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Agnieszka Radwanska earned an easy pass into the Nature Valley International quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon. Petra Kvitova made the decision to withdraw from the tournament due to a right hamstring injury right before her match on Centre Court at Devonshire Park. It was announced by WTA organizers of the tournament in Eastbourne.
“I’m really disappointed to have to withdraw from Eastbourne this morning,” Kvitova said in a statement. “I felt my hamstring in the Birmingham final and although I played with tape in my match here yesterday, when I woke up this morning it felt worse. With Wimbledon around the corner, I couldn’t take the risk of making it worse by playing today. I am so sorry to the fans here in Eastbourne who won't see me play but I hope to be back at this beautiful event next year.”
Out of the 12 previous meetings, this was the first one that saw either player withdraw from action. The world number eight hasn’t had a retirement since she returned from a hand injury suffered during a robbery attempt of her home in Prague. With Kvitova ranked eighth, she guaranteed herself a solid spot in the ladies draw of the championships at Wimbledon Championships in London that start on July. 2.
The east European rivalry was to heat up for a second time this season and the 13th career meeting between the two. Kvitova got the best of Radwanska in a hard-fought match at Doha coming up with the win in three sets.
They last met up on the grass courts of Eastbourne seven years ago which also went three sets. With a quarterfinal spot in hand, Radwanska would save up a day, keeping her style of tennis up and running perfectly. The 29 would give it her all to take down the winner between Jelena Ostapenko and Mihaela Buznarescu on Thursday.
She has only faced the Latvian on one occasion back in New Haven where she managed to take her down in two sets before winning the title in 2016. It would be a first against Buzarnescu who had the quality of tennis to bring down Radwanska’s game and pull off an upset despite the Polish star’s current rank.
How far do you think Radwanska will progress in the tournament? Tell us in the comments below!
