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Monday, June 27, 2022

W.1- Emma Comes Home


For Emma Raducanu, home is where the heart is... and where it all began a year ago.




At this time last year, Raducanu's name was known by some, but her story had yet to be written. Flashforward twelve months, and what a story it's been.

The British teenager, born in Canada of Romanian and Chinese descent, had done little to garner intense examination when Wimbledon began last year. She reached the SW19 girls' QF in 2018, defeating a young Canadian named Leylah Fernandez in the 2nd Round before eventually falling against a Polish player named Iga Swiatek, but there was never any sort of Coco Gauff-like fanfare about her later debuts.

Moving forward with no expectation, Raducanu had only played one tour-level match in her career at this time a year ago, a 1st Round loss to Harriet Dart in Nottingham. She posted a grass court ITF QF in Nottingham immediately after, and was a wild card entry in the Wimbledon MD. Raducanu quickly became a tournament sensation, advancing all the way into the Round of 16, at 18 becoming the youngest British woman in the Open era to reach that stage at SW19. In her 4th Rounder vs. Alja Tomljanovic, she retired mid-match after experiencing breathing difficulties. After much controversy when it was said that she'd essentially imploded in the moment, with many screaming "how dare you!" at anyone who publicly insinuated that the fine crystal inexperienced teenager had had any emotional difficulties dealing with her sudden circumstances, Raducanu admitted that the moment *had* been too big for her and that she'd suffered a panic attack.

Then, while everyone else fretted, she simply moved on.

Raducanu reached a 125 final in Chicago over the summer, then managed to qualify for the U.S. Open. It was a nice bounce back from an early career firestorm that may have distracted and slowed the progress of many. She recorded her first post-Wimbledon tour-level win in the 1st Round at Flushing Meadows. Raducanu never lost in the tournament, and didn't drop a set, running off ten straight wins to become the first qualifier in tennis history to claim a slam singles title (def. Fernandez in the final) and the first British woman to do so since 1977.

It may have been the most remarkable slam run, well, ever... and it'll be difficult for anyone to top.

Since her sudden rise to fame, Raducanu has become an endorsement magnet, racking up deals upon deals while the social media knives have been out for her like maybe no player in recent memory. Not that you'd know it from her demeanor. She came into this Wimbledon having gone just 10-14 since the U.S. Open, letting criticism slide off her back (or maybe, if she's smart, just ignoring it altogether) as she's retired from two matches in '22 while playing many others while nursing injuries that hampered her ability to compete. Raducanu has reached just two QF (Transylvania in October, Stuttgart in April) since last summer, and only played her first professional matches on clay earlier this year (she did fine, going 6-5 in BJK/WTA play).

Injuries have limited Raducanu's grass court preparation, and she played just one match (a retirement after seven games) on the surface coming into Wimbledon. But there she was today, making her Centre Court debut (how did that not happen with a British woman in the second week a year ago?) as the #10-seed in the women's draw, facing off with Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck, a player with a lot of experience and even much grass court success on levels just below the WTA tour.

But while Van Uytvanck has tended to *not* rise to the occasion on big stages in her career, falling in the 1r/2r in 29 of 31 slam MD appearances, the "inexperienced" Raducanu has shown just the opposite ability. While her past Wimbledon and U.S. Open runs stand out, the Brit has managed wins in all four of her previous career MD appearances in majors, going a combined 12-3 over the past year, a remarkable thing considering her overall lack of match play (and success/health) on the regular tour.

Raducanu improved upon that mark today, winning a three-straight-breaks-of-serve battle with the Belgian in the 1st set to take a 5-4 lead, then serving out game #10 to take the match lead at 6-4. She trailed Van Uytvanck 3-1 in the 2nd, but battled back to even the score, breaking for a 5-4 lead and once again serving things out to secure the 6-4/6-4 victory.



