For Agnieszka Radwanska to win a Major, it was commonly thought, Serena Williams, Vika Azarenka and Maria Sharapova would all have to be removed before the last four. One of them she could perhaps handle, particularly Sharapova over whom she has had some big wins, but two of them would always be too much.
At this year’s Wimbledon, Agnieszka Radwanska has been presented with a draw void of those three women. A bigger opportunity could not have come the way of last year’s Wimbledon finalist. Standing in her way of another final is the formidable German Sabine Lisicki, the Giant killer of Wimbledon, and quite the Grass court Giant herself. It is quite an obstacle.
Agnieszka can overcome it of course. She beat the German handily last year on the hard courts of Dubai and has the kind of game that can dismantle the German’s. While Sabine could, in theory, overwhelm her should her big serve and forehand hold up and her desire to move forward remain firm, should she wobble slightly, Radwanska will be there, ready and waiting. Lisicki has to come out firing. A slow start and Agnieszka will race ahead and be too consistent to overcome.
For Agnieszka, the circumstances of being the highest seed left and to many the favorite will be her first real test at a Major. No one expected her to beat Serena in last year’s final but this year a defeat will be seen as a failure. However the manner in which she took a set against Serena and the way in which she has maximized her game to climb into the elite suggests she can handle the pressure well and should be able to deflect it as easy as she does the pace of the hard hitters like Lisicki.
On the other half of the draw Marion Bartoli and Kirsten Flipkens will battle it out. While Marion is a former finalist and made the Quarters by beating Serena in 2010, her presence in the last four is somewhat of a surprise. She has barely been able to win consecutive matches this season and is undergoing a huge change in her coaching life with the absence of her father on her team. Yet the draw opened up for her, and there have been fewer fiercer opportunists than Bartoli, and Bartoli has moved through it comfortably, removing the much-hyped Sloane Stephens in straights. But while Bartoli might be a surprise face at this stage of her career, Kirsten Flipkens is the real shock, coming as she has out of the Azarenka part of the draw. Flipkens has never been to the last four of a Major but the Belgian has the game to do well on grass and the guts to beat the big players, and few come bigger than Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion, who may be struggling of late but is still a top tenner and whose champion status can never be removed.
The two have never met before and the match could go either way. Bartoli though is likely to emerge the winner. She has the experience and loves the big stage and it does not come bigger for her than Center Court. In 2007 Bartoli beat another Grass-loving Belgian in the last four in Justine Henin and this year her aggressive game played inside the court should be too much for another one.
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