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Post by lexpretend on Oct 30, 2013 13:47:15 GMT -5
Wow, the Osaka sisters truly doing God's work this week Mari is a year older than Naomi and her results hadn't really been as eye-catching, but this will do! In Toronto, Duval was on the other side of a choke this week: Dabrowski served for the match twice, lost in a third set TB. She plays De Vroome next...battle of the servebot vs. the non-serve. In Taipei, Wen-Hsin Hsu led Arantxa Rus 6-0 in the third set TB...and lost eight straight points In Nantes, THUNDER lost R1 to the lesser Kichenok twin In Istanbul, Abduraimova, Kalinina, Kulichkova and Smitkova all reach the QFs
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Post by lexpretend on Oct 31, 2013 4:48:45 GMT -5
Amusing R2 results from the Bendigo 50K:
Ema Mikulcic (CRO) d. (1)Irina Falconi (USA) 46 64 63 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) d. (6)Anett Kontaveit (EST) 63 46 61
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Post by janie on Oct 31, 2013 6:47:15 GMT -5
haha! Poor Anett. We would love to love this rare EST, if only chingching didn't force us to hate her.
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Post by janie on Oct 31, 2013 16:20:44 GMT -5
Wow, the Osaka sisters truly doing God's work this week Mari is a year older than Naomi and her results hadn't really been as eye-catching, but this will do! Hearing that this will do, they both decided to rest on their laurels, lose today and go home to celebrate their big wins. Oh, well!
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Post by janie on Nov 1, 2013 6:52:01 GMT -5
Taipei 50kQFs:(8)Zarina Diyas (KAZ) d. Mari Tanaka (JPN) 16 60 61 (4)Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) d. (7)Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) 75 62 Gioia Barbieri (ITA) d. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) 36 64 40 Ret. Paula Kania (POL) d. (6)Arantxa Rus (NED) 75 64 SFs:(8)Zarina Diyas (KAZ) d. (4)Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 76(5) 60 Paula Kania (POL) d. Gioia Barbieri (ITA) 64 63 So who is this Barbieri, anyway. Toronto QFs: (1)Timea Babos (HUN) d. (6)Ons Jabeur (TUN) 63 16 62 (3)Melanie Oudin (USA) d. (8)Jessica Pegula (USA) 63 64 (4)Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) d. (5)Alize Lim (FRA) 62 62 -- finally waking up from her nap? (7)Victoria Duval (USA) d. (2)Mandy Minella (LUX) 63 75 -- that's more like it! Barnstaple QFs: (1)Annika Beck (GER) d. (wc)Naomi Broady (GBR) 64 63 (7)Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) d. (JE)Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 75 63 (4)Johanna Konta (GBR) d. (6)Heather Watson (GBR) 40 Ret. (illness, maybe food poisoning) Marta Sirotkina (RUS) d. (2)Alison Riske (USA) 64 62 oops
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Post by janie on Nov 2, 2013 12:33:30 GMT -5
Nantes will have a seedless final, following these lopsided SFs:
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) d. (5)Nadiya Kichenok (UKR) 63 61 Magda Linette (POL) d. (6)Claire Feuerstein (FRA) 62 62
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Post by janie on Nov 3, 2013 16:53:33 GMT -5
Note to self: try to remember that Sirotkina and Svitolina are not the same person.
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Post by janie on Nov 3, 2013 18:23:32 GMT -5
And your winners are:
75K, UK: Sirotkina 50K+H, Fr: Sasnovich 50K Tp: Kania 50K, Can: Duval - 1st title! 50K, US: Tatishvili 50K, Aus: Dellacqua (again)
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 4, 2013 2:14:56 GMT -5
Wow, Sasnovich extending her streak - no fatigue there!
Sirotkina - surprising. Don't know much about her, she's been floating in the 100-200 range for a while and spent a while out injured this year. Kania - underwhelming, at least we got a Van Uytvanck SF and Diyas F. Duval - way to put last week's choke behind her. Wonder what happened to Babos to retire in the final. Tatishvili and Dellacqua - laughable draws.
In the strong Istanbul 25K, Ksenia Pervak played spoiler, beating the two young Qs, Kulichkova and Kalinina, in the last two rounds. Kalinina beat Abduraimova in the other SF.
