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Monday, November 14, 2022

BJK Cup Finals: Say (Swiss) Cheese!


Finally, Switzerland;s Cup does indeed runneth over.








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BILLIE JEAN KING CUP FINALS (Glasgow, GBR/Hard Court Indoor)
F:Switzerland def. Australia 2-0 - MVP: Bencic/SUI
BILLIE JEAN KING CUP PLAYOFFS
[Le Portel, FRA - HCI] FRA def. NED 3-1 - MVP: Cornet/FRA
[Rijeka, CRO - HCI] GER def. CRO 3-1 - MVP: Friedsam/GER
[Gradea, ROU - HCI] ROU def. HUN 4-0 - MVP: Bogdan/ROU
[Schwechat, AUT - RCI] AUT def. LAT 3-2 [dd] - MVP: Klaffner/Kraus, AUT
[Tokyo, JPN - HCI] UKR def. JPN 3-1 - MVP: Kostyuk/UKR
[Tuchman, ARG - RCO] BRA def. ARG 3-1 - MVP: Hadda Maia/BRA
[Velenje, SLO - RCI] SLO def. CHN 3-1 - MVP: Juvan/SLO
[San Luis Potosi, MEX - RCO] MEX def. SRB 4-0 - MVP: Zacarias/MEX





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BJK CUP FINALS MVP: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...Bencic made her Cup singles debut in 2014 age 16, posting stunning wins over Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano in what was ultimately a 3-2 loss to France. In that ultimately losing effort, "the kid" who one season earlier had been a two-time junior slam champ as a talent developed under the watchful eye of Melanie Molitor and her Hall of Fame daughter Martina Hingis, was the star. Big things were expected.

It'd be just eight months later that Bencic would reach her maiden tour-level singles final, and a little over a year before she'd win her first title, seemingly biding her time before truly fulfilling her potential.

Since then, Bencic's career has proven to be a curvy experience, with more than 30 career Top 10 wins, six singles titles and four Top 20 seasons (the first in 2015, then three more in the last four seasons). Injuries have often dotted a tennis landscape filled with still more moments of brilliance that stopped just short of the sort of accomplishments that had been foreseen for her nearly a decade ago. A 2019 U.S. Open semifinal run has proven to be the Swiss' best slam result, but it was just last year that she claimed her biggest win by taking Olympic singles Gold (and doubles Silver) in Tokyo, becoming the first woman from Switzerland to win tennis Gold. This week in Glasgow, Bencic added another major accomplishment to her (finally) growing major career title ledger, leading the Swiss to the nation's first Fed/BJK Cup title in its third final appearance (and second straight).

Switzerland barrelled its way through the week-long BJK Cup Finals event, winning nine of ten matches (and all eight live matches). Bencic pointed the way, going 4-0 in singles, winning all her matches in straights, and providing the clinching points in the group-winning tie (vs. Leylah Fernandez/CAN, winning the first seven games), semifinals (vs. Karolina Pliskova/CZE, after coming back from 5-2 down in the 2nd and saving a MP) and final (vs. Ajla Tomljanovic/AUS).
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RISER: Jil Teichmann/SUI
...though she wasn't part of the winning BJK Cup nation a year ago, Teichmann, in contrast to her spark-then-slide regular tour results, had been the most consistently effective player in the pandemic-extended two-year Cup competition that stretched out over the 2020-21 seasons.

Switzerland's berth in last year's final (a loss to the Russian Tennis Federation) meant that the nation's '22 Cup debut didn't occur until Round Robin play this past week in Glasgow. Teichmann picked up where she left off, opening play with a three-hour, three-set win over Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto in which she battled back from 5-2 down in the 3rd set, saving a MP and winning perhaps *the* best match of the entire Cup Finals event.

Teichmann didn't play another match that mattered until the final, where she again opened the tie vs. Australia with a win, another three-setter, over Storm Sanders, the same Aussie she'd beaten in last year's semifinals as Switzerland advanced to the final. With the 1-0 cushion provided by her win, Bencic clinched the crown with a straight sets win over Ajla Tomljanovic. Then the celebration commenced.


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SURPRISES: Storm Sanders/AUS (rr group MVP), Harriet Dart/GBR, Alicia Barnett/Olivia Nicholls (GBR) and Team GB
...Sanders is ranked #10 in doubles, but just #237 in singles (the AUS #9), but it was her (not top-ranked Aussie, #33 Ajla Tomljanovic) who carried the singles load in the nation's first *official* post-Ash Cup run (though Barty didn't play in last November's SF result, either).



