Sabalenka, Suarez-Navarro Advance To Connecticut Open Final

Twenty-year-old Aryna Sbalenka will go for her first-ever WTA Tour win
on Saturday when she plays veteran Carla Suarez-Navarro for the
Connecticut Open singles title.

By Dan Imoff

NEW HAVEN—On any other day, Julia Goerges would be confident of walking off the court with a win next to her name. Such had been her air of confidence since making a run to the Wimbledon semifinals last month that Georges’ level of confidence and play in the Connecticut Open semifinal on Friday would usually have been enough.

But a star was in the making, and she was trading blows with the last seed standing in the tournament.

Aryna Sabalenka, a tall (6-0), athletic, 20-year-old Belarusian took everything Goerges offered and more and advanced to her third WTA Tour final of the season—and the fourth of her career—with a 6-4, 7-6(3) triumph over the German star.

 “I play a lot of two sets, not of three sets. I'm more fresh, ready for the final,” Sabalenka said. “It's not the first time, so a little bit I know what I have to do tomorrow, I mean mentality.

 “If you not count the match with [Daria] Gavrilova, I was pretty calm on the court. I know what happened there. On another matches, I was really calm. This was the key for all matches.”

A maiden career title beckons, and only Carla Suarez-Navarro stands in the way. It will be her first final as the highest-ranked player, having fallen to Maria Sharapova, Elise Mertens and Caroline Wozniacki in her first three.

 “I mean, it doesn't matter the ranking of players. Everyone can play. This is so,” Sabalenka said. “But you just have to be focused on your game, to bring all what you have on the court. Doesn't matter if it's second in the ranking or it's like something else.”

Sabalenka was no one-trick pony. While able to blast heavy winners off both wings, she brought variety to the table with intermittent top-spun ground-strokes to break Goerges’ rhythm and keep her pinned deep. The intensity never wavered. Where impatience was often the 20-year-old’s undoing, she stuck with it.

After the German held for 4-4 on an 11-minute game, Sabalenka pounced two games later, breaking to love to secure the opening set. That competitive fire was on full display when she roared with approval after she broke back to level in set No.2.

Again Goerges held the upper hand with a set point on serve at 6-5 but Sabalenka needed no invitation to punish anything passive and broke back to send the set to a tie-break. From 3-0 down in the tie-break, the 20-year-old stormed back to reel off the final seven points of the match. A thunderous backhand skimmed off the baseline to seal Goerges’ fate.

 “I will tell myself like, ‘OK, this is the next one… try to enjoy it,” Sabalenka said. “Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just enjoy. It's enough.”

Sabalenka’s will be a name to remember should she complete the job on Saturday. It is a name now firmly in the mix of US Open title favorites.

Suarez-Navarro had an easier time of it, advancing to her first final of the season when her opponent, Monica Puig, retired with an abdominal strain when scores were locked at 4-4.  The former world No.6 will play for just her third career title, her first since Doha in 2016.

 “Yeah, it's not the way [I want to advance],” Suarez Navarro said. “I mean, I feel like I didn't play and I'm in the final. I wanted just Monica to be good because nobody wants to [miss] a Grand Slam, so we only have two or three days to start there.”

CONNECTICUT OPEN - NEW HAVEN

$799,000
17-25 AUGUST 2018

RESULTS - AUGUST 24, 2018

Women's Singles - Semifinals
A. Sabalenka (BLR) d [5] J. Goerges (GER) 64 76(3)
C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) d [Q] M. Puig (PUR) 44 Retired

Women's Doubles - Semifinals
[1] A. Sestini Hlavackova (CZE) / B. Strycova (CZE) d A. Rosolska (POL) / A. Spears (USA) 36 63 12-10
S. Hsieh (TPE) / L. Siegemund (GER) d [WC] Ka. Pliskova (CZE) / Kr. Pliskova (CZE) walkover

ORDER OF PLAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 2018
STADIUM start 12:30 p.m.

DOUBLES FINAL - [1] A. Sestini Hlavackova (CZE) / B. Strycova (CZE) vs S. Hsieh (TPE) / L. Siegemund (GER)

Not Before 3:00 p.m.
SINGLES FINAL - A. Sabalenka (BLR) vs C. Suárez Navarro (ESP)

12 noon-4p.m.: BEER FEST AT THE CONNECTICUT OPEN
New for 2018, the Connecticut Open will host a craft beer festival featuring 30 local breweries on finals day. Tickets are $40, which includes general admission, middle tier seat for the singles and doubles finals.

Mercury Dash Sun Hopes for Second Straight Year

By Bob Phillips

Diana Taurasi drives past Connecticut's Skekinna Stricklen for two of her
27 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury to victory over the Sun.