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Post by janie on Nov 4, 2013 7:57:37 GMT -5
Oh! Didn't know that. Now we need Abd. to take the next step and start winning titles.
Thanks to that new Sporcle game, I have now learned how to spell Van Uytvanck. That's my only interest in her so far, but maybe your interest in her will spread to me, as happened with Kan. And as happened with Nara, thanks to Paean's interest in her.
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 5, 2013 3:20:46 GMT -5
Pretty quiet week after last week's surfeit of 50Ks and over. Istanbul 50KNigina Abduraimova (UZB) d. (LL)Nina Zander (GER) 64 63 Ksenia Pervak (RUS) v (Q)Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) Andreea Mitu (ROU) v (LL)Katerina Kramperova (CZE) (6)Alexandra Panova (RUS) v Alberta Brianti (ITA) (4)Tadeja Majeric (SLO) v (Q)Tereza Smitkova (CZE) (wc)Oyku Boz (TUR) d. (wc)Anastasia Bukhanko (RUS) 62 57 63 @ the all-WC match-up Marta Sirotkina (RUS) v (Q)Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) (8)Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) v (wc)Hulya Esen (TUR) (7)Stephanie Vogt (LIE) v Jovana Jaksic (SRB) Pemra Ozgen (TUR) v Renata Voracova (CZE) Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) d. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 60 10 Ret. (3)Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) v (wc)Ege Tomey (TUR) (5)Nina Bratchikova (RUS) v (Q)Laura-Ioana Andrei (ROU) Eva Birnerova (CZE) v Cristina Dinu (ROU) Maria-Elena Camerin (ITA) v Ana Vrljic (CRO) (2)Jana Cepelova (SVK) v Valentyna Ivakhnenko (UKR) Captiva Island 50K(1)Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) v Sanaz Marand (USA) - I expect Marand to win this oneSamantha Crawford (USA) v Nicole Gibbs (USA) Heidi El Tabakh (CAN) v Q (6)Julia Cohen (USA) v Catalina Castano (COL) - what a thrillingly aggressive match this will be(4)Maria Sanchez (USA) v Petra Rampre (SLO)Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) v Marcela Zacarias (MEX) Adriana Perez (VEN) v (wc)Ellie Halbauer (USA) (8)Jessica Pegula (USA) v Taylor Townsend (USA)(7)Victoria Duval (USA) v Q Elitsa Kostova (BUL) v Marta Domachowska (POL) (wc)Nikki Kallenberg (USA) v (SR)Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) (3)Melanie Oudin (USA) v Allie Kiick (USA) (5)Anna Tatishvili (GEO) v (wc)Julia Boserup (USA) Q v Q Allie Will (USA) v Alexandra Mueller (USA) (2)Mandy Minella (LUX) v Chieh-Yu Hsu (USA) Losses for both Osaka sisters in qualies And Jeukeng somehow got double breadsticked by the free-falling Chiara Scholl.
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Post by Paean on Nov 5, 2013 3:47:15 GMT -5
Thanks to that new Sporcle game, I have now learned how to spell Van Uytvanck. That's my only interest in her so far, but maybe your interest in her will spread to me, as happened with Kan. And as happened with Nara, thanks to Paean's interest in her. That couldn't have been me, I don't even know how she looks like. It probably was Alex, too. If I remember correctly Oyku Boz, the WC, has won one more 50k match a few months ago in Istanbul. Against a fellow useless Turkish WC. Which means 20 ranking points. Jeukeng was double-bageled in last weeks Qualies by Lao. How do you go from a legitimate prospect to a bagel girl?
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 5, 2013 5:08:13 GMT -5
I'm not really sure Jeukeng was ever a legitimate prospect. She started playing ITFs in 2010 and is yet to go beyond the second round in any tournament above 10K level. Her biggest wins were a R1 50K win over Julia Cohen and a R1 100K win over Federica Grazioso, which look more like easy draws than big wins. 90% of the time she loses in 25K qualies.
LMAO, just looked up Boz's record and Paean is right. 20 points for wins over (WC) Cemre Anil and (WC) Anastasia Bukhanko. The Turkish Jeukeng!
I like Nara in a non-committal kind of way, though I did get excited when she finally broke the top 100. Wouldn't call myself a fan or anything though.
