At Last! 2023 Season begins.....

Merry Christmas - Countdown to 2023 Season

 

Eleven more days until the Official 2023 Tennis Season begins with the inaugural, combined ATP/WTA 500 United Cup in Australia on December 29, 2022. And it's only one month until the first Major of 2023 - the Australian Open!

It's been a wild ride in 2022 and we think we've documented the highs and lows of the 2022 season for 52 weeks this year. 

I would like to thank my partners in this - Trinigirl and Hartt in keeping MCM alive and kickin' for the past year.  Week in and week out we documented - without fear or favor or compensation (well perhaps a little favor) - the many high crimes and misdemeanors throughout the year with our collective blood, sweat and tears. We hope you appreciate and enjoy our efforts to keep our small MCM family blog alive🙏

God willing, we hope to keep us all going for another year! In the meantime, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone here and your families and thank you all for your participation.  In the meantime, enjoy some Holiday Greetings from around the World and a couple of my favorite Christmas music videos👇🎄🎅

Waiting for 2023: 2 1/2 Weeks Until the United Cup 2023

It has seemed like a long 2022 Off Season, however one of MCM's diehard tennis fans has been following the Challengers closely for us and we thank Peter F for his recaps for the last two weeks!  

In two and a half weeks the 2023 Season will begin with the inaugural United Cup, which is an ATP-WTA event presented in partnership with Tennis Australia and offers USD $15 million in prize money as well as up to 500 Pepperstone ATP and 500 WTA rankings points. The Cup will be held in three cities in Australia - Brisbane, Perth and Sydney - beginning December 29 through January 8, 2023.

While we wait, this week our Star Researcher and Contributor Shirley Hartt treats us to a summary of a select few of the young WTA standouts and their journeys in 2022  - Iga Swiatek, Cori Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Zheng Qinwen and Leylah Fernandez.  So let's see how these young ladies got here, fared in 2022 and what may be in store for them in 2023👇

2022 Season Almost Wrap Up!

Congratulations!

ATP Finals Single Champion: Novak Djokovic

Fantastic finish to his 2022 Season and he matches Roger Federer's 6 times as ATP Finals Champion. He is also the only player to win the title in three decades!

The Season Finale - ATP World Tour Finals

 

The end of the 2022 Tennis Season is finally here! There's much to analyze and discuss once the dust settles in the next eight days. We may have a recap of this whole season in another thread before the end of the year - the ups and downs, surprises, players who started with such potential, excitement, and hope and fulfilled it all through the year or those whose claim to fame burst onto the scene in the second half or toward the end of this season (I'm thinking of Holger Rune for one). Then there's the players who petered out, fell far short of expectations, and/or just plain disappeared off the tennis map after the beginning of the year - either due to desire (Naomi Osaka?), or injury, illness (Covid still wreaks inordinate havoc on a number of players this year, hopefully next year is much better for them).

The Nitto ATP Finals is the year-end climax to the ATP Tour season. The WTA had their finale more than a week ago, which also produced some surprises.  Like the WTA Finals, this event features only the world's best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams, and has been contested in major cities around the world, with a rich history dating back to the birth of The Masters in Tokyo (1970). From 2021-2025, the tournament will be held at Turin’s Pala Alpitour stadium.

Finally, congratulations to this year's Champion at the Intesa Sanpaolo NextGen ATP Finals - Brandon Nakashima d. Jiri Lehecka!

After the Nitto Finals, there will be some regulation tour but lower-level events played across both tours in ATP Challengers and WTA 125s and below, plus Exhibition tournaments. So .... one more time ... let's get to it!👇

Wrapping Up 2022 - Part 1

 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals
Allianz Cloud Arena
Milan, Italy
November 8 - 12, 2022

WINTER IS COMING: 2022 WTA Finals & ATP Paris Masters

 

ATP 1000
Rolex Paris Masters
Paris (Bercy), France

WTA Finals
Fort Worth, TX, USA

As October comes to a close, we're officially in the final lap of the 2022 Tennis Season. The men's regulation tournaments end with this week's Paris Masters and the women's regulation tournament season closes with the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.  Both tours ring in Halloween tomorrow, their first day of competition🎃

Congratulations to this week's Champions: 

ATP 500 Basel, Switzerland - Felix Auger-Aliassime (d. Holger Rune).