Experience and health remain an issue for Raducanu, as she's still yet to play a full season on tour, and often hasn't looked physically capable of doing so yet. Better training, and coaching stability (she's made a handful of changes over the past year), will surely better position the teenager for success going forward into the future. Raducanu, even as a slam champion, is still largely in the "feeling out" process when it comes to being a professional tennis player. Yet, again, here she is going about writing yet another major chapter to her ongoing story.

Who knows what'll happen next.





=DAY 1 NOTES=
...you know that Wimbledon has begun once we get the first rain delay, and it didn't take long in 2022. It occurred in the first hour of play, in fact.

With the pitched battle on to become the first player to get a victory during the fortnight, play was suspended with two players up a set (qualifier Maja Chwalinska having taken the 1st at love -- in her slam debut -- from Katerina Siniakova, and #28 Alison Riske winning 6-1 over Ylena In-Albon), while Lesia Tsurenko led British wild card Jodie Burrage 5-2 and #29 Anhelina Kalinina and Anna Bondar were tied at 4-4.



Once play resumed, the First Victory contenders quickly emerged, as Riske took a 6-2/5-3 lead, and Tsurenko led 6-2/4-3. Meanwhile, the late-starting #3-seeded Ons Jabeur had grabbed a quick 6-1/3-0 lead over qualifier Mirjam Bjorklund.

While Burrage took a love/30 lead on Tsurenko's serve, slowing down the Ukrainian, Chwalinska broke for 5-3 as Riske was serving for the match at 5-4. Tsurenko came back to hold for 5-3... but Riske crossed the tape first, winning 6-2/6-4 over the Swiss, while her "competitors" lagged behind.



While Riske picked up her things and left Court 10, the First Five through rounded into form.

Tsurenko (2) broke to win, making Burrage (who'd shined in grass action coming into SW19) the first Brit to exit, while Chwalinska was broken by Siniakova as she served for the match at 5-3. The Czech then held to knot the score at 5-all. Meanwhile, Kalinina, having taken the 2nd from Bondar took an early break lead in the 3rd. While Siniakova was serving to try to force a TB, Jabeur (3) served out Bjorklund to win 6-1/6-3.

After having missed out on being the first to reach the 2nd Round, 20-year old Pole Chwalinska (4) finally broke Siniakova to win 6-0/7-5 and notch her first career slam MD victory.



With only Rebecca Marino/Katarzyna Kawa having also started of the remaining women's matches scheduled for the day (so that'd be the sixth of 32... while RG probably would have had a dozen starting en masse to begin the day), Kalinina (5) served out a 6-4 3rd to eliminate Bondar and successfully complete her first career MD match at SW19.

...after winning the Roland Garros doubles together, the confidence boost that Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic received has led *both* into the singles winner's circle in recent weeks for the first time in years, with Garcia taking the Bad Homburg grass crown this weekend and Mladenovic a $60K clay challenger. One would have thought, at least in Mladenovic's case (as Garcia at least keeps her head above water in singles, rather than going free fallin' with Tom Petty playing in the background ala Kiki), that the realization that good doubles results fuels her singles (and, you know, actually showcases her best skills) would penetrate the Pastry's skull. But no. The two aren't teaming up in doubles at Wimbledon, and Mladenovic isn't even playing with another partner, which *should* have been a no-brainer for someone who has won *two* slam titles (AO MX/RG WD) this season.

Both opened play in singles today. Only one will be playing a second match.

Garcia, likely because of her playing so late into the weekend in Germany, barely survived her 1st Round encounter with British wild card Lily Miyazaki, dropping the 1st set before quickly taking the 2nd to push things into the 3rd. After holding an early break lead, Garcia was forced to win a 10-4 3rd set TB (that's the new format at Wimbledon, the third different final set ending in the last few years) to finish off the 4-6/6-1/7-6(4) victory. It's her first MD win at Wimbledon since 2017, when she reached her only Round of 16 at the AELTC.

