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Sunday, April 27, 2025

Wk.17- Madrid in the Middle

Here comes... Sakkari?







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*WEEK 17*
[Madrid Q/1st-3rd Rd.]

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RISER: Anastasia Potapova/RUS
...quietly, Potapova has been putting together a deceivingly nice season.

Overall, the Hordette's numbers look good, with a nice winning percentage and title run in Cluj prior to showing up in Madrid having lost four of her last six matches. But big event success has prevented the Russian from making a true mark in '25. She went out in the 2r in Melbourne, Dubai and Indian Wells, and the 1r in Miami. She might have played #1 Aryna Sabalenka in Stuttgart, but pulled out with a hand issue and lost the opportunity to shine.

Finally, though, she's impressed in the spotlight on the Spanish dirt in the opening week, posting wins over Ashlyn Krueger, Zheng Qinwen and Sofia Kenin, saving a pair of MP in the latter affair to reach her fourth career 1000 4th Round, but first since Indian Wells '24, and first ever on clay (though she did reach the RG 4r last year).

With the wins, Potapova stands at 16-6 on the year.


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SURPRISE: Moyuka Uchijima/JPN
...Uchijima has been putting together some impressive moments of late, and that pattern has continued in Madrid.

The 23-year old started the week having won a match in which she saved MP in her last two events, during BJK Cup play (vs. Anca Todoni) and last week in Stuttgart (vs. Lois Boisson). The win over the Pastry gave her a pair of WTA wins from MP down, tying her for the tour lead (the BJK Cup win isn't counted in the total). This past week, Uchijima managed to stage additional comebacks, only more "conventional" ones as she won from a set down vs. Robin Montgomery and Ons Jabeur to reach her first 1000 3rd Round.

In the next round, Uchijima raised the stakes once more, posting her maiden Top 10 victory over #3-ranked Charleston champ Jessie Pegula to advance to the Round of 16.

Uchijima, who a year ago had yet to win a MD slam match but ran off three $100K title wins last spring, has since posted MD victories in three of the last four majors, and her Madrid triumphs mean she's done so in four consecutive 1000 events in '25, as well. She's yet to crack the Top 50, having been as high as #51 earlier this month, but is now just one victory away from securing that breakthrough during week two.
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VETERAN: Ekaterina Alexandrova/RUS
...Alexandrova's good clay form, which has already included Charleston and Stuttgart semis, has carried over to Madrid with first week wins over Rouen finalist Olga Danilovic and Dasha Kasatkina (in need of a good result, the new Aussie fell to 11-10 in '25).

Like Alona Ostapenko, the Hordette is very adept at runs, and her 2025 season has been full of them (both good and bad). So far this year, Alexandrova's stretches have included in-order marks of 1-3, then 8-0, then 0-4, and now 8-2 (in 10 clay matches). The eight clay court wins this year are more than she had in five of her last seasons, save for a 13-5 clay mark in '22 (when she had SF in Charleston and Madrid).

Alexandrova was 1-7 on the dirt in '24.
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COMEBACKS: Anastasija Sevastova/LAT and Maria Sakkari/GRE
...over the past six years, Sevastova hasn't played a whole lot of tennis. Aside from a 41-match campaign in 2021, the Latvian veteran has played just 32 times in the other five seasons combined during the stretch, with no more than six in any of the past four year.

Since the start of that '22 season, Sevastova has had a pair of playing absences that lasted 22 and 14 months, respectively. She had a baby during the first, a leave that ended in February of last year, and was rehabbing from a knee injury (which came just six matches into her comeback) during the second. She returned a week ago in $75K challenger, and this week was an unranked Madrid MD entrant while utilizing her protected ranking.

The 35-year old, a 2017 semifinalist in the event, opened with her first win in nine career meetings against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, then followed up with a victory over Stuttgart champ (and countrywoman) Alona Ostapenko. Sevastova is the "anti-Iga" in Alona's life, as she's 3-0 against her in their head-to-head series. Although, their meetings have been spaced pretty far apart: in 2015, 2019 and now 2025.

The week didn't end as Sevastova would have liked -- with a 44-minute, love & love loss to Diana Shnaider -- but a shot to reach a 1000 Round of 16 in just her second event back wasn't exactly an expected occurrence, either. Ending aside, she had a great week.

