Radwanska battles past van Uytvanck at the French Open

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Agnieszka Radwanska brought her game together at the right moment to move on at the French Open Thursday. The world number ten dealt with tremendous adversity against Alison van Uytvanck who went three sets with the Polish star in a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3 match on Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros in Paris. The 2 hour and 22-minute bout saw struggles from both sides but the win for Radwanska allowed her to gain confidence in her return to action.

Radwanska’s dominating start at Roland Garros only meant more would be on her path through the tournament. She already had two wins against the Belgian dating back four years. While she had a winning streak alive and well, it looked to be difficult to bring down a force in the WTA who made fast work of Fiona Ferro Tuesday. She would try to do so again if all the blocks laid out in the right place to make it happen.

It wasn’t turning out that way in the opening games as van Uytvanck had a 2-0 hold early in the set. It wasn’t until the third that Radwanska woke up and delivered a perfect love service to say she was ready to go. The Belgian didn’t let the sudden boost of offense across court bother her as she blasted another victory to her name with perfect positioning to deal with Radwanska’s return shots. Not wanting to fall further in the score, the ninth seed fought her heart out to keep the margin small for van Uytvanck. Radwanska also seemed to have blisters on her hands requiring assistance from the trainer to deal with her right hand while she had a break.

When play resumed to start the sixth, Radwanska got back to level terms with the Belgian but had trouble keeping play in the court thereafter. She lost control in the seventh serving van Uytvanck with a triple break before her own efforts earned her the win. She consolidated it with another victory that immediately put Radwanska on notice that her game had to improve quickly or suffer being a set down.

She responded with a strong break of van Uytvanck that got her in a tight spot going into tell that could go either way. The Polish star caught a break and won her way to forcing the Belgian into further games hoping to turn things around. Her love service set the bar high for van Uytvanck in the 12^th to match with a win or allow Radwanska the full comeback. She denied the ninth seed an easy way to the set sending the two into a key tiebreaker to determine who had enough energy at the end of the first.

It was the Belgian who managed to keep together a gap between her and Radwanska on the score that allowed her to win 7-6. The set lasted 61 minutes with the indication of both players looking to keep the fight alive at all costs. Both had their problems on the second serve which was the only factored difference that gave the ninth seed a chance to be where she is.

Radwanska took the notion and made a good start in the second overtaking van Uytvanck in the second before building a sizable lead. It was quickly 4-1 in favor of the ninth seed who felt her dominance come together in order to hold off the Belgian. She had her grip tightening after six where she held a four-game gap on van Uytvanck who served for a chance to stay alive. She extended the set a game further but that was the extent of Radwanska’s allowance. She locked down the second set with a hold of serve that put the match into a critical third set enabling both to setup their own destiny going on.

Radwanska opened up the gap after a tie through two and went on a 3-1 lead before the Belgian responded again. She found a way to trade off wins against the Polish star but the margin was tough to come back from. She soon found herself on the edge with Radwanska up 5-3 playing her way to end the match. She kept the heat on van Utyvanck keeping ahead on the scoreboard to end the set in 35 minutes and guarantee her spot in the third round.

Radwanska’s tough game play was apparent once more in the eyes of fans who saw her battle back from the fight van Uytvanck brought to court. She was more than guaranteed of that as she planned to go against Alize Cornet who pulled off an upset earlier in the day and would have her countrymen behind her on Saturday.

Cornet upsets Strycova at French Open

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Alize Cornet was full of pride in her center court performance at the French Open. The French hopeful stunned 20^th seeded Barbora Strycova on Court Philippe Chatrier with a 6-4, 6-1 at Roland Garros Thursday.

The Czech led the series in dramatic fashion winning their last four of six. While a win hadn’t come since Antwerp in 2015, the 31-year-old had her eyes set on getting another. Her active play in the clay court season had its ups and downs but success better than her French opponent gave her the upper hand. She proved that taking down Alison Riske in the opening round Tuesday putting herself in good shape to continue her path. Cornet had a battle on her hands in round one and would likely see more of the same despite having home advantage.

Cornet went down a pair against the Czech but managed to cover the spread after the fourth where Strycova tripped herself up during a rally that seemed to rattle her as well. It was just what the French star needed to get back but her opponent’s condition was morally a concern. She kept that in the back of her head and continued to deal with Strycova offense that helped her regain back the lead and widen the margin through six. Cornet still had something to offer her opponent in her attempts to hold serve in the seventh. It was the longest game of the set so far lasting eight minutes before the French star held together on deuce.

It was the turning point for her in the set as she carried momentum in the eighth and never turned back. Cornet managed to hold off Strycova from then on to ease her way to winning the set 6-4 in one hour and six minutes. It was an overall struggle for both sides as they served well under 60 percent which was a shock for the 20^th seed who came into the match as the favorite to dictate.