In RR play, Sanders defeated Viktoria Kuzmova and Alison Van Uytvanck (on indoor HC!) as Australia claimed Group B (for her part, Tomljanovic was also 2-0, def. Schmiedlova and seeing Mertens retire in a 3rd set). In the SF, though, Sanders downed Heather Watson in Match #1 to keep the British crowd (at least a bit) at bay (for a while), and a year after losing to Jil Teichmann love & 3 in last year's semis extended her to three sets (but lost again) this time around in the final vs. Switzerland. She was 3-1 on the week, as well as joining with Sam Stosur for a deciding doubles win over Barnett/Nicholls and Team GB's overwhelming home court advantage as the Cinderella squad benefited greatly from the late change of location (more on that in a sec).

As for the Brits, with Emma Raducanu's late removal from the roster, it was Dart who more than pulled her weight in Glasgow. After GBR's (not close) opening tie loss to Kazakhstan, where Dart fell to Elena Rybakina in a clinching match, the 26-year old Brit upset Paula Badosa to give the team a 1-1 RR mark with a win over Spain.



Barnett & Nicholls, added to the roster when Raducanu was a no-go, proved to be the difference in GBR's first Cup semifinal berth since 1981. In an indictment of the four-groups-of-three RR format, Group C saw all three nations (GBR-ESP-KAZ) tie at 1-1, with each tie involving singles sweeps, and the group winner/semifinalist ultimately decided by a series of dead rubber doubles matches, including the RR-concluding match-up between Barnett/Nicholls and Spain's Bolsova/Masarova after GBR had already won the overall tie. Spurred on by the home crowd, the Brits won to advance.

In the end, GBR lost out to Australia in a deciding doubles MTB won by Sanders/Stosur 10-6, leaving Britain just a few points shy of the nation's first Cup final in 41 years. It was surely a Cinderella run, and one that really should *never* have had the chance to happen in the first place.

When the new BJK Cup format was announced to begin in 2020, it came with the stupid decision (competition-wise) that the Finals host (at the time it was supposed to be Hungary) would be automatically included in the 12-team field even if it hadn't actually qualified to be there (HUN hadn't, and still hasn't). Covid spread the debut BJK year over *two* seasons, and forced the Budapest location to be moved to Prague last fall. Of course, the Czech Republic (which *didn't* win the title) was already a qualified participant in the event. This year, a different location was needed again, and Glasgow "won the lottery." Or should I say that the British *team* did.

You see, the Brits were in action in the finals event (not in a Playoff tie, where the team would have otherwise been this weekend) as, essentially, "lucky losers," having lost in the Qualifiers (via a DD) in the spring to the Czech Repbulic. Rather than have a qualified team host the event, it went to GBR and Team GB was given a free pass into the 12-nation field.

The team nearly pulled off an historic run, after "winning" Group C via the three-way tie-breaker due to the results of matches that had no bearing on *any* of the ties in which they took place. If that wasn't bad enough, the run was stupendously aided by the "coincidental" home crowd advantage provided by the move to the Glasgow site.

And that's a problem, though surely the organizers won't admit it.

The results in Glasgow inadvertently exposed *the* problem with the new Cup format. Home crowds have always *made* the Cup event, and given it its unique excitement, from start to finish. A large part of the "lessening" of the competition that came along with the name change from Federation Cup to BJK was the taking away of any home court advantage in the latter stages of the fight for the title (it's still there in the spring Qualifiers, and later-scheduled Playoffs). While finding a workable "neutral" site for a 12-nation event might be difficult, surely having the location (and inclusion of the host team) basically render meaningless the on-court results of just a few months earlier, while also giving that unqualified team the home court advantage that the new finals format took away, *should* have been seen as an embarrassment had the Brits reached and/or won the final. Just reaching the semifinals was close enough.



But the run will probably only embolden the decision about next year's host, rather than cement a rule that no nation that doesn't have a qualified team should host, or at least it can't *also* be given a pass into the field if it does. A qualified country -- but not in consecutive years -- *could* host if we have to have this multi-team event, perhaps from a group of a several rotating sites (where crowds can be *expected* with or without a home rooting favorite). If having the BJK Cup finals on site isn't *enough* to bring out local fans without also having to cheapen (at best) previous competitive results by including the home nation, well, then the Cup has *other* problems that it needs to work out.

