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Post by janie on May 17, 2011 7:34:14 GMT -5
Ha! But that's pretty exciting for Mt. Fuji. I would never have thought in a million years that she and Rampre would be sashaying off with $50K trophies. But I wouldn't have been as surprised by Stephens if I would have read Alex's comment up there: *Stephens has had a pretty encouraging clay season. Her hard graft in getting out there and grinding through all these tournaments is also a good sign. Lisicki match should be interesting.
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Post by Brinyi on May 17, 2011 8:35:00 GMT -5
Excellent week for Stephens! I see she is still jr age but it looks like she hasn't played at that level since the USO last year. She still has a #24 jr rank, to go with a pro rank of 138. She killed two pretty good pros, Lisicki and the Yak, with respective scores of 3 & 3 and 3 & 1.
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Post by lexpretend on May 17, 2011 9:51:47 GMT -5
What I find most encouraging about Stephens' results this year is that she's been very consistent, very few bad losses. Most of the other girls her age around that ranking, like Diyas, have a couple of eye-catching results (the Jankovic win) but mostly a string of dreadful losses (Wannasuk, seriously?). And now Stephens is the top 1993 girl in the senior rankings, leapfrogging Diyas. Wonder what her game is like.
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Post by lexpretend on May 17, 2011 9:53:09 GMT -5
Actually, I was bored earlier and went through the top girls from each year in the senior rankings, I should probably post that somewhere.
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Post by Paean on May 18, 2011 6:56:28 GMT -5
How often do we see Namibian tennis players winning any kind of matches on the ITF level? In Durban, Kerstin Gressmann defeated one of the Argentinian girls with too much money in her pocket 0 and 2. Gressmann's coach seems to be nobody else but Piete Norval!
Also Lara Rafful must have gotten another citizenship since she's playing under the Italian flag at the very same tournament in Durban.
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Post by janie on May 18, 2011 8:26:37 GMT -5
How often do we see Namibian tennis players winning any kind of matches on the ITF level? In Durban, Kerstin Gressmann defeated one of the Argentinian girls with too much money in her pocket 0 and 2. I hesitate to ask which Argie met this fate, but I secretly want to know.
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Post by Paean on May 18, 2011 9:05:56 GMT -5
Belen Guajardo, 28 of age, ranked 1169. Looking at her scores, she does get bagelled an awful lot...
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Post by janie on May 18, 2011 10:09:29 GMT -5
Whew, I'm glad it wasn't one of the perennially 300-500-ranked stalwarts. Speaking of Hidden World Argies, it's fantastic to see Flor Molinero's name in RG qualies when I thought she'd be a Latin American 25K kid all her days. Sure, she lost in q1, but maybe she'll get a taste for the excitement of a Slam environment and the relatively huge paycheck and start working really hard. (I know it's idiotic but I can never quite give up hope for my Chicas Latinas!)
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Post by janie on May 23, 2011 9:24:31 GMT -5
Lateefa Brown is back! Carson, Cal. 50K, q1:(wc)Taylor Townsend (USA) d. (1)Indire Akiki (CRO) 63 61 (wc)Mia King (USA) v (wc)Elizabeth Anita Alexandria Profit (USA) 64 36 63 Sierra A. Ellison (USA) v Nicolette Tran (USA) 36 64 64 (8)Zoe Gwen Scandalis (USA) v Cindy Nguyen (USA) 76(5) 62 (2)Katie Ruckert (USA) v Sophia Bursulaya (USA) 63 61 (wc)Alexis "the next Brie?" Pereira (USA) d. Lateefa Brown (USA) 60 61Jessica Roland-Rosario (PUR) d. Yawna Allen (USA) 61 62 (5)Anne-Liz Jeukeng (USA) v Tori Kinard (USA) 36 63 63 (3)Elizabeth Ferris (USA) v Claudia Razzeto (PER) 60 61 Sabrina Santamaria (USA) d. Hilary Toole (USA) 62 60 (wc)Caroline Doyle (USA) d. Michika Ozeki (JPN) 61 46 62 (6)Nicole Melichar (USA) v Roxanne Ellison (USA) 61 62 (4)Ellen Tsay (USA) v Svetlana Krivencheva (BUL) 61 60 Alyssa Grace Smith (USA) d. Layla Sanders (USA) 60 62 Desiree Tran (USA) v Monica Neveklovska (CAN) 75 62 (7)Sachia Vickery (USA) v (wc)Desirae Krawczyk (USA) 61 61
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Post by Edna Krabappel on May 23, 2011 10:22:30 GMT -5
Indire Akiki is such a weird name for a (CRO).