Mladenovic wasn't so lucky. Facing #15 Angelique Kerber, the Pasty was atrocious on serve in the 1st set, winning just 13% (1/8) of her first serves. Kerber won 12 of 15 return points, as well as 13 of 19 on her own serve in a love 1st set. Mladenovic was better in the 2nd, but crumbled when it mattered most, missing on three drops shots in game #11 as she tried to keep a nose ahead of the German in the 5-5 game. Kerber got the break and served out the win.

Kerber has reached at least the SF three times in the last five Wimbledons, winning in '18, and is now 37-12 at the event in her career (a cool 76% winning pct.). Mladenovic drops to 6-10 at SW19 with her sixth straight slam MD defeat. She's a 1st Round loss at Flushing Meadows (where she's 11-11) away from being under-.500 at all four majors in her career.

Well, after seeing this same scenario in Paris, at least she has the doubles to salvage... oh, wait.

...meanwhile, though #2 Anett Kontaveit is about as questionable a 2-seed as one can be, she managed to jump on Bernarda Pera early in both the 1st and 2nd sets today, taking 3-0 and 5-0 leads. The Bannerette fought back to 5-5 in the 1st, but the Estonian won in straights 7-5/6-1 to reach the 2nd Round for just the third time at the last five majors.

Kontaveit wasn't the First Seed Out of this slam, but her countrywoman Kaia Kanepi was. Seeded #31 due to the RUS/BLR ban, after a career of thriving on being the underdog, the 37-year old was ousted by Diane Parry in a 6-4/6-4 win in the Pasty's Wimbledon debut.

Several other seeded players immediately found their backs pushed against the wall on Day 1, as #24 Elise Mertens (vs. Camila Osorio), #22 Martina Trevisan (vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto) and #23 Beatriz Haddad Maia (vs. Kaja Juvan) all dropped the 1st set.



Mertens prevailed when Osorio retired in the 3rd set after slipping on the court, but Trevisan managed just two games in a 2 & love loss to her fellow Italian, who notched her maiden slam victory.

The "big tree" that fell in this scenario was Haddad Maia, who'd been *the* form player coming into Wimbledon, having won 12 straight matches (the longest grass winning streak since Serena won 20 from 2015-18) and two titles (the first to do that since 1991 - Ed.note: thanks Colt!).

Of course, Juvan has been known to post such results, especially in majors. She upset #9-seeded Belinda Bencic in the 1st Round at SW19 last year en route to the 3rd Round (where she lost to Coco Gauff). Today, the 21-year old Slovenian grabbed a 3rd set break lead over Haddad and never gave it up, winning 6-4/4-6/6-2.



Now the question will be, as always, will Juvan manage to not go 2-5 on summer hard courts at the end of her SW19 journey.

...elsewhere, #7 Danielle Collins was the first Top 10 seed to fall as Marie Bouzkova came from a set back to get the 5-7/6-4/6-3 victory, recording her first career Top 10 win in slam competition (sixth overall).



Since reaching the Australian Open final by winning her first six matches of '22, Collins has gone 6-7.

...#14 Belinda Bencic will look to avoid losing in the 1st Round at Wimbledon for a second year in a row tomorrow, as she got a reprieve after rallying from 6-4/5-1 down against Wang Qiang to knot the match at one set each.

The match will be one of nine carryovers from the 32 bottom half of the draw pairings that had been scheduled today, six of which have yet to start. Astra Sharma and Tatjana Maria, as well as Heather Watson and Tamara Korpatsch, will also resume with a one-set-for-the-win format.

Even with the entire schedule not being completed on Day 1, *seven* woman posted their first career slam MD wins, including three qualifiers in Chwalinska, Kawa (Poland is already 3-0 and Iga hasn't even played yet) and Mai Hontama. Also getting their first wins were Jule Niemeier (after having pushed Sloane Stephens in Paris), Cocciaretto and a pair of Hungarians, Dalma Galfi and Panna Udvardy.

Nine women were first-time slam match winners in Melbourne this year, and four more did so at Roland Garros.

