Sunday, November 10, 2019

Mladenovic leads France to 2019 Fed Cup victory



Kiki Mladenovic has a beautiful game. She has a tricky and effective serve, expert volleying skills (she is, after all, an elite doubles player), and a variety of shots that can do a lot of damage to almost any opponent. That's the up side. The down side is the Frenchwoman's well-known inconsistency, which appears to be brought on by nerves. Without a partner by her side, Mladenovic can sometimes crumble.

In this weekend's Fed Cup final, in which Team France played Team Australia, Mladenovic did crumble for a while, and it almost cost her the match. But she pulled herself together and won a tense, highly entertaining contest against world number 1 Ash Barty.

On day 1, France got off to a positive start when Mladenovic defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-1 in the opening rubber. Not to be outdone, Ash Barty rolled over Caroline Garcia 6-0, 6-0 in the second rubber.

Day 2 was a different story. The third rubber was the aforementioned match that featured Mladenovic and Barty, and it was as thrilling a match as one could hope for. Both players served well, and--here is a rather unusual occurrence--both players displayed exceptionally good second serves. Barty won the first set 6-2, but Mladenovic became very focused in the second set; at the same time, Barty made a lot of unforced errors. 

The tension in the crowd (there was a very big--and loud--French contingent) was palpable during the final set, and the players lived up to the implications of that atmosphere. Mladenovic took an early lead but was broken. The opponents broke each twice during the set, providing constant momentum changes. About two-thirds of the way through, Mladenovic had her meltdown, and it looked like Australia was about to take a 2-1 lead. But the mercurial Frenchwoman gathered herself, took advantage of Barty's unforced error production, and the set wound up exactly where it belonged--in a tiebreak.

This time, Mladenovic did not crumble. Rather, she ran away, 7-1, with the tiebreak, and put France ahead 2-1.

 

Australia evened the score when Tomljanovic defeated Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 7-5 (I wish Cornet had played that rubber).

The fifth rubber featured something we don't get to see that often in Fed Cup play: All four competitors were elite doubles players. Playing for Australia were former world number 1 and three-time major champion Sam Stosur, and former U.S. Open champion Ash Barty. France was represented by former French Open champion Caroline Garcia and three-time major champion Kiki Mladenovic, Garcia and Mladenovic have frequently played as partners, and won the French Open in 2016.

The French team won the first set 6-4, then went up 2-0 in the second, having won four games in a row. The third game was a close one, but the French team broke and went up 3-0. The Australian team closed the break gap at 2-4. At 2-5, the Australians were almost broken, but they saved two match points. Mladenovic then served for the final, double-faulted on the second point, but--once again--composed herself and successfully served for the championship on France's third match point.

This is the third time that France has won the Fed Cup championship. They defeated The Netherlands in 1997, and the USA in 2003. Captain Amelie Mauresmo brought the team very close in 2016, but France lost that final to the Czech Republic. Now it is new Captain Julien Benneteau who has coached the French team to Fed Cup glory once again. However, it is Kiki Mladenovic's coup du chapeau that will be remembered as the mighty force that brought the Fed Cup trophy back to France.
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Sunday, November 3, 2019

Ash Barty gives a world number 1 performance in Shenzhen

 

We see it so many times--a big server (or, in this case, someone who has recently become a much bigger server) serves her way to a final and then can't find her serve. It happened again today at the WTA Finals when defending champion Elina Svitolina (who served a total of 27 aces in her previous two matches) suddenly lost her ability to serve her way out of trouble. Trouble, in this case, was world number 1 Ash Barty, who repeatedly flummoxed Svitolina with slices, volleys--and her own very good serve.

This was the first time, in six tries, that Barty has beaten Svitolina.

Barty, who ends the season as world number 1, was the top seed in Shenzhen, and--with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Svitolina today--she is now the champion of the 2019 WTA Finals. Barty's season included the championships in Miami and Birmingham, and--of course--the French Open championship. Barty is an all-round athlete--she's fit, she's fast, she's steady, and she's clever. And, though we haven't been focused on it lately, she's also an outstanding doubles competitor.

 

The trophy ceremony gave us some special moments. We learned that chair umpire Mariana Alves has retired, and will now work as a supervisor for the WTA, which is a good thing because she will continue to be part of the world of women's professional tennis. The announcement nevertheless made me a bit sad.

The other special moment was the appearance of WTA Finals ambassador Aga Radwanska, who looked stunning, and who presented the runner-up bouquet to Svitolina.

