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Wednesday, June 8, 2022

2022 Clay Court Awards: Whole Lotta (Iga) Love




Iga, Suzanne and Paris... simply irresistible.








1. Iga Swiatek, POL ...won her second RG title in three years while going 16-0 on clay (+2-0 on BJK hard court) and extending her overall streaks to 35 matches and six singles titles
2. Ons Jabeur, TUN ...went 17-4, winning Madrid and reaching the Rome final
3. Diede de Groot, NED (WC) ...maintained her undefeated season in singles and doubles, winning her sixth straight wheelchair singles slam
4. Coco Gauff, USA ...reached both singles and doubles finals at Roland Garros, and another WD final in Stuttgart (though she went 0-3)
5. Martina Trevisan, ITA ...won ten straight while winning maiden title in Rabat and reaching first slam SF in Paris
6. Dasha Kasatkina, RUS ...played in Rome semis (best 1000 result since '18) and maiden slam SF in Paris (first second week run in 4 years). Notched two Top 5 wins.
7. Garcia/Mladenovic, FRA/FRA ...six years after thrilling Paris with a RG doubles title, they did it again
8. Belinda Bencic, SUI ...played in first final since Olympics, winning maiden clay title in Charleston (getting two Top 10 wins).
9. Veronika Kudermetova, RUS ...reached Istanbul final (3rd F of '22) and first slam singles QF at RG. Won Rome WD (and is new doubles #2) w/ Pavlyuchenkova.
10. Angelique Kerber, GER ...won first clay title in six years in Strasbourg, then posted first wins in Paris in four years
11. Jessie Pegula, USA ...reached first 1000 final in Madrid, RG QF and climbed into Top 10 (& is new U.S. #1). Also played WD final at RG.
12. Jil Teichmann, SUI ...Madrid SF, Rome QF and maiden slam 4th Rd. at RG
13. Amanda Anisimova, USA ...went 13-3, reaching SF-QF-QF before the Round of 16 in Paris, w/ five Top 20 wins
14. V.Kudermetova/Pavlyuchenkova, RUS/RUS ...teamed to win the Italian Open crown
15. Dabrowski/Olmos, CAN/MEX ...won Madrid and reached the Rome final
HM- Yui Kamiji, JPN (WC) ...was a combined 19-0 (11-0 ws/8-0 wd) w/ 4 titles and led Japan to its first World Team Cup crown before she ran into the de Groot buzzsaw at RG





















1. IGA THE (hmmm, IS-IT-TOO-EARLY-OR-ARE-WE-OKAY-WITH-JUST-PREMATURELY-HANGING-THE-TITLE-ON-A-21-YEAR-OLD-IN-THE-MIDDLE-OF-A-MULTI-MONTH-STRETCH-OF-BRILLIANT-RESULTS?) GREAT
...Ash who? I know, I know... that's getting old. But, really, has any women's #1 been so thoroughly and completely replaced as quickly as Barty has by Iga Swiatek? And, remember, Barty just four months ago had become the reigning champ at a *second* major, won her third *different* singles slam in less than three years, had started her season 11-0 (winning 13 straight vs. the Top 30, and going 24-2 vs. the tour's best since the start of '21).

And yet... Iga.

As it is, the WTA #1 hasn't been defeated since last year's U.S. Open, with Swiatek adding 18 matches to the Aussie's end-of-career (for now?) run since assuming the top spot after Miami (not counting her six wins in Miami after Barty's retirement announcement but before Iga had *officially* become #1 on the computer after that event).

Thing is, though she was undefeated this clay season (16-0) and ran her overall winning streak to 35 matches (tying Venus for the longest since 2000), winning six straight titles (3 on clay), taking five love sets on the dirt (+3 in two BJK Cup hard court matches, w/ 16 overall in '22) and only dropping two sets (of her last 58) since mid-March, we saw a few different versions of Iga this spring.

In Stuttgart, she lost multiple leads and nearly lost to Liudmila Samsonova, but *found a way* to prevail. She raced through Rome, knocking off two Top 10 players (Sabalenka/Jabeur) and only *almost* "blinking" in one stretch vs. Bianca Andreescu (but still winning a 1st set TB, then bageling the Canadian in the 2nd). In Paris, Swiatek stressed herself out (for 10 minutes) vs. Danka Kovinic, and lost a handful of big points and dropped a set vs. big-hitting teen Zheng Qinwen before an injury and menstrual difficulties slowed the young Chinese future star.

