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Monday, October 24, 2022

Wk.42- Finally, It's a Jess-iesta

Good things come to Pegulas who wait...




(Pssst... the Bills want to know if they're included in this, too.)




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*WEEK 42 CHAMPIONS*
GUADALAJARA, MEXICO (WTA 1000/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Jessie Pegula/USA def. Maria Sakkari/GRE 6-2/6-3
D: Storm Sanders/Luisa Stefani (KAZ/BRA) def. Anna Danilina/Beatriz Haddad Maia (KAZ/BRA) 7-6(4)/6-7(2) [10-8]
ROUEN, FRANCE (WTA 125/Hard Court Indoor)
S: Maryna Zanevska/BEL def. Viktorija Golubic/SUI 7-6(6)/6-1
D: Natela Dzalamidze/Kamilla Rakhimova (GEO/RUS) def. Misaki Doi/Oksana Kalashnikova (JPN/GEO) 6-2/7-5




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jessie Pegula/USA
...finally!

After arguably being the most consistent (especially big event) player on tour (not named Iga) for the last two seasons, time was running short in 2022 for Pegula to add the one thing that had eluded her as she's climbed up the WTA rankings -- a singles title. The Buffalo native was something of a surprise winner in Washington three years ago, but had since put together about as admirable a record as any player ever could without *also* winning title #2, reaching four slam QF, a 1000 F, 3 1000 semis and four QF heading into this week.

In Guadalajara, it all came together. Pegula dropped just one set all week, though it came in her opening match and very nearly ruined everything. Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina held three MP in that 2nd Rounder, but the Bannerette prevailed and never looked back, knocking off three *more* former slam winners in succession in Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens and Victoria Azarenka to reach her second 1000 final (w/ Madrid) of the season. There, she never allowed Maria Sakkari the chance to dream, winning 2 & 3 to claim her biggest title, posting a tour-best 38th 1000-level event win in the last two years.

Pegula, who'll move up to a career-best #3, is hardly finished, as she's next set to play both singles and doubles at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, *and* is scheduled (for now, at least) to be in Glasgow for the BJK Cup finals as a member of the U.S. team.


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RISER: Maria Sakkari/GRE
...while she came up a bit short (again) in the end, Sakkari had a big week.



A year ago, Sakkari made her WTAF debut in Guadalajara (where she reached the SF) at the end of a career year that saw her reach two slam semis and one tour final. 2022 didn't see the Greek soar as high on any major stage, but her four finals (including this week in Guadalajara, her second final in a 1000 event, following Indian Wells earlier this year) have amounted to more than she'd had in her entire career (3) before this season.

Wins over Marta Kostyuk and Danielle Collins set up a QF battle with Veronika Kudermetova that would clinch for one of the two a berth in the Fort Worth WTAF field. Sakkari won in three sets to reach her sixth '22 semi, where she took out Marie Bouzkova in a two-day match which saw her take the 2nd set on Sunday. A few hours later in the final, as has so often been the case in her career, things didn't go nearly as well. Sakkari was dominated by Jessie Pegula, losing 2 & 3, to fall to 1-6 in career WTA singles finals, the third-worst win percentage amongst active players -- behind only Mladenovic and Bouchard, both 1-7 -- with 5+ tour finals.
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SURPRISE: Anna Kalinskaya/RUS and Mayna Zanevska/BEL
...a "surprise," but also a "qualified" bestowing of an honor as, in Guadalajara, Kalinskaya had another of her no-longer-shocking head-turning weeks, only to see it end yet again in disappointing fashion with her seventh retirement/walkover exit in twenty events this season (more than a *third* of her tournament entries).



The Hordette opened the week by ending Barbora Krejcikova's nine-match, two-event winning streak, then stopped the *other* recent Week 40 tour singles champ, Elise Mertens, after saving four MP. Kalinskaya then notched her third career Top 10 win with a three-set victory over countrywoman Dasha Kasatkina in a match that saw her pull off *nine* shots and win a long rally with a broken string before later closing the contest with a 13-minute, six-deuce hold on her sixth MP to advance to the first 1000 QF of her career.

She only lasted seven games against Marie Bouzkova, adding Guadalajara to Kalinskaya's list of head-shaking, tournament-and-momentum-ending moments this season. Already in 2022, she'd retired from a QF in the other Guadalajara event (vs. Sloane Stephens), pulled out of the Miami 1000 tournament after having posted a win over Karolina Pliskova, and qualified at the Cincinnati 1000 only to retire in the 2nd Round.

All of this hasn't kept Kalinskaya from having a career season, though, as she cracked the Top 100 and nearly the Top 50 (reaching #51 last month), as well, only to come into this week at #73. She'll bump her ranking back up to #63 before the tour's "off" week (though there is a 125 in Mexico) before the WTAF in Texas.

So, who's the *second*-ranked Belgian behind Elise Mertens?

