So I didnt realize this is the first year they are doing Challenger 175 Events. They are also doing them the 2nd week of the Masters 1000s that are 2 weeks long except for Miami That is why you are seeing Phoenix looking like a 250 Event 2nd Week of Madrid you have - Cagliari, Italy & Aix-En-Provence France having 175s. 2nd Week of Rome you have - Bordeaux, France & Turing Italy having 175s.
I did some more research because the first day of Phoenix is today and the 1st round matches are just unheard of for Challengers.
I like the way the QF's are stacking up, with most of the faves winning through. And Cam Norrie is in some form right now, huh? Some good match-ups coming in the ladies too. Petra winning a clutch breaker against Jess was a surprise, but nice to see she can still go.
Potapova wore a jersey from some Moscow soccer team onto the court randomly before her match against Pegula. Was asked about it, said she's been a fan for years but couldn't name any of the current players on the team. Pretty clearly a pro-Moscow/war sentiment and provocation -- which is a pretty bad look given IW just had a Ukranian player withdraw due to panic attacks. Swiatek got after her pretty good in press. “To be honest, I was surprised,” said Poland’s Swiatek, who wears a Ukrainian flag on her cap during her matches, after her third-round victory over Bianca Andreescu. “I thought the player realised that she should not, even if she is a fan of the team, show her views in this way at such times. “I’ve talked to the WTA and in a way I found out that there should be less such situations because they will explain to other players that you can’t promote any Russian teams these days, which reassured me a bit.
Makes a lot more sense with this context. Thought she was just getting axed for wearing a sports shirt.
Some players bother Iga and clearly Elena is one of them - 2 good wins against her already this year.
Little bet on travel. Shnaider +125 vs. Siegmund. Siedmund played the Doubles Finals in Indian Wells on Saturday. Nice 6 hour flight over to Indian Wells. Not sure if shes flying private, if not, would be a Red Eye flight
Sabalenka double faults on set point in the TB, then Rybakina does the same. Now Sabalenka does it again to give Rybakina another set point
Rybakina 7th in the live rankings and that’s with no points from a Wimbledon title. Still underrated somehow.
Really liked what I saw from Watanuki from Japan today, beating the above Paire 4 and 4. Athletic, big serve. Gets Foe next round.
"Revolution, not evolution." Some cool highlights here. Alcaraz just murders his deep return setup with kick serves and net rushes.
No surprise, Kalinskaya pushed Rybakina pretty hard but Elena gets it done. Badosa next which could be fun.
I think Elena beat her recently (possibly even at IW) so I'm hoping she's got her number at the moment.