Then the Pole won 48 of her final 62 games at RG, never dropping more than three in any of her final eight sets while brushing aside Jessie Pegula, Dasha Kasatkina and Coco Gauff from the QF-F, winning her second RG in three years and becoming the first woman since 2004 (Henin/AO) to win a major as a first-time #1 seed.



Swiatek was 7-0 on clay vs. the Top 20 (22-3 vs. the Top 30 all season, including her last 18, w/ losses to only Barty, Collins and Ostapenko), and is 9-1 in three-set matches (7-2 when losing the 1st set, after going 3-15 when falling behind in 2020-21).
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2. ONS-WARD AND UPWARD
...if not for Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur would have been the talk of the clay season heading into Roland Garros. The Tunisian reeled off eleven straight wins, won her biggest career title in Madrid and became just the fourth woman in tour history to reach the final there *and* in the follow-up event in Rome. She also reached the Charleston final and Stuttgart QF, compiling a 17-3 record heading into RG.



On a tour with so many proverbial flavors, Jabeur is one of the most unique. And, right on cue, in Madrid she added still more layers to her career story by becoming the first Arab, African and Tunisian woman to claim a 1000-level title, using her blend of passion and shotmaking to snatch yet another "biggest career moment" on what are becoming increasingly larger stages for the 27-year old.

Jabeur roared through the Madrid draw, hitting her full stride after avenging her Charleston final loss to Belinda Bencic by taking her out in another three-setter in the 3rd Round, ending the Swiss' eight-match winning streak. A pair of straight sets victories followed over Simona Halep and Ekaterina Alexandrova, with the former a particularly shining moment as the Romanian veteran had looked like a potential (yet again) Madrid champ before she ran into the brick wall that was Jabeur, who used her power to push Halep back, and finesse (complete with jumping drop shots) to control the match, winning 3 & 2. In the final against Jessie Pegula, Jabeur rebounded from a poor 2nd set (lost a love) to regain her dominant form in the 3rd, defeating the Bannerette 7-5/0-6/6-2 to pick up her biggest career title and rise to a new career high of #7.



Jabeur then came into Rome and posted a second 1000 level final, putting away Ajla Tomljanovic and Yulia Putintseva before staging back-to-back comebacks to set up a date in the final with the world #1.

Jabeur knocked off Maria Sakkari after having trailed 6-2/5-2 in the QF, then saved a MP (w/ a drop shot, naturally) against Dasha Kasatkina, winning her eleventh straight match. After falling down a set and double-break vs. Swiatek in the final, Jabeur had four BP chances to get back on serve in the 2nd set but wasn't able to find the very small crack (if it currently exists, that is) in Iga's game that might have allowed for the possibility of a comeback victory (or at least a three-set tussle).

Unfortunately, Jabeur's clay season ended with a whimper, as after the three previous players to post the Madrid/Rome final combo (Safina/Serena/Simona) all *at least* reached the RG final. Jabeur was the first seed out, falling to Magda Linette in three sets, ending her string of five straight wins in three-setters. Still, Jabeur set another new career ranking high of #4 at the close of RG.
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3. ANGIE, BABY
...coming into the closing weeks of the clay season, Angelique Kerber had opened the year by missing time due to Covid and had since been mostly anonymous in 2022, but her run in Strasbourg (and early-round heroics in Paris) made everyone say her name once more. Usually with a lot of "!!!" at the end, and often in unison with others.



The 34-year old former #1 had arrived in Strasbourg on a six match losing streak, and she was just 2-8 on the season. The one bright side to the German's poor start, though, was that she'd been close to big wins on numerous occasions. Five of her eight losses had come in three-set affairs, with the long defeats coming against the likes of Kontaveit, Rybakina, Teichmann, Putintseva and even Swiatek. The run of three-set disappointment extended back to late last season, as beginning with the fall '21 BJK Cup finals event Kerber had gone 1-6 in her last seven three-setters.

