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Sunday, May 17, 2026

Wk.19- Eternally, Elina







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*WEEK 19 CHAMPIONS*
ROME, ITALY (WTA 1000; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Elina Svitolina/UKR def. Coco Gauff/USA 6-4/6-7(3)/6-2
WD: Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider (RUS/RUS) def. Cristina Bucsa/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (ESP/USA) 6-3/6-3
Parma, Italy (WTA 125; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Dayana Yastremska/UKR def. Barbora Krejcikova/CZE 6-3/6-3
D: Cho I-hsuan/Cho Yi-tsen (TPE/TPE) def. Marta Lombardini/Federica Urgesi (ITA/ITA) 6-2/6-2
Paris, France (WTA 125; Red Clay Outdoor)
S: Diane Parry/FRA def. Madison Keys/USA 3-6/3-3 ret.
D: Shuka Aoyama/Liang En-shuo (JPN/TPE) def. Lyudmyla Kichenok/Desirae Krawczyk (UKR/USA) 7-6(5)/6-2




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[Rome 4th-to-Final]



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elina Svitolina/UKR
...there was a time when Svitolina's career came equipped with a "To-Do List." Over her early years, as she jockeyed for position near the front of the line of would-be "next player to win a major" contenders, she checked off quite a few top level items, including a healthy dose of Top 10 wins (including seven vs. world #1s), a handful of slam SF, a WTAF crown, an Olympic medal, double-digit tour titles, and multiple 1000 title runs.

But she has never been able to check off the item at the very *top* of that list of unobtained honors.

Over time, the items on Svitolina's career (and life) list have changed quite a bit, but the unfinished business of her tennis career remains. In the glow of what has become a post-maternity leave resurgence at age 31 that has seen her return to the Top 10 -- reaching her first career AO SF and first 1000 final (in Dubai) since her most recent title in Rome in 2018 -- might the time finally be right for a completion of her list of career tasks?

In the immediate aftermath of a title run in Rome that included consecutive three-set victories over three of the top four ranked women in the world, a case could surely be made in the affirmative.

After an opening match loss in Madrid, Svitolina hit the dirt running in Rome, an event she won in back-to-back years during the peak of her contending career in 2017-18. She acted as the unofficial tournament dream killer this year, not dropping a set en route to the QF as she eliminated qualifier Noemi Basiletti (1 & 3), Madrid semifinalist Hailey Baptiste (1 & 2), and lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova (2 & 3) in short order.



#2 Elena Rybakina (the '23 champ) went down in the QF in Svitolina's 12th career Top 2 victory, followed by #3 Iga Swiatek (a three-time Rome winner) and then #4 Coco Gauff ('25 finalist and reigning RG champ) in the final, with all three wins coming in three sets. Svitolina is 3-0 vs. Gauff this season.

The win adds to a number of impressive stats for the Ukrainian, including giving her 20 career singles titles (the 31st to do it), an 8-0 mark in tour-level clay finals, and her first 1000 crown since her successful Rome title defense eight years ago. She's now a *three*-time Italian Open champ and has racked up 50 career Top 10 wins, with more than half (29) coming against the Top 5 (including 17 over Top 3 opponents). Tied with Rybakina for the most Top 10 wins on tour in '26 (7, 6 vs. the Top 5, so no "cheapies"), Svitolina will rise to #7 on Monday, her highest ranking since 2021.



Of course, while Svitolina's career "To-Do List" includes a few big items, another title in Rome wasn't really one of them. But it might go a long way toward helping her check off a few of the accomplishments listed above it.

With so many questions revolving around top players this spring, and with the always-capricious nature of the happenings on the terre battue in this "post-Iga dominance" era, this year's Roland Garros might provide a *confident* Svitolina's best chance at an ever-elusive major title. In truth, it likely *always* has, but she's never quite handled the moment as well in Paris as she has at other sites over the course of her career. While she'll need just two wins this year to make RG her best career slam (she'll arrive at 33-12 there), it's also the only major at which she's never reached the semis, going 0-5 in her QF appearances in Paris.

Svitolina has lost in straight sets at that stage four times, never to the eventual champ, and once to a qualifier (as the #3 seed). In the other QF, she squandered a set and 5-1 lead (w/ a MP) vs. Simona Halep, collapsing and dropping the 3rd set at love in '17 in what was likely her best chance (so far) to win the event. As it turned out, it was Alona Ostapenko who defeated Halep in the final that year.

