Posted in

Wk.7- Working Hard, Not Hardly Working

by sports••0
Wk.7- Working Hard, Not Hardly Working





*WEEK 7 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, U.A.E. (WTA 1000; Hard Court Outdoor)
S: Jessie Pegula/USA def. Elina Svitolina/UKR 6-2/6-4
D: Gaby Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani (CAN/BRA) def. Laura Siegemund/Vera Zvonareva (GER/RUS) 6-1/6-3

Oeiras, Portugal (WTA 125; Hard Court Indoor)
S: Daria Snigur/UKR def. Viktorija Golubic/SUI 6-3/6-3
D: Viktoria Hruncakova/Gabriela Knutson (SVK/CZE) def. Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley (USA/USA) 7-6(7)/6-3

Les Sables-d’Olonne, France (WTA 125; Hard Court Indoor)
S: Dominika Salkova/CZE def. Andrea Lazaro Garcia/ESP 6-4/6-0
D: Carol Young Suh Lee/Anna Siskova (USA/CZE) def. Aliona Balosva/Irene Burillo (ESP/ESP) 6-2/6-3

Midland (MI), United States (WTA 125; Hard Court Indoor)
S: Alina Charaeva/RUS def. Guo Hanyu/CHN 6-4/7-6(4)
D: Sabrina Santamaria/Tang Qianhui (USA/CHN) walkover Alana Smith/Mary Stoiana (USA/USA)

kosova-font

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jessie Pegula/USA
…yes, yes, we *know* that the Pegula family is very wealthy, is knee-deep in sports in Buffalo (owning two pro franchises), and that Jess stands to come into a massive inheritance at some point down the line. Yeah, and…?

That’s for the *next* phase of her life. Right now, she’s busy making her name in her own right on the tennis tour, having worked hard to rise through the ranks and, in the her early thirties, now seemingly hitting the prime years of her career, with its *peak* maybe not yet reached if her continued upward trajectory means anything.

Having already reached at least the SF in her last six tour events, but with just one final (Wuhan, a loss to Gauff) and zero titles to show for such a consistent run in tour-level competition dating back to her final four finish at the U.S. Open (a year after she’d reached her maiden slam final in New York), Pegula finally broke that string in a positive fashion in Dubai.

Wins over Varvara Gracheva, Iva Jovic and Clara Tauson put her into her seventh straight semi, where she overcame a set and a break deficit vs. Amanda Anisimova to reach her 21st WTA final. She then handled Elina Svitolina 2 & 4 to win career crown #10, tying the career title totals of countrywomen (and slam champs) Coco Gauff and Madison Keys, and giving her four 1000 titles since 2022 (ending a three-match losing streak in 1000 title matches).

13-2 on the year, Pegula is 28-7 in tour events since the start of last year’s U.S. Open. Next up? Trying to break through in the Sunshine swing. At Indian Wells, her lone QF in seven MD appearances came in 2021; while she’s come up *just* short of something great in Miami, with SF-SF-QF-RU results the last four years.

Pegula’s wins over Anisimova and Svitolina give her four Top 10 victories on the season, a tour-best, and she’s (so far) the only player to have two multi-Top 10 win events (she got two at AO26, as well) this year.
===============================================
RISERS: Coco Gauff/USA and Amanda Anisimova/USA
…after a disappointing trip to Doha (one-and-done vs. Cocciaretto), Gauff rebounded in Dubai with her first semifinal of the season. She had to *fight* her way there, but even that wasn’t quite enough in the end.

After a win over Anna Kalinskaya, Gauff saved three MP in a win over Elise Mertens. After allowing Alex Eala just two games, she engaged Elina Svitolina in a classic, pushing things to a 3rd set while saving four MP and winning a 28-point 2nd set TB. She had multiple BP chances late in the 3rd to get the chance to serve out a win, but Svitolina surged last, denying her the break and carrying herself into her biggest final since her return to tennis.

Meanwhile, a week after retiring from her opening match as the Doha defending champ, Anisimova tried to recoup her lost tournament on the other end of the desert swing in Dubai. After receiving a walkover from Barbora Krejcikova (sigh), Anisimova got past Janice Tjen and then defending champ Mirra Andreeva, the latter in a three-set battle in which the teenager held a set and a break lead, a 3-1 edge in the 3rd, and failed to serve out the win at 6-5.