Looking for match play heading into Roland Garros (and the grass season where she's had more recent success, including a tour title and Wimbledon semi last summer), Kerber got that and more. She reeled off a straight sets win over young Pastry Diane Parry (who'd upset DC Barbora Krejcikova at RG in her next match), then won back-to-back three-setters vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Magda Linette. After an ill Oceane Dodin retired in the second set of their semifinal match, Kerber's first final four run since Cincinnati last season and her first on clay since she won indoors in Stuttgart in '16, she was one victory away from an unexpected pre-RG boost in the same event that propelled eventual champ Krejcikova into Paris a year ago.

In the final against Kaja Juvan, Kerber resembled the player who won three different majors from 2016-18, extending rallies and turning stunning defense into exhilarating offense at the drop of a hat. The two battled for three and a quarter hours, continually engaged in a battle of can-you-top-this? tennis. Ultimately, Kerber prevailed in her third three-setter of the week, winning two of three tie-breaks to claim career title #14, and the first of her tour career on outdoor red clay.



Kerber followed up at Roland Garros with another thrilling three-set win over Magdalena Frech, notching her first win in Paris since 2018, before exiting in the 3rd Round.
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4. DIEDE DOES IT BETTER THAN YOU, AND YOU, AND YOU...
...Diede de Groot comes by her "@DiedeTheGreat" Twitter handle honestly... by winning almost everything.

In Paris, de Groot claimed her sixth straight (14th overall) wheelchair slam singles crown, defeating Yui Kamiji yet again (that's 9 straight times in slam final match-ups, and 10-2 in major finals overall) in a 6-4/6-1 final to defend her RG title and win for the third time in four years in Paris.



After winning in singles, de Groot completed her tenth career slam title sweep, winning the RG doubles with Aniek Van Koot for a fifth straight year (a WC slam record for a duo at any major) with a MTB 3rd set victory over Kamiji & KG Montjane. The win evened de Groot's career s/d haul (14 of each) and allowed Van Koot to tie countrywoman Esther Vergeer for the most WD slam titles ever (21).

Heading into the grass season, de Groot is working on a perfect season, having gone 15-0 in singles (with 51 straight wins back to February '21) and 9-0 in doubles (22 straight, 21 w/ Van Koot). Even after winning a singles Grand Slam (made "Golden" w/ her Paralympic triumph) in '21, after having swept the majors in doubles in '19 (w/ Van Koot), de Groot has never won all eight slam crowns in a single season. And neither has anyone else.
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5. ROMAN HOLIDAY PACKAGE FOR TWO
...Veronika Kudermetova has played doubles for most of the season alongside Elise Mertens, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has missed most of '22 due to Covid and then a knee injury. But the two Hordettes briefly connected in Rome when Pavlyuchenkova touched down for a short stint in the middle of the clay season, and the result was magic.

The all-Hordette duo barely survived their first match in Rome, saving a MP in an 11-9 MTB win over #5-seeded (and eventual RG finalists) Coco Gauff & Jessie Pegula. From there, the duo knocked off the event's top three seeds en route to the title, taking out #1 Storm Sanders/Zhang Shuai (QF), #3 Desirae Krawczyk/Demi Schuurs (SF, saving 3 MP in a 10-7 MTB) and #2 Gaby Dabrowski/Giuliana Olmos (another 10-7 MTB, as the CAN/MEX pair sought to pull off the Madrid/Rome title two-fer) in the final.

A two-time '22 title winner, this was Kudermetova's third appearance in a 1000 level WD final this season and fourth (along with another at Wimbledon) in the past year.



Unfortunately, Pavlyuchenkova's lingering pain following her knee surgery led the '21 RG singles runner-up to end her season early soon after Rome. Meanwhile, Kudermetova went on to reach her first slam singles QF at Roland Garros.
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6. HERE COMES COCO
...fresh off earning her high school diploma, Coco Gauff threw her proverbial hat into the ring in Paris, reaching the finals of *both* the singles and doubles at Roland Garros. The 18-year old was the youngest slam singles finalist since 2004 (Sharapova), the youngest at RG since 2001 (Clijsters) and the youngest U.S. woman in Paris since 1982 (Jaeger).



Gauff came up short in both finals, but climbed to #5 in doubles and now finds herself on the cusp (at #13) of the Top 10 in singles, as well.
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7. BELINDA PLAYS IN THE DIRT
...it took eight years to complete, but Belinda Bencic had unfinished business to take care of in Charleston.



