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Monday, April 21, 2025

Wk.16- Thunder on a Monday









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*WEEK 16 CHAMPIONS*
STUTTGART, GERMANY (WTA 500; Red Clay Indoor)
S: Alona Ostapenko/LAT def. Aryna Sabalenka/BLR 6-4/6-1
D: Gaby Dabrowski/Erin Routliffe (CAN/NZL) def. Ekaterina Alexandrova/Zhang Shuai (RUS/CHN) 6-3/6-3
ROUEN, FRANCE (WTA 250; Red Clay Indoor)
S: Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Olga Danilovic/SRB 6-4/7-6(8)
D: Aleksandra Krunic/Sabrina Santamaria (SRB/USA) def. Irina Khromacheva/Linda Noskova (RUS/CZE) 6-0/6-4
Oeiras, Portugal (WTA 125; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Dalma Galfi/HUN def. Katie Volynets/USA 4-6/6-1/6-2
D: Francesca Jorge/Matilde Jorge (POR/POR) def. Anastasia Detiuc/Patricia Maria Tig (CZE/ROU) 6-1/6-2




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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
...well, we've always known that this is possible at *any* time, right?

Ostapenko had one of *those* weeks in Stuttgart, with maybe an additional "+++" included with the description considering she posted two Top 10 wins (and nearly three, as Emma Navarro was ranked #11 coming in), winning her first clay court title since taking Roland Garros eight (!! - how has it been that long already?) years ago to become the first player in thirteen years to defeat the world #1 and #2 in the same event on clay.

Of course, the mid-week highlight (well, in the case of Stuttgart the QF were on *Saturday*) was yet another Ostapenko take down of #2 Iga Swiatek, this time in three sets but for the first time ever on the dirt to improve her now (still) perfect 6-0 head-to-head mark vs. the four-time RG winner. A SF win over Ekaterina Alexandrova (who also posted two Top 10 wins on the week) sent Ostapenko into a Monday final vs. #1 Aryna Sabalenka (now a four-time Stuttgart finalist), where she handled her business once again in a 4 & 1 victory to claim her ninth career tour title.

It's the Latvian's first singles title since she won in Linz (also indoors, like Stuttgart) last year.



One *could* say that Alona might now go on an extended run, but who'd be crazy enough to do that? She could win Madrid (or RG), or just as easily exit in the first round or two. But that's Ostapenko, and who wants to argue against the unpredictable brilliance that makes Latvian Thunder possible?
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RISERS: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR and Olga Danilovic/SRB
...so, is Stuttgart now Sabalenka's "white whale?" Or maybe it's just a temporary annoyance and it's all about the car. If so, she's got that part covered (at least until she can get a free replacement at some point and give away the old model)...



As things went, while the ending was familiar, it was a weird week for Sabalenka. She had a lot a free time. After a 1st Round bye, she received a walkover from Anastasia Potapova in the 2nd, and then the tournament didn't schedule any singles matches on Friday. Sabalenka didn't play her first match until *Saturday*, then took out Elise Mertens and Jasmine Paolini over the weekend to reach her tour-best 27th singles final this decade (four-leading fifth in '25), her fourth in Stuttgart in the past five years.



Even with her Monday final loss to Alona Ostapenko, Sabalenka increases her lead over #2 Iga Swiatek (who went out at the hands of Ostapenko in the QF) from 3071 points to 3735 ahead of Swiatek's back-to-back title defenses in Madrid and Rome (Sabalenka was RU in both) before *another* at Roland Garros (Sabalenka reached the '24 QF).



Danilovic's 2025 climb continues. At the start of the week, the 24-year old Serb had already reached the AO Round of 16 (getting a career-best win over #6 Jessie Pegula), won a WTA 125 title and reached the Top 35. In Rouen, she played into the fourth tour-level singles final of her career.

Danilovic posted early-week three-set wins over countrywoman Aleksandra Krunic and Linda Fruhvirtova, rallying from a break down in the 3rd (at 4-3) and sweeping the final three games to eliminate the Czech. A third three-set victory over Moyuka Uchijima preceded (finally) a straight sets encounter vs. Suzan Lamens in the SF to reach her third WTA final in less than three years.

She couldn't add to the titles she claimed in 2018 and '24, though, and lost to top seed Elina Svitolina 6-4/7-6(8).

