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Sunday, March 9, 2025

Wk.10- Indian Wells Wants Them, and They Can Go Back There













*WEEK 10*
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[IW Through 2nd Round]





RISERS: Jaqueline Cristian/ROU and Caroline Dolehide/USA
...who needs a cape when you're Jaqueline-Freakin'-Cristian, right?

Despite entering Indian Wells with a just a 4-6 mark on the year, the 26-year old Romanian (down to #85 after climbing to a career-best #57 last summer) is putting up her best results on the biggest stages in '25. In Melbourne, she recorded her first career 3rd Round result in a major, and now she's reached the 3rd Round in a 1000 event for the fourth time in the past year.

A masterful 1st Round win over Veronika Kudermetova (6-2/6-3) was followed up on Saturday night with a come-from-behind, 3:16 marathon in which the Romanian overcame a 7-5/3-1 deficit to defeat Leylah Fernandez to chants of "Jack-ie! Jack-ie!" (she was named after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, after all).

Last season, Cristian reached the 3rd Round at 1000 Madrid, Rome and Beijing, and at the latter recorded her first career Top 10 win (def. Krejcikova).



Elsewhere in I.W., Dolehide hasn't had much singles success in the majors (4-13 career), but she's on occasion sparked in 1000 events. Though she's only had one full season of appearances in 1000-level tournaments (10 in '24, after just 4 MD from 2017-23), as the 26-year old has reached the Guadalajara final in 2023 and twice advanced to the 3rd Round in Indian Wells in tournaments six years apart (2018 and '24).

Ranked #73 and in the MD via a wild card, the Bannerette reached the I.W. 3rd Round again after wins over Kamilla Rakhimova and Eva Lys, before falling on Sunday vs. Marta Kostyuk.
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SURPRISES: Whitney Osuigwe/USA and Sonay Kartal/GBR
...quietly, the 2017 RG girls' champ has been making progress. Now 22, Osuigwe won a $50K in November, and has reached a pair of challenger finals this season.

She qualified for the I.W. MD, her first ever at the 1000 level and first in any tour-level event since Charleston '21, with wins over Nuria Parrizas Diaz and Kaja Juvan. Osuigwe fell in the 1st Round to Hailey Baptiste.

After nearly cracking the Top 100 in 2019 (topping out at #105), Osuigwe hasn't ranked inside the Top 200 since April 2021. She'll climb into the Top 220 in the post-Indian Wells rankings.

As a far as a player who *didn't* manage to make it through I.W. qualifying, things have still managed to turn out pretty well for Kartal.

Last year, the 23-year old Brit reached the Wimbledon 3rd Round and won her maiden WTA title in Monastir in her only two tour-level MD appearances on the season (she also claimed a $100K crown in October). She was just 3-3 in 2025 heading into the Indian Wells qualifying event, where she lost in the final round to Clervie Ngounoue in a 7-5 3rd set.

But after reaching the MD when Sloane Stephens (foot) withdrew, she has so far posted wins over Varvara Lepchenko and Beatriz Haddad Maia, with the #17-ranked Brazilian accounting for the biggest win of Kartal's career to date.


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VETERAN: Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...Cirstea turns 35 next month, but the Romanian's late career bloom continues, even if her Indian Wells experience was cut short early.

She's already posted QF results in Dubai and Austin, and has wins over the likes of Dasha Kasatkina, Emma Navarro and Diana Shnaider in her column since her return from a six-month absence. In I.W., Cirstea opened with a win over Maya Joint and had Navarro lined up for a second Top 10 upset of the Merida champion in three weeks.



Cirstea won the 1st set, and served at 5-3 in the 3rd, holding a pair of MP before the Bannerette surged back to win a deciding TB and keep her victory streak alive. Had the Romanian won it would have been her 25th career Top 10 win, coming 17 years after her very first (over Jelena Jankovic in Fed Cup play) in 2008.

Even with the loss, Cirstea has gone 26-15 in 1000 level events over the past three seasons (age 32-34+). It took her eight years to wrap up that many victories prior to 2023, as she was a combined 26-29 in 1000 events from 2015-22.
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COMEBACK: Lulu Sun/NZL
...after all the sun-related headlines and puns have been collecting dust for most of '25, the Kiwi finally got her second win of the season in match #10, then her third, as well, in Indian Wells.

Sun had been 1-11 since she'd reached her maiden tour final in Monterrey last August. But her first week in I.W. saw her knock off last week's Merida quarterfinalist, Rebecca Sramkova. The Slovak had beaten Sun in the 1st Round in the Week 9 event in Mexico.