In 2014, in her tournament debut at age 17, Bencic played all the way into the semifinals only to become the final victim of the remarkable (and oft-patched together) Jana Cepelova's memorable run (which had included an upset of #1 Serena Williams) to her only tour final. The two played a deciding 3rd set TB, the first in the career of both. Bencic led 4-1, only to see the Slovak rally to win 9-7 on her third MP. In all the years since, Bencic, the 2013 Roland Garros girls champion, had *never* reached a clay final as a pro. In the twenty-one finals she'd reached on various levels prior to this year's Charleston event -- 13 WTA, 2 125, 6 ITF -- fifteen had come on hard court, five on grass and even one on carpet. She's never ever reached the second week in Paris as a pro, nor the 3rd Round in Rome (though she'd made the SF and QF in Madrid since 2016). The 2022 Charleston event changed that narrative forever. But it wasn't a walk in the park, or one across the green clay on the new Althea Gibson Club Court, either.

Coming off her Miami semifinal, Bencic came to South Carolina with new-found momentum, her first since last summer when she won Olympic Gold in Toyko, then followed with QF at Cincinnati and the U.S. Open (a 13-2 run). She found herself two points from an opening match loss against young Wang Xiyu, who served two up a set and 5-2 in a 2nd set TB. Bencic won five straight points, then got an early break lead in the 3rd that she never relinquished. After handling youngster Linda Fruhvritova and veteran Madison Keys, Bencic had to battle back again, this time against a foe she'd never defeated in three tries. Paula Badosa led by a set and 4-2 before Bencic stormed back to return to the Charleston semis.

Ekaterina Alexandrova fell in straights as Bencic finally reached her first clay final. Ons Jabeur pushed the championship match to a 3rd set after Bencic had failed to convert multiple BP that would have put her in prime position to end things in two, then the Tunisian staged a comeback from 3-1 to knot the set at 3-3. But the Swiss finally surged ahead to win the decider at 6-4.
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8. MARTINA & PARIS: A LOVE STORY
...a surprise first-time tour quarterfinalist (as a qualifier) at Roland Garros two years ago, with the terre battue just around the corner, Martina Trevisan was at it again this spring.

In the week before play began in Paris, ranked #85, Trevisan rallied from a set and 3-1 down vs. Garbine Muguruza to get her second career Top 10 win, reached her first tour-level semi and final and then defeated fellow maiden tour finalist Claire Liu to claim her first tour title. The result raised her ranking to #59.



Trevisan's roll continued in Paris, as she extended her winning streak to ten matches and surpassed her '20 result with a maiden slam SF berth that further lifted her ranking to another new career high of #27. 2-5 at the other three slams, the Italian is 10-3 in Paris.


===============================================
9. SO CLOSE, AND YET SO FAR
...Liudmila Samsonova nearly became *the* story of Stuttgart in the semifinals, but also came up just short.



The 23-year old is usually one of the lesser-noted Hordettes on tour, but when she soared the highest in '21 she was quite impressive, winning her maiden title in one of the performances of the season in taking the grass crown in Berlin as a qualifier. She ended her season by leading the Russian Tennis Federation to the BJK Cup crown, posting an undefeated debut week in the event (5-0 combined) as she teamed with V.Kudermetova to win a deciding doubles vs. France in rr play, then recorded both points vs. the U.S. in the semis (def. Stephens, then winning another DD), and ultimately providing the clinching point in the final against Switzerland with another win over Bencic.

Back in Germany this spring, Samsonova roared into the semifinals with wins over Chloe Paquet, Karolina Pliskova (her first actual Top 10 win, despite defeating a slew of big-name player in Berlin last summer) and home favorite Laura Siegemund. In the semis against #1 Iga Swiatek, Samsonova stormed back from a break down to take the 1st, ending the Pole's 28-set winning streak, and then rallied again in the 3rd set, twice coming from a break down to lead, on serve, at 5-4 before Swiatek (as she'd done to end the 2nd) finished with a break-and-hold flourish to win her 22nd straight match.

Swiatek would only lose one more set the rest of the clay court season, and *no one* would come remotely as close to taking down the Pole as Samsonova had that Saturday in Stuttgart.
===============================================
10. 360-DEGREE PASTRIES
...Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic, six years after they became the first French pair to win the RG women's doubles title since 1971 (Gail Chanfreau/Francoise Durr), and the first all-French born duo since THE Suzanne Lenglen & Julie Vlasto in 1926 (Chanfreau -- née Sherriff -- had been born in Australia and represented France only after marrying a French men's player), come full circle.