For the most part, Svitolina's recent climb *back* up the rankings has been fueled by a fearlessness and willingness to be more aggressive in the biggest moments on the biggest stages -- while still being defensive-minded the rest of the match -- than was the case during her initial rise nearly a decade ago. At times vs. Gauff in Rome, she again seemed to revert back to her former state, but got away with it, taking the title in three sets in a match that *should* have likely ended in two.

If she's to truly have a shot in Paris, Svitolina will have to find a way to avoid such lapses if/when she reaches the "money/trophy/legacy" stage of the event.


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RISERS: Coco Gauff/USA and Dayana Yastresmka/UKR
...the clay season has been a trying experience for Gauff -- last year's RG champ and a '25 finalist in *both* Madrid and Rome (becoming one of just five women to play in the title match of all three in a season, and the only one to never be ranked #1) -- but she's managed to fight through it, apparently both on and off court (as she alluded to some real-life personal trials during her off-time in Rome)

Gauff's game was hardly in *top* from over the Italian Open's two weeks, but her will to win never lessened, and it was because of that that she managed to fight her way into yet another big final while dodging a series of pitfalls along the way.

After an opening win over rising teen Tereza Valentova, Gauff climbed out of a double-break hole in the 3rd set to take out Solana Sierra at the wire, then rallied from a set and 5-3 back, saving a MP, against another teenager, fellow Bannerette Iva Jovic. On a comeback roll, Coco won from a set down over teen #3, Mirra Andreeva, surviving a teetering finish when her 5-1 final set edge was followed by her twice failing to serve out the win or convert MPs in both game 8 and 9 of the decider. Finally, her third MP of game 10 (her fifth overall) proved to be the charm as she saved five BP to avoid the Hordette earning new life by knotting the score at 5-5.

Gauff played her best match in the SF, ending Sorana Cirstea's headline-making run a round short of the final (and her Top 20 debut) with a straight sets win to become (at 22) the youngest U.S. woman to reach back-to-back finals in Rome since Venus Williams (in 1998-99, nearly five years before Coco was born).

Gauff is still seeking her first 1000 title on clay, though, even with now three finals and a pair of semis in Madrid/Rome during her career. With her up-and-down form back in the final vs. Elina Svitolina, the veteran's steadier (though not *too* safe, even if the return of her past reticence might have cost her vs. a more "high-level" version of Gauff) game won out in three sets, but only after Gauff reached into her not-done-yet bag one final time to reverse the match's momentum in the 2nd to force and win a TB and reach the 3rd set.

Next she'll try to become the first U.S. woman to repeat in Paris since Chris Evert did it for the third time in her career in 1985-1986 (after 1974-75 and 1979-80).

Meanwhile, Yastremska left Rome after having lost a match in which she held quintuple MP. She arrived in Parma with a 2-4 season record on clay and something to prove, and she managed to do just that (but only after walking along the "Cliffs of Simona" edge once again).

Wins over Hanne Vandewinkel and Solana Sierra got the Ukrainian into the 125 event's semis, but she saw her match with Jessica Bouzas Maneiro suspended with Yastremska trying to serve out the 1st set. When play resumed on Saturday, she was forced to win a 1st set TB, then went on to play two *more* sets that ended in tie-breaks against the Spaniard. After not converting on *six* MP in the 2nd set, losing the second set breaker, Yastremska had to climb out of a 4-1 3rd set hole, ultimately forcing and winning another TB on her *ninth* MP.

Soon after, in the final against Barbora Krejcikova, she closed out her worn-down opponent (the Czech, coming back once again from injury and without much match play in '26, had won three straight three-setters to get there) by a 6-3/6-3 score.

With her first singles title on any level since claiming a 125 in September 2023 (her last WTA win was in 2019) Yastremska will rise back into the Top 50 on Monday.


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SURPRISE: Diane Parry/FRA
...in the Paris 125, Parry raises the, ummm, whatever it is.

The Pastry came into Paris winless on clay (0-4) on the season, but found her form while also being fortunate en route to the title. Wins over Beatriz Haddad Maia and Chloe Paquet were followed by a walkover from Yulia Putintseva. A SF win over Alina Charaeva sent Parry into her sixth career 125 final (first since '23), and she picked up a third title when top-seeded Madison Keys (a late entrant after an early exit in Rome) retired while leading 6-3/3-3 after the final's rain delay had stretched on and she apparently felt something in her thigh just a week before the start of play at Roland Garros (i.e. she made a business decision).

After being ranked in the Top 50 in '24, Parry took a step back last season, finishing '25 at #127. Earlier this season in Ostrava, she reached her first tour-level QF/SF since 2024, and this win is her biggest in three years. She'll be back inside the Top 100 at #94 on Monday.