...meanwhile, in additional ITF action from the weekend, Pastry Séléna Janicijevic defeated German Katharina Hobgarski 3 & 2 to claim the title at the $25K in Périgueux, France. The 19-year old improves to 5-1 in career challenger finals, with all coming since last August. She's 3-1 in '22.



Janicijevic, currently ranked #339, made her slam debut in '19 as a Roland Garros wild card, but hasn't appeared in the MD at her home slam since. She lost in the second round of qualifying in Paris this year, but one should expect to see her in the mix in '23, at the very least via a WC from the FFT.

In Wichita, Kansas, the all-Bannerette match-up in Sunday's $25K final saw Elli Mandlik, 21-year old daughter of Hana Mandlikova, defeat Kayla Day 3 & 3 to pick up her third '22 crown and improve to 7-1 in career ITF finals.



Day, 22, won the '16 U.S. Open girls' crown, and was looking to win her second title this season after having gone title-less since winning a $50K event (def. Danielle Collins in the final) shortly after her junior title at Flushing Meadows. Since then, Day has lost in challenger finals to the likes of Bianca Andreescu, Kaia Kanepi and Mirjam Bjorklund.





...Hmmm (carried over from Sunday)... ON DAY 1:




...#62... ON DAY 1:




...HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE... ON DAY 1:




...THROWBACK MONDAY... ON DAY 1:

My father and I went to the old Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland to see the closed circuit broadcast of the Tyson-Spinks fight. Having never gone to one before, we didn't think about getting there early to see all the undercard matches that preceded the main event. But it didn't matter, because the only reason we were going was to see THE fight live rather than have to wait to see the replay on HBO a week or so later. Arriving late, we got to our seats during the fighter introductions, and settled down for the big event a few minutes later. Finally the fight started.

It lasted 91 seconds. :/




...WHAT A DIFFERENCE 200 (or so) MILES CAN MAKE... ON DAY 1:

It didn't take long to see the difference in the scheduling mindset between Wimbledon and that of the last slam in Paris, i.e. the difference between tennis/organizational sanity and, well, I'm sure there's some nice French phrase for the cluster-eff that occurred on almost a daily basis during Roland Garros.

Today, the start of play featured four women's matches starting simultaneously, while eleven men's matches took place on the courts stretched across the AELTC grounds. With 32 women's matches scheduled for Monday, it was a generous sprinkling of early matches, with (barring all sorts of rain delays, which of course came today) a staggered start that allows both draws equal coverage over the course of the day that wouldn't clog the queue (or whatever one might call it) for anyone who might want to focus their attention on just the women's side of the competition. Enough to provide variety, but not so many matches at once (especially best-of-three ones that might end in an hour, so if you blinked you'd miss the entire thing) that it was akin to playing a messy game of 52-card pick-up.

The most recent edition of RG (and last year's, as well) continually played the "let's shove all the undercard matches -- aka "the women" -- into the first three hours of the day when no one is paying full attention and maybe they'll be almost finished by the time the "real show" -- aka "the men"... even ones no one wants to watch play forever-lasting best-of-five contests -- begins. The result was, by a quick attempt to check, *nine* women's matches starting play simultaneously on Day 2 in Paris, which wasn't even a *full* day of action since the 1st Round was stretched out over three days. The smaller Sunday schedule last month seems to have had *five* women's take off at the sound of the starter's pistol on Day 1.

Interestingly, even with the usual rain delays (while RG can often play through some weather issues on the clay), with play starting later on Centre Court, with no official "night session," *without* an early Sunday start and *without* a middle Sunday of play (though that changes this year), Wimbledon has always managed to pretty much get through its two-week schedule in a timely, non-maddening pace. Unlike Roland Garros, where they were still stacking women's matches at the start of the day like Pringles crisps (yes, I like that analogy and will continue to use it) into the second week. At one point, I remember eight women's matches being scheduled on one day, and five starting off the schedule, with *six* being played at once.

