Australian Open Ladies Updates

Written by: on 16th January 2014
Tennis Australian Open 2014
Australian Open Ladies Updates

epa04023368 Maria Sharapova of Russia attempts to cool down with an ice vest on her head during a break in her round two match against Karin Knapp of Italy at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 16 January 2014. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT  |

****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******

 

* Sharapova barely survives three hour match in intense heat

* Four hour heat delay precedes bad weather delay

* Rybarikova, Jovanovski latest upset victims

* Halep survives scare; Azarenka, Radwanska, Jankovic cruise

****** TODAY’S WOMEN’S NEWS ******

 

Australian Open

 

Singles – Second Round: (2) Victoria Azarenka def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1 6-4

This was the day the heat was so bad that the Extreme Heat policy actually went into effect; play was halted for four hours, and people snuck onto the courts to take pictures of the eggs they fried on the surfaces. (We’ve yet to hear if anyone actually ate one of the eggs….) To add insult to injury, the day finally cooled off when storms moved in, forcing another delay. But Victoria Azarenka played on one of the show courts, where the roof could be closed and conditions were better. She wasn’t really pushed, and she remains almost 900 points ahead of Maria Sharapova in the contest for #2.

Singles – Second Round: (3) Maria Sharapova def. Karin Knapp 6-3 4-6 10-8

By contrast to Azarenka, Sharapova spent three and a half hours feeling the full burden of the heat; it’s a good thing she has a day off! Karin Knapp managed to add a few points but will fall at least one ranking spot, from #44 to #45.

Singles – Second Round: (5) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Olga Govortsova 6-0 7-5

With a 400 point lead on Li Na and a 900 point lead on Jelena Jankovic, the next two active players, Agnieszka Radwanska now looks effectively certain to stay Top Five, and has a good shot at #4.

Singles – Second Round: (8) Jelena Jankovic def. Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-0

Jelena Jankovic is looking very good so far — just five games lost. And she faces an opponent ranked #74 next. (Her third Japanese opponent in a row, oddly enough.) But she needs two more wins to move in the rankings, and the second match will be against Simona Halep.

Singles – Second Round: (10) Caroline Wozniacki def. Christina McHale 6-0 1-6 6-2

Rather scary for Caroline Wozniacki, given that she needs at least one more win to stay ahead of Simona Halep in the contest for the #10 ranking.

Singles – Second Round: (11) Simona Halep def. Varvara Lepchenko 4-6 6-0 6-1

To be sure, Halep, like Wozniacki, was tested. But she remains #10 in safe points. Varvara Lepchenko — who complained that she should not have had to play in these conditions, and said that the heat drained her — reached the same round this year as last, but the change in the points table means she will fall out of the Top Fifty.

Singles – Second Round: (13) Sloane Stephens def. Aijla Tomljanovic 6-3 2-6 7-5

Sloane Stephens had a tough first round. The second was tougher. And she is still only #18 in safe points. Good thing she faces an unseeded opponent next; win that and she will at least be #17.

Singles – Second Round: (16) Carla Suarez Navarro def. Galina Voskoboeva 7-6(7-2) 3-6 8-6

It almost seems as if the high heat made it harder for the top players to win. Strange, given that Galina Voskoboeva is really big and should have felt the heat more. Suarez Navarro still has a Top Fifteen chance, but it’s far from sure.

Singles – Second Round: (20) Dominika Cibulkova def. Stefanie Voegele 6-0 6-1

Dominika Cibulkova is creeping toward the Top Twenty, but she isn’t there yet. Stefanie Voegele will be around #45.

Singles – Second Round: (25) Alize Cornet def. Camila Giorgi 6-3 4-6 6-4

A Top 25 spot now looks almost certain for Alize Cornet.

Singles – Second Round: (29) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Mandy Minella 6-2 6-2

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost her opener last year, so this takes her very close to the Top 25.

Singles – Second Round: Kurumi Nara def. (32) Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4 6-3

Magdalena Rybarikova loses any hope of a Top Thirty ranking.

Singles – Second Round: Yvonne Meusburger def. (33) Bojana Jovanovski 3-6 6-3 6-2

That’s eleven seeds out in the first two rounds. And not many of them due to retirements, either, unless we count Jamie Hampton (who would make the total twelve). Bojana Jovanovski, like Rybarikova, loses her Top Thirty chance.