Some additional details on Keys' retirement (from @Haute_Cadence, translated)...

"All week long, Madison Keys saw her matches interrupted by rain, with conditions being extremely tricky. She still gave her all in every match and was clearly aiming for the title, despite her entry in the Strasbourg tournament the following week.

Keys felt discomfort in her thigh and took a MTO just before the final was suspended at 3-3—and this for THREE AND A HALF HOURS.

The forecast predicted rain all evening, yet Keys waited until 6:30 p.m., the resumption time.

She played very well to win the first set, but it was clear, from her forward runs and her footing, that she had a real physical issue. Parry could see it and was using drop shots.

Physically, Keys eventually realized she wouldn't last a three-set match—at least not without seriously injuring herself, with Roland-Garros just a week away.

But there's no doubt she took the tournament extremely seriously and did everything she could to put on a fight for the crowd (which was very sparse after the rain)."


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VETERAN: Sorana Cirstea/ROU
...Cirstea continued to add to her list of "final season" accomplishments during the second week of play in Rome, following up her maiden career #1 upset of Aryna Sabalenka by elminating Linda Noskova to reach her first Rome QF (her best clay 1000 result since '17), then Alona Ostapenko for her fourth 1000 SF (first on clay, w/ her three previous hard court runs coming in 2013, '23 and '24).



The gradually-building Coco Gauff, a Madrid/Rome finalist last year and the reigning RG champ, finally proved to be too much of an obstacle for the Romanian to overcome in the semis.

Cirstea will climb to #21 on Monday, and is seemingly assured of soon making her belated Top 20 debut (at 36, she'd be the oldest to ever do it for the first time), as the player ranked directly above her (Clara Tauson) leads by just 33 points and just retired from her most recent match (her third ret. this season). Additionally, the Dane reached the 3rd Round at RG in '25, while Cirstea didn't play at all in Paris, so she should pick up points in the exchange.

It'll be Cirstea's fifth stint at #21, having previously dipped in and out five different times between August 2013 and January 2014.
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COMEBACKS: Alona Ostapenko/LAT and Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
...we got a little big of everything on the Ostapenko front in Rome. Well, except for the completion of one of *those* sort of "old school," table-clearing Latvian Thunder title rushes, I mean.

The Italian Open provided Ostapenko with a chance to post triple-digit winner totals over her QF run, as well as providing us with a bit of the sort of "Alona drama" that traditionally splits her audience right down the middle.

After allowing just one game to Lucrezia Stefanini, the Latvian rallied from a set down to defeat both Gabriela Ruse and Zheng Qinwen. A 6-1/6-2 win (her first in the five-match series) over Anna Kalinskaya gave Ostapenko her fifth career QF+ run in Rome, after which neither woman sought out a post-match handshake.



Of course, the two have history, as Ostapenko has accused the always-injured (or, at least, MTO-calling) Kalinskaya of playing up her ailments in the past, especially when she's behind on the scoreboard. Said Ostapenko, "I was ready for all kinds of simulations with the physio calls and all these things," adding, "she’s a tricky player that is trying to get you out of the rhythm when she starts losing. But the most important (thing) is that I’m really proud of myself, the way I was able to manage all that, losing three games and playing a really good match."

Ostapenko fell in straights to Sorana Cirstea in the QF, dropping a 7-0 2nd set TB after having led the set at 5-3, not serving it out, and holding an unconverted SP on the Romanian's serve at 5-4.

Still, after arriving on site at just 11-11 on the season, Ostapenko's second four-win 1000 event of '26 (w/ her Doha SF) gives her a bit of what she seemingly needed going forward into the rest of the season. And, hey, she didn't *peak* in Rome. So, you know, there's always Paris.

Oh, and in case you were curious...



Meanwhile, bouncing off her encouraging trip to Rome -- a nice 1st Round win, before a loss to Sabalenka -- Krejickova played her way into her first career 125 final in Parma, her first singles title match on any level since her 2024 Wimbledon win. The Czech posted wins over Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Viktorija Golubic and Camila Osorio.

But, of course, with Krejcikova the bad often comes with the good. In the final against Dayana Yastresma, who'd had to complete a pair of TB sets (and play a third) earlier in the day (after her SF had been suspended at 6-5 in the 1st), Krejcikova's game was error-laced and she apparently barely moved around the court. She was treated during an MTO mid-way through the 2nd set and didn't win another game afterward in a 6-3/6-3 loss (or, you know, in social media parlance, "she was paid handsomely to fix the match because I bet on her to win it and lost my money because of *her* and not because I'm stupid enough to bet on tennis results").

