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Saturday, January 14, 2023

Wk.2- Swiss Misses Little

Is Belinda Bencic finally ready for her close-up?






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*WEEK 2 CHAMPIONS*
ADELAIDE 2, AUSTRALIA (WTA 500/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Belinda Bencic/SUI def. Dasha Kasatkina/RUS 6-0/6-2
D: Luisa Stefani/Taylor Townsend (BRA/USA) def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Elena Rybakina (RUS/KAZ) 7-5/7-6(3)
HOBART, AUSTRALIA (WTA 250/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Lauren Davis/USA def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA 7-6(0)/6-2
D: Kirsten Flipkens/Laura Siegemund (BEL/GER) def. Viktorija Golubic/Panna Udvardy (SUI/HUN) 6-4/6-5




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Belinda Bencic/SUI
...is Bencic finally going to follow up her great "tour-adjacent" results -- Hopman Cup, Olympic and, most recently, BJK Cup title runs -- with a superior slam result that will further define her professional career?

She looked capable of such an AO run in Adelaide, posting wins over Garbine Muguruza, Anna Kalinskaya and Caroline Garica (the Pastry took the only set lost by Bencic of nine played in Week 2) before receiving a SF walkover from Veronika Kudermetova into her first singles final since June, and first on hard court since the Tokyo Olympics in '21.

The Swiss dominated Dasha Kasatkina in the final for her second Top 10 win of the week (w/ Garcia), winning love & 2 to claim her seventh career tour crown and first since taking Charleston last April. She moves back into the Top 10 in the new rankings, flipping spots with *last* year's Adelaide 2 champ Madison Keys (now #13).



Bencic has only reached the second week in Melbourne once in her career (2016 4r).
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RISERS: Dasha Kasatkina/RUS and Veronika Kudermetova/RUS
...the Hordettes head into Melbourne with a bit of a tail wind, with multiple qualifiers (including Veronika Kudermetova's sister Polina) upping their MD total to 14, the most Russian women in a slam MD since the 2011 U.S. Open.

Both Kasatkina and Kudermetova, the top two ranked Hordettes on tour, put in some good work in Adelaide, as Kasatkina reached her 12th career tour final a week after opening her season by becoming the first of many Top 10 victims in the career of young Czech Linda Noskova. Kasatkina notched wins over Barbora Krejcikova and Petra Kvitova (she'd been 0-2 vs. both in her career) before receiving a walkover from Paula Badosa (who subsequently w/d from the AO) in the SF. She got just two games in the final vs. a superbly in form Belinda Bencic.

Kudermetova battled through a pair of three-set marathons against Victoria Azarenka and Danielle Collins, coming from a set and 3-1 back in a 2nd set TB vs. the Belarusian, then saving five MP vs. last year's AO finalist two rounds later. After having a received a 2nd Round walkover from countrywoman Ekaterina Alexandrova, Kudermetova handed Bencic a SF pass to the final just two days before the start of the AO, likely a "business decision" she'll hope to benefit from by arriving (hopefully) healthy, fresh and set for play in Melbourne.

Thus far in 2023, Kudermetova's four wins have come over two slam champs (Azarenka, Andreescu), a slam finalist (Collins) and a slam semifinalist (Anisimova).
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SURPRISE: Lauren Davis/USA
...Davis has a history of having some of her best moments in the season's opening weeks. She arrived in Hobart in Week 2 having not played in a tour-level final since winning her lone WTA crown in Auckland in '17. She'd go on to reach a career high of #26 that season, the only of her career in which she finished in the Top 50. The following January, she faced off with Simona Halep in the 3rd Round of the AO in a marathon battle that lasted nearly four hours, with Davis' (if-she-didn't-have-bad-timing-she'd-have-none-at-all) painful toe injury (she lost a nail during the match) becoming worse just as an exhausted Halep seemed ready to topple. The Romanian eventually won a 15-13 3rd set, and was promptly hospitalized afterward.

This week in Hobart, Davis made her way through qualifying, then took down Sloane Stephens, Ysaline Bonaventure (off her Week 1 semi), Wang Xinyu and Anna Blinkova to reach her first final since winning six years ago in Auckland. In her fourth career final (all previous three were in 2016-17), she defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6/6-2 in the final for her much-delayed win #2.

