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Sunday, March 17, 2024

Wk.11- She's Got Two Tickets to Paradise

In Indian Wells, first came the wind, then the rain (and the bees). But, in the end, Iga Swiatek was the last woman standing in Tennis Paradise. Again.





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*WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*
INDIAN WELLS (CAL), USA (WTA 1000/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Iga Swiatek/POL def. Maria Sakkari/GRE 6-4/6-0
D: Hsieh Su-wei/Elise Mertens (TPE/BEL) def. Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova (AUS/CZE) 6-3/6-4
CHARLESTON (SC), USA (WTA 125 Challenger/Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA def. Diana Shnaider/RUS 6-3/6-2
D: Olivia Gadecki/Olivia Nicholls (AUS/GBR) def. Sara Errani/Tereza Mihalikova (ITA/SVK) 6-2/6-1




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Iga Swiatek/POL
...when Swiatek is running virtually untouched through big tournament fields, a certain sameness develops in the description. Indian Wells is another of those occasions.

While the rest of the WTA "upper crust" has been hit-and-miss since Australia, Swiatek has been (mostly) unblinkingly on target. In fact, excluding her early exit in Melbourne (3r to Noskova), the Pole has been almost untouchable since she lost the #1 ranking (for eight weeks) following the U.S. Open last summer. With her title run in the desert, her second in three years in Indian Wells, Swiatek improves to 20-2 on the year, and 32-3 since the close of play in Flushing Meadows in September.

Swiatek dropped just 21 games in Indian Wells, the fewest by a champion since 1999 (granted, one set had just 1 game), posting wins over Danielle Collins (3 & 0), Linda Noskova (4 & 0, so no AO redux), Caroline Wozniacki (after falling down 4-2, she didn't drop another game before the Dane retired down 0-1 in the 2nd), Marta Kostyuk (2 & 1) and then Maria Sakkari (4 & 0) in a rematch of the '22 championship match.

Career title #19 (tying the WTA win pct. mark through 24 finals), Indian Wells is Swiatek's ninth event crown claimed without losing a set this decade (no one else has more than two). It improves her mark to 52-7 in North America the last three seasons, and extends her Top 10 winning streak to 10, and Top 20 run to 15 matches.



Now with a second ticket to Tennis Paradise, it's time for Iga to pack her bags and leave tonight... for Miami, and a shot at the second half of a Sunshine Double.
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RISERS: Marta Kostyuk/UKR and Emma Navarro/USA
...Kostyuk continues to chip away with the goal of carving out a masterful, career-altering performance. As long as she holds true to her current path, it increasingly seems possible that such a goal could eventually come to fruition. Well, as long as someone takes care of Iga for her.

2024 had already seen the 21-year old Ukrainian reach her maiden slam QF in Melbourne, reach her biggest final (San Diego 500), post her biggest win (#5 Pegula) and crack the Top 30. In Indian Wells, she played her way into her first 1000 QF and SF, notching a pair of wins over Russian opponents -- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anastasia Potopova -- to extend her winning streak in such politically awkward matches to three, making her 5-1 in her last six this season (after losing four straight last year). But after that she had no answer for the force that was an in-form world #1 in the semis, losing 2 & 1 to fall to 0-2 in their career head-to-head (their only other meeting came in 2021).

Still, Kostyuk's desert run means that only she and Coco Gauff can boast QF results at the (so far) season's two biggest events (w/ AO), and she'll now rise to another career-high ranking (#26) as a result.



Meanwhile, Navarro's now steady rise up the rankings includes a second week run in Indian Wells.

After staging a comeback from 6-4/5-3 down in her opening match, the former NCAA champ (Virginia '21) won three-setters over Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, the latter over the world #2 being the biggest win of her career. She took another Top 10er, Maria Sakkari, to three sets in the final eight before finally taking the "L."

