Agnieszka Radwanska flashes past Sara Errani to reach pre-quarters – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Polish number one, Agnieszka Radwanska, devastated the clay specialist, Sara Errani, with a bagel and a breadstick at the Mutua Madrid Open 2012 on Wednesday. She nudged up a 6-0, 6-1 victory against the world number 24 to cruise into the round of 16 at
Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.
The Italian star snapped out from her 16-match winning streak on clay courts after crashing out by Radwanska in their sixth match-up. The 23-year-old on the other end not only extended her lead in the head-to-head series by 5-1 against Errani but also booked
a place in third round at this WTA Premier Mandatory event after going on an 11-game killing spree.
"I was playing my best," the jubilant Pole stated in a court-side interview afterwards. "I was really ready for this match. She won three tournaments on clay so she's very good on this surface."
Radwanska high-spiritedly stepped on the Madrid blue clay courts and wiped out the opening six games in a row to pocket the bagel. She dusted away all eight breakpoints she came across and converted three out of four break chances to her advantage.
The Krakow native carried her rhythm in the follow-up set and blasted groundstrokes to go a five-game tear before Errani could come on the score sheet for the first time. She was never challenged with any breakpoint in this set and capitalised on two out
of three break chances to earn the glory.
The Polish ace climbed to the third spot in the WTA Premier Rankings this week. She reflected, "I'm very happy to be No.3. I don't have many points to defend from clay courts from last year so I just hope to do better this time, and step by step hopefully
I can also be No.1."
Next up for Radwanska is the Italian ace, Roberta Vinci, who crippled Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer with a breadstick to set-up this clash. The Italian took down her rival in just under an hour after capitalising on five out of nine break opportunities. She
also brushed off both breakpoints she came across and manipulated a 6-1, 6-2 success.
The third seed, Petra Kvitova, became the casualty of the day. She was underplayed by her qualifying compatriot, Lucie Hradecka, in straight sets in one hour and 11 minutes. The Czech number one cashed in two out of six break chances but was broken down
five times, ultimately suffering a 4-6, 3-6 loss in their second outing.
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