By Erik Gudris | Monday, January 25, 2016

 

Agnieszka Radwanska continued her recent win streak by once again booking her place in the Australian Open semifinals.

Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska continued her recent win streak that started at the end of last season by booking her place in the final four at this year’s Australian Open.

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The fourth seeded Radwanska is now just two wins away from claiming her first ever major title.

“Yes I knew it was going to be a tough one,” Radwanska said after the win. “She’s a very solid player. I knew everything would come back to my side. I had to be aggressive. I had to focus on my serve and I think I did a good job.”

Radwanska faced in the fourth round No. 10 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Though the expectation was that this latest encounter might go three sets based on previous results, this match soon ended up being all one way traffic for Radwanska.

Radwanska broke Suarez Navarro in the opening game thanks to the Spaniard tossing into two double faults. Though Suarez Navarro tried to play more aggressive from the backcourt and go for winners early, she often found her shots going wide or long.

Those mounting errors allowed Radwanska to open up a 4-0 lead. Though Suarez Navarro would finally get on the board, 18 errors overall from her in the set proved costly. Radwanska soon wrapped up the set 6-1.

Radwanska’s trademark touch and ability to change the direction of rallies proved key in the early stages of the second set. The Polish No. 1 tossed up a perfect lob over Suarez Navarro to give her another break points. Radwanska converted for a 2-0 lead thanks to another error by the Spaniard.

Suarez Navarro finally got her aggressive game plan to work in her favor midway through the set. Hitting more winners than errors allowed her to break back and stay in touch with Radwanska. Serving at 3-2, Suarez Navarro endured an extended 10 minute game filled with sixth deuces and several break points. But, she hung on to her serve for 3-all.

Sensing her opponent might make things more difficult for her, Radwanska stepped up her own attack. Moving forward to finish off a high forehand volley, Radwanska broke her opponent game to go ahead 5-3.

Though she faced a final bit of resistance, Radwanska eventually served out the match thanks to a final Suarez Navarro error. With that, Radwanska completed the 6-1, 6-3 win to reach her second career semifinal in Melbourne.

Radwanska played a clean match with 15 winners and just 13 unforced errors. Suarez Navarro hit 45 unforced errors to just 22 winners.

This is now Radwanska’s 13th match win this year and she has won 22 out of 25 matches since the end of last season, which included the year-end championship.

When asked about her potential semifinal opponent in either Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova, Radwanska was honest about her chances. That considering she has a lopsided losing record against both of them.

“If I don’t play my best tennis, I will be in big trouble.”