For the second year straight, a single WTA player has won both of the two big Asian tournaments. Agniezka Radwanska, who won in Tokyo last week, defeated Andrea Petkovic today to win the China Open in Beijing. Last year, world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki won both events. Wozniacki entered both of them this year, but was defeated by Kaia Kanepi and Flavia Pennetta, respectively.
In a final that lasted two hours and 34 minutes (the first set took an hour and 24 minutes), Radwanska beat Petkovic 7-5, 0-6, 6-4. Radwanska is now 5-0 against Petkovic.
This was Radwanska's third win of the season, her fourth premier event win, and her first premier mandatory event victory. She now re-enters the top 10 as number 10 in the world, and she is most likely a contender to play in the WTA Championships in Istanbul. For those us who really like to watch Radwanska play, the past two weeks have marked somewhat of a revelation regarding her potential (and certainly evidence of what can happen when one replaces humiliation and verbal abuse with actual coaching).
There is one premier event left to be played this season--the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. There are also three international events--in Linz, Osaka and Luxembourg. The Championships in Istanbul begin on October 25.
I will have to watch the match again, but I don't recall seeing Aga's coach come down courtside during this particular match. I am liking this new Aga. Aggressive when she needs to be and playing excellent defence as always. She looks confident; does not get down on herself and proving to everyone that she is indeed a fun player to watch.
ReplyDeleteAs for Petkovic, I am hoping that she puts this year in perspective, does away with all the theatrics and just goes out there and play tennis. Calling an MTO and then running like a rabbit for the next 1.5 hours does not help her cause
I just enjoyed this match. Radwanska looked tired (probably from all the tennis she has been playing these last two weeks) but she was economic in what she needed to do and when she needed to do it. She also put the bagel behind her and confidently served out the match. She is a gifted player and I enjoyed seeing her coach urging her on, clapping for her on the sidelines. Her weakness still is her second serve but she is still managing her game well enough to win.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time that Petkovic ran like a "rabbit" after hurting her knee. I don't want to dispute her injury since I read on Tennis.com that she is out of her next tournament(w the Tour Finals on the line) but she is either great at mind over matter or gets nervous when she feels something that might turn out to be nothing. Nadal is somewhat this way because he has had so many injuries that he gets "scared" when he feels something but I don't know if Petkovic has had a history of injuries.
Anyway, the two seemed to enjoy each other afterwards. I have been seeing more civility and more than that at the net in the women's game over time.
The game was clean. Both had around 20+ winners over UFEs.
Petkovic's knee injury has been with her for a while now. She's been candid in saying that she guards too much--that it isn't the pain, but the sudden, surprise appearance of it that throws her off balance. It seems to show up less and less now, however, and I think she should be okay after getting some more rest.
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