Needing a wild card to get into the MD, the pair completed the journey of going from slam winners to feuding teammates to Fed Cup title clinchers to (again) slam winners by defeating Coco Gauff & Jessie Pegula in the final. The win is Mladenovic's second major title of '22, having won the AO mixed doubles in February.


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11. AN EARLY LATE-BLOSSOMING
...after flashing not long after her successful junior career (which saw her win the '16 girls Wimbledon crown, two years before Iga Swiatek did the same), Anastasia Potapova reached a pair of tour finals in '18 and won MD matches at three majors a season later as she rose as high as #64. But her '20 ankle injury stopped her quick rise. The Hordette started to show comeback promise last season, reaching the 3rd Round at the Australian Open and QF of the Dubai 1000 event. But it took until this spring for her to finally pick up the hardware that makes her (re-)climb all the more tangible.



Potapova, still only 21, made her way through qualifying in Istanbul, then ticked off a string of impressive victories en route to her third tour final, but first in three and a half years, as she took out young Czech Nikola Bartunkova, then more experienced prey in Petra Martic, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Yulia Putintseva and, in the final, countrywoman Veronika Kudermetova, second on the tour (to Swiatek) in singles final appearances in '22. After being taken to three sets in the opening round of qualifying by Dea Herdželaš, Potapova proceeded to win 13 of her final 14 sets as she went 7-0 on the week. Hmmm, maybe good practice... for *some* day.
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12. TAKING A TURN IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
...with a history of team success with various players -- from Kvitova to Pliskova to Safarova -- assuming the "lead role" during Petr Pala's record-breaking Captaincy, it was finally Marketa Vondrousova's turn to shine.

The Brits were lacking in BJK Cup (and clay) experience in Prague in a Qualifying Round match-up vs. the Czech Republic. But the sneaky suspicion that Anne Keothavong's bunch might just have a shot at a big upset proved warranted, as Team GB saw reigning U.S. Open champ Emma Raducanu win her first Cup match (in her first pro outing on clay) to keep things even on Day 1, then Harriet Dart prevented the next Czech "One" (or maybe the older sister of the next "One"... time will tell) from having a Cinderella debut, defeating Linda Fruhvirtova to force a deciding doubles face-off. But, as she's shown in the past (see the Olympics), Vondrousova has no mercy for nice little stories, British or otherwise.

Vondrousova can be ruthless, with no time for fairy tales. After unapologetically claiming her spot in the Olympics last year (knocking out higher-ranked countrywoman Karolina Muchova because she took advantage of her by-then-long-ago protected ranking standing for the delayed Tokyo Games), Vondrousova proceeded to end a series of "nice stories" en route to a Silver medal. In this year's opening week of Cup play, she allowed just *three* total games (only Iga can roll her eyes at that total) against Dart and Raducanu, then came back to claim a third point by teaming with Muchova (ahh, the Czech team spirit, eh?) to clinch the 3-2 victory in doubles.



With the win, the Czechs improved their home tie record since '11 to 13-1 (and their overall mark in the era to 23-4).
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A Crush of Czechs (Roland Garros)
...look out, here they come (again). The surging group of junior Czechs look like they're coming for all the titles. In Paris, three reached the girls singles semifinals, with Lucie Havlickova becoming the second straight from the Czech Republic (after Linda Noskova in '21) to lift the RG girls' trophy, and Sara Bejlek and Nikola Bartunkova playing in the semis. Havlickova & Bejlek combined to win the doubles, defeating Bartunkova and Swiss Celine Naef.


===============================================
Aleksandra Krunic/SRB (BJK Cup)


...the now 29-year old Krunic was once again the heart and soul of the Serbian squad. In her 18th Cup nomination since 2009, the Bracelet practically willed (as she does) Serbia into the Promotional Playoff match-up with Croatia in Europe/Africa I zone play.

