nearly the U.S. democratic system as a whole), and it's easy to see that since he became a public figure he's always been about pleasing himself and not particularly caring what he destroyed in the process of trying to get what he wanted.

While the U.S. wreckage -- politically, culturally, safety and health-wise, just to name a few -- that he orchestrated continues to burn like a raging fire, Trump, as always, remains Trump. Moving forward, looking for enemies, attempting to even-up past slights, and being willing to tear anything down to the ground if it satisfies his aggrandizing needs of the moment. Such personality traits have never been a secret, nor has he ever hidden them particularly well (or at all).

Haley knew this. At best, she's a liar cravenly seeking political advantage now just as she did when she became an ardent Trump supporter. At worst, she's an idiot.





I know I'm more than a bit late on Billie Eilish. I mean, I've known of her, and have heard her a bit and, of course, knew she'd won an armload of Grammys (5, to be precise) and did the theme song for the latest James Bond film. But a little while ago I listened to one of her songs for a bit longer and realized, "Oh, she reminds me a little of Fiona Apple." Let me learn more. A quick search affirmed that the notion of a connection wasn't exactly an original thought. But, still, I'd taken the bite.

Eilish (or, officially, Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell... which is A NAME if I've ever heard one) seems as if she might be a good deal more prolific when it comes to releasing music than Apple. Still only (barely) 19, she released her debut in 2017, then her first studio album in '19.

This isn't how she's generally presented, but here's a dance performance to her debut song "Ocean Eyes" (2016).



Eilish's performance of the Beatles' "Yesterday" for the In Memoriam segment at last year's Oscars, one of the last big events before the world was engulfed by the pandemic, was one of the most effective in recent years, I think.



A couple versions of "All the Good Girls Go to Hell" (hmmm, a good start for an "alternative" WTA theme song, eh?) from 2019, on The Howard Stern Show (alongside her brother and creative partner, Finneas) and at the American Music Awards, as well as the very interesting video for "Bury a Friend" (2019).



Next, an artist that's taken a (too) long while to show up on the "And Finally..." docket.







=WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Ash Barty/AUS vs. Shelby Rogers/USA
#18 Elise Mertens/BEL vs. #25 Karolina Muchova/CZE
#28 Donna Vekic/CRO vs. #22 Jennifer Brady/USA
Jessica Pegula/USA vs. #5 Elina Svitolina/UKR
Hsieh Su-wei/TPE vs. #19 Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
#14 Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. #3 Naomi Osaka/JPN
#7 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR vs. #10 Serena Williams/USA
#15 Iga Swiatek/POL vs. #2 Simona Halep/ROU

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 16=
Jurak/Stoyanovic (CRO/SRB) vs. Bolsova/Paolini (ESP/ITA)
Kalinskaya/Kuzmova (RUS/SVK) vs. (PR) Krunic/Trevisan (SRB/ITA)
#3 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. Pera/van der Hoek (USA/NED)
Fernandez/Watson (CAN/GBR) vs. Fichman/Olmos (CAN/MEX)
Gauff/McNally (USA/USA) vs. #9 Guarachi/Krawczyk (CHI/USA)
#13 L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (UKR/LAT) vs. #4 Melichar/Schuurs (USA/NED)
#7 Aoyama/Shibahara (JPN/JPN) vs. #12 Carter/Stefani (USA/BRA)
#16 Siegemund/Zvonareva (GER/USA) vs. #2 Mertens/Sabalenka (BEL/BLR)

=MIXED DOUBLES QF=
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. Aniek Van Koot/NED
Momoko Ohtani/JPN vs. Lucy Shuker/GBR
Angelica Bernal/COL vs. KJ Montjane/RSA
Macarena Cabrillana/CHI vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES=
#1 de Groot/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Kamiji/Ohtani (JPN/JPN)
Bernal/Cabrillana (COL/CHI) vs. #2 Montjane/Shuker (RSA/GBR)














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*AO WON/LOST RECORDS OF NATIONS w/ WOMEN IN RD. OF 16*
20-11 - USA (4)
10-7 - CZE (2)
6-9 - AUS (1)
4-3 - JPN (1)
4-4 - BEL (1)
5-5 - ROU (1)
3-0 - POL (1)
3-0 - TPE (1)
3-1 - CRO (1)
3-1 - UKR (1)
3-2 - BLR (1)
3-3 - ESP (1)

