Agnieszka Radwanska survives Sloane Stephens in round three - Western and Southern Open 2012
World number three, Agnieszka Radwanska, was tested to her limits in the third round battle of the Western and Southern Open by the 19-year-old American wildcard entrant, Sloane Stephens. However, the 23-year-old Pole survived
the scare and won the match 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in a contest that lasted almost an hour and 57 minutes.
Radwanska hit the fourth gear in the opening set; scuttling past her opponent with two successive breakthroughs to mount a lead of 5-0 upfront. She was on course to register a bagel but a mere serve hold from the 49th
ranked American helped her to survive an embarrassing ending to the opening phase of the match.
Stephens picked up momentum in the second set with a double breakthrough upfront. It was a perfect reply to the Pole who was trailing 0-4 in the second set.
However, a timely comeback that featured two breakthroughs; one in the fifth and the other in the 9th game locked both players at the scores of 4-5.
Radwanska was serving the following game and looked set to level the scores but the American’s onslaught was too much to handle for the top seed Pole who lost the game as well as the set.
The final set witnessed a swap of breakpoints at the start of the match before both players settled in and bagged their serve holds.
Both players exchanged breakpoints for the second time in the set to push the scores at 3-3 but the crucial breakthrough was won by the Pole star who posted a lead of 4-3.
Stephens failed to break serve back and level the scores; lost the match but was very satisfied by her performance. She was just one breakpoint away from forcing a possible tie-breaker and inch closer on registering a majestic
upset.
Radwanska takes on the likes of Chinese number one, Li Na, who is yet to save an upset against the Swede qualifier, Johanna Larsson. Both these players were scheduled to meet each other on Thursday but the rain delayed their match
and now they will lock horns on the eve of Friday.
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