 

While Svitolina was unable to defend her title, Timea Babos and Kiki Mladenovic did defend theirs, with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova. Babos and Mladenovic are the first team since Black and Huber in 2007-2008 to defend the title.

For Babos, it was a hat trick: She won the 2017 WTA Finals with Andrea Hlavackova-Sestini. The last player to do that was Lindsay Davenport, who pulled it off in 1996-1998, with three different partners.


There is also some sweet consolation for Strycova, who ends the season as the number 1 doubles player in the world.
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Saturday, November 2, 2019

Top seed to face 8th seed in Shenzhen final

 

Poetically speaking, what better outcome could we have from this topsy-turvy WTA Finals event than to have the last two players standing be the highest-ranked and the lowest-ranked seeds? 8th seed and defending champion Elina Svitolina defeated 7th seed Belinda Bencic in the semifinals today when Bencic retired, because of a leg injury, in the third set.

There were eight players and two alternates. Three players--Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu and Belinda Bencic--went out with injuries, and one alternate--Kiki Bertens--retired in her second match because of illness.

In today's second semifinal, top seed Ash Barty defeated 2nd seed Karolina Pliskova 4-2, 6-2, 6-3.

In doubles, 3rd seeds and defending champions Timea Babos and Kiki Mladenovic defeated 7th seeds Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai 1-6, 6-4, 10-8. In the second match, 2nd seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs 6-1, 6-2.

There is a possibility that all of last year's champions will be this year's champions, adding yet another odd twist to this event.

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Friday, November 1, 2019

Four still standing


 

When we talk about "still standing" at the WTA finals, it isn't entirely a metaphor. First Naomi Osaka withdrew because of a shoulder injury, then Bianca Andreescu--who appeared to have a back injury--retired because of a knee injury. Alternate Kiki Bertens took excellent advantage of her status by defeating top seed Ash Barty, but then had to retire in her next match because of illness (which brings back very sad memories of the French Open).

Second alternate Sofia Kenin played today, and what a match it was. She and defending champion Elina Svitolina went at each other in a way that was captivating to watch. The second set tiebreak was a show in itself, with Kenin (who held a set point) saving five match points. But Svitolina was successful on the sixth, and defeated Kenin 7-5, 7-6. Despite losing, Kenin showed yet again why she has rapidly risen up the rankings ladder: She's a good hitter with a variety of shots from which to choose, and she just doesn't give up.

In today's second match, Karolina Pliskova defeated an out-of-sorts Simona Halep in three sets. The Romanian was bageled in the first set, but bolstered by a no-nonsense talk from coach Darren Cahill, she grabbed the second set. Pliskova, however, was just too good in the end.

And speaking of the end--Halep dashed (as only Halep can) to pick up a ball Pliskova had hit into the far ad corner, and she was able to get it over the net, setting up a smash for her opponent. But that smash went awry and hit the top of the net--and then dropped over, giving the Tall Cool One the victory, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4.

In a rather odd (when are the WTA Finals not odd?) semifinal outcome, seeds 7 and 8 will compete in one match, and seeds 1 and 2 will compete in the other:

Belinda Bencic (7) vs. Elina Svitolina (8)
Ashleigh Barty (1) vs. Karolina Pliskova (2)

In doubles,  Timea Babos and Kiki Mladenovic defeated top seeds Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, and Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs defeated Chan Hao-Ching and Latisha Chan. Here is the doubles semifinal draw:

Babos/Mladenovic (3) vs. Stosur/Zhang (7)
Hsieh/Strycova (2) vs. Groenefeld/Schuurs (8)
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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

WTA Finals getting more interesting



I doubt if anyone was surprised when 4th seed Bianca Andreescu retired today after the first set in her WTA Finals round robin match against Karolina Pliskova. The U.S. Open champion has a back injury that was evident when she lost to Simona Halep a few days ago; today, though, she had top stop playing because of a knee injury. But Andreescu isn't alone; yesterday, 3rd seed Naomi Osaka withdrew from the event and was replaced by first alternate Kiki Bertens. Bertens wasted no time, and knocked out top seed Ash Barty in straight sets.

Today, 8the seed and defending champion Elina Svitolina, playing in the purple group, defeated Simona Halep in straight sets, and became the first of the eight competitors to reach the semifinals.

