Radwanska Topples Zvonareva to Win Tokyo Crown
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October 3, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska continued her good run against Vera Zvonareva as she won the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
The 22-year-old has now defeated the Russian in three consecutive matches and the ease of her 6-3, 6-2 victory on Saturday afternoon will disappoint Zvonareva immensely.
The number nine seed hasn’t had it all her way this week. She needed to come back from a set down against both Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic in the second and third rounds respectively, and despite leading Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 4-2 in the semi-finals , she needed a third set to see off the Belarusian.
But she was much more clinical in this final despite almost going 0-3 down.
At 0-2 she faced a game point that would have seen her in a real uphill struggle but she fought back, and in doing so took eight of the next nine games as a flabbergasted Zvonareva was blown right off the court.
From that point onwards there was no looking back and Radwanska was able to secure the second title of her season, having also defeated Zvonareva to win the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad back in August.
“I was a little bit nervous at the start, but I woke up after those first two games,” Radwanska said. “I had some tough matches this week … but I just kept trying my best. It was the finals so I tried not to think about it and fight until the end.
“I’m very, very happy to win this tournament. All of the top players were playing here, and I played some good tennis to beat them.”
Zvonareva went on to say it was an honour to play in the event given everything that has happened in Japan and also stated her intentions to continue to help those affected by the natural disasters earlier this year.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Charlie Cowins]
