Simona Halep stuns Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2013
A huge upset was witnessed in the second round of Internazionali BNL d’Italia when the world number four, Agnieszka Radwanska, came crashing down at the hands of the 64th ranked Romanian underdog, Simona Halep, on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old battled the three-setter bravely to dispose of the fourth seeded Polish contender, settling the final score line at 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2.
Radwanska has been taking the better of Halep in their last three encounters but couldn’t survive thriller on Tuesday. The Pole number one started off her 2013 WTA season with a victory against Halep in Auckland but a mind-blowing
performance from the Romanian youngster stunned everyone present at the clay courts of Rome, Italy. Halep now goes 1-3 in the all-time head-to-head series against Radwanska.
The opening set of the match took off with an exchange of break points from both sides, followed by a conventional game. Another trade of serve breaks from both players was seen in the seventh and eighth games respectively but
the score line kept crawling with steady pace. A tie-break came into play when the scores got dead-locked at 6-6. Radwanska reacted promptly in the decider and raced away to a 4-0 lead by stinging two early mini-breaks. Halep could secure merely two points
in the tie-break round and had to submit the first set at 6-7(2).
Radwanska was expected to carry on her winning roll in the following set but it turned out to be the other way round. Halep shifted to her rage mode and nailed two back-to-back break points to rocket away to 4-0 in no time. The
fourth seeded Pole broke her momentum with a serve break in the fifth game, only to be broken in the very next game. The Romanian youngster comprehensively served out of the second set with a breadstick, 6-1.
Halep continued with her onslaught in the decisive set and imposed a 2-0 lead on her rival straight away. Another She broke Radwanska once again in the fifth game but the Pole snatched back the serve in the next game. Another break
point conversion from Halep in the seventh game proved to be decisive and she wrapped up the proceedings at 6-2.
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