Agnieszka Radwanska thrashes Sabine Lisicki in quarter-final – Dubai Championships 2012
World Number six, Agnieszka Radwanska, thrashed the 13th ranked German, Sabine Lisicki, in the quarter-final battle of an hour and six minutes. She outplayed her competitor in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 during the Dubai Duty Free Championships on
Thursday.
Previously, Lisicki had defeated the Pole in a taxing three-setter last year in Bank of the West Classic tournament, contested in Stanford. This time Radwanska had her revenge of the earlier loss in the most emphatic fashion; giving no chance whatsoever
to the German to have any sort of impact in the match.
The match started with a successful serve holds at both ends. However, the German failed to perform the basics right in her second serve game and lost it without winning a single point. The lead proved beneficial with Radwanska reverting to her natural aggressive
game style. She hammered the German to all corners of the court and won another breakpoint that sealed the win for the Pole.
Nothing was running in favour for the German. She was broken thrice on the trot in the following set that gave an unassailable lead of 5-0 to the Pole. The classic feature about Radwanska’s game was her first serve accuracy. She won 71 percent points on
her first serve and that was the difference between the two players.
Lisicki was mostly missing her first serve that forced her to compromise on pace of her second serves. The Pole took full advantage and thumped strong forehand and backhand returns. The fifth seed Pole spared just one game for her opponent before registering
a resounding triumph to book a date with the former World Number one, Jelena Jankovic.
Radwanska was pleased to put up a brilliant show and said, “The return was a key in this match. We know she's a really big server and serving very well, so I was just ready for it. I was focused from the beginning. I knew she was playing great tennis the
last couple of months, and I really had to play even better than the other matches this week."
Her fellow semi-finalist Jankovic registered an upset against the fourth seed Aussie, Samantha Stosur, to confirm her spot in the semis. She defeated her in straight sets; sending a strong message to Radwanska that her next encounter is not going to be as
easy as this one. Everyone is eager to witness both these performers in action on Friday.
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