Radwanska survives first round scare at Wimbledon

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Agnieszka Radwanska was pushed all the way to the brink at the championships at Wimbledon Monday evening. Gabriela Ruse overcame a 0-5 run to win three in the opening set and battled the Pole all the way to the end in a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 thriller on Court One at the All England Tennis Club. Radwanska survived six match points in her opening match that almost ended too soon.

The Romanian entered her first career ladies draw and the AEC pitted against a merciless fighter on the grass courts. Despite losing a chance to make up for her absence at Eastbourne, the veteran Polish star contained her ability to play strong, and rough up the opposition with her signature style of play. The 2012 finalist would try to get beyond the round of 16 in two years and show her strong stance right from the first game.

She dictated quickly taking the first two games to rattle the Wimbledon rookie who couldn’t yet adjust to the big court. After the rival of her support staff in the stands, she got into a tug of war for the third game getting a shot on deuce. She had two chances for the AD point but backhand errors allowed Radwanska to lock it down and make it 3-0. Ruse couldn’t find a way to get in the set and lost her nerve allowing Radwanska to coast to a 5-0 run.

The young Romanian was under pressure to stay alive forcing deuce on her serve. She ran through four breaks losing the AD point on three of them in what was the longest match so far. She ended it with a winner that finally gave her a win and an applause from the crowd. With the bagel out of her mind, Ruse tried to get a second win under her belt and did so with a brilliant cross court net winner.

She had her third in a row making Radwanska a little nervous but with two games left to hold, she delivered the service shot that returned wide ending her problems in 38 minutes. Ruse had 22 errors throughout her opening set but made up for it with the 15 total winners made against the Polish star. With some improvements coming along for the 20 year old, she’ll hope that would take the shape of going the distance.

She held serve to start the second set but made it difficult for Radwanska to flow through her own service game. Despite the fight on deuce, the 29 year old got it done to level with Ruse but had to match her skills as she led the way holding again in the third. It was becoming clear that Ruse was gaining confidence as she earned her first Wimbledon break in the fourth taking a two game lead.

Two turned into three as Ruse had a runaway on her hands taking everything she had to Radwanska who was out of ideas to recover lost ground. She held serve in the sixth but it was becoming too late as Ruse held once more to lead 5-2 on the Pole. Radwanska showed her willingness to hold off the Romanian for as long as she could proving it in a long battle in the eighth. The Pole was rewarded for her experience winning the ninth to serve for a shot at getting back control.

Ruse was done letting the set get away from her and made her mark in the match with a hard fought break attempt that gave her the victory needed to send both of them into a third set after 52 minutes. Despite serving at 49 percent, Ruse won a large majority of them coming up big with 19 winners and three unreturned serves. Radwanska didn’t have the same elements as she lacked points won on the first serve while limiting the errors.

The Polish star was still having to match Ruse as she led the way in the third holding her own to prove a point. She remained out front through five games with Radwanska needing to stay in tow with the set. They were closing in on the end of the match with young Romanian still focused on the task at hand.

She reached 5-4 with the match within her grasp scoring a winner away from Radwanska to reach match point. The nerves were high for the 20 year old as she slammed a forehand into the net send the two to deuce. It gave the Polish star time to recover and get a grip on the game. She couldn’t get the AD point secured handing Ruse chances to get it done. The 20 year old had six match points handed to her but couldn’t get it done handing Radwanska a big moment to overtake.

“To be honest, it felt like there were hundreds of them,” Radwanska said about the tenth to Lee Mackenzie. “This game was so long and obviously I think after that game I had nothing to lose. I could have lost it six times already so I’m so happy.”

Radwanska did it as the rookie committed her ninth double fault of the set that cleared the way for the Pole to push for the break and secure a 6-5 lead. It was her first time serving for a spot in the second round and secured the victory setting up perfect spots on court to earn her first match point. The big sigh of relief arrived for the 29 year old as she completed the biggest save of her year that could have turned disastrous. The match lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes in what looked to be just another day and turned into a scary day on court.

“I expected an easier first round,” she said. “I didn’t know that I would spend almost three hours on court today but that’s tennis and she was playing really good and aggressive and the conditions were really tough today with the wind and the sun in the beginning.”

With a much needed day off after a scary turn of events, the seasoned tennis star would prepare for Wednesday second round against Lucie Safarova.

Azarenka avoids slip in straight sets win at Wimbledon

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Victoria Azarenka had a couple scares on court but got the win she wanted at Wimbledon Monday afternoon. The former number one didn’t have a clean victory but showed her strengths while Ekaterina Alexandrova had moments of jitters that let the Belorussian win 7-6(4), 6-3 on Court 18 at the All England Tennis Club.

This was a first time meeting for the two but not a first time in the ladies draw for either one. The Russian made her third straight appearance getting as far as the second round two years ago. Facing Azarenka wouldn’t make it any easier as the Belorussian attempts to get into her comfort zone in what was her 12^th year at the AEC coming back last year to end at the fourth round. With the ability to compete away from home on the tour, the former number one looked to get a grip on the year major of the year and find comfort quickly while the opportunity was there. She had two matches recorded on grass so far but more would need to occur if she wanted to get into some serious contention.

