b & b

Berlin, 14/6/22 [ → order of play ] There is one match missing in todays schedule. Hasn’t it been possible to place the sixteenth, the Li/Gauff match there as well? Given the antecedents one probably is too keen-eared by now, suspecting the promoter of doing crazy things. Maybe Cori couldn’t get to Berlin earlier than tomorrow or stuff like that… … …let’s see how this new French wonder weapon Jeanjean does today against Sakkari. Fingers crossed for Jule Niemeier, who quite likely will try and give favorite Belinda Bencic a very hard time on court, to say the least. Zidansek/Samsonova, a thriller? Sabalenka, will she wondrously (and happily) lose again, letting Kudermetova pass through to the next round? Jabeur/Muchova probably an edge-of-the-seater with equal chances for both players. Often the Tunisian ball conjurer manages to win those tricky matches. Muguruza and Alexandrova I do expect to solve their tasks as well. Zheng/Parks and Kalinskaya/Cornet open to me. // Bencic needs all her skills to wrestle down Niemeier in three sets. Which Petkovich does with Muguruza in two. Jabeur clearly superior to Muchova. Samsonova to Zidansek. Sabalenka losing again.

Berlin, round of 32

—–13/6/22
1. [6] Daria Kasatkina def Anhelina Kalinina | 57 63 61
2. Daria Saville def Jil Teichmann | 67² 75 62
3. [4] Karolina Pliskova def Kaia Kanepi | 67⁵ 60 60
4. Bianca Andreescu def Katerina Siniakova | 64 46 64
5. Wang Xinyu def Tamara Korpatsch | 36 63 64
6. Aliaksandra Sasnovich def Anastasia Gasanova | 62 46 63



—–14/6/22
7. [2] Maria Sakkari def Leolia Jeanjean | 63 62
8. Liudmila Samsonova def Tamara Zidansek | 75 61
9. Anna Kalinskaya def Alize Cornet | 64 64
10. [8] Belinda Bencic def Jule Niemeier | 64 57 63
11. Alicia Parks def Zheng Qinwen | 63 76⁴
12. Andrea Petkovic def [6] Garbine Muguruza | 76⁸ 64
13. Ekaterina Alexandrova def Maryna Zanevska | 63 64
14. [1] Ons Jabeur def Karolina Muchova | 63 63
15. Veronika Kudermetova def [3] Aryna Sabalenka | 26 75 64
—–15/6/22
16. [7] Cori Gauff def Ann Li | 62 76²

Birmingham, 14/6/22 [ → order of play ] Ostapenko, Mertens, Riske, Kvitova, Zhang are my expectations for today. No clue about the rest. And then again… …Linette could easily be in the winner’s list as well. Yastremska still has issues to reach the height of quality she had prior to her doping ban. // Wow, Haddad Maia is on the rise, and no mistake! Yastremska strong, Mertens and Riske surprisingly out to McNally and Boulter.

Birmingham, round of 32

—–13/6/22
1. Aleksandra Krunic def Petra Martic | 64 76⁶
2. Lauren Davis def Kaja Juvan | 76² 76⁵
3. Harriet Dart def Camila Osorio | 62 60
4. Donna Vekic def Coco Vandeweghe | 64 64
5. [2] Simona Halep def Lesia Tsurenko | 61 64
6. Elena-Gabriela Ruse def Wang Qiang | 76⁶ 76¹²
7. Caroline Garcia def Viktorija Golubic | 67⁵ 64 76⁶



—–14/6/22
8. [6] Sorana Cirstea def Shelby Rogers | 63 46 61
9. Dayana Yastremska def Magda Linette | 64 63
10. [1] Jelena Ostapenko def Rebecca Marino | 62 57 63
11. Catherine McNally def [4] Elise Mertens | 36 64 75
12. Katie Boulter def [7] Alison Riske | 64 63
13. Magdalena Frech def Nuria Parrizas Diaz | 67⁴ 63 63
14. Beatriz Haddad Maia def [5] Petra Kvitova | 76⁴ 62
– Jana Fett vs [8] Zhang Shuai | 75 34 interrupted
– Tereza Martincova vs [3] Camila Giorgi | 67⁷ interrupted


