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Monday, January 16, 2023

AO.1 - A Day in the Year of a Life

The differences between one year and the next can come with seemingly alarming suddenness and thudding starkness in the opening outing in a slam, both when things go a player's way and when they don't.

Case in point from Day 1: Marta Kostyuk and Amanda Anisimova.



A year ago, Anisimova put on a run to the Australian Open Round of 16, saving two MP in a 3rd Rounder vs. defending champion Naomi Osaka, setting the tone for the 20-year old's best season in three years.

The former Roland Garros semifinalist posted her best career season-ending ranking (#23) in 2022, her first Top 25 finish since '19, a season in which she'd reached her first major semifinal (in Paris) and won her maiden tour title. But by the end of that season, Anisimova had seen her father (who was also her coach) die suddenly during the summer. Over the next two years, as she fell to #78 by the end of 2021, she struggled to find her way again before her trip Down Under last January finally offered her a chance at something resembling renewal. It began with a pre-AO title run, her first in three seasons, and Anisimova would go on to beat Osaka in Paris, as well, and followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon QF.

This year, though, the #28-seeded Bannerette was the First Seed Out on Monday, falling to Kostyuk 6-1/6-4 and joining the pregnant Osaka on the AO sidelines just one day into the event. Anisimova, already with her fair share of emotional disappointent and tragedy in her young life, was crying before the match was over. Unfortunately, it's not the first time one of her matches has concluded with such a note in recent seasons.



Kostyuk has seen quite a bit change over the course of the past year, too.

At this time in 2022, her home nation wasn't yet a war zone as a result of the aggression of Vladimir Putin's Russian military, and she'd yet to assume a leading (and sometimes overly strident?) role as a voice for Ukraine (and against players hailing from her nation's tormenter) on the WTA tour. What had seemed destined to be a big year for Kostyuk *on* the court proved to be one that saw her maintain an unspectacular-but-admirable level there (a 250 SF, w/ Q runs in Rome in Cincinnati) while also finding her way through the anger and ongoing morass that would seem to be natural when one finds their nation fighting for its very existence.

Like Ukraine, Kostyuk persevered.

Just weeks before the Russian invasion, Kostyuk had reached her career high ranking (#49) last February. She never got higher, but continued to play, and train, and achieve. She won her first tour doubles title in September, and finished the year at #57. She reached a QF in Adelaide to open her '23 campaign, posting a win over Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina, and pushed Ons Jabeur in a 7-6/7-5 defeat.

Kostyuk has often seemed at home in Australia, winning the AO girls' title in 2017 and then putting on a 3rd Round run a year later as a quirky, fun qualifier taking on the women's draw head-on (and loving it) at just age 15, becoming the youngest to go so far in the tournament in two decades (she opened with a win over #25 Peng Shuai, and eventually fell to #4-seeded countrywoman Elina Svitolina). To all, Kostyuk appeared set to become the next in the long line of new WTA stars.

Five years, and a weaving path, later, she's still on course. This month it was announced that Kostyuk had signed Wilson's first "head-to-toe" endorsement deal, becoming a "360 athlete." The deal, combined with still more on-court success, could usher the Ukrainian into the next, far more lucrative phase of a promising career.



As the war wears on back home while Kostyuk's star simultaneously continues to rise, she'll continue to be called upon to be a voice for her people near and far.



For one who has never blinked when it's come to speaking her mind, the added exposure isn't likely to cause her to flinch nor pull any punches (earlier this year, she retweeted a report about Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka spending a week in Russia for offseason training, which as far as I know isn't *forbidden* by the tour).

If that side of Kostyuk blends with a similar on-court version of herself, for Marta, 2023 could be a *very* big year indeed.




=DAY 1 NOTES=
...as noted, the opening days of majors (especially the first one of the year) are often about marking time, as new career barriers are broken, previous disappointments are officially put in the past, and (on occasion) declarations of intention are made in clear-as-crystal fashion.

#3 Jessie Pegula's Monday may have neatly fit into the latter category, as the "QF queen" (as in three QF at majors last season, four in the past two years, including two straight in Melbourne -- but, so far, no slam semifinals on the resume) took care of business (unlike her family's NFL team, which nearly screwed around and blew a playoff game on Sunday that *should* have been a walk in Orchard Park), brushing aside Jaqueline Cristian like a Romanian gnat (sans cape) in a 1 & love victory that made the Buffalo native the first player to reach the 2nd Round at this Australian Open. It was the sort of nice, no-drama start that a player looking to do business at the *tail*-end of a major can begin to build some momentum behind.



...meanwhile, a year after seeing how "the other half" lives by being the First Seed Out, #7 Coco Gauff followed sometimes-doubles partner Pegula into the 2nd Round early in the day, defeating Katerina Siniakova 6-1/6-4 to maintain her perfect record (6-0, 12-0 in sets played) on the season.

