Agnieszka Radwanska upsets Victoria Azarenka in semi final – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2011
Ninth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska flogged Belarusian third seeded Victoria Azarenka in the semi-final of Toray Pan Pacific Open 2011. On Friday, the 30th of September the players duelled on hard courts of the Ariake Colosseum,
Tokyo, Japan. The lower seeded Pole (Radwanska) got rid of world number three Azarenka by surviving a mid match fall of 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in two hours and thirty one minutes to make it into the final.
Radwanska won the service toss and opted to serve first. She opened the scoreboard at 1-0 by holding her serve in the first game and trailing behind was Azarenka, who too was able to hold her serve bringing the scoreboard at 1-1.
Both the players then broke each other back-to-back in the following two games to again tie the score at 2-2.
By winning on alternate serves the players again brought the score on even terms at 3-3, at the end of the sixth game. In the last three games Radwanska used the serve-break-serve technique to clog the opening set with a 6-3 victory.
Azarenka was to serve second and after taking a beating in the first set, she pulled up her socks and was able to hold serve in the initial game. In the following game Radwanska’s forehand went wayward and Azarenka capitalized
on a mini break, leading 2-0. However, in the fourth game Radwanska broke back as she was not ready to throw in the towel and was capable of bringing the score to a balance at 2-2.
Radwanska again broke Azarenka and as she held serve in the sixth game, she was leading with a 4-2. However, Azarenka was not going to let Radwanska ease away with the second set without a fight and she made a comeback by holding
and then breaking her adversary to tie the score at 4-4. At such a crucial stage, the set could’ve tilted either way but luckily for Azarenka, Radwanska double faulted during her second serve and endorsed the game to the Belarusian.
At the end of the second set, the players each had bagged a set apiece and opening the deciding set was Azarenka but she got off to a poor start as she was broken in the very first game. On the other hand, Radwanska had capitalized
on an early break and by holding her serve in the second she was leading with 2-0. She further increased the gap by again breaking Azarenka in the third game.
By the fourth game, Radwanska battled a few deuces but eventually held her own to secure a 4-0 lead against the world number three, Azarenka. Amidst the following two games the players then held serve but Azarenka was unable to
close the deficit.
During the seventh game Azarenka fought five deuces to finally win on her service game and as Radwanska smashed a backhand swing down the line, she was able to clog the third set with a deftly 6-2 victory.
Next up for the ninth seeded Pole is fourth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final match of the event.
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