Of course, that won't happen, and instead the British run will be used to *promote* the event next year, even if the run's very existence goes against the very changes that were made to the event a few years ago.
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VETERAN: Viktorija Golubic/SUI
...in Switzerland's title run in Glasgow, Bencic gets the honors and Teichmann gets the leftovers, but don't overlook the important footnote provided by Golubic. The Swiss vet -- Bencic's largely overlooked partner while winning Olympic Silver last year -- didn't get the *clinching* glory in the battle-for-the-Group A-tie match-up with Canada, nor the semifinal against the Czechs, but it was her Match #1 victory on both occasions that set the stage.

Golubic's three-set win over Bianca Andreescu was the push that Switzerland needed to return to the semis, while her 4 & 4 victory over Karolina Muchova put the Czechs' backs against the wall and loaded *all* the pressure on Karolina Pliskova (0-2 during finals week, and 1-6 in her last 7 matches of '22) to save the day vs. Bencic. She couldn't. If Golubic hadn't put the Swiss up 1-0 the tie would have gone to the deciding doubles... not a good place to be vs. the Czech Cup machine. Siniakova/Vondrousova had already won a DD over Poland in RR play.

Over the last two seasons of Swiss runs to the BJK final, Golubic has gone a combined 4-1 (3-1 in singles).


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DOWN (nation): ITA
...granted, no one confuses the current Italian team with the multi-title squads led by the likes of Pennetta, Schiavone, Errani & Vinci, but Team Italia has made something of a comeback from seeming post-Quartet oblivion, hence the nation's appearance in these finals.

But, make no mistake, Italy (w/ Camila Giorgi back again on the Did Not Report list) crashed and burned in Glasgow, going 0-2 in group play without winning a match vs. either (tough foes, yes) Switzerland or Canada. Elisabetta Cocciaretto was the best performer, holding MP vs. Teichmann in the opening RR match. But Jasmine Paolini and Martina Trevisan didn't pull off the necessary heroics, with the latter Roland Garros semifinalist getting double-bageled by Leylah Fernandez in her only singles outing.

Still, Italy has an underrated bench of talent (Lucia Bronzetti didn't see the court in singles in Glasgow), and quite a (fairly) recent history of success to pull from. One wonders if one of the "old guard" -- either Pennetta, Schiavone or Vinci -- might one day replace Tathiana Garbin as captain.
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BEST CAPTAINSHIP: Alicia Molik/AUS
...it's hard to argue with Molik perhaps having moved into the lead position formerly held by the likes of Mauresmo, Pala and Rinaldi when it comes to being Cup "whisperers." Even with the new format taking away some of the strategic lineup jockeying that took place during crucial two-day, best-of-five ties for berths in the semis and final, Molik has proven adept at utilizing what she *has* rather than simply looking at the rankings when it comes to roster-building and match-ups.

It was "easy" putting the entire kit-and-kaboodle on Ash Barty's shoulders. That happened in 2019, and the former #1 *nearly* rode the Aussies all the way to their first Cup title since 1974 (coming up just a DD match short vs. France). But Barty opted out of participating in last year's finals (maybe that should have been an early warning sign?) and Molik *still* guided the Aussies out of group play and into the semis while going with a singles trio of Tomljanovic, Sanders and the just-returned-from-injury Dasha (then still) Gavrilova.

This time around, with Dasha (now) Saville out injured again, Tomljanovic and Sanders led the way once more, with AUS singles #9 Storm also pulling WD duty w/ Stosur. AUS #3 Priscilla Hon was present, but failed to make her Cup WS debut. The resulting three-year RU-SF-RU run is *the* best -- albeit title-less -- of any nation. AUS and SUI both have two finals, but no other nation has reached the final four three years running (CZE, FRA and USA have just one result each).



Though one wonders why they hadn't *already* been on the roster, GBR captain Anne Keothavong's adding of Barnett/Nicholls to the British squad when Raducanu (if not for her wrist injury, nothing would have likely changed) withdrew last month proved to be the key move (well, other than the site change) that pushed Team GB into the semis for the first time since '81. I guess that counts as a "whispering" move, right?



Meanwhile, longtime Swiss captain Heinz Gunthardt didn't top this list despite heading up the nation's first title run. Really, his role has sort of always felt like one of just putting up the highest ranked player and hoping that Belinda carries (or is healthy enough to play for) the team. This time she was able to do push it all the way over the finish line in a format that only required one week of play *all year long* to win the crown. Gunthardt *does* get credit, though, for knowing when to play his Teichmann and Golubic cards, and knowing not to *overplay* the former too much for her own good.


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CAPTAINS (DOWN): Kathy Rinaldi/USA and Peta Pala/CZE
...did either long-time "whisperer" made bad decisions? No. But *so* much is expected of both, based on their history, that any wobble is noticeable.

