Agnieszka Radwanska got the revenge she most wanted at the Apia Sydney International Tuesday. The former 2013 champion took down 2017 champ Johanna Konta in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 on Ken Rosewall Arena on the grounds of Sydney Olympic Park. In what was looking to be a comeback from the defending champion ended in her first-round demise with unforced errors playing the biggest role of her exit.
The rematch of last year’s final takes place in the opening round as the Sydney native got into action just a week before the Australian Open. Konta took the series lead against the Polish star on her way to her first WTA title. The world number 28 sought revenge for that straight sets loss in hopes to get on the right side of things after her quarterfinal loss in Auckland. In what was a mix of struggles on the court and wedding plans that led to her big day, the 28-year-old had her second chance to not only avenge her finals loss but start another tournament with her best foot forward.
She watched Konta pull off a triple break that set the bar for the veteran in the opening game. She returned fire with a break of her own, leveling the score to serve for a second chance. It started with a double fault but she beat Konta with a winner that Konta struggled with. She kept the attack setting up her shots, but the errors cost her a chance at holding it normally. Konta battled to deuce where she gained the AD point on another mistake by Radwanska.
It was a 3-1 run for Konta who tried to keep up the dominance but the 28-year-old found ways of rallying back. A service hold consolidated with a break got her dead even through six games showing her defense game in play. She took over the score with a third consecutive game win that had some controversy in Konta’s favor. While it didn’t help her out, she had to find ways of reeling Radwanska in and playing every point as coach Michael Joyce told her during the break.
The world number nine tried to keep ahead of Radwanska in the eighth game but there was a lot of uncomfortable times despite having landed a couple of winners and an ace. She was trounced from getting the job done as the Polish star had her eyes set taking a 5-3 lead. She sat a game down from getting things done and with a lot of focus, completed the feat in 47 minutes. Though she had a rough first serve percentage, the key of keeping the errors limited is what gave her the lead as the Brit put up far too many.
The second began with Radwanska taking her own lead gaining a 2-0 score on Konta. The Brit worked with all her might to get on the board as it was clear that the task at hand was difficult. A hold in the third ended the short shutout for the 26-year-old but couldn’t hold on to getting another as the gap opened again in favor of Radwanska.
Game five was critical of the Brit to win and with the fight of her life, she proved that against the Polish star. They went to deuce where it was a fight on deuce that lasted several breaks. Konta gained the AD point a few times but couldn’t lock down the game winner with errors causing her to hand Radwanska leverage. In the end, the world number 28 took the game breaking Konta to lead by three games.
Joyce was called out for Konta who tried to keep her positive despite what the score had on the board.
She used that energy and produced a break in the sixth to cut the lead in half. She then built together a points streak that reached six before a fifth double fault was committed. She held on again to sit down a game but Radwanska was still threatening. The trouble was gone as she allowed Konta to make the full comeback and sit at four all. Konta meant seriously business as her game was on full blast winning points, creating streaks and controlling the set. She took the ninth with a strong serve that dominated Radwanska and gave her a chance to break for a shot in the third.
Radwanska denied her that chance as she rallied to a win in the tenth that set up a fight to the finish of the second set. The 11th was a close fight but another skeptical call that Konta thought was wrong went unchanged making her livid. She tried to put that towards recovering from the deficit but instead saw Radwanska capture the break and lead 6-5 with a chance to serve for the match. Every point played in the 12 were absolutely critical and for Konta a tedious challenge. She had her moments where they came just wide of the line that inevitably gave her opponent the victory after 1 hour and 49 minutes.
Getting out of a jam was the highlight finish to her early victory in the tournament but more had to be done if she wanted to make a statement going into next week’s grand slam. She’ll await to take on American Catherine Bellis in the second round.
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