Agnieszka Radwanska beats Garbine Muguruza at WTA Finals to keep back-to-back title hopes alive
Wednesday 26 October 2016 17:58, UK
Agnieszka Radwanska's 7-6 6-3 victory was a much-needed win for the defending champion, who lost after squandering a match point in her opening match against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The world number three was back to her usual self in Singapore for the second round of White Group matches, and has edged closer to a place in the semi-finals with a comfortable straight sets victory over Garbine Muguruza.
Radwanska, who pipped Petra Kvitova - absent this year - to the crown in 2015, never looked troubled as she outwitted and outlasted the current French Open champion.
The first set was intense, and swiftly resulted in a tie break which Radwanska dominated, winning 7-1.
Muguruza, beaten by Radwanska at the semi-final stage at this event last year, cut an unsettled figure, finding the net all too often. The Spaniard's game was littered with unforced errors: 24 in the opening set to Radwanska's 9.
The second set was a much more one-sided affair. Muguruza grew increasingly frustrated - visibly slumping and muttering to herself in between rallies.
For a fleeting moment she looked to have found a foothold in the second set, with an early break, but was immediately broken back, and the reigning champion reinforced her lead with a further break in the seventh game, backed up with a classy hold to love, moving her a game away from victory at 5-3.
In the blink of an eye it was all over and Radwanska kept her hopes of a second successive Tour Finals victory alive. She remains behind surprise group leader Kuznetsova, but is back in the running in Singapore.
