Agnieszka Radwanska dodges upset in round one; defeats Bethanie Mattek-Sands – Australian Open 2012
World number eight, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, dodged a major upset in the first round of the Australian Open against the American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Final scores of the match were 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-2 in favour of the Pole.
The match was contested at Show Court 2, where sizeable crowd had gathered to witness both stylish players in action.
It was not a cracking start for either contender, as they were facing off for the first time in their professional career; knew little about each other game style. Sluggish start to the match witnessed both players hanging on to
their respective serves in the first three games. Radwanska, who was not prepared for at all, was struck with a surprising onslaught from her opponent in the next game. Mattek-Sands broke serve in the fifth game to take the lead, which was doubled in the
next game.
Both players traded breaks in the next two games as the scores were pushed to 5-3 in favour of the underdog. The Pole didn’t lose focus and fought back into the contest with a break in the 10th game to level the scores
at 5-5. No more breaks dragged the set into a tie breaker round. After a rigorous battle in the decider, it was the underdog American who flabbergasted everyone with two successive points to bag the first set.
World number 67, Mattek-Sands hinted a major upset in the making with the first set performance. Careless start to the second set witnessed two successive breaks games upfront. Scores pushed to 3-3 without much drama. Radwanska
composed herself and played two cracking double handed backhand winners to break serve in the seventh game. It was good enough to level the set scores as no more breaks were seen in the second set.
Tiring legs and fatigued body movements displayed the level of intensity in the first two sets but both competitors were not willing to bow down and fight till the last point. Cautious start to the final set pushed the scores to
1-1, which followed three back-to-back serve breaks; scores moved to 4-2 in favour of the Pole after the end of the sixth game. It was the time when the inferior ranked American contestant felt the defeat. Her half hearted performance in the next two games
earned her competitor a vital serve break that was good enough for her to move into the second round of the tournament.
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