Also in Madrid, here comes... Sakkari? Yep. She's doing the thing again... but only after doing the thing again.



The Greek has reset her coaching table multiple times over the past fourteen months after having a stable set-up with Tom Hill for quite some time before several seasons of spinning her wheels (but somehow holding onto a high ranking) finally led to a parting of the ways last February after Sakkari briefly slipped out of the Top 10.

Sakkari had immediate success with new coach David Witt in the aftermath, reaching the Indian Wells final just a month later. Since then, though, times haven't been good. Despite the quick start, Witt was out come summertime, then Sakkari had to deal with a rare injury as her ranking sank. After three straight Top 10 seasons, and five consecutive Top 25 campaigns, Sakkari fell to #32 to end 2024. Having started the season at 7-13, she came into Madrid at #82 after dropping 50+ slots since March (when her I.W. points fell off).

But she came to Madrid *with* Hill once again, having just rehired the Brit. Once more, the change lit a Sakkari spark.

Through the first week in Madrid, the Greek has knocked off Wang Xinyu, Magda Linette and Jasmine Paolini. The Linette victory gave her consecutive victories for the first time since the Olympics last July, and the upset of Paolini was Sakkari's first Top 10 win since defeating Coco Gauff in the '24 I.W. semis the *last* time she played during the "honeymoon period" of a new/old coaching relationship.

It's Sakkari's first Top 10 win on clay since she defeated defending champion Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2021.



Sakkari (as #31) was seeded at this year's AO for the 23rd consecutive major. That impressive streak should end come Paris, of course. Well, unless she goes and does something crazy between now and then.
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FRESH FACE: Yuliia Starodubtseva/UKR
...with her '25 season having been a struggle so far, 25-year old Starodubtseva had to struggle a bit more to find her first season success in Madrid.

The former Old Dominion University player arrived for qualifying ranked #99, just 3-12 on the season and on a four-match losing skid while having gone 4-17 since reaching the Beijing 1000 QF last fall. She posted Q-round wins over Pastries Chloe Paquet and Elsa Jacquemot, defeating the latter in a 7-5 3rd set of a 3:17 contest, to reach the MD.

From there, Starodubtseva has defeated Linda Fruhvirtova, Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Liudmila Samsonova in first week action. Against Samsonova, the Ukrainian rallied from 6-2/3-1 down to produce her second career 1000 4th Round result, saving 7 of 8 BP in the 2nd set to tie the match before winning a love 3rd.

It was nice moment for Starodubtseva, so much so that, if you look closely, it appears as if she *almost* forgot that she wasn't allowed to acknowledge the existence of her fallen opponent afterward. So you know it was huge.


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ITF PLAYERS: Wakana Sonobe/JPN and Iva Jovic/USA
...Sonobe continues to look like a player who could soon be doing big things.

A girls' finalist at the last two majors (winning the AO), the big-hitting 17-year old lefty made her WTA debut and got her maiden match win (w/ 36 winners vs. Yuan Yue) earlier this season in Abu Dhabi. This week Sonobe claimed her first pro title at the $100K challenger in Tokyo, defeating countrywoman Ena Shibahara in three sets in the final.

The win made Sonobe, born in January 2008, the third-youngest $100K winner in ITF history.



Meanwhile, in Charlottesville (Virginia), Jovic (born in December '07) added her name to that same early-achiever list (just a bit lower on it) with her own maiden $100K title run.

Jovic made her way through a draw that saw her down Claire Liu, Caty McNally, Whitney Osuigwe and Laura Pigossi (it took nearly 3:30 to take out the Brazilian, as the Bannerette won in three after being unable to convert on two MP chances in the 2nd) to reach her second career $100K final. A 6-0/6-1 win over Irina Bara got her the title.

Jovic's footsteps have been getting louder and louder over the past year, as last season she reached the junior SF at Wimbledon/U.S. Open, played in three girls' doubles slam finals (going 2-1 w/ Tyra Caterina Grant) and posted a MD women's draw win at Flushing Meadows, as well. She also got a 1st Round victory this year in Melbourne in her first AO before making her Indian Wells debut (w/ another 1r win) in March.

