Agnieszka Radwanska comfortably defeated three-time Miami champion Venus Williams, 6-4 6-1, to reach the semifinals of the tournament for the first time. Note that of five previous Agnieszka’s losses to Venus, two happened in Miami, in 2009 and 2010.
Radwanska was the first to take charge, breaking Williams in the first game and confirming it with a 2-0 lead. However, Williams fired back and leveled. The ups and downs of the set didn’t end there. Williams was constantly staying in there, but still, all the time she was catching up with Radwanska. The crucial moment was when Radwanska broke for 4-3 and then won the following game to love. In the first set Venus’ first serve was 52%, to Radwanska’s 83%, and Radwanska was dominant throughout.
Williams started the second set by holding serve, which was the first time in the match that she had a lead, but that was as much as Williams had in the set, as Radwanska quickly made her way to victory, ending the match by breaking Williams to love. Even though Williams was run over by Radwanska in the quarterfinals, we can celebrate her comeback as an absolute success. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
