By Chris Oddo | Tuesday October 27, 2015
Flavia Pennetta notched a hard-earned victory over Agnieszka Radwanska in Singapore to bolster her chances of making the semis on Tuesday.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
After tossing in a dud on her WTA Finals debut, winning only three games versus Simona Halep, Flavia Pennetta responded with an inspired performance to take down Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-6(5), 6-4.
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“I was trying to be really focused, trying to be aggressive, to hit the ball hard,” Pennetta said after the win. “My serve helped me a lot today I have to say—thank god—and I’m really happy with the way I played today.”
The victory keeps Pennetta in the hunt for a semifinal slot in Singapore and puts Radwanska on the brink of elimination. The Pole can be knocked out of contention if Simona Halep defeats Maria Sharapova later this evening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Just as she did in her first match against Sharapova, Radwanska had her opportunities. She served for the first set with a 5-4 lead but Pennetta found the sizzle in her game after a word from her coach Salvador Navarro at the changeover.
Radwanska built a 30-15 lead to get within two points of the set but when her backhand sailed long three points later, things were level at five.
Soon, Pennetta found herself with two set points in the first set tiebreaker. Radwanska gamely saved the first with an incredible crosscourt forehand pass, but a perfect drop-volley combo on the next point gave the Italian the opener.
In the second set Pennetta and Radwanska marched in lockstep to 3-all, but it was Pennetta who took the lead this time, breaking on her third break point of the seventh game with a clean backhand return winner. That backhand of Pennetta’s, which produced 11 winners in the match, kept paying dividends as she headed down the stretch.
Radwanska would stave off defeat by saving three match points while serving at 3-5, but in the next game Pennetta would finish her off, closing the door with back-to-back backhand down-the-line winners to earn the hard-earned victory.
Pennetta struck 37 (plus-14 winners to unforced errors) winners during the 99-minute affair, against 20 for Radwanska (plus-4).
Pennetta improves to 4-5 against Radwanska with the win, and will face Maria Sharapova in round robin play on Thursday with a chance to qualify for the semis.
In early doubles action on Tuesday in Singapore, second-seeded Hao-Ching and Yung-Jan Chan cruised past second-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, 6-2, 6-2, in their first career meeting. The Chans (2-0) are the only undefeated team remaining in their group.