The second round of the rain-plagued Qatar Total Open saw a blockbuster second round match between Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki, two old rivals. The Dane managed to extend her head-to-head record over the Pole to 10-6 as she strolled to the straight sets victory, claiming the win after 1 hour and 40 minutes of world-class tennis.
Tight first set
Wozniacki had the perfect start to the match as Radwanska had a slow start to the match, with her shots starting to misfire. Despite having the momentum since she had the early break, the Dane lost the lead as soon as possible as the Pole made an immediate reply to return on serve. The former world number one threatened to make another breakthrough when she went up 30-15 in Radwanska’s next service game but failed to earn a break point to do so.
Wozniacki looked to be the better player on the court as she managed to earn two break points at 2-2 with some good returns and solid groundstrokes, having a great chance to regain the lead. Nevertheless, Radwanska maintained her composure well enough to play her normal tennis and hold onto her service game. With both players having exceptionally god-like ball touch, there were many amazing and unbelievable points being played. Both Radwanska and Wozniacki were unusually very solid on their serves in this match, with neither players able to make a breakthrough in their return games.
Hence, the first set progressed into an 11th and 12th game to decide its winner. Just at the last and most critical moment of the first set, Wozniacki played her best tennis to break serve for the second time in the set to have a chance to serve for the first set victory, after winning an important point at 30-15 The Dane did just so, successfully serving out the set comfortably to take the advantage.
Wozniacki plays some great tennis
Looking to start the second set on a positive note by holding her serve comfortably, Radwanska was one point away from completing the job when she led 40-15 in the first game. However, this was when Wozniacki started to make a fightback as the Dane came back to make an unexpected break of serve despite wasting three break points along the way.
After consolidating the break with a tense hold of service which saw Radwanska get to deuce, Wozniacki had yet another chance to extend her lead as she earned another break point in the Pole’s next service game. This time, the Pole was able to save the break point and survive the service game to prevent herself from falling behind even further.
Radwanska had a golden opportunity to return on serve as she earned double break points when being 2-3 down, but was very disappointing on those opportunities as Wozniacki eventually held serve to 4-2. A few games after, Radwanska soon found herself having to serve to stay in the match as Wozniacki held tightly onto her service games. Unable to deal with the Dane’s best tennis, the Pole fell in straight sets after exactly 100 minutes, crashing out of the tournament in her opening match.
Next up for Wozniacki
It would be Lauren Davis, the qualifier, up next in the quarterfinals for the Dane. If Wozniacki were to be able to clinch the win, she would face Monica Puig in the semifinals after she mounted an incredible comeback to defeat Daria Kasatkina in three sets.
