Radwanska Steps Closer To Singapore With Beijing Win Over Wang

Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – 2015 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion Agnieszka Radwanska is just two matches from booking a return to Singapore with a first round win at the China Open, defeating wildcard Wang Qiang, 6-2, 6-2.

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“First match is always tricky,” said the No.3 seed in her post-match press conference. “I just realized that the court and balls are much slower than the last week. Well, I was just trying to be more aggressive. If I had a chance, I was stepping in and moving to the net.”

Radwanska could have booked her ticket to Singapore last week had she won the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, but fell to former World No.2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals – despite holding a match point in the second set.

“You are always trying to not think about pressure, especially here, close to Singapore.

“I just hope I can do it here, that’s for sure. But, well, I had the situation last year when I had to win the Tianjin Open to qualify for Singapore, and I did it. Of course, it was last-minute qualifying.

“I will try everything to qualify a bit before that this year. Everything is open. This is a big event. Everybody can do a lot of points here. It’s a little bit more pressure, but I think every year it’s kind of similar situation for everyone, especially a lot of girls this year is really close and the rankings are very tight.”

Easing ahead to a 6-2, 5-1 lead, Radwanska wobbled at the finish line against Wang, a talented player who started the year by taking out Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open, but the Pole rebounded to end the match in one hour and 24 minutes.

“I had a couple of matchpoints. It was still not a tragedy when I was 5-1 up. I was just very happy that I put a couple of good shots in next game and closed that set also very quickly.”

Up next for the World No.3 is Ekaterina Makarova, who dispatched fellow Singapore doubles partner Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-1, in their first round encounter on Sunday.