The U.S. had a big group of players make their marks in '22, including four Top 20 players, nine in the Top 50 and thirteen in the Top 100. But none of them helped much in Glasgow.

Jessie Pegula (as expected) scratched from the roster after her heavy work load in the WTAF, immediately putting the team behind the 8-ball (but, hey, at least she didn't screw up a snap from center on her own half-yard line with the game on the line... so there's that). Danielle Collins barely edged Magdelena Frech vs. Poland, then barely showed up vs. Marketa Vondrousova in the Group-deciding tie vs. CZE. Depending on Madison Keys in a big match is always eyebrow-raising, and she fell in three to Magda Linette in her only singles appearance. Coco Gauff was exhausted in Fort Worth, but made the trek to Glasgow, perhaps looking for redemption. She teamed with Caty McNally in a "McCoco" reunion to win a DD over the Iga-less Poles, but ended her season on a five-match singles losing streak with a loss to Katerina Siniakova, ending the U.S.'s semifinal chances.

Rinaldi didn't have a lot of wiggle room, and surely didn't *want* to have to call on Coco in singles to save the day against the Czechs. But she did. A more creative move might have been to insert the recently streaking McNally into the singles #2 slot with the team's survival on the line vs. an emotional Siniakova. But we never got to see how that might have worked out. As noted, more "whispering" is expected.

The Czech Republic is always an easy pre-season and pre-finals pick to win another title, but it hasn't lifted a trophy since 2018.

For a bit in Glasgow, Pala seemed fully on his old game. Even with Barbora Krejcikova's late withdrawal, the Czech team was gifted with the sudden return to form on the ITF level of Marketa Vondrousova in recents weeks after not playing since her April wrist injury. Karolina Muchova was available for the finals, as well, along with Siniakova and vet Karolina Pliskova. Muchova got Pala an opening win in RR play vs. Frech and the gutty Poles, but Pliskova claimed just five games vs. Linette. But have no fear, for Siniakova/Vondrousova came in to win a DD match, then swept their singles vs. the USA in a battle for the Group D crown.

It was after that that things got dicey.

Keeping Siniakova and Vondrousova at bay, perhaps for a potential DD vs. the Swiss in the semis, Pala went with his every-other-day singles lineup of Muchova and Pliskova again. This time the Pala magic didn't work. Muchova fell in straights to Golubic. But, even down 0-1, Pala stayed with the flagging Pliskova rather than pull the proverbial rip cord and change things up by playing one of the other two (oh, if Barbora had been available). Pliskova put up a fight vs. Bencic, but blew a 5-2 2nd set lead and and lost in straights, ending the Czechs' run without the two most in-form players on the team hitting the court in the semis.

After the U.S. and CZE claimed seven of eight Cup titles from 2011-18, neither has reached the final since they faced off for the crown in '18. They only have one SF each in the last three versions of the event, with the Czechs not taking advantage of being the hosts of last year's finals. Of course, one look at the long list of young talent (aka "reinforcements") from both nations currently proliferating all over the WTA rankings makes one safe in the assumption that both will be back. Big time. Especially the Czechs.
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1. BJK rr Match #1 - Jil Teichmann/SUI def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA
...6-3/4-6/7-6(5). In probably the most blatantly dramatic match of the week, Teichmann rallies from 5-2 down in the 3rd, with Cocciaretto holding a MP and serving for the win. The Swiss battled back, but failed to serve out the win at 6-5, only to win the deciding TB to end the 3:07 affair.

The two were even at 123-123 in points, with the Italian holding a 30-22 winners edge, while putting up 52 UE to Teichmann's 44 in the freewheeling contest.


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2. BJK SF Match #3 - Storm Sanders/Samantha Stosur (AUS) def. Alicia Barnett/Olivia Nicholls (GBR)
...7-6(1)/6-7(5) (10-6). In perhaps Stosur's last *big* match, she and Sanders carry the Aussies past the Brits (and the crowd) to the nation's 19th Cup final.


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3. BJK rr Match #3 - Katerina Siniakova/Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) def. Katarzyna Kawa/Magdalena Frech (POL)
...6-2/6-3. Does any nation do deciding doubles matches better than the Czech Republic?

Three of CZE's six Cup title runs under Pala included advancements via DD, including *both* in the SF and Final in the first in 2011, and in *all* three rounds of play in '16.
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4. BJK rr Match #3 - Coco Gauff/Caty McNally (USA) def. Magda Linette/Alicja Rosolska (POL)
...6-1/6-2. McCoco lives!


