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Thursday, January 19, 2023

AO.4 - A Renaissance in Shadows

Umm, can we talk about the Russians? I mean, really... can we?

No, I don't mean Putin's invasion of Ukraine, what any individual player who happens to hail from Russia has said about it publicly, what they *should* say about it and/or how loudly they might do it (per Marta, who says their comparative "silence" makes the more outspoken Ukrainians on tour appear to "want" war... and if that particular "reasoning" makes no earthly sense to you, then join the club, I guess), all of which some choose to take to heart without bothering to know the individual circumstances back home of the players in question (i.e. "accused").

I'm talking about, quite simply, the return of a large group of Russian women with both intent and significant results on the WTA tour. You know, the novel concept of tennis played by tennis players. Yeah, that.

As a collective group, the current crop is nowhere near producing the list of accomplishments that the Original Hordettes constructed beginning now nearly (gulp) two decades ago when three *different* first-time slam champions hailed from the nation in 2004 (and a fourth reached two major finals) and they and a horde of like-minded countrywomen populated the tour and slam stage with legit contenders for the rest of that decade and throughout the next.

While the Originals and those that immediately followed in their wake never went away, their high-level play (and seemingly neverending, Czech-like depth) did go through a natural numerical ebb as the initial high-caliber talent wave grew older, moved on or saw their careers shift along with their life priorities.

In tennis terms, we've spent much of the last year talking about Russian players in terms of whether they should or shouldn't have flags or "RUS" next to their names, whether they're openly gay or not, whether their fans can bring flags to their matches, whether they can play in England and, in the mind of some, whether they should even be able to play on tour *at all* (or are even worthy of a sporting handshake at the end of a match... yeah, Marta again).

And yet, even with all these non-tennis topics at the top of the conversation in '22, the past season saw the recent Hordette Renaissance produce better results than we've seen in years. Russian women won more titles (9) in a season since 2010, the 13 tour singles finalists were the most since 2013, and the 30 SF+ results the most since '11. Two players (#8 Dasha Kasatkina, #9 Veronika Kudermetova) finished in the Top 10 for the first time since '11, and Kasatkina's maiden slam semifinal (RG) came a year after fellow "second wave" Hordette Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had reached her first at RG in '21 (while a RUS-born Kazakh, Elena Rybakina, won Wimbledon while her former countrywomen were locked outside the AELTC gates).

This growing (again) collection of deep talent led to Hordettes filling 14 slots in the MD at this Australian Open, the most in any major since the 2011 U.S. Open (17). The group included two first-time slammers (Diana Shnaider and Polina Kudermetova), and another teen (Oksana Selekhmeteva) who joined the three-strong contingent that emerged from AO qualifying.

As was the case in decades past, there has been strength in numbers in Melbourne...




=DAY 4 NOTES=
...and the Hordettes would need those numbers on Thursday, too.

While #8 Kasatkina was the highest women's seed to fall in the 1st Round, she did so at the hands of countrywoman Varvara Gracheva. Meanwhile, #9 Kudermetova and Top 20 seeded Liudmila Samsonova and Ekaterina Alexandrova picked up the slack, and were joined in the 1st Round winner's circle by Anastasia Potapova and Shnaider.

Only Shnaider made it through in the top half of the draw, where she very nearly upset #6 Maria Sakkari yesterday in the 2nd Round (even in defeat, the 18-year old grew three sizes in recognition, acknowledged future threat potential and, really, even overall popularity), while the other five Hordettes rode into today's bottom half matches like a wave of talent similar to "the old days."

Just like then, though, some would prove to be more equal than others.

The first two Hordettes to hit the court today did so simultaneously, as Kudermetova took on qualifier Katie Volynets, while #19 Alexandrova faced wild card Taylor Townsend. Both saw their opponents take the 1st set, but then leveled the match to send things to a deciding 3rd.

