2011 BNP Paribas Open: Women’s Tennis Association seeds Part V
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open is all set to take place this week, with 32 seeds in the tournament. This series is intended to provide readers with a brief history of the top players in the event.
World Number 10 Agnieszka Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwanska is seeded ninth at this tournament as World no. 10. The tennis pro became the first Polish female tennis player to reach a Grand Slam (Australian Open) quarterfinal in 2008.
She has also won titles at the PTT Pattaya Open in Thailand and the Istanbul Cup in Turkey. She is also the first Polish pro to amass over a million dollars in tournament earnings.
Radwanska took part at Indian Wells in 2009, winning matches against players such as Samantha Stosur and Aleksandra Wozniak, as well as Agnes Szavay in the fourth round. She defeated Stosur and Szavay in three sets, but managed a straight-sets win over Wozniak.
She fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, losing the match 7-6, 6-4.
She also took part in the event in 2010 as the fifth seed. She performed quite well at the tournament, beginning her campaign after a bye into the second round and defeating both Gisela Dulko and Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets. After this, she managed
to score her fifth victory over French Number 1 Marion Bartoli. This helped her qualify for the quarterfinals of the event for the third time in a row, after which she defeated Elena Dementieva. Her run at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open was ended by Caroline Wozniacki
in the semi-final.
Given her prior experience, it is likely that Radwanska will be able to clear the first few rounds of the tournament at any rate.
World Number 12 Shahar Pe’er
Israeli player Shahar Pe’er is currently World no. 12, ranked one spot behind World no. 11 Serena Williams. Williams, like her sister, will be unable to take part in the tournament due to injuries. However, even in the best of health the two sisters have
made it a point to skip the tournament due to racist remarks at their last showing in Indian Wells.
Pe’er, however, has played at the tournament with successful results on more than one occasion. She began the event in 2009 by defeating Kateryna Bondarenko, after which she upset French no. 1 and tenth seed Marion Bartoli. She also upset 19th
seed Anna Chakvetadze before falling to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka.
Her appearance at the same tournament in 2010 was definitely an improvement, with her ranking high enough to help her qualify as a seeded player. She received a bye in the first round, and defeated American tennis pro Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second
round. She also defeated ninth seed Flavia Pennetta before falling to eventual champion Jelena Jankovic.
The next part will cover two more seeds in the event.
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