TENNIS – Sara Errani battled past Agnieszka Radwanska with 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 to get through to the Round of 16 of the Porsche Tennis Indoor Grand Prix at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. Errani saved two set points in the tie-break of the first set Diego Sampaolo
Just a few days after coming close to an upset win over Serena Williams in the Fed Cup Play-Off Sara Errani upset number 7 seed Agniewska Radwanska in her best match of the year in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. The Italian star, finalist at the 2012 Roland Garros, beat Radwanska for the third time in her career.
The first set was very intense and featured a lot of breaks. Radwanska served for the first set at 5-3 but she dropped her serve to love. Errani reeled off three consecutive games to take a 6-5 lead but she was broken as she was serving for the set. Both players wasted a lot of set points during a very long tie-break. Radwanska earned two set points in the tie-break but Errani saved them before clinching the first set with 10-8.
The second set featured a lot of hard-fought sets and breaks. Errani got the break in the seventh game to take the 4-3 lead. Radwanska broke back. As Errani was leading 5-4, Radwanska saved the first match point at 30-40 but she hit a forehand long on the second match point.
Errani hit 35 winners to 24 unforced errors
“It was really tough. Sunday’s Fed Cup matches were really tough and I was quite tired before the doubles but then Flavia and I played very well. It gave me a lot of confidence, which is important on clay”, said Errani
Radwanska continues her bad period of form a few days after losing 6-1 6-1 against Timea Baczinsky in the Fed Cup Play-Off between Poland and Switzerland.
The Pole became the second seed to be knocked out after Ana Ivanovic lost to Caroline Garcia yesterday.
“A first round match against Errani is not fun. It was just a few points here and there that made the difference in the match. I had some chances a few points that I didn’t finish”, said Radwanska
Errani will take on Zarina Diyas who swept aside this year’s Indian Wells semifinalist Sabine Lisicki with a double bagel after 64 minutes. Lisicki made 32 unforced errors including seven double faults
Simona Halep rallied from a set down with 3-6 6-1 6-3 over Garbine Muguruza after a hard-fought match to reach her sixth quarter final this year.
Muguruza, who won her previous two head-to-head matches, converted on both her two break point chances to clinch the first set. but Halep bounced back to take the second set with 6-1. Halep went down 0-2 in the third set and faced points to trail 0-3 but she bounced back reeling off five of her next six games to win the match. Halep hit 12 winners to 9 unforced errors. Muguruza produced 18 winners to 31 unforced errors.
The Romanian player will face the winner of the match between Errani and Diyas. Halep won more titles than anyone else in the circuit this year and won 24 matches, more than any other player in 2015. If she wins the Stuttgart tournament, she will overtake Serena Williams for Number 1 in the Road to Singapore.
Angelique Kerber, who won in Charleston this year, edged past Alexa Glatsch 6-2 7-5 setting up a second round match against Maria Sharapova who won the last three editions of the Stuttgart Porsche Open. Sharapova leads 4-2 in their previous head-to-head matches bur Kerber beat her Russian rival last year in the fourt round at Wimbledon
Belinda Bencic recovered from a set down to battle past Julia Georges with 3-6 6-3 7-5.
Bencic went down 0-2 in the first set. She drew level to 2-2 but Georges broke serve en route to winning the first set with 6-3. Bencic opened up a 4-1 lead in the second set before Georges won a 15-minute long game and clawed her way back to 3-4. Bencic recovered winning three consecutive games to clinch the second set with 6-3
Bencic will take on recent Miami finalist Carla Suarez Navarro
The young Swiss player showed her mental strength when she saved three match points at 4-5.