The one lunatic exception at SW19 has been the overstuffed "greatest day" when *all* men's and women's Round of 16 matches were contested on Monday, an "event" that wasn't nearly as great as the AELTC has seemed to think it was since it pretty much shortchanged 70% of the day's action when it came to people being able to actually *see/watch* the tennis. But, with the middle Sunday play, *that* is now thankfully a thing of the past (you know, as long as there isn't a multi-day deluge of rain).

Wimbledon has always had its own unique set of consternating "issues," from the too-strict guidelines, patronizing attitude and (for so long) oft-misogynistic policies (going back as far as Suzanne Lenglen, whose star power had essentially *made* the tournament and led to the building of the now 100-year old Centre Court, aka "the house that Suzanne built"). This year's pointless RUS/BLR ban (which has led to players not being rewarded for their results w/ ranking points) uniquely stepped up at this edition. Still, systematically and sanely putting together a playing schedule while facing daily weather interruptions and a shortened schedule has never been a problem with this slam.

I'm just sayin'.


...THEY GROW UP SO FAST... ON DAY 1:




...ONE GROSS HUMAN BEING (AMONGST MANY)... ON DAY 1:

And that's saying something considering who her father is.




And consider, she's trying to ride the dual wave of Mike Huckabee *and* Donald Trump into office in her own right, after having been openly disdainful of everyone and of literally doing *anything* for the public good when she originated the role of WH Press Secretary Who Reveled in Spitting Lies in the Faces of Journalists Without Even Trying to Hide It.

She'll probably be the next governor of Arkansas.



...MEMORIES ON DAY 1:




...(SHRUGS)... ON DAY 1:



While I liked Barty, and thought she was good for the game and showed that a player *could* act like a generally right-thinking adult (though even Ash had a few blind spots) both on and off the court and still maintain a large presence on the tennis tour, I haven't really "missed" her at all. I rarely even think about her, actually, except when realizing how surprising it is that I rarely ever think about her. I mean, she won two majors in the past year, and maybe had her greatest triumph less than six months ago... and yet.

Of course, part of that is because of the Aussie's understated personality. But I think it's mostly due to the abundance of remaining personalities and stories throughout the WTA tour, which are at such a level that you can subtract a two-time reigning slam champ and (at the time) unquestioned #1 and barely blink an eye.

It's quite the accomplishment when you think about it. Irresistible, even. ;)
















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*RECENT WIMBLEDON "FIRST SEED OUT"*
2015 #24 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Diyas/KAZ)
2016 #25 Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU (Witthoeft/GER)
2017 #31 Roberta Vinci, ITA (Kr.Pliskova/CZE)
2018 #19 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Cirstea/ROU)
2019 #10 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Rybarikova/SVK)
2021 #10 Petra Kvitova, CZE (Stephens/USA)
2022 #31 Kaia Kanepi, EST (Parry/FRA)

*RECENT WIMBLEDON "FIRST VICTORY OF THE FORTNIGHT"*
2015 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (L: Kontaveit/EST)
2016 Dasha Kasatkina/RUS (L: Duval/USA)
2017 Wang Qiang/CHN (L: Chang/TPE)
2018 Yanina Wickmayer/BEL (L: Barthel/GER)
2019 Madison Keys/USA (L: Kumkhum/THA)
2021 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR (L: Niculescu/ROU)
2022 Alison Riske/USA (L: In-Albon/SUI)

*2022 WTA CHAMPIONS BY RANKING*
#1 - Ash Barty (Adelaide 1)
#1 - Ash Barty (Australian Open)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (Stuttgart)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (Rome)
#1 - Iga Swiatek (Roland Garros)
#2 - Iga Swiatek (Miami)
#4 - Iga Swiatek (Indian Wells)
#4 - Ons Jabeur (Berlin)
#8 - Iga Swiatek (Doha)
#9 - Paula Badosa (Sydney)
#9 - Anett Kontaveit (Saint Petersburg)
#10 - Ons Jabeur (Madrid)
#20 - Simona Halep (Melbourne 1)
#21 - Alona Ostapenko (Dubai)
#21 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)
#21 - Belinda Bencic (Charleston)
#22 - Angelique Kerber (Strasbourg)
#30 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rosmalen)
#31 - Petra Kvitova (Eastbourne)
#32 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Birmingham)
#48 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Nottingham)
#57 - Sloane Stephens (Guadalajara)
#64 - Zhang Shuai (Lyon)
#75 - Caroline Garcia (Bad Homburg)
#78 - Amanda Anisimova (Melbourne 2)
#85 - Martina Trevisan (Rabat)
#87 - Madison Keys (Adelaide 2)
#122 - Anastasia Potapova (Istanbul)
#237 - Tatjana Maria (Bogota)

*2022 WTA CHAMPIONS BY AGE*
34 - Tatjana Maria (Bogota)
34 - Angelique Kerber (Strasbourg)
33 - Zhang Shuai (Lyon)
32 - Petra Kvitova (Eastbourne)
30 - Simona Halep (Melbourne 1)
28 - Sloane Stephens (Guadalajara)
28 - Martina Trevisan (Rabat)
28 - Caroline Garcia (Bad Homburg)
27 - Ons Jabeur (Berlin)
27 - Ons Jabeur (Madrid)
27 - Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rosmalen)
26 - Madison Keys (Adelaide 2)
26 - Anett Kontaveit (Saint Petersburg)
26 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Birmingham)
26 - Beatriz Haddad Maia (Nottingham)
25 - Ash Barty (Australian Open)
25 - Ash Barty (Adelaide 1)
25 - Belinda Bencic (Charleston)
24 - Paula Badosa (Sydney)
24 - Alona Ostapenko (Dubai)
21 - Anastasia Potapova (Istanbul)
21 - Iga Swiatek (Roland Garros)
20 - Iga Swiatek (Rome)
20 - Iga Swiatek (Stuttgart)
20 - Iga Swiatek (Miami)
20 - Iga Swiatek (Indian Wells)
20 - Iga Swiatek (Doha)
20 - Amanda Anisimova (Melbourne 2)
19 - Leylah Fernandez (Monterrey)




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Raise your hand if you did the same thing in high school. (Backspinner raises hand.)

No one ever noticed, but I always kind of wished someone would have so I could have said what I really thought about even having to say a Pledge of Allegiance before class every day to begin with. It always felt like something they'd do in a Communist country.

Of course, when I was in 5th grade I can also clearly remember a teacher (a "Teacher of the Year" winner, no less) who'd read the class a Bible story at the start of every day. And when she was supposed to talk about evolution during one class she pulled out a "human progression chart" photo and said that she *had* to show it to us, but that it was all made up and wasn't true. And that was our science/biology lesson for the day.

Even then, I knew, "Hey, she's not supposed to be doing all that."

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TOP QUALIFIER: Maja Chwalinska/POL
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1 - Jaimee Fourlis/AUS def. Dea Herdzelas/BIH 5-7/7-6(4)/6-4 (trailed 7-5/5-3, saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #28 Alison Riske/USA (def. Y.In-Albon/SUI)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Kaia Kanepi/EST (1st Rd.-Diane Parry/FRA)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Day 1 wins: Maja Chwalinska/POL, Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA, Dalma Galfi/HUN, Mai Hontama/JPN, Katarzyna Kawa/POL, Jule Niemeier/GER, Panna Udvardy/HUN
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Chwalinska/POL, Hontama/JPN, Kawa/POL
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: x
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Day 1 wins: Cocciaretto/ITA
LAST BRIT STANDING: Day 1 wins: Raducanu
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "??": xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #23 Haddad Maia (1st Rd./Juvan; had won 12 con. grass and 2 titles)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON: xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREES: xx






All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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