ATP 500 Vienna, Austria - Daniil Medvedev (d. Denis Shapavolov).

So as we leave October and Winter is coming to this tennis year, let's get to it!👇

October lingers on with two ATP 500s

Swiss Indoors ATP 500
Basel, Switzerland

Erste Bank Open ATP 500
Vienna, Austria

Known internationally by its German name the Matterhorn, it owes its fame to its almost perfect pyramid shape. Its four-sided, ridged rocky peak towers 4,478 metres above sea level, in perfect isolation in the midst of a quite singular alpine panorama.  It straddles the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy.  About 3000 climbers summit the Matterhorn per year.  In the summer up to 150 climbers can attempt an ascent each eay.  Over 500 people have died climbing on the Matterhorn - both on the way  up and down from the summit. 

October continued - ATP 250 (3) and WTA 1000 (1)

Stockholm Municipality, Stockholm, Sweden

OCTOBER MADNESS Week 2 - USA, Romania, Italy and Spain

 

October 10-16, 2022

San Diego Open WTA 500

San Diego, California USA

Transylvania Open WTA 250

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Gijon Open ATP 250

Gijon, Spain

Firenze Open ATP 250

Florence, Italy

October Madness - 2 ATP 500s + WTA 500 & 250

 

October 3-9, 2022

ATP 500 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
Tokyo, Japan

ATP 500 Astana Open
Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

WTA 500 Agel Open
Ostrava, Czech Republic

WTA 250 Jasmin Open Monastir
Monastir, Tunisia

We're into our 2nd week of the Fall season of Tennis with three 500 tournaments and one WTA 250.  Congratulations to this last week's tournament champions:

Seoul: Singles Yoshi Nishioka (d. Denis Shapavolov) - Doubles - R. Klaasen/N. Lammons

Sofia: Singles Marc-Andrea Huesler (d. Holger Rune) - Doubles - R. Matos/D. Vega Hernandez

Tel Aviv: Singles Novak Djokovic (d. Marin Cilic)

Tallinn: Singles Barbora Krejcikova (d. Anett Kontaveit) - Doubles L. Kichenok/N. Kichenok

Parma: Singles Maya Sherif (d. Maria Sakkari) - Doubles - A. Defiuc/M. Kolodziejova

With three 500s (besides the WTA 250) this week, the stakes are high and the fields are strong. Let's see what's cookin'👀👇

Post Laver Cup: ATP250, WTA 250

 

Fall Tennis Season 2022 - WTA 500 and 250, ATP 250, Laver Cup 2022

 The tennis ballet dancer - a Career in pictures

Post-USO Tennis Season 2022 Fourth Quarter - 2 WTA 250s + Davis Cup SF Tie

 

Zavarovalnica Sava Portorož WTA 250

Portorož, Slovenia

Chennai Open WTA 250

Chennai, India

Davis Cup Group Stage Semifinal Ties

Glasgow, Scotland

Hamburg, Germany

Bologna, Italy

Valencia, Spain

After a blistering hot Summer, we head into the Fall of the 2022 season and towards both tours ATP/WTA Finals now that we've wrapped up all four Majors this year. 

