Agnieszka Radwanska ousts Elena Baltacha in the 2nd round –
Mercury Open 2011
Tuesday, 2nd of August, was the start of the second round of the Mercury Open 2011. The two players were meeting for the third time were Agnieszka Radwanska and Elena Baltacha. It was a run of the mill victory for the
Pole (Radwanska) 6-0, 7-6(4) at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, California.
Seed number 13; Radwanska opened the set confidently and smashed an ace, the crowd cheered for their favourite player. However, in the next few minutes Radwanska’s accuracy had failed and she struck one double fault hitting the
net. While Radwanska’s return game was exceptional, her serve was an average. Radwanska had taken the lead in the game points and was not letting her opponent score a single point.
While, Baltacha had a poor return but her serve was worse than her return, she was only able to attain a 33% in her total return points and a deplorable 14% in her serve.
Additionally, Radwanska’s defence was above average and she was able to save the two break points and was able to convert three of the four break points to her advantage.
On the other hand, Baltacha did not have such a strong defence and was capable of saving only one break point and was not capable of breaking her opponent. This gave Radwanska a competitive edge over her opponent and she won the
set with 18 points more than Baltacha.
By the end of an exciting first set, Radwanska was boosting with confidence but at the same time her opponent had kept her on her toes and was thus a bit tired. This time Baltacha served with a resoluteness of equalizing the set,
although her current ranking is 60, by now she knew her opponent’s style and technique.
Although Baltacha aced 3 times, her serve lacked precision and she ended up striking 3 double faults out of which two were line faults while the remaining one hit the net. The Ukrainian born Briton was able to win a walloping 82%
of the first serve opening the set.
Both the players had rallied it out but eventually this time Radwanska was the one to gain an upper hand on her opponent as her defence was far stronger than Baltacha’s and she gave a single break point chance to her opponent.
However, Baltacha was not to give up easily, she closed in on Radwanska, both the players were standing at 6-6 and the set went into a tie breaker. It was pin drop silence as both the players were rallying it out however, Radwanska
won two consecutive game points and thus eventually won the set 7-6(4).
The match was an exhibition of endurance and patience, both the players had played exhilaratingly. However, the best women won the match. The Polish being world number 13 had an upper hand as she knew how to stick out and hence,
was able to secure a place in the quarterfinal.
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