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Friday, January 26, 2024

AO24 - One More Thing...



The first champions of this Australian Open were crowned Friday afternoon in the Mixed Doubles final, as the TPE/POL duo of veteran Hsieh Su-wei & Jan Zielinski defeated Desirae Krawczyk & Neal Skupski by a 6-7(5)/6-4 [11-9] score.

In what was a momentum-swinging match TB to decide the title, Hsieh/Zielinski were on the verge of a commanding lead at 7-3, only to see Skupski chase down a ball in the far corner of the court to keep a rally alive. He and Krawczyk took the point, and suddenly everything turned in their favor. Despite a handful of frustrating errors in the MTB (a Skupski DF, a tentative volley error from Krawczyk) that held them back, the U.S./British pair still managed to reach MP at 9-8. Hsieh saved it at the net, and then she and Zielinski swept the next two points to secure the title.



It's Zielinski's first slam title, and Hsieh's seventh, but her first in MX. The 38-year old from Taiwan still has a chance at another title in the doubles final alongside Elise Mertens (vs. first-time slam finalist duo Lyudmyla Kichenok & Alona Ostapenko). Hsieh won a pair of slam WD titles *last* year with two *other* partners (Barbora Strycova and Wang Xinyu), and is set to make this season her final go-around on tour.



Had Krawczyk/Skupski won, the 30-year old Bannerette would have completed a Career MX Slam, making her the sixth woman in the Open era to accomplish the feat (first since Martina Hingis in '16) and just the eighth overall to do it.





=AO NOTES=
...meanwhile, before the latest Diede de Groot vs. Yui Kamiji slam singles final takes place, the two advanced to the wheelchair doubles final alongside their partners -- Jiske Griffioen and Kgothatso Montjane, respectively -- with SF wins *and* then played the final, as well.

After saving a SP in the 2nd, de Groot/Griffioen rallied to win a 7-2 TB to take the title in straight sets, 6-3/7-6(2), as de Groot wins her fourth straight AO doubles crown and fifth overall (the others were w/ Aniek Van Koot), while Griffioen picks up her sixth AO doubles title but first in Melbourne since 2017. It's the second slam together for the pair, who teamed to take last year's Wimbledon in what was Griffioen's first slam win since returning in '19 after a two-year retirement.

De Groot's now had 18 slam doubles wins, and will next play for her 21st slam singles crown vs. Kamiji.



...the junior final is set, and top-seeded Slovak Renata Jamrichova will try to add a maiden girls' slam singles title to the doubles win she had in Melbourne last year. Just two Slovaks have picked up slam crowns in the past, with the last coming at the AO (Tereza Mihalikova) in 2015.



Jamrichova will face 15-year old Aussie Emerson Jones. The #6 seed, Jones won the pre-AO junior event at Traralgon, and will now be the first home talent to play for the AO girls title since 2008 (Jessica Moore). The last Australian to win the AO junior crown was Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995.



Since Jelena Dokic's U.S. Open junior title in 1998, just one Aussie has been crowned a singles slam champ: Ash Barty at Wimbledon in 2011.





=WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#12 Zheng Qinwen/CHN vs. #2 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#11 L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (UKR/LAT) vs. #2 Hsieh/Mertens (TPE/BEL)

=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
#3 Hsieh/Zielinski (TPE/POL) def. #2 Krawczyk/N.Skupski (USA/GBR) 6-7(5)/6-4 [11-9]

=WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Diede de Groot/NED vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL=
#2 de Groot/Griffioen (NED/NED) def. #1 Kamiji/Montjane (JPN/RSA) 6-3/7-6(2)

=GIRLS SINGLES SF=
#1 Renata Jamrichova/SVK def. #10 Ena Koike/JPN
#6 Emerson Jones/AUS def. #16 Iva Ivanova/BUL

=GIRLS DOUBLES SF=
#3 Grant/Jovic (USA/USA) def. #1 Koike/Saito (JPN/JPN)
Pastikova/Stusek (CZE/GER) def. #2 Klugman/Xu (GBR/GBR)







kosova-font

*AO MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 2014*
2014 Kristina Mladenovic & Daniel Nestor, FRA/CAN
2015 Martina Hingis & Leander Paes, SUI/IND
2016 Elena Vesnina & Bruno Soares, RUS/BRA
2017 Abigail Spears & Juan Sebastian Cabal, USA/COL
2018 Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic, CAN/CRO
2019 Barbora Krejcikova & Rajeev Ram, CZE/USA
2020 Barbora Krejcikova & Nikola Mektic, CZE/CRO
2021 Barbora Krejcikova & Rajeev Ram, CZE/USA
2022 Kristina Mladenovic & Ivan Dodig, FRA/CRO
2023 Luisa Stefani & Rafael Matos, BRA/BRA
2024 Hsieh Su-wei & Jan Zielinski, TPE/POL

*RECENT MX SLAM CHAMPIONS*
[2020]
AO: Barbora Krejcikova/Nikola Mektic (CZE/CRO)
[2021]
AO: Barbora Krejcikova/Rajeev Ram (CZE/USA)
RG: Desirae Krawczyk/Joe Salisbury (USA/GBR)
WI: Desirae Krawczyk/Neal Skupski (USA/GBR)
US: Desirae Krawczyk/Joe Salisbury (USA/GBR)
[2022]
AO: Kristina Mladenovic/Ivan Dodig (FRA/CRO)
RG: Ena Shibahara/Wesley Koolhof (JPN/NED)
WI: Desirae Krawczyk/Neal Skupski (USA/GBR)
US: Storm Sanders/John Peers (AUS/AUS)
[2023]
AO: Luisa Stefani/Rafael Matos (BRA/BRA)
RG: Miyu Kato/Tim Puetz (JPN/GER)
WI: Lyudmyla Kichenok/Mate Pavic (UKR/CRO)
US: Anna Danilina/Harri Heliovaara (KAZ/FIN)
[2024]
AO: Hsieh Su-wei/Jan Zielinski (TPE/POL)

*CAREER OVERALL SLAM TITLES - ACTIVE*
[singles/doubles/mixed]
23 - Venus Williams, USA (7-14-2)
11 - Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (1-7-3)
9 - Kristina Mladenovic, FRA (0-6-3)
9 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA (0-5-4)
7 - HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE (0-6-1)
7 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE (0-7-0)
5 - Sara Errani, ITA (0-5-0)
5 - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (0-3-2)

*AO WHEELCHAIR CHAMPIONS*
[doubles]
2004 WC Classic 8's at AO: Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED
2005 WC Classic 8's at AO: Florence Gravellier/Maaike Smit, FRA/NED
2006 WC Classic 8's at AO: Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED
2007 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED
2008 Jiske Griffioen/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED
2009 Korie Homan/Esther Vergeer, NED/NED
2010 Florence Gravellier/Aniek van Koot, FRA/NED
2011 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven, NED/NED
2012 Esther Vergeer/Sharon Walraven, NED/NED
2013 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot, NED/NED
2014 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2015 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2016 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN
2017 Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot, NED/NED
2018 Marjolein Buis/Yui Kamiji, NED/JPN
2019 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2020 Yui Kamiji/Jordanne Whiley, JPN/GBR
2021 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2022 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2023 Diede de Groot/Aniek Van Koot, NED/NED
2024 Diede de Groot/Jiske Griffioen, NED/NED

*WHEELCHAIR SLAM DOUBLES TITLES*
23 - Aniek van Koot, NED [7-8-3-5]
21 - Esther Vergeer, NED [7-5-3-6]
20 - Yui Kamiji, JPN [5-4-7-4]
18 - DIEDE DE GROOT, NED [5-5-3-5]
16 - JISKE GRIFFIOEN, NED [6-3-3-4]
12 - Jordanne Whiley, GBR [3-2-5-2]

*JUNIOR GIRLS' SLAM SINGLES CHAMPS*
[SVK]
2007 US: Kristina Kucova
2015 AO: Tereza Mihalikova
[AUS; since 1980]
1980 WI: Diane Freeman
1980d AO: Anne Minter
1981d AO: Anne Minter
1983 US: Elizabeth Minter
1985d AO: Jenny Byrne
1987 AO: Michelle Jaggard
1988 AO: Jo-Anne Faull
1989 AO: Kim Kessaris
1991 AO: Nicole Pratt
1992 AO: Joanne Limmer
1994 AO: Trudi Musgrave
1995 AO: Siobhan Drake-Brockman
1998 US: Jelena Dokic
2011 WI: Ash Barty







TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Korneeva, RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #2 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #2 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - Alina Korneeva/RUS def. Ma Yexin/CHN 6-7/6-4/7-6(5) - '23 AO girls champ saves 2 MP; qualifies and is youngest in women's MD
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Anna Blinkova/RUS def. #3 Elena Rybakina/KAZ 6-4/4-6/7-6(22-20) - on 10th MP after saving 6 MP in MTB (at 42 points, the longest in women's slam history)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - Linda Noskova/CZE def. #1 Iga Swiatek/POL 3-6/6-3/6-4 - 19-year old (#50) gets first #1 win; ends Swiatek's 18-match streak, and is earliest AO exit by #1 since 1979
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Kamilla Rakhimova/RUS (def. Emina Bektas/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #13 Liudmila Samsonova/RUS (1r-lost to Anisimova/USA)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE, McCartney Kessler/USA, Alina Korneeva/RUS, Maria Timofeeva/RUS, Anastasia Zakharova/RUS
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: 4r: Anisimova/USA; 3r: Badosa/ESP; 2r: Raducanu/GBR, Tomljanovic/AUS
UPSET QUEENS: France (only nation to defeat multiple seeds in 1st Rd.)
REVELATION LADIES: Unseeded Russians (9-1 in 1st Rd.)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Seeds from Russia (1-4 in 1st Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Dayana Yastremska/UKR (in SF)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: McCartney Kessler/USA, Caroline Wozniacki/DEN (2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: Storm Hunter/AUS (3rd Rd.)
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: Zheng Qinwen/CHN
IT (Ukrainians): Marta Kostyuk/UKR and Dayana Yastremska/UKR
COMEBACK PLAYER: Amanda Anisimova/USA
CRASH & BURN: #6 Ons Jabeur/TUN (2r- 2 games vs. M.Andreeva)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Anna Blinkova/RUS (2r- saved 6 MP vs. Rybakina, wins on 10th MP)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: Nominees: Azarenka, Hsieh
LADY OF THE EVENING: Linda Noskova/CZE (def. #1 Iga Swiatek)
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: "Crikey!" (Blinkova & Rybakina play slam record 42-point tie-break)
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: L.Kichenok/Ostapenko, Hsieh
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominees: Emerson Jones, Renata Jamrichova





All for now. More soon.
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