Van Uytvanck has a very entertaining funky game (or at least she used to, she was underwhelming both times I saw her play this year). Still haven't seen Kan, though it's often the case that I get excited about Hidden World up-and-comers...then when I finally get to watch them, lose that excitement swiftly. I haven't even read much about how Kan plays. It's always interesting when someone with no hype at all rises at the same pace or faster than the hyped juniors, though.
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Post by janie on Nov 5, 2013 8:22:34 GMT -5
Yeah, I feel the same way, I love to watch the run up the Hidden World ladder. So many players just stall out and spend 10 years doing the rounds of the 25Ks; it's ridiculous. I guess I picked up on your post about Nara breaking into the top 100 because her name was unfamiliar to me at the time and I wondered how her rise had escaped me. Don't know why I associate her with Paean, though! But speaking of Danielle Lao, that was quite a run she had out there in that Texas 50K. Apparently she played for USC and graduated -- a college graduate! And she entered that tournament and went nuts. She lost a total of 4 games in her 3 qualy matches, which included wins over the #1 and #6 Q seeds. Then in the MD she reached the SFs, taking Tatishvili to 3 sets -- after knocking out LdB-slayer N. Ozaki. So that was a heck of a run there, and I'm going to keep an eye out for her name now. Even though, of course, I have no idea how she plays and I might hate her if I did know.
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Post by janie on Nov 6, 2013 12:55:17 GMT -5
Captiva Island 50K(1)Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) v Sanaz Marand (USA) - I expect Marand to win this one The great Alex has spoken! So let it be written. So let it be done.Sanaz Marand (USA) d. (1)Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) 64 46 64
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 6, 2013 14:16:02 GMT -5
So much for turning the corner at Wimbledon...
Also in the Captiva Island R1:
(8)Jessica Pegula (USA) d. Taylor Townsend (USA) 62 62 Allie Kiick (USA) d. (3)Melanie Oudin (USA) 36 63 60
What is going on with Townsend? She hasn't won a single ITF match all year in six goes. While her junior contemporaries like Bencic, Konjuh, Hibi and Siniakova have been racking up wins and finals and even titles. They'll be in the AO QD while Townsend will actually fall to around 350. Is it her fitness? Even despite that she should be getting out of round one in the Hidden World. Is it her motivation? Well, good luck with building a career, not even being USian is enough to get WCed directly into a Tour career.
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Post by janie on Nov 6, 2013 15:55:23 GMT -5
Ouch, Taylor. I expect she'll be returning to the USTA for help soon. At least she should; this is really getting sad now. And I agree with you that this is not just a question of being overweight. Maybe it's just that her game style was an excellent one against juniors, but it doesn't work against the pros, even at this level. Would like to see her get away from these 50s; they're clearly over her poor beaten head right now. Start from scratch and pay her dues in the 10s. Get some confidence from some wins and then build up from there, à la Pandzic. Unfortunately, North American 10Ks are thin on the ground at this time of year, and I know she doesn't have the funds to go swanning off to other continents. It's a tough situation. Makes you wish she were a Euro kid and could get some matches in those quality French and German club tournaments.
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 7, 2013 2:32:14 GMT -5
There were some earlier in the year she could have played. But it was probably a bad idea to skip the US 25Ks that have just gone to play these 50Ks. Oudin and Tatishvili swallowed their pride and got themselves to those for matches and points, no reason Townsend should have missed them.
Then again, she played 25K qualies in April only to get bagelled by Irigoyen, so who knows.
