Goerges Stuns Radwanksa in Olympic Debut

News

Scores

Rankings

Lucky Letcord Podcast

Shop

Pro Gear

Pickleball

Gear Sale

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Goerges Stuns Radwanksa in Olympic Debut

By Erik Gudris

(July 29, 2012) -- With rain forcing the closure of the roof on Centre Court, history was made as indoor tennis was played for the first time at the Olympics since 1912 when the Games were held in Stockholm.

Germany's Julia Goerges, who was competing on the famed court for the first time in her career and as a first-time Olympian, was hoping for another first in a victory over No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who was 2-0 in her head to head with the German.

Helped by the slower conditions, Goerges earned an early break only to see Radwanska break back midway through the first set. Goerges broke Radwanska again allowing her to serve out the set 7-5.

From there, the second set became a serving contest with both women not facing a break point against them. Goerges, who bombed down 20 aces in the contest, remained composed throughout the close set. But Radwanska started to read Goerges serve a tad better late in the set so when they entered the tiebreak, the Wimbledon finalist used her returns to edge out the German and force a decider.

When Radwanska got an early break in the third, it appeared she was on her way to victory. But down 2-3, Goerges read a Radwanska drop shot to set up a winning backhand volley to break back for 3-all. It was another drop shot, but this time off the forehand wing of Goerges that allowed her after a titanic multi-deuce game to hold serve for 5-4.

Early errors from Radwanksa in the next game allowed the German to open a 15-40 lead and on her first match point, Goerges hit a forehand return winner, her 56th winner of the match, to seal a 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 upset victory.

Sharapova Cruises in Opening Round Win

No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova of Russia, also making her Olympic debut, overcame some early nerves before making quick work of Israrel's Shahar Peer in their match on Centre Court.

Peer broke Sharapova's serve to start the match but once the Russian settled down, she faced little resistance as she claimed the first set. A double fault from Peer early in the second set gave Sharapova an early 2-0 lead and with help from another Peer error to go up a double break lead at 4-0, a Sharapova win became a formality as she earned a quick 6-2, 6-0 victory in just over an hour.

Rain continues to delay play on the outside courts with Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka scheduled to play later in the day while many of the doubles matches have been postponed until tomorrow.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)