Sun then upset Linda Noskova in a 3rd set TB after the Czech had arrived in California off an 8-3 Middle East run that had included SF (Abu Dhabi), QF (Dubai) and 3rd Round (Doha) results.

Sun's last winning streak was about six and a half months ago, in late August in Monterrey. It was a four-win streak that had been ended by Noskova in the final (after Sun had defeated the Czech in the Cincinnati 1st Rd. the prior week).
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FRESH FACES: Clervie Ngounoue/USA and Polina Kudermetova/RUS
...18-year old Bannerette Ngounoue continues to close in on her Top 250 debut.

Her I.W. qualifying run as a wild card came after her career-best $50K title run (def. Viktoria Hruncakova) last month (she's won two ITF crowns since November, and played in three '25 finals), as she knocked off Rebecca Marino and Sonay Kartal to reach her maiden 1000 MD. She lost in the opener vs. Victoria Azarenka.

Ngounoue won the Wimbledon junior singles just two seasons ago, as well as the girls' doubles at the AO (2022) and RG (2023).

Meanwhile, Kudermetova came to the desert on a slide since her Brisbane RU and AO qualifying run in January. She'd gone 1-5 since, with all five defeats in straight sets, including a love & love loss as a LL to Dasha Kasatkina in her 1000 MD debut in Doha, and *two* L's vs. Alycia Parks in back-to-back events.

The 21-year old, in her second career 1000 MD (this time via automatic entry w/ the larger draw) and first in Indian Wells, got wins over Claire Liu and Linz champ Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening week. With big sister Veronika having lost in the 1st Round, Polina is just 52 points from re-taking the family's top ranking slot in the post-I.W. standings.


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ITF PLAYERS: Valentina Ryser/SUI and Victoria Mboko/CAN
...in Trnava (SVK), 23-year old Ryser won her second '25 crown and biggest of her career, going from qualifier to champion with a 6-4/3-6/7-6(4) victory in the final over Czech Tereza Valentova (the '24 RG s/d girls' winner).

In fact, of the Swiss' seven career ITF wins, the last three have come via wins over Crushers in the final, after having twice defeated Nikola Bartunkova for a crown since the start of 2024.

@valentinaryser


Yes, 18-year old Mboko has added another title to her stellar '25 ITF campaign.

After having finally seen her 22-match season-opening winning streak end in a $50K in Macon, Georgia (US) against Raluca Serban, the Canadian rebounded to take a $75K title in Porto (POR), defeating Harriet Dart 6-1/6-1 in the final to win her fifth tournament this season and improve to 27-1 on the year.


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JUNIOR STARS: Luna Maria Cinalli/ARG and Iva Jovic/USA
...in Medellin (COL), 16-year old Argentine Cinalli (jr.#22) won the South American Regional Championships (J300), closing the deal after a recent stretch in which she reached the J300 Asuncion F, J300 Porto Alegre SF and Banana Bowl J500 SF.

In those three previous events, Cinalli lost to the eventual champion, Laima Vladson, on both occasions before finally defeating the Lithuanian in the Banana Bowl QF, only to then lose a round later to Thea Frodin, who'd then go on to claim the crown.

The #1 seed, Cinalli defeated Brazil's Nauhany Vitoria Leme da Silva, 14, in a 6-4/6-2 final.



Jovic continues to show signs that she's going to be a player of note. Last year, she reached the girls' SF at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as the junior doubles final at three different slams (winning in Melbourne and London).

The current junior #4, the 17-year old arrived in Indian Wells off back-to-back ITF final results, a DNP (rain) in a $50K and a RU in a $35K. After notching 1st Round slam wins in New York in Australia as a wild card over the past seven months, Jovic was a WC entrant in Indian Wells, too.

She trailed Julia Grabher 6-2/1-1 in the 1st Round when play was stopped for the night, but she returned the following day to force a 3rd set vs. the veteran Austrian and won it at love for her maiden 1000 MD victory. Against #6 seed Jasmine Paolini on Saturday, Jovic took the Italian to a 1st set TB (but lost 7-3), then won the 2nd at 6-1 before finally falling in three.

Jovic will be close to cracking the Top 150 after Indian Wells.
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WHEELCHAIR: Lizzy de Greef/NED
...Dutch women's wheelchair tennis does not sleep. Even with Diede de Groot still sidelined after hip surgery (she's done some traveling, and the rehab appears to be going well!), the veterans and young stars of the nation's contingent continue to win. At the Georgia Open (not the country) in Rome (not Italy, in Rome, Georgia in the U.S.), 20-year old de Greef won her second Series 1 crown of the season, and the first of her career on hard court.