After having not ranked above #60 since her Top 50 season in '17, Davis will rise from #84 to #57 heading into the AO.


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VETERANS: Petra Kvitova/CZE and Kirsten Flipkens/Laura Siegemund (BEL/GER)
...Kvitova had a hard time getting out of the gate a year ago, beginning '22 by going 1-3 Down Under. So far, she's had no such issues this month, following up her 2-0 United Cup swing (w/ a win over Pegula) with a QF run in Adelaide that included victories over Elena Rybakina and Zheng Qinwen (who retired after dropping a 1st set TB) that ran her season-starting streak to four matches. She lost to Dasha Kasatkina, but heads to Melbourne seeming to be in the sort of form to end her two-year stretch of failing to advance past the AO 2nd Round.

In Hobart, the veteran pair of Flipkens & Siegemund grabbed their second WD crown as a duo (w/ Cluj last October) by not losing a set all week, riding their #1 seed all the way to a 4 & 5 win in the final over Viktorija Golubic/Panna Udvardy. It's Flipkens' seventh career tour WD title, and Siegemund's tenth (she's won four since last March).


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COMEBACK: Sofia Kenin/USA
...could Kenin finally be finding her way out of her post-2020 darkness? Ranked all the way down at #280, she's at least showing signs of a real comeback being possible in these early weeks of '23.

In Hobart, Kenin took her wild card and played all the way into her first tour-level SF since her second major final of the '20 season at the fall version of Roland Garros, knocking off Zhu Lin, Maryna Zanevska and Anhelina Kalinina. It was her first three-match MD win streak in a tour event since Paris in '21. She lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Of course, it should be noted, Kenin has started the last *two* years looking to be on the right track only to fail to carry it out of the opening month of the season. She reached back-to-back QF to start '21 (5-2), and reached the Adelaide QF in her first event last year, as well.
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FRESH FACES: Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA and Anna Blinkova/RUS
...Cocciaretto's under the radar return from injury in '22 (w/ her maiden slam MD win at SW19, a 125 title in two finals, and $80K & $60K ITF crowns) got some time just off the main stage in Week 2, as the 21-year old reached her maiden WTA final after posting wins over Alize Cornet, Jasmine Paolini, Bernarda Pera (from a set and 2-0 down, saving 2 MP) and Sofia Kenin. She pushed Lauren Davis to a 1st set TB in the final, but lost in straights.



The Italian will crack the Top 50 in the pre-AO rankings, rising from #67.

Blinkova climbed back into the Top 100 last season, reaching her first singles finals since '19 and claiming her maiden tour title in Cluj. She qualified in Hobart, then knocked off Lucia Bronzetti, Marie Bouzkova and Yulia Putintseva to reach the SF (loss vs. Davis). She'll jump to #60, just off her career high of #54.


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DOWN: Elena Rybakina/KAZ
...Rybakina's 1st Round loss in Adelaide to Petra Kvitova isn't a bad result alone, but it leaves her at 1-2 (w/ a Week 1 loss to Kostyuk) on the year heading into Melbourne. In recent seasons, the Kazakh has opened in far better form, going 9-1 in 2020 with finals in Sydney and Hobart (W) as part of her 21-4 pre-pandemic start, reaching the Abu Dhabi QF in '21 and picking up the Adelaide title in Week 1 a year ago.

Rybakina *did* manage to get some match play in this week, though, reaching her second career tour-level WD final (after '21 I.W. w/ V.Kudermetova) while partnering Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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JUNIOR STAR: Lucie Havlickova/CZE
...junior #1 Havlickova, 17, claimed her first pro title in a $40K challenger in Tallinn, Estonia, winning the women's doubles crown alongside (what else?) a fellow Czech Crusher in 18-year old Dominika Salkova, defeating Italians Deborah Chiesa & Lisa Pigato in a 13-11 MTB in the final.