18-6 on the season, Navarro has a results cache in '24 that includes her maiden title (Hobart), two SF and now a 1000 QF. She'll make her Top 20 debut on Monday, yet *still* won't rose to the USA #3 position as *somehow* Madison Keys' (seemingly) magical ranking will rise from #20 to #18 despite her early exit in the desert (her *only* event through the first two and half months of '24).
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SURPRISES: Yuan Yue/CHN and McCartney Kessler/USA
...the U.S. hard court circuit has been good to Yuan. She won her maiden tour title in Austin, then traveled west to Indian Wells and reached her first career 1000 QF (in just her third 1000 MD). She'll crack the Top 40 for the first time on Monday, sporting a 16-6 mark on the season.

In the desert, Yuan ran her winning streak to nine matches with wins over Varvara Gracheva, Zheng Qinwen (her first Top 10 victory), Caroline Dolehide (3rd set TB) and Dasha Kasatkina. Yuan trailed the Russian 6-4/3-1, with Kasatkina holding four BP chances for a 4-1 lead, but Yuan battled back to set up a QF match-up with Coco Gauff.

It wasn't as easy as the 4 & 3 scoreline suggests, as Yuan seized upon Gauff's "C"-game (17 DF!) to climb back into the 1st from 5-2 back, then led 3-1 in the 2nd before Gauff rallied to close things out.

In the Charleston 125, Kessler added four more wins to her '24 total, qualifying with victories over Darja Semenistaja and Mai Hontama, then reaching the QF with two vs. Zhu Lin and Kamilla Rakhimova. The Bannerette's run ended at the hands of Elisabetta Cocciaretto, but her 17-5 mark -- w/ 125 and ITF title runs and an AO 1r victory in her slam MD debut -- means tha she's gone 32-13 since coming up a win short of qualifying for last summer's U.S. Open. Over that stretch, she's risen from #365 to inside the Top 125.


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VETERAN: Yulia Putintseva/KAZ
...though Putintseva has recorded a pair of QF (Hobart/Hua Hin) results in '24, the 29-year old Kazakh came into Indian Wells on a 1-4 mini-slump (w/ her only win coming over Coumba Ben Mamadou Niangadou, a 19-year old from Mali, in Dubai qualifying). She ultimately reached the 4th Round, her best career result in the event (2016/21 3r) with wins over Tamara Korpatsch, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Madison Keys.

Umm, what happened next once she met Iga Swiatek in the Round of 16 is probably best left unsaid.


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COMEBACKS: Maria Sakkari/GRE and Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...since Sakkari finally had her "Sheryl Crow moment" (as in "A Change Would Do You/Her Good") a few weeks ago, the remaider of her '24 season suddenly became both a clean slate *and* a litmus test.

During the week, Tennis Channel's Jim Courier called the Greek's decision to move on from longtime coach Tom Hill last month "a risk," but it was actually her *only* move, and a long overdue one at that. It was a move likely made *at least* a year too late, in fact, as it had been clear for a while that the partnership had become stale and the hoped-for jump in results (i.e. consistently turning semis into finals, finals into titles, and becoming a true slam threat -- not just a one year flash -- before she eventually puts her Top 10 days behind her) just wasn't going to happen until something changed.

Enter coach David Witt, recently fired by Jessie Pegula, another player seeking to make the same sort of "results jump" after a big career surge devolved into her banging her head on the same ceiling for multiple seasons (but not for quite as many as the Sakkari/Hill team did) in the events that matter the most.

1-1 after her opening event (Dubai) with Witt, Sakkari's first big-stage foray in her quest to maintain her Top 10 standing and build on it produced good results in the desert. Of course, Indian Wells is arguably Sakkari's *best* big event, having reached the final and semis there the last two years.

This time around she rallied from a set down to defeat Diana Shnaider (her opponent in that testy AO affair in '23), then from a break down (2-3) in the 3rd to take out Diane Parry, sweeping the final four games. Wins over Emma Navarro (for her 10th 1000 SF) and Coco Gauff followed, the latter in the Greek's '24 semi debut (she was 2-6 in SF last year), to reach her 4th 1000 final (two each in I.W. and Guadalajara).

Iga Swiatek took a close 1st set in the final, then bageled Sakkari in the 2nd. Still, the Sakkari/Witt teaming is off to 6-2 beginning with a final in the front half of the biggest extended "regular season" month of action on the schedule.