Yeah, it's still Alison Van Uytvanck, but Zanevska is getting close

After a season in which Zanevska played in the MD at all four slams for the first time (w/ her first two wins) and reached a career high ranking in May, this week she added a WTA 125 crown in Rouen (FRA) to the tour level title she picked up last year in Gdynia. The 29-year old survived her opening match against Sara Errani (who led by a set and break twice, then had a 5-2 3rd set edge and held 3 MP), and followed up with wins over Elsa Jacquemot, Caty McNally and Kamilla Rakhimova (the latter from a set and break behind). In the final, Zanevska rallied from 5-2 back in the 1st set TB against Viktorija Golubic for a straight sets victory, taking a 6-1 2nd.

Zanevska's win moves her up to #64, just two off her career high, and less than 50 points behind #57 Van Uytvanck for second amongst WTA Waffles.



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VETERANS: Victoria Azarenka/BLR and Sloane Stephens/USA
...even while her conditions on and off court have hardly been less well-primed for great results, it's a credit to Azarenka's longstanding ability to compete that she's still been able to post the occasional very good result in recent years, including a 1000 Cincy/NYC title and U.S. Open runner-up in '20, the Indian Wells final last fall, three slam Round of 16 runs the last two seasons, and, this week, her first 1000 SF of the season.

Guadalajara saw Azarenka string together wins over #8 Paula Badosa (ret.), #15 Madison Keys and #7 Coco Gauff, runnning her career Top 10 win total to 72 and getting two in a single event for the first time since 2016 in Miami on the back-end of her Sunshine Double run. She fell a round short of the final, losing in straight sets to #5 Jessie Pegula, but appears likely (by jumping from #37 to #29) to have assured her third straight Top 30 finish and twelfth of her career.



Maybe Stephens should join the Guadalajara tourism board, as she's had a pretty good time south of the border in 2022.

Back in February, Stephens was a somewhat (in true Sloane fashion) out-of-nowhere title winner in the season's Guadalajara 250, her first singles win in four years. Flashforward eight months, and a disappointing 10-15 mark since her last tour of Mexico, and Stephens was at it again. She allowed just two games to Linda Fruhvirtova, then ran off back-to-back wins over Belinda Bencic (her first Top 20 win this year) and Caroline Garcia (her first Top 10 win since last year's Wimbledon). In the Garcia match, putting her streaky nature on full display, Stephens rallied from 5-0 down in the 1st set TB to take the opener en route to the QF, her best result in a 1000 event since her Madrid SF in 2019 (she *did* reach the RG quarters this spring in her other deep run at a big event over the past three seasons).

Stephens lost her showdown against Jessie Pegula, but her week will at least secure a Top 50 finish -- her 10th in 11 years, but first since 2020 -- as she goes from just hanging on (at #50) to #38 on Monday. Her 3-win week finally moves her over .500 for the season, barely, at 18-17.


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COMEBACKS: Bianca Andreescu/CAN and Varvara Gracheva/RUS
...Andreescu didn't win anything in the closing weeks/months of '22, but she stayed healthy and flashed at times, and that's likely enough to head into '23 with more momentum than she's had since the start of her banner '19 campaign.

The Canadian, who knocked off Liudmila Samsonova in San Diego, got additional Guadalajara wins over Jil Teichmann and Petra Kvitova, with a super-strong 2nd/3rd set finish vs. the Czech, before falling 4 & 4 against Jessie Pegula. She's gone 7-4 in her last four events, accounting for a large portion of her 19-12 season, which still amounts to but a tiny portion of her numbers during her career year three seasons ago.

In 2019, Andreescu won 48 of 55 matches, while over the last *three* seasons combined she's combined for 36 total match wins in just 60 outings.

Her week will allow Andreescu to climb 12 spots to #47, likely assuring her, even after all her issues since her banner '19 campaign, of a fourth straight Top 50 season. Better yet, it's a reasonable starting position for what will hopefully be a nice comeback season in '23.

Before that, though, Andreescu is still scheduled to play for Canada in the BJK Cup finals next month.



Meanwhile, Gracheva took some tentative steps out of the deep slide she's fallen into in recent months. Since climbing as high as #59 in July, the Hordettte has been in freefall. She arrived for the Rouen WTA 125 on a four-match losing streak, but her two recent wins in Chennai had been preceded by an additional ten straight losses since early June.

Though she won three matches in Madrid (2Q/1 MD) in the spring, the last time Gracheva had won three MD matches in *any* event was at a 125 in Limoges last December. Until this week. In Rouen, she knocked off Dalma Galfi, Tamara Korpatsch and Ana Konjuh in succession to reach the semis, where she fell to Viktorija Golubic.



With just two weeks until the final '22 rankings, Gracheva will climb from #102 to #94. She's finished the last two seasons in the Top 100.
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FRESH FACES: Marie Bouzkova/CZE and Coco Gauff/USA
...once again, Bouzkova found a home for her success in Mexico. In the past, the Czech had reached a 125 final in Guadalajara (in 2019), and tour level finals in Monterrey (2020) and Guadalajara (250, in February), as well as another SF (WTA Guadalajara '21) and QF (Monterrey '22).