—–15/6/22
15. [8] Zhang Shuai def Jana Fett | 57 63 63
16. [3] Camila Giorgi def Tereza Martincova | 76⁷ 64

Berlin, 16/6/22 [ → order of play ] Jabeur, Gauff and Bencic my clear favorites today. Samsonova/Kudermetova could easily go either way. […]

Berlin, round of 16

—–15/6/22
1. [4] Karolina Pliskova def Bianca Andreescu | 64 26 76⁷
2. [6] Daria Kasatkina def Ekaterina Alexandrova | 57 61 61
3. Aliaksandra Sasnovich def Andrea Petkovic | 64 64
4. [2] Maria Sakkari def Daria Saville | 61 75



—–16/6/22
5. [1] Ons Jabeur def Alicia Parks | 62 76⁸
6. [7] Cori Gauff def Wang Xinyu | 60 64
7. [8] Belinda Bencic def Anna Kalinskaya | 64 16 61
8. Veronika Kudermetova def Liudmila Samsonova | 63 67⁵ 61

Birmingham, 16/6/22 [ → order of play ] All four encounters, Ostapenko/Yastremska, Ruse/Zhang, Haddad Maia/Frech and Davis/Giorgi with the potential of becoming interesting three-setters. // And interesting three-setters they became. A weird discussion with the chief umpire Haddad Maia had to have after slipping and falling on the due to nightfall more and more slippery grass court. First she was denied her request to interrupt the match for the sake of the player’s safety. After minutes of talking she was sent back to her side of the court to continue the match, which she did very hesitatingly. The only other option for her would’ve been to retire, which obviously she didn’t want to do. Immediately after the next rally had ended the play was interrupted due to darkness. A perfect sketch on life’s Theatre of the Absurd.

Birmingham, round of 16

—–15/6/22
1. [6] Sorana Cirstea def Aleksandra Krunic | 61 61
2. Katie Boulter def Caroline Garcia | 76⁵ 61
3. [2] Simona Halep def Harriet Dart | 63 62
4. Donna Vekic def Catherine McNally | 75 63



—–16/6/22
5. Dayana Yastremska def [1] Jelena Ostapenko | 36 75 75
6. [8] Zhang Shuai def Elena-Gabriela Ruse | 62 26 75
7. [3] Camila Giorgi def Lauren Davis | 36 75 62
– Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Magdalena Frech | 61 57 24 interrupted


—–17/6/22
8. Beatriz Haddad Maia def Magdalena Frech | 61 57 76³

Berlin, quarterfinals

—–17/6/22
1. [2] Maria Sakkari def [6] Daria Kasatkina | 60 63
2. [8] Belinda Bencic def Veronika Kudermetova | 36 63 63
3. [7] Cori Gauff def [4] Karolina Pliskova | 75 64
4. [1] Ons Jabeur def Aliaksandra Sasnovich | 67³ 62 62

Birmingham, quarterfinals

—–17/6/22
1. [6] Sorana Cirstea def Donna Vekic | 57 63 64
2. [8] Zhang Shuai def Dayana Yastremska | 75 64
3. [2] Simona Halep def Katie Boulter | 64 61
4. Beatriz Haddad Maia def [3] Camila Giorgi | 63 62

Berlin, semifinals

—–18/6/22
1. [8] Belinda Bencic def [2] Maria Sakkari | 67⁶ 64 64
2. [1] Ons Jabeur def [7] Cori Gauff | 76⁴ 62

Birmingham, 19/6/22 [ → order of play ] Fingers crossed for Zhang in what might be one of her last seasons at the professional WTA circus. Of course one is rooting for Haddad Maia now after all what she has reached of late. But to be honest I don’t believe that she’s got a chance against Halep today. // Wow, how deservedly the Brazilian wins that tremendously watchable see-saw match! And Zhang did me the favor to win hers as well.

Birmingham, semifinals

—–18/6/22
– [8] Zhang Shuai vs [6] Sorana Cirstea | postponed
– Beatriz Haddad Maia vs [2] Simona Halep | postponed

—–19/6/22
1. [8] Zhang Shuai def [6] Sorana Cirstea | 46 61 76⁵
2. Beatriz Haddad Maia def [2] Simona Halep | 63 26 64

Berlin, final

Birmingham, final