World No. 1 Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska for the eighth time in eight matches to move ominously towards the semi-finals of the WTA Championships on Wednesday.
The US player was again too strong for the Pole in a 6-2, 6-4 victory to stay in charge of Red Group with one more round-robin match to come against Petra Kvitova, another player to whom she has never suffered defeat.
“Radwanska definitely played pretty well. Am I happy? I guess. I’m happy to still be alive in the tournament, but, you know, I can always look to improve on some things,” Williams told reporters after her 75th match win of a dominant year.
Photo: AFP
“My serve wasn’t as good today as it was yesterday, but, you know, you can’t expect it to be great every day. It wasn’t easy.” she added. “It’s the end of the year and I’m a little tired, so I really had to fight in that second set to stay up mentally.”
Radwanska, whose only set against the 32-year-old Williams came in last year’s Wimbledon final, is unlikely to survive the group after two defeats so far at the season-ender.
Earlier in the White Group, Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic beat second seed Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3, aided by 40 unforced errors from her erratic opponent.
“It feels incredible to beat Azarenka here in Istanbul,” said former world No. 1 Jankovic, making her first appearance at the event for three years.
“I was so excited to qualify and give myself a chance to play against the best players in the world once again, and to win today is amazing. Every match in the round-robin format counts and every match is difficult, too. I’m really happy. Beating Vika will give me a lot of confidence going into the next matches,” she added.
Jankovic had lost her last 17 matches against players ranked in the top four.
Azarenka had won her opening match against Sara Errani on Tuesday and was scheduled to have a day off yesterday, while Jankovic was to play her second round-robin match against China’s Li Na.
Li beat an injury-hit Errani 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to raise hopes of surviving the round-robin stage after failing to do so in 2011 and last year.
“It was important to win the first match because it is always tough. Sara was fighting a lot today, she is always a tough fighter,” Li said.
Errani, who had her calf heavily strapped, has lost both matches so far.
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