After defeating Jiske Griffioen in a final in Rotterdam last month, de Greef ran off wins over Lucy Shuker, Kgothatso Montjane and Aniek Van Koot in a 6-1/3-6/7-5 final to claim the crown.

The youngster was seen as the possible "next generation" Dutch star as a junior, and in de Groot's absence she is finally starting to make her way up the ladder with wins over some of the top-ranked veteran women. So far, though, that list does not include either de Groot (they've never faced off in singles) nor Yui Kamiji (she's 0-3).

@alphenvitaal

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[IW Through 2nd Round]



1. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Emma Navarro def. Sorana Cirstea
...3-6/6-1/7-6(3). Navarro's North American heater continues, as she escapes what would have been a second loss to Cirstea in three weeks (w/ a title run in Merida sandwiched in between), overcoming 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 final set deficits (w/ 2 MP on the Romanian's serve) to get her fifth straight victory.
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2. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Moyuka Uchijima
...6-4/3-6/7-6(4). Without a post-AO win, with three straight losses since her 9-0 start to '25, Gauff began her I.W. '25 experience after improving her lot in each of the last three editions (3r-QF-SF from 2022-24) in the desert.

Uchijima, who knocked out Emma Raducanu in the 1st Round, took Gauff to the edge in this one. Playing a deciding 3rd set, Gauff led 4-0 and twice served for the win (at 5-4 and 6-5), holding a MP in both game 8 and 9 before the Japanese player took things to a TB. Gauff eventually got the job done, but it took MP #5 to finally do it despite having *21* DF on the day.

Also, is Coco wearing the tour's new "rebrand" color?


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3. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Dasha Kasatkina def. Sofia Kenin
...3-6/7-5/6-4. With a Doha 3rd Round and Dubai QF (w/ wins over Vekic, Kostyuk and Paolini) in her back pocket, Kenin presses another Top 20 foe, rallying from 5-2 (and a MP, followed by Kasatkina serving at 5-3) down in the 3rd to get back on serve at 5-4.

Her comeback stalled there, though, as she quickly fell behind love/40 before finally dropping serve in a three-deuce game in which Kasatkina held six more MP before finally getting the win.


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4. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Varvara Gracheva def. Petra Kvitova
...4-6/6-3/6-4. Kvitova is 0-2 so far in her post-maternity leave comeback, but she's claimed the 1st set in both losses. Give her time.


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5. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Robin Montgomery def. Jule Niemeier
...3-6/7-5/6-2. A grand comeback for Montgomery, who gets a MD win at a third different 1000 event over the past three seasons.

The 20-year old trailed Niemeier 6-3/5-2, with the German twice serving for the match before Montgomery went on to win 11 of the final 13 games.

Montgomery reached the 2nd Round in Miami in '23, and the 3rd Round last year in Madrid.


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6. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
...6-7(5)/6-4/7-5. It was hardly a work of art (75 UE), but Potapova recovered from squandering a 5-3 1st set lead (w/ 4 SP) by overcoming a 5-3 deficit in the 3rd as Bouzas Maneiro lets another almost-had-it match slip through her fingers.


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7. Indian Wells 2nd Rd. - Madison Keys def. Anastasia Potapova
...6-3/6-0. Keys finally returns for the first time since winning the AO, and promptly adds to her career-best winning streak with her 13th straight victory. #34 Potapova is the 11th Top 50 player Keys has defeated in the run (five have been Top 10ers, w/ eight in the Top 20).


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8. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Victoria Azarenka def. Clervie Ngounoue
...6-4/7-6(7). Leo doesn't want to be a pro tennis player, but maybe he'll someday be an in-studio commentator?


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9. Indian Wells 1st Rd. - Camila Osorio def. Naomi Osaka
...6-4/6-4. In her first action since her 3rd Round retirement in Melbourne, Osaka goes out in straights.

In 2018, Osaka's big event breakout came with her title run in Indian Wells, after which she'd sweep both the U.S. and Australian Open crowns over the following ten months.


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10. $35K Helsinki FIN Final - Sofia Costoulas def. Lily Miyazaki
...6-3/7-5. The 19-year old Belgian was a junior slam singles finalist at the AO in 2022. This week, Costoulas picked up her first pro title since December '23 with a straight sets win over the Brit.