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Post by janie on May 23, 2011 10:29:42 GMT -5
I know! Her name sounds so Canadian.
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Post by lexpretend on May 24, 2011 3:09:34 GMT -5
Wow, the Carson MD is pitiful. Winning this last year is why Vandeweghe's ranked so highly, IIRC. Anyway, all eight seeds in the Italian 25K this week are ranked higher than the top Carson seed, so let's look at that: Yvonne MEUSBURGER (AUT) (1) Vs Gioia BARBIERI (ITA) Margalita CHAKHNASHVILI (GEO) Vs Julia MAYR (ITA) Anne SCHAEFER (GER) Vs Stephanie VOGT (LIE)Heidi EL TABAKH (CAN) Vs Alexandra CADANTU (ROU) (8) Nina BRATCHIKOVA (RUS) (4) Vs Sina HAAS (GER) Paola CIGUI (ITA) Vs Isabella HOLLAND (AUS) Annika BECK (GER) Vs Maria Joao KOEHLER (POR) Anastasia GRYMALSKA (ITA) Vs Elitsa KOSTOVA (BUL) (7) Ajla TOMLJANOVIC (CRO) (6) Vs Maria IRIGOYEN (ARG) Anna-Giulia REMONDINA (ITA) Vs Catalina CASTANO (COL) Teliana PEREIRA (BRA) Vs Tanya SAMODELOK (RUS) Martina CAREGARO (ITA) Vs Ekaterina IVANOVA (RUS) (3) Anna FLORIS (ITA) (5) Vs Lenka JURIKOVA (SVK) Valentine CONFALONIERI (ITA) Vs Claudia GIOVINE (ITA) Karolina PLISKOVA (CZE) Vs Olivia ROGOWSKA (AUS) Yulia PUTINTSEVA (RUS) Vs Kurumi NARA (JPN) (2)In the usual retarded ITF scheduling news, there are THREE Far East 25Ks this week. Necessary! Unsurprisingly, Julia Cohen has taken herself over there for the Bangkok one
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Post by Brinyi on May 25, 2011 8:38:17 GMT -5
I'm guessing that Vickery would have qualified in Carson? Curious to see what she might do in a weak field. Speaking of USA RNSs, I was disappointed to see that all of Sloane Stephens' hard graft was worn away by all that ITF grinding, and she lost with a whimper to Bally at RG.
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Post by janie on May 25, 2011 9:37:00 GMT -5
I'm guessing that Vickery would have qualified in Carson? Curious to see what she might do in a weak field. Yes, she did qualify. And faces Abaza. ISpeaking of USA RNSs, I was disappointed to see that all of Sloane Stephens' hard graft was worn away by all that ITF grinding, and she lost with a whimper to Bally at RG. I know! That was really disappointing. Good thing I like Bally, too.
