Petra Cetkovska fights back Agnieszka Radwanska in thriller – Wimbledon Championships 2011
World number 81, Petra Cetkovska of Czech Republic is on a perfect run at the Wimbledon Championships, as she fought back from one set down to beat the thirteen-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 7(7)-6(5), 6-4 on the Center Court
at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Clearly, Radwanska did not hit the ball quite as purely as she did in the first two sets when she gave the Cetkovska a 6-3 horse whipping in the opening games, converting four break points on Cetkovska’s serve.
While Radwanska is known for her sprightliness and her power, there could be no questioning that Cetkovska was enjoying herself on the court but in actual she might be thinking on how to deflate her opponent’s mighty shots.
The 22-year-old Radwanska, who had been a two-time quarterfinalist at the tournament, looked very threatening for Cetkovska and her huge and powerful serving began to give her the edge. Playing in masterly style, Radwanska broke
for 4-2, with a blistering forehand winner down the line.
Cetkovska, however, displayed her first actual flash of excellence to conjure three break points in the opening set, but Radwanska fully deployed her range of forehands and mighty serve to clinch the first set with 6-3 scoreline.
Passing a test of nerve in the opener, Radwanska’s magnificent serves helped to see off Cetkovska’s two break points to reach 3-3 in the second set, as it seemed like being a Pole’s day, but luck was against her three games later
when she sailed a forehand wide, leaving Cetkovska to serve out the tie-breaker.
After nearly one hour and 33 minutes of play, Cetkovska started to wear down the Pole game but the actual problem of breaking Radwanska’s serve remained unchanged and the Czech started showing signs of dissatisfaction when five
break points slipped by in the final set.
The Czech No.7 might have been fading but she was not about to give up and took only 49 minutes to make a breakthrough with a stunning forehand and breaking Radwanska’s resistance at 6-4.
Emerging victorious, Cetkovska now moves on ahead to face eighteenth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Cetkovska and Ivanovic will face each other for the second time since 2008, with the Serbian leading the head-to-head sequence
to 1-0.
Times have changed, however, and Cetkovska is now an accomplished grass court player, having reached the final spot at Nottingham 2, two weeks ago. Ivanovic, who was once ranked as high as No.1, has won only thirteen matches as
opposed to Cetkovska’s 25.
Grass gives Cetkovska an outside chance of an upset, but Ivanovic is an all-court player. Look for the No.18th seed to wear Cetkovska down and advance to the fourth round in three sets.
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