While it didn't end well, Indian Wells is an encouraging opening chapter to Sakkari's "Witt Era," improving her career mark in the event to 17-6, by far her best in any big tournament on the schedule (yes, she's gone RU-W in the two years that Guadalajara has been a 1000 event, but it's a small sample, and last year -- when Sakkari won the title -- it was a 1000 that didn't exactly line up the sort of draw that one expects in such an important tournament).

Miami might well be a more interesting test, as while Sakkari has reached a SF (2021) in South Florida she's gone just 3-5 in her other five MD appearances.

In her first appearance in Indian Wells in five years, '11 champ Wozniacki produced the best result of a (so far) seven-event comeback that officially began last summer (she reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open).

First week wins over Zhu Lin and Donna Vekic were followed up with victories over Katie Volynets and fellow returnee Angelique Kerber to reach her first QF in the desert since 2017. The Dane led Iga Swiatek 4-2 in the 1st set, but failed to win another game, dropping five straight before retiring one game into the second with a toe injury. On Tennis Channel, Lindsay Davenport noted that Wozniacki managed to numb the injury enough to work past it during her previous match, but clearly the pain proved to be too much after her quick start vs. the world #1.



Wozniacki's run will lift her ranking from outside the Top 200 to inside the Top 130.
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FRESH FACES: Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA and Erika Andreeva/RUS
...Cocciaretto got a much needed boost this week in Charleston.

The 23-year old Italian fell out of the Top 50 earlier this season (she was #29 last August), and came into the week off a 1st Round loss in Indian Wells to Peyton Stearns (the Bannerette's first straight sets win of '24). She was off to a 5-7 start, and through the first two and a half months of the schedule Cocciaretto is still the only player to have lost multiple MD tour-level matches in which she's held MP.

In Charleston, on hard court not the green clay of the upcoming WTA event, Cocciaretto didn't drop a set vs. Arina Rodionova, Maria Bassols Ribera, McCartney Kessler, Greet Minnen and Diana Shnaider in a 6-2/6-1 final. The wins add a third 125 crown (w/ wins in both 2022 and '23) to the tour-level crown she won in Lausanne last year.

She'll nearly climb back into the Top 50, coming in at #51 on Monday.



It's been the older (19) of the Andreeva sisters who has posted far more wins in 2024, so far going 16-8 while securing her Top 100 ranking in the season's opening months. 16-year old Mirra (6-4) still stands above her at #38. They're the only sibling pair ranked in the Top 100.

Andreeva followed up her Indian Wells qualifying run (w/ wins over Emiliana Arango and Kayla Day, followed by a tight two-TB 1r loss to Danielle Collins) with a QF result in the Charleston 125, also as a qualifier. The Hordette got MD wins over Clara Tauson and Nao Hibino, the latter after saving nine MP. She fell to Wang Yafan to wrap up another under-the-radar impressive week.

She'd already recorded previous '24 wins over Dianne Parry and Diana Shnaider, and just missed in three-set losses to Ekaterina Alexandrova and Dayana Yastremska.
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ITF PLAYER: Tereza Valentova/CZE
...another week, another Crusher title run. This week it's Valentova.

The 17-year old Czech, the '23 U.S. Open junior runner-up, took home her third title of '24 and biggest of her young career in Ricany (CZE), taking the $75K crown with a 7-6/6-2 win in the final over Daria Snigur.

So far this season, Valentova is undefeated, going 14-0 and edging close to cracking the Top 400. A year ago, Valtentova reached the semis in the same event, her best pro event finish at the time in what was just her seventh career event.

Had Snigur emerged with the win, of course, it would have provided a fitting bookend to "Halep: The Lost Time." With the Romanian set to return this week in Miami, it's worth remembering that it was Snigur who defeated Simona Halep in her last match at the 2022 U.S. Open.
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JUNIOR STAR: Valerie Glozman/USA
...the 17-year old Bannerette took her first ITF junior crown at the J300 event held at Indian Wells, defeating top-seeded Serbian Teodora Kostovic in a 6-2/6-2 final.

