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Tuesday, January 23, 2024

AO24 - Coco's Hard Habit to Break

Who says winning isn't habit forming? You can say there's no such thing as Santa, but if you watched Coco Gauff in her first career Australian Open quarterfinal, well, *then* you'd almost surely believe.



In the first of the contested QF in the bottom half of the draw, Gauff came into the match having not lost this season (9-0) nor hardly at all (33-4) since the start of the transformative Summer of Coco run that culminated in a U.S. Open title for the 19-year old last year. Perhaps that familiarly with winning helped her out in her match-up with first-time slam quarterfinalist Marta Kostyuk in Melbourne, for it was Gauff's ability to remain calm while maneuvering around bad patches and overcoming a general inability to tap into her "A"-game and put away the opportunities presented to her throughout much of the match that proved the difference. In the end, while she struggled to reach her desired level of play, Gauff was *still* able to lift her game down the final stretch when it counted the very most.

It's the sort of "habit" (aka "muscle memory") that we often see from previous champions who've developed a knack for winning even when conventional wisdom says that maybe they shouldn't, or at the very least are "ripe for the picking" (i.e. upset). One need only to look at Gauff's doubles partner Jessie Pegula (who has often been at her least dependable on the late slam stage) for a cross-sport comparison, as in this instance Coco is the Kansas City Chiefs and, well, Jess is (of course) the Buffalo Bills. Bet on history's nod going to the former.

[Gratuitous shot at Buffalo Bills #1... check.]

Before Coco "got her Mahomes on," though, what had occurred between her and Kostyuk was an extremely choppy match that played out in fits and starts, never really gaining emotional steam even as momentum continually shifted and even included one major comeback. Neither could string together stretches of her best tennis for long, and both saw chances come and go that might have gone a long way toward changing the tenor of the entire contest. One could sense their frustration coming through the screen and, quite frankly, it wasn't the most enjoyable tennis match to watch. That it went three sets rather than wrapping up in two was positively "groan-worthy" in the moment.

But, thankfully, that was when Gauff finally found (something of) her stride. At the very least, she made the deciding set a far quicker, and ultimately more satisfying affair than the first two had been.

Kostyuk had led the opening set 3-1, and held from love/40 down for 4-1 as Gauff was 0-for-5 in BP chances during the Ukrainain's first three service games. Gauff fell behind 5-1 after being unable to secure a pair of GP a game later. But right as it seemed as if Kostyuk had the set wrapped up, the bottom dropped out of her game. As she served to claim the set, two DF led to a break, then she couldn't convert a SP on Gauff's serve in the following game.

Trying to serve things out a second time, Kostyuk fell behind love/40 and dropped serve again. Gauff held from love/30, as Kostyuk ended the game by badly missing on a low ball at the baseline and then whiffing on a return swing. It was suddenly 5-5. Falling behind 15/40, Kostyuk's fifth DF in three games gave Gauff a 6-5 lead. But then *she* couldn't serve out the set. Before the start of the tie-break, just as she'd (maybe) regained a bit (a smidge?) of momentum, Kostyuk *possibly* thwarted it (but, really, who was to tell?) by taking an MTO for a blister on her toe.

Gauff went up 4-2 in the TB, then DF'd to stop her own roll. Soon Kostyuk held a second SP at 6-5, but again couldn't close it out. Reaching her own SP, Gauff finally won 8-6 with a volley and long Kostyuk reply.

In the 2nd, Kostyuk had increasingly emotional reactions to her level of play, but Gauff couldn't take advantage of it. She went up a break at 4-2, but right when she had the chance to bring the proverbial hammer down she was broken at love (her fifth lost service game of the day, after having come into the match with 18 straight holds).

The next few games included one great rally in game 8, during which Gauff failed to put away multiple balls, then saw Kostyuk's defense keep the point alive until a Gauff miss finally ended it. Still, Kostyuk dropped serve and Gauff had a chance to serve out the match at 5-3. Guess what happened.

Kostyuk eventually won a 7-3 TB to take things to the 3rd. This one was never going to end, was it?

As had been the case in the 1st, the 3rd set saw Kostyuk miss out on opportunities to put pressure on Gauff. She held a GP in the opening game, but dropped serve, then failed to convert a BP in game 2. Going up a double-break at 3-0, Gauff *finally* found an imperfect groove, began to serve better, and Kostyuk wasn't able to keep pace. Gauff led 5-0. It took her two chances to serve things out, but she finally did to win 7-6(6)/6-7(3)/6-2. (Sigh of relief.)