*AO "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING" WINNERS, since 2015*
=2015=
Lucie Hradecka, CZE (3rd Rd.)
=2016=
Zhang Shuai, CHN (QF)
=2017=
Mona Barthel, GER (both 4th Rd.)
Jennifer Brady, USA
=2018=
Denisa Allertova, CZE (4th Rd.)
=2019=
Bianca Andreescu, CAN (all 2nd Rd.)
Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
Astra Sharma, AUS
Iga Swiatek, POL
Natalia Vikhlyantseva, RUS
=2020=
Harriet Dart, GBR (all 2nd Rd.)
Nao Hibino, JPN
Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
Ann Li, USA
Caty McNally, USA
Greet Minnen, BEL
=2021=
Sara Errani, ITA (both 3rd Rd.)
Kaja Juvan, SLO

*AO "IT" WINNERS*
2006 Samantha Stosur, AUS
2007 Shahar Peer, ISR
2008 Casey Dellacqua, AUS
2009 Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
2010 Maria Kirilenko, RUS
2011 An-Sophie Mestach, BEL (jr.)
2012 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
2013 [Fortysomething] Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
2014 [Teen] Genie Bouchard, CAN
2015 [Madisons] Madison Keys/USA & Madison Brengle/USA
2016 [NextGen Belarusian] Vera Lapko, BLR
2017 [Party] (Ash) "Barty Party"
2018 [Teen] Marta Kostyuk, UKR
2019 [Teen] Amanda Anisimova, USA
2020 [Arab] Ons Jabeur, TUN
2021 [Egyptian] Mayar Sherif, EGY

*AO "COMEBACK PLAYER" WINNERS*
2007 Serena Williams, USA
2008 Zi Yan & Zheng Jie, CHN
2009 Jelena Dokic, AUS
2010 Justine Henin, BEL
2011 Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2012 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2013 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2014 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2015 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2016 Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
2017 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO
2018 Angelique Kerber, GER
2019 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2020 CiCi Bellis, USA
2021 Rebecca Marino, CAN

*RECENT AUSSIE WOMEN IN AO ROUND OF 16 (since 7-round event in '87)*
1987 QF - Elizabeth Smylie
1987 4th Rd. - Janine Tremelling
1987 4th Rd. - Wendy Turnbull
1988 QF - Anne Minter
1988 QF - Hana Mandlikova
1989 4th Rd. - Nicole Provis
1990 4th Rd. - Rachel McQuillan
1991 4th Rd. - Rachel McQuillan
1993 4th Rd. - Nicole Provis
2003 4th Rd. - Nicole Pratt
2004 4th Rd. - Alicia Molik
2005 QF - Alicia Molik
2006 4th Rd. - Samantha Stosur
2008 4th Rd. - Casey Dellacqua
2009 QF - Jelena Dokic
2010 4th Rd. - Samantha Stosur
2015 4th Rd. - Casey Dellacqua
2016 4th Rd. - Dasha Gavrilova
2017 4th Rd. - Dasha Gavrilova
2019 QF - Ash Barty
2020 SF - Ash Barty
2021 ?? - Ash Barty
--
MOST RECENT SF: 1984 Wendy Turnbull, 2020 Ash Barty
MOST RECENT FINAL: 1980 Wendy Turnbull
MOST RECENT CHAMPION: 1978 Chris O'Neil
MOST RECENT #1 SEEDS: Goolagong (1977), Barty (2020/21)