Alexandrova pulled out of a 3-3 tie, denying Townsend on two GP chances and finally breaking on her third BP of the game to take a 4-3 edge. She consolidated her lead with a hold, then broke the Bannerette again to finish off a 1-6/6-2/6-3 victory, giving this AO a Russian presence in the 3rd Round for the 87th time in 89 majors.



Kudermetova wasn't so fortunate.



Volynets, 21, continued her rise since opening the season by becoming the first player to lose to Venus Williams in singles since the '21 Wimbledon. The California native, who posted her maiden slam MD win last year in Paris after winning a USTA WC into Roland Garros, took 3-1 and 4-2 leads over Kudermetova in the decider. Trying to stay in the match, the Hordette rallied from 15/40 down in game #7 and held two GP in a 10-minute game, but Volynets got the decisive break and then served her way into her first slam 3rd Round via a 6-4/2-6/6-2 victory.



#18 Samsonova soon joined Kudermetova on the way out, barely registering a competitive pulse in a 6-4/6-0 loss to Donna Vekic, leaving one to wonder if she might be about to once again spin out in the season's early months for a second straight year.

With her 2nd Round exit, Samsonova stands at 2-3 in '23. Her poor start in '22 saw her at 3-3 through the AO. She ultimately started 7-8 before her spring semi in Stuttgart when she nearly upset Iga Swiatek, but that loss started a 1-7 skid that didn't turn around until she was forced to the sidelines by the LTA Russian ban (and, considering there's no end in sight to the war and TA showing at this AO with its flag ban that "making invisible" is carrying over into '23, one might expect a repeat come grass season).

Working on her game while waiting, Samsonova saved her season. She burst into the summer hard court schedule by winning her first 13 matches (w/ 2 con. titles) and completing an 18-1 run (w/ a third title) that helped see her rise from #56 in July to inside the Top 20.

We'll see if '23 turns out to be a follow-in-her-own-footsteps sequel.

Later on Thursday, Potapova fell in straight sets at the hands of Nuria Parrizas Diaz, who returns to the AO 3rd Round for a second straight year. 4-1 in Melbourne in her career, the 31-year old is 0-4 in MD play at the other three majors.

With the morning's five remaining Hordettes having shed three of four players over the course of the day, the late-starting match between Gracheva and Italian qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini stood as the last defense against the weight of the entire 14-players-strong field resting solely on the shoulders of Alexandrova in the 3rd Round.

As Alexandrova had at the start of the day, Gracheva held up her end at its finish.

Gracheva took care of Stefanini 3 & 1 to reach her fifth slam 3rd Round in ten career major MD. She's never reached a Round of 16.

Last year, Gracheva suffered through a ten-match losing streak in the middle of the season, a slide which began just as she'd reached her career-high ranking of #59 in July. She ultimately fell all the way down to #95 by the end of '22, and came to Melbourne at #97.

...in a match that somehow *didn't* qualify as a being good enough for either of the night session slots that went to Jabeur/Vondrousova (RLA) and Bencic/Liu (MCA), #4 Caroline Garcia (reigning WTAF champ) and Leylah Fernandez ('21 U.S. Open finalist) did battle on the final day session match on Laver.

Continuing to prove to be a (super) tough (if ever) out, at worst, or an inevitable contender to be playing in less than a week from now for a shot to be in a second straight major semifinal (or maybe better), Garcia saved a pair of BP in game #11 of the opening set, holding for 6-5. Fernandez took 4-0 and 5-2 leads in the set-ending TB, but the Pastry swept the final five points to grab the set and match lead.

In the 2nd, Garcia used her serve to close any and all of the doors that Fernandez threatened to open, coming back from 15/40 down at 2-3 by saving two SP with an ace and Fernandez return error. Another key ace helped Garcia get the hold, then the French woman saved a BP/SP at 5-4, again with an ace (she'd finish w/ 11). She held for 5-5, broke Fernandez's serve a game later and then served out a remarkably tidy 7-6/7-5 win againt an in-form former slam finalist who recorded just as many points (81-81) as she did.



