Radwanska falls to Pennetta in Dubai

Flavia Pennetta in action against Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday. — KT photo by Shihab

Flavia Pennetta caused the first major shock of these Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by jettisoning the second seed Agnieszka Radwanska at the last-16 stage on Wednesday afternoon.

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The Italian qualifier was broken in the fourth game with a double fault offering up a 3-1 advantage to her Polish opponent, who held her own service thereafter for a three-game cushion. However, from 4-1 ahead, Radwanska lost eight games in a row — with four service breaks — to trail 6-4, 3-0 to the 31-year-old.

Pennetta then dropped a service game to hand ‘Aga’ a glimmer of hope, which was swiftly extinguished as the latter reeled off three games in succession to prevail 6-4, 6-1; Radwanska’s challenge coming to a crestfallen close disappointingly on a double fault.

“I’m really happy. It’s the first time I’ve beaten her in six years,” said Pennetta, who faces Venus Williams in the quarters next.

“When you play against a player like Agnieszka, it’s not easy because the ball always comes back. You have the feeling you cannot win any points because it’s completely like a wall.

“I just tried to stay there in every point, play every point in the same way and don’t go away.” Radwanska later admitted her unfamiliarity with the court conditions and coming in comparatively ‘cold’ against a player who had already played four matches played a part in this demoralising defeat.

“I started well, but the conditions were worse for me than say in Doha,” the dejected world number three, 24, said. “The ball was really flying. I didn’t feel the ball today (Wednesday). When I don’t feel the ball, it’s not good. She was using the conditions and the wind much better than I did. It’s just the air and the wind. It’s a little bit different than in any other tournament.

“The first match is always the most difficult in a tournament, especially here when you play someone in the top 20 or 30 from the first round onwards. Every match helps. I also prefer to play something before. I played in my first round.”

Pennetta then is through to the quarter-finals where she shall face American wildcard Venus Williams, who confidently dismissed Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic in straight sets for the loss of just three games overall (6-2, 6-1). Pennetta’s fellow qualifier Annika Beck, of Germany, lost to the Danish eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4, while Jelena Jankovic will meet world number one Serena Williams for the place in the semis after overcoming Czech Lucie Safarova 7-5, 6-4.

“I’m going to have a challenge for the first time,” Jankovic, the fifth seed here, quipped. “It’s like, with every close ball, you pray: ‘Call it please!’

“It’s exciting to be back on Centre Court and playing Serena Williams. It’s going to be our first match this season. I look forward to it. “I will see how it goes. Hopefully, I can do it. I have a lot of fans and support behind me in Dubai and I love playing here, so we’ll see. I’m improving with each match and that’s a positive.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com