Favorite tag means nothing to Serena
Source: AFP |
July 7, 2012, Saturday
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SERENA Williams insists she will have to deliver the performance of a lifetime to win her fifth Wimbledon title against Agnieszka Radwanska in today's final.
Serena is widely expected to overpower Radwanska in her seventh final after the American served up a masterclass during a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) victory over world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka on Thursday. Azarenka is the reigning Australian Open champion and one of the more powerful strokemakers on the women's tour, but even the Belarusian could do nothing to avoid being battered into submission as Serena hammered down a record 24 aces.
Serena served more aces in one set against Azarenka than Radwanska has managed in the entire tournament.
That formidable weapon combined with her wealth of experience - this is Serena's 18th grand slam final but the first for Radwanska - make it easy to see why the sixth seed is heavily favoured to clinch her 14th major title.
But Serena, the first 30-year-old to reach the Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf in 1999, has too much respect for Polish third seed Radwanska to be drawn into the hype that has her already crowned champion.
"Radwanska has been playing well. She's been consistent this year, more consistent than I have," Serena said. "That tells me I really need to go out there and be ready to hit a lot of shots and be ready to play hard. She has great hands and she does everything so well. If I come out flat, I won't win."
But Radwanska, who beat Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Polish grand slam finalist in 73 years, is a superb counter-puncher capable of extending rallies long enough to force crucial errors. With that in mind, Serena believes just relying on her serve would be too one-dimensional against an opponent as cunning as Radwanska.
"I think if I try to do too much overpowering I can be led to a lot of errors, so I don't know about that," she said. "I think my biggest challenge is Agnieszka is really good at everything. She's running every ball down. It's going to be challenging. It's not easy at all ... so I think it will be a really good match."
Serena is widely expected to overpower Radwanska in her seventh final after the American served up a masterclass during a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) victory over world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka on Thursday. Azarenka is the reigning Australian Open champion and one of the more powerful strokemakers on the women's tour, but even the Belarusian could do nothing to avoid being battered into submission as Serena hammered down a record 24 aces.
Serena served more aces in one set against Azarenka than Radwanska has managed in the entire tournament.
That formidable weapon combined with her wealth of experience - this is Serena's 18th grand slam final but the first for Radwanska - make it easy to see why the sixth seed is heavily favoured to clinch her 14th major title.
But Serena, the first 30-year-old to reach the Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf in 1999, has too much respect for Polish third seed Radwanska to be drawn into the hype that has her already crowned champion.
"Radwanska has been playing well. She's been consistent this year, more consistent than I have," Serena said. "That tells me I really need to go out there and be ready to hit a lot of shots and be ready to play hard. She has great hands and she does everything so well. If I come out flat, I won't win."
But Radwanska, who beat Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Polish grand slam finalist in 73 years, is a superb counter-puncher capable of extending rallies long enough to force crucial errors. With that in mind, Serena believes just relying on her serve would be too one-dimensional against an opponent as cunning as Radwanska.
"I think if I try to do too much overpowering I can be led to a lot of errors, so I don't know about that," she said. "I think my biggest challenge is Agnieszka is really good at everything. She's running every ball down. It's going to be challenging. It's not easy at all ... so I think it will be a really good match."
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