Danilovic goes up five spots in the rankings, achieving a new career-high of #34 as she closes in on her first seeded slot at a major.
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SURPRISES: Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah/FRA and Suzan Lamens/NED
...well, the day finally arrived this week. After more than a year of eyeing (and dreading?) the rise of a certain young Pastry and the necessary memorization of her name to avoid continual annoyance down the line, she finally broke through and made her WTA debut in Rouen.

The 19-year old (#291) qualified with an upset of top ranked countrywoman Jessika Ponchet in the final Q-round, then knocked off consecutive Top 100 foes (she'd never faced a Top 100 opponent before this) in wins over Lucia Bronzetti and Jaqueline Cristian in her debut tour-level run. The journey ended with a QF loss to Suzan Lamens, but the French woman will jump nearly 50 spots in the rankings and crack the Top 250. Might a Roland Garros WC be forthcoming?

From here forward, of course, one could just go with "Sarah RR" or "TSRR" for identification, but where's the fun in that?

So, here's how it'll go in my head (you have to go with letter groupings, I think): Tiant-soa (that's pretty easy) Sarah (please) Rakoto-manga (not bad) Raja-o-nah (that last one with take a few times to get down).

32 total letters. Only 12 different ones, though. "A" comes up 10 times.

The Pastry's conqueror, Lamens, continues to be an under-the-radar surprise, as well.

Though the last six months have seen the 25-year old Dutch player win her maiden tour title (Osaka), make her major debut (getting a 1r win in Melbourne), crack the Top 100 (last fall) and reach her career ranking high (#64 in March), Lamens isn't exactly a name on the tip of everyone's tongue. Maybe it should be when it comes to potential early-round upsets in increasingly larger events as this season goes on.

Coming off a nice Cup weekend that *nearly* saw her end up being *the* star of the BJK Qualifiers -- she went 2-0, defeating Katie Boulter to force GBR into a deciding doubles for a berth in the BJK QF, but came up short in trying to also have a hand in that DD match vs. the Brits -- Lamens posted her best tour-level result of the season, reaching the Rouen SF with wins over the returning Bianca Andreescu (3rd set TB), Linda Noskova and the aforementioned TSRR before falling in the semis to Olga Danilovic.


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VETERANS: Elina Svitolina/UKR and Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
...sure, it was a 250 in which she was the only Top 30 player involved, but rarely has Svitolina been as consistently good as she was this week in Rouen.

The 30-year old claimed her 18th career tour title, winning her first in nearly two years (Strasbourg '23) in her first final since January '24 (Auckland), and doing so without dropping a set for the first time in her WTA career.

Wins over Jil Teichmann, Anhelina Kalinina, Jessica Bouzas Maniero and Gabriela Ruse got the Ukrainian into her 22nd career WTA final, where she won a close contest with Olga Danilovic, 6-4/7-6(8).



Meanwhile, in Stuttgart, Alexandrova once again showed that there are few players her equal when she's on a heater. Unfortunately for her, there is *no* player better when they're on a roll than Alona Ostapenko. Guess who the Hordette faced off with in the semifinals.

Still, before that, Alexandrova, 30, managed to make Stuttgart her second multiple Top 10 win event of the season, notching back-to-back victories over Mirra Andreeva and Jessica Pegula (after an opening victory over #19 Liudmila Samsonova) en route to her fourth SF of the season. Her five Top 10 wins are tied (w/ Andreeva, Keys and Sabalenka) for the most on tour in '25.



Aside from the singles success, Alexandrova also reached the doubles final (her first since '19) alongside Zhang Shuai, where they lost to Dabrowski/Routliffe.
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COMEBACKS: Jana Fett/CRO and Dalma Galfi/HUN
...a former junior slam finalist ('14 RG) and Top 100 player (w/ a career high of #97 in '17), Fett has started to creep back onto the edges of the tour scene over the past year after faltering in recent seasons after missing out on a huge big stage opportunity seven years ago.

In 2024 the Croatian made her Roland Garros MD debut (getting her first slam win since 2018), notched her first 1000 victory (Beijing) and won her biggest career title ($100K). This year, Fett qualified at the Australian Open (def. Alex Eala in the Q1), playing in the MD in Melbourne for the first time since she failed to convert either of two MP in the 2nd Round vs. eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki in 2018. She lost in a 3rd set TB in the 1st Round to Harriet Dart (but *didn't* receive any grooming tips from the Brit, so there *was* that).

The now 28-year old Fett came into the week at #153, having gone 2-5 since playing her way into the AO MD.

