BEIJING, China – Agnieszka Radwanska bounces up from No.12 to No.8 this week, her 90th career week in the world’s Top 10 after winning the China Open on Sunday night edging the hard-hitting Andrea Petkovic in a two-hour, 34-minute championship marathon in the Chinese capital, 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.
There were many breaks of serve throughout the match. The No.11-seeded Radwanska kept building leads, with the No.9-seeded Petkovic playing catch up. Radwanska was up 4-1, Petkovic tied it up to 4-4. Another break for 5-4 to another break back for 5-5. Radwanska broke again for 6-5, and finally served out the first set, 7-5.
The match was so close, Petkovic actually won more points: 101 to 100. Petkovic retaliated in the second set with major forehand firepower, as she raced to a 25-minute shut out. Radwanska broke in the first game of the third set and eventually got the decisive break for 5-4 and easily served it out for the biggest title of her career.
This title was Radwanska’s first Premier Mandatory event and seventh WTA singles title overall. She improves to 7-2 in finals, one of her runner-up finishes being at Beijing in 2009 (l. Kuznetsova). Radwanska seems to have the upper hand on Petkovic having a 5-0 lifetime record in their head-to-head series. With this win, she is now also the leading contender for the eighth and final berth at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul.
24-year-old Petkovic was playing by far the biggest WTA final of her career, all four of her previous finals coming at the International level. She is now 2-3 in WTA finals, her titles coming at Bad Gastein in 2009 and Strasbourg earlier this year.
“I’m very, very happy Andrea and I could play such an amazing match. The first set was very tight, game by game. Then she killed me in the second set – I had chances, I was up 30-0 a few times, but it went by so quickly. It was hard to come back but I did, and in the end it was just a couple of points. I think it was the best final I’ve played. This is the biggest title of my career. It means a lot to me.”
Andrea Petkovic, 2011 China Open singles runner-up:
“Me and Agnieszka always have long matches. Even when it’s two sets we always play very long rallies and always play good matches. In two or three days, when the disappointment settles a little bit, I think I’ll be able to look back at this as a really great match and great entertainment for the people. Agnieszka has beaten me five times now – I really have to turn this head to head around. I actually love playing her – I just want to beat her one day!”