Singles – Second Round: Zarina Diyas def. Marina Erakovic 6-4 6-0

Not only did Marina Erakovic come in here ranked exactly one hundred places ahead of qualifier Zarina Diyas, she had just beaten #21 Sorana Cirstea the round before. We have to think there was something wrong with her physically. She is likely to hit the Top Fifty despite losing, but this means she may have to wait a few days more to be certain.

Singles – Second Round: Elina Svitolina def. Olivia Rogowska 6-4 7-5

Elina Svitolina continues the steady climb she started last year; this will probably suffice to put her in the Top Forty.

Singles – Second Round: Garbine Muguruza def. Anna Schmiedlova 6-3 6-3

Still not much movement for Garbine Muguruza, who made the second round last year, but if she can win her next match, against a tired Wozniacki, she could rise to around #35.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Errani/Vinci def. Barthel/Moulton-Levy 7-5 6-2

Errani/Vinci make a good start on their title defense, but they are still far, far from keeping the #1 ranking, as this estimate of the Top Ten shows:

1..(3) HSIEH …………. 7675*

1..(3) PENG ……………7675*

3..(7) SREBOTNIK ……… 6995*

4..(5) VESNINA ……….. 6440*

5..(1) ERRANI ………….6290*

5..(1) VINCI …………. 6290*

7..(8) Petrova ……….. 6225

8..(6) MAKAROVA ………..6131*

9.(10) MIRZA …………. 5295*

10.(11) HLAVACKOVA ………5240*

Doubles – First Round: (2) Hsieh/Peng def. Hrdinova/Ormaechea 6-7(6-8) 7-6(7-1) 6-0

Were Hsieh/Peng nervous about the prospects of taking #1? As the numbers above show, they have a very good chance — but they can’t afford to back into it, since Srebotnik, Vesnina, or Errani/Vinci could still end up ahead of them. They need to play better than this.

Doubles – First Round: (5) Barty/Dellacqua def. Panova/Ka. Pliskova 6-1 6-1

Last year’s finalists get off to a good start, but they still need a lot more — Casey Dellacqua is a mere #15 in safe points, and Ashleigh Barty barely clinging to the Top Twenty.

Doubles – First Round: (6) Black/Mirza def. Patterson/Ar. Rodionova 6-1 6-4

This isn’t enough points to matter to either winner, but Sania Mirza’s chances of staying Top Ten look good, and Cara Black is edging toward it.

Doubles – First Round: (7) Hlavackova/Safarova def. Date-Krumm/Zhang 6-4 6-4

A slight boost to Andrea Hlavackova’s Top Ten chances, but she will probably need more.

Doubles – First Round: Cornet/Garcia def. (10) Erakovic/J Zheng 6-3 6-3

Zheng Jie was a quarterfinalist last year, so this will cost her her Top Twenty spot.

Doubles – First Round: Niculescu/Zakopalova def. Begu/Cirstea 6-3 6-2

Niculescu/Zakopalova are unbeatable this year, with titles at Shenzen and Hobart…. They face Black/Mirza next in what could be quite a match.

Doubles – First Round: Kuznetsova/Stosur def. Buryachok/Kalashnikova 6-1 6-2

Doubles – First Round: Hradecka/Krajicek def. Bertens/Flipkens 3-6 6-3 6-4

Lucie Hradecka is the main contender to keep her ex-partner Hlavackova out of the Top Ten, but she’ll need to do better than this.

Doubles – First Round: Beck/Petkovic def. Savchuk/Tsurenko 6-4 6-2

 

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

Mixed Messages on mixed doubles.

 

Another Slam, another Mixed Doubles event which is not seeded based on Mixed results. That will probably never change. But we continue to calculate our Mixed rankings to see what, if anything, we can learn from them.

To be sure, our system no longer bears the slightest resemblance to the ranking system used by either WTA or ATP. On the other hand, the fact that the unofficial rule of all ranking changes by both tours seems to be, “It’s no good unless it makes the rankings worse,” maybe a system based on an older rankings table is good….