In Stuttgart, Fett made it through qualifying with wins over Yuliia Starodubtseva and Rebeka Masarova, the latter a 3:39 affair in which she survived despite losing multiple leads (5-3 in the 1st w/ six SP, then 4-0 in the 3rd) and putting in 15 double-faults. She followed up with an upset of countrywoman Donna Vekic in the 1st Round, the second Top 20 win of her career and the first since 2017 (vs. Mladenovic in Tokyo) before a straight sets loss to Iga Swiatek.



Meanwhile, it's been three years since Galfi cracked the Top 80, doing so in 2022. Since then, the 26-year old Hungarian has often produced some nice, climbing-the-latter results but hasn't been able to sustain the wave enough to become a regular Top 100 competitor.

In that '22 season, the 2015 U.S. Open junior champ (she def. Sofia Kenin in the final) won her maiden $100K crown, reached her first 125 final and played into the 3rd Round at the U.S. Open. She reached another slam 3rd Round at Wimbledon a year later (she's won MD matches three years running at SW19) and made a SF last year (her first at tour-level since '21) on the grass at Rosmalen. But 2022 remains Galfi's only season in which she finished in the Top 100, and she arrived at this week's Oeiras 125 at #149, just a few weeks after having lost in a 125 final in La Bisbal d'Empordà.

This time, the Hungarian got the win, rallying from a set down to defeat Katie Volynets and claim her biggest career crown. She'll rise to #121 in the new rankings, with her eye on a Top 100 return (she's -87 points) if she can keep things rolling this time around.


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FRESH FACES: Jessica Bouzas Maneiro/ESP and Victoria Jimenez Kastinseva/AND
...a week earlier, Bouzas Maneiro went 2-0 in Cup play and knocked off Linda Noskova in Ostrava!!! to elimate the Czechs prior to the BJK QF in September. The Spaniard carried over her momentum in Rouen.

A three-set win over Maria Sakkari was combined with a straight sets victory vs. Varvara Gracheva to reach her second career WTA QF, where she went out to top seed Elina Svitolina.

Prior to her recent Antalya 125 QF, undefeated Cup week and Rouen QF (w/ her first four-match winning streak in a year), Bouzas Maneiro has started at just 3-8 on the season. She's now on a 6-2 uptick.

Meanwhile, are we about to get to the point where the success of Alex Eala and the Philippines' population of 115 million are publicly seen and *raised* with the combination of VJK and Andorra's population of just 80,000?

(On a side note, I think I'm going to have to include a "She's from Where?" pick for '26 "unfamiliar nation" success in the Regional Honors post at the end of this season.)

While Eala was the U.S. Open girls' champ in 2022 (the first from the Philippines to win a junior slam) and ranked as high a #2 as a junior, Kasintseva won the Australian Open in 2020 (the first Andorran junior slam champ) and was at one point ranked #1. Over the past year, the 19-year old Andorran, like the 19-year old Filipina, seems to be making a significant move.

Last summer, she reached her (then-) biggest final in a $100K in Spain, losing (as it turns out) to Eala, then last September in Lisbon claimed her biggest title ($75K). Last month, she reached her first 125 final in Antalya (L vs. Olga Danilovic), an event in which she got a win over Bouzas Maneiro.

This week in the Oeiras 125, ranked at #128, VJK knocked off #101 Yuan Yue (a Top 40 player a year ago, and a '24 WTA title winner) via a 3rd set TB and then followed up with a three-set win over Lola Radivojevic to reach the QF. She went out there at the hands of Katie Volynets, but has a good chance this spring to surpass her previous career high (#121) and possibly make her major MD debut (which Eala should do in Paris in May).


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ITF PLAYER: Mayar Sherif/EGY
...until this week, 2025 had not been kind to Sherif. The Egyptian didn't get her first match win until March, a 1st Round victory over Lulu Sun (one of the few players who started this season as slowly as Sherif) in Indian Wells after opening 0-6. On the heels of a recent $100K 2nd Round exit vs. #288 Alina Charaeva, #61 Sherif's sudden surge this week in Madrid stands in stark contrast to all that came before.

In the Week 16 $100K in Spain, Sherif won five matches without dropping a single set, finishing off her run with a 6-3/6-4 victory over Renata Zarazua in the final.



