Wuhan Open, China

[4] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) vs. [10] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

Despite a dominant lead in their head-to-head in favor of Kuznetsova, 11:4; it was Radwanska who came out playing like the one with the dominant lead.  Radwanska ran through the first set in no time, leaving her opponent baffled.  Why was she able to win the first set so easily at 6-1?  Radwanska is playing with more confidence these days, while Kuznetsova continues to struggle with fluctuating confidence.  After a dominant dismissal of Venus Williams in the previous round, I expected Kuznetsova to come out sharp.  She did, however, she was not able to sustain the high level of tennis required to defeat a quality player like Radwanska in the first set and Radwanska won it 6-1.

The second set was a battle of will and Kuznetsova won that contest in a tight tiebreak 7-6(9).  The match would go to a third set and either player could have won it.  They were both playing at their highest level and it was only a matter of a few costly errors that lost Radwanska the match.  As gifted as she is, she can still be over powered and when Kuznetsova is in form she can hit the ball as hard as any of the big hitters. She came back to win the match 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4; however, she expended a lot of energy to do so as Radwanska fought for every point.  Will she have enough left in the tank to get by her next opponent and make it to the final?

SOURCE OF IMAGE USED: Creative Commons