No matter the ending, Krejcikova improved to 8-5 on the year with her final run, with her last three wins coming in three set battles (which might give a clue to her lacking physical condition on Saturday). BTW, she only had *seven* wins under her belt when she went to London and won Wimbledon two summers ago.

Unfortunately, the Czech is just 1-4 at Roland Garros since her title run there in 2021.


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FRESH FACE: Mirra Andreeva/RUS
...once again, Coco Gauff proved to be Andreeva's personal Roman roadblock, but the teenager posted her fourth straight top level result this clay season and will head to Paris is about as good a position as she could've hoped to find herself after a disappointing Sunshine swing (2-3, w/ no QF) that came a year after her title run in the desert.

Already with a Linz title, Stuttgart SF and Madrid final under her clay court belt this spring, Andreeva played into the QF in Rome for a second straight year with wins over Antonia Ruzic (1 game allowed), Viktorija Golubic (w/ a love 3rd set) and Elise Mertens.

But, as was the case last year, Andreeva went out by the hand of Gauff. Last year it was in straights, while this time around Andreeva claimed the 1st set and nearly pushed the world #4 to a 3rd despite trailing 5-1 in the 2nd, denying Gauff twice as she served for the match, saving a MP at 5-2, another at 5-3, and then two more on serve in a long game 10. Andreeva held five GP, but could never knot the set at 5-5, as Gauff finally won on her fifth MP. Andreeva falls to 0-5 in the head-to-head series, 0-4 on clay and 0-2 in the Rome QF the last two years.

So far, Andreeva is 15-3 on the dirt this season. She's posted SF and QF results in Paris (her 11-3 RG mark is her best at any major) the last two years.


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ITF PLAYER: Claire Liu/USA
...three seasons ago, Liu nearly cracked the Top 50 (#52). She entered this past week at #210, but will return to the Top 200 following her nearly three and a half hour, three-TB triumph in the $75K Trnava (SVK) final over Anna Siskova.

After being unable to serve out the 1st set, Liu lost a 7-0 TB before rallying from 4-2 down in the 2nd to win a second TB and send things to the 3rd. In the decider, Liu didn't convert a MP at 5-3, nor serve out the win at either 5-4 or 6-5, but staged one final comeback from 5-4 down in the concluding TB, winning 7-5 to pick up her eighth career ITF crown.

Liu's last tour-level MD win came with her QF run as a qualifier in Guangzhou last October, a week that included victories over the likes of L.Fruhvirtova, VJK, Eala, Bondar and Seidel.

She's 11-4 on clay this spring.
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JUNIOR STAR: Daphnee Mpetschi Perricard/FRA
...17-year old Pastry Mpetschi Perricard, whose brother is ATP player Giovanni, claimed her biggest career junior title at the J500 level event in Santa Croce (ITA), rising from the qualifying to the final, where she defeated China's Yu Jun Lin, who'd upset the tournament's #2 and #3 seeds, 3-6/6-3/6-4 for her seventh straight win of the week.

Mpetschi Perricard won a previous J200 title on clay last month.


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DOUBLES: Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider, RUS/RUS
...the Hordettes don't always team up for doubles, but when they do they're a force to be reckoned with (and, if they were *both* of age, they might even prefer Dos Equis). In Rome, two weeks after reaching the Madrid final (a loss to Siniakova/Townsend), they reached another big title match, and this time walked off with their second career 1000 crown (w/ Miami '25).

After MTB wins over L.Kichenok/Krawczyk and Danilina/Muhammad, Andreeva and the (now bandanna-free) Shnaider won straight sets contests in the SF/F over Hunter/Pegula and Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez, respectively. It's their third title together (along w/ an Olympic Silver medal) in five finals in limited action over the past 21 months.

For Andreeva, it finishes off a wonderful Dirty Double journey that saw her reach three of four s/d finals (and an additional singles QF in Rome), put together a combined 17-3 record and, now, (finally) lift a championship trophy.



In a doubles note, with previous Race leaders Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic playing with different partners (to lesser results) in Madrid/Rome, Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend will surpass them in the up-to-date Doubles Race standings. Andreeva/Shnaider are up to 8th place.
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WHEELCHAIR: Lizzy de Greef/NED
...what a (career-changing?) week this was for de Greef!

Prior to this week, the 22-year old Dutch woman, the would-be eventual inheritor of the longtime Dutch seat at or near the head of the women's wheelchair tennis table, had made significant strides over the past two seasons, rising to #7 in the rankings and winning bigger and bigger titles (three Series 1 crowns, in the old tournament format, in 2024-25).