...doubles action got underway on Day 4, and the #1-seeded defending champion Czech duo of Krejcikova/Siniakova advanced, but only after having to go three sets vs. Harrison/Eikeri. Meanwhile, Sam Stosur saw her career end (and this time she means it! Well, after the MX, at least.) when she and Alize Cornet fell to #11 Chan Hao-ching & Yang Zhaoxuan.



The reunited pair of Babos/Mladenovic also got a 1st Round win, as did #8 Sania Mirza & Anna Danilina and #2 Pegula/Gauff. But #5-seeded Lyudmyla Kichenok & Alona Ostapenko went out to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & Elena Rybakina (Adelaide 2 finalists last week).

...in the Melbourne WC Open, Diede de Groot (77 con wins.) and Yui Kamiji (45 con. wins vs. non-de Groot foes, but 15 straight losses to Diede) are set to meet in the singles final, the last tournament before arriving for the AO competition. De Groot's last singles loss came vs. Kamiji in the Melbourne Open final in 2021.





...KUDOS & HONORS TO TENNIS AUSTRALIA...ON DAY 4:

Congratulations are in order for TA for yesterday. I don't know how the heck they managed to get *all* those matches in and get the whole shebang back on schedule.

Now I think I need some mouthwash.


...SHOULDN'T VOLYNETS' "BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH" STORYLINE BE PLAYING OUT AT THE U.S. OPEN?...ON DAY 4:

If sure has that sort of first week feel.





...A NOTE FROM...ON DAY 4 NIGHT 3:

Appreciate that Danielle Collins pretty did the same move (toss racket forward onto ground, raise arms... rinse and repeat) when she defeated Karolina Muchova... both times.




...HMMM...ON DAY 4 FROM DAY 3:




I couldn't tell whether Cristina Bucsa's perpetual in-match facial expression vs. Bianca Andreescu was more of a "Mona Lisa smile" or a "Cheshire cat grin," or maybe a winning combination of the two.

I know *I* went in wanting an Andreescu win, but went out feeling really good about the newly Top 100-ranked Spaniard's victory, which came after the match momentum flipped mid-way through the 2nd set in a windy stretch of weather during which Andreescu's toss got a bit sketchy and she seemed to lose her timing overall, though the Canadian recovered and managed to reach MP in the 2nd set TB.



Bucsa's been having a *time* in Melbourne. She saved 12 set points in the opening set vs. Nao Hibino in the Q3, then she did this after qualifying for the fourth time in the last five majors...




...HMMM (II)...ON DAY 4 FROM DAY 3:



This photo reminds me of the sort of shots that'd be used on the old football posters that kids (well, me) used to put on the walls of their bedrooms.




...AND NOW "2023: #8 Dasha Kasatkina" (again)...ON DAY 4:




...IF TENNIS DOESN'T WORK OUT, THERE'S ALWAYS THE BIG TOP...ON DAY 4:
























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*RECENT AO "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"*
2013 AUS (1-6 in 1st Rd., 1-7 overall)
2014 ITA (top-seeded #7 Errani & #12 Vinci out 1st)
2015 CHN (year after Li champ, 1-5 in 1st Round)
2016 AUS (1-8 in 1st Rd.; only AUS-born in 2nd is a Brit)
2017 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., First Loss, 1st Seed Out, 3 Top 32 defeats)
2018 USA (0-8 start/1-9 on Day 1; 3/4 of '17 U.S. Open SF ousted)
2019 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed)
2020 BLR (0-2 1st Rd., #11 Sabalenka highest seed; Azarenka absent)
2021 CHN (1-5 1st Rd., two seeds, three Top 50 players ousted)
2022 CAN (0-2 1r, #23 Fernandez out; Andreescu/Bouchard DNP)
2023 GER (1-4 1r; Petkovic ret., Kerber pregnant; NextGen 0-2)

