Maria Sharapova grinds out a win against Agnieszka Radwanska – WTA Championships 2012
Former world number one, Maria Sharapova, grinded her body to raise ahead of the fourth ranked Pole star, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the second round rubber contest of her visit of Istanbul. She clinched the contest with the scores
of 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 making a strong statement for the confirmation of the semi-final berth at the WTA Championships.
Both players battled it out for three hours and 12 minutes and the 25-year-old Russian deservingly came out as the winner. She wasn’t too happy with her performance especially in the opening set. Sharapova commented at the end
of a gruelling encounter, “I was a little bit frustrated early on. I wasn't doing the right things and she was doing all the right things. I was just trying to hang in there."
She further added, “It was a very physical match with so many ups and downs - I wasn't playing my best tennis, but I kept fighting. And when you win when you're not at your best, it gives you extra motivation to do better in the
next one."
Radwanska enjoyed the contest but was gutted for not converting the allotted chances to her favour. She stated, “It was a great match, and all the sets were very tight. I had my chance in the second set, but when you don't use
your chances against a top player, it's hard to come back and win.”
No drama witnessed for the first 11 games of the match and both players were well on course for the tie-breaker round but the sloppy play from the Russian second seed gifted a critical breakpoint to her rival that changed the whole
momentum of play. In the second set, the 23-year-old Pole worked extremely hard to squeeze a serve hold but couldn’t. However, she responded emphatically well to equalize in the following game.
Both players exchanged breakpoints on two other occurrences in the set that pushed the scores to 5-5. Sharapova had a chance to serve out the set in the 10th game but she failed to win a single point in that game. However,
she grabbed a breakpoint in the following game and didn’t falter on the second opportunity to serve out the set.
The final set featured a very close battle till the end. A swap of breakpoints in the midst of the set was surrounded by the series of serve holds at both ends that kept the scores together at 5-5. Once again, Radwanska couldn’t
keep her head up in the crucial stage and gifted a breakpoint to the Russian who accepted it gracefully and served out the set as well as match in the 12th game.
Both these players will be resting on Thursday.
Tags: