By Chris Oddo | Sunday, March 9, 2014
Agnieszka Radwanska was red hot and Annika Beck was ice cold. The result was a beautiful yet disastrous double bagel.
Photo Source: AP
Agnieszka Radwanska, as she so often can be, was flawless. Annika Beck, meanwhile, was her own worst enemy.
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At the end of the day, it added up to a blowout.
The second-seeded Radwanska recorded the eleventh double-bagel on the women's side in the history of the tournament, and the third in the WTA this season, thumping a shell-shocked and shoulder-slumped Annika Beck, 6-0, 6-0, in 67 minutes at the BNP Paribas Open.
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“A couple of games were so long, so tight,” said Radwanska. “Of course I had to really work on every point.”
Strangely, Beck was able to squeeze more points against the Radwanska serve, but when the German held the balls she struggled mightily, winning an abysmal 10 of 34 points with her first serve and only three of ten with her second offering.
Though Beck took her lumps, the promising 20-year-old made some good shots in the second set—it just wasn't enough to derail the Radwanska express.
Radwanska will face Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the round of 16. Cornet needed nearly three and a half hours to notch a sun-baked 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-3 victory over a sore-legged Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Both players struggled in the hot mid-day conditions in the desert, but it was Cornet who closed the deal with the help of four service breaks in the decider.
“She can run all day,” said Radwanska of Cornet. “She's a really great fighter playing really great this year as well.”
Several other seeds moved through at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, most notably Simona Halep, who eased past Lucie Safarova in three grueling sets, Caroline Wozniacki, who downed Yaroslava Shvedova, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-1.
In one of the biggest surprises of the day, Canada's Eugenie Bouchard comfortably moved past ninth-seeded Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-3, before heading to the press room for her post-match interview with a few stuffed animals in tow:
In other action on Sunday, 20-year-old American Lauren Davis built on the momentum she gained when knocking off Victoria Azarenka in the second round and thrashed her fellow American Varvara Lepchenko, 6-3, 6-2. Davis will next face Australian qualifier Casey Dellacqua, with a good shot to make the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, on the doubles court, it was a wild day for Kimiko Date-Krumm, as this happened:
Date-Krumm and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova defeated Kristina Mladenovic and Flavia Pennetta, 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-5.