*RECENT AO "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS*
2013 Russia
2014 Australia
2015 Germany
2016 Russia
2017 United States
2018 Ukraine
2019 United States
2020 Spain
2021 United States
2022 Romania
2023 Ukraine

*RECENT AO "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS*
2013 United States
2014 Romania
2015 France
2016 China
2017 Australia
2018 Estonia
2019 Teens (6 in 2nd Rd.)
2020 Kazakhstan
2021 Estonia
2022 China
2023 Czech Republic

*RECENT AO "LAST AUSSIE STANDING" WINNERS*
2013 Samantha Stosur (2nd Rd.)
2014 Casey Dellacqua (4th Rd.)
2015 C.Dellacqua, J.Gajdosova, S.Stosur,A.Tomljanovic (2nd)
2016 Dasha Gavrilova (4th Rd.)
2017 Dasha Gavrilova (4th Rd.)
2018 Ash Barty (3rd Rd.)
2019 Ash Barty (QF)
2020 Ash Barty (SF)
2021 Ash Barty (QF)
2022 Ash Barty (W)
2023 Kimberly Birrell & Olivia Gadecki (2nd Rd.)

*RECENT AO "CRASH & BURN"*
2013 Samantha Stosur, AUS (2nd Rd.)
2014 Petra Kvitova, CZE (1st Rd.)
2015 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (1st Rd.)
2016 Simona Halep, ROU (1st Rd.)
2017 Simona Halep, ROU (1st Rd.)
2018 S.Stephens, C.Vandeweghe & V.Williams, USA (1st/'17 US SF)
2019 Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (1st Rd.; lost last 12 games)
2020 Serena Williams, USA (3rd Rd.)
2021 Sofia Kenin, USA (2nd Rd.; early AO DC out since '03)
2022 E.Raducanu, GBR (2nd) and & L.Fernandez, CAN (1st) ['21 US F]
2023 Garbine Muguruza, ESP (1st Rd.; falls from Top 80)

*RECENT AO "LAST WILD CARD STANDING" WINNERS*
2013 Madison Keys, USA (3rd Rd.)
2014 Casey Dellacqua, AUS (4th Rd.)
2015 K-C.Chang/TPE, O.Dodin/FRA & I.Falconi/USA (2nd)
2016 Han Xinyun, CHN (2nd Rd.)
2017 Ash Barty, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2018 Olivia Rogowska, AUS (2nd Rd.)
2019 Kimberly Birrell, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2020 Patricia Hon, AUS & Arina Rodionova, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2021 Dasha Gavrilova, AUS & Samantha Stosur, AUS (2nd Rd.)
2022 Maddison Inglis, AUS (3rd Rd.)
2023 K.Birrell/AUS, O.Gadecki/AUS, T.Townsend/USA (2nd Rd.)




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Where exactly was it *supposed* to fall, anyway?


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TOP QUALIFIER: Katherine Sebov, CAN
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #3 Jessie Pegula/USA
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: Anna Bondar/HUN, Olivia Gadecki/AUS, Diana Shnaider/RUS, Lucrezia Stefanini/ITA
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: In 2r: Muchova(L), Podoroska(L), Siegemund(W), Vondrousova
UPSET QUEENS: UKR
REVELATION LADIES: CZE (three youngest players in MD)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: GER (1-4 1r; Petkovic ret., Kerber pregnant; NextGen 0-2)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 3r: Bucsa, Volynets
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Kimberly Birrell/AUS, Olivia Gadecki/AUS, Taylor Townsend/USA (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Kimberly Birrell, Olivia Gadecki (both 2nd Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT (??): xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Garbine Muguruza/ESP (1r; 5 con. losses; out of Top 80 first time in a decade)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominee: Bucsa (2r: Andreescu MP in 2nd set TB)
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 4. More tomorrow.
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