Havlickova -- last year's RG girls' s/d champ, US girls' singles finalist and doubles winner -- had been 0-3 in pro finals, going 0-1 in singles (2022) and 0-2 in doubles (w/ Czechs Miriam Kolodziejova and Linda Klimovicova in '21). It's Salkova's third WD title (she won with the same two partners with which Havlickova reached her finals) to go along with a $25K singles challenger crown she won last spring.


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DOUBLES: Luisa Stefani/Taylor Townsend, BRA/USA
...Week 2 in Adelaide was one of those occasions when *two* players on the way back teamed up to produce one unstoppable force.

Both Stefani and Townsend had already previously made good on their comeback attempts, with the Brazilian returning from her knee injury late last year and taking home a pair of titles (plus a WTA 125 win), while new mother Townsend had already reached a slam WD SF/F ('22 RG/US) and been crowned a '23 doubles champion in Week 1's Adelaide event (partnering Asia Muhammad) since her return from maternity leave. Together they won a pair of matches via match TB (vs. Haddad Maia/Zhang and Krawczyk/Schuurs), then ended the week with victories over Kolodziejova/Vondrousouva and Pavlyuchenkova/Rybakina in a 7-5/7-6 final.

The win is the third of Townsend's career, while Stefani's total of six titles has been doubled with her three title runs in four tour-level events since her return from knee surgery last September after a year-long layoff.



Another comeback from injury *began* in this event with finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (knee), who reached the WD final in her first tournament since she ended her '22 season early last May.


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WHEELCHAIR: Yui Kamiji/JPN
...with world #1 Diede de Groot sitting out the opening week of the WC season Down Under, #2 Kamiji successfully defended her Victorian Open (Series 1) crown, defeating Jiske Griffioen 6-3/6-1 in the final. Kamiji has now won 42 straight matches vs. players not named Diede.



The Melbourne Open Super Series event takes place this week, with de Groot expected to bring her 74-match winning streak into 2023. De Groot is the defending champ (def. Kamiji in the '22 final), but lost in finals vs. Kamiji in 2019 and '21 (the latter being the Dutch star's most recent defeat in singles).
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1. Hobart QF - Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Bernarda Pera
...5-7/7-6(8)/6-4. En route to her maiden tour final, Cocciaretto comes from a set and 2-0 back, saving 2 MP in the 2nd set TB (down 6-5 and 7-6).


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2. Adelaide 2 Final - Belinda Bencic def. Dasha Kasatkina
...6-0/6-2. To find a more domimant performance in a tour singles final, you'd have to back to Iga Swiatek's double-bagel dispatching of Karolina Pliskova in Rome in 2021.



Hobart Final - Lauren Davis def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
...7-6(0)/6-2. Davis' six-year gap between tour titles is the longest on tour since Sorana Cirstea ended her 12-year drought in Istanbul in 2021.


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3. Adelaide 2 1st Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Anett Kontaveit 6-4/6-3
Adelaide 2 2nd Rd. - Paula Badosa def. Kaia Kanepi 6-1/7-5
...Badosa becomes Estonia Public Enemy #1.


Hmmm, is this the result of some sort of Estonian "curse?"
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4. Adelaide 2 1st Rd. - Anna Kalinskaya def. Alona Ostapenko
...6-3/6-4. Words to live by...


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5. Adelaide 2 QF - Miriam Kolodziejova/Marketa Vondrousova def. Storm Hunter/Barbora Krejcikova
...6-4/4-6 [10-8]. In Week 1 in Adelaide, the Czech duo lost 1 & 2 in the QF to Hunter and Katerina Siniakova, but found a better opponent when the Aussie teamed up with the other half of the Career Slam winning pair in Week 2.
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1. Adelaide 2 1st Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova def. Victoria Azarenka
...2-6/7-6(4)/6-4. Kudermetova wins a nearly three-hour tussle, forcing a 3rd set after trailing 3-1 in the 2nd set TB. The two dropped serve just once in the final two sets, with Kudermetova taking a final lead at 5-4 in the 3rd set after converting on her third BP chance of game #9 after having denied Azarenka on a GP.