No one was able to top Jessie Pegula in Dubai, but Anisimova had the best chance. She led her countrywoman 6-1/3-1, only to see her edge dissolve as she fell to 0-5 in their head-to-head series.
===============================================
SURPRISES: Antonia Ruzic/CRO and Daria Snigur/UKR
…well, did Ruzic have a week in Dubai or what?

A first-time tour semifinalist in Hobart in January, the Croatian lost in the opening round of Dubai qualifying last weekend after having held *six* MP vs. Rebecca Sramkova. But the flood of withdrawals from the tournament’s field of entrants led to so many lucky losers (7) entering the draw that Ruzic, even without reaching the final Q-round, managed to slip in the back door.

She made the most of it.

Ruzic opened with an upset of Emma Raducanu, then escaped fellow LL Anastasia Zakharova in a three set affair to set up a match vs. top seed Elena Rybakina. Winning the 2nd set against the Kazakh, Ruzic advanced to her first career 1000 QF when Rybakina retired due to illness just one game into the 3rd.

She almost played even deeper into the draw, winning the opening set vs. Elina Svitolina before the Ukrainian battled back to win in three.

Ranked #67, Ruzic will jump 16 spots on Monday, well past her previous career-high of #65 to #51 thanks to this unexpected second chance run.

Ah, tennis.

Snigur was dominant in the second of back-to-back 125 events in Oeiras, never dropping more than three games in any of her ten sets over the course of the week (she lost just five in her three outings before the semis).

The title run — with wins over Viktoria Hruncackova, Sinja Kraus, Suzan Lamens and Viktorija Golubic in the final — continued what has been a breakout opening two months of ’26 for the 23-year old Ukrainian. She’d previously reached a 125 SF in Canberra and her maiden SF at tour-level in Cluj, and her 125 crown is the biggest of her career to date.

15-3 on the season, Snigur ended last year up the upswing, as well, going 16-7 after her U.S. Open qualifying round loss. She jumps 18 spots to #115 on Monday, just off her career high of #105.

===============================================

VETERAN: Elina Svitolina/UKR
…Svitolina continues to be one of the stories of the opening months of ’26. Having already picked up a title (Auckland), reached her fourth career major SF (first at the AO) and returned to the Top 10, her run in Dubai saw the Ukrainian reach her first 1000 final in eight seasons.

After a mid-match retirement from Paula Badosa, Svitolina battled past Belinda Bencic, lucky loser Antonia Ruzic (from a set down) and Coco Gauff, getting her second win this season against the Bannerette, despite dropping a 28-point 2nd set TB after she’d been unable to convert any of four MP. The win put Svitolina into her first 1000 final since Rome in 2018, and her biggest since her second of back-to-back WTAF finals in 2019 (she’d won the event in ’18).

19-4 in finals in her career, including 4-0 in 1000 title matches, Svitolina wasn’t able to notch her 20th career win, instead losing to Jessie Pegula in straight sets with the big trophy on the line.
===============================================

COMEBACK: Vera Zvonareva/RUS
…after sitting out eighteen months following shoulder surgery, returning this past December, it hasn’t taken long for the 41-year old Original Hordette to get back into the swing of things. In her first event back, a $100K challenger in Dubai, she reached the finals in both singles and doubles.

When the calendar flipped over the 2026, Zvonareva opened her season with a 125 doubles final in Canberra, then knocked off a pair of seeds at the AO on her way to the WD semis. In Doha, she qualified and notched a 1st Round singles win, her first in a 1000 event since 2022 and at tour-level since 2023.

In Dubai, Zvonareva lost in singles qualifying, but joined with Laura Siegemund in doubles to reach her first WTA final since the 2023 WTAF (also w/ Siegemund), following a week that included wins over top seeded Errani/Paolini, Hunter/Siniakova and Cristian/Ruse on a no-sets-lost path to the title match, the duo’s ninth together at tour level. The veteran pair, seeking (at 78) to become the oldest combined-age doubles champions since 2021 (80 – Peschke/Petkovic), fell in straights to Dabrowski/Stefani.

Still, Zvonareva will return to the doubles Top 50 on Monday.

