Agnieszka
Radwanska nearly had a scare in her opening
round match at the ASB Classic
Tuesday afternoon. The 28-year-old former champion of the tournament nearly
found herself out, but brought it together defeating Maia Beatriz Haddad
6-2,
4-6 6-2 on Centre Court at the ASB Tennis Arena.
The Pole hoped to regroup heavily in 2018 as she slid far
down the ranks this past season. The fourth seed came into Australia hoping to
attain better outcomes in tournaments. She did not fare well in any tournament
since Sydney but did have the enjoyment of getting married over the summer.
With romance out of the picture, the 2013 champ’s opening match against the
Brazilian had to be full of good power hits, ball placement, and dictation.
She opened the set with a lead on Haddad before the
Brazilian got on the board. She managed to get another one on Radwanska before
she took off with the set that finished in 27 minutes. She was very strong on
the serve averaging 74 percent and 14 of 17 points on the first serve. Having three
aces and a slightly better return game than her opponent allowed her to take
off with a grip on the match.
The second saw Haddad Maia open the second set with a break
followed up by a service hold against the Polish star. Radwanska put an end to
that with a hold in the third hoping to get back on track. The Brazilian’s
forehand game dominated as she nearly scored a serve to love but still got the
victory in the fourth. She was ahead of Radwanska by a significant difference that
led to the world number 28 taking a conference with her coach. She did work in
the seventh cutting Haddad Maia’s lead in half with a hold that was necessary
to keep her hopes of winning in straight sets alive.
She completed the comeback with big shots that were her best
of the match. She got the break to love on the 21-year-old to get back on serve
and turn the tables. Haddad Maia denied Radwanska of the chance regaining
control of the lead with good returns for the break. With the set at hand for the
young Brazilian, the polish tennis veteran needed a serious hold against her to
avoid playing to a third. With all her energy and fight, Haddad Maia did it
with a set point on deuce to push the match to the distance after 45 minutes.
The third began with Haddad Maia in very good shape taking a
2-0 lead on the scoreboard against Radwanska. All of that changed as a sense of
desperation flowed in to help the Polish star get even after four. From the
fifth to the seventh, Radwanska completely turned it to her dictation and led
5-2 with the young Brazilian on the verge of defeat. Despite her efforts of
taking things to deuce, errors cost her a chance at staying alive and instead
gave Radwanska a sigh of relief concluding 1 hour and 53 minutes on court.
It was clearly a roller coaster for the Polish star as her
second serve caused her troubles from beginning to end. With her first serve
returns underperforming, the fourth seed was lucky to get out of danger against
an opponent who had it worse off at times. A win was a win for the 28-year-old
as she’ll move on to face American Taylor Townsend on Wednesday.
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