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Post by janie on May 26, 2011 7:14:47 GMT -5
The Unfortunate Carson 50K, r1:(1)Camila Giorgi (ITA) d. Lena Litvak (USA) 63 62 Megan Falcon (USA) d. Alyona Sotnikova (UKR) 62 46 62 Jessica Pegula (USA) d. Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN) 26 64 63 (7)Krista Hardebeck (USA) d. Macall Harkins (USA) 64 36 61 (3)Ashley Weinhold (USA) d. (q)Elizabeth Ferris (USA) 36 63 62 Amanda McDowell (USA) d. (wc)Grace Min (USA) 76(3) 63 (wc)Gabrielle Faith Andrews (USA) d. Amanda Fink (USA) 64 61 (6)Teodora Mircic (SRB) d. Aleksandrina Naydenova (BUL) 64 36 64 Yasmin Schnack (USA) d. (5)Julia Boserup (USA) 63 76(5) (q)Sachia Vickery (USA) d. Jan Abaza (USA) 60 60 --ouch! (q)Taylor Townsend (USA) d. Brittany Augustine (USA) 64 62 (wc)Shelby Rogers (USA) d. (4)Petra Rampre (SLO) 36 63 76(4) (8)Chichi Scholl (USA) d. Asia Muhammed (USA) 63 36 63 (wc)Samantha Crawford (USA) d. Alexandra Mueller (USA) 60 76(2) (LL)Ellen Tsay (USA) d. Angelina Gabueva (RUS) 64 61 (2)Alexa Glatch (USA) d. (q)Jessica Roland-Rosario (PUR) 64 60
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Post by Brinyi on May 26, 2011 12:13:48 GMT -5
I had to do some digging on Elizabeth Anita Alexandria PROFIT (USA). I'm not sure what motivated me. Oh yeah! The profit motive! She is 14yo, and hails from Lomita, California. Her 12yo sister Mary also plays seriously. Elizabeth has type 1 diabetes.
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Post by janie on May 26, 2011 12:41:51 GMT -5
At least she'll have it easier than Bill Talbert did. A few years ago I read his book, Playing for Life. No one knew diabetics could even safely exercise back then, much less play competitive sports. He was a real groundbreaker and I love him. Still, obviously diabetes is no picnic even nowadays.
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Post by janie on May 28, 2011 6:26:43 GMT -5
Grass time! Nottingham 75K+H, q draw: (1)Marina Erakovic (NZL) v Holly Richards (GBR) Tara Moore (GBR) v Amra Sadikovic (SUI) Melinda Czink (HUN) v Emma Laine (FIN) (5)Arina Rodionova (RUS) v (wc)Ruth Seaborne (GBR) (2)Eirini Georgatou (GRE) v Charlotte Phillips (GBR) Samantha Murray (GBR) v Natasha Starling (GBR) Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) v Alexandra Stevenson ( ) (6)Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA) v Daneika Borthwick (GBR) (3)Jing-Jing Lu (CHN) v Alenka Hubacek (AUS) Francesca Stephenson (GBR) v Jade Windley (GBR) Melanie South (GBR) v Caitlin Paige Hindmarsh (GBR) (8)Rika Fujiwara (JPN) v Emilia Banos-Gregorians (GBR) (4)Julia Glushko (ISR) v Pippa Horn (GBR) Lottie Fox (GBR) v Aimee Gibson (GBR) Lisa Whybourn (GBR) v Lucy Brown (GBR) (7)Ling Zhang (HKG) v Shuko Aoyama (JPN) Good luck to Lottie!
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Post by Paean on May 28, 2011 11:05:50 GMT -5
I noticed there's a non Kim/Lee player taking advantage of the 25k tournaments in Korea. Chanel Simmonds reached another final after her last week's triumph and will face Y. Sema for the title no.2 in 2 weeks.
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Post by lexpretend on May 29, 2011 15:55:13 GMT -5
I also noticed our Moroccan bumpkin who had that Fes run, Nadia Lalami, over in the Korean 25Ks. Lost in the 2R of both Grass time! Nottingham MD: (1)Shuai Zhang (CHN) v Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) Olga Govortsova (BLR) v Q Anne Keothavong (GBR) v (wc)Naomi Broady (GBR) (6)Mirjana Lucic (CRO) v Stephanie Foretz Gacon (FRA) (4)Melanie Oudin (USA) v Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) Sloane Stephens (USA) v (wc)Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) v Q (8)Irina Falconi (USA) v Q (7)Anna Tatishvili (GEO) v Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) Heather Watson (GBR) v Q Valeria Savinykh (RUS) v (wc)Laura Robson (GBR) (3)Tamira Paszek (AUT) v Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) (5)Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v Madison Brengle (USA) Anne Kremer (LUX) v Alison Riske (USA) Stefanie Voegele (SUI) v (wc)Katie O'Brien (GBR) (2)Romina Oprandi (ITA) v Junri Namigata (JPN)
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Post by Paean on May 31, 2011 2:14:12 GMT -5
Did Tanasugran play at the RG? Or is she nowadays only coming to Europe for that month of grass court tournaments...