===============================================
FRESH FACES: Alex Eala/PHI and Dominika Salkova/CZE
…with a Week 1 SF in Auckland under her belt in ’26, as well as headlining a 125 stop in Manila and being a main attraction nearly every time she hits the court, Eala began adding to her on-court resume as the one year anniversary of her breakout SF run in Miami draws ever closer.

In Dubai, after an opening round retirement (one of many in the field) from Hailey Baptiste, the Fiipina strung together wins over Jasmine Paolini (her first Top 10 victory since Miami) and Cluj champ Sorana Cirstea to reach her second career 1000 QF (again, w/ Miami).

But Eala couldn’t add to her accomplishments against Coco Gauff, recording just two games against the world #4. But she’ll jump to a new career high ranking of #32 at the start of the upcoming week.

With the likes of Sara Bejlek and Karolina Muchova shining at tour-level in recent weeks, 21-year old Salkova was the Czech Crusher with the most to offer in Week 7.

In Les Sables d’Olonne (FRA), Salkova won her biggest career title in the 125 challenger, running off victories over Anna Siskova, Mona Barthel and Alina Korneeva (ending the Hordette’s 8-match run) before a 6-4/6-0 win in the final over Andrea Lazaro Garcia.

A maiden WTA semifinalist late last season in Jiujiang, Salkova is now 8-0 in career pro finals (7-0 ITF).

===============================================
DOWN: Jasmine Paolini/ITA
…unless the player’s name is Iga — in whose case each loss is magnified x 10, largely because of the monster of her own making centered around the past dominance of her former #1 self — all slow starts tend to fall under the radar at this time of the year, residing in the category unofficially labeled as “it’s only January February.”

Well, add Paolini’s name to the “watch list” (it might be something, but it might not, too) ledger thus far for ’26.

A week after being one-and-done in Doha with a loss to Maria Sakkari, the Italian was one-and-done in Dubai, as well, falling to Alex Eala.
The loss drops Paolini to 3-4 on the year, after the Italian ended ’25 on a four-match losing streak (including 0-3 at the WTAF).

Normally, Paolini would have her doubles to fall back on, but not lately. She and Sara Errani closed out ’25 by losing in a head-on battle for a SF berth at the WTAF in the final match of round robin play, falling to V.Kudermetova/Mertens (who’d go on to the win the title) as the #1 seeds finished with a 1-2 mark in Riyadh.

The duo won Roland Garros and three 1000 titles last season and, truthfully, *should* have won the tour’s Doubles Team of the Year honors over honorees Siniakova/Townsend (the Czech was rightfully the solo Doubles Player of the Year, but her success wasn’t exclusively w/ Townsend).

Things haven’t picked back up for Errani/Paolini yet in ’26, with their 2nd Round loss to Siegemund/Zvonareva in Dubai giving the pair a 3-4 mark thus in the new year (they’re 4-6 in their last 10).

At least Jasmine got to carry the Olympic torch a while back.

===============================================
ITF PLAYER: Celine Naef/SUI
…it was less than three years ago that this happened in the Swiss’ WTA debut match…

So far in 2026, the now 20-year old Naef is proving to be super successful on the ITF circuit. This weekend in Macon (FRA), she became the first woman with three challenger titles (all $50K) on the season, winning her second in a row with a 6-4/6-1 victory in the final over Julie Belgraver.

Naef is 15-2 so far this year.
===============================================
JUNIOR STARS: Kristina Liutova/RUS and Chukwumelije Clarke/USA
…the 16-year olds reached the title match of the $35K challenger in Las Vegas, the maiden pro final in the career of both.

Hordette Liutova — a back-to-back finalist in December’s Florida junior two-fer at the IMG Academy Championships (J300, which she won) in Bradenton and Orange Bowl (J500) in Fort Lauderdale — knocked off Julieta Pareja in the semis (her second ’26 win over the tour-level Bogota semifinalist from last year); while Bannerette Clarke got to the same stage without dropping a set all week as a wild card entrant in just her ninth career pro event appearance. Last October, Clarke won the J300 Pan American Championships, getting wins over Annika Penickova and Janae Preston during the week.

In the final, Liutova claimed the singles honors, defeating Clarke 6-2/6-4.