While this is Glozman's first top level junior win, she has won notable USTA titles in Indian Wells in the past, including the Easter Bowl 16s in 2022, then the following year's Easter Bowl 18s in '23.
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DOUBLES: Hsieh Su-wei/Elise Mertens (TPE/BEL) and Olivia Gadecki/Olivia Nicholls (AUS/GBR)
...so far in '24, the top two WD titles have been won by the same pair: Hsieh & Mertens.

The AO champs took Indian Wells without dropping a set, knocking off big-time duos (QF-Schuurs/Stefani, SF-Melichar Martinez/Perez) to reach the final and then handling Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova by a 6-3/6-4 score in a match-up that featured four players who have all been, are or will soon be (again) the #1-ranked doubles player in the world.

It's Mertens' 20th career tour title (3rd I.W.) and the 34th for Hsieh (4th I.W.), moving her past Latisha Chan on the active career leaders list. The duo's second I.W. win (w/ '21) puts them in a multi-team tie for the most tournament titles won by a pair, while they prevented Siniakova ('23 champ w/ Krejcikova) from becoming the first player(s) to successfully defend the WD title since 2007 (Raymond/Stosur).

In career WD/MX finals at the 1000 and slam level, Hsieh is now a combined 21-2 (13-1 1000, 7-1 slam WD, 1-0 MX). She'll return to the WD #1 ranking on Monday for the first time since 2021, replacing Mertens in the top spot.



Meanwhile, The Olivias strike again!

Last time out, Gadecki & Nicholls won their first tour-level title together in Austin. The pair followed up with a win on the WTA 125 level in Charleston this week, taking the crown with a 2 & 1 victory in the final over Sara Errani & Tereza Mihalikova.

While Nicholls' past success has (predictably) almost exclusively come while partnering various fellow Brits (a WTA win w/ Alicia Barnett, and a series of ITF W/F with Barnett, Sarah Beth Grey, Jodie Burrage and Laura Sainsbury), so has that of Aussie Gadecki, who won a previous 125 with Burrage and 4 of her 10 ITF crowns with Barnett, Samantha Murray Sharan, Heather Watson and Harriet Dart (w/ another final beside Freya Christie).


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[IW 3rd Round+]



1. I.W. Final - Iga Swiatek def. Maria Sakkari
...6-4/6-0. Sakkari came into the final with a 3-2 head-to-head edge vs. Swiatek, but hadn't played the Pole since losing to her in the Indian Wells final two years ago. All three of the Greek's wins in the series came in 2021, the season before Swiatek first reached #1.

After dropping a tight 1st set here, Sakkari fell by the wayside in the 2nd. To date, only one woman has ever won a *second* "Sunshine Double," but now Swiatek gets the chance to try to become the second.



While Swiatek improves to 19-3 in tour finals in the 2020s, Sakkari falls to 1-7, with by far the fewest titles of the twelve women who have appeared in as many finals this decade (the next least productive finalist is Jessie Pegula w/ 3).
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2. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Jasmine Paolini def. Anna Kalinskaya
...6-3/3-6/6-4. Proving that her Dubai final win over the Russian was no fluke, Paolini wins the rubber match in the Italian's third meeting with Kalinskaya already this season. Kalinskaya won their first meeting in the Australian Open Round of 16, but Paolini in 2-0 in 1000 events.
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3. I.W. 4th Rd. - Yuan Yue def. Dasha Kasatkina
...4-6/6-4/6-3. Yuan continued her career-best run, winning her ninth straight match with her second consecutive I.W. win from a set down (third in the 9-win stretch).

Kasatkina led 6-4/3-1, with four BP for a 4-1 scoreboard bulge, but Yuan rallied to hold and then take the set. Yuan led 4-1 in the 3rd before Kasatkina got the set back on serve a 4-3, only for Yuan to deny a GP and get the break lead back before serving out the win for her first 1000 QF.


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4. I.W. 4th Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber
...6-4/6-2. The Dane takes the 4th Round battle of former #1 slam-winning comeback moms, tying the head-to-head series at 8-8 in their first meeting since 2018. Kerber's last win came in the 2016 U.S. Open.

Wozniacki struggled to secure the 1st set, leading 5-1 and twice failing to serve things out. At 5-4, she broke to take it, then raced to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd and didn't look back.