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Post by janie on Nov 7, 2013 9:52:09 GMT -5
Ouch. This Istanbul event is pretty fun for fans of DavilishAttitude's players: r2: Ksenia Pervak (RUS) d. Nigina Abduraimova (UZB) 63 36 62 (6)Alexandra Panova (RUS) d. (LL)Katerina Kramperova (CZE) 64 46 60 (Q)Tereza Smitkova (CZE) d. (wc)Oyku Boz (TUR) 60 60 Marta Sirotkina (RUS) d. (8)Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) 64 36 63 Jovana Jaksic (SRB) d. Renata Voracova (CZE) 62 62 Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) d. (3)Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) 62 60 Eva Birnerova (CZE) d. (Q)Laura-Ioana Andrei (ROU) 63 63 Ana Vrljic (CRO) d. (2)Jana Cepelova (SVK) 26 76(4) 76(3)
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Post by janie on Nov 8, 2013 7:55:52 GMT -5
Captiva Island r2 Nicole Gibbs (USA) d. Sanaz Marand (USA) 61 63 (6)Julia Cohen (USA) d. Heidi El Tabakh (CAN) 62 64 Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) d. (4)Maria Sanchez (USA) 75 62 (8)Jessica Pegula (USA) d. Adriana Perez (VEN) 26 63 63 Elitsa Kostova (BUL) d. (7)Victoria Duval (USA) 63 76(6) Allie Kiick (USA) d. (SR)Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) 36 63 75 (wc)Julia Boserup (USA) d. (Q)Chiara Scholl (USA) 61 62 (2)Mandy Minella (LUX) d. Allie Will (USA) 62 62
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Post by janie on Nov 9, 2013 7:55:37 GMT -5
CI QFs: the long-awaited resurgence of Cohen is happening!
(6)Julia Cohen (USA) d. Nicole Gibbs (USA) 62 61 Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) d. (8)Jessica Pegula (USA) 63 30 Ret. Allie Kiick (USA) d. Elitsa Kostova (BUL) 75 40 Ret. (2)Mandy Minella (LUX) d. (wc)Julia Boserup (USA) 67(1) 61 62
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Post by janie on Nov 9, 2013 16:34:19 GMT -5
Istanbul: sorry, I got this mixed up with the 125K going on in Taipei. Here's the blah way this one's been playing out:
QFs
Ksenia Pervak (RUS) d. (6)Alexandra Panova (RUS) 75 64 (Q)Tereza Smitkova (CZE) d. Marta Sirotkina (RUS) 63 62 Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) d. Jovana Jaksic (SRB) 63 62 Eva Birnerova (CZE) d. Ana Vrljic (CRO) 06 76(5) 60
The Just Say No SFs:
Ksenia Pervak (RUS) d. (Q)Tereza Smitkova (CZE) 64 64 Eva Birnerova (CZE) d. Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) 60 64
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 11, 2013 7:44:05 GMT -5
Dubai 75K. Noticeably weaker than usual. Kumkhum is on the verge of the top 100 again so obviously she w/d And Nigina drew yet another top seed 35-year-old former #122 Kyra Nagy is a coach at the club where this is held, apparently; I note she's used her connections to fix herself a nice draw. (1)Jana Cepelova (SVK) v Nigina Abduraimova (UZB)Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) v (LL)Maria Concepcion Bulilan (PHI) Valeria Savinykh (RUS) v (Q)Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA)(7)Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) v Olga Savchuk (UKR) (4)Nadiya Kichenok (UKR) v Ana Konjuh (CRO)Reka-Luca Jani (HUN) v (Q)Dayana Sedova (UZB) Paula Cristina Goncalves (BRA) v Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) (8)Nina Bratchikova (RUS) v Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) (6)Petra Martic (CRO) v Elena Bogdan (ROU) Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) v (wc)Maria-Elena Camerin (ITA) (wc)Sofia Sabljarevic (SRB) v (wc)Kyra Nagy (HUN) (3)Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) v Alexandra Panova (RUS) (6)Tadeja Majeric (SLO) v (Q)Ekaterina Yashina (RUS) Despina Papamichail (GRE) v Lisa-Maria Moser (AUT) Tamira Paszek (AUT) v Storm Sanders (AUS) (2)Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) v (wc)Angelina Gabueva (RUS)
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 12, 2013 10:20:02 GMT -5
Ana Konjuh (CRO) d. (4)Nadiya Kichenok (UKR) 67(6) 75 76(5) This girl seems to specialise in epics...luckily in winning them. (Q)Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) d. Valeria Savinykh (RUS) 63 63 Savinykh's ranking is going to DIE after the AO...like, out of the top 600. (1)Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. Nigina Abduraimova (UZB) 63 62
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Post by janie on Nov 14, 2013 7:24:27 GMT -5