Zarazua had been trying to claim a second $100K title since October to go along with a 125 crown she took in November. Like Sherif, the 27-year old from Mexico had arrived in a prolonged slump -- five straight losses and 1-6 in her last seven -- after collecting a combined 113 match wins in 2023-24 (63 and 50, respectively).
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JUNIOR STARS: Mika Stojsavljevic/GBR and Charo Esquiva Banuls/ESP
...Stojsavljevic, the reigning U.S. Open girls' champ, claimed the LTA's Junior National Championship (18u) at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, defeating Hannah Klugman in a 7-5 3rd set in the final to claim the crown as well as a wild card berth into the Wimbledon women's qualifying competition.

Last summer in New York, the 16-year old Brit defeated Wakana Sonobe (who'd go on to win the '25 AO junior title) for the girls' crown. A few months earlier, last April, Stojsavljevic had picked up her maiden pro title in a $35K in Nottingham. Last October, she made her tour-level debut via a wild card in Tokyo, where she lost her 1st Round match in a 3rd set TB vs. Moyuka Uchijima.



In Beaulieu-sur-Mer (FRA), Esquiva Banuls claimed her second J300 title in a row, running her junior level match winning streak to ten and improving to 20-3 in girls' play in 2025.

The 17-year old Spaniard, the #3 seed in the event, defeated Turkey's Deniz Dilek -- the #8 seed who'd upset the #1 and #4 -- by a 7-5/7-5 score in the final.
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DOUBLES: Gaby Dabrowski/Erin Routliffe, CAN/NZL and Aleksandra Krunic/Sabrina Santamaria, SRB/USA
...in Stuttgart, Dabrowski & Routliffe reached their first final as a pair since winning the WTA Finals title to end 2024, picking up their overall fifth title together (in ten finals) since the summer of '23.

The team won a 10-4 MTB in the semis vs. Timea Babos/Luisa Stefani (the latter Dabrowski's regular WD partner earlier this decade with a 2-3 record in finals), then defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova/Zhang Shuai 3 & 3 in the final. It's Dabrowski's 18th career tour title, and Routliffe's 10th, but her second in her last two outings this clay season (the Kiwi won in Charleston w/ Alona Ostapenko).



Krunic & Santamaria played in their second '25 final (w/ Auckland RU) in Rouen, taking the title with a pair of MTB wins (2r and SF) before a 6-0/6-4 victory in the final over Irina Khromacheva & Linda Noskova.

It's the seventh WTA title (first since Eastbourne '22) for Krunic, while Bracelet partner Santamaria has now claimed three.


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WHEELCHAIR: Li Xiaohui/CHN
...while the absence of Diede de Groot *did* open the door for Yui Kamiji to win a singles slam at the Australian Open, it's been the rise of the top Chinese rollers that has arguably been the biggest story of '25.

Li combined with Wang Ziying to become the first Chinese women to win a major wheelchair title in the AO doubles, and both have been climbing the singles ladder, as well. Two weeks ago, WC #4 Wang defeated Kamiji in a Series 1 final, and this week it was #5 Li doing the same in the Japan Open Super Series event in Iizuka, Japan.

Kamiji is 16-3 in this de Groot-free season (so far, at least), with all three of her losses coming to the Chinese pair.

Kamiji had managed to get some revenge vs. Wang with a SF victory this week, but couldn't put off the Chinese two-fer as 25-year old Li staged a comeback to get the 3-6/6-3/6-1 victory in the final and claim her second Super Series title of the year. The other SS crown also came at the expense of Kamiji, as Li defeated her in the pre-AO Melbourne Open final in January before Kamiji later topped *her* in the Australian Open semis on her way to the title.

Li, remember, was the also player who ended de Groot's 145-match winning streak last year.


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1. Stuttgart QF - Alona Ostapenko def. Iga Swiatek
...6-3/3-6/6-2. In case you haven't heard, Alona is pretty confident when she plays Iga. We saw it again in Stuttgart in their first clay court meeting.

Though she didn't "feel" her game in the 2nd set, Ostapenko jumped right back into groove in the 3rd to improve her career record to 6-0 in her head to head with Swiatek, becoming the first player to defeat the former #1 on hard court, grass and clay in her career.



Yep.
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2. Stuttgart Final - Alona Ostapenko def. Aryna Sabalenka
...6-4/6-1. The Monday final *really* had a Monday feel for Sabalenka, as for the fourth time in five years her desire for a free Porsche was run into the ditch in the final by a former RG champ. In 2021 it was Ash Barty, then Iga Swiatak in 2022-23, and now Ostapenko.