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11. $15K Sharm El Sheikh EGY Final - Anna Siskova def. Elena-Teodora Cadar
...6-0/6-3. Another week, another Crusher champ as 23-year old Siskova picks up her third challenger crown of the season.
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12. $35K Solarino ITA Final - Joanna Garland vs. Weronika Falkowska
...TBD. Rain pushed this final back to Monday morning, when Taiwan's Garland (born in Stevenage, England before moving to TPE at age 10) will be looking to add to an ITF haul that started last October.

Since then, Garland has won seven ITF titles and reached another final (in addition to this one), in one stretch winning 29 straight matches. Heading into the final vs. Falkowska, she's gone 47-5 over the past five months.
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1. $75K Trnava SVK Final - Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge def. Cho I-hsuan/Cho Yi-tsen
...0–6/7–6(4) [10–8]. The Jorge sisters take down the Cho sisters, as the Portuguese pair claims their third title of the year and 19th at the ITF level since the spring of 2022 (they also won a WTA 125 last April).
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All right, I haven't emptied the bucket on this *quite* yet. I've been chipping away at more thoughts on the rebrand (and the WTA's inability to market itself creatively) all week long, so here's one final (I hope) go-around with some new thoughts about the whole situation, built (of course) upon no actual marketing or branding expertise other than that I (and so many others) know a dead carcas lying on the side of the road when we see it and understand that poking it with a stick won't suddenly bring it back to life.

This caught my eye (and ear) the other day: I think Volynets confused #WTARallyTheWorld with #WTAItTakes (listen until the end of the video). Understandable.



This is maybe *the* best example so far of the carbon copy nature of this campaign in relation to previous attempts. It literally could have been lifted directly from the #WTAItTakes collection (an approach which was then later regurgitated in the #WTAForTheGame campaign).

It really would be interesting and informative to know if the WTA's marching orders on these things is to take this approach, and/or whether the people that came up with the latest campaign -- so-called "branding specialists" ChapterX and Nomad Studio (both based in GBR) -- ever actually took a look back at the previous "rebrand" and marketing attempts to avoid just repeating past mistakes.

Apparently, what resulted came after a "year-long collaboration" with the WTA, which is in ways both hilarious and sad. Here is the Nomad Studio work page regarding the rebrand (here is the same thing from ChapterX). I mean, the presentation *looks* nice, but I think if you investigate past the bright colors and cliched marketing phrases it feels more "surface" than anything, especially since what we've seen (so far, at least) to date in the new "strategy" has been a head-to-head competition to determine whether it's more boring, or rather actually just more pretentious. And, hey, it's 2025 so "cringe" should probably be an option on the board, too. Needless to say, it's an intense pitched battle worthy of the newly "powered-up" and "bold" WTA logo and colors, I will say that for it. (Wink.)

Also, I finally read about what Sarah Swanson, Chief Brand Officer for WTA Ventures and apparently the "first hire" by WTAV CEO Manager Marina Storti, was involved with in her time with the NFL. It was the "Helmets Off" campaign, which focuses on players off the field. So, if Swanson had any hand in the final direction of #RallyTheWorld (and she was front and center in the WTA announcement article), what resulted is no surprise.

Thing is, while this article (from 2022) hits at some of the work that that NFL campaign has been involved in when it's come to reaching new potential fan bases -- and is clearly something the WTA would like to try to replicate -- the WTA isn't really in the same position as the NFL. "Helmets Off," as described in the above article, has done a lot of good revenue-producing work that has attracted new business partners, generated good P.R. by highlighting charitable work, and helped establish individual players an entities aside from their teams and league (though one can argue whether it can take any credit for Super Bowl-winning players earning major endorsements and ads, as the article seems to throw into the mix), helping to carry out an "everywhere all the time" strategy that just adds to the NFL's ongoing success.

But that NFL marketing arm doesn't also have to worry about promoting the *league* and game itself, unlike the WTA. The two are on two totally different planes of existence. Aside from taking football to markets outside the U.S., and maybe the push to make flag football a thing (hey, they got it into an upcoming Olympics), the NFL doesn't need to promote the *game* in the U.S., as its broadcast partners do all that *for* it since the NFL is already established as the #1 sport/league in the country and *everyone* fights each other to get even a sliver of the action.