A hearty congratulations to our USO Champions:  Men Carlos Alcaraz (d. Casper Ruud). Women Iga Swiatek (d. Ons Jabuer); Men's Doubles Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury (D. Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski). Women Doubles Champions Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (d. Caty McNally/Taylor Townsend). And, Mixed Doubles Champs Storm Sanders/John Peers (d. Kirsten Flipkens/Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

This week the ATP has a week of rest, save for men competing in the Davis Cup Group Stage tie semifinals in Bologna, Valencia, Hamburg and Glasgow.  The Finals will be held November 22 - 27, 2022 in Malaga, Spain. In the meantime, the women will compete in two WTA 250s, so we'll get to it👇

US OPEN 2022 - Week 2

 

US Open

Billie Jean King Tennis Center

Flushing, NY

Aug. 29 - Sept. 11, 2022

Welcome to the 2nd week of the USO. Unfortunately, Serena Williams lost in her 3R to Ajla Tomljanovic, who exhibited extraordinary calm, composure and incredible grace while weathering the ear-piercing 35,000+ extremely partisan Serena fans, including a bevy of celebrities. As is Serena's way though, she fought valiantly to the very end of a close 3-setter lasting just over three hours. 

The Williams' sisters were also bounced from the Doubles competition early. Although we've heard no murmurs from Venus Williams about retirement, Serena announced before the USO that this competition will be her last professional tournament. But, she left us with a "we'll see" post-match when asked if she was done with Tennis. The world is her oyster so we shall certainly see - I'm absolutely certain this will not be the last we hear from the legendary Serena!

Defending women's champion, Emma Raducanu, who had an incredible 10-Match run from qualifications to the trophy in 2021, was ousted early in the opening round by the ever problematic and wily Alize Cornet. On the men's side, defending 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev still stands (as of today) but faces the uber dangerous and mercurial Nick Kyrgios in the R16.  

All in all, on the women's side four Top 10 players/seeds and eight Top 30 seeds remain in the 2nd Week. Of the men, six Top 10 players/seeds and seven top 30 seeds remain in the 2nd. Not bad, and there's some more-than-exciting matchups coming up for the last Major of the 2022 season👇

US Open 2022 - Week 1

Serena Williams - A career in pictures

It starts with "The Serve"

Final USO Warm Up - Winston-Salem ATP 250, Championnats Granby WTA 250, Tennis in the Land WTA 250

Winston-Salem Open ATP 250

Wake Forest Tennis Center

North Carolina, USA

August 21 - 27, 2022

Championnats WTA 250

Banque Nationale De Granby

Granby, Canada

August 21 - 27, 2022

Tennis in the Land WTA 250

Presented by Motorola Edge

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

August 21 - 27, 2022

Western & Southern Open - ATP/WTA Masters 1000 - Cincinnati, Ohio USA

Western & Southern Open
ATP 1000, WTA 1000
August 14 - 21, 2022

Hot off the heels of the National Bank Open (Montreal and Toronto, Canada) we're into the 2nd month of the North American Swing leading to the USO at the end of August.  I'm sure we'll see some withdrawals since we had an unexpected - but worthy - final four in both Montreal and Toronto.  

Congratulations to this week's champions:

NBO Montreal 

Singles Champion: Pablo Carreno Busta d. Hubert Hurkacz

Doubles Champions: W. Koolhof/N. Skupski d. D. Evans/J. Peers

NBO Toronto

Singles Champion: SIMONA HALEP (d. Beatriz Haddad Maia)

Doubles Champions: Cori Gauff/Jessica Pegula d. N. Melichar Martinez/E. Perez

"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." ~ Mark Twain (debatable but it's stuck with Cincinnati)!

Hopefully, it's not too hot or humid this coming week, since the players had little rest from Canada but not far to travel. Perhaps, too, there's more stamina in the top seeds in Cincinnati since most on both tours got rest they didn't expect with their early knockouts north of the border. In any event, it'll be another grueling week with a small breather before the USO.  