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5. I.W. QF - Iga Swiatek def. Caroline Wozniacki
...6-4/1-0 ret. Wozniacki's 4-2 lead devolves into a retirement with a toe injury, ending the Dane's bid for a fifth career #1 win. Her last came in the 2018 AO final vs. Simona Halep.
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6. I.W. SF - Maria Sakkari def. Coco Gauff
...6-4/6-7(5)/6-2. A match with far more drama than necessary, as weather delays at 4-3 in the 1st (a short one) and at the start of the 2nd (2 hours) extended play.

Sakkari grabbed the 1st with a late surge, breaking on her fifth BP of game 9 and then serving out the set. The Greek twice served for the match in the 2nd, at 5-2 and 5-4. She led 40/15 in her second attempt, but failed to convert three MP as Gauff battled her way back into the match. Coco held at love to take a 6-5 lead, and led 6-2 in the TB. Sakkari nearly caught her, but Gauff sent things to a 3rd with a 7-5 win.

But after all that, it was Sakkari who closed the strongest. She took a 4-1 lead and held a BP for 5-1, but didn't led that momentary slip (nor another 5-2 lead) get away the second time around as she burst into her second I.W. final in three years.

The loss concludes a tournament for Gauff that saw the U.S. Open champ return to play on home soil, officially leave her teen years behind (last win as a teen: vs. Bronzetti, first in her twenties: vs. Mertens), and experience the end of a 20-match winning streak in U.S. events that stretched back to the Summer of Coco last year.
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7. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Maria Sakkari def. Caroline Garcia
...6-3/6-4. Sakkari improves her record vs. Garcia to 4-0 in the last 13 months (she'd been 0-3 against the Pastry earlier).

Garcia falls to 6-7 on the year, 1-5 in her last six. Half of her '24 wins came in the meaningless United Cup event in Week 1, three-setters all over Kerber, Paolini and Helgo.

She has a new podcast, though...


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8. I.W. MX Final (ex) - Storm Hunter/Matthew Ebden def. Caroline Garcia/Eduoard Roger-Vasselin
...6-3/6-3. Okay, now make this a *real* thing at all the two-week, two-tour events on the schedule.

Also, why don't the MX slam points count toward the weekly WD/MD rankings totals? If they did there would be more incentive to play at both the slam and 1000 levels. (I mean, if you're going to give *UNITED CUP* match wins ranking points then there's really no leg to stand on when it comes to not giving them there, right?)
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9. Charleston 125 Final - Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Diana Shnaider
...6-3/6-2. While Cocciaretto has had an oft-frustrating '24 campaign up until this week, Shnaider's has been extremely hit-and-miss.

The 19-year old Hordette won her maiden tour title in Hua Hin, but before this runner-up result had posted 1r-Q1-1r-1r-2r results in her other five events.
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10. $35K Alaminos CYP Final - Lucija Ciric Bagaric def. Lina Gjorcheska 6-2/6-3
$35K Alaminos CYP Final - Tena Lukas/Kristina Mladenovic def. Francesca Curmi/Cristina Dinu 6-4/7-5
...Ciric Bagaric maintains her ITF '24 title lead, taking her fourth crown of the young season. The 20-year old Croat will crack the Top 200 on Monday.

The in same event, Kristina Mladenovic teamed with Tena Lukas for the doubles title. At $35K, it's the Pastry's smallest (s/d) title since 2011. Mladenovic reached the tour-level Adelaide doubles final in January with Caroline Garcia, but hasn't won a WTA WD title since 2022.
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11. $35K Santo Domingo DOM Final - Maya Joint def. Gao Xinyu
...6-4/2-6/6-1. The 17-year old Aussie claims her second career ITF title.

U.S.-born (Grosse Pointe, Michigan), Joint continues to lay some nice pro event groundwork before her expected arrival in Austin next fall as a member of the Texas Longhorn tennis program.
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12. $15K Sharm El Sheikh EGY Final - Malene Helgo def. Marie Weckerle
...6-3/6-2. 24-year old Norwegian Helgo extends her winning streak to 12 matches, picking up her second straight challenger crown. She's 20-6 on the year.