*2021 AO WOMEN'S FINAL 16*
[by ranking]
#1 - Ash Barty
#2 - Simona Halep
#3 - Naomi Osaka
#5 - Elina Svitolina
#7 - Aryna Sabalenka
#10 - Serena Williams
#14 - Garbine Muguruza
#16 - Elise Mertens
#17 - Iga Swiatek
#20 - Marketa Vondrousova
#24 - Jennifer Brady
#27 - Karolina Muchova
#33 - Donna Vekic
#57 - Shelby Rogers
#61 - Jessica Pegula
#71 - Hsieh Su-wei
[by age]
39 - Serena Williams
35 - Hsieh Su-wei
29 - Simona Halep
28 - Shelby Rogers
27 - Garbine Muguruza
26 - Jessica Pegula, Elina Svitolina
25 - Jennifer Brady, Elise Mertens
24 - Ash Barty, Karolina Muchova, Donna Vekic
23 - Naomi Osaka
22 - Aryna Sabalenka
21 - Marketa Vondrousova
19 - Iga Swiatek
[by nation]
4...USA (Brady,Pegula,Rogers,S.Williams)
2...CZE (Muchova,Vondrousova)
1...AUS (Barty)
1...BEL (Mertens)
1...BLR (Sabalenka)
1...CRO (Vekic)
1...ESP (Muguruza)
1...JPN (Osaka)
1...POL (Swiatek)
1...ROU (Halep)
1...TPE (Hsieh)
1...UKR (Svitolina)
[by career slam Round-of-16's]
63 - Serena Williams
19 - Simona Halep
15 - Garbine Muguruza
12 - Elina Svitolina
8 - Elise Mertens
7 - Ash Barty
6 - Naomi Osaka
4 - Jennifer Brady, Hsieh Su-wei, Iga Swiatek, Donna Vekic
3 - Karolina Muchova, Shelby Rogers, Marketa Vondrousova
2 - Aryna Sabalenka
1 - Jessica Pegula
[w/ consecutive slam Round of 16's]
6+1 - Ash Barty (last 7 GS app: 2018 US-to-2020 AO...DNP 2020 US/RG...2021 AO)
2 - Elina Svitolinva (2020 RG/2021 AO)
2 - Iga Swiatek (2020 RG/2021 AO)
1+2 - Simona Halep (last 3 GS app: 2020 AO...DNP 2020 US...2020 RG/2021 AO)
1+1 - Naomi Osaka (last 2 GS app: 2020 US...DNP 2020 RG...2021 AO)
[w/ multiple career AO Round of 16's]
16 - Serena Williams
6 - Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza
3 - Ash Barty, Hsieh Su-wei, Elise Mertens, Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina
2 - Jennifer Brady, Iga Swiatek
[w/ consecutive AO Round of 16's]
4 - Simona Halep
3 - Ash Barty, Garbine Muguruza
2 - Elise Mertens, Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek
[WTA career slam Round of 16's - active]
63...Serena Williams
50...Venus Williams
32...Svetlana Kuznetsova
25...Kim Clijsters
24...Victoria Azarenka
[22...Jelena Jankovic]
21...Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova
19...Simona Halep
16...Carla Suarez-Navarro, Vera Zvonareva
15...Garbine Muguruza
14...Madison Keys
13...Sloane Stephens
12...Samantha Stosur
12...Elina Svitolina
10...Karolina Pliskova
9...Kaia Kanepi
[WTA slam Round of 16's since 2020 - active]
3 - Halep, Kenin, Kvitova, Mertens, Swiatek
2 - Barty, Bertens, Brady, Jabeur, Kerber, Kontaveit
2- Muchova, Muguruza, Osaka, Rogers, Svitolina
2 - Sakkari, S.Williams
1 - 23 players
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - youngest]
19 - Iga Swiatek (AO)
21 - Marketa Vondrousova (AO)
22 - Aryna Sabalenka (AO)
23 - Naomi Osaka (AO)
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - oldest]
39 - Serena Williams (AO)
35 - Hsieh Su-wei (AO)
29 - Simona Halep (AO)
28 - Shelby Rogers (AO)
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - unseeded]
AO - (2) Hsieh Su-wei, Jessica Pegula, Shelby Rogers
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - 1st-time GS 4th Rd.]
AO - Jessica Pegula, USA
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - lowest-ranked]
#71 - Hsieh Su-wei (AO)
#61 - Jessica Pegula (AO)
#57 - Shelby Rogers (AO(
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - by region]
6 (6 AO) - W.Europe/Scandinavia (BEL-CRO-CZE-ESP-POL)
4 (4 AO) - North America/Atlantic (USA)
3 (3 AO) - Eastern Europe/Russia (BLR-ROU-UKR)
3 (3 AO) - Asia/Oceania (AUS-JPN-TPE)
0 (0 AO) - Africa/Middle East/Mediterranean (-)
0 (0 AO) - South America (-)


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TOP QUALIFIER: Francesca Jones/GBR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #3 Naomi Osaka/JPN
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
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): #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): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): xx
=============================
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 (in 3rd Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
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: Nominees: S.Williams, Hsieh, Halep
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Barty, Halep
"G'DAY/GOOD ON YA, MATE" AWARD: nominee: Barty's post-shutdown return to slam stage
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: [jr. event to be held later in '21]





All for Day 6. More tomorrow.
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