For Ostapenko, her first clay title since winning in Paris in 2017 marks the second time of the six occasions in which she's defeated Swiatek (w/ '22 Dubai) that she went on to take the crown in the event.


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3. Rouen 2nd Rd. - Moyuka Uchijima def. Lois Boisson
...1-6/7-6(4)/6-4. A loss that'll make ya sweat. (Sorry, it was too easy to pass up.)

Uchijima trailed Boisson 6-1/5-1, and saw the Pastry serve at 5-2 (w/ a MP) and 5-4.

With the win, Uchijima becomes the first WTA player to record two wins this season after having faced down a MP.


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4. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Clara Tauson
...2-6/7-6(8)/6-3. Potapova prevails after saving a MP at 8-7 in the 2nd set TB, winning 10-8 and going on to eliminate Tauson in three. This was the second match for both this season in which the ultimate winner had saved a MP (they've both gone 1-1). The Dane's loss prevented her third match-up of the season vs. Aryna Sabalenka in the 2nd Round.



As it turned out, Potapova's tournament was over her, as well, as she retired before facing the world #1.


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5. Stuttgart Q2 - Jana Fett def. Rebeka Masarova 6-7(5)/7-6(4)/7-6(5)
Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Jana Fett def. Donna Vekic 7-6(2)/6-4
...Fett is due some wins in which she was probably "lucky" to win, considering how a few of her past losses have come about.

In a 3:39 marathon vs. Masarova, the Croat squandered a 5-3 2nd set lead, failing to convert six SP over three games, but finally leveled the match on #8 in the TB.

Fett then lost a 4-0 lead in the 3rd, dropping five straight games before gathering herself to force a deciding breaker, where she won on MP #2.

Against fellow Croatian Vekic in the MD, Fett rallied from 1-4 down in the 1st to win in straights. Vekic is just 5-10 on the year.


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6. Rouen Final - Elina Svitolina def. Olga Danilovic
...6-4/7-6(8). Svitolina improves to 7-0 in career clay court WTA finals, winning her first tour title since her *last* clay court final appearance in Strasbourg in 2023.

It's been fifteen years since Svitolina lost a final on clay. It was in her maiden pro final in a $25K challenger in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2010 vs. Lyudmyla Kichenok. Svitolina was just 15 years old.


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7. Rouen 1st Rd. - Suzan Lamens def. Bianca Andreescu
...6-1/4-6/7-6(2). In her 2025 debut (and first match since last October in Tokyo), Andreescu jumps right back into the fire, i.e. a twisty, momentum-turning three-setter in which the world #130 took Lamens to a deciding TB (in a no-break 3rd set) after saving two MP at 5-4 but ultimately saw the Dutch player win 7-2.
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8. Stuttgart QF - Jasmine Paolini def. Coco Gauff
...6-4/6-3. After a slow start, Paolini is starting to rev her engines.

The Italian started the year at 6-4, and her AO 3rd Round result ended her streak of four consecutive second week runs in majors. She reached the Miami semis (a loss to Sabalenka), but days later still parted ways with longtime coach Renzo Furlan, who'd overseen her rise into the Top 10 and was named the tour's 2024 Coach of the Year (he's also the latest CoY winner to be let go not long afterward).

With new coach Marc Lopez on board, this victory over Gauff was Paolini's first Top 10 win of the season. In her second straight '25 semi, though, she fell once more to Sabalenka.

Paolini is 9-3 in her last twelve matches.
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9. Rouen 1st Rd. - Tiatsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah def. Lucia Bronzetti
...6-2/6-3. The 19-year old Pastry (#291) makes her tour-level MD debut a victorious one, notching her first Top 100 win in her first attempt vs. such an opponent.

She got her second (over Jaqueline Cristian) in the 2nd Round.


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10. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Ella Seidel def. Tatjana Maria
...3-6/7-6(2)/6-3. In a multi-generational German clash, lucky loser Seidel outlasts 37-year old Maria, who served for the win at 6-3/6-5.

At 20, Seidel is 17 years Maria's junior, and only nine years older than Tatjana's first-born daughter.


