Andrea Petkovic and Agnieszka Radwanska will face each other in the final of the China Open and it’s not only a big moment in their careers because it’s a Premier-level tournament, the winner of the match will return to No.10 in the rankings. Also, they are both contenders for the three remaining berths in the WTA championships draw in Istanbul.
The ninth-seeded Petkovic quickly defeated Monica Niculescu 6-2 6-0 and reached her biggest career final, but she far from underestimated her qualifier opponent, who had upset fourth seed Li Na in the first round.
“My opponent had a totally different style than all the other girls. I don’t think I had a match like this the whole season,” Petkovic said after taking all seven of Niculescu’s service games. “So I prepared differently. I put my two coaches on the other side of the court and made them play slice all the time. So I think I was quite prepared for what was waiting for me here today.”
The 11th-seeded Radwanska advanced with a 6-2 6-4 win over Flavia Pennetta, who had eliminated world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. Radwanska was cruising until 6-2 3-1, but Pennetta levelled in the second set 3-3, and both held their serve since, until the last game when Radwanska broke Pennetta to take the match 6-2 6-4.
Radwanska defeated Petkovic in all four previous encounters, including two this season. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)
Andrea was very good from the beginning!
The Romanian Niculescu had almost no chance.
Looking forward the finals 🙂