===============================================
DOUBLES: Gaby Dabrowski/Luisa Stefani, CAN/BRA
…back in 2021, Dabrowski & Stefani teamed up to reach a pair of 1000 finals during the summer hard court stretch (going 1-1 in Montreal/Cincinnati), two of the five finals they reached between 2020-22. But Dabrowski decided to go a different direction for a regular partner not long after that.

The two have reconnected for 2026, reaching the semis at the AO and Doha, losing on both occasions to Danilina/Krunic. This week in Dubai, the pair avenged those loses with a SF win over Danilina/Krunic (the Doha champs) to reach their sixth final, where they won title #3 with a 6-1/6-3 defeat of Laura Siegemund & Vera Zvonareva.

Stefani, fresh off a successful ’25 run with Timea Babos (4 titles and a WTAF final appearance), picks up WTA title #14; while it’s #21 for Dabrowski, herself finding still more success after a great, multi-season stint alongside Erin Routlifffe (7 titles since ’23, including two U.S. Opens and the Cincinnati 1000 last year). It’s the Canadian’s sixth 1000 crown.

===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Angelina Bernal/COL
…in the 175 Bolton (GBR) indoor event, Bernal erased her four-match losing streak, picking up her first title since her career week on the grass in Eastbourne last summer (when she took the title with her only win in 18 meetings vs. Diede de Groot).

In Bolton, Bernal won a 6-0/6-1 final over Pastry Charlotte Fairbank, who’d been trying to claim the first title of her career above the Futures event level.

It’s Bernal’s second title in the tournament in the last three years.

===============================================

mf-xinghei-font

kosova-font

1. Dubai SF – Elina Svitolina def. Coco Gauff
…6-4/6-7(13)/6-4. While other tournaments would beg for semifinal matches like those that occurred in Dubai, this event’s two-fer on Friday came just days after the tournament director had called for players to be docked ranking points for *not* playing the event.

In the best match of the tournament, Gauff’s level of fight was high, but it was the veteran Ukrainian who pulled herself over the finish line first in the end.

After three consecutive mid-set breaks in the 2nd, Svitolina saved a pair of BP/SP at 6-5 to force a TB, where she had four MP to put away the match in straights (w/ the first at 6-5, and the last 14 points later at 13-12). Finally, on her fifth SP of the TB (seventh of the set), Gauff claimed the 28-point breaker by a 15-13 score.

The 3rd was tight, as well, and ultimately pivoted on a long game 9 (tied up at 4-4) in which Gauff held two BP chances to be able to serve for the win, only to see Svitolina deny them both and hold on her own sixth GP, then follow up by breaking Gauff a game later to get the victory, converting her sixth MP on a Gauff shot into the net to reach her first 1000 final in eight years.

============================================

2. Dubai SF – Jessie Pegula def. Amanda Anisimova
…1-6/6-4/6-3. While it was overshadowed by the drama of the *second* semi, Pegula/Anisimova provided its own “moment” in time.

Having never beaten her countrywoman in four tries, Anisimova put herself in great position for her first win, taking a 6-1/3-1 lead, and serving up 4-3. But her edge wasn’t big enough, as Pegula rallied back to prevail, claiming 11 of the last 15 games to reach just her second final in her seven-event run of consecutive SF+ results.

============================================
3. Dubai 3rd Rd. – Coco Gauff def. Elise Mertens
…2-6/7-6(9)/6-3. While so many around her were dropping like flies (often without playing and/or finishing a match), Gauff battled to *stay* in the draw early on (as well as late), rallying from a set down and three MP in the 2nd set TB (at 6-5, 7-6 and 9-8) vs. Mertens to force a 3rd and win to reach her fourth QF in five appearances in Dubai.

============================================
4. Dubai 1st Rd. – Clara Tauson def. Sofia Kenin
…7-6(4)/6-2. Talk about a sense of deja vu.

Just days after falling in Doha as Zheng Qinwen put up 20 aces against her, Kenin fell in her very next match against Tauson, who put up 20 of her own (in just *two* sets). Since 2019, Kenin has seen opponents have 20+ aces no less than six times.

It’s the third straight time the Dane has fired off 20+ aces vs. Kenin over the last three seasons, having also done so in their last two meetings, in Tokyo in ’24 (22) and Auckland last year (26).