To review: We rank men and women separately, based only on their Mixed Doubles results. A Slam title is worth 1000, a final is 700, a semifinal is 450, a quarterfinal 250, and a Round of Sixteen is worth 150. (This means, incidentally, that we hand out 9600 points to the men at each Slam, and 9600 to the women.) We take results from the last three years to get a decent number of events, but events older than one year old are discounted by 1/3 (and Rounds of 16 are dropped from the calculation); results more than two years old are discounted by 2/3.

It turns out that, under this system, we have 59 ranked women (meaning that we assign an unranked woman a ranking of 60):

 

Rank..Player………Points

1….Hradecka………2400

2….Mladenovic…….2150

3….Huber…………2017

4….Raymond……….1933

5….Vesnina……….1933

6….Srebotnik……..1867

7….Mirza…………1717

8….Peschke……….1583

9….Hlavackova…….1467

10….Gajdosova……..1400

11….Spears…………850

12….Mattek-Sands……817

13….Makarova……….750

14….Hsieh………….717

15….Black………….683

16….Petrova………..650

17….Llagostera Vives..583

18….ChanY………….533

19….Peers………….483

20….Dellacqua………483

21….Jans-Ignacik……467

22….Dushevina………450

22….Medina Garrigues..450

22….Rosolska……….450

22….Shvedova……….450

26….Grandin………..417

26….Zheng………….417

28….Benesova……….417

29….Barty………….400

30….Rodionova………400

31….Oudin………….333

32….Vinci………….300

32….Voskoboeva……..300

34….Cornet…………300

34….Date-Krumm……..300

34….Groenefeld……..300

34….Hantuchova……..300

38….ChanH………….250

39….Dulko………….233

40….Goerges………..167

40….Kudryavtseva……167

42….Arvidsson………150

42….Foretz Gacon……150

42….Husarova……….150

42….Jankovic……….150

42….Kops-Jones……..150

42….Lim……………150

42….Marosi…………150

42….Yan……………150

42….Zhang………….150

51….Kirilenko………150

52….Chuang………….83

52….Falconi…………83

52….Govortsova………83

52….Peer……………83

52….Shaughnessy……..83

52….Stubbs………….83

52….Uhlirova………..83

52….Zahlavova Strycov..83

There are 51 ranked men, so an unranked man is counted as #52:

 

Rank..Player………Points

1….Nestor………..2800

2….Soares………..2550

3….Cermak………..2400

4….Paes………….2017

5….Zimonjic………1683

6….Bhupathi………1533

7….Matkowski……..1500

8….GonzalezS……..1467

9….Mirnyi………..1317

10….Melo………….1083

11….Tecau…………1067

12….Ebden…………1000

13….Bopanna………..917

14….BryanM…………833

15….Qureshi………..767

16….Bracciali………750

17….Hanley…………717

18….BryanB…………633

19….Lipsky…………633

20….Marrero………..550

21….Fleming………..500

22….Rojer………….467

23….Istomin………..450

24….Polasek………..400

25….Mertinak……….383

26….Melzer…………333

26….Sock…………..333

28….Nielsen………..300

29….Cabal………….250

29….Emmrich………..250

31….Schwank………..233

32….Marach…………167

32….MartinD………..167

34….Brunstrom………150

34….Butorac………..150

34….Chardy…………150

34….Dlouhy…………150

34….Huey…………..150

34….Knowle…………150

34….Lindstedt………150

34….Peya…………..150

34….Roger-Vasselin….150

43….Bellucci……….150

43….MurrayJ………..150

43….Thomas…………150

46….Ball……………83

46….Erlich………….83

46….Johnson…………83

46….Norman………….83

46….Petzschner………83

46….RamA……………83

Having figured that out, we do as the Slams do and calculate Mixed seedings based on the combined rankings of the man and the woman. That gives us this list (note: We have a tie for the #5/#6 seed. We split such ties based on the ranking of the woman, although in this case it makes no practical difference):

 