This is Jovic's fourth career ITF title. Already at a career-best #141, she's assured of a new career-high (she's the live #119) in the post-Madrid rankings.
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JUNIOR STARS: Teodora Kostovic/SRB and Julia Stusek/GER
...17-year old Serb Kostovic, in just her ninth pro event (6 ITF in 2024-25, and two previous Q-attempts this year in Abu Dhabi and Miami), made her 1000 MD debut in Madrid after posting qualifying wins over #85 Gabriela Ruse (3rd set TB) and #150 Lucrezia Stefanini.



The girls' #7 (WTA #625) came out on top in a handful of big junior events last season, including taking titles at Roehampton (pre-Wimbledon), College Park (pre-U.S.), the European Championships (18u) and the former Eddie Herr event (now IMG Academy Int'l Chsp.). She reached the QF in the junior singles at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in '24.

In Madrid, Kostovic lost to Eva Lys in her tour-level debut 1st Rounder.

Meanwhile, on the junior circuit, 16-year old Stusek (#10 seed) won an all-German battle in the J500 Offenbach (GER) final vs. #14-seeded Sonja Zhenikhova, 6-4/6-1, to claim her biggest career title. It's her first since last winning a J200 on the ITF level in 2023.

Stusek didn't drop a set in her six matches on the week.
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DOUBLES: Francisca Jorge/Matilde Jorge, POR/POR
...once more, make way for the Jorge sisters!

After two weeks ago leading Portugal out of zone play and into the nation's first BJK Cup Playoffs, 24-year old Francesca and 21-year old Matilde then defended their Oeiras 125 title last week. This week, they remained on home clay in Oeiras and picked up a $100K crown, defeating last week's tour-level Rouen champs Aleksandra Krunic & Sabrina Santamaria when they rallied from a set down before their opponents retired down 1-0 in the deciding MTB.

While they've yet to win a WTA tite, the Jorges have now claimed a 125 and four ITF titles in 2025. They've taken home 20 titles as a duo on the challenger circuit in their all-sister doubles career.

@fptenis

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WHEELCHAIR: Yui Kamiji/JPN
...after losing in a Super Series final to Li Xiaohui last week, WC #1 Kamiji was right back at it in a Japanese Series 2 event in Miki, Hyogo this week. Against competition that was mostly a step (or several) down from her usual, she swept the singles and doubles titles.

In singles, she lost just two total games, following up a pair of 6-0/6-0 victories and a SF walkover with a 6-1/6-1 defeat of #2 seed Saki Takamuro in the final, as well as taking the doubles alongside Kanako Domori in a final vs. two of the players Kamiji defeated in singles during the week, Chiyo Sasaki and Takamuro.
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[Madrid Q/1st-3rd Rd.]



1. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Iga Swiatek def. Alex Eala
...4-6/6-4/6-2. A relatively close call for Swiatek in a quick, different surface, re-do vs. her Miami conqueror Eala that could have come out *really* bad if things had further turned a certain way in the 2nd set.

Eala broke Iga to open both of the first two sets, but only claimed the 1st despite *twice* holding a set and break edge in the 2nd. Still, even with the loss, this has to be seen as a encouraging result for the Filipina.

The win keeps alive Swiatek's run of 55 straight knock-out events with at least one match win. She's been one-and-done just once in 68 events (Cincinnati '21) all the way back to her first Roland Garros title run in 2020.


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2. Madrid 3rd Rd. - Donna Vekic def. Emma Navarro
...4-6/6-3/6-2. Vekic's season has consisted of a few nice runs, a handful of losing streaks, and wins over Navarro.

The Croatian had come into Madrid on a three-match (and six-set) losing streak since she *last* defeated a then #8-ranked Navarro en route to an Indian Wells 4th Round result, and her win here gives her another 1000 Round of 16 (along w/ an AO 4r) this season along with a second Top 10 victory over the now #10-ranked Bannerette. It's just her second career Top 10 win (of 17 overall) on clay, with the last being over Coco Gauff at the Olympics last summer in Paris.

