Agnieszka Radwanska to clash with Serena Williams in Australian Open semis

IANS
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska would meet the World No. 1 Serena Williams in the Australian Open semi-finals.

World No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska booked her spot in the Australian Open tennis semi-finals for the second time, winning over Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 here on Tuesday.

The match was billed as a meeting of two of the more cerebral players on tour - both rely on craftiness and shot variety to win in an era dominated by big hitters.

The pair had faced each other before, with Radwanska winning three of the four encounters but Navarro - who was looking for a spot in her first Grand Slam semi-final - won their most recent match.

Navarro and Radwanska had fought through tough and emotional fourth-round matches, where both had to come back from a set down to advance. But at the quarter-final stage, their match-up was much more straight forward.

Polish Radwanska took the lead from the start on the Rod Laver Arena, breaking Suarez Navarro's serve in the first game then winning the next five out of six to close out the set, 6-1.

The Spaniard broke Radwanska's serve twice and hung tight at 3-3. But from then it was all Radwanska, who won the next three games and the match at 6-3.

Navarro found herself unable to keep pace with Radwanska's all court game - she hit 45 unforced errors while Radwanska, who is typically stingy with the errors, hit just 13.

Radwanska will face top seed and World No.1 Serena Williams in the semis, who defeated fifth seed Maria Sharapova also on Tuesday.

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