Tauson, the runner-up in last year’s event, fell a round short of returning to the semis, falling in three sets to Jessie Pegula in the QF.
============================================
5. Dubai Final – Jessie Pegula def. Elina Svitolina
…6-2/6-4. While players are playing longer and succeeding later in their careers, this was still just the fourth tour final this decade featuring two players in their thirties (both Pegula and Svitolina are 31).

This win marks Pegula’s first title of the year, a season after she was the only WTA player to claim crowns on all three surfaces in ’25.

Svitolina’s loss in her bid to become the first two-title champion of the new season extends 2026’s season-opening run to ten tournaments without a two-time singles winner, the eighth double-digit stretch to open a new year this century. It’s the longest to start a season since 2021 (ended at 12 events), but well behind the astonishing 19-winners-in-19-events open to 2019 (a run finally ended by Petra Kvitova in Stuttgart in late April).
============================================

6. Dubai Q1 – Rebecca Sramkova def. Antonia Ruzic 5-7/7-5/6-1
Dubai 1st Rd.- Antonia Ruzic def. Emma Raducanu 6-1/5-7/6-2
Dubai 2nd Rd.- Antonia Ruzic def. Anastasia Zakharova 6-1/6-7(2)/6-1
…Ruzic failed to get out of the opening round of Dubai qualifying, despite leading Sramkova 7-5/4-1, then 5-3, and holding *six* MP on the Slovak’s serve at 5-4.

But with all the withdrawals from the MD, and seven LL entering the field, Ruzic was one of two players (w/ Marcinko) who didn’t even reach the final Q-round who still got a second chance. The Croatian made the most of it, too, posting three-set wins over Emma Raducanu and Anastasia Zakharova (also a LL) en route to her maiden career 1000 Round of 16.

============================================

7. Dubai 3rd Rd. – Antonia Ruzic def. Elena Rybakina
…5-7/6-4/1-0 ret. Ruzic’s remarkable run continued as Rybakina pulled up in the 3rd set due to illness, sending the LL Croatian into the first 1000 QF of her career.

Hopefully this isn’t a health relapse for Rybakina, who was so hampered greatly not that long ago by illness issues until seemingly finally getting a handle on the situation last year.

============================================
8. Dubai 2nd Rd. – Alex Eala def. Jasmine Paolini
…6-1/7-6(5). Eala picks up her third career Top 10 win, her first since notching two (over Keys and Swiatek) during her breakout Miami SF run last year. She’d been 0-2 vs. Top 10ers since, falling in the Miami semis to Jessie Pegula and Iga Swiatek last spring in Madrid.

============================================

9. Dubai 1st Rd. – Anna Kalinskaya def. Alona Osatepnko
…2-6/6-1/6-4. Ostapenko meets up with, well, *her* personal “Ostapenko,” with Alona in the role of Iga.

Kalinskaya rallied from a set down to improve to 4-0 vs. the Latvian. This was the first time Ostapenko had even gotten a set off the Hordette.

============================================
10. Austin Q1 – Elli Mandlik def. Jennifer Brady
…6-3/4-6/6-4. Brady (two events into her comeback, she’s 3-2) didn’t get the win here, but this was her first appearance in a tour-level Q/MD event since retiring in the 2nd Round of Beijing in October 2023.
============================================
11. Midland USA 125 Final – Alina Charaeva def. Guo Hanyu
…6-4/7-6(4). 23-year old Hordette Charaeva came into Michigan on an eight-match losing streak, but by the end of the weekend had turned things completely around with a title run to her biggest career win. She’d lost in her first 125 final in Huzhou last September.

Guo came up short here, but shined in multiple comebacks earlier in the week. She’d seen Elina Kalieva serve for a QF win in the 3rd set at 5-3, and hold a MP in a deciding TB, before Guo won 10-8 on her fifth MP. In the SF, Mary Stoiana had led 5-2 in the 3rd vs. Guo.
============================================
12. $100K Bengalaru IND Final – Hanne Vandewinkel def. Vaishnavi Adkar
…6-0/6-1. The 21-year old Waffle takes her second straight ITF title, this time a $100K to back up her $75K victory in Pune last week.

Vandewinkel is up to a career-high #113 (BEL #2 behind Mertens) on Monday.