The previous three-match losing streak, ended this week with a 2nd Round win over Hailey Baptiste, had only been Vekic's *third*-longest such streak this season, as she's lost four in a row on two occasions in '25. As a result, even with three nice results in big events, Vekic is still only 7-10 on the year heading into Madrid's second week.



Hmmm, is this an "I respect you so much, and I'm happy for you" face, or quite the opposite? Navarro's face is hard to read sometimes.


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3. Madrid 3rd Rd. - Anastasia Potapova def. Sofia Kenin
...3-6/6-4/7-6(6). Potapova pulls one back from the edge of defeat, overcoming a 3-1 3rd set deficit and saving a pair of MP in the deciding TB. Down 6-4, Potapova swept the final four points to reach her first 1000 Round of 16 in fourteen months.

With the loss, Kenin becomes the first player to lose multiple WTA matches in '25 in which she held MP, while Potapova joins Veronika Kudermetova and Moyuka Uchijima as the only three players who've *won* multiple matches from MP down this season.


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4. Madrid Q1 - Tyra Caterina Grant def. Tatjana Maria 6-3/6-3
Madrid Q2 - Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Tyra Caterina Grant 6-1/7-5
...17-year old Bannerette Grant was an incredible junior winner. She won three-quarters of a Junior Career Doubles Slam, but didn't contest the '24 U.S. Open girls' event -- the only one she was missing -- when she had the chance to become the first player to win all four.

Grant instead played in the pro competitions and ended up reaching the MX semis at age 16). She's already since won a pair of ITF titles in s/d.

Grant, a wild card into Madrid qualifying posted a nice opening win over veteran Tatjana Maria, but fell to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. She's also set to be a WC into Rome qualifying, which has led to some speculation. No idea how much fire there might be to that smoke, but it *is* an interesting potential path.



Grant's father is a U.S.-born basketballer who played professionally in Europe, where he married her mother, an Italian model. Here's an article about Grant from the ITF website from last year.
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5. Madrid Q2 - Francesca Jones def. Cristina Bucsa
...7-6(3)/3-6/6-1. Remember, Spanish BJK captain Carla Suarez Navarro called upon Bucsa (successfully) to defeat Marie Bouzkova in Ostrava!!! in the group-deciding Qualifiers tie that eliminated the Czechs on home court. On her own home ground in Spain, though, Bucsa failed to get out of qualifying.
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6. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Anastasija Sevastova def. Alona Ostapenko
...7-6(2)/6-2. Hmmm. Yep, right on brand for Alona. No matter that she's always had problems beating her countrywoman Sevastova.

Meanwhile, Iga breathed a sigh of relief since she might have faced Ostapenko *again* in the Madrid 4th Round.
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7. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Magdalena Frech def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
...5-7/7-6(2)/6-4. Well, Bouzas Maneiro's BJK Cup high lasted exactly a week, as the Spaniard here was back to losing the sort of match that she probably should have had in her back pocket.

Bouzas Maneiro led Frech 4-0 in the 1st, but still had to squeak out the win when she couldn't serving things out at 5-4. She led 3-1 in the 2nd, as well, and also served for the win at 5-4. Again, it didn't get done... and, unfortunately for her, the die was then cast for the rest of the contest.
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8. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Bianca Andreescu def. McCartney Kessler
...6-2/6-4. Andreescu records her first win of the season, but went out a round later vs. Elena Rybakina, 6-2/6-3.

I'm still not sure whether I'm on board with Andreescu's recent wearing of what seems like "practice attire" for live matches, but then I also think that men's basketball coaches should all go back to wearing suits on the sidelines like they did before the pandemic, too.



I mean, the actual competitions -- in tennis and basketball -- seem like they should at least *look* like they're the real event, you know? (Shrugs.)
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9. Madrid 3rd Rd. - Moyuka Uchijima def. Jessie Pegula
...6-3/6-2. Pegula came into Madrid with a shot to leave town having taken the #2 spot from Iga Swiatek should the defending champ fall short on the dirt this time around.

Courtesy of Uchijima's first career Top 10 win, that is no longer the case.
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10. Madrid Q2 - Jana Fett def. Antonia Ruzic
...6-2/3-6/6-4. Fett only made her 1000 MD debut last fall in Beijing at age 27, seven years after her maiden tour-level semifinal result.

