Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska has withdrawn from the Tianjin Open hours after defeating Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-1, in the second round.
Radwanska appeared to be in little difficulty during her one-sided last 16 encounter in China. Successfully fending off the only break point she faced in the match, the Pole broke her Russian rival three times to seal the win. The defending champion was particularly impressive with her first service performance by winning 85% of the points (22/26).
Shortly after clinching her eighth consecutive win on the tour, Radwanska held a press conference to announce her withdrawal from the tournament due to a thigh injury. Speaking to the media in China, the world No.3 said she aggravated the injury during her first round match and the pain has worsened since.
Aga: “In 1st match i got injured, and last night & this morning have done the treatment, but after playing, find the situation worse…” pic.twitter.com/J52AEoNxnr
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanskaLive) 13 October 2016
Retiring is a difficult decision & I certainly hope to achieve good results at every stop.But I have been playing for several weeks in a row
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanskaLive) 13 October 2016
The world No.3 was on an eight-match winning streak after clinching the Beijing title last week. So far this season Radwanska has won 51 matches and claimed three titles, two of which was in China (Beijing and Shenzhen).
Following her withdrawal, Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai will progress to her first WTA semifinal of the season. Shuai also received a walkover in the first round when seventh seed Zhang Shuai retired.
Earlier in the day, Olympic champion Monica Puig overcame a troublesome opening set to defeat Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 6-2. The fifth seed dropped her serve twice at the start of the match to allow her rival to race to a 3-1 lead before she triumphantly battled back to clinch the straight sets win. Since winning the gold medal in Rio, Puig has endured disappointment on the tour. This week is only the second time that she has won back-to-back matches in a tournament since August.
In the last eight Puig will play last year’s runner-up Danka Kovinic. The Montenegrin recovered from a set down to defeat Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. In the first round of the tournament, Rogers stunned third seed Elena Vesnina.
The 21-year-old will now play in her first WTA quarter-final since the Bucharest Open in July.