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5. BJK rr Match #1 - Nuria Parrizas Diaz/ESP def. Yulia Putintseva/KAZ
...6-4/2-6/7-6(5). Is it really Fed BJK Cup if Putintseva doesn't blow a match against a player she should beat?

The Kazakh led 2-0 in the 3rd, only to drop four straight games. She saved 2 MP at 5-4, but lost the deciding TB.

NPD notched just two *total* games vs. Heather Watson the next day.
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6. BJK rr Match #2 - Harriet Dart/GBR def. Paula Badosa/ESP
...6-3/6-4. Raducanu aside, Dart has been *the* British revelation the last season or two. This huge win kept the British hopes alive in RR play.


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7. BJK rr Match #3 - Alicia Barnett/Olivia Nicholls (GBR) def. Aliona Bolsova/Rebeka Masarova (ESP)
...7-6(5)/6-2). When is a dead rubber doubles match not a dead rubber doubles match? When it decides the Group winner in a stupid format that makes everything feel like a crapshoot. I'm just sayin'.


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8. BJK SF Match #2 - Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Karolina Pliskova/CZE
...6-2/7-6(6). The last big match in Pliskova's stellar Cup career? After all, the Crushers need to rise, and is Pliskova (rather than Krejcikova, Siniakova and/or Muchova or Bouzkova) the veteran team presence that will stick around to guide the next generation? As a result, for the first time since the Petra generation's first Cup title run in 2011 the nation has gone title-less for three-straight Cup seasons (four in real time).
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*BJK CUP PLAYOFF TIES*


Meanwhile, did you know that there was a whole *other* set of BJK ties (8, in fact) taking place this weekend? Well, there were, though you'd have had to squint to notice their existence within the competition's headspace in an already overcrowded finals environment. The "extra" ties were pretty much ignored on Cup social media (a virtual no-show) *and* the official website (where one news story wrapped each *entire* day's action with a handful of few one sentence paragraphs that combined to take up less space than the description of a set or two from a match played in round robin ties in the finals).

I'm not going to completely turn my back on these ties (played in the traditional best-of-five, two-day format), but I'll give these Playoffs (not "Qualifiers," as they were called in a Cup social media tweet) to determine the nations who'll play in next spring's (actual) Qualifiers for a berth in the 2023 Finals monster next fall, something akin here to the space the organizers gave these match-ups within the overall BJK landscape.

FRA def. NED 3-1 [Le Portel, FRA]
MVP: Alize Cornet/FRA
...just how good a season has it been for Cornet? Well, she even came through for the Pastries in Cup play! (Virtually unheard of!) Though France was the overwhelming favorite against the Dutch, expecting to get a win from Cornet in Match #1 over Lesley Kerkhove was never a given for Julien Benneteau. Even in her resurgent (and more) season, Cornet had lost to Jasmine Paolini in an April Cup Qualifier tie. Bucking the odds, though, Cornet defeated Kerkhove 6-2/6-0.

A debuting Diane Parry followed up by coming back from a set down to win a 3rd set TB over Suzan Lamens, then Caroline Garcia's plane touched down in Le Portel to complete her remarkable two-week run with a clinching win over Kerkhove to complete the singles sweep.




GER def. CRO 3-1 [Rijeka, CRO]
MVP: Anna-Lena Friedsam/GER
...let the age of the new generation commence. Said Anna-Lena: "No so fast."

Day 1 saw 20-year old Eva Lys make her Cup debut with a 6-1/6-4 win over Croatian vet Petra Martic. Reigning AO junior champ Petra Marcinko, 16, leveled the tie by taking out Julie Niemeier 6-3/6-2, then saw the 23-year old German open Day 2 by giving the visitors a 2-1 lead with a 2 & 1 win over Ana Konjuh. Marcinko, having already starred in Cup play in the spring and with "future star" written all over her, seemed set to send things to the deciding doubles, but Friedsam instead squelched all hopes of a Croatian comeback with a 6-4/6-1 victory that will send the bulk of the new contingent of Germans into next spring's Qualifiers with a real chance to make their first mark in Cup competition in '23.