Serbia played four rr ties on the week, going 7-5 in match play. Krunic had a hand in six of those wins, doubling up in singles and doubles on three different occasions (winning two deciding doubles matches) as she went a combined 6-1 to drag her nation to within a tie of reaching the BJK Cup Playoffs in November. Only 17-year old Lola Radivojevic managed to eke out an accompanying singles win (vs. Turkey) that kept Krunic from having to save another rr tie.

In the PP, Krunic needed a little help, and when she got none she found herself staring at having to win back-to-back matches again after Petra Marcinko's win over Radivojevic put Croatia up 1-0. That said, credit to Radivojevic for at least taking Marcinko to three sets, the only time the junior #1 was pushed to the limit all week. Hmm, might Lola be a Bracelet-in-training?.

If Krunic had managed to pull off this assigned magic trick (her teammates entered with tour rankings of #435, #799 and #1503, by far the lowest-regarded team of Bracelettes she'd ever had to work with), she might have been *the* MVP of the BJK Cup week. Unfortunately, she fell at the first hurdle, losing a three-set, 2:17 battle with Petra Martic that ended Serbia's run.
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Tatjana Maria/GER (Bogota)
...the 34-year old German becomes the ultra-rare WTA champ to lift a singles trophy after becoming a mother for a *second* time. #237 Maria became the second lowest-ranked tour singles champion of the last decade, behind only then-#299 Margarita Gasparyan when she won in Tashkent in 2018, and the fifth lowest-ranked (not counting unranked players) in tour history.


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Mayar Sherif/EGY (Karlsruhe 125 W/Roland Garros)
...Sherif continues to set new standards for Egyptian women's tennis, defending her singles title in the WTA 125 challenger in Karleruhe, while also picking up the doubles trophy, and becoming the first from her nation to crack the Top 50. She then became the first Egyptian woman to play and win a MD match at Roland Garros, though a foot injury ended her run in the 2nd Round and will likely keep her out until summertime.


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Sloane Stephens/USA (Roland Garros)
...Sloane being Sloane. After losing to a #300+ ranked lucky loser who'd never won a tour-level MD match before in her final pre-RG match, her fifth straight loss and sixth in seven matches since winning her first title in four years in Guadalajara in February, Stephens battled all the way into the QF in Paris for the third time in five years (she reached the final in '18).


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kosova-font



*The Pre-Tie Comic Stylings of Andreea Prisacariu*




*OCTO-IGA: BJK CUP EDITION*




...did we really expect anything less? Still, even after completing her Sunshine Double, it sort of knocked one's wind out to see Iga Swiatek win two *more* matches, running her winning streak to nineteen (she's since nearly doubled *that*) while putting up three more bagels in four sets of play and holding a 24-1 edge in total games in the tie.


*MEANWHILE... hey, remember her?*





*BEST GAVRILOVIAN SAVILLOVIAN RESPONSE TO GAMBLING-RELATED HATERS*


Madrid Q1 - Anastasia Potapova def. Dasha Saville 4-6/6-3/7-5





*THEY MAKE COLLEGE TENNIS CHAMPIONS BIG IN TEXAS*





*BEST TENNIS GIFT (AFTER A GREAT SHOT)*





*Iga...Iga...Iga...IGA!*





*BEST ITALIAN TENNIS LEGENDS*





*IN RINALDI WE TRUST, IN ASIA RINALDI TRUSTS*




In a USA/UKR Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying Round match-up made all the more compelling due to happenings well away from the host city of Asheville, the pre-match atmosphere was one of support and friendship. After Day 1, that seemed as if it'd be maybe the only headline to emerge from the two-day event. But by the end of Day 2, the U.S. had narrowly avoided one of the more epic collapses in Cup history at the hands of a squad fueled by real-life emotion in their war-torn home nation and the continuing efforts of their countrymen and women to defend it.

When the final day of the tie began, the possibility that Asia Muhammad, a late call-up for her first career Cup nomination at age 31, would get on the court in a match that mattered seemed pretty remote. The U.S. led 2-0, and even if Dayana Yastremska got a win to keep the tie alive one figured that *someone* (either Alison Riske or Shelby Rogers) chosen by captain Kathy Rinaldi would find a way to clinch the overall victory before Ukraine was able to force a deciding doubles match.

But that didn't happen, as Pegula failed to go 2-0 in singles (losing to Yastremska in Match #3) and the Week 1 Melbourne WD title winners were reunited with a berth in the BJK Cup Finals on the line.

