Tag: Swiatek
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Down in the Dirt..
Roland Garros 2025 had been going so well for world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka. She had come through a tricky draw with good wins over Amanda Anisimova who had a winning head-to-head against her. She had beaten Qinwen Zheng, the Olympic gold medallist here in Paris a year ago and the last player to beat…
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The Key to Madison’s Success..
There are many different routes to winning your first Grand Slam. Some have been surprise runs like Emma Raducanu’s fairytale victory, winning a slam as a qualifier at the US Open in 2021. Jelena Ostapenko’s Roland Garros 2017 title is another out of nowhere win. Sloane Stephens, Bianca Andreescu and Barbora Krejcikova had a good…
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New year, new storylines..
Happy 2025 everyone, and after a brief tennis break, we return… (in 2024 actually with the United Cup). There are many intriguing storylines on the WTA. Battle for the top spot For the first time, Aryna Sabalenka ended the year as world number 1. Can Iga Swiatek regain the top spot or will Coco Gauff…
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The end of the year as we know it…
Another tennis year comes to an end, and time to reflect on what 2024 brought. For me, this was the first Petra Kvitova-less year since I became a fan of hers. While Petra gave birth in July (during Wimbledon no less! More on that later…) her return is not at all certain and we may…
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Do Tigers Roar?
The last few months have seemed like the Aryna Sabalenka show on the WTA tour. After being forced out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury and a slightly slow start to the North American swing, she hit top gear in Cincinnati, walloping world number 1, Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula in the final. Sabalenka followed…
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Match of the Year!
In an absolute classic of a match, Iga Swiatek beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) today. This is Swiatek’s first Madrid title and her 20th title overall. She saved 3 match points, before Sabalenka hit the @6th shot of the tiebreak long, and the Polish…
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A New Big Two? (Or 3? Or 4?)
So the last few weeks have not seen my usual favourites make much of a splash on the WTA tour. Instead, it has all been about Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, who seem to have distanced themselves at the top the women’s rankings in 2023. World number 1 Swiatek won her second successive title at…
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Raise your Glass for the Indian Wells Champions!
The WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells finished this weekend and I was delighted to celebrate title number 15 for Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the women’s doubles. Following on from winning the 2023 Australian Open title, this cemented them even more firmly as the undisputed number one team, and giving them an 11-0…
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Barbora Back in the Winner’s Circle!
Today was the final of the Dubai Duty Free classic WTA1000 in Dubai, the first 1000 level event of the year. It was won superbly, by Barbara Krejcikova who beat Iga Świątek, the world number one and hot favourite, in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to give a Krejcikova the 6th singles title of her career…
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New Year, New Slam Champ!
It’s the end of January 2023, and after one month of the new season plenty has happened. The Australian Open 2023 was very entertaining and ended with a great win for Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka has been a top-10 player for five years but has always fallen short in Grand Slams. It took several years for…
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