Agnieszka Radwanska secures a place in the last 16 at 2011 BNP Paribas Open
World number 10 Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-0, 2-6, 7-5 in a three setter to make it through to the last sixteen at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in California.
Seeded 9th at the tournament, Radwanska made an aggressive start to the match. The Polish sensation won the first set without dropping a game 6-0 to establish complete control over the contest. The 22 year old broke her opponent at regular intervals and finished the set with a forehand winner down the line. Kirilenko on the other hand gave away a fair number of unforced errors early on in the set which forced her to play defensively.
The Russian staged a phenomenal comeback in the following set and showed great temperament to keep her hopes alive. She made two crucial serve breaks to level the set score 1-1. Kirilenko penetrated her opponent’s game effectively with her strong attacking ability and brilliant defensive strategy.
In the decider both players exchanged breaks and tried to assert dominance on one another. But the experienced Radwanska held her nerves and displayed some crafty tennis to come out victorious in a match that lasted for about 2 hours and 18 minutes.
Radwanska served with precision as she managed to convert 52 percent of the points on her first serve. She was also the more consistent of the two contestants in the serve return department converting 55 percent of the points as compared to 48 percent achieved by the Russian. With aggressive playing style the Polish was able to convert 9 out 15 breaks points she received in the match which proved to be vital at the end. The two players had met each other on five previous occasions with the Polish winning three of them. A win here at Indian Wells has extended her head to head lead over Kirilenko to 4-2.
The year 2011 has proved to be a mixed bag of highs and lows for the 22 year old Radwanska. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships but fell in the first round of Doha Ladies Open to number 16 seed Kuznetsova. She will be looking to win first Women’s Tennis Association Tournament title of the season and cement her position in WTA rankings. However Radwanska will have to polish her talent and skills even further if she wants to pose threats to other top seeded players at the US $ 4,500,000 hardcourt event. She will now take on Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round of this prestigious ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
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