Gauff will next face Emma Raducanu, who rebounded from her Week 1 retirement loss to defeat Tamara Korpatsch and improve to 14-5 in slam MD matches in her career.

Never past the 2nd Round in her previous two appearances in the AO MD, Bianca Andresscu will get another chance to advance after defeating #25 Marie Bouzkova (Second Seed Out) 6-2/6-4. Since her 2019 U.S. Open title run, the Canadian has yet to return to a major QF.



In a match-up of slam first-timers, Aussie wild card Olivia Gadecki made her belated AO debut a winning one, eliminating qualifier Polina Kudermetova. Qualifier Diana Shnaider notched her first career slam MD win with a victory over Kristina Kucova.



...in a match-up of former AO champs, #24 Victoria Azarenka outlasted Sofia Kenin 6-4/7-6, with both women maintaining the good form with which they came to Melbourne. Kenin, despite falling to 1-3 in AO play since her title run, still exits Australia with a newly upward trajectory after her Hobert SF result and tight loss today.



On the other end of the experience spectrum, the two youngest players in the women's draw saw their AO runs end early in straights sets on Day 1, with 15-year old Brenda Fruhvirtova falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich and 16-year old Sara Bejlek going out at the hands of countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova, the #20 seed. The Czech qualifiers will be followed tomorrow by the *third*-youngest Crusher (and overall player) in the MD, as 17-year old Linda Fruhvirtova (already a tour title winner in Chennai in '22) makes her Melbourne debut.

...reigning AO finalist Danielle Collins (#13) knocked off Anna Kalinskaya 7-5/5-7/6-4, but is dealing with a knee injury, so one wonders just how long her points defense will last at this slam. (Although it'll probablyy be longer than Kalinskaya's would have had she been able to wrestle this one away for the win... because, you know, every big Kalinskaya win seems to *always* be accomanied by a retirement soon afterward, right?)



#29 Zheng Qinwen retired from her match last week with Petra Kvitova after just one set, leaving open the question of her health for this AO. Oh, Dalma Galfi wishes.

The Hungarian was nearly double-bagled by the 20-year old from China on Monday, avoiding a love and love loss with a game win after trailing 6-0/5-0.



...later in Melbourne, the first night session of this AO will finally allow a woman -- two, in fact -- not named Ash to play under the lights on Laver, as #1 Iga Swiatek faces Jule Niemeier. On MCA, Swiatek's fellow '22 semifinalist Madison Keys (#10) meets Anna Blinkova.

A year ago, eventual champ Barty played six of her seven matches in the Aussie summer event under the cover the darkness.





...Hmmm, is this a sneaky attempt to win the 2023 Newcombe Medal?...ON DAY 1:




...YOU CAN'T KNOW THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A PROGRAM...ON DAY 1:



She lost, by the way.













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*RECENT AO "FIRST VICTORY" HONORS*
2019 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (def. Cirstea)
2020 Paula Badosa, ESP (def. Larsson)
2021 Naomi Osaka, JPN (def. Pavlyuchenkova)
2022 Camila Giorgi, ITA (def. Potapova)
2023 Jessie Pegula, USA (def. Cristian)

*RECENT AO "FIRST SEED OUT"*
2015 #32 Belinda Bencic, SUI (lost to Goerges)
2016 #17 Sara Errani, ITA (lost to Gasparyan)
2017 #4 Simona Halep, ROU (lost to Rogers)
2018 #13 Sloane Stephens, USA (lost to Sh.Zhang)
2019 #14 Julia Goerges, GER (lost to Collins)
2020 #32 Barbora Strycova, CZE (lost to Cirstea)
2021 #23 Angelique Kerber, GER (lost to Pera)
2022 #18 Coco Cauff, USA (lost to Q.Wang)
2023 #28 Amanda Anisimova, USA (lost to Kostyuk)






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TOP QUALIFIER: Katherine Sebov, CAN
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - #27 Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE def. Daria Snigur/UKR 5-7/7-6(3)/6-3 (rallies from 7-5/5-1, break down twice early in the 3rd; 15-year old is youngest in AO MD in slam debut)
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #3 Jessie Pegula/USA (def. Jaqueline Cristian/ROU)
FIRST SEED OUT: #28 Amanda Anisimova/USA (1r-lost to Kostyuk/UKR)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Day 1: Anna Bondar/HUN, Olivia Gadecki/AUS, Diana Shnaider/RUS
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Day 1: Muchova
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: xx
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Bucsa, Burel, Shnaider
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: Gadecki
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Day 1 wins: Gadecki
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT (??): xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: xx
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominees: xx
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
AUSTRALIAN LANGUARGE ARTS AWARD: Nominee: one year after Barty is first WS champ in 44 years, #160 Fourlis is highest ranked AUS in MD
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx





All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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