Opening a little bit rain-delayed Wednesday’s action at the Aegon International Eastbourne, Monica Puig came back from a set down to beat the 2009 champion Caroline Wozniacki and advance to the Premier-level quarterfinals, while in the following match top seed Agnieszka Radwanska got past Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets.
The 43rd-ranked Puig started her third-round match with a 2-0 lead, but Wozniacki broke right back and after a long seventh game and its seven deuces Wozniacki went up a break and never looked back in the opening set, as Puig simply lost her rhythm midway through the set. Puig converted just one of seven break points.
The second set went with serve until its final stage, when the more solid Puig, who never even faced a break point in the set, jumped from 4-3 to 5-3 and successfully served for the set in the following game. In the decider, even though Wozniacki recovered from 0-2 to 2-2, the Puerto Rican qualifier eventually progressed into the quarterfinals with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
The seed No.1 Radwanska solidly won her first set against Bouchard, by virtue of two breaks against the opponent who never even earned a break point opportunity. Bouchard was a more aggressive player, as evidenced in her 13 winners to 13 unforced errors, but Radwanska’s four winners to two unforced errors were enough for her to effectively win the first set.
Radwanska dropped serve in the opening game of the second set, but quickly recovered by winning three straight games. Even though Bouchard kept the match competitive by leveling to 3-3, Radwanska was overall stronger and without much drama recorded a 6-3 6-3 win.
More exciting WTA action in Eastbourne follows and our photographer Jimmie48 is right there, bringing us exclusive photos every evening. Check out his work from Monday and Tuesday.