ROU def. HUN 4-0 [Gradea, ROU]
MVP: Ana Bogdan/ROU
...Romania has always had a great depth of talent over the past decade, but rarely has it been sufficiently healthy enough to allow the team to put on a real Cup run (save for a '19 SF). Against a Hungarian team filled with members who have posted career years the last two seasons, the Romanians never dropped the ball once, sweeping in front of a home crowd with its "B.2"-team. Bogdan, who didn't play her first Cup singles match until last year, won two matches here, including the clincher over Panna Udvardy, while Countess Jaqueline Cristian won a 3rd set TB in Match #2 over Anna Bondar that gave the team what was an insurmountable lead to end Day 1.



AUT def. LAT 3-2 [dd] [Schwechat, AUT]
MVP: Melanie Klaffner/Sinja Kraus, AUT
...with her Cup running mate Anastasija Sevastova in semi-retirement (?), Ostapenko had the virtual weight of the entire Latvian team on her shoulders. In typical Ostapenko fashion, she crazily pulled her weight in singles, going three sets and saving 2 MP against #492 Tamira Paszek to open the tie, then surviving another three-setter agaist #197 Sinja Kraus. But Paszek, in her first Cup action since 2017, defeated Diana Marcinkevica to send things to the deciding doubles, where Klaffner/Kraus defeated Ostapenko/Marcinkevica 7-5/6-3.

UKR def. JPN 3-1 [Tokyo, JPN]
MVP: Marta Kostyuk/UKR
...Ukraine's team consisted of just three players, while Japan was five strong on home court. But I suppose Ukrainians have a pretty good handle on thriving against opponents with greater numbers and with the odds seemingly stacked against them, huh?

In this case, Kostyuk led her countrywoman *on* the court, posting a pair of straight sets wins to improve to 6-1 in her Cup singles career (her only loss was vs. Ash Barty in '18) as Japan fell in three straight singles matches without winning a set.



BRA def. ARG 3-1 [Tuchman, ARG]
MVP: Beatriz Haddad Maia/BRA
...in a South American old guard vs. new guard match-up, the newly-powerful Brazilians emerged victorious on Argentinian clay. Once more, as she had in zone play in the spring, Haddad led the way. A Top 15 s/d player in '22, Bia went 2-0 in singles (def. Nadia Podoroska and Maria Carle), setting up Laura Pigossi (who'd lost to Paula Ormaechea in the Argentine's only appearance of the weekend) to clinch the tie with a 2 & love win over youngster Solana Sierra.

SLO def. CHN 3-1 [Velenje, SLO]
MVP: Kaja Juvan/SLO
...Slovenia takes advantage of a home clay court to down the always disappointing Chinese Cup effort. Zheng Qinwen -- as she will for the next decade -- carried the bulk of China's hopes on her shoulders, and opened the tie with a quick win over Nina Potocnik. But Juvan's back-to-back wins over two days against Wang Xinyu and Zheng (after dropping the 1st and going to a TB in the 2nd) put SLO up 2-1. Potocnik then handled Wang Xiyu 3 & 2 to secure the win with her first Cup match win since 2019.



MEX def. SRB 4-0 [San Luis Potosi, MEX]
MVP: Maria Zacarias/MEX
...with the Bracelet out injured, the Bracelettes were left to fight alone. Three different Serbs lost singles matches, including Olga Danilovic (whose results have bottomed out since her final run in Lausanne in July) in Match #1 to Renata Zarazua. Baby-Bracelette-in-Training Lola Radivojevic (17), who witnessed Aleksandra Krunic very nearly carry Serbia through to a zone win *all* on her own (she came up a deciding doubles match short) in April, fell to Zacarias in a three-set encounter that made the Serbian hopes of victory a bridge too far at the end of Day 2.

Zacarias, the Mexican career leader with 19 singles wins and 21 overall, clinched the singles sweep with a love & 4 win over Natalija Stevanovic. Radivojevic was the only Serb to win a set in the four matches played.



Of note, Mexico -- like the Brits -- drew quite the "lucky" card in this Cup. With the RUS & BLR bans, Mexico (& Serbia) both were added to these Playoffs despite having lost in zone play in April, falling in an Americas I Promotional Playoff vs. Argentina. Now, rather than being back in zone play next spring, Mexico will be in the *World Group Qualifiers*, one tie (vs. ESP) from what would be a stunning appearance in next fall's BJK Cup finals. One would expect (hope) that Fernanda Contreras will be in attendance to give the team a fighting a chance in singles, with the hope that Giuliana Olmos might be able to help pull off a big doubles win.






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RISER: Mayar Sherif/EGY
...it wasn't easy, but Sherif once *again* made history this week. And it wasn't (well, not technically) solely an "Egyptian thing."