This week's visuals visit some whimsical, off-the-beaten paths in Cincinnati and Ohio and one of the utmost historically significant memorials in American History👇

National Bank Open - ATP 1000 Montreal - WTA 1000 Toronto, Canada

 

Congratulations to this week's Champions of the the first leg of the North American Swing: 

Citi Open ATP 500 - WTA 250 Washington, DC

Men's Champion: Nick Kyrgios

Doubles Champions: Nick Kyrgios/Jack Sock

Women's Champion: Liudmila Samsonova

Doubles Champions: J. Pegula/E. Routliffe

Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic WTA 500 San Jose, California

Women's Champion: Daria Kasatkina

Doubles Champions: Y. Xu/Z. Yang

Abierto de Tenis Mifel ATP 250 Los Cabos, Mexico

Men's Singles Champion: Daniil Medvedev

Doubles Champions M. Kecmanovic/W. Blumberg

The Canadian Open in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario is one of the oldest tournaments in tennis, beginning in 1881 for the men and 1892 for the women. It has had many different titles over the years, often depending on the main sponsor. It became the National Bank Open in February 2021, with a 10-year agreement, so at least we won’t have to learn a new name for the next few years.

Beginning in 2011, the men’s and women’s tournaments alternate between Toronto and Montreal. This makes it easier for the venues to handle a big tournament, with the added advantage that if it is raining in one city it's usually fine in the other, so TV coverage can continue.

Both cities have family weekends for the qualifying rounds, with lots of activities geared to families and free admission, a terrific way to gain new fans, especially youngsters.

The DC weather was miserable - hot and humid - and took its toll on more than one player. The heat was less taxing in San Jose and Los Cabos and hopefully Canada's weather is more forgiving - so let's see who's game👇 

North American / Canadian Summer Swing - ATP 500, ATP 250, WTA 500, WTA 250

Back to buildings/monuments....A painter, a sculptor, a writer, they can express freely. They don't affect society as a whole. We build buildings that have a purpose, that stay there for hundreds of years or decades. Moshe Safdie

The Washington Monument....The Washington Monument officially was dedicated on February 21, 1885. In a speech written for that event by Robert Winthrop, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony in 1845, there was one memorable line: “An earthquake may shake its foundations … but the character which it commemorates and illustrates is secure.”  

Still Europe and Start of North American Swing ATP 250, WTA 250

 

Plava Laguna Croatia Open, Croatia, ATP 250
Generali Open, Kitzbuhel, Austria, ATP 250
Truist Atlanta Open, Atlanta, USA, ATP 250
BNP Paribas Poland Open, Warsaw, Poland, WTA 250
Livesport Prague Open, Czech Republic, WTA 250

Another Week on European Clay in July: ATP 500 Hamburg, 250 Gstaad - WTA 250s Hamburg, Palermo, Italy

 

ATP 500 Hamburg European Open
Hamburg, Germany
ATP 250 EFG Swiss Open
Gstaad, Switzerland
WTA 250 Hamburg European Open
Hamburg, Germany
WTA 250 33rd Palermo Ladies Open
Palermo, Italy

Congratulations to this week's Champions - Bastad - Francisco Cerundolo, Newport - Maxime Cressey. And Budapest - Bernarda Pera, Lausanne - Petra Martic.

This week we have an ATP 500 in Hamburg, Germany, a 250 in Gstaad, Switzerland, and two WTA 250s  - Hamburg and Palermo, Italy.

We're taking a gastronomic tour in each of the cities - Food was the unanimous choice of this week's theme so let's go👇

POST WIMBLEDON: ATP 250s Newport, Rhode Island USA, Bastad, Sweden; WTA 250s Budapest, Hungary, Lausanne, Switzerland

ATP 250 Infosys Hall of Fame Open

Newport, RI, USA

ATP 250 Nordea Open

Bastad, Sweden

WTA 250 Ladies Open Lausanne

Lausanne, France

WTA 250 Hungarian Grand Prix

Budapest, Hungary

Congratulation to this year's surprise Ladies Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina -a young 23 year old whose odds to win Wimby were 111/1 going into the tournament!  Not quite like last year's USO Champion - Emma Raducanu - who came out of nowhere as an 18-year-old Brit with no WTA titles - through qualies and winning 10 matches in straight sets, thrilling her home crowd winning her first title - a Major but who unfortunately has struggled mightily since. But the 23-three-year-old Rybakina also had few under her belt - two 250 titles in the last 3 years, so her win was quite unexpected. Unfortunately for Elena (and the rest of the players who did well) this year Wimbledon in deciding to ban Russian and Belarusian players from participating, also decided to not award any ranking points for the tournament, which punished the eligible participants but the handsome paycheck won't hurt anyone who did well especially during the 2nd week!  