Seed..Team………………Combined Rank

1…Mladenovic/Nestor……………….3

2…Vesnina/Bhupathi……………….11…Actual Seed: 8

3…Huber/Melo…………………….13…Actual Seed: 3

4…Peschke/Matkowski………………15…Actual Seed: 7

5…Mirza/Tecau……………………18…Actual Seed: 6

6…Hlavackova/Mirnyi………………18…Actual Seed: 4

7…Srebotnik/Bopanna………………19…Actual Seed: 2

8…Gajdosova/Ebden………………..22

*…Medina Garrigues/Soares…………24…Actual Seed: 5

*…Hantuchova/Paes………………..38

*…Dushevina/Rojer………………..44

*…Zheng/Lipsky…………………..45

*…Raymond/Fyrstenberg…………….56

*…Goerges/Qureshi………………..56

*…Black/Murray…………………..58

*…Spears/Inglot………………….63

*…Kuznetsova/Zimonjic…………….65

*…Hsieh/Klaasen………………….66

*…Groenefeld/Peya………………..68…Actual Seed: 1

*…Dellacqua/Hutchins……………..72

*…Chan, H/Lindstedt………………72

*…Kops-Jones/Huey………………..76

*…Parra Santonja/Marrero………….80

*…Barty/Peers……………………81

*…Rodionova, An./Fleming………….81

*…Rodionova, Ar./Kyrgios………….82

*…Bouchard/Groth………………..112

*…Pennetta/Fognini………………112

*…Rogowska/Smith………………..112

*…Sanders/Guccione………………112

*…Tomljanovic/Duckworth………….112

*…Vekic/Kokkinakis………………112

This is unusual. Six of the eight seeded teams are the same in both lists (four or five is more typical), and one of the two teams that is seeded in the actual draw but not Mixed just missed seeding in the latter.

But, of course, there is one big change: The #1 seeds based on Mixed are unseeded in the actual draw, and the #1 seeds in the actual draw would be unseeded under Mixed! And although six seeds are seeded under both systems, only one team (#3 Huber/Melo) has the same seed under both systems. So Mixed rankings do make some pretty bold predictions.

If we summarize the changes, they are as follows:

Promoted four seeding tiers:

Mladenovic/Nestor (from unseeded to #1)

Promoted two seeding tiers:

Vesnina/Bhupathi (from #8 to #2)

Promoted one seeding tier:

Peschke/Matkowski (from #7 to #4)

Gajdosova/Ebden (from unseeded to #8)

Seeding Tier Unchanged:

Huber/Melo (#3 either way)

Mirza/Tecau (#5 in Mixed, #6 in actual draw)

Demoted one seeding tier:

Hlavackova/Mirnyi (from #4 to #6)

Medina Garrigues/Soares (from #5 to unseeded)

Demoted two seeding tiers:

Srebotnik/Bopanna (from #2 to #7)

Demoted four seeding tiers:

Groenefeld/Peya (from #1 to unseeded)

Again, a relatively short list of changes. We’ll see how it works out in the actual draw.

 

************ STATS AND FACTS ************

 

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of January 16, 2014

 

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 12890*

2..(2) AZARENKA ………..6281*

3..(3) SHARAPOVA ……… 5306*

4..(5) ARADWANSKA ………5100*

5..(6) KVITOVA ……….. 4745

6..(4) LI ……………..4700*

7..(7) ERRANI ………….4440

8..(8) JANKOVIC ………..4200*

9..(9) KERBER ………….3920*

10.(11) HALEP …………. 3460*

11.(10) WOZNIACKI ……… 3370*

12.(12) VINCI …………. 3020

13.(15) LISICKI ……….. 2980

14.(14) IVANOVIC ………..2860*

15.(16) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2745*

16.(17) STOSUR ………….2705*

17.(18) Kirilenko ……… 2325

18.(13) STEPHENS ………..2305*

19.(19) FLIPKENS ………..2255

20.(21) CIRSTEA ……….. 2020

21.(23) KANEPI ………….1932

22.(24) CIBULKOVA ……… 1886*

23.(25) CORNET ………….1870*

24.(29) PENNETTA ………..1865*

25.(30) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1840*

26.(26) SAFAROVA ………..1805*

27.(31) BOUCHARD ………..1719*

28.(20) KUZNETSOVA ………1712

29.(22) MAKAROVA ………..1691*

30.(27) Hampton ……….. 1601

Draws

Australian Open (Slam — Weeks of January 13-26)

………………..3R

1 S Williams……..(1)S.Williams

31 Hantuchova…….(31)Hantuchova

17 Stosur………..(17)Stosur

14 Ivanovic………(14)Ivanovic

 

12 Vinci…………Zheng

18 Flipkens………(18)Flipkens

30 Bouchard………(30)Bouchard

7 Errani…………Davis

 