In a WTA 125 challenger in Colina, Italy, Sherif continued her strong fall after her return from the foot fracture she suffered at Roland Garros. Already a two-time 125 winner in '22 before the injury, Sherif dropped her first four matches when she returned during the hard court summer. Since then, though, she's posted a tour-level QF (Bucharest) result and won her maiden tour singles title in Parma.

This week, Sherif ran off wins over Brenda Fruhvirtova, Emma Navarro, Caroline Dolehide and Kateryna Baindl, after nearly blowing 5-2 3rd set leads in the latter two matches (she won a match-ending TB in the SF against the Bannerette, and a 7-5 3rd in the final vs. the Ukrainian, finally serving out the title with a hold on her third try). She's now won ten straight matches, and is 13-2 in her last fifteen.



Sherif also reached the doubles final alongside Tamara Zidansek, falling to Yana Sizikova & Aldila Sutjiadi.

The singles win gives Sherif four career WTA 125 singles crowns, putting her alone atop the all-time title-winners list in the category.

After reaching the Top 50 earlier this season -- the first Egyptian to do so -- Sherif was only #63 in last week's season-ending rankings due to her injury layoff. This week's title run pushes her back to #50 in the offseason rankings, just a bit behind her career high of #44.


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ITF PLAYER: Robin Montgomery/USA
...a big fall result from the 18-year old 2021 U.S. Open junior champ, as Montgomery knocked off the likes of Sabine Lisicki, Jamie Loeb and Urszula Radwanska ('07 U.S. Open girls' winner) in a 7-5/7-6 final to claimed her second and biggest career title at the $60K challenger in Calgary.

Montgomery's previous ITF title run came back in 2020, before her Flushing Meadows girls' singles/doubles sweep last year.

Radwanska was looking for what would have been her biggest singles title since 2012.


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1. $25K Sharm El Sheikh EGY Final - Arantxa Rus def. Yuliya Hatouka
...6-2/6-1. The veteran Dutch sweeps the singles and doubles crowns in Sharm El Sheikh, picking up her 30th (s) and 12th (wd, w/ Nina Stojanovic) career ITF titles. Though she took a step back in the rankings in 2022 -- going from #62 to #117 since the end of last year -- Rus has claimed three singles challenger crowns this season.
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2. Colina 125 1st Rd. - Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva def. Ipek Oz
...7-6(3)/1-6/6-2. VJK's win in Chile came on U.S. Election Night a continent north. Hmmm, did Oprah endorse the Andorran against *this* Oz, too?
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3. Colina 125 QF - Kateryna Baindl def. Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva
...6-7(7)/6-2/6-3. The 17-year old falls two rounds short of her first 125 final. Ranked #129, the former junior slam champ -- one would think -- will surely get another chance (as a wild card?) in the upcoming debut edition of the WTA 125 challenger in Andorra at the end of the month.
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1. Colina 125 SF - Mayar Sherif def. Caroline Dolehide 7-6(6)/4-6/7-6(3)
Colina 125 Final - Mayar Sherif def. Kateryna Baindl 3-6/7-6(3)/7-5
...Sherif led 5-2 in the 3rd in both her semifinal and final matches, only to fail to serve out the matches three times (once vs. Dolehide, twice vs. Baindl).

She won a TB to reach the final, where she broke Baindl to finish off her record-breaking singles run to become the first woman to win four WTA 125 titles in her career (all since last September).
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2. Colina 125 2nd Rd. - Mayar Sherif d. Brenda Fruhvirtova
...6-2/4-6/7-5. The youngest player ranked in the Top 200 (and 400), 15-year old Fruhvirtova just misses out on her first career Top 100 win.


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*2023 BJK CUP FINALS NATIONS - 12*
Switzerland (2022 champion)
Australia (2022 finalist)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (qualifier - April '23)
xxx (host nation - TBD)
xxx (wild card)
[advance to 2023 Qualifying Rd.- 8 PO Winners + 8 '22 non-SF Finals Nations]
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
France
Germany
Italy
Kazakhstan
Mexico
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Ukraine
United States
[fall to 2023 Zone I play - 8 '22 PO Losers]
Argentina
China
Croatia
Hungary
Japan
Latvia
Netherlands
Serbia

