Women’s ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska has been dumped from Australian Open 2009, going down in a tight three-set match against Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko.
Battling in hot and windy conditions, the 19-year-old Pole, who won three tour singles titles in 2008 on her way to breaking into the top 10, fought hard to stay in the match but was ultimately beaten by 7-6(7) 4-6 6-1 in two hours and 19 minutes.
Bondarenko, the 2004 Wimbledon girls’ singles champion, took the lead in the first set 3-1 before Radwanska broke back and eventually sent the set to a tiebreaker.
With neither player conceding any ground, the tiebreak levelled at 6-6. Bondarenko then produced a superb cross-court winner to edge her into the lead. Fists pumped, the Ukrainian had the impetus she needed and took the tiebreaker 9-7.
The second set saw Radwanska take her game to the net. Five winning volleys and two converted break points helped her take it out 6-4 to level the match.
By the third set, it seemed as though the warm conditions and Bondarenko’s opponent’s relentless pressure had taken their toll on Radwanska. Her percentage of first serves dropped to just 29 per cent, and trailing 5-0, Radwanska made one final effort to get back into the match, but only managed to win one game before bowing out.
Bondarenko now progresses to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time, where she’ll take on the winner of the Ekaterina Bychkova and Lourdes Dominguez Lino match.
Quick facts
Bondarenko won 49 per cent of receiving points compared to Radwanska’s 41 per cent
Bondarenko hit 27 backhand winners to Radwanska’s five
Radwanska made 51 unforced errors to Bondarenko’s 35
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