Nadia Petrova on the rise; wins Tokyo title – Tennis News
Former world number three, Nadia Petrova, has started to display her vintage form in the professional circuit and is having some impact on the winners’ circle. The 30-year-old Russian registered a huge upset on Saturday afternoon
by outfoxing the world number three, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Currently holding the 18th spot in the WTA Premier Rankings, Petrova was seeded at number 17 in the tournament and wasn’t expected to overturn the defending champion, Radwanska, in the final showdown. The Russian veteran
hasn’t been much successful against Radwanska but it was the payback time for her on Saturday. She edged past the 23-year-old Pole rival in three sets, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3, to lift the WTA Premier Series trophy in Tokyo, Japan.
Petrova has trailing 1-3 against Radwanska in the all-time head-to-head series prior to her championship victory. She encountered the Pole contender four times in 2008, dropping three of them. The only win she registered against
Radwanska came at the same venue in Tokyo and she repeated the similar heroics this time round to improve 2-3 against her.
The final contest featured an absolute thriller, with both performers striving extremely hard to come on top. Petrova was utterly belligerent in the opening set and just annihilated the world number three to stamp her authority
over the game. She broke Radwanska in every single serve game, rocketing away to 6-0 to get one up in the contest.
The third seeded Pole came out firing in the following set and raced past Petrova in an assertive manner. She registered a breadstick, 6-1, to bring her opponent down on even terms. However, Petrova regained her winning impetus
in the decider and nailed only one break point to conclude her emphatic title victory at Pan Pacific Open.
Petrova will certainly improve ratings in the next week’s release of WTA Premier Rankings. It was her second championship title this season, extending her tally to 12. She aims at breaking into the elite Top-10 rankings by the
end of the running season and her form clearly suggests that she can accomplish her dream quite soon.
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