Back in Guadalajara for the debut 1000 event there, Bouzkova ran off wins over Tereza Martincova, Camila Osorio, Liudmila Samsonova and Anna Kalinskaya to reach her third WTA SF of the season. After dropping the 1st set to Maria Sakkari late on Saturday, rain delayed the completion of the match until Sunday, where the Greek finished things off in straights.

Her week's work gives Bouzkova a 31-11 singles mark in Mexico on all levels since 2018, and will jump her eight spots on Monday to crack the Top 30 (at #30) for the first time.



A few seasons ago, Gauff's rise as a 15-year old set off a ridiculous landslide of overwhelming and crazy predictions about her career. To her credit, the teenager never got lost in the weeds of the moment, nor succumbed to the inherent pressure of such expectations. The odd offshoot of all the unreasonable early hype, though, is that now the 18-year old's results -- as remarkable as they are in this day and age in the sport -- almost come off as "quaint" and "subdued" when they are actually anything but.

Still a year and a half from turning 20, Gauff has reached slam singles *and* doubles finals, been the doubles #1, will this week climb to #6 in singles (and very well could finish in the Top 4-5), and has now qualified for her maiden WTAF field in both singles (as the youngest participant since Sharapova in '05) and doubles.

This week in Guadalajara, Gauff reached her third 1000 QF of the season with wins over Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Martina Trevisan before going out in three sets to Vika Azarenka, and added another 1000 doubles QF (w/ Pegula) as a bonus, her seventh QF-or better result in ten 1000/slam events in 2022.


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DOWN: Yulia Putintseva/KAZ and Paula Badosa/ESP
...after starting her '22 season with a loss to Vika Azarenka in Adelaide, Badosa ended it with a similar result in Guadalajara, retiring from her opening match in the event against the Belarusian. A year ago, the Spaniard was just weeks past having picked up her biggest career title in Indian Wells, paving her way into her maiden WTA Finals where she reached the semis and wrapped her first career Top 10 season.

With her WTAF ranking points falling off -- though she recorded more slam match wins (9 to 8) this year than last, returned to the I.W. semis and won her third career title (in Sydney back in January) -- Badosa won't repeat her Top 10 finish in '23. She won just two of her final ten matches.

In the same season in which Elena Rybakina (w/ apologies to Yaroslava Shvedova) officially surpassed Putintseva as Kazakhstan's greatest women's singles player ever, Putintseva's 1st Round loss in Guadalajara to Magdelana French assures *her* of her worst season-ending ranking since 2015, when she finished up at #74. She'll be at #53 on Monday, having gone 1-6 since she reached the Toronto 1000 QF this summer. To date, Putintseva has finished just one season (2020) ranked in the Top 30, while Rybakina (at #24, even without any Wimbledon title points) will rank in the Top 30 for a third straight year.

Putintseva will enter 2023 having fallen in the 1r/2r in the last six majors.
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ITF PLAYERS: Madison Brengle/USA and Lily Miyazaki/GBR
...Brengle won her third straight $60K challenger (surrounding a WTA San Diego 1r exit), dropping no sets while taking out Taylor Townsend, Katie Volynets and Panna Udvardy in the final. Having won 30 of 32 sets in her last three ITF outings, Brengle is a combined 21-12 in career pro finals (19-11 ITF, 2-0 125, 0-1 WTA).

At #52 on Monday, Brengle has a shot at her second career Top 50 finish, and first since 2015.

Not long after making the official switch from representing Japan to Great Britain in March, Miyazaki made an immediate mark during the British grass season, qualifying and posting a Nottingham MD win before soon after making her slam debut as a Wimbledon wild card (she took Caroline Garcia to 3rd set TB). She'd gone just 4-9 since, before claiming her first title under her new flag in this week's $60K in Glasgow.

Miyazaki knocked off four fellow Brits along the way, including top-seeded Katie Swan, #3 Jodie Burrage and, in the final, #4 Heather Watson in three sets. Miyazaki staged a comeback from 7-5/5-1 down against Watson, who served for the match twice, and held for an on-serve lead at 6-5, but never reached MP (she was two points away twice, including at 5-5 in the 2nd set TB).

It's Miyazaki's fifth pro title, and she'll climb 75 spots to #215 as she bears down on a Top 200 return after getting to #199 in March.
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JUNIOR STARS: Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE and Nina Vargova/SVK
...Fruhvirtova has barely played any junior tennis matches in '22 (going just 4-2), but she's still only 15. The Czech continued to burn up the ITF circuit this week, taking the $25K crown in Santa Margherita di Pula (ITA) with a love and 1 win in the final over Ylena In-Albon.