============================================
HM- $75K Altenkirchen GER Final – Noma Noha Akugue def. Julia Avdeeva
…6-2/6-1. Promising young Germans are popping up quite often these days, and Noha Akugue was one of the very first of the new generation of her nation’s potential stars to do so a few years ago.

The German took her fourth career ITF title on home soil in Altenkirchen, tying her biggest win ever and improving to 13-5 on the season (w/ two finals). NNA will jump 46 spots to #210, within sight of the Top 200 for the first time since September 2024. She ranked as high as #142 in ’23.

Recall that three springs ago we saw NNA miraculously play her way into the final as a wild card in her tour-level debut in Hamburg.

============================================

kosova-font

1. Dubai QF – Amanda Anisimova def. Mirra Andreeva
…2-6/7-5/7-6(4). For all the withdrawals and retirements, Dubai still had some great match-ups in the later rounds (including an all-Top 10 semifinals).

Andreeva came *this close* to a great Desert Double, but instead went out with a second consecutive opportunity left on the table. A week after failing to convert MP in Doha vs. Victoria Mboko, the Dubai defending camp lost a 6-2/2-0 lead vs. Anisimova, then a 3-1 edge in the 3rd, and failed to serve out the win at 6-5.

Anisimova used multi-match winning streaks to “steal” the 2nd and 3rd sets from the teenager. She claimed five straight to take a 5-2 lead in the 2nd, then soon after broke Andreeva at love to avoid a TB and knot the match. Four consecutive games won gave Anisimova a 5-3 edge in the 3rd, though she couldn’t serve out the win nor convert a MP as Andreeva got the break to stay alive.

With Andreeva serving for the win at 6-5, Anisimova broke to force a deciding TB, where she raced to a 5-1 lead before finally putting away her third MP for a 7-4 win.

============================================

2. Oeiras 2 125 2nd Rd. – Francisca Jorge def. Matilde Jorge
…6-0/0-0 ret. A week after Matilde’s run to the singles semis in the first of back-to-back 125s in Oeiras, the two Portuguese sisters met to reach the QF in the second event.

A thigh injury ended the competitive aspect of the Jorges’ 10th career meeting, as Matilde retired without winning a game to fall for the seventh time in the series.

A day later, Francisca was bothered by an abdominal injury that precipitated a MTO at 9-9 in a 2nd set TB vs. Teodora Kostovic in the QF. The Serb won the day’s second 15-13 tie-break — with the other occurring 3821 miles (6149 km) away in Dubai between Svitolina and Gauff — as Jorge exited in two.

The sisters reached the Oeiras doubles SF last week, but handed a walkover to their opponents to avoid any conflict with Matilde’s singles match. This time around they reached the SF again, but their injuries led to another walkover exit from the draw.
============================================
3. Oeiras 2 125 Final – Viktoria Hruncakova/Gabriela Knutson def. Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley
…7-6(7)/6-3. The Corley sisters were going for back-to-back 125 wins in Oeiras, but couldn’t complete their “sequel trilogy” in Portugal.

Previously, just as happened *last* week, they’d defeated Appleton/Ninomiya (in the 2nd Round, after getting the win over the pair in the final last time out) *and* received a SF walkover from the Jorge sisters to reach the final.
============================================



Jessie Pegula truly *was* the Last Woman Standing in Dubai, as (seemingly) a quarter-season’s worth of non-match withdrawals and exits took place leading up to and during the course of the event.

There were so many withdrawals before the start of play (16 from the original entry list, including Sabalenka and Swiatek, as well as Doha finalists Muchova and Mboko), that *seven* lucky losers made it into the draw, more players than there were final Q-round losers, meaning a pair of players — Petra Marcinko and Antonia Ruzic, the latter of which made *great* use of her *second* second chance — who fell in the opening round of qualifying reached the MD.

After that, another player retired in the 1st Round, three withdrew before their 2nd Round matches, while two more retired mid-match. Another retirement (from #1 seed Rybakina) came in the 3rd, meaning that the mounting list of players waving goodbye had to continually be updated.

We’ll see how the new “Tour Architecture Council” works out. One suspects it’ll, at best, be a case of nudging along a boulder, as recent tour history has shown that the players’ welfare/wants *always* will be valued far less than “business,” which is the only reason the 1000s, overly long and otherwise, are all over the tour schedule in the first place.

