Urszula Radwanska outfoxes Sofia Arvidsson to reach the semis – UNICEF Open 2012
Pole qualifier, Urszula Radwanska, outfoxed the 46th ranked Swede, Sofia Arvidsson, to book a berth in the semi-finals of the UNICEF Open on Thursday. She won the match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3).
Radwanska had never won a single match in the previous meetings between the two players. It was third time that they were facing each other and the 28-year-old Swede had won the previous two encounters, contested this season. The first one was during the Fed Cup tie and the second one was played in May during the Brussels Open.
However, the psychological pressure was overruled by the Pole, who came on top of her rival in a rain-interrupted match. Both players swapped breakpoints at the start of the match and further pushed the scores to 2-2 with serve holds.
The shackles were broken by the 21-year-old Pole in the sixth game when she broke serve 30:40 and took a lead of two games. She held her serve 40:15 to stamp her authority and further enhance the lead to 5-2.
Arvidsson was serving to keep the set alive but she failed terribly; losing a breakpoint 15:40 and allowing her rival to take the first set. It was a great start for the Pole qualifier who had come across to the quarter-final stage after posting a lot of upsets. The biggest one being the straight sets thrashing of the fourth seed Italian, Flavia Pennetta, in round two.
Both players held their serves in the first four games of the second set. An exchange of break points kept the scores together at 3-3. Arvidsson was tested to her limits but she did well to hang on to her serve in the eighth game to avoid any more problems.
No breakthroughs were witnessed in the remaining part of the match and a tie-breaker round was enforced. Radwanska grabbed a mini-break early in the decider and pulled curtains for the Swede starlet with another mini-break.
In a post-match interview, Radwanska said, "It was tough conditions because of the rain delay, and I actually fell down the first point after coming back on court. But I played a good match overall and I'm really happy that I won.
She will be up against the Belgian superstar, Kim Clijsters, in the next round. Commenting about the semi-final draw, the Pole said, “Clijsters is a great player, but I will do my best to win and I hope I can play even better than I did against Sofia." It is expected to be another cracking battle.
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