Samantha Stosur battles past Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the final – Rogers Cup 2011
Tenth seeded Australian Samantha Stosur needed a third set to defeat thirteenth seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska at the Rogers Cup 2011, a hard court tournament on the WTA event held in Toronto, Canada. She earned a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
victory over the 22-year-old Pole to advance into the title round on Saturday.
Two ferocious veterans duel each other at the Rexall Centre at the York University. World number 11 Stosur took all the fame after an intense three setter mouth watering match and the world number 12 Radwanska on the other hand
became the casualty. The Aussie not only advance into the final but also took lead in the head-to-head series by 2-1 against Radwanska.
27-year-old Aussie quickly found her path as after Radwanska held her serve in the opening game, she unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to pocked following five games consecutively. Stosur then held her serve in the last game to
clinch the opening set with a 6-2 score line.
Radwanska carried her losing ways in the second set as she lost her serve in the opening game. However, she founded her rhythm in the following game as she snatched the break back and held her remaining serves through her quick
agility. The Pole converted second out of her eight breakpoint chances to her advantage in the last game to bag the equaliser with a 7-5 win.
The Aussie number one re-ignited her spark in the final set and held her opening serve in the second game comfortably. Radwanska then held her serve for the last time in the proceeding game as the Aussie went into savage mode and
wiped out last five games in a row to seal the set with a 6-2 score line.
"I played a pretty sloppy game to lose the second set. Getting that early break in the third set was really comforting," the beaming Stosur said after the match. "Maybe she felt it was a long way back. I started serving well again
and stayed on top of the points."
Next up for the Aussie is a former world number one, Serena Williams.
Stosur praised Williams by saying, "I've had some success against Serena, but we all know what she's capable of. She's obviously one of the best players ever in women's sport. She's a great champion. And for her to have that lay-off
and already win an event and do so well, it's full credit to her."
The American upset fourth seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in straight sets in just seventy-seven minutes to reach this final spot.
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