Bouchard, Radwanska Roll Into Sydney Semifinals
Eugenie Bouchard continued her excellent start to the 2017 season, advancing to the Apia International Sydney semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasia Pavyluchenkova on Wednesday.
Bouchard saved the only break point she faced and converted on three break points to dismiss Pavlyuchenkova in one hour and 16 minutes.
“I feel more and more confidence every day,” said Bouchard. “I feel like I’m getting back into the rhythm of things a little bit, but it’s a long road.”
The former Wimbledon finalist moves into a matchup with Great Britian’s Johanna Konta in the semifinals.
Konta defeated Russian Daria Kasatkina, who defeated world number one Angelique Kerber on Tuesday, 6-3, 7-5 in her quarterfinal matchup.
Second-seed Agnieszka Radwanska pushed through into the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over qualifier Duan Ying-Ying. The match was a rematch of her season opener against Ying-Ying, when Radwanska had to save three match points to advance
“Sometimes you play people two or three weeks in a row, like Caroline [Wozniacki] and I had last year in Asia, but I’m definitely more happy with this performance than [the one] in Shenzhen,” said Radwanska. “It’s another semifinal here, so I’m very happy with that.”
Radwanska, the 2012 champion in Sydney, will take on Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals.
Strycova overcame the heat and a resilient Caroline Wozniacki to advance to the semifinals, downing the former world number one 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4.
“At the beginning of the third set, I was down and not moving very well. But then I was saying to myself, keep going. Don’t say anything; don’t be negative. Just play point by point,” said Strycova. “That actually helped me. And I was playing very well when it was 3-3, the game, even I lost it. And then I was confident in finding a way to finish it.”