Weckerle, 20, continues to seek her first pro title (and the first in a while for any player from Luxembourg), but she's clearly taken her game up a few levels in the new season. After posting just two QF in 28 events last season, Weckerle (18-9) has already reached two finals (0-2), a SF and QF in 9 events in '24.
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[IW 3rd Round+]



1. I.W. 3rd Rd. - Elise Mertens def. Naomi Osaka 7-5/6-4
I.W. 4th Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Elise Mertens 6-2/6-0
...first Mertens is the ultimate party pooper who erases the chance for a big-time Gauff/Osaka 4th Rounder, then she promptly notches just two games herself in a 6-0/6-2 loss to a newly-20 year old Coco in the following round.

From Belgian Rumble to Belgian Tumble in 48 hours, then back the other way by the weekend's close...
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2. I.W. Final - Hsieh Su-wei/Elise Mertens def. Storm Hunter/Katerina Siniakova
...6-4/6-3. Hsieh's "retirement" from singles is that discipline's loss, but doubles' gain.


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3. Charleston 125 2nd Rd. - Erika Andreeva def. Nao Hibino
...2-6/7-6(3)/6-3. Not Mirra (who lost her third straight match in the I.W. 1st Rd.), but Erika the Magnificent. Watch her pull a rabbit out of her hat! Or, you know, NINE rabbits.

Hibino led 6-2/5-3 and held 9 MP in the 2nd set, three at 5-3, love/40 and then six more at 5-4 after taking a 40/15 lead. Nine MP saves in her back pocket, Andreeva took a 7-3 TB to knot the match and then pulled away in the 3rd.


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Hmmm. Will it be Badosa... or a lucky loser? Remains to be seen.


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Come on, Tennis Channel. I mean, come on.




The women's version included Sakkari, Jabeur, Muchova, Pliskova and Pegula. I'll be kind and not question any of those, but have to wonder how Svitolina didn't make it.

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Not like they had any other choice, I guess.

I go there for the new s/d rankings on Mondays, to check a players historical weekly/yearly rankings, and the ranking of a player's opponent at the time of a particular match... and that's it. Everything else is better left "sourced out" elsewhere.

Well, I take that back. The three-hour matches and wins from MP down lists are great. Real gems.

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I was reading Shoeless Joe, the book that "Field of Dreams" was adapted from, during down time of my final week in high school. I didn't get to the end by my last day, and it still bugs me that I never picked the book back up again to finish it.



Love "The Fugitive," which is a movie with scenes and performances that still offer something even after multiple viewings after all these years.

When NBC used to run it every year on a holiday night -- Christmas, maybe? -- I'd watch it every year. Then they stopped doing that a few years ago. I've only watched it once since, but would probably watch it every year again if they went back to the old schedule, I think.



Elli's ma...










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*INDIAN WELLS FACTS 1989-present*
=SINGLES=
[Most Singles Titles]
2 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2 - Kim Clijsters, BEL
2 - Lindsay Davenport, USA
2 - Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
2 - Steffi Graf, GER
2 - Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
2 - Martina Navratilova, USA
2 - Maria Sharapova, RUS
2 - IGA SWIATEK, POL
2 - Serena Williams, USA
[Most Finals]
6 - Lindsay Davenport (2-4)
3 - Victoria Azarenka (2-1)
3 - Steffi Graf (2-1)
3 - Maria Sharapova (2-1)
3 - Serena Williams (2-1)
3 - Martina Hingis (1-2)
3 - Caroline Wozniacki (1-2)
3 - Svetlana Kuznetseva (0-3)
2 - Kim Clijsters (2-0)
2 - Mary Joe Fernandez (2-0)
2 - Daniela Hantuchova (2-0)
2 - Martina Navratilova (2-0)
2 - IGA SWIATEK (2-0)
2 - Ana Ivanovic (1-1)
2 - Jelena Jankovic (1-1)
2 - Monica Seles (1-1)
2 - Amanda Coetzer (0-2)
2 - MARIA SAKKARI (0-2)
[Only 9 Finalists Have Not Reached a Slam Final]
1989 Manuela Maleeva (best slam: SF)
1989 Jenny Byrne (3rd)
1997 Irina Spirlea (SF)
1993/94 Amanda Coetzer (SF)
2002/07 Daniela Hantuchova (SF)
2018 Dasha Kasatkina (SF)
2021 Paula Badosa (QF)
2022 Maria Sakkari (SF)
2024 Maria Sakkari (SF)
=DOUBLES=
[Most Titles]
7 - Lisa Raymond, USA
6 - Lindsay Davenport, USA
4 - HSIEH SU-WEI, TPE
3 - Martina Hingis, SUI
3 - ELISE MERTENS, BEL
3 - Elena Vesnina, RUS
2 - Sania Mirza, IND
2 - Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP
2 - Samantha Stosur, AUS
2 - Rennae Stubbs, AUS
2 - Paola Suarez, ARG
2 - Helena Sukova, CZE
2 - Natasha Zvereva, BLR
[Most Titles - duos]
2 - Davenport/Raymond, USA/USA
2 - Davenport/Zvereva, USA/BLR
2 - HSIEH/MERTENS, TPE/BEL
2 - Ruano Pascual/Suarez, ESP/ARG
2 - Raymond/Stosur, USA/AUS

