Victoria Azarenka topples Agnieszka Radwanska to reach final – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Top seed, Victoria Azarenka, took down the Polish number one, Agnieszka Radwanska, in straight sets at the Mutua Madrid Open 2012 on Saturday. She jolted down a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the world number three to cruise into the final showdown at this WTA
(Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event taking place in Madrid, Spain.
The Monaco resident showed top notch skills to crush Radwanska for the fifth straight time this circuit. Facing each other for the 14th time, Azarenka not only extended lead in the head-to-head series by 11-3 against the fourth seed but also booked a spot
in the title-round at this blue clay court event.
"Agnieszka has a different style - she likes to make you move, changes the pace and throws off your rhythm, and she's very good with her hands and tries to come in," Azarenka commented afterwards. "I play more aggressively. I try to take control. We have
different styles of game, and today I feel like I was playing very well. The second set it got a little bit more even today. I think it was a good match. I'm happy with how I played."
Azarenka stormed into Park Manzanares and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. Despite squandering her edge in the very next game and going 1-2 down, the Belarusian unleashed her true form and went on a five-game tear. She brushed
off three out of four breakpoints she faced and cashed in all three break chances to clobber a 6-2 success in 29 minutes.
Ranked top in the WTA Premier Rankings, Azarenka kept momentum rolling into the second set and earned the coveted break in the fifth game to take the upper hand. Later, she exchanged two serve breaks and plucked her serve once more to bag the set with a
6-4 win in 50 minutes.
Overall, the Belarusian committed more double faults and spilled fewer unforced errors. However, she spectacularly clicked 23 out of 29 points on it to conquer her rival.
Next in line for the 22-year-old is the former world number one, Serena Williams, who crippled the Czech qualifier, Lucie Hradecka, with a bagel to set-up this epic encounter.
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