Tokyo: Poland`s Agnieszka Radwanska upset Russian fourth seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 to claim the biggest title of her career at the Pan Pacific Open on Saturday.
The 22-year-old, seeded ninth at the 2.05 million dollar event, started slowly when she dropped the first two games but roared back to win the next five as Zvonareva prowled the baseline muttering angrily to herself.
Once Radwanska had taken the opening set on a huge forehand down the line, she came out with all guns blazing in the second and wrapped up a dominant victory by forcing Zvonareva into another wild forehand error after just one hour and 15 minutes.
"It doesn`t matter how sore I was from a lot of tough matches," Radwanska told reporters. "Today was a final.”
The Pole, who had come through three full-set matches in a row to win the first prize of 360,000 dollars, choked back tears of joy during a courtside interview.
"It was a perfect match for me," she said. "If you don`t play high percentage and your best against Vera you have no chance. I didn`t expect to beat a great player like her 6-3, 6-2.”
"I was nervous at the start but I`m happy I woke up very quickly," Radwanska added after winning her sixth career title and second of 2011.
"I was very focused from start to finish."
Zvonareva was unable to explain her flat performance.
"I started well then suddenly I felt like I wasn`t the same person," she said with a shrug. "I don`t know what happened. It was like someone turned off a button and it wasn`t me on the court anymore."
Radwanska agreed her win demonstrated there was greater depth to women`s tennis than in recent years when it was dominated by Serena and Venus Williams or Belgians Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.
Czech Petra Kvitova winning Wimbledon and Australia`s Samantha Stosur`s U.S. Open breakthrough underlined the game`s strength in depth, the former reaching the Pan Pacific semi-finals while latter fell at the first hurdle.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova were also early casualties.
"In women`s tennis anything can happen," said Radwanska. "It is not just here but you see big-name players losing at grand slams.
"It`s not like it used to be when there were only three or four players winning slams. Now the top 15-20 all have the chance. It`s just the mental side."
Bureau Report
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.