{"id":4523,"date":"2021-06-24T11:31:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T11:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/?p=4523"},"modified":"2021-06-24T11:31:40","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T11:31:40","slug":"expected-points-june-24-alize-cornet-is-so-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/24\/expected-points-june-24-alize-cornet-is-so-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Expected Points, June 24: Alize Cornet is So Close"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Expected Points<\/strong>, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up today: Cornet keeps almost beating Victoria Azarenka, Max Purcell is the season\u2019s most surprising quarter-finalist, and the women\u2019s field at Wimbledon is so deep that there are contenders in qualifying.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scroll down for a transcript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"castos-iframe-player\" src=\"https:\/\/601b036c283f30-50244448.castos.com\/player\/488838\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/expected-points\/id1552064903\">iTunes<\/a>, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Music: <a href=\"http:\/\/dig.ccmixter.org\/files\/admiralbob77\/63197\">Love is the Chase<\/a> by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2021. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: Apoxode<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"450\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/expected-points\/id1552064903\"> <\/p><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rough transcript of today\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n\n\n<p>The first number is 8, the number of times <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=VictoriaAzarenka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Victoria Azarenka<\/a> has beaten <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=AlizeCornet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alize Cornet<\/a> in eight career meetings. Yesterday, Azarenka improved her record to 8-0 against the Frenchwoman, but it wasn\u2019t easy. For the fourth time in the pair\u2019s nine-year history, Cornet pushed Vika to a third set, and in the Bad Homburg second round, it could hardly have been closer. Cornet saved four match points in the decider, and earned two match points of her own in a wild tiebreak that Azarenka finally won by a score of 9 to 7, despite losing half of her service points. Cornet won exactly half of the contest\u2019s 228 points\u2014remarkably, not even the best she\u2019s done in her history of suffering against Vika. At Montreal in 2014, Cornet won 51% of the total points played, including 48% on Azarenka\u2019s serve, losing that day 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. On paper, it\u2019s one of the most lopsided matchups in women\u2019s tennis. Should they meet again, though, Cornet has plenty of reason for optimism.<\/p>\n<p>Our second number is 283, the ATP ranking of 23-year-old Australian <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=MaxPurcell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Max Purcell<\/a>. Purcell is one of the most surprising quarter-finalists of the year, reaching the final eight this week in Eastbourne after yesterday\u2019s upset of top seed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=GaelMonfils\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gael Monfils<\/a>. Even Purcell himself had little reason to see this coming: Injuries kept him out of action for nearly four months after the Australian swing, and in his first two matches back, in Parma and Nottingham, he retired in the first qualifying round. Even this week in Eastbourne, he lost in qualifying to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=IlyaIvashka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ilya Ivashka<\/a> before sneaking into the main draw as a lucky loser. Lucky indeed: He drew qualifier and countryman <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=JamesDuckworth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James Duckworth<\/a> in the first round, then a decidedly out-of-form Monfils in the second. Today, he faces another lucky loser, 37-year-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=AndreasSeppi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andreas Seppi<\/a>. Seppi won the title here a decade ago, and is the overwhelming favorite against Purcell. Seppi may be on the decline, but the Australian has only one main-draw match win to his name. The real favorite is the winner of today\u2019s adjacent quarter-final between <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=LorenzoSonego\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lorenzo Sonego<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=AlexanderBublik\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alexander Bublik<\/a>. Whichever hard-hitting youngster advances, a lucky loser in the semi-final is better fortune than they could\u2019ve hoped for.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s third and final number is 5, the number of women in the Wimbledon qualifying draw who once reached a grand slam quarter-final or better. One of the five, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=SaraErrani\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sara Errani<\/a>, lost in the first round, but the other four are still standing, and 2018 US Open quarter-finalist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=LesiaTsurenko\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lesia Tsurenko<\/a> is only one win away from the main draw. Two more women with impressive grand slam resumes are playing their second-round matches today. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=TsvetanaPironkova\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tsvetana Pironkova<\/a> has made it to the final eight at three of the four majors, including a Wimbledon semi-final in 2010 and a US Open quarter last fall. She blasted through her first-round qualifying match in less than an hour. Pironkova\u2019s potential final qualifying-round opponent is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=AnaKonjuh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ana Konjuh<\/a>, a quarter-finalist in New York in 2016, when she was only 18. She reached the Wimbledon fourth round the following year, and her game is built for fast courts. Should they reach the main draw, neither Pironkova or Konjuh would be favored to make another second-week appearance. But the WTA field is so deep that a qualifier in the quarter-finals\u2014especially one of these two\u2014would hardly even register as a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/159.203.141.169\/tennisabstract\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/159.203.141.169\/tennisabstract\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/epts_logo.jpg 1662w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport. Up today: Cornet keeps almost beating Victoria Azarenka, Max Purcell is the season\u2019s most surprising quarter-finalist, and the women\u2019s field at Wimbledon is so deep that there are contenders in qualifying. Scroll down for a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/24\/expected-points-june-24-alize-cornet-is-so-close\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Expected Points, June 24: Alize Cornet is So Close<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expected-points-podcast"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}