Caroline Wozniacki vs Agnieszka Radwanska – Match Preview: TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships 2011
Eight of the world’s best female tennis players gather at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul and were divided into their two Round Robin groups; White and Red at the official draw ceremony on Sunday night. The yearend
Championships are set to kickoff on Tuesday the 25th of October 2011.
The two Red group entrants to battle against each other are; the reigning world number one Caroline Wozniacki and eighth seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who barely qualified for the Championships. Although, the two have competed
five times against each other proceeding to this event, in their head-to-head series Wozniacki leads the runs with four wins over Radwanska’s one.
The first time they met was in 2007 during the quarterfinal of the Stockholm Open held in Sweden. Radwanska had conquered Wozniacki in straight sets of 6-4, 6-1. A year later the two once again met at the same event but during
the semi finals and this time Wozniacki avenged her loss.
The challengers had played against each other in 2010 twice. The first time they played in 2010 was at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and Wozniacki had taken the lead in the head-to-head series by ousting her opponent in
straight sets. The second time was at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open where Wozniacki bagged a victory during the quarterfinals against her old fangled rival Radwanska.
The last time the two faced each other was at the Stuttgart Open and the players took up the challenge on clay courts. Emerging victorious in the semi final was Dane Wozniacki and she further increased her lead.
Although it is Radwanska’s first time ever to qualify and compete for this event, she has had an amazing career and has bagged three WTA titles under her belt. Subsequently winning Carlsbad, the Pole had put together a tremendous
11-1 win-loss performance in Asia, winning titles in Tokyo and then Beijing. Without a doubt Radwanska has improved her style and performance and is a strong contender for the crown. However, a lot depends on her performance against Wozniacki, who she has
only defeated once.
On the other hand, the reigning world number one has previously competed twice for the yearend Championships. The first time she competed was back in 2009 when she defeated Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva in the first two
round robin matches.
During 2010 she won two of her round robin matches ousting Francesca Schiavone and Elena Dementieva. She then got rid of Vera Zvonareva in the semi final but was unfortunate as she lost the final match to Kim Clijsters.
Albeit, Wozniacki has never won a Grand Slam title, she has accomplished six titles this year. She opened this year’s season on a high note with a semi final finish in Melbourne at the Australian Open. She then pulled off her biggest
win at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Her victory was followed by titles in Dubai, Charleston, Brussels, Copenhagen and New Haven.
Many tennis pundits and critics are of the view that Wozniacki will bag yet another win over Radwanska and might just win her first major event.
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