Earlier this season, de Greef made a move to keep ahead of the other young rising star on the WC tour -- 21-year old Ksenia Chasteau, the world #8 -- by defeating the Pastry in the final of the 500 event in Rome, Georgia (US) in a match-up of the two youngest players in the women's Top 15, improving to 6-0 in their head-to-head series

But the veteran wall that stood before de Greef still loomed like a mountain. While she'd managed to make a dent vs. Aniek Van Koot, winning three times (in ten matches), she was 0-13 vs. the combination of Yui Kamiji and Diede de Groot.

That changed in Rome (Italy, this time).

In this week's 500 event held in alignment with the WTA/ATP event in the city, de Greef scaled that mountain, claiming the title while going 3-0 vs. the all-timer combo of Kamiji (in the 1st rd., improving to 1-9), de Groot (QF, improving to 1-4) and Van Koot (in the final, improving to 4-7), defeating the trio in three consecutive three set matches in which she rallied after dropping the opening set.

Like Elina Svitolina, de Greef's run means that she took out three of the Top 4-ranked players in the world within a matter of days.

The next big hurdle that de Greef needs to clear, of course, is to make a deep slam run. Thus far, she's not advanced past the QF in any major.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Van Koot teamed with de Groot to win the Rome doubles, defeating Kamiji and Zhu Zhenzhen 3-6/6-1/10-5.
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[Rome 4th Rd.-to-Final]



1. Rome 4th Rd. - Coco Gauff def. Iva Jovic
...5-7/7-5/6-2. After recovering from a double-break 3rd set deficit vs. Solana Sierra in the previous round, Gauff walked even *closer* to the cliff's edge vs. Jovic.

The younger Bannerette rallied from 3-1 down in the 1st to take the match lead, then led 5-3 in the 2nd, with a MP on serve before Gauff managed to get the break on her third BP of the game. Gauff then swept the next three games in the set, and finally took control in the 3rd to better her Madrid result in her second of three big clay court defenses (Madrid/Rome finals, RG title) this spring.


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2. Rome Final - Elina Svitolina def. Coco Gauff
...6-4/6-7(3)6-2. Gauff was able to survive to reach her second straight Rome final, winning when she didn't play her best, and even saving MP along the way. But she wasn't able to carry the pattern through in the final against Svitolina, who overcame her own off-and-on in-point aggression to eke out wins on more big points than Gauff en route to her third Italian Open title.

The veteran fell behind 4-2 in the 1st before sweeping the final four games, holding for 5-4 in a 13-minute game and then breaking Gauff for 6-4. In the 2nd, Gauff threw herself a lifeline just as Svitolina seemed about to win the title, sweeping the final five points of the TB to win 7-5 and force a 3rd.



Svitolina took a break lead in the decider at 3-2, and rode out her advantage, going up double-break and then finally serving out the win in game 8 after saving three BP, on her third MP.

On the day, Svitolina saved 14 of 17 BP, while breaking Gauff's serve six times.



Svitolina's win, along with Marta Kostyuk's in Madrid, gives Ukrainian players back-to-back 1000 crowns, and adds to the unlikely statistical reality that the nation -- despite having just three players in the Top 50 -- leads the WTA in 2026 in both titles (4) and finals (8).
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3. Rome QF - Iga Swiatek def. Jessie Pegula
...6-1/6-2. Pegula has been in fine form in '26. Even on clay, for the most part, as she defended her title in Charleston, but posted a disappointing 3rd Round result in Madrid.

Rome has never been a bright spot on her schedule, with 3r-2r-2r exits from 2023-25, but Pegula roared through the opening rounds this year by winning nineteen straight games (w/ three love sets) vs. Zeynep Sonmez and Rebeka Masarova (love & love), then taking out Anastasia Potapova in straight sets. Swiatek proved to be a different animal, though.

In their first clay court meeting since the 2022 RG (a 3 & 2 Swiatek win), Pegula was the latest roadkill in Swiatek's sudden Roman resurgence. Swiatek's win made her just the third different woman -- along w/ Rybakina and Kostyuk, who combined go to 5-0 -- to defeat Pegula in her 34 matches in '26.


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4. Rome SF - Elina Svitolina def. Iga Swiatek
...6-4/2-6/6-2. Another step toward reclaiming her former position as a big title contender (and maybe more, at least in Paris) for Svitolina, as she erases Swiatek's undefeated (2-0, w/ wins at Rome '21 and RG '25) clay record in their career head-to-head.