Instead she found herself on the wrong end of things witnessing Cornet take point in the second set, making the journey difficult. After the third, the French star dictated the pace, finding her way to a 4-1 hold on the Czech. When she picked up another, Strycova had her opportunities dwindling quickly as a fight on deuce gave her life against the serve of Cornet. It was quickly put the rest as the 27-year-old fought on to win the seventh game and pull off the upset against Strycova completing the match win in 1 hour and 47 minutes.

Her efforts to keep a strong offense were the key to being the strongest one on court as she maintained her first serve while the struggles endured on her second serve. Minimizing the unforced errors to winners ratio was enough as her opponent didn’t bring her best on the day. With Cornet guaranteed to play another day, she’ll await the winner between Agnieszka Radwanska and Alison van Uytvanck in the third-round Saturday.

Svitolina wins seventh straight match to advance at French Open

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Elina Svitolina put in a lot of work to get out of a jam at the French Open Thursday. The world number six had an up and down fight against Tsvetana Pironkova but found her way to win in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Two on the grounds of Roland Garros. The Ukrainian had a dismal second serve and 28 unforced errors in what was a battle to make it into the third round winning her seventh match in a row.

The two made it their first meeting against one another with the world number six carrying the biggest leverage. Her win against Yaroslava Shvedova on Tuesday indicated her toughness on the clay and capturing her sixth match win in a row. With her being the top contender, the 22-year-old had to remained focused and keep her skills at a level that the Bulgarian couldn’t match.

The Ukrainian started with a strategy of power on the returns delivering good ball placement to win the love service. Pironkova responded with her own signature style of offense beating Svitolina with stretch shots to the baseline that beat the fifth seed. Since it worked to start her serve, the 29-year-old decided to implement the attack in the third. It worked for a time until Svitolina rallied back to force deuce. She wasted no time gaining the advantage to put away the game with a solid line drive winner to keep play on serve.

Seeing the type of game her opponent wanted to play, the 22-year-old decided to fight fire with fire and attack Pironkova for the break. They went to two breaks where Pironkova stood firm against Svitolina keeping the set even. They remained on serve through six until the Bulgarian pulled off the first break of the day.

It was just the right moment for her to gain a footing with the lead and extend her way to adding pressure to the world number six. Svitolina was on the edge of losing the set as she witnessed the line drives of Pironkova’s becoming far too good. The double fault didn’t come at the right time handing her opponent a quick conclusion of the set that lasted 36 minutes. While Pironkova’s serve held steady, the Ukrainian had obvious trouble on the second serve landing three or nine and 11 of 31 on the return. She hoped that her bathroom break between sets was enough to help her regroup going into the second.

She started things off with a break but then watched Pironkova do the same in response. It became a fight for breaks with Svitolina setting the pace hoping to stay ahead of her opponent in the set. Svitolina kept the pace but turned the tables in the sixth with the first hold from either player in the set. The fight for control from Svitolina was successfully achieved but it only inspired Pironkova to do the same.

She held her own in the seventh despite being down a game on the fifth seed. She kept her in the rear-view mirror taking a 5-3 hold as the need for a third set was critical for Svitolina’s future in the tournament. Pironkova made that effort difficult trying her best to hold serve in the ninth. She lasted two breaks before her own serve allowed her to commit an unforced error that ended the set in 34 minutes sending the two the distance.

Being well acquainted with the situation in the past, Svitolina went on a tear against Pironkova winning 11 of the last 15 points. The 3-0 hold she had to her name gave her enough leverage to keep the pressure on her opponent and kept her eyes on the third round. Pironkova had her eyes on lock of the same goal putting together an important hold before consolidating a break from Svitolina. Sitting a game down on the fifth seed kept her threatening the Ukrainian who didn’t want to give up the lead.

Svitolina gained another step keeping two games between her and Pironkova with a key break. When the ball came back to the world number six, she delivered up another win that put her in position for the match while Pironkova fought to keep the set going. She found herself in a bad spot down two points on serve till a key winner put her in reach of deuce. Pironkova didn’t get it as a return from Svitolina landed inches inside the line to end the match with a stunning win in the third that took 26 minutes. Her force to get the job done was full of strong forehanded shots and positioning on court that led her to get through after 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Svitolina’s fight to keep her first serve together paid off just enough to end the day on a positive note. She only got 13 of 29 points on the second serve and had as many unforced errors as she did winners which saved her in the end. The journey doesn’t get any easier for her with the recent victories and a winning streak on the line when she’ll face Poland’s Magda Linette on Saturday.