4 Li…………….(4)Li

26 Safarova………(26)Safarova

22 Makarova………(22)Makarova

15 Lisicki……….Niculescu

 

9 Kerber…………(9)Kerber

23 Vesnina……….Riske

28 Pennetta………(28)Pennetta

6 Kvitova………..Barthel

 

8 Jankovic……….(8)Jankovic

32 Rybarikova…….Nara

21 Cirstea……….Diyas(Q)

11 Halep…………(11)Halep

 

16 Suarez Navarro…(16)Suarez Navarro

20 Cibulkova……..(20)Cibulkova

25 Cornet………..(25)Cornet

3 Sharapova………(3)Sharapova

 

5 A Radwanska…….(5)A.Radwanska

29 Pavlyuchenkova…(29)Pavlyuchenkova

24 Kanepi………..Muguruza

10 Wozniacki……..(10)Wozniacki

 

13 Stephens………(13)Stephens

19 Kuznetsova…….Svitolina

33 Jovanovski…….Meusburger

2 Azarenka……….(2)Azarenka

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 S Williams

2 Azarenka

3 Sharapova

4 Li

5 A Radwanska

6 Kvitova…………lost 1R (Kumkhum)

7 Errani………….lost 1R (Goerges)

8 Jankovic

9 Kerber

10 Wozniacki

11 Halep

12 Vinci………….lost 1R (Zheng)

13 Stephens

14 Ivanovic

15 Lisicki………..lost 2R (Niculesu)

16 Suarez Navarro

17 Stosur

18 Flipkens……….lost 2R (Dellacqua)

19 Kuznetsova……..lost 1R (Svitolina)

20 Cibulkova

21 Cirstea………..lost 1R (Erakovic)

22 Makarova

23 Vesnina………..lost 1R (Riske)

24 Kanepi…………lost 1R (Muguruza)

25 Cornet

26 Safarova

27 Hampton………..WITHDREW

28 Pennetta

29 Pavlyuchenkova

30 Bouchard

31 Hantuchova

32 Rybarikova……..lost 2R (Nara)

33 Jovanovski……..lost 2R (Meusburger)

******** SCORES ********

 

THURSDAY

Australian Open

Singles – Second Round

(2) Victoria Azarenka def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1 6-4

(3) Maria Sharapova def. Karin Knapp 6-3 4-6 10-8

(5) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Olga Govortsova 6-0 7-5

(8) Jelena Jankovic def. Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-0

(10) Caroline Wozniacki def. Christina McHale 6-0 1-6 6-2

(11) Simona Halep def. Varvara Lepchenko 4-6 6-0 6-1

(13) Sloane Stephens def. Aijla Tomljanovic 6-3 2-6 7-5

(16) Carla Suarez Navarro def. Galina Voskoboeva 7-6(7-2) 3-6 8-6

(20) Dominika Cibulkova def. Stefanie Voegele 6-0 6-1

(25) Alize Cornet def. Camila Giorgi 6-3 4-6 6-4

(29) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Mandy Minella 6-2 6-2

Kurumi Nara def. (32) Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4 6-3

Yvonne Meusburger def. (33) Bojana Jovanovski 3-6 6-3 6-2

Zarina Diyas def. Marina Erakovic 6-4 6-0

Elina Svitolina def. Olivia Rogowska 6-4 7-5

Garbine Muguruza def. Anna Schmiedlova 6-3 6-3

Doubles – First Round

(1) Errani/Vinci def. Barthel/Moulton-Levy 7-5 6-2

(2) Hsieh/Peng def. Hrdinova/Ormaechea 6-7(6-8) 7-6(7-1) 6-0

(5) Barty/Dellacqua def. Panova/Ka. Pliskova 6-1 6-1

(6) Black/Mirza def. Patterson/Ar. Rodionova 6-1 6-4

(7) Hlavackova/Safarova def. Date-Krumm/Zhang 6-4 6-4

Cornet/Garcia def. (10) Erakovic/J Zheng 6-3 6-3

Niculescu/Zakopalova def. Begu/Cirstea 6-3 6-2

Kuznetsova/Stosur def. Buryachok/Kalashnikova 6-1 6-2

Hradecka/Krajicek def. Bertens/Flipkens 3-6 6-3 6-4

Beck/Petkovic def. Savchuk/Tsurenko 6-4 6-2

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