By the end of the week, Veronika's teenager sister Polina had joined her in the AO MD after making her way through qualifying to secure her slam debut.
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2. Adelaide 2 QF - Veronika Kudermetova def. Danielle Collins
...4-6/7-6(5)/6-1. In her final match of the week (she gave Bencic a SF walkover), Kudermetova saves five MP on serve at 6-5 in the 2nd to force a TB, where she rallies from 0-3 down (and 4-5 on serve) to win in three.


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3. Adelaide 2 SF - Belinda Bencic walkover Veronika Kudermetova
Adelaide 2 SF - Dasha Kasatkina walkover Paula Badosa
...what is this, a $15K in the middle of nowhere after five days out of seven during the week were rained out and the singles draw was pushed into Tuesday of the following week?

Maybe it's time to consider starting the season a week early, or pushing the AO start back a week, in order to leave an "open" week for players to get healthy heading into the first major of the season.

Two walkovers were awarded here due to a QF injury (Badosa, who will miss the AO entirely) and precaution (Kudermetova had played two long three-setters), while Aussie #1 Ajla Tomljanovic will also miss the AO after not having enough time to heal up from her United Cup injury (leaving the home nation -- with DC Barty retired and AUS #2 Saville rehabbing her knee injury -- without a woman in the MD ranked higher than #160 Jaimee Fourlis).

It's just too easy (and often smart) to pull up stakes -- especially so early in the season, when many players aren't really in *match* shape -- with slam 1st Round matches 48 hours away. A little cushion might be good for everyone: players, fans, tours and tournament(s).

At least some spots will open up (one would think) for some non-Aussies in the night session, after last year Barty rode a preferential schedule all the way to the title, conveniently avoiding the blazing Melbourne summer sun while it wore down her opponents *before* she had to face them.

The bad news? Now "Mr. Hurt Feelings" is *the* top Aussie presence in the tournament.
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Hmmm, the crystal ball sees a line of "stylish baby clothes" because "I just couldn't find annnnything I liked..." in the future (say, about 2024-25).


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*WTA TITLES IN AUS/NZL - active*
4 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
4 - Petra Kvitova, CZE
3 - Simona Halep, ROU
3 - Elise Mertens, BEL
3 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2 - LAUREN DAVIS, USA
2 - Sofia Kenin, USA
2 - Angelique Kerber, GER
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN
2 - Venus Williams, USA

*2020-23 WTA CHAMPIONS - QUALIFIERS*
2021 Lyon - Clara Tauson, DEN
2022 Bogota - Tatjana Maria, GER
2022 Istanbul - Anastasia Potapova, RUS
2022 Budapest - Bernarda Pera, USA
2022 Cincinnati - Caroline Garcia, FRA
2022 Cluj - Anna Blinkova, RUS
2023 Hobart - Lauren Davis, USA

*2020-23 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
13 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/0)
9 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/0)
7 - Elise Mertens (1/4/2/0)
6 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/0)
6 - Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/0)
6 - Nicole Melichar-Martinez (2/2/2/0)
6 - Kristina Mladenovic (2/0/4/0)
6 - Ena Shibahara (1/5/0/0)
5 - Desirae Krawczyk (2/2/1/0)
5 - Jessie Pegula (0/0/5/0)
5 - Demi Schuurs (2/2/1/0)
5 - LAURA SIEGEMUND (1/0/3/1)
5 - LUISA STEFANI (1/1/2/1)

*2023 OLDEST WTA WD FINALISTS*
37 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA (Auckland - L)
37 - KIRSTEN FLIPKENS, BEL (Hobart - W)
34 - LAURA SIEGEMUND, GER (Hobart - W)

*UNITED STATES - WTA WS TITLES (active)*
49 - Venus Williams
7 - Sloane Stephens
6 - Madison Keys
5 - Sofia Kenin
3 - Alison Riske-Amritraj
2 - Amanda Anisimova
2 - Danielle Collins
2 - LAUREN DAVIS
2 - Coco Gauff
2 - Jessie Pegula
2 - Bernarda Pera
2 - CoCo Vandeweghe
1 - Jennifer Brady
1 - Irina Falconi
1 - Ann Li





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Reminds me of those creepy cat litter commercials...




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Dave Winfield (to Don Mattingly, then Derek Jeter)




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All for now.
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