Then there was Novak Djokovic - the Men's Singles Champion, whose odds were quite likely to defend his 2021 title.  He now holds seven Wimbledon titles and 21 Majors. Both Novak and Rafa Nadal are still quite capable of adding another one (or two) before either retire and the Big 3 is now whittled down to the Big 2. Roger Federer (who'll be 41 yo in August) is not quite letting go just yet or officially throwing in the towel, but to say he's not been around in awhile is an understatement. Hopefully we'll see him sometime this year even if it is at his Laver Cup.  Also Wimbledon was plagued this year with withdrawals, quite a few due to Covid and quite a few seeds fell early not even making the 2nd week.

Congratulations  are also in order to the Men's Doubles Champions Matthew Ebden/Max Purcell, Women's Doubles Champions Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova and the Mixed Doubles Champions Neal Skupski/Desirae Krawczyk. 

So this week, we have the last grass tourney of the year in Newport RI and three clay tournaments in Europe, next week there's a few clay and a harcourt tournament on both tours for the rest of July before we head into the hardcourt swing in North America in August.

This week's thematic pics are unusual and/or unique places in each city to put on your bucket list when you visit! So let's get to it!👇

Wimbledon 2022 - Week 2

 

Wimbledon, The Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
London, England
June 27 - July 10, 2022

Wimbledon 2022 - Week 1

Wimbledon, The Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
London, England
June 27 - July 10, 2022

Final push to Wimbledon ATP 250 / WTA 500 and 250

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Rothesay International, Great Britain WTA 500
Bad Homburg Open, Germany WTA 250
Rothesay International, Great Britain ATP 250
Mallorca Championships, Spain ATP 250

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022, London, England

Two Weeks to Wimbledon: ATP/WTA - Halle & Berlin, Germany - London & Birmingham, Great Britain

Halle, Germany ATP 500
London, Great Britain, ATP 500
Berlin, Germany WTA 500
Birmingham, Great Britain WTA 250

 

We're halfway through the ATP's nine - and the WTA's eight - official grass season tournaments. These include Wimbledon and the Hall of Fame Open, Rhode Island USA July 11-17th for the men, with the women's grass season coming to a high crescendo at Wimbledon on July 10th.

Congratulations to this week's Singles Champions:  Matteo Berrettini, Stuttgart, Germany; Tim Van Rijthoven, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; Beatriz Haddad Maia, Nottingham; Ekaterina Alexandrova, Hertogenbosch. And Doubles Champions: Koolhof/Skupski, Hertogenbosch; Hurkacz/Pavic, Stuttgart; Perez/Zidansek, Hertogenbosch; and a special shoutout to Singles/Doubles champ Haddad Maia/Zhang, in Nottingham! 

So let's get to this week's three 500s and a 250👇 

THE GRASS IS GREENER FOR 6 WEEKS! s'-Hertogenbosch, Stuttgart, & Nottingham

 

JUNE 6 - 12, 2022
ATP 250 STUTTGART, GERMANY
ATP 250 's-HERTOGENBOSCH, NETHERLANDS
WTA 250 NOTTINGHAM, GREAT BRITIAN
WTA 250 's-HERTOGENBOSCH, NETHERLANDS

The ATP's 2022 schedule this season includes 39 hardcourt, 12 clay events. And both tours host only a measly eight grass court tournaments during a packed six weeks on grass - which includes Wimbledon, June 27-July 10, 2022. 