*"SUNSHINE DOUBLE" (IW/MIA) WINNERS*
[WS]
1994 Steffi Graf, GER
1996 Steffi Graf, GER
2005 Kim Clijsters , BEL
2016 Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2022 Iga Swiatek, POL
[WD]
1997 Natasha Zvereva, BLR
1999 Martina Hingis, SUI
2002 Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS
2006 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2007 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2015 Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza, SUI/IND
2016 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2019 Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
--
NOTE: Jana Novotna/Helena Sukova won both IW/Mia as non-consecutive events in 1990

*2024 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
2 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT = 500(2)
2 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ = 500(2)
2 - IGA SWIATEK, POL = 1000(2)
[2020-24]
19 - 1/2/8/6/1 = IGA SWIATEK
9 - 3/2/0/3/1 = Aryna Sabalenka
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
7 - 0/3/2/2/0 = Barbora Krejcikova
6 - 0/1/0/4/1 = Coco Gauff
6 - 1/0/1/2/2 = Elena Rybakina
5 - 3/0/2/-/- = Simona Halep
5 - 0/1/2/2/0 = Ons Jabeur
5 - 0/4/1/0 = Anett Kontaveit (ret.)
5 - 0/1/1/1/2 = Alona Ostapenko
[2020-24 - hard court]
11 - IGA SWIATEK (0/1/5/3/2)
7 - Aryna Sabalenka (3/1/0/2/1)
6 - Ash Barty (1/3/2 ret.)
5 - Anett Kontaveit (0/4/1/0 ret)
5 - Barbora Krejcikova (0/1/2/2/0)
4 - Coco Gauff (0/0/0/3/1)
4 - Dasha Kasatkina (0/2/2/0/0)
4 - Elena Rybakina (1/0/0/1/2)
[1000 titles - since 2021]
8 - IGA SWIATEK
2 - Ash Barty (ret.)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka
2 - Elena Rybakina

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2024*
3 - Elena Rybakina (2-1)
2 - Alona Ostapenko (2-0)
2 - IGA SWIATEK (2-0)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (1-1)
2 - Dasha Kasatkina (0-2)

*MOST WTA FINALS - 2020-24*
22 - 1/2/9/8/2 = SWIATEK (19-3)
17 - 3/3/3/6/2 = Sabalenka (9-8)
15 - 5/0/3/4/3 = Rybakina (6-9)
12 - 1/7/4/0 ret...Kontaveit (5-6-1)
12 - 0/3/6/3/0 = Jabeur (5-7)
11 - 0/4/3/4/0 = Krejcikova (7-4)
10 - 0/4/2/2/2 = Kasatkina (4-6)
9 - 1/6/2/ret...Barty (8-1)
8 - 0/2/3/1/2 = Ostapenko (5-3)
8 - 0/3/2/3/0 = Bencic (4-4)
8 - 1/0/2/5/0 = Pegula (3-5)
8 - 0/1/4/2/1 = SAKKARI (1-7)