The win gives Fruhvirtova a circuit-best eight challenger titles in '22 (in eight finals), and improves her pro ITF record to 46-5 this year (she was 2-1 in Q/MD in the tour-level Guadalajara 250 earlier this year, as well). After starting the year at #1096, she's up to #155 this week (she's been as high as #150) and almost certainly will top the list of the biggest movers in the season-ending Top 200.



Meanwhile, 17-year old Vargova claimed her biggest career junior crown in the J1 Sanxenxo tournament in Spain. The #28-ranked second seed, she took out #3 Lucia Peyre (ARG) in the semis, then defeated fellow Slovak Renata Jamrichova 6-4/6-4 to win the crown.

Vargova, who was eventual champ Alex Eala's second victim in the U.S. Open girls' competition, reached a pair of J1 finals earlier this season in Lima and Bamberg.

Match point...


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DOUBLES: Storm Sanders/Luisa Stefani, KAZ/BRA
...in Guadalajara, Stefani's comeback from knee surgery (after an injury in the '21 U.S. Open semis) added yet another feat, as the Brazilian picked up a second title in just her fourth tournament back.

A few weeks ago, Stefani teamed up with '21 partner Gaby Dabrowski to win a 250 crown in Chennai. This week, with Sanders, she matched her biggest career title ('21 Montreal, w/ Dabrowski) in her fourth 1000 final with a third different partner, picking up her fifth tour win with a tight 7-6(4)/6-7(2) [10-8] victroy in a Sunday night (post-singles final) championship match over Anna Danilina and Stefani's fellow Brazilian, Beatriz Haddad Maia, who'd upset top-seeded Czechs Krejcikova/Siniakova in the semis in a "do-over" of their Australian Open final from earlier this year.

For Sanders, it's also career win #5 (to go along with her U.S. MX win last month), her third '22 crown -- the biggest of her career -- with a third different partner (after Ash Barty and Siniakova).


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WHEELCHAIR: Yui Kamiji/JPN
...the second recent WC event in South Korea was finally held, with familiar results.

Kamiji took the crown, her seventh of the season, at the Series 1 Daegu Open, once again allowing just one game to Zhu Zhenzhen in the final. It's Kamiji's fourth win this season against Zhu in a singles final. Over the two recent Korean events, Kamiji dropped a total of seven games over five matches (she was given a SF walkover in this event), improving her singles winning streak in non-de Groot matches to 34. She's 39-1 vs. everyone but the world #1 this year, against whom she's 0-6.

Once again, singles runner-up Zhu didn't leave without a title, taking her 11th doubles crown of '22 as she and Manami Tanaki won a 10-7 MTB over Kamiji and Yuma Takamuro.
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1. Guadalajara 2nd Rd. - Jessie Pegula def. Elena Rybakina
...2-6/6-3/7-6(8). Rybakina's WTAF dream ends, after having held 3 MP in the 3rd set TB. Pegula's dream week was only just beginning.


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2. Guadalajara 2nd Rd. - Caroline Garcia def. Rebecca Marino
...6-7(2)/6-3/7-6(5). Marino's ace-fest left her with 24 on the day, second this season to only Garcia's own 27 in Tokyo, and with only Kristyna Pliskova, Sabine Lisicki and Garcia having ever having had more in a WTA match. But, just like Garcia in her own ace-laden match vs. Zhang Shuai last month, Marino lost.

In the 3rd, Garcia held a break lead at 4-3, only to DF on BP and give Marino her first break of the match. Down 15/40 a game later after her mid-rally challenge gambit on a Garcia baseline ball failed, Marino countered with consecutive aces and held for 5-4. In her next service game, a Marino ace was taken away via a Garcia challenge and she found herself BP down. She again responded with a (good) ace and held for 6-5.

Garcia's MTO for her shoulder preceded her own service game. Marino opened by mishitting a pair of returns, but Garcia's forehand errors put her down love/30. She got the hold with her 12th ace, forcing a TB. Garcia took a double mini-break lead at 4-1, but Marino rallied to go up 5-4. The Pastry then swept the final three points, with Garcia's 13th ace giving her a MP, and Marino's long forehand error ending her bid for her first career Top 10 win.


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3. Guadalajara 2nd Rd. - Anna Kalinskaya def. Elise Mertens
...6-4/0-6/7-5. Kalinskaya dropped the 2nd at love, then fell behind 5-2 in the 3rd. After saving three MP, she prevailed to keep her latest Mexican fiesta alive and well.


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4. Guadalajara 1st Rd. - Belinda Bencic def. Leylah Fernandez
...7-5/6-7(10)/6-3. Bencic led by a set and 4-2, holding five MP in the 2nd set TB before Fernandez forced a deciding set.



But Guadalajara isn't Flushing Meadows, and the LAF magic ran out in the 3rd.