So as we leave Roland Garros, congratulations to this year's 2022 Singles Champions - Rafa Nadal and Iga Swiatek, Double Champions Jean-Julien Rojer/Marcelos Arevalo and Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovic, and Mixed Doubles Champions Ena Shibahara/Wesley Koolhoff!

Roland Garros 2022 - Week 2

 

Roland Garros ATP/WTA Major
(also known as The French Open)
Stade Roland Garros
Paris, France
May 22 - June 5, 2022

Roland Garros 2022 - Week 1

Roland Garros ATP/WTA Major
(also known as The French Open)
Stade Roland Garros
Paris, France
May 22 - June 5, 2022

France doesn't have culture; the word "culture" is actually French. "Culture" derives from the same French term, which in turn derives from the Latin 'colere,' meaning to tend to the earth and grow, cultivate and nurture."

The final lap to Roland Garros ATP 250, WTA 250

 Gonet Geneva Open ATP 250
Tennis Club de Geneve
Geneva, Switzerland
May 15-21, 2022

Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone Alpes Lyon ATP250
Velodrome Georges Preveral
Lyon, France
May 15-21

Internationaux de Strasbourg WTA 250
Tennis Club de Strasbourg
Strasbourg, France
May 15-21, 2022

Grand Prix Sar La Princesse Lalla Meryem WTA 250
Club des Cheminots
Rabat, Morocco
May 15-21, 2022

INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA - ROME ATP/WTA MASTERS 1000

 

Last week was all Madrid, this week it's all Rome - both tours, not much rest, another Masters 1000 and a week before Roland Garros for a very grueling May on Clay.

First congratulations to the two Singles Champs in Madrid - Ons Jabuer and (no surprise now) Carlos Alcaraz who defeated Rafa, Djokovic then totally annihialated Alexander Zverev in the Final in an hour!

When in Rome ... 👇

MUTUA MADRID ATP/WTA 1000

 

For the next week, there's only Madrid - the ATP begins and the WTA continues with the third and fourth rounds of competition today and tomorrow.

The WTA had a handful of seeds knocked out early - Sabalenka, Badosa, Muguruza, Collins, Pliskova, Ostapenko. I am 🙏 for a 3rd Madrid Title for Simona Halep!

With the Italian Open Rome beginning immediately after Madrid (May 8-15), we'll see who's match tough for these grueling two weeks with only one week rest for some before Roland Garros begins May 22, 2022.

Vamos - a ver que pasa👇

Estoril Open ATP 250, BMW ATP 250, Mutua Madrid WTA 1000

Millennium Estoril ATP 250
Estoril, Portugal
April 25 - May 1

BMW by American Express ATP 250

Munich, Germany

April 25 - May 1

Mutua Madrid WTA1000
Madrid, Spain
April 28 - May 8

Tomar City - Former seat of the Order of The Knights Templar

The Road to Roland Garros.....ATP 500 & 250, WTA 500 & 250

 

ATP ROLEX MONTE CARLO MASTERS

 ROLEX MONTE CARLO ATP MASTERS 1000

"GEM OF THE MEDITERRANEAN" - Monte Carlo Country Club overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

This week we only have eyes for the the Rolex Monte Carlo ATP Masters (since there's nothing else on the calendar this week😎) - so let's get busy on the French Riviera!👇

OFFICIAL CLAY SEASON - WTA 500 Charleston, WTA 250 Bogota - ATP 250s Houston, Marrakech

April 4-10, 2022
Charleston, SC WTA
Bogota, Columbia WTA 
Houston, TX, ATP
Marrakech, Morocco, ATP

Welcome to the full-fledged official two months of the Clay Season, leading up to the French Open starting May 22, 2022.  Between now and Roland Garros, there's 17 ATP/WTA clay prep tournaments on the calendar - dirt-baller heaven for some, for others they'll need to learn to slide step - dance on dirt.  This week, there's four tournaments - two WTA and two ATP to get us started.  