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11. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Magdalena Frech def. Sara Errani
...7-5/4-6/7-6(5). Frech rallies from multiple late deficits to win in more than three hours. The Pole trailed 4-2 in the 3rd, saw Errani serve for the match at 6-5 (the Italian was broken at love) as well as lead 5-2 in the deciding TB before Frech swept the final five points.
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12. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Emma Navarro def. Beatriz Haddad Maia
...6-3/6-0. Haddad Maia's season continues to sink. Arriving in Stuttgart off a winless Cup week in Ostrava!!!, the Brazilian dropped her ninth straight match (in four, she's lost a set at love) to fall to 2-12 on the season. She got just five points off Navarro in the 2nd set.
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13. Rouen 1st Rd. - Jessica Bouzas Maneiro def. Maria Sakkari
...6-0//3-6/6-3. Hmmm. Bouzas Maneiro shines in Cup play (eliminating the Czechs in Ostrava!!!), then turns around and wins a three-setter that one wonders whether -- if things had gone differently *last* week -- it *might* have joined her list of leads-that-slipped-away losses that have acted like temporary weights around her ankles in recent months.

Conincidence?

(And, yes, it helps that her opponent was Sakkari, but it still counts.)
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14. Rouen 1st Rd. - Fiona Ferro def. McCartney Kessler
...6-7(8)/6-2/7-5. So, Kessler missed Cup play for this.

The Bannerette led 4-1 and 5-3 in the 1st, and twice served for the set. She led the TB 5-1, and held a SP (6-5) before being forced to save one soon afterward (7-6), then ultimately won on SP #3 at 10-8.

But it didn't matter, as Ferro won the 2nd and then rallied from 3-1 down in the 3rd to get the win.
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15. Oeiras 125 2nd Rd. - Nina Stojanovic def. Francesca Jones
...2-6/6-3/7-5. Stojanovic survives a crazy 3rd set, as Jones can't complete what would have been her *second* match win on Wednesday (after winning a suspended match vs. Noma Noha Akugue earlier).

The Serb led 4-2, and had nine BP chances in game 7 to lead 5-2. But Jones held serve, then broke Stojanovic a game later. The Brit then saved four more BP to take a 5-4 lead. She held three MP on return, but couldn't put away the win.

As the match finally came back around to her, Stojanovic broke (on BP #4) and served out the win at 7-5. The Serb converted just 3 of 25 BP chances in the match, but that was just enough.
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16. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Jule Niemeier def. Laura Siegemund
...4-6/6-3/6-4. Wild card Niemeier *really* needed a victory in Stuttgart. She came in at just 4-9 on the year, having gone 0-2 in Cup play the prior week (winning just ten total games). She was on a four-match losing streak.

Though she lost in the 2nd Round to Jasmine Paolini, the German got what she needed against countrywoman Siegemund as she rallied from a set down and won in 3:12. The relief was clear.


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17. $75K Calfi FRA Final - Sofia Costoulas def. Tessah Andrianjafitrimo
...7-5/6-1. A week after posting singles and doubles wins as Belgium played its way out of Europe/Africa I and into the BJK Cup Playoffs, 20-year old Costoulas wins her second of '25 and biggest career ITF crown with a $75K win in France over Pastry Andrianjafitrimo.

Costoulas was the 2022 AO junior runner-up, and was once the girls' #2 ranked player.


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18. Rouen 1st Rd. - Lois Boisson def. Harriet Dart
...6-0/6-3. And in the reality TV portion of this week's tour action, Dart became the target of much criticism after she asked the chair umpire to tell opponent Boisson to wear deodorant (thankfully, she didn't also climb over the net to get at her, or throw a drink in her face or something).



Afterward, Boisson won the unofficial award for the best social media comeback...



While Dart was left to ask for public foregiveness...



Hmm, it's interesting that Dart's act required an apology, while some other players can declare to an opponent's face (after losing to them) that they have no respect for them, then publicly repeat the words said in private after the match, *and* weeks later show no hint of remorse about the etiquette of such a thing... yet we *still* see the memory of the act simply evaporate into the ether.
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1. Stuttgart 1st Rd. - Mirra Andreeva def. Erika Andreeva
...6-2/1-0 ret. The second all-Andreeva match at the tour level, with Mirra tying their career head-to-head after a loss to older sister Erika last fall in Wuhan. Unfortunately, Erika wasn't able to give full effort in her attempt to keep her slate clean against her sibling.


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2. Rouen Q2 - Aleksandra Krunic def. Linda Fruhvirtova
...6-7(6)/7-5/6-3. The Bracelet didn't play for Serbia in the BJK zone competition (the team lost w/o her in Europe/Africa I), but found a way into the Rouen MD with a wild win over Fruhvirtova.

Krunic led 5-0 in the 1st, serving three times for the set and holding a pair of SP. She lost six straight games, then saw the Czech take the TB on SP #4.