Here is the current state of both the singles and doubles draws:

SINGLES

Red Group

Ashleigh Barty (1): 1-1
Naomi Osaka (3): 1-0, withdrawn from tournament
Belinda Bencic (7): 1-1
Petra Kvitova (6): 0-2
Kiki Bertens (1st alternate): 1-0

Purple Group

Elina Svitolina* (8): 2-0
Simona Halep (5): 1-1
Karolina Pliskova (2): 1-1
Bianca Andreescu (4): 0-2, withdrawn from tournament

DOUBLES

Red Group

Groenefeld/Schuurs (8): 1-1
Mertens/Sabalenka (1): 1-1
Babos/Mladenovic** (3): 2-0
Chan/Chan (5): 0-2

Purple Group

Hsieh/Strycova (2): 2-0
Stosur/Zhang (7): 2-0
Krejcikova/Siniakova (6): 1-1
Dabrowski/Xu (4): 0-2

*defending champion
**defending champions
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Sunday, October 27, 2019

World number 1 Barty off to a good start in Shenzhen




Ash Barty came from a set down today to defeat Belinda Bencic at the WTA Finals in Shenzen. Barty has now captured the year-end number 1 ranking, and is the first non-USA, non-European player in history to do so. The match marked the first time that Barty and Bencic had ever played each other.

Here is the singles draw:

 RED GROUP

Asheigh Barty (1)
Naomi Osaka (3)
Petra Kvitova (6)
Belinda Bencic (7)

PURPLE GROUP

Karolina Pliskova (2)
Bianca Andreescu (4)
Simona Halep (5)
Elina Svitolina (8)

In the other Red Group match, Naomi Osaka defeated Petra Kvitova, also in three sets. This was the first time the two had met since Osaka defeated Kvitova in the (for many of us, heartbreaking) 2019 Australian Open final.

Kvitova and Svitolina are the only players of the eight who have won the WTA Finals (2011 and 2018, respectively); Halep reached the final in 2014 but lost to Serena Williams. Both Kvitova and Halep reached the final in their debut WTA Finals appearances. Kvitova is one of only four women to win the event in her debut appearance.

Halep, incidentally, is the only one of the final eight who does not have a losing record against any of the other players.

In doubles, Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova defeated Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai, and Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova defeated Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yi-fan.

Here is the doubles draw:

RED GROUP

Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka (1)
Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (3)
Chan Hao-Ching/Latisha Chan (5)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Demi Schuurs (8)

 PURPLE GROUP

Barbora Strycova/Hsieh Su-wei (2)
Gabriela Dabrowski/Xu Yi-fan (4)
Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (6)
Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai (7)

Babos and Mladenovic won the WTA Finals in 2018.
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Sunday, September 22, 2019

The G.O.A.T. in the living room


There are a lot of tennis discussions that turn me off, but perhaps none tires me as much as the one entitled "Who is the greatest player of all time?"

There are a couple of reasons I thoroughly dislike this discussion:

1. There is no way to measure such a thing.

Who decides what factors come together to determine who is the "greatest"? Does it involve winning majors (more on that in a moment)? Or does it involve the totality of a player's career--winning majors in different categories, remaining in the top 10 over a period of time, winning Fed Cup titles, etc.? There is no objective method of measuring such greatness.

Many people, however, believe that the number of singles majors won is an objective measurement. It is not. First, it doesn't take into account other achievements, such as those mentioned above. And perhaps even more significant, it isn't valid. Back when such outstanding players as Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were playing, winning majors was not the be-all and end-all as it is now.

Consider, for example, that many top players skipped the Australian Open because it was held during the Christmas holidays. Consider that Chris Evert skipped three French Opens (and she would surely have won at least one of them, and probably all three) to play World Team Tennis. (Consider that Rod Laver was not even permitted to play in several majors.)

Players of different eras simply cannot be compared, yet people insist on comparing them. I recall someone on Twitter once saying "Could have, would have' doesn't count." She missed the point entirely. The values were different, the rules were different, the schedules were different. More recently, someone on Twitter told me that "there has to be a gold standard for a sport." No there does not, and that brings me to:

2. Why does it matter? 

The obsession with choosing the "best" anything is something I don't understand. Not only is it objectively impossible, it reflects an obsessive desire to idealize something or someone to the detriment of appreciating so many similar things or people. I have no desire to determine whether a particular player is (or was) the greatest player of all time; it means nothing to me. I also have no desire to determine whether a player was the greatest of her era, even if there were objective criteria.

I much prefer to appreciate players for their outstanding contributions--as champions, as shot-makers, as surface specialists, as Fed Cup stars, as leaders. Too many discussions revolve around the G.O.A.T., a mythical creature whose existence serves to create pressure on players, to rely on the use of unreliable statistics, and to bring out the worst kind of fan over-identification.
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