Agnieszka Radwanska in quarter-final of Dubai Duty Free 2011Championships
World number ten, Agnieszka Radwanska, brushed aside Marion Bartoli of France to secure a place in the last eight of the ATP series 500 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2011, being held in Dubai.
Radwanska continued her impressive run as she overwhelmed the French, Marion Bartoli, in a straight sets victory 6-2, 6-3 to march into the quarterfinal. The Pole started the match very aggressively and stayed that way till she finished it off. She broke her opponents serve regularly during the match, never presenting her with the opportunity to find a way back into the contest. Radwanska pushed Bartoli right back to the baseline, from where she had very few answers.
The fearless Pole is one of the most devastating players in the young crop of women tennis players. She has an impressive record at Grand Slams and WTA events, winning four WTA titles. Her consistent performances at the international level have resulted in her high WTA ranking and a direct entry into all the main WTA tournaments she takes part in. Her most recent memorable performance was witnessed at the Australian Open 2011, where she finished in the last eight. Radwanska’s last notable run in a WTA tournament came at San Diego where finished as a runner up to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Radwanska’s opponent in the match was Marion Bartoli who is the French number one. Bartoli’s most significant achievement till now was her runner-up finish to Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2007. This year also proved to be promising for the French woman after her extended career dip. She played the semifinal of the Brisbane International and then the quarterfinal in Hobart. Bartoli defeated the Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm and Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in the previous rounds of the ongoing event and looked in great shape ahead of her clash against the Pole. Unfortunately she was unable deliver the goods. She tried her best to keep the challenger under control but that was asking a bit too much from her and she was knocked out of the tournament.
Radwanska was also way ahead of her opponent in head-to-head matches with a 6-0 lead .The two players first meeting came back in 2007 at Stuttgart, when Radwanska defeated Bartoli in a decisive third set. In 2008, the young polish player registered two more victories over her opponent without dropping a set. Now their most recent encounter has also ended in the same fashion for Radwanska; a straight set victory.
Radwanska’s easy victory ahead of the quarterfinal will certainly boost her confidence as she takes on much higher ranked players in the decisive stage of the competition.
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