Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Caroline Wozniacki vs. Agnieszka Radwanska – Semi-final Preview
World number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will be taking on the 14thranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the first semi-final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, being played at the Porsche Tennis Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. An epic battle is anticipated on Saturday afternoon as the two in-form players fight to stay in the title run at the $721,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament.
The top seed Wozniacki received a bye into the second round of the competition where she defeated Zuzana Kucova to meet the home favourite Andrea Petkovic in the quarter-final. The Dane had no trouble in outclassing Petkovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, to qualify for the semi-final of the event. Radwanska dispensed out the other German wildcard entrant Kristina Barrois in the quarter-final 7-5, 6-3, after a stiff contest to meet Wozniacki in the round of four.
It is the fifth time the two top class women are competing against each other in WTA singles matches. The most recent encounter they had was at Tokyo in 2010 when Radwanska retired from the contest due to injury, forfeiting the game to the Dane. Wozniacki has a three-match winning streak against her Pole competitor and leads the all time head-to-head series by 3-1. With the form Wozniacki is currently in, it might not be wrong to say that the world number one player will have no difficulty in overcoming the unseeded Pole opponent in the semis of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Wozniacki is probably in her best form ever in her five-year professional career. The Dane dropped to the second spot in world rankings after her semi-final loss at the Australian Open but regained the top spot from Kim Clijsters by winning the Dubai International Championships in April. Wozniacki then faced a defeat in the final of the Qatar Ladies Open but claimed her 14 WTA title by defeating Marion Bartoli of France in the final of the BNP Paribas Open. Her most recent campaign was the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, South Carolina which she successfully won to extend her WTA championship count to 15 last week. With a recent title victory on her back, Wozniacki’s confidence will certainly be sky high and it shouldn’t be a difficult task for her to beat the world number 14.
Winner of four WTA titles, Radwanska has been in quite ordinary form during the running year and hasn’t clinched any title in 2011 so far. The only achievement she had this season was at Miami Masters when she made a huge upset by defeating the world number four Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the fourth round. Radwanska appeared a bit rusty in her last matchup against Barrois but manoeuvred her way through to the semi-finals. She will be requiring an out of ordinary effort to overcome the world number one Wozniacki and get a title shot at Stuttgart.
Wozniacki clearly is the hot favourite to win the clash on paper but the abilities of her Pole opponent are no to be under estimated. The Dane should not be taking Radwanska lightly in the game, as she has all the potential to turn around a game at any time.
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