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5. Rouen 125 1st Rd. - Maryna Zanevska def. Sara Errani
...7-5/6-7(4)/7-5. En route to the title, Zanevska opened her week by seeing Errani lead by a set and (twice) a break in the 2nd. Zanevska won a 7-4 TB to force a 3rd, where the Italian took another lead at 5-2, holding three MP in game #8. Zanevska got the break in that game, and swept the final five games.
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6. Guadalajara Final - Jessie Pegula def. Maria Sakkari
...6-2/6-3. In a battle to determine which woman would win career title #2 -- the first since 2019 for either -- Pegula dominates to become the fifth different Bannerette to claim a tour singles title this season, tying the Czechs and Hordettes for the greatest variety of winners in '22.


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7. Rouen Final - Maryna Zanevska def. Viktorija Golubic
...7-6(6)/6-1. Golubic entered having not lost a set all week, and led 5-2 in the 1st set TB. Zanevska swept the the final five points, then dropped just one game in the 2nd.

The win gives Zanevska a belated measure of revenge for a loss in a $25K final to Golubic in February of last year.
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8. Guadalajara 1st Rd. - Petra Kvitova def. Bernarda Pera
...6-3/7-5. Kvitova follows up her win in Ostrava!!! over Pera with another in Guadalajara, but that wasn't the story of this match.


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9. Guadalajara 3rd Rd. - Marie Bouzkova def. Liudmila Samsonova
...0-6/7-5/6-3. Samsonova, who'd just posted her first career Top 5 win over Aryna Sabalenka a round earlier, led 6-0/5-4, with neither player having dropped serve in the 2nd set. Bouzkova swept the final three games, then rallied from 2-0 down in the 3rd, closing well again by taking six of the final seven games.


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10. Guadalajara 3rd Rd. - Anna Kalinskaya def. Dasha Kasatkina
...6-2/2-6/6-3. Kalinskaya led 5-0 in the 3rd, but Kasatkina pulled to within 5-3 and battled to try to get the deciding set back on serve. Sure, the 13-minute, 6-deuce game that finally ended the match on Kalinskaya's sixth MP was crazy, but maybe not as crazy as a previous point in the match.


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11. Guadalajara 2nd Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
...7-6(1)/6-3. Gauff clinches her WTAF singles berth, making her the youngest to do so since Maria Sharapova in 2005.


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12. $60K Saguenay CAN Final - Karman Thandi def. Katherine Sebov
...3-6/6-4/6-3. The 24-year old Indian picks up her biggest career title (second in '22, and #3 overall), opening with a win over #2-seeded Robin Anderson and finishing with another over the Canadian on home soil.


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13. Rouen 125 1st Rd. - Kamilla Rakhimova def. Anna Blinkova
...7-6(4)/6-1. Six Degrees of Cluj.

Rakhimova, originally an alternate, entered the MD when Cluj runner-up Jasmine Paolini withdrew, then the Hordette knocked off Cluj champ Blinkova in the 1st Round. She ultimately reached the singles semis, and won the doubles alongside Natela Dzalamidze.


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14. $60K Hamburg GER Final - Rebeka Masarova def. Ysaline Bonaventure 6-4/6-3
$25K Loule POR Final - Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva def. Katarina Zavatska 6-1/6-4
$25K Fort Worth USA Final - Liv Horde def. Reese Brantmeier 7-6(1)/6-4
...some pro titles for former junior slam champs, as Masarova ('16 RG) matches her biggest pro crown from a season ago (and will climb back into the Top 150), while VJK ('20 AO) and Hovde ('22 WI) both win their second career titles.


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15. $15K Bucaramanga COL Final - Kaitlin Quevedo def. Sofia Sewing 6-3/6-7(6)/7-5
$15K Sharm el Sheikh EGY Final - Anastasiia Gureva def. Andre Lukoslute 6-3/6-1
$15K Monastir TUN Final - Hanne Vandewinkel def. Eleni Kordolaimi 6-1/1-6/6-1
...16-year old Bannerette Quevedo picks up her third title, while 17-year old Gureva and 18-year old Vandewinkel are crowned for the first time as pros.
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16. $60K Hamburg GER Final - Miriam Kolodziejova/Jesika Maleckova def. Veronika Erjavec/Malene Helgo
...6-4/6-2. Kolodziejova, 25, may be the Czech doubles specialist to watch over the next decade. A former two-time junior GD champ ('15 AO/RG w/ Vondrousova), she's now picked up six ITF titles in '22, as well her maiden tour-level crown in Parma earlier this month.
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17. Rouen 125 QF - Kamilla Rakhimova def. Kristina Mladenovic
...6-1/6-4. Coming off her WTA doubles and ITF singles title runs in Monastir, Mladenovic reached the QF at the 125 back home in France. She fell to Rakhimova, but in her three matches *did* keep her DF to a minimum (4, 4 and 6).
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18. Rouen 125 Q - Anastasia Gasanova def. Manon Arcangioli
...6-0/6-3. The one match Gasanova played after her ill-advised Instagram commentary.
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1. Guadalajara QF - Maria Sakkari def. Vernonika Kudermetova
...6-1/5-7/6-4. A recent thought in this space was that the title-deficit resumes of Sakkari and Kudermetova might need each other on the opposite side of the net in crunch time in order to achieve more *tangible* (i.e. with trophies involved) success.

Well, they didn't meet in the final this week, but they *did* face off in the QF with the winner assured of a berth in the WTAF. With those stakes, at least, the Greek prevailed. Not that she was all that excited about it or anything...


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2. Guadalajara 1st Rd. - Elena Rybakina def. Karolina Pliskova
...7-6(5)/6-2. Pliskova led 5-3 in the 1st, only to eventually DF on Rybakina's SP as the Kazakh went on to victory. She won't be at the WTAF, though, and wouldn't have even had the WTA instituted the ATP's standard of a slam winner only having to rank in the Race Top 20 to qualify for the tour finals. Rybakina, without her SW19 title points, stands at #21 in the Race.

Meanwhile, Pliskova's longest (by far) current WTAF appearance streak ends at five consecutive years. The active standard is now just two straight.
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3. Rouen 125 1st Rd. - Dayana Yastremska/Ivanna Yastremska walkover Anastasia Gasanova/Anastasiya Komardina
...6-2/6-4. Days after Gasanova's ill-conceived parroting of Putin propaganda surrounding the war on Ukraine, and after the Russian won a lone qualifying round singles match, she withdraws (stated reason: injury) before meeting the Ukrainian sisters.



I guess, considering the way things have gone in the war, a Russian giving a walkover to a Ukrainian duo is somehow fitting, right?
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HM- $25K Loule POR Final - Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge def. Lee Pei-chi/Wu Fang-hsien 6-3/7-5
$25K Fort Worth USA Final - Katarina Kozarov/Maria Kozyreva def. Allura Zamarripa/Maribella Zamarripa 6-4/6-7(12) [10-7]
$25K Seville ESP Final - Ipek Oz/Nik Radisic def. Maryna Kolb/Nadiya Kolb 7-5/7-6(3)
...results were mixed for all-sister duos seeking ITF titles this weekend. Only the Portuguese Jorge siblings won in their final, picking up their seventh title together this season.


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And let the tennis version of "McCarthyism" begin. Or is it something akin to an old school "witch trial," where a boulder is tied around the neck of the accused and they're thrown into a lake? If the individual surfaces and lives, their "guilt" is proven and they'll be burned at the stake. If they drown? Well, then their "innocence" is true. Hmmm... good for them?



No matter how the Halep case ultimately unfolds, certain corners of social media will always hold the immediate, knee-jerk reaction they had upon hearing this week's news and, as happened with the Sharapova case, will go about their business constructing whatever reality they wish to be true. You know, like the people this week who have convinced themselves that Serena should now be granted slam #24 -- from 2019! -- because Halep defeated her in the Wimbledon final that year and because, well, for some no tennis story *can't* be turned into something about how Williams was somehow wronged, cheated, or robbed of something, right? (Rolls eyes.)

Of course, leave it to...



(And rolls eyes again.)

In the current environment in which everyone's every waking thought is deemed worthy of public consumption, Halep (as has been the case with others in early stages of "doping" cases) has already been sentenced to eternally deal with the sort of individuals who have determined that one failed test in which a small amount of one substance was detected (after an event in which she lost in the 1st Round, for what it's worth) counts as incontrovertible "evidence" of some sort of long-standing attempt to circumvent the rules of the game, and now feel free to make snide comments such as the (most) recent one from Serena's "better" (insert approriate emoji) half.

It's a small scale annoyance, yes, but an especially irritating annoyance nonetheless.

As with so many cases (likely) such as this one in the past, even if the suspension is ultimately lifted and Halep is found to "be at no fault" due to some sort of accidental ingestion of an ingredient that was present in some minuscule quantity in some drink, supplement, etc. many will forever tag Halep as a "cheater" or seek to slight her accomplishments. And if a player, such as Sharapova did, should dare to refuse to gently assume the part of "the Accused" and instead chooses to get out in front of the charge in an attempt to wrestle the narrative push away from the clutches of a faceless (often corrupt) drug-testing buracracy that truly cares very little about anything other than justifying its existence? Well, then that very same act is used as another weapon with which to attempt to "tar" the individual's reputation.

All that we know.

What the particulars will turn out to be regarding Halep, we'll have to see. Hopefully, and we really have no reason to think otherwise (considering Halep nearly stopped playing earlier this season to begin with), this will prove to be one of those "inadvertent incident" cases, though even then it would likely still result in a long absence while the case plays out that could keep the Romanian out of the game (at best) for much of 2023.



(Yet another eye roll.)

Of course, with Halep's case existing amidst the criss-crossing of so many other topics -- Patrick M., a recently divorced husband, rumors, etc. -- the whole story is ripe for conspiracy theories. As is usually the case, that's probably *all* they are.

