Radwanska Jnr stuns Kuzy in California

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:30

Serena and Venus be warned – there could be a new sister act in town, after Agnieszka Radwanska’s little sister Urszula produced the shock of the second round in Indian Wells.

The 18-year-old wildcard entrant, ranked No.107 in the world, sending No.6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova crashing out of the BNP Paribas Open 6-2 4-6 6-3.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, was simply overpowered by Radwanska, who raced through the first set, before the Russian launched a brief comeback in the second.

Both players claimed a break of serve in the final set before Radwanska crucially broke again in the eighth game and survived a marathon final service game to take the match.

Radwanska injured an ankle on her second match point and required treatment before Kuznetsova, last year’s beaten finalist, gave up a third match point, winning when the Russian dumped a forehand into the net.

Elsewhere, Kuznetsova’s compatriot and top seed Dinara Safina survived a test in her first set from Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria before winning her first match of the week 7-6(8) 6-2.

The Russian was broken at 4-4 in the first set, but although she immediately broke back Pironkova continued to apply the pressure, forcing Safina to save four set points in the tie-break before edging it 10-8.

With a set under her belt the dynamic of the match swung in Safina’s favour, and she swept through the second set to set up a third round showdown with Peng Shuai, who won 6-3 3-6 6-4 against Olga Govortsova.

Peng’s compatriot Li Na ousted No.13 seed Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-2, while Marion Bartoli’s recent run of form came to a surprise end at the hands of Shahar Peer after seemingly being in control of the match.

Bartoli cruised through the opening set, but Peer earned a crucial break of serve to level the match before edging the decider to pull through 1-6 6-4 7-5. She now faces No.19 seed Anna Chakvetadze.

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