For a while, it looked like the downward trend of Team USA would continue. Muhammad/Pegula saw their 5-3 1st set lead turn into a 5-5 tie, then their triple BP shot to go up 6-5 turn into a hold of serve by Ukraine. But the Bannerettes surged late in the 7-5 TB, with the final point coming via a Lyudmyla Kichenok DF, then pulled away in the 2nd set to win in straights to send the U.S. directly to the BJK Cup Finals.



In the seven previous World Group (3 in WG I, 4 in WG II) losses by teams that led 2-0 in a best-of-five tie format, only one WG I tie -- Italy in a loss to France in the 1st Round in '15 -- was squandered by a nation competing on home soil. Rinaldi's decision to add Muhammad to the squad for the first time may have been the move that prevented this U.S. team from joining that short list.


*HOW TO LOSE WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TWITTER ROULETTE*




When Diede de Groot won the Australian Open wheelchair singles title, the tournament's Twitter (and then the WTA's) erroneously congratulated her on winning her *sixth* straight slam. It was actually her fifth, as someone obviously forgot that the '20 RG (where de Groot was upset in the semis) was the *last* major held that season, not the U.S. Open.



Flashforward four months and de Groot finally wins her *sixth* straight slam singles title by taking the crown in Paris. And the Roland Garros Twitter account says...








RISERS SURPRISES
1. Ons Jabeur, TUN 1. Martina Trevisan, ITA
2. Dasha Kasatkina, RUS 2. Leolia Jeanjean, FRA
3. Belinda Bencic, SUI 3. Laura Pigossi, BRA
4. Veronika Kudermetova, RUS 4. Dalma Galfi, HUN
5. Jessie Pegula, USA 5. Fernanda Contreras, MEX
6. Jil Teichmann, SUI 6. Mirjam Bjorklund, SWE
7. Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS 7. Anastasia Kulikova, FIN
8. Mayar Sherif, EGY 8. Ulrikke Eikeri, NOR
9. Paula Badosa, ESP 9. Julia Grabher, AUT
10. Marie Bouzkova, CZE 10. Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL
11. Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR 11. Sharma/Sutjiadi, AUS/INA
12. Lucia Bronzetti, ITA 12. Nefisa Berberovic, BIH
HM- Liudmila Samsonova, RUS HM- Suzan Lamens, NED


FRESH FACES JUNIORS
1. Coco Gauff, USA 1. Lucie Havlickova, CZE
2. Amanda Anisimova, USA 2. Solana Sierra, ARG
3. Anastasia Potapova, RUS 3. Sofia Costoulas, BEL
4. Kaja Juvan, SLO 4. Sara Bejlek, CZE
5. Leylah Fernandez, CAN 5. Celine Naef, SUI
6. Zheng Qinwen, CHN 6. Nikola Bartunkova, CZE
7. Claire Liu, USA 7. Mirra Andreeva, RUS
8. Diane Parry, FRA 8. Petra Marcinko, CRO
9. Jule Niemeier, GER 9. Annabelle Xu, CAN
10. Linda Noskova, CZE 10. Anastasiya Lopata, UKR
11. Varvara Gracheva, RUS 11. Dominika Salkova, CZE
12. Kamilla Rakhimova, RUS 12. Joëlle Steur, GER
HM- Olga Danilovic, SRB HM- Lola Radivojevic, SRB


VETERANS COMEBACKS
1. Angelique Kerber, GER 1. Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
2. Tatjana Maria, GER 2. Garcia/Mladenovic, FRA/FRA
3. Hradecka/Mirza, CZE/IND 3. Tatjana Maria, GER
4. Simona Halep, ROU 4. Bianca Andreescu, CAN
5. Yulia Putintseva, KAZ 5. Taylor Townsend, USA
6. Magda Linette, POL 6. Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
7. Nuria Parrizas Diaz, ESP 7. Anna Blinkova, RUS
8. Victoria Azarenka, BLR 8. Dasha Saville, AUS
9. Karolina Pliskova, CZE 9. Nicole Melichar-Martinez, USA
10. Camila Giorgi, ITA 10. Ayumi Morita, JPN
11. Kaia Kanepi, EST 11. Louisa Chirico, USA
12. Aleksandra Krunic, SRB 12. Rebecca Marino, CAN
HM- Alize Cornet, FRA HM- Sloane Stephens, USA


