Agnieszka Radwanska got out of trouble to make her way to the third round of the US Open. The fourth seed overcame a strong stance from Great Britain’s Naomi Broady to come out in straight sets 7-6(9), 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium Thursday night. The long delays and problems with her variety of shots nearly cost her big.
The Polish star had a solid start to the tournament dispatching Jessica Pegula very quickly in straight sets. She had another similar opponent in her way having never met her before. With the notion that some big names have been taken out, Radwanska would do everything to stay the powerful player.
The 26-year-old Brit surpassed the first round in her opening appearance but not without a fight as her first set against Laura Robson went to the brink. She impressed by returning to in the final two sets and set up a chance to get into it with the world number four.
The long rain delay prevented the two from playing at their desired time but did get underway after four and a half hours of rain falling on the court. Broady took a surprising lead hold her own through three games. She remained ahead on each service against Radwanska who wasn’t up to speed with her own game.
It led to the fourth being a fight for the Pole as she played on deuce. Broady didn’t make things easy as she fought back to retrieve control. After nearly a ten-minute game, the British star got the edge on Radwanska taking a 3-1 lead. Broady added a hold of serve to her domination of the world number four growing a serious gap in the set. Radwanska was well aware of the situation and answered with an important hold that had her running for the ball at every length of the court floor.
Though she gained a second victory, it wasn’t enough to stop the run that Broady was having. She returned to service scoring another to her name that gave her the first chance at taking a set up on Radwanska. The 27-year-old veteran to the tournament climbed her way back breaking the rookie before adding another threatening to push the set onward. “She was serving unbelievably,” Radwanska said about Broady. “Every break was huge and I was trying to focus on my serve which also wasn’t easy.”
The Pole was completely back in the match as she successfully regained all the lost ground to level the set at five all. Broady remained vigilant and kept the pressure on her experienced opponent taking a 30-0 start to her service. She gained the important 6-5 lead but it continued to prove difficult to close things out. Radwanska fired back with all she had to move into the tiebreaker in order to turn things around.
The number four seed took a 4-1 run looking to be in some comfort. It was quickly turned into a nightmare for Radwanska as she watched her lead disappear and once more found herself in a dead heat with Broady. From six points to nine, the battle for control didn’t end till the Pole gained leverage at 10-9 to win the set with an 11th point that concluded the set. It took Radwanska more time to take a 1-0 lead than it did finishing her first round match.
With the match not quite sewn up, she had to deal with more from Broady who again took her lead to be out front. After three games, the 26-year-old Brit took point on serve followed by the fourth seeded Pole. A change came in the seventh with Radwanska taking her service to consolidate it with a 5-3 run. She got the best chance to serve things for the match gaining a heavy confidence to win it on a forehanded smash from Broady into the net. It sent a rush of relief for the fourth seed who got out of a jam after 1 hour and 47 minutes.
“The second round was obviously worse,” Radwanska said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “I was just so pleased that I can come back in the first set. That was the key set I guess. A lot of trouble; a lot of running; a lot of struggling, but two sets for me.” She’ll have to regroup for the unexpected troubles on and off the court before facing Caroline Garcia on Sunday.
Photo by: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Photo by: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
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