After winning the 2nd, Krunic led 4-0 in the decider but avoided a similar collapse. Fruhvirtova then made the draw as a lucky loser, but...
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3. Rouen 1st Rd. - Linda Fruhvirtova def. Anna Blinkova
...6-7(5)/4-6/7-5. The Crusher found her way into another dramatic encounter.

This time it was Blinkova who took the big early lead (5-2 in the 1st) and couldn't serve it out (twice). The Hordette grabbed a 5-1 lead in the TB, and won it 7-5 on the third SP.

Blinkova couldn't put the match away in the 2nd despite 3-0 and 4-2 leads, dropping the final four games, then went up an early break again (at 2-0) in the 3rd and served for the win at 5-3. She couldn't do it.

Up a break in game 12, Fruhvirtova held and put away the comeback victory on her fifth MP.
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4. Oeiras 125 Final - Francesca Jorge/Matilde Jorge def. Anastaia Detiuc/Patricia Maria Tig
...6-1/6-2. After leading Portugal out of zone play and into the nation's first BJK Cup Playoffs (in November) a week ago, the Jorge sisters -- 24-year old Francesca and 21-year old Matilde -- defend their Oeiras 125 title with a quick win in the final over Detiuc/Tig.

Though they've yet to make their tour-level breakthrough, the sisters have combined to win nineteen ITF titles (three in '25).


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5. $75K Calvi FRA Final - Lia Karatantcheva/Lisa Zaar def. Riya Bhatia/Sada Nahimana
...6-4/6-3. Last week, 21-year old Karatantcheva was playing for Bulgaria in the BJK Europe/Africa II zone competition. This week, she won her second challenger doubles crown this spring, and the biggest of her career so far.
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HM- $15K Antalya TUR Final - Ekaterina Reyngold def. Jana Kovackova 6-2/6-2
$15K Antalya TUR Final - Alena Kovackova/Jana Kovackova def. Steanie Bojica/Linda Sevcikova 5–7/6–4 [10–4]
...while 14-year old Jana didn't win her second straight singles title on the ITF circuit (in just her fifth career event, she's reached three finals), she and 16-year old sister Alena still managed to pick up their first pro title as a pair.
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Somewhere, Amarissa Toth is silently raising her hand and waiting to be called on.


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Cute... but it might not mean much if Wim isn't Iga's coach by this time next year.

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Meanwhile, clay court season...



















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*DEFEATED #1/#2 PLAYERS IN EVENT - since 2010*
2010 SYD: #5 Dementieva = #2 Safina, #1 S.Williams
2010 WTA: #4 Clijsters = #2 Zvonareva, #1 Wozniacki
2012 MAD: #9 S.Williams = #2 Sharapova, #1 Azarenka
2012 WTA: #3 S.Williams = #1 Azarenka, #2 Sharapova
2017 CIN: #6 Muguruza = #1 Pliskova, #2 Halep
2018 CIN: #17 Bertens = #2 Wozniacki, #1 Halep
2022 WTA: #7 Sabalenka (L) = #2 Jabeur, #1 Swiatek
2023 DUB: #30 Krejcikova = #2 Sabalenka, #1 Swiatek
2023 IW: #10 Rybakina = #1 Swiatek, #2 Sabalenka
2024 WTA: #3 Gauff = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka
2025 AO: #14 Keys = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka
2025 IW: #11 M.Andreeva = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka
2025 STUTT: #24 Ostapenko = #2 Swiatek, #1 Sabalenka

*2020-25 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
22 - 1/2/8/6/5/0 = Iga Swiatek
14 - 3/2/0/3/4/2 = Aryna Sabalenka
8 - 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
8 - 0/1/0/4/3/0 = Coco Gauff
8 - 0/3/2/2/1/0 = Barbora Krejcikova
7 - 0/0/1/2/2/2 = Jessie Pegula
7 - 1/0/1/2/3/0 = Elena Rybakina
6 - 0/2/2/0/2/0 = Dasha Kasatkina
6 - 0/1/1/1/2/1 = ALONA OSTAPENKO

*CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLES - active*
31 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (2023)
22 - Iga Swiatek, POL (2024)
21 - Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2020)
19 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (2025)
18 - ELINA SVITOLINA, UKR (2025)
17 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE (2024)
--
ALSO: V.Williams (49), Wozniacki (30)

