Decorated with some henna from the player party the night before, Agnieszka Radwanska battled past a young Kazakh on the rise to make the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals.
Agnieszka Radwanska battled past a young Kazakh on the rise in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday, and due to some circumstances that were out of her control, the Pole is now a strong favorite for the title as we move into the quarterfinals.
Facing 18-year-old Kazakh wildcard Yulia Putintseva, the No.3-seeded Radwanska had to battle back from a break down three times in the first set and once more in the second set but won, 75 63.
“It’s always tough playing someone you don’t know, and also the first match of the week is always tricky,” Radwanska said afterwards. “But even when I didn’t play my best tennis today I was really fighting for every point, and I’m just happy I could come back in the first set and win it in two sets.”
Radwanska talked about how it feels to be the defending champion with such a strong field out to take her title. “Well it’s always a bit of pressure, and obviously it’s a strong tournament here,” she said. “But every match I will have nothing to lose because I’m playing such good players now. Of course I’ll do everything in my power to hold the trophy again at the end of the week and have the title.”
Putintseva had never played against anyone ranked higher than No.20 in the world before. “I take a lot of experience from this match,” she commented. “I think it’s a big step in my career to play against a Top 5 player for the first time. I think it’s great. I enjoyed the moment a lot and I’m quite happy with what I did on the court. We’ll see if I can do better next time – we’ll see how it will go.”
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