The World No.4 Radwanska took a wildcard into the New Haven event looking for some last-minute tune up ahead of the US Open.
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Number one seed Agnieszka Radwanska secured the WTA Connecticut Open title with a 6-1 7-6 (7-3) victory over Elina Svitolina in New Haven.
The Ukrainian 10th seed raised her game in the second with some powerful, precise groundstrokes and had three set points to level the match but was unable to convert, before being overrun in the tiebreak. She took control of the final from the start, winning 20 of the first 27 points, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. But they haven’t played in over a year, and Svitolina seems much improved since a 6-4, 6-1 loss to Radwanska in Tokyo in 2015.
Svitolina committed 36 unforced errors, including a backhand into the net to end the match. She’ll now leave the tournament having claimed the 19 WTA title of her career, and her second title of 2016 after opening the season with a win at Shenzhen. “She placed it really well”. “It will be worth it, right?” The top seed dominated the first set and climbed back from a deficit to win the second set on a tiebreaker. Her performance in CT is an indication of how well she is playing in a year when the U.S. Open may be up for grabs – Serena Williams reportedly has a shoulder injury, and she has not played since the Olympics.
Svitolina said she’s received a lot of congratulations since the Olympics, but she was disappointed because she did not medal and hopes for bigger things next week. But I couldn’t. I think she definitely has a good chance for the final.
Should she defeat Svitolina, Radwanska can use the $130,300 Connecticut Open first-place prize for tip money. “She’s a very talented player, said Agnieszka Radwanska when asked to comment on her near slip-up in the second set. It’s really tough to play against her when she’s getting each ball and playing so deep”. “For the rest, I don’t think this way”.
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“I remember also playing previous year very good”, she noted. Their upcoming 2016 US Open match will be the first-ever meeting for Agnieszka Radwanska and the 22-year old Jessica Pegula.
