Julia Goerges aces past Agnieszka Radwanska in the opening clash – London Olympics 2012
World number 24, Julia Goerges, smacked a stream of winners to outclass the second seed Pole star, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the opening clash of the London Olympics on the eve of Sunday.
The 23-year-old German bagged the opening set 7-5 but lost the second set tie-breaker 6(5)-7. However, she escaped the scare in the final set before powering down the Wimbledon finalist 6-4 to register the biggest upset of the
day.
Both these players were contesting their third match of their career and ironically, all three contests were played in 2012. Previously, Radwanska had defeated Goerges on two occurrences so it was mandatory for the 23-year-old
German to reply back this time and she did that in emphatic fashion; barraging 56 winners that includes a gigantic figure of 20 thunderous aces.
Goerges rocked bottom her rival in the opening game after winning the first breakpoint. However, her serve was broken back in the eighth game that levelled the scores at 4-4. The German kept on piling up the pressure and won a
breakthrough in the 11th game; followed it up with a serve hold to win the opening set.
The second set witnessed no drama at all throughout the contest. Both players capitalized on their serves and didn’t allow their opponent to sneak around a breakpoint. Goerges had chances in the later parts of to break serve but
she squandered them and that enforced a tie-breaker.
With fast serves going right for the 24th ranked German, it looked like she will sent packing the Pole in the tie-breaker but the opposite happened as she drowned early to a trail of 4 rallies. She recovered to win save
three set points but couldn’t stop her rival from bagging the fourth one.
In the final set, Goerges’s serve was broken first in the third game but she recovered to level the scores at 3-3. Moreover, she went on to win another crucial breakpoint in the 10th game that rounded off the proceedings
in her favour.
In a post-match press conference, Goerges stated, “I'm pretty satisfied with the way I played. I played aggressively and served well. I was pretty close to beating her last time we played in Dubai, so I expected maybe I could turn
it around this time - and I know if I play well it's dangerous for anyone and it was today, a lucky day. It was my first time representing Germany at the Olympic Games and it was my first time on Centre Court at Wimbledon, too, so I'm very happy."
Next up for the German beauty queen is the winner of the match between Varvara Lepchenko or Veronica Cepede Royg.
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