By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, June 15, 2016
CoCo Vandeweghe won five of the last six games powering past world No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, into the Birmingham second round.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
An assertive CoCo Vandeweghe backed up her second career title with a first-rate victory.
Vandeweghe powered past top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, into the Birmingham second round.
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Winless in four prior meetings with Radwanska, Vandeweghe earned the biggest victory of her career over the world No. 3.
"I'm feeling good. I think I've said it before, but I think grass and hard courts definitely accentuates what I do well," said Vandeweghe, who had lost all seven of the prior sets she'd played agaisnt Radwanska. "Her game has been a big puzzle for me in the past. I've lost four times before. Some not even remotely close.But I had a lot of confidence going in. This was her first grass court match, also I think it's like it's my turn. You lose too many times, it's like, Well, it's got to be my turn soon.”
World No. 26 Irina-Camelia Begu held a 6-4, 4-3 lead over Belina Bencic when the fourth-seeded Swiss retired with a thigh injury after a tumble to the court.
"I slipped during the first set and injured my thigh," Bencic told WTATennis.com. "I tried to play on but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the match. It's not ideal but being healthy in the long term is the top priority so I had to do the sensible thing."
Fresh off her run to her second 's-Hertogenbosch title, Vandeweghe converted three of her five service breaks in the final set stretching her winning streak to six matches.
In a match pitting Vandeweghe's first-strike explosiveness against Radwanska's clever counter-punching skills, the 32nd-ranked American surged through five of the final six games.
"She's a tricky opponent any way you slice it," Vandeweghe said. "I mean that as a pun and literally.
"I got myself into a little trouble here and there in the first, second and third sets Winning the title last week helps you get thru that tricky situation because you've done it before."
The 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinalist carried a 6-16 record vs. Top 10 opponents onto court, including a 2015 Wimbledon win over No. 6 Lucie Safarova and a conquest of sixth-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro in Miami earlier this season.
Facing a 1-2 deficit in the decider, Vandeweghe called for coach Craig Kardon, who urged her to unleash her superior power in cross-court exchanges.
Vandeweghe complied blowing the former Wimbledon finalist behind the baseline at times down the stretch.
"I knew she would do it —that's what she does very well —she takes power and moves it around the court," Vandeweghe said afterward. "But I didn't think she could sustain it. If I was able to be consistent with my power and pace I thought I would overpower her. That was kind of my game plan: I was gonna go out there, she was going to do some amazing shots but I think overall if I stuck with it I was going to beat her."
The match was level at 4-all yesterday when rain suspended play. Vandeweghe slammed an ace to seal the first set.
Working the angles and mixing in her backhand down the line at times, Radwanska drained errors to take the second set and build a 2-1 lead in the decider. But that was really her last stand.
Vandeweghe broke for 5-2, but failed to serve out the match in the eighth game.
Hammering heavy shots into the corners, Vandeweghe broke to conclude a two hour, 16-minute test played out over two days.
Vandeweghe will try to stretch her streak in an all-American second-rounder with qualifier Christina McHale, who rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow qualifier Katerina Siniakova.
Sixth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro edged Elina Svitolina, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, setting up a second-round clash with Andrea Petkovic.