UNCASVILLE—Let me just begin this with a statement: A one-and-done series beyond the first round—which essentially amounts to a play-in round, is bogus. That said, for the second straight year, the Connecticut Sun qualified for postseason play. And for the second straight year, they were matched with UConn legend Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury in the second round which, in the WNBA, is also a one-and-done round. And so it was that, led by Taurasi and Britney Griner with 27 points apiece, the Mercury dashed the Sun’s dreams for the second straight year, this time by the score of 96-86, before 7,858 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday night.

Taurasi finished 10-for-16 from the floor, while Griner was 10-for-15. In addition, Taurasi improved to 13-0 in win-or-go-home playoff games throughout her Hall of Fame career.

DeWanna Bonner chipped in with a big-time double-double—a 23-point, 18-rebound performance for Phoenix. Indeed, the 6-4 forward from Auburn broke an 86-86 tie with a layup with 2:10 remaining in regulation, igniting a game-ending 10-0 run by the visitors that included six free throws by Bonner, Taurasi and Griner.

A fiercely fought contest until that final blitz by the Mercury, the game featured 18 lead changes. The led by a single point at the first turn, 25-24, and went into the locker room leading 44-40 at intermission. The Mercury gained steam in the third period, outscoring the home team by a 32-27 margin, and took a 72-71 lead rounding the third pole. The teams remained neck-and-neck until the final 10-point Phoenix run that sealed the Sun’s fate.

Courtney Williams had 27 points and eight rebounds to lead four players in double figures for the Sun. Alyssa Thomas chipped in with 17 points while Jasmine Thomas added 14 points and five rebounds, and Jonquel Jones had a patented solid all-around game with 13 points, seven boards, and seven assists.

With 35 made field goals, the Sun established a franchise record for most made field goals in regulation in a playoff game. They also dished out 20 assists.

But Connecticut never led by more than seven points, and each time the Sun appeared ready to break the game open, Phoenix would rally.

The Sun looked like they would begin to pull away late in the third period when they led 67-61, but a trey by Stephanie Talbot sparked an 11-4 Phoenix run to close out the period. The Mercury trailed just once in the fourth quarter when a four-point play by Williams put the Sun up 82-81. Williams scored again to make it 84-81 with 3:55 left, but Talbot hit another three to knot the score at 84-84.

The game was tied again at 86 when Bonner made her layup, sparking the final push by Phoenix.

The Mercury now advance to the semifinals where they will face the WNBA’s No. 1 seed, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and the Seattle Storm, in a best-of-five series starting Sunday. Tip-off at the Key Arena is at 5 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on ESPN2. The Washington Mystics will face the Atlanta Dream in the other semifinal series, which will tip-off on Sunday in Atlanta. That game starts at 3 p.m. ET and will also be televised on The Deuce.

The Sun finish their season with a 21-14 record.

—with Colleen White and staff reports

Sun Stop Sparks, Lock Up Playoff Spot

With Chiney Ogwumike sitting it out, Jasmine Thomas (5)
stepped up with 27 points to lead the Sun over the LA Sparks,
clinching a first-round bye for Connecticut.

By Bob Phillips

UNCASVILLE—When the Connecticut Sun face the Los Angeles Sparks, it’s usually the WNBA version of the Hatfields vs. the McCoys. That’s because a Sun-Sparks contest usually features a battle between the Ogwumike sisters—Chiney for the Sun, Nneke for LA. Both were All-Americans from Stanford, and both were selected No. 1 overall in their respective drafts.

Usually being the operative word.

On Sunday, the Sun and Sparks wrapped up the regular season with much on the line from the Sun’s perspective, who were playing for a first-round bye in the playoffs. However, both Ogwumike sisters were sitting out the game, nursing nicks in preparation for the postseason. Indeed, for Chiney, it was the second straight game she sat out with a sore knee.

But excellence in team sports requires that others pick up the slack. And so it was that Jasmine Thomas stepped up to the plate and delivered a game-high 27 points—including a 4-of-5 performance from downtown and a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe—to lead the Sun over the Sparks, 89-86, before 8,040 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday. Three of Thomas’s points game during absolute crunch time, as she calmly dropped three free throws in the last four seconds of the contest to provide the margin of difference for the Sun.

Jonquel Jones chipped in with a 17-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist performance for the Sun, who improved to 21-13 and nailed down that first-round bye with the victory. Courtney Williams popped in 13, while Shekinna Stricklen added 10 and former UConn star Morgan Tuck contributed 10 points to the Sun cause.

