Agnieszka Radwanska outsmarts Maria Kirilenko to jump into the semis – Wimbledon Championships 2012
World number three, Agnieszka Radwanska, won a crucial match against the 19th ranked Russian, Maria Kirilenko, on the eve of Tuesday to reach the semi-final stage of the Wimbledon Championships. It was not an easy battle
for the Pole number one, who had to leave the Centre Court at All England Lawn Tennis Club but managed to win the match in three sets 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
Kirilenko started off with a tight serve hold. However, no breakpoints were witnessed for the first four games. The expected winner of the first breakthrough was the Pole who broke serve in the fifth game. She continued to dominate
the proceedings and settled to serve for the set.
Ironically, the Russian 17th seed starlet broke serve in the 10th game to keep the set. However, she couldn’t hold serve in the following game and gifted the lead back to her rival who saved a couple of breakpoints
in the final game of the set to hold serve.
Both players started off with a swap of breakthroughs. The same phenomenon was repeated in the middle stages of the set and the scores moved to 4-4. Kirilenko held serve to take a lead of 5-4 and surprisingly broke serve in the
following game to enforce the third set into play.
An exchange of breakthroughs commenced the final set proceedings. Both players capitalized on their serves in the following games to push the scores at 5-5. Suddenly a couple of unforced errors from the 25-year-old Russian provided
an opening for Radwanska who clubbed the breakpoint to love. A comprehensive serve hold in the following game ended the match in favour of her.
Talking about the difficulty she had due to rain suspensions and interruptions, Radwanska said, “The day for me was like 40 hours. I was waiting in the locker room almost the whole day. It was raining and windy outside, then at
the end we played under the roof too, so I'm so happy I could finally close it out in three sets after almost three hours.”
Radwanska’s next opponent, Angelique Kerber also had something to say about their semi-final clash. She stated, “I think it will be a tough one because she moves very well on grass and she doesn't make a lot of mistakes. I've played
against her a few times and it was not easy. I know I need to play on a high level to beat her."
Radwanska and Kerber are equally talented and an enthralling battle in expected between them.
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