For Swiatek? Though there were some much-needed bright spots, it's the finish of another "wash, rinse, repeat" tournament for the former three-time Italian Open champ.

The Pole's Roman experience showcased a shaky, red-flaggy win (vs. McNally), followed by a flash of her old self (easy wins over Cocciaretto, Osaka and Pegula, none with the red clay history and/or personal record against her to inspire great fear), only to end with more of the recent same, as Swiatek once again reverted to her inconsistent, oft error-prone form, being unable to hold her serve (Svitolina converted 6 of 9 BP, while saving 11 of 16) in key moments after having days earlier said that a great serve wasn't "as crucial" on clay as on other surfaces.

After getting headlines for her *first* Top 10 win of the year a round earlier vs. Pegula, this loss to Svitolina once again reduces to essential whispers Swiatek's ongoing slide in matches vs. Top 10 players. She's now 1-5 vs. the Top 10 in '25, 1-7 in her last eight, 2-9 since her title run in Cincinnati last summer, and 2-4 vs. Top 10ers on clay the last two seasons.

Thus, Swiatek now approaches a two full-year drought when it comes to reaching a clay final, having not played in one since the 2024 Roland Garros. That season she not only played in the final of *all three* big clay events in Madrid, Rome and Paris, but she won all three titles, as well. She's lost in her last four clay court semifinals, starting with her loss at the '24 Olympics at RG (when she'd arrived having won the last three major titles on the terre battue, then afterward tried to sell the stale story that taking *Bronze* was somehow a "triumphant" result for her in the event).

From the '24 RG through last year's trip to Paris, she lost seven SF matches in a row across multiple surfaces before winning four straight last summer/early fall. She's now 0-1 this season.
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5. Parma 125 SF - Dayana Yastremska def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
...7-6(5)/6-7(4)/7-6(5). Having gone to Parma and become a late entrant there after falling in the 1st Round in Rome despite holding quintuple MP vs. Anastasia Zakharova, Yastremska found herself in another predicament against Bouzas Maneiro.

On Friday, play was suspended with Yastremska serving for the 1st set at 6-5, 40/40. When play resumed a day later, she was broken (after having had two SP) and taken to a TB, finally winning it 7-5. She led 4-0 in the 2nd, holding four MP at 5-4, then two more at 6-5. But Bouzas Maneiro forced and won a TB to take things to a decider.

There, the Spaniard raced to a 4-1 lead. But, Yastremska trials and tribulations aside, no one loses leads like Bouzas Maneiro, and she did it again here. Yastremska rallied to force a third TB, which she won (again) at 7-5 to end the 3:27 contest.
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6. Parma 125 1st Rd. - Dominika Sakova def. Lois Boisson
...6-3/6-2. Boisson remained winless (0-3) in her '26 return with this loss, just weeks ahead of her huge RG '25 semifinal points defense. At least she won her first set of the season.
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7. Paris 125 1st Rd. - Sarah Rakotomanga def. Renata Zarazua
...6-4/2-6/6-4. Finally a small bit of light at the end of this Pastry's '26 tunnel, as Rakotomanga ends her 11-match non-Cup losing streak in the same week in which she was awarded a MD wild card for Roland Garros.



She lost to Madison Keys in the 2nd Round.
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8. Paris 125 1st Rd. - Chloe Paquet def. Maya Joint
...5-7/6-0/6-3. Not so lucky for the Aussie, as Joint drops her eighth straight match in '26.
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HM- Strasbourg 1st Rd. - Lois Boisson def. Wang Xinyu
...6-3/7-6(4). Meanwhile, play has started in Strasbourg, and Boisson has finally fotten her much-needed maiden win of '26 less than a week before the start of play in Paris.


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[Rome 4th Rd.-to-Final]

1. Parma 125 Final - Cho I-hsuan/Cho Yi-tsen def. Marta Lombardini/Federica Urgesi
...6-2/6-2. The Cho sisters defeat the Italians to win their second career 125 crown as a team, with both having come in events in Italy (along w/ Rome 125 last year).

The Taiwanese pair have also picked up 16 ITF wins over the years.
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2. $75K Zagreb CRO Final - Erika Andreeva def. Ella Seidel
...6-3/3-6/6-3. It was a two-title weekend for the Andreeva family, as Mirra's 21-year old sister Erika picked up her fifth career ITF crown, tying her biggest win ever.

She jumps 62 spots in the rankings, back into the Top 250 at #244. She was ranked as high as #65 in 2024, but was slowed and missed time last season with a knee injury.


