Polish world No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska was untested in a second round whitewash on Thursday, winning 6-0 6-2 over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva.
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Radwanska has now lost only three games on her way to the third round after thrashing German Tatjana Malek 6-0 6-1 in her opening match.
Kudryavtseva was never able to find her balance or range in the 71-minute encounter. The world- No. 88 hit tentatively, landing balls half-way up the net or well over the sidelines. Her play was frustrating for the small crowd on Show Court 2, who caught all too infrequent glimpses of the Russian’s potential.
It seemed that all Radwanska needed to do to win the first set was get the ball back over the net and let Kudryavtseva do the rest. By the end of the match, over half of Radwanska’s points had come from her opponent’s unforced errors.
Stung by the first set scoreline, the Russian put up a better fight in the second, getting greater penetration with her groundstrokes. Both players had their opening service games broken, and Radwanska was forced to save break points on her serve in the third game, the longest of the match. But the normally consistent Kudryavtseva, who has a doubles ranking of 32, was unable to keep the ball in the singles court on Thursday. The Muscovite held serve to level 2-2, but only after making it difficult for herself by dragging an easy smash into the bottom of the net.
Radwanska, who became Poland’s first female top 10 player in 2008, finally broke into a sweat, saving break points in the fifth game. She then grasped her opportunities to run away 6-2 in a set that was closer than the scoreline indicated.
The 20-year-old will meet the winner of today’s match between Frenchwoman Julie Coin and 17th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone.
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