The WTA has no such advantageous partnerships, and needs to do much more work itself to sell the *tour* and sport, as well. The WTA seems to want to do almost anything *other* than promote what happens between the lines, and while the players' individuals personalities *should* play a huge part in any winning strategy that the tour would come up with the recent attempts have in no way followed in the footsteps of the sort of campaigns that have been highlights of the branding of many NFL players off the field, ala commercials and spots that use humor as part of the package to get attention along with the sort of "inspirational" aspects that the WTA harps on again and again.

The ATP tried some of that last year with its new (brief) it's-all-a-story campaign, but seemed to give up on it without much follow through even after it got the sort of immediate attention that the WTA craves for any of its efforts (which usually only attract derision, for good reason).

Thing is, even if someone would come up with a reasonable campaign, the confidence is pretty low when it comes to the tour's ability to actually effectively implement it, which ultimately makes this all a practice in "busy work." A week in, and the social media team connected to the #RallyTheWorld effort already seem to be over the whole thing (maybe because they already realize that it's D.O.A.?). Not to mention the early technical difficulties and other questionable decisions.



It's noted in the promotions that Billie Jean King was amongst those consulted for the rebrand but, with all due respect, that needs to stop. The ideals that BJK stood for during the founding of the WTA tour have little relation to what the tour, as a business, is in 2025. Honoring the past is a good thing, but trying to act as if time has not passed is not a winning formula for the WTA when it comes to presenting itself to the "outside world." The tour athletes don't need to be "validated" by pushing that they stand for something *more*... let them stand as the best at what they do, with a few twists and turns, and see how that goes. This time around, the campaign's "new" strategy seems to just be to have the players say the same tired phrases rather than simply put similar sentiments in graphics under their photos, as was the case in past efforts.

Of course, none of it has anything to do with what anyone gets on a *daily* basis when following the WTA tour, and tennis in general (a sport with action *every* day from January through November).

Another example. Love Dasha, but, seriously, MY TENNIS GODS. "I want to inspire the next generation, especially kids." Really, that's the cliched script they have Saville -- one of the funniest and most creative souls in the sport -- reading from in this video.



Guess what the WTA campaign was named that came *before* both "For the Game" and "It Takes." It debuted in 2015, and was called "Power to Inspire." Truthfully, I can't even recall it, which says a lot, though I guess one can guess its direction from the jump. So this same effort has now entered its second decade, and fourth different nearly identical marketing strategy. Shouldn't going 0-for-4 get you cut, or at least benched for a while to give someone and/or something else a chance (or, you know, "change coaches" or something)?

The most recent campaign prior to 2015 was "Strong is Beautiful" in 2012, another "nice photos" effort (but the best version of it that the WTA has come up with to date, and one that some at least a little staying power). More interesting was "Looking for a Hero?" in 2009. It was at least an attempt at something different, casting the players as undercover "superheroes," even if the execution might not have taken the natural route that could have made it an epic campaign. Why not give that, or something creative in similar ways, a chance sixteen years later?



It feels like that campaign was a bit ahead of its time. It could be done so much better now (and would likely be well received from the players on down, too), and not just as far as technology. Remember, the WTA didn't debut on then-Twitter until *late* 2008, so it didn't likely push the social media angle like it could so much more naturally now. The idea of utilizing the sort of cool animated content that has been so well done by some of the majors' social media accounts in recent years is certainly intriguing (spend some money on finding someone to do *that*), and if done well would get some initial attention in the age of Marvel and superhero movies galore.

Aside from the three "fake marketing campaign" themes I've utilized here in recent seasons, I even took a stab (as far as I could) with a few things with a similar vibe a few years ago...



Meanwhile, after almost painfully stressing at the introduction of this campaign to say that the WTA wants to put the players "front and center" in "get to know them" ways, #RallyTheWorld's second week saw the standard of going with *two* posts per player (the first which identified the individual, the second which just included a video), which was the practice through the opening weekend, reduced to just one (w/ only the video, and without even an identification of the player involved), so the withering away has already started. I mean, surely the best way to highlight the athletes as individuals -- including not-exactly-familiar-faces such as those of Magdalena Frech, Ann Li and Asia Muhammad -- is to make everyone outside of a relatively small group of fans have to take wild guesses about just which player is being highlighted, right? Nothing like leaving the "work" to some random fan to *hopefully* identify the player in the replies.

Finally, by the end of the week, the WTA's social media seemed to grudgingly (i.e. only on occasion, as in the following posts, which went up within an hour of each other) begin to identify the spotlighted players, but hardly in an easy-to-see fashion.