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Spring clay ace Tubello (23-6 on the dirt in '26) gets her wild card and will play in her maiden major MD, while Rakotomanga's horrendous '26 start is thrown a life jacket. Urhobo and AO girls' champ Efremova make their slam MD debuts.



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That's so Coco. (IYKYK)




First the WTA social media team casually references "Hannah Montana" a few weeks ago, and now this.




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“Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and the king ain’t satisfied ‘til he rules everything,” Springsteen sang on Badlands when the song was first released in 1978. Under Trump, that old line has become a prophecy. We are living in a nation where a rich president wants to be a king and where billionaires who bought themselves influence now expect the rest of us to applaud while they strip the copper wiring out of democracy. Springsteen did not have to say Trump’s name every five minutes. He did something more powerful. He sang about the architecture of Trumpism: greed, domination, resentment, abandonment, and the desperate refusal by so many of us to surrender.

An interesting read...

Why is a 76-year-old man doing all the hard work in this moment? Where are the Millennial/Gen Z artists (ahem, Taylor Swift) to shake their audiences into sobriety about what is going on? open.substack.com/pub/saltypol...

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— Julie Roginsky (@julieroginsky.bsky.social) May 14, 2026 at 8:46 AM









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Memories (from 2019)...
























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*MOST ITALIAN OPENS WS TITLES - all-time*
5 - Chris Evert
4 - Conchita Martinez
4 - Gabriela Sabatini
4 - Serena Williams
3 - Maria Bueno
3 - Margaret Smith (Court)
3 - Maria Sharapova
3 - ELINA SVITOLINA
3 - Iga Swiatek

*WTA CLAY TITLES IN 2020s*
10 - Iga Swiatek (1/1/3/2/3/0/0)
4 - Elena Rybakina (0/0/0/1/1/1/1)
4 - ELINA SVITOLINA (1/0/0/1/0/1/1)
3 - Camila Osorio (0/1/0/0/1/1/0)
3 - Aryna Sabalenka (0/1/0/1/0/1/0)
3 - Zheng Qinwen (0/0/0/1/2/0/0)
[career clay titles - active]
10 - Iga Swiatek
9 - Venus Williams
8 - ELINA SVITOLINA
7 - Sara Errani
5 - Elena Rybakina

*MOST WTA TITLES - all-time*
167 - Martina Navratilova
154 - Chris Evert
107 - Steffi Graf
92 - Margaret Court
73 - Serena Williams
68 - Evonne Goolagong
67 - Billie Jean King
55 - Lindsay Davenport
55 - Virginia Wade
53 - Monica Seles
49 - Venus Williams
43 - Justine Henin
43 - Martina Hingis
41 - Kim Clijsters
36 - Maria Sharapova
33 - Conchita Martinez
31 - Petra Kvitova
30 - Tracy Austin
30 - Caroline Wozniacki
29 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
27 - Hana Mandlikova
27 - Gabriela Sabatini
25 - Amelie Mauresmo
25 - Iga Swiatek
24 - Simona Halep
24 - Jana Novotna
24 - Aryna Sabalenka
21 - Victoria Azarenka
21 - Pam Shriver
20 - Aga Radwanska
20 - ELINA SVITOLINA

*MOST TOP 10 WINS in 2026*
7 - Rybakina, Svitolina
5 - Kostyuk, Mboko, Muchova, Sabalenka
4 - Pegula
3 - Baptiste, Bencic
2 - Eala, Gauff, Ostapenko, Sakkari
[most on clay]
3 - Svitolina
2 - Baptiste, Kostyuk, Muchova
[wins on hard & clay]
(5) - Baptiste, Kostyuk, Muchova, Rybakina, Svitolina
[most in event]
3 - Marta Kostyuk (Brisbane)
3 - Elena Rybakina (Australian Open)
3 - Elina Svitolina (Rome)
[most events w/ multiple Top 10 wins; *-hard/clay]
2 - Marta Kostyuk (Brisbane/Madrid) *
2 - Karolina Muchova (Brisbane/Stuttgart) *
2 - Jessie Pegula (AO/Dubai)
2 - Elena Rybkina (AO/Indian Wells)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (Indian Wells/Miami)
2 - Elina Svitolina (AO/Rome) *

*SVITOLINA CAREER TOP 10 WINS*
50 - Top 10 wins (2026: 7)
29 - Top 5 wins (6)
7 - #1 wins (0)
5 - #2 wins (2)
5 - #3 wins (2)
9 - #4 wins (2)
3 - #5 wins (0)