The match began with Azarenka breaking the Russian in the opening game followed by her own game being challenged as well. Alexandrova pushed the former number one again but managed to hold her chance for the AD point in the second game. A scary moment occurred during the first point where Azarenka slipped and extended her legs to the point of causing her pain. After a few minutes down on the grass, the 28 year old assessed her condition and chose to continue the match.

After Alexandrova won her service game, the trainer came out for Azarenka to evaluate her actual condition and whether she could continue playing. She received some tape to her right knee area during the medical timeout before going back to action. She delivered a strong service hold to level at two all before getting the lead on Alexandrova’s two double faults. She recovered playing a defensive stance against Azarenka who had trouble getting her serve to stay in at times. They went to deuce where after a few breaks, the 28 year old got the score widened to her advantage.

Alexandrova held in the seventh to get back in touch with Azarenka before errors by the Belorussian helped her break back to square up at four all. A third straight win by the 23 year old earned her the lead at 5-4 playing to try and go a set up. Azarenka shut her first attempt down holding two of three game points getting back in contention for it. She wasn’t the only one as Alexandrova held in the 11^th to play for a second try at ending her opponent’s stride on the return side.

She did just that making it possible for a third time as the break forced the two players into a tiebreak that Azarenka was fine with. She opened to a 3-0 run on the 23 year old before she gained her first point. She picked up another two but it was the last she would get as Azarenka struck to take the next three serving for set point. One got away from the Belorussian but she still got the result she wanted getting a set up on Alexandrova after one hour and eight minutes. She served 68 percent with 67 percent of points won and 13 winners. Despite having four double faults and 13 unforced errors, her tenacious spirit and comfort in majors allowed her to conduct the result she earned.

She opened the second serving with a strong forehand that came up big on the return to take a 2-0 lead. Her first serve was showing a lot more balance giving her offense enough control to dominate the competition who struggled to keep the return game tight. The Russian put together a service hold that had help from Azarenka’s power shots that had a little more speed falling long of the baseline ending her three game winning streak.

She didn’t let the slip of her service bother her as she kept three games between herself and Alexandrova. She slowed the pace down in the sixth causing Alexandrova to err in the rallies handing the Belorussian some leverage. She regrouped to force deuce from 0-40 down and win on her second AD point attempt. While it frustrated Azarenka, she battled her issues and got the key win that put Alexandrova on the edge of defeat.

She held serve in the eighth but wasn’t out of trouble as she faced the Belorussian’s service game that she managed to do, holding back Alexandrova to come out of it in 1 hour and 49 minutes. While it was a struggling day for the former number one, she would face a former world number one in the second round in Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.

Wozniacki wins comfortable first rounder at Wimbledon

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Caroline Wozniacki  got an easy day in her opening round match at Wimbledon Monday. The second seed played a comfortable opening set against Varvara Lepchenko on Centre Court who wasn’t ready for the big stage and fell to the Dane in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 at the All England Tennis Club.

The series sat heavily with the Dane who just wrapped up her 29^th career title at Eastbourne this past weekend. With a lot of time devoted to the grass courts, the 27 year old hoped that a day off would help her recover in time for her opening match against Lepchenko. The American resident sat on a three match slide and had yet to record a single game on grass this season. With the odds of an upset well against her, the 32 year old would have a lot to adjust to right away.

She would get an early chance at that feat watching the Dane rush to take the first pair of games with a break in hand. She continued to cruise taking games like they were candy against Lepchenko who had little to show for it. By the time 18 minutes had elapsed, Wozniacki was playing for the set with the American on serve trying to stay alive and play more.

It was all over for Wozniacki as she put the pressure on her opponent to close out the set in 25 minutes. Very little was wrong with the second seed as she came out with many points being won on the first serve that closed the first at 88 percent. She only had three winners in her sweep of the American but was clearly confident and comfortable with what she brought to compete with.

The chance for a double bagel was trounced as Lepchenko broke the Dane to get on the board for the first time. Wozniacki led the way on serve with the American matching her through the fourth. The second seed changed up the pace pressuring Lepchenko again to break her in the sixth opening a two game gap. She swiftly got through her service game in the seventh setting up a shot at the match with a comfortable buffer in the set.

In response, Lepchenko held serve despite giving up two points that nearly had Wozniacki capping the match on the break. She didn’t get it but served for the match ending the day on court with Lepchenko erring on the final return of a rally concluding things in 59 minutes.

“It definitely wasn’t easy and I was a little nervous going out there,” Wozniacki said to Leah Mackenzie after the match. “First match, I just wanted to get a good start and only got here yesterday so it was a quick turnaround but I hope I can play as the tournament progresses.” With just the right start that she wanted, she will get in gear on Wednesday facing Ekaterina Makarova on Wednesday.