The Apia Sydney International tennis semifinals were in place with great performances in quarterfinal play on Wednesday. Eugenie Bouchard, Johanna Konta and Agnieszka Radwanska made their way through in straight set victories. Czech star Barbora Stycova got her third victory by defeating Caroline Wozniacki in a three set marathon ending the former number one’s run in the tournament.
The best performance of the day went to the Canadian as her tactics and assistance from new coach Tomas Högstedt paid off in her battle against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She held her back with solid actions on her first and second serve that produced two aces in the set taking it 6-2. She went on to have a little more resistance from Pavlyuchenkova but her struggles on the return allowed Bouchard plenty of breathing room to cap the second set in 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Radwanska also had a quick day on court against China’s Ying-Ying Duan who qualified for the tournament making it this far. She managed to get on the board against the second seed but found no luck in bringing her down to a level should could play at. Radwanska pushed toward a set victory maintaining 63 percent on her serve.
The second set was a stronger showing from the world number three landing 11 of 12 on her first serve shots and four of six on break points. The returns were difficult for Duan to answer on leading her to gain only two victories to her name before she realized the end had come. Radwanska coasted to a semifinals spot in 1 hour and 19 minutes hoping that more luck would give her a shot at a title.
Johanna Konta seemed closer to one in her native country after dealing with some adversity from Russian Daria Kasatkina. She fared well in the opening games but couldn’t keep the pace against the tenth best player in the world. Konta averaged out her service and wins on the break to take the first set 6-3. The second saw both players on an even keel which made things difficult for Konta to make a runaway. Despite having good moments with the ball in hand, it didn’t stop Kasatkina from answering at times leading to a five all tie, sending the set to the brink.
Konta remained cool and played through the motions that gave her the lead after 11 before closing out the match in the 12th with a 7-5 score. Though it took her 101 minutes to complete the match, the Aussie was glad enough to go forward with an even chance of picking up a second career title.
The Dane wasn’t so fortunate in her fight against Strycova. The two came out of the gate with a pace that had them neck and neck. After getting into a tie, the Czech pushed things further to a concluding result that favored to her end taking the opening set. She blasted out to a 3-0 lead in the second making it seem that it was won and done for her in straight sets. Wozniacki wasn’t ready to throw in the towel and matched her with a solid comeback. She pushed things to a tiebreaker where she and Strycova matched shot after shot on court. It came down to set point that was just enough for the Dane to etch out a win and force a deciding set.
Both stars fought tooth and nail again, but with the heat rule in effect, it came down to who had enough stamina to win the match. With things leveled through six games, the wonder on who would be more dominant was soon answered. Wozniacki’s second serve was dead in the water from the start unable to find any life in it.
Despite not getting any double faults in the process, Wozniacki’s inability to having a well-rounded service was ultimately her downfall. The Czech star used that weakness to her advantage overtaking the former number one to get the upset on court. By the time it was over, three hours and 20 minutes had elapsed on the clock making it the longest fight by two ladies to start the season.
While Bouchard, Konta and Radwanska had easy days, the Polish star would carry a heavy advantage over Strycova who she faces on Thursday. The youth of the tournament would fight for a finals spot in a second head to head match that Bouchard won in their first and only meeting.
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