*MOST WTA FINALS in 2026*
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (3-1)
3 - Mirra Andreeva (2-1)
3 - Marta Kostyuk (2-1)
3 - Elena Rybakina (2-1)
3 - ELINA SVITOLINA (2-1)
2 - Jessie Pegula (2-0)
2 - Karolina Muchova (1-1)
2 - COCO GAUFF (0-2)
2 - Victoria Mboko (0-2)
[2026 FINALS BY NATION]
8 (4 wins) - UKR *
7 (3) - USA *
4 (3) - BLR
4 (3) - CZE
4 (2) - RUS
3 (2) - KAZ
2 (1) - GBR
2 (0) - CAN
1 (1) - ESP
1 (1) - ITA
1 (1) - ROU
1 (0) - AUT
1 (0) - CHN
1 (0) - GER
1 (0) - HUN
1 (0) - POL
[2020-26]
35 - 3/3/3/6/7/9/4 = Sabalenka (19-16)
29 - 1/2/9/8/5/4/0 = Swiatek (25-4)
23 - 5/0/3/4/5/3/3 = Rybakina (12-11)
20 - 1/0/2/5/4/6/2 = Pegula (10-10)
15 - 0/1/1/4/3/4/2 = GAUFF (10-5)

*TOP WTA SINGLES RANKINGS - ROU*
#1 - Simona Halep
#7 - Irina Spirlea
#8 - Virginia Ruzici
#15 - Ruxandra Dragomir
#21 - SORANA CIRSTEA

*MOST WTA SF in 2026*
6 - ELINA SVITOLINA (3-3)
4 - Aryna Sabalenka (4-0)
4 - Mirra Andreeva (3-1)
4 - Elena Rybakina (3-1)
4 - Karolina Muchova (2-2)
4 - Jessie Pegula (2-2)
3 - Marta Kostyuk (3-0)
3 - COCO GAUFF (2-1)
3 - SORANA CIRSTEA (1-1+L)
3 - Iva Jovic (1-2)

*2026 MAJOR/1000 FINALS*
AO (HC) - #5 Rybakina/KAZ d. #1 Sabalenka/BLR
Doha (HC) - #19 Muchova/CZE d. #13 Mboko/CAN
Dubai (HC)- #3 Pegula/USA d. #9 Svitolina/UKR
Indian Wells (HC) - #1 Sabalenka/BLR d. #3 Rybakina/KAZ
Miami (HC) - #1 Sabalenka/BLR d. #4 Gauff/USA
Madrid (RC) - #23 Kostyuk/UKR d. #8 M.Andreeva/RUS
Rome (RC) - #10 Svitolina/UKR d. #4 Gauff/USA

*2026 WTA DOUBLES FINALS*
4 (4-0) = Katerina Siniakova
4 (4-0) = Taylor Townsend
4 (3-1) = Zhang Shuai
3 (1-2) = CRISTINA BUCSA
3 (1-2) = Anna Danilina
3 (1-2) = Aleksandra Krunic
3 (1-2) = Alona Ostapenko
[2026 finals - duos]
3...Siniakova/Townsend (3-0)
3...Danilina/Krunic (1-2)
2...M.ANDREEVA/SHNAIDER (1-1)
2...Hsieh/Ostapenko (1-1)
2...Maleckova/Skoch (1-1)
[young '26 finalists]
19 - Mirra Andreeva (Madrid)
19 - MIRRA ANDREEVA (Rome - W)
19 - Maya Joint (Abu Dhabi - W)
[young '26 finalists - duos]
41 - Havlickova/Salkova (20/21) = Ostrava
41 - M.Andreeva/Shnaider (19/22) = Madrid
41 - M.ANDREEVA/SHNAIDER (19/22) = Rome (W)





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Communist Chinese government heavily censors news its citizens hear and what media outlets are allowed to publish. So this editorial cartoon was published, it was approved — if not encouraged — by Chinese government itself Trump has become least respected U.S. presidents internationally in history

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— LynnZ 🦋 (@zizij.bsky.social) May 17, 2026 at 11:00 AM


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Yes, exactly. Additionally, if you try to explain why something is not a demon, then you are also a demon.

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— lynnnora.bsky.social (@lynnnora.bsky.social) May 10, 2026 at 2:13 PM


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New York subway rule: dogs can only travel if they go "in a bag." New Yorkers took it very seriously... and became incredibly creative. 🐶

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— MyPet Health by Vetcation (@vetcation.com) May 13, 2026 at 12:57 PM





All for now.
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