NOTE: the Taylor Townsend post includes her name, but is cut off when embedded in this post, while the Zheng Qinwen post did not include her name. All the more reason to identify the players within the body of the post (as they do the photographer).




The hit-and-miss identification continued, often in the positively "groundbreaking" #WTAOffCourtFits series. This one did *not* include a name. How many people likely could identify her?



Pssst.... it's Robin Montgomery.

Kinda makes you wonder if the people doing the actual posting on the WTA's social media pages have any idea who the majority of the players are that they're posting photos of, you know?

This Adweek "article" is money well-spent, I guess, since it's really just a press release posing as a positive critique (you know, just like the pretty much identical "news" on SI.com and other sites). Not that much of anything it says has much veracity. It *does* note that WTA Ventures increased revenue by 25% in 2024, so it looks like that arm is doing well attracting business behind the scenes. Good for them, as well as the increases in other areas. Of course, all that would seem to be totally separate from the rebrand itself, and the complete wrongheaded notions about what will break through and garner the tour the attention that for decades it has been unable to figure out a way -- beyond just letting its stars do all the work on the court -- to turn into positive vibes when it comes to the marketing side of the WTA.

Again, I point to past situations with the Washington Commanders franchise, where during the last regime the group leading the business side of the organization *did* manage to increase revenues and make new deals and partnerships that had eluded the franchise previously due to inept and arrogant practices, but those were things the public didn't *see* on a daily basis. What *was* seen -- the "branding" and marketing -- was still atrocious, sometimes comical (misidentifying players in promotions, mispelling legendary players' names and generally coming off as a "Mickey Mouse organization" when it came to selling itself and, you know, looking the slightest bit competent), and *that* played a larger part in the overall public image of the team. Revenues and common sense don't necessarily operate shoulder-to-shoulder on a 24/7 basis.

So, when this campaign finally disappears, the logos/colors become background noise, the latest campaign goes "poof," and the defining opinion on the changes is merely "indifference" (countdown, in 3...2...1...), while revenue also (hopefully) increases from deals made by people who had nothing to do with the latest "strategy," I fully expect the WTA to act as if this was a rousing "success." I mean, until they go through this process again in three years (w/ something "brilliant" like #WeAreTheWTA, or maybe #WTAAllForOne) and reintroduce the same well-worn ideas as somehow "new."

Really, just telling an agency to start with Li Na's timeless "Welcome to the crazy women's tennis tour" line (which would key on the WTA's unpredictability and excellence) and to go from there could hardly produce something as "damp washcloth"-like as resulted this time around, even while all the accompanying bright colors and flash of the rebrand seems to promise so much more.

Thankfully, the Most Interesting Tour in the World, full of players who've Got the Beat, continues to be a Simply Irresistible product for those who know and see the WTA for what it is and has the capacity to be. Good luck on getting a high number of *new* converts to recognize it, though, when the WTA itself refuses to see the forest for the trees.


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Meanwhile, in better off-court developments...



The source of the money is "questionable" (to be generous), but at least it's being put to good use here. Tip of the hat (I guess), for this smoke and mirrors move. Still, I believe this is what might be called something of a "Faustian" arrangement.

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Elsewhere, the life of a pickleballer...



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Guess who the WTA was using to help promote the tour during the #StrongIsBeautiful campaign back in 2012...



















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*LONG WTA (MD only) WINNING STREAKS - 2020s*
37 - Iga Swiatek (2022; ended by Cornet)
21 - Iga Swiatek (2024; ended by Putintseva)
18 - Iga Swiatek (2023-24; ended by Noskova)
17 - Simona Halep (2020; ended by Swiatek)
16 - Coco Gauff (2023; ended by Swiatek)
15 - Danielle Collins (2024; ended by Sabalenka)
15 - Aryna Sabalenka (2024; ended by Muchova)
13 - MADISON KEYS (2025, through I.W. 2nd Rd.)
13 - Liudmila Samsonova (2022; ended by Tomljanovic)
13 - Bernarda Pera (2022; ended by Samsonova)
13 - Aryna Sabalenka (2023; ended by Krejcikova)
13 - Elena Rybakina (2023; ended by Kvitova)

*2025 ITF SINGLES TITLES*
5 - Victoria Mboko, CAN
3 - Eva Guerrero Alvarez, ESP
3 - Anna Siskova, CZE
3 - Eliska Tichackova, CZE
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NOTE: Joanna Garland/TPE (2) in Monday final






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Or, as the WTA might say, "dog inspires puppies to challenge expectations." #RallytheWorld




All for now.
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