First, congratulations to the Miami Open champions: Iga Swiatek, at 20 years old becomes one of only an elite four women to have won the Sunshine Double.  And on the men's side, 18 yo Carlos Alcaraz is the Miami Masters 1000 Champ, who also set records for this achievement (in Indian Wells he lost in the SF to fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal).  

And congratulations to the doubles champs - Hubert Hurkacz/John Isner (Hurkacz - defending Singles Champ Miami 2021 - lost in the SF to champ Alcaraz).  Women's Doubles Champs are Vera Zvonareva/Laura Siegemund.

Congratulations to all. Miami left many speechless, others with more than enough to say (I'm thinking of Naomi Osaka😷).

So let's get to the first week of the official Clay Season!👇

Miami Open Week 2

 Still Standing...

 Miami Open, 
ATP/WTA Masters 1000
Hard Rock Stadium
Miami Gardens, Florida, USA
March 21 - April 3, 2022

Marriott Hotel, Miami Beach

Miami Open 2022 Week 1

Ukraine - Still standing....

 Miami Open, 
ATP/WTA Masters 1000
Hard Rock Stadium
Miami Gardens, Florida, USA
March 21 - April 3, 2022

INDIAN WELLS 2022 - WEEK 2 March 15-20, 2022

We Stand With Ukraine🙏

The first week of Indian Wells - "The Seeds of Wrath" - a substantial number of top-seeded men and women fell early.  

So let's get to Week 2 - ATP R16 and WTA Quarterfinals with week two's survivors👇 

INDIAN WELLS 2022 - ATP Masters, WTA 1000

INDIAN WELLS

ATP MASTERS 1000

WTA PREMIER 1000

Welcome to sunny Southern California, Palm Springs. Indian Wells has returned to its normal month in the Season's schedule. Most of the country has returned to somewhat normal -  freedom, or something like it - except for our brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe.  

Some still refer to this tournament as the the "5th Grand Slam" in the schedule. It is a biggie, a combined tour event and most of the top players are competing. Notably missing are WTA #1 Ashleigh Barty and ATP #1 Novak Djokovic (depending on Daniil Medvedev's mood and performance this tourney Djokovic returned to #1). We now have an almost 2-week tournament to talk about a LOT of Tennis. 

In the meantime, our collective hearts go out to Ukraine and to all Ukrainian tennis players trying their best to support their families there, while attempting to concentrate on this huge competition. We do not envy their predicaments - playing tennis or even try to go home to their families if it were even possible. Almost 2 million of their Ukrainian countrywomen and children have fled and are fleeing daily🙏

We Stand With Ukraine🙋

👇

Monterrey, Mexico WTA 250, Lyon, France WTA 250

 

WTA 250 Abierto GNP Seguros, Monterrey, Mexico

WTA 250 Open 6eme Sens Metropole de Lyon, France

  

Two Ukrainian players are scheduled to participate in this week’s tournaments – Elina Svitolina in Lyon and Dayana Yastremska and her sister and doubles partner Ivanna Yastremska in Monterrey. The thoughts of tennis fans are with them during this terrible time.

Qatar WTA 1000, Guadalajara WTA 250, Acapulco ATP 500, Dubai ATP 500, Santiago ATP 250

 

WTA 1000 - Doha Qatar
WTA 250 - Guadalajara, Mexico
ATP 500 - Acapulco, Mexico
ATP 500 - Dubai United Arab Emirates (UAE)
ATP 250 - Santiago, Chile

his This week we finish up the Middle Eastern and South American swing as the 2022 season gathers momentum. The ladies and gents switch places this week with the ladies in Doha, Qatar and the gents in Dubai, UAE. The Latin beat is on in Mexico for both women and men and then further south to Chile for the men.

Let's see how the lineup stacks up....

