AUSTRALIAN OPEN JANUARY 20 - FEBFRUARY 2, 2020 WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION MATCH NOTES MELBOURNE, AUS | JANUARY 20-FEBRUARY 2, 2020 | AUD $4,100,000 GRAND SLAM EVENT wtatennis.com | facebook.com/WTA | twitter.com/WTA | youtube.com/WTA Tournament Website: www.wtatennis.com | @AustralianOpen | facebook.com/AustralianOpen WTA Communications: Catherine Sneddon ([email protected]), Adam Lincoln ([email protected]) AUSTRALIAN OPEN - R16 BOTTOM HALF MATCH-UPS [16] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #17) vs. [4] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #3) TALE OF THE TAPE 13 GS APP 39 GS QF 2 APP 12 GS 0 TITLES 2 WTA 5 TITLES 19 HARD MD 75 WINS 218 GS MD 29 WINS 91 Halep leads 2-1 Mertens beat Halep in their latest meeting last year at the final in Doha... Halep won their only prevoious meeting at a Grand Slam en route to her 2018 Roland Garros title GARBINE MUGURUZA (ESP #32) vs. [9] KIKI BERTENS (NED #10) TALE OF THE TAPE 29 GS APP 31 GS QF 7 APP 2 GS 2 TITLES 0 WTA 7 TITLES 9 HARD MD 165 WINS 98 GS MD 69 WINS 33 Bertens leads 3-2 Muguruza owns 1-3 record in the fourth round here at Melbourne Park... Bertens has not reached R16 at a Slam since 2018 Wimbledon however has not left the Top 10 since she debuted in October 2018 WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION MATCH NOTES MELBOURNE, AUS | JANUARY 20-FEBRUARY 2, 2020 | AUD $4,100,000 GRAND SLAM EVENT wtatennis.com | facebook.com/WTA | twitter.com/WTA | youtube.com/WTA Tournament Website: www.wtatennis.com | @AustralianOpen | facebook.com/AustralianOpen WTA Communications: Catherine Sneddon ([email protected]), Adam Lincoln ([email protected]) AUSTRALIAN OPEN - R16 BOTTOM HALF MATCH-UPS [17] ANGELIQUE KERBER (GER #18) vs. [30] ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS #30) TALE OF THE TAPE 49 GS APP 49 GS QF 10 APP 5 GS 2 TITLES 0 WTA 12 TITLES 12 HARD MD 283 WINS 257 GS MD 105 WINS 63 Series tied 7-7 Kerber won their only previous meeting at a Grand Slam... Pavlyuchenkova won their most recent meeting and owns 5-1 record when the two have gone to a deciding set [28] ANETT KONTAVEIT (EST #31) vs. IGA SWIATEK (POL #56) TALE OF THE TAPE 20 GS APP 5 GS QF 0 APP 0 GS 0 TITLES 0 WTA 1 TITLES 0 HARD MD 65 WINS 10 GS MD 22 WINS 8 Kontaveit leads 1-0 Kontaveit scored her best match at a Slam in third round in terms of fewest games lost... Swiatek notched tenth Grand Slam match win in her young career... Both players hoping for their first Grand Slam QF appearance WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION STATS & STORYLINES RANKING WATCH ON THIS DAY... Ashleigh Barty will extend her stay at No.1 to 21 con- On this day in tennis history, Monica Seles wins her secutive weeks atop the WTA Rankings making her first major singles title since returning to tenis after being 28 total weeks at the top spot the 14th most in WTA stabbed on court in Germany in 1993. It was her fourth history and the 4th most of active players (not includ- title at the Australian Open in as many visits and her ing Wozniacki). She will hold onto that spot after this ninth career Grand Slam trophy. fortnight regardless of results. Simona Halep will secure the No.2 ranking by reach- ing the QF or if Bertens does not win the title. THIRTY CLUB Bianca Andreescu will drop out of the Top 5 giving Bertens (needs final) and Kvitova (needs title) a Angelique Kerber (32y, 15d) is the only player over chance to move into the top group. If neither of those 30 years old to advance to the R16. There has been at results happen, Bencic will move into the Top 5. least one 30-something player in the R16 at 22-straight Slams (including this year’s Australian Open). An additional six players have a chance to break into the Top 10 - Kenin needs to reach SF; Riske, Mer- Should Pavlyuchenkova defeat Kerber today, it would tens and Kerber need to reach the final; and Kon- be the first year since 2012 that there were no players taveit and Muguruza would need to win the title. 30+ in the QF. That year, Serena Williams (30y124d) was the only 30-year representative in the R16 falling Pavlyuchenkova will need to reach the SF to remain to Makarova (23y235d). in the Top 30 (pending other results). Should Swiatek reach QF, she will land as high as No.40 and become the new Polish No.1 taking over No.43 Magda Linette. A NEW CHAMPION? With R16 finish, Coco Gauff will sit just outside the Top 50. Only one former Australian Open Champion remains in the draw - Angelique Kerber who won the Daph- ne Akhurst Memorial Cup in 2016. Only four other players in the last 16 have won a a Grand Slam title: Barty (2019 Roland Garros), Kvi- SEMIFINAL DEBUT tova (2011, 2014 Wimbledon), Halep (2018 Roland Garros, 2019 Wimbledon) and Muguruza (2016 Ro- This year’s Australian Open will have at least one land Garros, 2017 Wimbledon). Grand Slam semifinal debutante as either Sofia Kenin or Ons Jabeur will advance to the final four. Meaning seven players are just a few matches away from winning their first Grand Slam title. In the Open This will be the eighth-straight year (since 2013) that Era, including Kerber, eleven players have celebrat- the Australian Open has seen a player making her ed winning their maiden major at Melbourne: Kerry Slam semifinal debut. Further, since the 2013 Austra- Melville-Reid (1977 Jan), Chris O’Neil (1978), Barbar lian Open, 26 of the 29 Grand Slams have witnessed Jordan (1978) Hana Mandlikova (1980), Mary Pierce a