*WTA CLAY COURT TITLES IN 2020s*
10 - Iga Swiatek (1/1/3/2/3/0)
3 - Camila Osorio (0/1/0/0/1/1)
3 - ELINA SVITOLINA (1/0/0/1/0/1)
3 - Zheng Qinwen (0/0/0/1/2/0)
[active career clay titles]
10 - Iga Swiatek
7 - Sara Errani
7 - ELINA SVITOLINA
5 - Petra Kvitova
--
ALSO: 9-V.Williams

*2025 WTA TITLES w/o LOSING A SET*
Merida - Emma Navarro, USA
Miami - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Rouen - Elina Svitolina, UKR

*2025 TOP 10 WINS*
5 - ALEXANDROVA, M.Andreeva, Keys, SABALENKA
4 - OSTAPENKO, Swiatek
2 - Anisimova, Bencic, Eala, Noskova, Samsonova, Svitolina
1 - 23 players
[most wins in event]
3 - M.Andreeva (IW)
3 - Keys (AO)
3 - Sabalenka (Miami)
2 - Alexandrova (Doha)
2 - ALEXANDROVA (Stuttgart)
2 - M.Andreeva (Dubai)
2 - Eala (Miami)
2 - Keys (Adelaide)
2 - Ostapenko (Doha)
2 - OSTAPENKO (Stuttgart)

*SWIATEK vs. OSTAPENKO*
2019 Birm. 1st (gr) - Ostapenko 6-0/6-2
2021 I.W. 4th (hc) - Ostapenko 6-4/6-3
2022 Dubai 2nd (hc) - Ostapenko 4-6/6-1/7-6(4) - won title
2023 U.S. 4th (hc) - Ostapenko 3-6/6-3/6-1
2025 Doha SF (hc) - Ostapenko 6-3/6-1
2025 Stutt. QF (rc) - Ostapenko 6-3/3-6/6-2 - won title

*MOST WTA SF in 2025*
5 - ARYNA SABALENKA (5-0)
4 - Jessie Pegula (4-0)
4 - EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA (1-3)
3 - Mirra Andreeva (2-1)
3 - Madison Keys (2-1)
3 - Clara Tauson (2-1)
3 - Iga Swiatek (0-3)
[nations]
18 - USA (13-5)
11 - RUS (5-6) - Alexandrova
6 - BLR (5-1) - Sabalenka
4 - POL (1-3)
4 - CZE (0-4)
3 - BEL (2-1)
3 - DEN (2-1)
3 - ITA (1-2) - Paolini
3 - UKR (2-1) - Svitolina
3 - AUS (0-3)
3 - KAZ (0-3)
2 - COL (2-0)
2 - LAT (2-0) - Ostapenko
2 - ARM (0-2)
1-0 = JPN,SRB(Danilovic),SUI
0-1 = ARG,CHN,ESP,NED(Lamens),PHI,ROU(Ruse)

*2025 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
4 (2-2) = Alona Ostapenko
3 (2-1) = Jiang Xinyu
3 (2-1) = Wu Fang-hsien
3 (0-3) = ZHANG SHUAI
2 (2-0) = Mirra Andreeva
2 (2-0) = ERIN ROUTLIFFE
2 (2-0) = Diana Shnaider
2 (2-0) = Katerina Siniakova
2 (2-0) = Taylor Townsend
2 (1-1) = Cristina Bucsa
2 (1-1) = Desirae Krawczyk
2 (1-1) = ALEKSANDRA KRUNIC
2 (1-1) = SABRINA SANTAMARIA
2 (0-2) = IRINA KHROMACHEVA
2 (0-2) = Hsieh Su-wei
[2025 finals - duos]
3...Jiang/Wu (2-1)
2...M.Andreeva/Shnaider (2-0)
2...Siniakova/Townsend (2-0)
2...KRUNIC/SANTAMARIA (1-1)
2...Hsieh/Ostapenko (0-2)

*WTA COACH OF THE YEAR WINNERS (and update)*
2018 Sascha Bajin (Osaka)- fired in 2019
2019 Craig Tyzzer (Barty) - Barty retired early 2022
2020 Piotr Sierzputowski (Swiatek) - replaced start of 2022
2021 Conchita Martinez (Muguruza) - moved on late 2023, Muguruza ret.
2022 David Witt (Pegula) - fired early in 2024
2023 Tomasz Wiktorowski (Swiatek) - fired late in 2024
2024 Renzo Furlan (Paolini) - replaced early in 2025







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All for now.
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