DUBAI WTA 500, RIO DE JANEIRO ATP 500 + DOHA, MARSEILLE, DELRAY BEACH - ATP 250s

 

WTA 500 - DUBAI, UAE
ATP 500 - RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
ATP 250 - DOHA, QATAR
ATP 250 - DELRAY BEACH, FL, USA
ATP 250 - MARSEILLE, FRANCE

WELCOME to the Middle East for two of our tournaments this week. The double Dubai (ladies) and Doha (men) who will switch places the following week - the ladies for a WTA 1000 in Doha, the men for an ATP 500 in Dubai..

We're also still down in South America for an ATP 500 - the Summer Final Leg of the Latin American Swing in Rio de Janeiro. Plus two, 250s in Marseille, France and in Delray Beach, Florida, USA. All of the hardcourt tourneys are prep for the "5th Slam" - BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells - March 9-20, 2022.

(Note: neither Hubert Hurkacz nor Daniil Medvedev are defending their titles in Delray Beach nor Marseille, respectively and I have heard nothing regarding the reasons for either being MIA.)

It's going to be a busy few months and 5 tournaments this week, so let's get to it!👇

Winter in Rotterdam, St. Petersburg & Dallas - Summer in Buenos Aires - Tennis Feb. 7-14-2022

 

ATP 500 Rotterdam, Netherlands
WTA 500 St. Petersburg, Russia
ATP 250 Buenos Aires, Argentina
ATP 250 Dallas, Texas, USA

Welcome to the 2nd week of February - it's Winter in the USA and Europe and Summer in Argentina. There's three ATP tourneys this week and the women contest a WTA 500 in Russia. 

There's been a lot of tennis news in the last couple of weeks but I'm looking forward to seeing Juan Del Potro in Buenos Aires. Fortunately, it looks like he is playing as of publishing time. Unfortunately, this may be his Swan Song as the Tower of Tandil😢

Also, there's a theme in this week's pictures - Ars Gratia  Artis (check your Latin) - so let's get to it!

Post AO - ATP 250 France, India, Argentina

 

Open Sud de France ATP 250, France

Tata Open Maharashtra ATP 250, India

Cordoba Open ATP 250, Argentina

January 31 – February 6, 2022

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier, France

Australian Open 2022 Week 2

 

Australian Open, Melbourne Park
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
January 13 - 30, 2022

Aboriginal Dot Art

Before Indigenous Australian art was ever put onto canvas the Aboriginal people would smooth over the soil to draw sacred designs which belonged to that particular ceremony. Body paint was also applied which held meanings connected to sacred rituals. These designs were outlined with circles and encircled with dots.

Uninitiated people never got to see these sacred designs since the soil would be smoothed over again and painted bodies would be washed. This was not possible with paintings. Aboriginal artists abstracted their paintings to disguise the sacred designs so the real meanings could not be understood by Westerners.

Australian Open 2022

Australian Open, Melbourne Park
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
January 17 - 30, 2022

Melbourne - tucked way into corner of this vast beautiful country

SYDNEY & ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - Last Week before the Australian Open

Sydney Classic - WTA 500

Sydney Classic - ATP 250

Adelaide International 2 - ATP 250

Adelaide International 2 - WTA 250

Welcome to the week before the Australian Open!!  We're leaving a packed week full of anxious AO contenders. 

A hearty Congratulations to The ATP Cup champs Canada (and Shirley our resident Canuck)!  The non-controversial tennis gang was in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.  And we're only leaving Melbourne for a hot second before we're back next week for the AO.

And Congratulations to the regulation tournament Winners this week: Adelaide 500: Ash Barty (+ Doubles Champ with Storm Sanders); Melbourne 1 WTA 250 Simona Halep 😎;  Melbourne 2 WTA 250: Amanda Anisimova; Adelaide ATP 250: Gael Monfils; Melbourne Summer Set ATP 250: Rafa Nadal!

Now buckle your seat belts, it may be a bumpy ride in Sydney and Adelaide for the diehards determined to be match ready for the AO Jan. 17. 

So, let's get to it!👇