Radwanska moves into fourth round winning over Dellacqua
Agnieszka Radwanska moved into the fourth round of Wimbledon with an amazing finish to an awkward start to the second set. The Polish powerhouse rallied late to send Australian Casey Dellacqua packing in a 6-1, 6-4 win on Court 18 Saturday.
The Pole dominated the Australian in their last two meetings including one victory at the All England Club last year. Radwanska shut Dellacqua out in their second set to make the third round. Now playing in one for ninth time, the outcome was likely as the former top five player has been making a statement of her return since falling out of the top ten. Radwanska has shown no mercy against her opponents and if anyone is capable of defeating her.
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Dellacqua has been playing solid tennis ever since qualifying. Coming into the round of 32 against such a big opponent, the Aussie will hope to find some way of breaking the giant on a non-stop course to win.
She opened the first game with a strong set of shots that looked to stun Dellacqua for a moment. She came back to win a game that would be her last in the set. The power of Radwanska’s game on court lifted her to a four game winning streak. It didn’t take long as the usual length of sets played by the Pole came to a end very quickly winning the sixth game in a swift movement ending the set in 27 minutes.
Radwanska shot 63 percent on the serve while landing 16 of 19 for points against Dellacqua. She scored nine winners on court while recording four aces that was a common statistic to see from Radwanska.
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With most expecting another blast of wins to come from the Polish tennis star, they received an unexpected change. It was the Australian who found her niche on the racket and destroyed Radwanska with a four game winning streak that made it look as if the players traded talents. That wasn’t the case as the skills from Dellacqua were genuinely hers to keep threatening to tie the match at a set each.
Radwanska turned the tables dramatically as her game returned out of the blue to put the Aussie in her place. The Pole knocked game after game in her favor where she unbelievably won six straight to end the set in 36 minutes. It was the biggest landslide to have occurred on court where a player had come back to win so many consecutive games.
Radwanska not only had her serve to thank for the unusual victory but the numerous unforced errors that came to play for Dellacqua. She tallied 20 through the ten game series in the second while having trouble returning shots by the Pole. The Australian’s sudden change of game made Radwanska’s slow start in the second look excusable as she made her way into the fourth round.
The victory puts Radwanska into her first challenge of the tournament where she would face the winner between Jelena Jankovic and defending Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova Monday.