Jantel Lavender paced the Sparks, who have now lost two straight games, with 17 points, followed by Essence Carson with 14 points, Chelsea Gray with 12, and Odyssey Sims with 11 points.

The Sun raced out to an early eight-point lead and built a 19-point cushion in the third period. But the Sparks just would not go away. After Stricklen dropped one in to put the Sun up by 19 with less than five minutes remaining in the third period, the Sparks caught fire. A 17-4 LA run cut the Connecticut advantage to six points, 69-63, as the teams rounded the third pole.

However, after the Sparks scored first in the final stanza, Williams and Tuck combined for eight points to push the Connecticut lead a back to 10. 

The Sparks made what would prove to be their final run—cutting Connecticut’s advantage to just two, 86-84, when Candace Parker (20 points, 10 boards) banged one in from downtown Norwich with just 5.1 remaining in regulation. But then it was Jasmine Thomas’s turn to shine as the 5-9 Duke product performed as if ice ran through her veins, popping in three straight from the charity stripe to provide the Sun with the ultimate margin of victory.

And they did it without their franchise player.

“We were excited that AT [Alyssa Thomas] was healthy again, we were excited that our chemistry had a reboot and we got Courtney [Williams] back,” said Connecticut head coach and general manager Curt Miller, who has now led the Sun into the postseason for the second straight year. “We thought we had a chance to play good basketball again. As we built momentum, I think that locker room will tell you, they think that they can beat anyone, and you saw it [today].

“It wasn’t easy to scoreboard watch, because as we were 8-1 going into this game, we weren’t making up any ground [on Washington or Atlanta], so all we could do is control what we can control, and that was us. That locker room really focused in on us and what we do. We competed every night to see if we were good enough to come away with a W.” 

Connecticut led by as many as eight points in the first quarter, had an 18-point lead at one point in the second quarter, and were up by 19 twice in the third quarter.

 In each instance, the Sparks responded.

After Stricklen put the Sun up by 19 with just under five minutes remaining in the third period, the Sparks responded with a 17-4 to pull within 69-63 rounding the third pole. Then, with the Sun leading by four early in the fourth quarter, Williams and Tuck combined for eight points to push the Sun lead back to 10, 77-67.

That 10-point lead held until the end of the game when, with Connecticut leading by 87-82, LA made its last charge. Candace Parker, who finished with 20 points and 10 boards, hit a long trey with 5.1 seconds left in regulation, cutting the Sun lead to two, 86-84. And that set the stage for Jasmine Thomas’s heroics.

She stepped to the line and sank two free throws, but LA’s Riquna Williams was fouled on a three-point attempt on the next possession and made two of her three freebies. Then it was Thomas’s turn to return the favor. She hit her last free throw attempt to ice the game.

Now it’s off to the playoffs for Connecticut, who will entertain Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury, 101-83 winners over Dallas in their first-round play-in game, on Thursday night. Should the Sun get past Phoenix, they will advance to a best-of-five semi-final series vs. Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and the top-seeded Seattle Storm beginning Sunday.

Sun Spots

• Connecticut had five players in double digits vs. LA: Jasmine Thomas (27), Jonquel Jones (17), Courtney Williams (13), Shekinna Stricken (10) and Morgan Tuck (10). The last time five players scored double digits was on Aug. 14 vs. Dallas.
• With 22 assists, it was the 18^th time this season the Sun had registered 20 or more assists in a game... and the third straight game the Sun have hit the 20 assist bar.
• Jasmine Thomas scored 20 or more points for the fourth time this season, finishing with a team high of 27 points. In her last seven games, Thomas is averaging 16.6 points.
• In her second straight start, Jonquel Jones finished with 17 points. The center was 7-for-11 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. She also recorded a career high of seven assists, her previous was six at Washington on August 29, 2017.
• Morgan Tuck came off the bench to record 10 points for her eighth game this season with 10 or more points.
• Shekinna Stricklen’s 10 points represented her 10^th game in double-figures.
• In the first half, the Sun recorded a season high of eight made three-pointers and shot 80 percent from beyond the arc.
• It was also the sixth time this year that Connecticut was perfect from the free-throw line.

For the 2018 regular season, Connecticut set seven records:

• 258 three-point field goals (prior record 223 in 2017).
• 703 three-point field goal attempts (prior record 669 in 2008).
• 666 assists (prior record 230 in 2006).
• 36.7% three-point percentage (prior record 36.5%, set in 2017).
• 2,979 points (prior record 2,924 points in 2017).
• 1,144 made field goals (prior record 1,098 in 2017).
• 87.6 scoring average (prior record 86.0 set in 2017).

—with Colleen White and staff reports