Radwanska defeats Keys to make semifinals of Wimbledon

Agnieszka Radwanska maintained a tight match in her quarterfinal to hold on through three sets to defeat Madison Keys at Wimbledon. The 2012 finalist won in three sets with a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 win to advance to the semifinals at the All England Club Tuesday.

The Pole held a tight lead over the young American with three wins over the past five years. Though they haven’t met since 2013 the heat that had been shown from both players was not to be underestimated. Radwanska had been dominating since returning to action as her quest to get back into the top ten WTA rankings was more than clear at the All England Club. She knocked out Jelena Jankovic of Serbia who was responsible for knocking out last year’s defending champion.

With her awesome work on court, she would find a way to deal with the 20 year old who looks to make this her best run in a major. Keys hasn’t faced any big names until now but her efforts were not to go unnoticed. Whether she had what it took to defeat the immense performance of Radwanska would ultimately be decided.

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Keys jumped out to win the first game as it was important to get ahead of the Polish phenom beforehand. Radwanska tallied a win on the set’s second break of serve before jumping ahead with a 2-1 lead on the break. Keys blasted away at Radwanska with a near perfect love service but still held the margin to even up once again.

Each player found their way of response through the set that led to its ultimate tie after ten games. Neither was ready to give up any big leads as there was too much running in the tournament for both. A tiebreak became necessary as Keys fought back to even up during four breaks to play on through points. The veteran player jumped ahead 4-3 and never looked back gaining the ultimate seventh point to take the set outright in 51 minutes.

The start of the second had the young American leading the way for Radwanska and herself with a love service in the opening frame. Keys battled back and forth with the Pole until the seventh game changed the outlook.

The 20 year old Rock Island native won a love service before opening up further with a double break point. That successful pair of victories put her in the right spot to even the match at a set each. On the set point on deuce, Keys landed an ace down the middle line to end the set in 39 minutes setting up the decisive third set.

Radwanska had the leverage going into deep territory as her longest tournament match so far brought her to break out the fight. After another trade of wins through six games, the Pole began to edge away from Keys taking a lead on deuce before winning a break point in the eighth to serve for the match.

Radwanska pulled out a 30-15 lead that was helped by Keys making an unforced errors that would ultimately cost her. On match point, Radwanska fired an angled shot and delivered the second as Keys took a slip to end it. The set ended in 35 minutes with the Pole back into the semifinals for the third time and first since 2013. “I’m so happy that I could stay in that match,” Radwanska told ESPN’s Gary Richardson. “It was very tight, point by point, game by game and so was Keys so one point and there you go.”

“I’m so happy that I could stay in that match,” – Agnieszka Radwanska

While she had a much stronger first serve, Keys had enough power to respond on the returns while fighting hard with her own service. “She’s a very talented powerful and I knew it was going to be very tough today,” Radwanska said. “I’m just happy to be in the semifinals.”

Radwanska moves on to play another strong player in Garbine Muguruza who has been playing amazing tennis at the All England Club. “I think she’s playing great tennis this week,” Radwanska said about her next opponent. “I watched some of her matches before and we have similar strategies so one day of rest and ill be ready to go.”