DOUBLES MOST IMPROVED
1. Garcia/Mladenovic, FRA/FRA 1. Jil Teichmann, SUI
2. V.Kudermetova/Pavlyuchenkova, RUS/RUS 2. Kaja Juvan, SLO
3. Dabrowski/Olmos, CAN/MEX 3. Claire Liu, USA
4. Krawczyk/Schuurs, USA/NED 4. Zheng Qinwen, CHN
5. de Groot/Van Koot, NED/NED (WC) 5. Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
6. Ena Shibahara, JPN (MX) 6. Jule Niemeier, GER
7. Gauff/Pegula, USA/USA 7. Leolia Jeanjean, FRA
8. Klepac/Linette, SLO/POL/span> 8. Diane Parry, FRA
9. Melichar-M./Saville, USA/AUS 9. Dalma Galfi, HUN
10. Bouzkova/Sorribes Tormo, CZE/ESP 10. Nastasja Schunk, GER
11. Hozumi/Ninomiya, JPN/JPN 11. Elsa Jacquemot, FRA
12. Ulrikke Eikeri, NOR (MX) 12. Fernanda Contreras, MEX
HM- Sharma/Sutjiadi, AUS/INA HM- Oksana Selekhmeteva, RUS


DOWN COACH
1. Barbora Krejcikova, CZE 1. Tomasz Witkorowski (Swiatek)
2. Garbine Muguruza, ESP 2. Carlos Martinez (Kasatkina)
3. Alona Ostapenko, LAT 3. David Witt (Pegula)
4. Maria Sakkari, GRE 4. Corey Gauff (Gauff)
5. NED World Team Cup (WC) 5. Arantxa Parra Santonja & Alberto Martin (Teichmann)
6. Petra Kvitova, CZE 6. Andis Juska (Anisimova)
7. Anett Kontaveit, EST 7. Philippe Dehaes (Juvan)
8. Sloane Stephens, USA (pre-RG) 8. Pere Riba (Q.Zheng)
9. Marta Kostyuk, UKR 9. Jorge Fernandez (Fernandez)
10. Kristina Mladenovic, FRA 10. Sebastian Sachs (Bencic)
HM- Elina Svitolina, UKR HM- Sergei Demekhine & Vlado Platenik (V.Kudermetova)


WHEELCHAIR ITF TOUR
1. Diede de Groot, NED 1. Wang Xinyu, CHN
2. de Groot/Van Koot, NED/NED 2. Diana Shnaider, RUS
3. Yui Kamiji, JPN 3. Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ITA
4. JPN World Team Cup 4. Lucia Bronzetti, ITA
5. Aniek Van Koot, NED 5. Katie Volynets, USA
6. Macarena Cabrillana, CHI 6. Danka Kovinic, MNE
7. Kamiji/Montjane, JPN/RSA 7. Gabriela Talaba Lee, ROU
8. Kgothatso Montjane, RSA 8. Sonay Kartal, GBR
9. Momoko Ohtani, JPN 9. Maria Carle, ARG
10. Jiske Griffioen, NED 10. Tena Lukas, CRO
HM- Griffioen/de Greef, NED/NED HM- Louisa Chirico, USA


BJK CUP PLAYERS BJK CUP CAPTAINS
1. Marketa Vondrousova, CZE 1. Kathy Rinaldi, USA
2. Iga Swiatek, POL 2. Tathiana Garbin, ITA
3. Leylah Fernandez, CAN 3. Petr Pala, CZE
4. Sara Sorribes Tormo, ESP 4. Anabel Medina Garrigues, ESP
5. Muhammad/Pegula, USA 5. Olga Savchuk, UKR (L)
6. Yulia Putintseva, KAZ 6. Anna Keothavong, GBR (L)
7. Jasmine Paolini, ITA 7. Yaroslava Shvedova, KAZ
8. Camila Giorgi, ITA 8. Heidi El Tabakh, CAN
9. Elena Rybakina, KAZ 9. Gabriela Paz, ARG (z)
10. Muchova/Vondrousova, CZE 10. Iva Majoli, CRO (z)
11. Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA (z) 11. Roberta Burzagli, BRA (z)
12. Aoyama/Shibahara, JPN (z) 12. Dawid Celt, POL









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