Slam semifinal debut. (1995), Martina Hingis (1997), Jennifer Capriati (2001), Amelie Mauresmo (2006), Victoria Azarenka (2012), Caroline Wozniacki (2018). WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION STATS & STORYLINES COUNTRY BREAKDOWN TEENAGE DREAM A total of 34 different countries were represented in Iga Swiatek (18y247d) is the only teenager left in the the draw this year at the Australian Open with players tournament. Should she reach the QF, she would be- from 14 different countries advancing to the R16. come the youngest QF at Australian Open since Ni- cole Vaidisova (17y279d) in 2007 (reached SF). The United States of America is the only country to have more than one representative in the fourth The last time a teenager reached QF at the Australian round: Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin, Alison Riske with Open was Madison Keys (19y348d) in 2015. The last Kenin already through to the QF (Riske plays Barty time a teenager won the Australian Open was Martina on Sunday evening). Should Barty advance, it would Hingis (18y123d) in 1999. mean that there are eight different countries repre- sented in the final eight. A teenager has won a Grand Slam singles title 34 times (13 different players) in the Open Era. At last One country is celebrating it’s first ever Grand Slam year’s US Open, Bianca Andreescu (19y83d) became quarterfinalist in Tunisia’sOns Jabeur. the first teenager to lift a major title since Maria Shara- pova at the 2006 US Open. The youngest player to In addition to Jabeur, three players are hoping to bring win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era is Martina home the country’s first ever Grand Slam trophy: Es- Hingis at 1997 Australian Open (16y105d). tonia’s Anett Kontaveit, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, and the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens. MATCH NOTES AUSTRALIAN OPEN - AUSTRALIA | Jan 20 - Feb 02, 2020 | $22,756,069 | GRAND SLAM [16] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #17) vs. [4] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #3) Head to Head: SIMONA HALEP leads 2-1 2019 DOHA HARD O F ELISE MERTENS 3-6 6-4 6-3 133 mins 2018 ROLAND GARROS CLAY O R16 SIMONA HALEP 6-2 6-1 59 mins 2018 MADRID CLAY O R2 SIMONA HALEP 6-0 6-3 72 mins ELISE MERTENS SIMONA HALEP 17 WTA RANKING 3 28 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 45 17-11-1995 (24) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 27-09-1991 (28) $19,596 YTD PRIZE MONEY $24,250 $5,976,242 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $35,132,271 0 / 5 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 19 0 / 9 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 1 10-2 AUSTRALIAN OPEN W-L (MD) * 22-9 7-2 / 123-74 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 4-1 / 374-169 1-2 / 36-28 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 0-0 / 110-57 1-1 / 24-29 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 1-0 / 48-55 7-2 / 75-46 YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 4-1 / 218-109 0-0 / 6-15 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD) * 0-0 / 39-49 0-0 / 13-34 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD) * 0-1 / 99-76 0-0 / 12-3 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-0 / 35-15 * Updated entering 2020 Australian Open R16 ROAD TO THE ROUND OF 16 [16] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #17) vs. [4] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #3) R32: d. CATHERINE BELLIS (USA #600) 6-1,6-7(5),6-0 (2h1) R32: d. YULIA PUTINTSEVA (KAZ #38) 6-1,6-4 (1h19) R64: d. HEATHER WATSON (GBR #75) 6-3,6-0 (0h56) R64: d. [Q] HARRIET DART (GBR #173) 6-2,6-4 (1h18) R128: d. DANKA KOVINIC (MNE #86) 6-2,6-0 (2h11) R128: d. JENNIFER BRADY (USA #49) 7-6(5),6-1 (1h36) Total games: 55 Total games: 55 Won/lost: 42-13 Won/lost: 37-18 Sets won/lost: 6-1 Sets won/lost: 6-0 Total time on court: 5h8 Total time on court: 4h13 Average time on court: 1h43 Average time on court: 1h24 Average rank of opponent: 254 Average rank of opponent: 87 AUSTRALIAN OPEN Tournament History * Qualifying match ELISE MERTENS SIMONA HALEP 2019 2019 R3 L - MADISON KEYS (USA #17) 6-3 6-2 R16 L - SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #16) 6-1 4-6 6-4 2018 2018 SF L - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (DEN #2) 6-3 7-6(2) F L - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (DEN #2) 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA MATCH NOTES AUSTRALIAN OPEN - AUSTRALIA | Jan 20 - Feb 02, 2020 | $22,756,069 | GRAND SLAM 2016 2017 R2* L - MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #170) 2-6 6-4 6-2 R1 L - SHELBY ROGERS (USA #52) 6-3 6-1 2016 R1 L - SHUAI ZHANG (CHN #133) 6-4 6-3 2015 QF L - EKATERINA MAKAROVA (RUS #11) 6-4 6-0 2014 QF L - DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK #24) 6-3 6-0 2013 R1 L - SLOANE STEPHENS (USA #25) 6-1 6-1 2012 R1 L - PAULA ORMAECHEA (ARG #189) 6-1 3-6 7-5 2011 R3 L - AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (POL #14) 6-1 6-2 2010 R1* L - STÉPHANIE FORETZ (FRA #163) 6-4 4-6 6-4 Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA ELISE SIMONA MERTENS VS HALEP AUSTRALIAN OPEN AUSTRALIAN OPEN • Making third main draw appearance at the Australian • Making 10th main draw appearance at Australian Open, and has reached the R16 for the second time, Open (and 11th overall), with 2020 marking her fifth having enjoyed a SF run in 2018 (SF I.