Arriving in Madrid off a Stuttgart qualifying run and 1st Round Top 20 upset of Donna Vekic, the Croatian continued her good stretch to reach her second 1000 MD. She had an earlier Q1 win over Kamilla Rakhimova.

Fett's stay didn't last long, as she lost in the 1st Round to lucky loser Bernarda Pera.
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11. Madrid 1st Rd. - Katie Volynets def. Petra Kvitova
...6-4/6-0. It still isn't there for Petra, a three-time Madrid camp, since her return this year from maternity leave. Maybe it won't ever be again for the now 35-year old Czech. It's still very early, though.


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12. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Bernara Pera 2-6/6-3/6-1
Madrid 3rd Rd. - Belinda Bencic def. Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3/4-6/7-6(2)
...the Brazilian finally ends her long losing streak, with had reached nine matches. Haddad Maia's last win had come over Andreeva -- Erika, not Mirra -- in the Australian Open 2nd Round.

What could have been a second week run hit a late wall against Bencic, though, as Haddad Maia lost a 4-1 lead in the 3rd before dropping a deciding TB against the Swiss.


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13. $100K Oeiras POR Final - Yuan Yue def. Greet Minnen
...4-6/6-4/6-2. In the week's third $100K challenger, Yuan plays in and wins in her first singles final on any level since she claimed her maiden tour-level crown in Austin early last year.

@fptenis

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14. $15K Antalya TUR Final - Sarah Melany Fajmonova def. Yuki Naito
...7-5/6-1. Another week, another Crusher champion.

This time, it's a maiden pro title for 18-year old Fajmonova, who knocked off three seeds (including #1 Naito in the final) in just her second event of the season.


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[Madrid Q/1st-3rd Rd.]



1. Madrid 1st Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova def. Polina Kudermetova
...6-2/6-2. In Stuttgart we got Andreeva vs. Andreeva II, and in Madrid it was the maiden version of Kudermetova vs. Kudermetova.

Earlier this year, Polina's run to a final in Brisbane pushed her past Veronika in the rankings. Since then, experience has had its say as former Top 10er Veronika has started to rebound from a disappointing 2024 season in singles (this win was her fourth in her first six clay matches this season). She came in at #52, holding a slight edge over her younger sister (#54).

Since her 10-1 start to the season, Polina has gone 4-9.


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2. Madrid 2nd Rd. - Veronika Kudermetova def. Cristina Bucsa
...4-6/7-6(1)/7-5. Kudermetova wins her second WTA MD match in '25 after being MP down (tying w/ Uchijima for the tour lead, and then later during this event being joined by Potapova).

Lucky loser Bucsa led 5-3 in the 3rd and served for the win, holding a MP at 5-4.
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3. Madrid 1st Rd. - Lucrezia Bronzetti def. Naomi Osaka
...6-4/2-6/6-4. Does Osaka really care much about clay? She hasn't won more times than she's lost on the surface in any season since 2019, and was only making her '25 debut on the surface with this match. If she's going to play RG I guess she realizes she should probably play at least a match or two beforehand.

Osaka started this year at 6-2, but has gone 3-3 since. She's still ranked outside the Top 50, and hasn't been any higher than #42 nearly a year and a half into her comeback.

Later, a good sign (at least in theory)...


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Yep.




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Whew!




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Yes, it's still clay court season...




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Oh, BTW, how's that #WTARallyTheWorld campaign going? Yeah, I didn't think so.

(Congrats to the most recent marketing firms who virtually *stole* a chunk of money from the tour for a "rebrand" that no one wanted nor embraced for a "campaign" that half-heartedly, at most, lasted, hmmm, what... about a week or two?)




















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Such sad news. Swanson is known most for his spectacular and detailed "Manhunt" book about the hunt and capture of John Wilkes Booth (if you've read it, you know the holdouts who think Dr.Mudd was innocent in the whole situation are blind to reality), but I also enjoyed his books on JFK's assassination ("End of Days") and another that had the dual focus of the celebrated trip of Lincoln's body across the nation and the capture of Confederate President (aka traitor) Jefferson Davis ("Bloody Crimes").


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All for now.
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