Tennis News

STUTTGART, Germany – No.1 seed Agnieszka Radwanska started her clay season with a win over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 to make her way into the quarterfinals.

Their second round encounter was Radwanska and Petkovic’s sixth time competing against each other, with Radwanska staying undefeated against the German. However, all of those matches were contested on hardcourts, and Petkovic’s favored surface is red clay – four of her six titles have come on clay.

Playing on her favorite surface gave her an early edge – she won a drawn-out tug of war in the second game to break Radwanska’s serve and put the World No.2 down in a 3-0 hole. Petkovic covered the court, matching Radwanska’s famous variety shot for shot to take the first set.

The match took a turn in the second set, as Petkovic took a terrifying tumble just as Radwanska was finding her footing.

.@AndreaPetkovic takes a nasty fall, good news she's back up and playing! #PTGP pic.twitter.com/PX8fF0MLX2

— WTA (@WTA) April 21, 2016

“I slipped on the line and fell on my tailbone,” Petkovic explained after the match. “My ankle is okay, but my back is not so good. I just couldn’t move anymore.”

Though the German dusted herself off and continued on after taking a medical time out, Radwanska took advantage of Petkovic’s hampered movement and quickly closed out the set at 6-1 to level the match. It was one-way traffic from there, as the Pole dug from her arsenal of trick shots and booked her spot in the quarterfinals after almost two hours.

Radwanska sets up a quarterfinal clash against the big-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova. Pliskova extended her winning streak against Ana Ivanovic, cruising into the quarterfinals with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win.

More to come…

STUTTGART, Germany – No.1 seed Agnieszka Radwanska extended her winning streak against Karolina Pliskova, dispatching the Czech 6-2, 7-6(8) to claim the last semifinal spot of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

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Despite Pliskova’s powerful weapons and game, crafty Radwanska has claimed all five of their previous encounters in straight sets, allowing the Czech no more than five games a set. Their last clay court encounter ended in a smooth 6-3, 6-4 victory for Radwanska.

After Radwanska took the first set in a quick half an hour, it seemed like their Stuttgart quarterfinal match would go the same way as all their previous ones. Radwanska was unbothered by Pliskova’s famous serve, and so long as she got back a return she found a way to control the rallies and give the Czech the type of low, sliced balls that trouble her the most.

But instead of shrinking away in the second set, Pliskova instead gave Radwanska a taste of her own medicine, catching her with drop shots and beating her at the net. She broke Radwanska’s serve at 2-3, and survived a rollercoaster 11-minute game to consolidate it.

Despite the monumental effort it took for Pliskova to get the lead, it was short-lived Radwanska quickly broke back and leveled the match at 4-4. They kept toe to toe until another marathon game – this time 15 minutes long, as Radwanska tried to hold serve and subdue the resurgent Pliskova who brought up seven break points – sent the match into a tiebreak. Four match points later, Radwanska was through to her fifth semifinal of the year.

Awaiting Radwanska in the final four is German qualifier Laura Siegemund, who extended her own streak of upsets to oust the No.6 seed Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-4 and reach her first WTA Premier-level semifinals.

The Stuttgart native felt strong support from the German crowd who were out in full force to support their local underdog.

“That was a crazy mood out there,” Siegemund said of the animated Porsche-Arena crowd. “It has so fun. I was very focused during the match and tried to concentrate on my game, but I could hear them in the background – the stadium was shaking.”

With the win she’ll reach a new career-high ranking of No.55, and earn herself a spot in German tennis history, too. With Angelique Kerber also having reached the semifinals earlier in the day, this marks the first time since 1985 that two Germans have reached this stage in Stuttgart.