What is troubling, though, is that after having no hint of these sorts of issues throughout her career, it took less than a season under the wing of Patrick Mouratoglou for Halep to find herself in this situation. When the new coaching set-up became a reality, many essentially said that Halep would live to regret throwing in with the Frenchman. Ummm.



It's hard not to wonder if someone dropped the ball (see Sharapova) in a way that her old (Cahill & Co.) team wouldn't have when it came to knowing what was on the banned list and making sure it wasn't in the ingredients of something Halep was provided with during training. Mouratoglou's late and underwhelming response to the public announcement didn't look good, and one wonders what sort of finger-pointing might happen down the line from a camp -- with their hooks into so many other players, and with so much to lose reputation-wise, maybe even more so than Halep herself -- if the alternative might mean a tarnishing acknowlegement of some sort of negligence.

That said, in the end, the final measure of accountability, as always, falls on the shoulders of the athlete, even if their biggest error in judgment ultimately would prove to be in whom they put their trust. It's still their name on the label.

That said, as noted many times in the past, I tend to find the notion of announcing provisional suspensions offensive on many levels, because it allows the story to get out ahead of any of the facts that may emerge later but are far less widely distributed, and usually ignored. But by then -- in true Bob-Barr-reads-the-Mueller-Report fashion -- the playing field has already been slanted as players are forced to defend themselves against context-free, sketchy accusations *and* to serve an ongoing penalty, but then even if they ultimately win their appeal at "final judgement," they never get back the playing time they lost, and the irreversible damage to their reputation has already been done.

If there even *has* to a drug testing apparatus at all, something that I'm not convinced of in even a small way, the *whole* process should play out before *anything* is publicly stated by any doping organization, considering the checkered history of said groups and how often independent entities ultimately rule in the player's favor. In its current form, at best, it's a "guilty until proven not guilty, and then still mostly guilty because (wink, wink) we know the truth" construct. Eventually, the details are forgotten (see Sharapova) and some use the incident as an all-purpose, all-access pass to bash said player's career for whatever personal reasons they deem acceptable. Expect to see a whole new and "glorious" round of this when Sharapova's name comes up for Hall of Fame induction in a few years.

Ooh, I know I can't wait for that sideshow.

(Rolls eyes yet again... by now they almost hurt, but it's surely just the beginning.)



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Yep. I know that I subscribed to Tennis magazine for years, then at some point just gave up as it essentially became a "pamphlet" that didn't really include anything worthwhile, and pretty much was just a "what are the new rackets for this year?" product-selling entity, and I went through it from cover to cover in about two minutes (if that). Hadn't looked at it for years since.

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*2022 SLAM-WTAF/1000 CHAMPIONS*
Australian Open - Ash Barty, AUS
Doha - Iga Swiatek, POL
Indian Wells - Iga Swiatek, POL
Miami - Iga Swiatek, POL
Madrid - Ons Jabeur, TUN
Rome - Iga Swiatek, POL
Roland Garros - Iga Swiatek, POL
Wimbledon - Elena Rybakina, KAZ
Canada - Simona Halep, ROU
Cincinnati - Caroline Garcia, FRA
US Open -Iga Swiatek, POL
Guadalajara - Jessie Pegula, USA
WTAF - x
[doubles]
Australian Open - Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
Doha - Coco Gauff/Jessie Pegula, USA/USA
Indian Wells - Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan, CHN/CHN
Miami - Laura Siegemund/Vera Zvonareva, GER/RUS
Madrid - Gaby Dabrowski/Giuliana Olmos, CAN/MEX
Rome - Veronika Kudermetova/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS/RUS
Roland Garros - Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic, FRA/FRA
Wimbledon - Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
Canada - Coco Gauff/Jessie Pegula, USA/USA
Cincinnati - Lyudmyla Kichenok/Alona Ostapenko, UKR/LAT
US Open - Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
Guadalajara - Storm Sanders/Luisa Stefani, AUS/BRA
WTAF - x

*2022 - TOP 10 FINALS*
Sydney - #9 Badosa def. #4 Krejcikova
Saint Petersburg - #9 Kontaveit def. #7 Sakkari
Doha - #8 Swiatek def. #7 Kontaveit
Indian Wells - #4 Swiatek def. #6 Sakkari
Stuttgart - #1 Swiatek def. #4 Sabalenka
Rome - #1 Swiatek def. #7 Jabeur
US Open - #1 Swiatek def. #5 Jabeur
Guadalajara - #5 Pegula def. #6 Sakkari

*2022 WTA TITLE FROM MATCH POINT DOWN*
Dubai - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1 MP - QF/Kvitova)
Monterrey - Leylah Fernandez, CAN (5 MP - F/Osorio)
Bad Homburg - Caroline Garcia, FRA (1 MP - SF/Cornet)
Guadalajara - JESSIE PEGULA, USA (3 MP -2r/Rybakina)