The Dubai tournament director wishing to dock players points for missing a needless second of back-to-back early-season 1000 events — right after a major, and right before the much more important Sunshine swing — pretty much established the mindset of those who’ll push back on any changes that might benefit the players’ schedules and physical upkeep.

Remember, there was a time not long ago that Doha/Dubai traded off on being a 1000 event, with no one except for maybe the two tournaments themselves (and the WTA decision-makers), for monetary reasons, wishing for any change in that longtime status quo.

kosova-font

kosova-font

kosova-font

kosova-font
Paula would like a word…

kosova-font

The song stylings of Meat Loaf and Cher, a duet you didn’t know you needed, but after experiencing it have to wonder how you could ever live without…

kosova-font

*2020-26 WTA SINGLES TITLES*

25 – 1/2/8/6/5/3/0 = Iga Swiatek

17 – 3/2/0/3/4/4/1 = Aryna Sabalenka

11 – 1/0/1/2/3/3/1 = Elena Rybakina

10 – 0/1/0/4/3/2/0 = Coco Gauff
9 – 0/0/1/2/2/3/1 = JESSIE PEGULA

8 – 1/5/2 = Ash Barty (ret.)
8 – 0/3/2/2/1/0/0 = Barbora Krejcikova

*MOST WTA FINALS – 2020-26*

33 – 3/3/3/6/7/9/2 = Sabalenka (17-16)

29 – 1/2/9/8/5/4/0 = Swiatek (25-4)

21 – 5/0/3/4/5/3/1 = Rybakina (11-10)

19 – 1/0/2/5/4/6/1 = PEGULA (9-10)

14 – 0/4/2/2/6/0/0 = Kasatkina (6-8)

13 – 0/1/1/4/3/4/0 = Gauff (10-3)
[2026 finals]
2 – Aryna Sabalenka (1-1)
2 – ELINA SVITOLINA (1-1)

2 – Victoria Mboko (0-2)

*2026 OLDEST WTA FINALISTS*

35 – Sorana Cirstea (Cluj-Napoca)-W
31 – JESSIE PEGULA (DUBAI)-W

31 – ELINA SVITOLINA (DUBAI)

31 – Elina Svitolina (Auckland)-W
31 – Ekaterina Alexandrova (Abu Dhabi)
30 – Tamara Korpatsch (Ostrava)
[doubles/MX; 35+]

41 – VERA ZVONAREVA (DUBAI)

40 – Hsieh Su-wei (Doha)
40 – Hsieh Su-wei (Brisbane)-W
37 – LAURA SIEGEMUND (DUBAI)

36 – Zhang Shuai (AO)-W)
36 – Zhang Shuai (Adelaide)-W)

*30 vs. 30 WTA FINALS IN 2020s*

2021 Nottingham – Konta (30) def. Zhang S. (32)

2024 Cluj-Napoca – Pliskova (31) def. Bogdan (31)

2024 Rouen – Stephens (31) def. Linette (32)

2026 Dubai – Pegula (31) def. Svitolina(31)

*CAREER WTA FINALS – active*

83 – Venus Williams

55 – Caroline Wozniacki

42 – Aryna Sabalenka (2026: 2)

41 – Victoria Azarenka

34 – Karolina Pliskova

30 – Iga Swiatek

30 – Vera Zvonareva

24 – ELINA SVITOLINA (2)

23 – Elena Rybakina (1)

21 – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

21 – JESSIE PEGULA (1)

20 – Belinda Bencic

*MOST WTA SF in 2026*

3 – ELINA SVITOLINA (2-1)
3 – JESSIE PEGULA (1-2)
2 – Victoria Mboko (2-0)
2 – Aryna Sabalenka (2-0
2 – Iva Jovic (1-1)
2 – Karolina Muchova (1-1)

*2026 TOP 10 WINS*

4 – Pegula

3 – Kostyuk, Mboko, Pegula, Rybakina, Svitolina
2 – Bencic, Muchova, Sakkari
=MOST WINS IN EVENT=
3 – Marta Kostyuk (Brisbane)

3 – Elena Rybakina (Australian Open)