*TOP 10 FINALS 2024*
Brisbane - #4 Rybakina def. #2 Sabalenka
Doha - #1 Swiatek def. #4 Rybakina
Indian Wells - #1 Swiatek def. #9 Sakkari
[most Top 10 Finals (of 24) in 2020s]
11 (10-1) - SWIATEK
9 (2-7) - Sabalenka
5 (0-5) - SAKKARI
3 (2-1) - Barty, Rybakina
3 (1-2) - Kontaveit, Pegula
2 (2-0) - Gauff
2 (0-2) - Jabeur
1 (1-0) - Badosa, Garcia, Halep, Muguruza
1 (0-1) - Andreescu, Krejcikova, Pliskova

*MOST WTA SF in 2024*
3 - Elena Rybakina (2-1)
3 - IGA SWIATEK (1-1+W)
3 - COCO GAUFF (1-2)
3 - Emma Navarro (1-2)

*2024 OLDEST WTA WD/MX FINALISTS*
38 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (Abu Dhabi - W)
38 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (Auckland - L)
38 - HSIEH SU-WEI (Indian Wells - W)
38 - Hsieh Su-wei (Australian Open - W)
38 - Hsieh Su-wei (Australian Open MX - W)
36 - Sara Errani (Linz - W)

*2020-24 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*
17 - Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/3/1)
13 - Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/0)
11 - ELISE MERTENS (1/4/2/2/2)
10 - HSIEH SU-WEI (4/2/0/2/2)
9 - Laura Siegemund (1/0/3/5/0)
8 - Shuko Aoyama (1/5/0/2/0)
8 - Desirae Krawczyk (2/2/1/3/0)
8 - Demi Schuurs (2/2/1/2/1)
8 - Ena Shibahara (1/5/0/2/0)
8 - Luisa Stefani (1/1/2/3/1)
[2020-24 - duos]
12..Krejcikova/Siniakova (1/5/3/3/-)
8...Aoyama/Shibahara (1/5/0/2/0)
7...Siegemund/Zvonareva (1/0/2/4/0)
5...Gauff/Pegula (0/0/3/2/0)
5...Hsieh/Strycova (4/0/-/1/-)
4...HSIEH/MERTENS (0/2/0/0/2)

*CAREER WTA DOUBLES TITLES - active*
34 - HSIEH SU-WEI
33 - Latisha Chan
29 - Sara Errani
29 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands
28 - Kristina Mladenovic
24 - Timea Babos
24 - Katerina Siniakova
22 - Venus Williams
20 - Chan Hao-ching
20 - ELISE MERTENS
19 - Shuko Aoyama
18 - Barbora Krejcikova

*MOST WEEKS AT WTA WD #1; on March 18*
237 - Martina Navratilova
199 - Liezel Huber
163 - Cara Black
137 - Lisa Raymond
124 - Natasha Zvereva
115 - Katerina Siniakova*
111 - Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
110 - Roberta Vinci
91 - Sania Mirza
89 - Martina Hingis
87 - Paola Suarez
87 - Sara Errani*
80 - Gigi Fernandez
68 - Helena Sukova
67 - Jana Novotna
65 - Virginia Ruano Pascual
61 - Samantha Stosur
48 - HSIEH SU-WEI*
48 - Pam Shriver
45 - Ai Sugiyama
34 - Chan Hao-ching
34 - Elise Mertens*
--
NOTE: I'm not sure what Hingis' official weeks at #1 are, as on the WTA website the 2024 Official Guide says 79 weeks, the (up-to-date) Historical Notes page says 89 weeks, and (for one) Wikipedia records say 90

*2024 WTA 125 FINALS*
Canberra (hc) - Nuria Parrizas Diaz/ESP d. Harriet Dart/GBR
Mumbai (hc) - Darja Semenistaja/LAT d. Storm Hunter/AUS
Puerto Vallarta (hc) - McCartney Kessler/USA d. Taylah Preston/AUS
Charleston (gc) - Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA d. Diana Shnaider/RUS






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NOTE TO ALL CONCERTNED (including ostriches): do NOT mess with giraffes. Just because they look a little ungainly doesn't mean that they're jovial spokesanimals for toy store chains.




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All for now.
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