Sony Ericsson Open: Vera Zvonareva vs Agnieszka Radwanska – Preview
3rd seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva will face 9th seeded Polish Agnieszka Radwanska today in the quarter-final of the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne in Miami.
World number three Zvonareva is in great shape this season. She made a semi-final berth at the Australian Open and Pattaya before losing to Kim Clijsters and Daniela Hantuchova respectively. She then showed her magnificent
skills at Doha where she made it all the way to the final and won the title after defeating world number one Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. She entered this WTA Premier event confidently and reached directly in the second round after receiving a bye
for being a seeded player. The 26-year-old defeated Russian wild card entrant Dinara Safina in the second round and then dumped 28th seeded Australian Jarmila Groth in the third round. She downed 15th seeded
French Marion Bartoli, the Indian Wells finalist, in a three set thriller to reach this spot.
On the other hand, world number 14 Radwanska hasn’t had much activity this season. She made it to the quarter-finals at the Australian Grand Slam before losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. The 22-year-old then made
a quarter-final berth at Dubai where she lost to 16th seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Though she was ousted in the first round at Doha, Radwanska entered this tournament confidently after being a seeded player as well and triumphed
over Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova with a bagel in the second round. The Polish then trashed 24th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko and 5th seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone in the next two rounds to reach this
spot. She has yet to lose a set in this tournament.
Zvonareva leads the head to head series by 1-0 against the Polish star. The Russian overwhelmed Radwanska in straight sets at Moscow’s carpet courts in 2007. She registered a 6-2, 6-2 win over the Polish and clearly outshined
her in every department of tennis in the match. Zvonareva committed less double faults, saved all five breakpoints and earned a spectacular 77 percent win on her slightly lowered first serve share. The Russian then converted four out of eight breakpoint opportunities
to her advantage to clinch the match convincingly.
In their last match, Zvonareva committed five double faults but clobbered five aces as well. She had a 60 percent first serve share and registered a plausible 57 percent win on it. The Russian saved 54 percent of the breakpoints
and converted eight out of thirteen breakpoint opportunities to her advantage. She also had a convincing return point winning percentage of 67 percent.
Radwanska also played her last match with amazing skills. She committed a single double fault but on the other hand produced only a single ace. She had a higher first serve percent of 67 percent compared to the Russian and
she earned a reasonable 63 percent win on it. The Polish saved 67 percent breakpoints and converted six out of ten breakpoint opportunities to her advantage. Her return point winning percentage of 64 percent was also acceptable.
Radwanska can upset the in-form Russian in three sets in the quarters if she focuses more and take full advantage of the several unforced errors and double faults Zvonareva commits. The Polish should also focus on earning
more on her first serve share and should convert more breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to win convincingly.
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