2 – Belinda Bencic (United Cup)

2 – Victoria Mboko (Doha)

2 – Karolina Muchova (Brisbane)

2 – Jessie Pegula (Australian Open)

2 – Jessie Pegula (Dubai)
2 – Maria Sakkari (Doha)

2 – Elina Svitolina (Australian Open)

=MOST EVENTS w/ MULT. TOP 10 WINS=

2 – Jessie Pegula (AO/Dubai)

*2020-26 WTA DOUBLES TITLES*

26 – Katerina Siniakova (1/6/6/3/5/4/1)

15 – Barbora Krejcikova (1/5/3/4/1/1/0)

15 – Elise Mertens (1/4/2/2/3/2/1)

13 – LUISA STEFANI (1/1/2/3/1/4/1)

12 – GABY DABROWSKI (0/1/3/2/2/3/1)

12 – Anna Danilina (0/1/2/1/5/2/1)

12 – Hsieh Su-wei (4/2/0/2/3/0/1)

12 – Nicole Melichar-Martinez (2/2/2/0/3/3/0)

12 – Erin Routliffe (0/1/1/3/3/4/0)

*UNITED STATES – WTA TITLES (active)*

49 – Venus Williams (1998-16)
10 – Coco Gauff (2019-25)

10 – Madison Keys (2014-25)

10 – JESSIE PEGULA (2019-26)

8 – Sloane Stephens (2015-24)

5 – Sofia Kenin (2019-20)

4 – Amanda Anisimova (2019-25)
4 – Danielle Collins (2021-24)

*CAREER WTA DOUBLES TITLES – active*

36 – Sara Errani, ITA

36 – Hsieh Su-Wei, TPE

33 – Katerina Siniakova, CZE

30 – Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA

30 – Kristina Mladenovic, FRA

29 – Timea Babos, HUN

24 – Elise Mertens, BEL

22 – Venus Williams, USA

21 – Chan Hao-ching, TPE

21 – GABY DABROWSKI, CAN

21 – Demi Schuurs, NED

Wk.7- Working Hard, Not Hardly Working

kosova-font

kosova-font

Wow.
[image or embed]

— Nash Is Here For It (@nashishereforit.bsky.social) February 16, 2026 at 10:59 PM

The legacy media keeps getting this wrong. Trump didn't say "nationalize the election."

He said We should take over the VOTING in at least many—15 places.' The Republicans ought to nationalize the VOTING."

There is a big difference.

— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) February 16, 2026 at 9:06 AM

Take over the voting in at least many -15 places
@anntelnaes.bsky.social
[image or embed]

— paulpro (@mariopro.bsky.social) February 16, 2026 at 9:13 AM

kosova-font

kosova-font

We are the laughing stock of the world.
[image or embed]

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) February 17, 2026 at 12:20 AM

85 years ago, Americans were making a mockery of Nazis.

How times change.
[image or embed]

— brahmavihara.bsky.social (@brahmavihara.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 1:14 AM

kosova-font

kosova-font

I wish everyone would stop comparing them to Nazis
@anntelnaes.bsky.social
[image or embed]

— paulpro (@mariopro.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 3:17 PM

kosova-font

This is who we've become, America.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
[image or embed]

— Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes.bsky.social) February 21, 2026 at 11:37 AM

kosova-font

kosova-font
So glad that Shiffrin was finally able to put this particular part of her career story to bed and quiet the gremlins. (A little nod from Jana Novotna from the great beyond.)

kosova-font

kosova-font
Alysa Liu’s Gold medal-winning free skate in Milan was a master class in an athlete actually displaying the (stress-free) freedom of performance on a big stage that so many *talk* about discovering but very rarely, if ever, actually experience.

There wasn’t even an ounce of stress to be felt for her *while watching*… which is a remarkable thing considering the circumstances, and something I don’t know if I’ve *ever* seen before in any sport (possible exception: Usain Bolt running the 100m in the Summer Olympics).

kosova-font

kosova-font

kosova-font

kosova-font
kosova-font

Libraries are among the few public institutions that represent the kind of world we want to live in. They must be fought for.

— Puff the Magic Hater (@mskellymhayes.bsky.social) February 18, 2026 at 10:22 AM

kosova-font

All for now.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *