Petra Kvitova burns Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals – AEGON International 2011
Agnieszka’s run at the AEGON International grass-court in the Eastbourne came to a grinding halt in the quarterfinals on Thursday when she lost 6-1, 2-6, 6(2)-7 to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic.
Because of the wind Radwanska could not serve as impressively as she had done against the world No. 5 Francesca Schiavone the previous day. In fact, her shots were not finding their marks and she lost sets, allowing her opponent
to take the lead.
Driving the ball through the court, getting a read on Kvitova’s serve and spreading the play wide, the pole jumped to a 6-1 lead in double-quick time. But if the fans back home thought the very same feat to be repeated in the remainder
of the match, they were to be disappointed badly.
The second set began well, with Radwanska breaking immediately and stretching the Czech all over the court. But not for nothing Kvitova is regarded as one of the best players on tour. An epic game at 2-0 proved to be catalyst for
a spectacular action that tested the limits of Radwanska’s tenacity.
Finally pulling the sword out the stone, she showed her fans what happens when she unleashes the range of her mercurial ability. She found some spark of genius that enabled her to stay in the match, notably a scorching forehand
winner down the line at the critical moment of yet another gruelling rally allowed her to tie the score to one set apiece.
Fortunately for Kvitova, her complacent tennis gave her the hopes to stay alive in the match. As the third set began, both women traded breaks to push the third set into a tie-breaker. As the third set forced into the tie-breaker,
Kvitova, whose crafty volleys showed that she is much more professional than Radwanska, executed a superbly crafted example at the decisive break and nabbed the match after one hour and 56 minutes of punishing tennis.
Up next for the Czech is the Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, who ended the inspiring comeback of Venus Williams earlier in the day. Kvitova and Hantuchova have met only once at the first round of Fed Cup Week 1, when Kvitova closed
the deal to go 1-0 in the head-to-head series. However, the Slovak is at an all time high right now as she has a lot to celebrate, defeating two vulnerable opponents back to back.
Hantuchova looks pretty confident about her next round. Talking about it she said, "Petra has a huge serve and a big game, it will be difficult but I have nothing to lose. I already beat three great opponents and had a great time
on grass so far. I'm just looking to improve a few things and have fun."
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