*2022 MULT.DIFFERENT WTA CHAMPIONS BY COUNTRY*
5 - CZE = Bouzkova,L.Fruhvirtova,Krejcikova,Kvitova,Siniakova
5 - RUS = Alexandrova,Blinkova,Kasatkina,Potapova,Samsonova
5 - USA = Anisimova,Keys,Pegula,Pera,Stephens
2 - GER = Kerber,Maria
2 - ROU = Begu,Halep

*2022 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
6 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE
5 - Jessie Pegula, USA
4 - Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
3 - Gaby Dabrowski, CAN
3 - Coco Gauff, USA
3 - Eri Hozumi, JPN
3 - Lyudmyla Kichenok, UKR
3 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
3 - Makoto Ninimoya, JPN
3 - STORM SANDERS, AUS
3 - Laura Siegemund, GER
2 - Anna Danilina, KAZ
2 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
2 - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
2 - Magda Linette, POL
2 - Caty McNally, USA
2 - Nicole Melichar-Martinez, USA
2 - Giuliana Olmos, MEX
2 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2 - Ellen Perez, AUS
2 - LUISA STEFANI, BRA
2 - Xu Yifan, CHN
2 - Yang Zhaoxuan, CHN
2 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS

*2022 WTA DOUBLES FINALS - DUOS*
4...Gauff/Pegula, USA/USA (3-1)
4...Dabrowski/Olmos, CAN/MEX (2-2)
4...L.Kichenok/Ostapenko, UKR/LAT (1-1+WL)
4...V.Kudermetova/Mertens, RUS/BEL (1-3)
4...Melichar-Martinez/Perez, USA/AUS (1-3)
3...Hozumi/Ninomiya, JPN/JPN (3-0)
3...Krejcikova/Siniakova, CZE/CZE (3-0)
3...DANILINA/HADDAD MAIA, KAZ/BRA (1-2)

*CURRENT WTAF WS APPEARANCE STREAKS*
2 - Aryna Sabalenka
2 - Maria Sakkari
2 - Iga Swiatek
1 - Ons Jabeur (also: 2021 Alternate - w/d)
1 - Jessie Pegula (also: 2021 Alternate - DNP)
1 - Garcia, Gauff, Kasatkina
TBD - 2022 Alternates (next 4): Kudermetova, Keys, Bencic, Badosa

*WTA ALL-TIMES ACES/MATCH*
31 - Kr.Pliskova (2016 AO 2r, lost Puig)
28 - Kr.Pliskova (2019 Lux.2r, lost Puig)
27 - Lisicki (2015 Birm.2r, d. Bencic)
27 - Garcia (2022 Tokyo 2r, lost Sh.Zhang)
24 - Marino (2022 Guad.2r, lost Garcia)
24 - Kr.Pliskova (2019 Birm.2r, d. Ka.Pliskova)
24 - Kanepi (2008 Tokyo 1r, d. Safarova)
24 - S.Williams (2012 Wimb.SF, d. Azarenka)
[2022]>
27 - Caroline Garcia (Tokyo 2r vs. Sh.Zhang)
24 - Rebecca Marino (Guad. 2r vs. Garcia)
21 - Zheng Qinwen (US 1r vs. Ostapenko)

*2022 WTA 125 FINALS*
Marbella, ESP - Mayar Sherif/EGY d. Tamara Korpatsch/GER
Saint-Malo, FRA - Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA d. Anna Blinkova/RUS
Paris, FRA - Claire Liu/USA d. Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
Karlsruhe, GER - Mayar Sherif/EGY d. Bernarda Pera/USA
Makarska, CRO - Jule Niemeier/GER d. Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA
Valencia ESP - Zheng Qinwen/CHN d. Wang Xiyu/CHN
Gaiba, ITA - Alison Van Uytvanck/BEL d. Sara Errani/ITA
Bastad, SWE - Jang Su-jeong/KOR d. Rebeka Masarova/ESP
Contrexeville, FRA - Sara Errani/ITA d. Dalma Galfi/HUN
Iasi, ROU - Ana Bogdan/ROU d. Panna Udvardy/HUN
Concord, USA - CoCo Vandeweghe/USA d. Bernarda Pera/USA
Vancouver, CAN - Valentini Grammatikopoulou/GRE d. Lucia Bronzetti/ITA
Bari, ITA - Julia Grahber/AUT d. Nuria Brancaccio/ITA
Bucharest, ROU - Irina-Camelia Begu/ROU d. Reka Luca Jani/HUN
Budapest, HUN - Tamara Korpatsch/GER d. Viktoriya Tomova/BUL
Rouen, FRA - Maryna Zanevska/BEL d. Viktorija Golubic/SUI

*2022 ITF CHALLENGER TITLES*
8 - Brenda Fruhvirtova, CZE
5 - Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
5 - Selena Janicijevic, FRA
5 - Wei Sijia, CHN
4 - Stacey Fung, CAN
4 - Sonay Kartal, GBR
4 - Leyre Romero Gormaz, ESP
4 - Anastasia Zolotareva, RUS






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All for now.
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