The two combined to be broken 16 times in 32 service games (facing a combined 36 BP), and had 17 DF (vs. 3 aces), and 107 UE (Kostyuk's 39 winners more than doubled Gauff's 17). Needless to say, it was not a masterpiece. But, hey, it's the fifth match of a possible seven in a slam. A "W" is a "W," no matter how uninspiring it might look.

Gauff thus reaches her third career slam SF at a third different tournament (she's only a final four berth at Wimbledon, where she made her grand debut as a 15-year old, from completing a Career SF Slam).



Gauff, though never really appearing as the best version of herself between the lines, remains on track and is within two wins of becoming the first player since Naomi Osaka at the '19 AO to follow up her maiden slam title run with #2 in her very next major appearance. The only other two such instances since 1981 (when Hana Mandlikova did it) came in 2000 (Venus Williams) and 2001 (Jennifer Capriati).

Apparently though you can take Coco out of summer you (so far) can't quite take the summer out of Coco.

Of course, it's *still* summer in Australia, isn't it? Hmmm...




=AO NOTES=
...well, if the thought was that Barbora Krejcikova -- the #9 seed, slam singles winner in Paris three seasons and five-time AO WD/MX winner over the past five years in Melbourne -- might provide defending champ Aryna Sabalenka with something other than the series of quick days at the office that the Belarusian had experienced so far at this AO, well, it was just a thought. Sabalenka had other ideas.



Sabalenka's 2 & 3 win over the Czech in the Laver night session advances her into her sixth consecutive slam semi, improving her career record to 8-0 in slam QF (she's 2-5 in SF). The last reigning AO champ to return to the final the following year was Serena Williams in 2016, and the most recent to win consecutive titles was Sabalenka's countrywoman, Victoria Azarenka in 2013.

Sabalenka and Gauff will face off the AO semis four months after the Bannerette won their match-up in the U.S. Open final. In the months since then, Sabalenka has often half-jokingly (but maybe only half) referred to her possibly winning that match had she had more support from the Gauff-leaning New York crowd.

Well, with a 12-match Melbourne winning streak, an avowed feeling of comfort in the AO and having noted the great support she gets from the fans in this event, well, Sabalenka now has the chance to break Coco's winning habit under conditions that Aryna would say better suit *her* this time around. So... it's on.



Gauff leads the head-to-head 4-2, 3-2 on hard court.





...AND SO (ANOTHER) DEFENSE BEGINS:



De Groot won #132 in a row with a 1st Round victory over Lucy Shuker.


...BETTER THAN THE PICKLEBALL "EVENT" STARRING AGASSI, GRAF, McENROE and (no, Maria, no!) SHARAPOVA THAT ESPN KEEPS ADVERTISING:




...GRATUITOUS SHOT #2 AT THE BILLS (we go way back, and I have long memory):










=WOMEN'S SINGLES QF=
Linda Noskova/CZE vs. (Q) Dayana Yastremska/UKR
Anna Kalinskaya/RUS vs. #12 Zheng Qinwen/CHN
#4 Coco Gauff/USA def. Marta Kostyuk/UKR
#2 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR def. #9 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF=
#11 L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (UKR/LAT) def. Garcia/Mladenovic (FRA/FRA)
#4 Dabrowski/Routliffe (CAN/NZL) def. Bucsa/Panova (ESP/RUS)
#5 Krejcikova/Siegemund (CZE/GER) vs. #3 Hunter/Siniakova (AUS/CZE)
#9 Schuurs/Stefani (NED/BRA) vs. #2 Hsieh/Mertens (TPE/BEL)

=MIXED DOUBLES SF=
(WC) Fourlis/Harris (AUS/AUS) vs. #3 Hsieh/Zielinski (TPE/POL)
(WC) Gadecki/Polmans (AUS/AUS) vs. #2 Krawczyk/N.Skupski (USA/GBR)

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES 1ST RD.=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED def. Lucy Shuker/GBR
Aniek Van Koot/NED def. Maria Florencia Moreno/ARG
#3 Jiske Griffioen/NED def. Shiori Funamizu/JPN
Zhu Zhenzhen/CHN def. Li Xiaohui/CHN
Manami Tanaka/JPN def. Pauline Deroulede/FRA
Kgothatso Montjane/RSA def. #4 Momoko Ohtani/JPN
Dana Mathewson/USA def. Angelica Bernal/COL
#2 Yui Kamiji/JPN def. Lizzy de Greef/NED

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES QF=
#1 Kamiji/Montjane (JPN/RSA) vs. Moreno/Ohtani (ARG/JPN)
Deroulede/Shuker (FRA/GBR) vs. Bernal/Zhu (COL/CHN)
Mathewson/Tanaka (USA/JPN) vs. Funamizu/Li (JPN/CHN)
de Greef/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. #2 de Groot/Griffioen (NED/NED)

=GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Renata Jamrichova/SVK vs. Maya Joint/AUS
Mia Slama/USA vs. (WC) Ksenia Efremova/FRA
#4 Hannah Klugman/GBR vs. #15 Vlada Mincheva/RUS
#10 Ena Koike/JPN vs. Vendula Valdmannova/CZE
(Q) Lea Nilsson/SWE vs. #12 Mimi Xu/GBR
#16 Iva Ivanova/BUL vs. (Q) Aspen Schuman/USA
#6 Emerson Jones/AUS vs. #9 Tyra Caterina Grant/USA
Mika Stojsavljevic/GBR vs. #2 Sara Saito/JPN







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*AO DEFENDING CHAMPS, OPEN ERA - RETURNED TO FINAL*
1970 Margaret Court (W)
1971 Margaret Court (W)
1972 Margeret Court
1975 Evonne Goolagong (W)
1976 Evonne Goolagong (W)
1977 Evonne Goolagong (W)
1982 Martina Navratilova
1985 Chris Evert
1986 Martian Navratilova
1989 Steffi Graf (W)
1990 Steffi Graf (W)
1992 Monica Seles (W)
1993 Monica Seles (W)
1998 Martina Hingis (W)
1999 Martina Hingis (W)
2000 Martina Hingis
2002 Jennifer Capriati (W)
2010 Serena Williams (W)
2013 Victoria Azarenka (W)
2016 Serena Williams

*BACK-to-BACK US/AO TITLES OVER TWO SEASONS - Open era*
1969-70 Margaret Court, AUS
1970-71 Margaret Court, AUS
1988-89 Steffi Graf, FRG
1989-90 Steffi Graf, FRG
1991-92 Monica Seles, YUG
1992-93 Monica Seles, YUG
1993-94 Steffi Graf, GER
1997-98 Martina Hingis, SUI
2002-03 Serena Williams, USA
2003-04 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL
2008-09 Serena Williams, USA
2010-11 Kim Clijsters, BEL
2014-15 Serena Williams, USA
2018-19 Naomi Osaka, JPN
--
1982 - Chris Evert, US Sept./AO Dec.
1983 - Martina Navratilova - US Sept/AO Dec.
2020-21 - Naomi Osaka - RG Oct.'20 held between '20 US/'21 AO

*WON FIRST TWO CAREER SLAM TITLES CONSECUTIVELY - Open era*
1971 RG/WI - Evonne Goolagong, AUS
1974 RG/WI - Chris Evert, USA
1980 AO/1981 RG - Hana Mandlikova, TCH*
2000 WI/US - Venus Williams, USA
2001 AO/RG - Jennifer Capriati, USA
2018 US/2019 AO - Naomi Osaka, JPN
-
*- 1980 AO held Dec.'80/Jan'81 ('81 RG was next major)

*WON BOTH BACKSPIN EARLY (1r/2r) & MIDDLE-RD. (3r-QF) TOP PLAYER; w/ finish*
2006 Wimbledon - Justine Henin-Hardenne (RU)
2007 Roland Garros - Justine Henin (W)
2008 Australian Open - Maria Sharapova (W)
2008 Roland Garros - Ana Ivanovic (W)
2009 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (SF)
2010 Wimbledon - Serena Williams (W) *
2010 U.S. Open - Caroline Wozniacki (SF)
2013 Australian Open - Maria Sharapova (SF)
2013 Roland Garros - Serena Williams (W)
2013 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (W) *
2015 U.S. Open - Simona Halep (SF)
2021 Wimbledon - Angelique Kerber (SF)
2022 Wimbledon - Simona Halep (SF)
2024 Australian Open - Aryna Sabalenka
--
* - co-Top Player in Early-Rds.



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All for now. More soon.
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