I love how you can always guess which players will be playing grass challengers and which the clay ones. Except for the Australians - why again are they in Rome-Tiro a Volo instead of Nottingham???
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Post by Paean on May 31, 2011 2:19:36 GMT -5
In unrelated news - Chanel Simmonds looks a lot like Melanie Oudin in some of the pictures I found. The one in the ITF profile, I thought it was Oudin.
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Post by janie on May 31, 2011 11:03:03 GMT -5
Did Tanasugran play at the RG? Or is she nowadays only coming to Europe for that month of grass court tournaments... Yep, Tammy did skip RG. I wonder if she has some grass place to practice during the RG weeks.
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Post by janie on Jun 1, 2011 15:47:22 GMT -5
Nottingham r2: Olga Govortsova (BLR) d. Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) 64 64 Stephanie Foretz Gacon (FRA) d. Anne Keothavong (GBR) 61 36 62 Sloane Stephens (NEWUSAHOPE) d. (4)Melanie Oudin (PASTHERPRIME) 63 64 Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) d. (Q)Jing-Jing Lu (CHN) 60 46 61 Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) d. (Q)Melinda Czink (HUN) 64 64 (3)Tamira Paszek (AUT) d. Valeria Savinykh (RUS) 61 60 Alison Riske (USA) d. (5)CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) 64 76(5) (2)Romina Oprandi (ITA) d. (wc)Katie O'Brien (GBR) 64 36 63
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Post by janie on Jun 1, 2011 16:04:58 GMT -5
USA History Lesson Top young tennis hopes of recent years:
1st: Madison Brengle -- Remember her? Too bad she'll forever be a Hidden Worlder next: Melanie Oudin -- can stick maybe in the 60-90 range. And is happiest there. No spotlight! No unbearable pressure!
and now: Coco? Sloane? Jamie? Christine McHale? Alison Riske?
Who will be the next kid to get crossed off the list once we see more of them? Is there anyone in sight capable of reaching the top 20 and staying there? Right now Sloane seems to be our best hope, but how will she handle that? Is there anyone around with guts, drive, or staying power?
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Post by lexpretend on Jun 1, 2011 17:05:04 GMT -5
Watson and Robson both lost in the Nottingham 1R (though Czink isn't a bad loss for Watson, and Robson's just coming off what seems like her 7430343th injury in the past year). Stephens putting BELIEVE in her place on both clay and grass Even Lurch took a set off Oudin in the 1R.
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Post by Paean on Jun 2, 2011 0:33:20 GMT -5
Madison Brengle was once considered The Next Great Hope? Based on what results?
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Post by Brinyi on Jun 2, 2011 9:36:07 GMT -5
Michelle LARCHER DE BRITO (POR) def. Sloane STEPHENS (USA), 63 36 62. The word on the street is that Stephens won just 33% of her first serve points. Speaking of players who will travel a long way to pick up easy points, ABDALA, Nadia (MEX) has been in Asia playing $10Ks for the last month and a half, reaching an Indon final last week. She is of course back at it in Surabaya this week, and is in the quarters. Also, The Greek and High Riske defeated their seeded opponents
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Post by Brinyi on Jun 2, 2011 9:43:25 GMT -5
Pleased to see that MFAT is also looking for points in Korea. She,s done QF and SF in the past two weeks, and I'm hoping she goes at least one better in Gimcheon!
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Post by janie on Jun 2, 2011 11:12:44 GMT -5
Madison Brengle was once considered The Next Great Hope? Based on what results? Just based on her existence, I think. In the absence of anyone else being around.
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