full & complete Dubai r1 & 2, since there's not much else tennisish to pore over this week. Most notably, La Pute is finally coming back to life. Sam Crawford should have played here! MEC is also on a tear. (1)Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. Nigina Abduraimova (UZB) 63 62 Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) d. (LL)Maria Concepcion Bulilan (PHI) 61 60 (Q)Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) d. Valeria Savinykh (RUS) 63 63 (7)Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) d. Olga Savchuk (UKR) 64 62 Ana Konjuh (CRO) d. (4)Nadiya Kichenok (UKR) 67(6) 75 76(5) Reka-Luca Jani (HUN) d. (Q)Dayana Sedova (UZB) 61 60 Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) d. Paula Cristina Goncalves (BRA) 76 67(3) 63 Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) d. (8)Nina Bratchikova (RUS) 64 63 (6)Petra Martic (CRO) d. Elena Bogdan (ROU) 63 61 (wc)Maria-Elena Camerin (ITA) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 63 62 (wc)Kyra Nagy (HUN) d. (wc)Sofia Sabljarevic (SRB) 61 60 (3)Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) d. Alexandra Panova (RUS) 76(7) 46 63 (5)Tadeja Majeric (SLO) d. (Q)Ekaterina Yashina (RUS) 64 16 62 Despina Papamichail (GRE) d. Lisa-Maria Moser (AUT) 64 46 62 Tamira Paszek (AUT) d. Storm Sanders (AUS) 64 62 (2)Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) d. (wc)Angelina Gabueva (RUS) 60 63 r2: (1)Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) 63 63 (7)Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) d. (Q)Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) 36 61 61 Ana Konjuh (CRO) d. Reka-Luca Jani (HUN) 57 63 61 Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) d. Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) 63 60 (wc)Maria-Elena Camerin (ITA) d. (6)Petra Martic (CRO) 61 64 (3)Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) d. (wc)Kyra Nagy (HUN) 62 64 (5)Tadeja Majeric (SLO) d. Despina Papamichail (GRE) 62 64 (2)Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) d. Tamira Paszek (AUT) 63 61
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 14, 2013 10:58:09 GMT -5
And the QF: (1)Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. (7)Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 75 62 Ana Konjuh (CRO) d. Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) 36 76 64 (wc)Maria-Elena Camerin (ITA) d. (3)Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 41 Ret. (2)Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) d. (5)Tadeja Majeric (SLO) 63 62 Konjuh was 6-7, 2-4 down in R1; 5-7 down in R2; and 3-6, 2-5 down, then 3-6, 7-6, 0-4 down, in the QF. Looks like we have a fighter on our hands. Remarkable mental strength against experienced top 200 players from a 15-year-old. Although surely fatigue will catch up with her vs. Cepelova now...
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Post by janie on Nov 15, 2013 7:05:50 GMT -5
Konjuh was 6-7, 2-4 down in R1; 5-7 down in R2; and 3-6, 2-5 down, then 3-6, 7-6, 0-4 down, in the QF. Looks like we have a fighter on our hands. Wow! Reminds me of young Monica Seles.
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 15, 2013 8:08:51 GMT -5
Sadly she couldn't get over the line in the SF:
(1)Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. Ana Konjuh (CRO) 76(3) 46 76(7)
But that scoreline against a top 100 player after three consecutive tough matches is still impressive. We'll see her in AO qualies, and I can't wait til she's on Tour.
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Post by janie on Nov 15, 2013 8:24:20 GMT -5
Awww! Sorry she could not have eked this one out as well, but sheesh, it's so impressive. As well as mentally tough, she's pretty physically fit, it seems! I'd forgotten that she won AO juniors last year, both singles and doubles. She's adjusting to the pros a lot better than poor Townsend, who accomplished that same jr. feat the year before.
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Post by lexpretend on Nov 16, 2013 5:02:59 GMT -5
19-year-old Margarita Gasparyan won the Minsk 25K, beating Sasnovich en route This time last year, she'd swept a bunch of 25Ks, was on the verge of the top 200, and took a set off Safarova in Moscow. I remember a nice single-handed BH and her coach being Bepa's ex-coach, Sexy Sergey. (Meanwhile, Sasnovich was ranked in the 500s.) I don't know what happened this year but Gasparyan completely slumped - she'd only won six matches all year as of September and her ranking fell out of the top 300. But it looks like she's regained a bit of form since then, happily - a couple of 25K SFs and now a title.
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