Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska is closing in on a second consecutive title at the New Haven Open after defeating China’s Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-3.
The world No.10, who last reached a tour semifinal back in January, dropped serve at the early stages of both sets before battling her way past the Chinese eighth seed. Producing 20 winners and 20 unforced errors, the former Wimbledon finalist benefited heavily from Peng’s costly error count of 44.
“She’s a very solid player,” Radwanska commented about Peng. “I knew I needed to work hard over there to win every point. She’s not making mistakes. You really need to push her to make mistakes.”
The win is sweet revenge for the Polish player, who lost to Peng in straight sets earlier this year in Indian Wells. This week Radwanska is bidding to win her first title of the season and reach her first final since the Sydney International at the start of the year.
“She’s definitely a tough opponent, I’ve played her a few times before so I knew what I had to do,” Radwanska said. “I really pushed myself even more than 100% today (Thursday).
“I’m very, very happy that I could get this revenge.”
Awaiting the top seed in the semifinals will be Daria Gavrilova. The Australian, who has lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament on two previous occasions, muscled her way past Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-4. Saving all 11 break points that she faced in the match.
“The plan was to be aggressive, she’s a very tricky player,” wtatennis.com quoted Gavrilova in her on-court interview after the match. “It feels pretty good right now, I’m really happy with the way my tournament is going.”
The last four showdown will be new territory for both players, who has never played each other on the tour. Gavrilova has scored eight wins over top 10 players in her career, but only one this year. That was against Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Italian Open. Meanwhile, Radwanska is still seeking her first top 10 scalp of the season.
“Playing someone for the first time is very challenging, but also very exciting after so many years on the tour playing the same players,” said Radwanska. “It’s very nice to play someone for the first time.
“I know [Gavrilova] can play really good tennis, she’s a great fighter. So we’ll see tomorrow.”
Cibulkova progresses
In the other section of the draw, Dominika Cibulkova held her nerve to edge out Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-4. During the first set, the Slovakian was forced to fight back from a 2-4 deficit. Then in the second, Cibulkova’s lead of 5-0 sparked a four-game winning streak from Pavlyuchenkova before she managed to break the Russian again to seal the match.
There was high commotion both on and off the court. The match was halted for 20 minutes due to a medical emergency in the crowd. Cibulkova later explained that the break allowed her to regain her focus on the match.
“She started with a strong game and I couldn’t do what I wanted,” Cibulkova explained. “The break (fan needing medical attention) helped me because I did not feel good on the court. I was fighting and fighting and trying to turn the match around.
“I needed to be more aggressive. The only chance to play better today was to go against her strong balls, just to hit it 100 percent. I wasn’t hitting the ball 100 percent early on. She was just kind of killing me on the court.”
The second seed will next player Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens, who had a walkover in her match.
