Agnieszka Radwanska survived her early test on Wednesday at the Australian Open, beating Eugenie Bouchard in a second round blockbuster. The Poles defense overcame the Canadian’s offense as the fourth seed advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Radwanska Roars Back to Claim Opener
Both women started off the match solidly, not facing much of a challenge on serve until the fifth game. After Bouchard fought through that game, she turned the tables on Radwanska in the following game. The Canadian forced the game to deuce, and then brought up her first break point. She missed her first chance, but converted her second with a backhand winner for the 4-2 lead.
Instead of building momentum with the break, Bouchard played one of her worst games of the match, hitting three straight unforced errors before double faulting on break point to let Radwanska back in the set. The Canadian had a chance to regain the break in the next game, but another poorly timed unforced error cost her the chance.
Radwanska held and swiftly broke again. Suddenly, Radwanska was serving for the set. Down triple set point, Bouchard put up a furious fight to keep the set alive, erasing the first three set points. She saved a fourth one before bringing up a break point, but Radwanska saved it. This time, the Pole was not to be denied as she converted her fifth set point to claim the opening set.
Early Break Sinks Bouchard
After barely surviving the opening set, Radwanska wasted no time asserting herself in the second set. She won four answered points, three of them on Bouchard unforced errors, to break her Canadian opponent for the early lead. Bouchard had a half chance at 1-2, grabbing a 0-30 lead on Radwanska’s serve, but she could not finish off the game. Three games later, the fourth seed put the match seemingly out of reach when she broke Bouchard for the second time in the set for a 5-2 lead.
Once again, with her back up against the wall, Bouchard put up one last fight to keep the match alive, racing to a 0-40 lead as Radwanska tried to serve out the match. But her fight would fall short. Her Polish opponent did what she did best, work the rallies to force Bouchard into errors.
Three straight misses from Bouchard, two of them forced errors, sent the game to deuce. Bouchard seemed out of gas, as she misfired a backhand to give Radwanska matched point, and then handed it to the Pole when she missed a forehand on match point.
By the Numbers
Bouchard’s aggression was clearly reflected by her statistics. While she dominated the winner department, hitting twenty-five to Radwanska’s nine, she also tripled Radwanska in unforced errors, hitting thirty-seven to her opponent’s twelve.
A lot of those errors came on key points. Speaking of key points, Bouchard only converted one of her seven break points. Radwanska was perfect on break points, converting all four of her opportunities on Bouchard’s serve.
Radwanska will take on Monica Puig in the third round, who survived an epic in the second round.