By Chris Oddo Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
(February 24, 2012) Tennis fans in Dubai might miss the new world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who pulled out of the draw with an ankle injury, but Agnieszka Radwanska and Julia Goerges are doing just fine without her, thank you.
Goerges, who was scheduled to play the world No. 1 in her second match at the WTA premier event, ended up getting Casey Dellacqua. But credit to the German, who took advantage of the opportunity by rolling over the lucky loser in straight sets and today got by former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki for the third consecutive time, 7-6(3), 7-5.
Goerges, one of four Germans currently in the WTA’s top 20, has a chance to reach a career-high ranking of fifteen with a win in the final tomorrow. “When you see the draw you never expect to get to the final,” said Goerges of her good fortune in Dubai this week.
But Goerges clearly enjoys matching up her aggressive go-for-broke game with that of the passive, road-running style of Wozniacki. Today the match was on her racquet once again, and she asserted herself at crucial junctures of the match with big serves and forehands that nullified Wozniacki’s signature defenses.
"She didn't really allow me to get a rhythm,” said Wozniacki of her hard-hitting nemesis. The 18-time titlist on the WTA tour has yet to reach a final this year, but she will retain her No. 4 ranking for the meantime.
Radwanska, whose highly publicized comments about Azarenka last week in Doha have been the subject of much debate across the tennis Blogosphere, has also enjoyed Azarenka’s absence from the draw. All three of her losses in 2012 have come at the hands of the world-beating Belarusian, the last one a bitterly contested quarterfinal in Doha that had Radwanska crying foul about Azarenka’s on court injury-related theatrics. “I think after this match, [I] just lost a lot of respect,” said Radwanska.
Today Radwanska was her usual crafty self, using a perplexing array of dinks, dunks, angles, and slice to get the better of Jelena Jankovic in a three-setter that fizzled down the stretch, as a fatigued Jankovic broke down in the face of Radwanska’s pesky defense and clever shotmaking.
The 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 victory puts Radwanska in position to reach No. 5 in the world with a victory over Goerges in the final.
“She was playing much better in the second set, [she] really put me in big trouble,” said Radwanska. “I’m just very happy that I played very good tennis today and I hope I can do the same tomorrow.”
Radwanska and Goerges have met only once on the WTA tour, with Radwanska routing Goerges 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open.
"She killed me in Australia,” said Goerges. “I wasn’t even ready for that match.”