*FED CUP/BJK CUP FINALS*
1963 United States def. Australia 2-1
1964 Australia def. United States 2-1
1965 Australia def. United States 2-1
1966 United States def. West Germany 3-0
1967 United States def. Great Britain 2-0
1968 Australia def. Netherlands 3-0
1969 United States def. Australia 2-1
1970 Australia def. West Germany 3-0
1971 Australia def. Great Britain 3-0
1972 South Africa def. Great Britain 2-1
1973 Australia def. South Africa 3-0
1974 Australia def. United States 2-1
1975 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 3-0
1976 United States def. Australia 2-1
1977 United States def. Australia 2-1
1978 United States def. Australia 2-1
1979 United States def. Australia 3-0
1980 United States def. Australia 3-0
1981 United States def. Great Britain 3-0
1982 United States def. West Germany 3-0
1983 Czechoslovakia def. West Germany 2-1
1984 Czechoslovakia def. Australia 2-1
1985 Czechoslovakia def. United States 2-1
1986 United States def. Czechoslovakia 3-0
1987 West Germany def. United States 2-1
1988 Czechoslovakia def. USSR 2-1
1989 United States def. Spain 3-0
1990 United States def. USSR 2-1
1991 Spain def. United States 2-1
1992 Germany def. Spain 2-1
1993 Spain def. Australia 3-0
1994 Spain def. United States 3-0
1995 Spain def. United States 3-2
1996 United States def. Spain 5-0
1997 France def. Netherlands 4-1
1998 Spain def. Switzerland 3-2
1999 United States def. Russia 4-1
2000 United States def. Spain 5-0
2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1
2002 Slovak Republic def. Spain 3-1
2003 France def. United States 4-1
2004 Russia def. France 3-2
2005 Russia def. France 3-2
2006 Italy def. Belgium 3-2
2007 Russia def. Italy 4-0
2008 Russia def. Spain 4-0
2009 Italy def. United States 4-0
2010 Italy def. United States 3-1
2011 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2
2012 Czech Republic def. Serbia 3-1
2013 Italy def. Russia 4-0
2014 Czech Republic def. Germany 3-1
2015 Czech Republic def. Russia 3-2
2016 Czech Republic def. France 3-2
2017 United States def. Belarus 3-2
2018 Czech Republic def. United States 3-0
2019 France def. Australia 3-2
2020-21 Russia (RTF) def. Switzerland 2-0
2022 Switzerland def. Australia 2-0
[MOST TITLES]
18 - United States
11 - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia
7 - Australia
5 - Russia
5 - Spain
4 - Italy
3 - France
2 - West Germany/Germany
2 - Slovakia
1 - Belgium
1 - South Africa
1 - Switzerland

*BACKSPIN FED CUP/BJK CUP AWARDS*
*-non-title winning nation
[PLAYER OF YEAR]
2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2006 Francesca Schiavone, RUS
2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2012 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2016 Caroline Garcia, FRA*
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2019 Ash Barty, AUS*
2020-21 Jil Teichmann, SUI*
2022 Belinda Bencic, SUI
[CAPTAIN OF YEAR]
2015 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA*
2016 Paul Haarhuis, NED*
2017 Kathy Rinaldi, USA
2018 Kathy Rinaldi, USA*
2019 Julien Benneteau, FRA
2020-21 Igor Andreev, RUS (RTF)
2022 Alicia Molik, AUS*
[FINALS MVP]
2002 Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
2003 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2004 Anastasia Myskina, RUS
2005 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2006 Francesa Schiavone, ITA
2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE
2013 Roberta Vinci, ITA
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2015 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2016 Barbora Strycova, CZE
2017 CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
2019 Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
2021 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (RTF)
2022 Belinda Bencic, SUI

*RECENT FC/BJK SEMIFINAL NATIONS (W-RU-SF/SF)*
2015: CZE-RUS, FRA/GER
2016: CZE-FRA, SUI/NED
2017: USA-BLR, CZE/SUI
2018: CZE-USA, GER/FRA
2019: FRA-AUS, ROU/BLR
2021: RTF-SUI, AUS/USA
2022: SUI-AUS, CZE/GBR

*FC/BJK CUP FINAL - SINGLES CLINCHER VICTORY; since 2000*
[finals event; 2000-2001]
2000 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2001 Kim Clijsters, BEL
[single-elimination bracket format; 2002-19]
2002 Janette Husarova, SVK
2003 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2007 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2008 Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2009 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2010 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2012 Lucie Safarova, CZE
2013 Sara Errani, ITA
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
[finals event; 2020/21-current]
2021 Liudmila Samsonova, RUS (RTF)
2022 Belinda Bencic, SUI

*ALL-TIME WTA 125 SINGLES TITLES*
4 - MAYAR SHERIF, EGY
3 - Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
3 - Vitalia Diatcenko, RUS
3 - Alison Van Uytvanck, BEL
3 - Zheng Saisai, CHN






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