Sabalenka

Roland Garros Day 12 Picks – Can A Sabalenka – Swiatek Final Be Stopped?

June 7, 2023 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Karolina Muchova

Keen observers predicted this would be the semifinal for several days. Muchova’s UTR is a 12.82 but Sabalenka is a 13.23. Roland Garros has a history of unheralded and out of nowhere finalists such as Sara Errani and Muchova could pull an upset here, but we like Sabalenka to continue her run here.

Iga Swiatek vs. Bea Haddad-Maia

Haddad-Maia took advantage of momentum in a second-set tiebreaker to take advantage of a disgruntled Ons Jabeur. She’s into her first major semifinal, a place where the top-ranked and three-time major champion Iga Swiatek. Haddad-Maia actually leads the head-to-head 1-0 against Swiatek, beating the Pole on the hard courts in Indian Wells. “On clay I think it will be a different story” said Chanda Rubin on Tennis Channel. “Iga will not be caught sleeping.” We agree and are calling for Swiatek to advance to play Sabalenka.

Roland Garros Day Eight Picks – Sabalenka, Muchova On Semifinal Collision Course

June 3, 2023 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Sloane Stephens

The first women’s night match at Roland Garros in 2023 features a battle of two former major winners in Aryna Sabalenka, the most recent major champion from the Australian Open earlier this year, and Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion. It’s, surprisingly, the first time Sabalenka has reached the second week at the French Open and her run won’t stop here. Sabalenka’s UTR is .80 better than Stephens so look for Sabalenka to advance here and again where she is on a collision course with Karolina Muchova, who has the best UTR in her quarter of the draw at 12.79, just better than Elise Mertens and Daria Kasatkina, who are both at 12.54.

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti

Musetti upset Alcaraz to win his first ATP singles title in Hamburg last year also on clay, but that was before Alcaraz had the confidence of a major title in his back pocket. This will be an exciting match, but Alcaraz has just a little bit more confidence and experience on the big stages and will prevail here.

Novak Djokovic vs. Pablo Varillas

Novak Djokovic is a Secretariat to show wager here against the overachieving Peruvian, but, more importantly, the form Djokovic has shown so far at Roland Garros make him, in our opinion, the favorite to win the title.

Hallmark WTA Rankings For 2021 Season

November 24, 2021 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

The WTA celebrated the historic ranking milestones achieved across the 2021 season following the announcement of the 2021 year-end rankings.

Highlights from a record-breaking year include six women making their Top 10 debuts across the season, with three countries – Tunisia, Greece and Estonia – being represented in the Top 10 for the first time in WTA history, and six teenagers finishing inside the Top 100.

In addition, the 2021 WTA Year-End World No.1 Ranking in singles and doubles belongs to Ashleigh Barty and Katerina Siniakova respectively, four players finished in the Top 50 in both singles and doubles, while overall 35 countries and regions are represented in the singles year-end Top 100.

A breakdown of the Top 10 year-end finishers is below, and for more record-setting and notable information on the 2021 WTA year-end rankings, click here.

1.Ashleigh Barty: For the third consecutive year, Barty finishes the year at No.1, joining Stefanie Graf, Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams and Chris Evert as the only players to finish as year-end No.1 for three consecutive years.

2.Aryna Sabalenka: The 23-year-old Belarusian becomes the 33rd different woman to finish the year in the Top 2 since the rankings were introduced in 1975.

3.Garbiñe Muguruza: After three consecutive year-end Top 10 finishes (from 2015 to 2017), Muguruza’s AKRON WTA Finals Guadalajara title lifts her to a No.3 year-end ranking after finishing last season ranked No.15.

4.Karolina Pliskova: This is Pliskova’s sixth consecutive Top 10 finish, the longest active streak.For the first time since 1986, there are two women representing the Czech Republic ranked in the year-end Top 5 as Pliskova finishes at No.4 and Krejcikova at No.5. In 1986, Hana Mandlikova finished at No.4 and Helena Sukova at No.5.

5.Barbora Krejcikova: Krejcikova’s previous-best year-end ranking was No.65 (2020). She is the only woman to finish the year in the Top 10 in singles (at No.5) and doubles (at No.2).

6.Maria Sakkari: The first Greek woman to finish the year in the Top 10, Sakkari has improved her year-end ranking for the 11th consecutive year.

7.Anett Kontaveit: With her ranking of No.7, Kontaveit posts the highest year-end finish by an Estonian, previously belonging to Kaia Kanepi, who finished 2012 ranked No.19. Kontaveit’s previous season-ending best ranking was No.21 (2018).

8.Paula Badosa: For the first time since 2000, Spain has two women in the year-end Top 10 as Badosa joins Muguruza. In 2000, Conchita Martinez (No.5) and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (No.9) both finished in the Top 10.

9.Iga Swiatek: The 20-year-old becomes the second Polish woman to finish the year in the Top 10, joining Agnieszka Radwanska, who finished in the year-end Top 10 eight times during her illustrious career.

10.Ons Jabeur: A breakthrough year for Jabeur concludes with yet another milestone as she becomes the first Arab woman to finish in the Top 10 at No.10 after climbing as high as No.7 on November 1.

Sabalenka, Medvedev Win Summer-Ending US Open Series Titles

August 26, 2018 by tennisbloggers

Twenty-year old Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka wrapped a breakout summer by winning her first WTA title at the Connecticut Open on Saturday.

Sabalenka beat Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-4, on Saturday in New Haven, putting a ribbon on a US Open Series campaign that also saw her notch three Top-10 wins, reach the semifinals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and break into the Top 20 for the first time.

Sabalenka joins Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas — who beat four Top-10 players to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final at Rogers Cup in Toronto — as the 2018 US Open Series’ Breakout Performers.

Daniil Medvedev, a 22-year old from Russia, won his second career ATP title, both of which have come in 2018, at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina, defeating American Steve Johnson, 6-4, 6-4.

Medvedev begins his US Open campaign against fellow Russian Evegeny Donskoy on Monday. Sabalenka plays American Danielle Collins on Tuesday.