Agnieszka Radwanska faces Serena Williams in the Wimbledon 2012 finals

The women’s singles of Wimbledon 2012 has been high on entertainment and at the same time extremely unpredictable. A few big names could not live up to their expectation and suffered agonizing upsets at the hands of their opponents. Maria Sharapova, who completed a career slam after winning the French Open not so long ago, suffered a humiliating fourth round defeat at the hands of Sabine Lisicki.Meanwhile, Petra Kvitova’s quest to retain the Wimbledon title came to an end in the quarter-final itself. The final promises to be a riveting encounter with two unlikely finalists Agnieszka Radwanska and Serena Williams pitted against each other. They have met each other only twice before, with Serena prevailing on both occasions- the latest of them being the Wimbledon 2008 quarter-final.

Though she is currently ranked third in the world and is one of the best female players around, Radwanska hasn’t enjoyed much success at the Grand slam level. In many aspects, Wimbledon 2012 is the first for her and her country. This is the first time, she has gone past the quarter-final of the Grand slam and this is also the first time a Polish women is participating in Grand Slam final. On the other hand, her American opponent Serena has had an illustrious career on the court, with twelve Grand slam singles and an equal number of Grand slam doubles titles to her credit. However the American,  blighted by injuries and inconsistent form, hasn’t won a Grand Slam in two years and would be hoping for an upswing in fortunes.

Serena’s journey to the final was nothing short of a roller-coaster ride, with so many twists and turns and near-death situations. However she kept her cool and  played some aggressive tennis en-route to the final. She decimated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 6-4 in first round and Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 in the second. In one of the most keenly fought contests of the tournament, Serena finally overcame Jie Zheng 6-7, 6-2, 9-7 in the third round, a game that lasted almost three hours. In the fourth round, she was involved in another thrilling encounter with Yaroslava Shvedova and finally prevailed 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. In what was probably the most important match, Serena hammered current champion Kvitova 6-3, 7-5 in the quarters before upsetting second seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-6 in the semis.

Radwanksa was at her marauding best throughout the tournament. Starting with a quick 6-3, 6-1 victory over Magdalena Rybarikova in the first round, she was equally impressive against Elina Vesnina of Russia in the second round and Heather Watson of Great Britain in the third round. She continued her fine form with an easy 6-2, 6-3 victory over Camila Giorgi in the fourth round. In the quarters, she dropped her first ever set of the competition against Maria Kirilenko but managed to overpower the Russian 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in a very closely fought game. She was back to her belligerent best against Angelique Kerber in the semis, hardly allowing the German enough breathing space and quickly finished her off 6-3, 6-4. Barely into her twenties, Radwanska has a glittering career ahead and Wimbledon 2012 could be her starting point.

Tags: Preview, Russia, Sharapova

Category: Tennis, Wimbledon