Ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska sealed her place in the second week at Wimbledon for the sixth consecutive year earlier today, with the Pole coming from a set down to beat 19th seed Timea Bacsinszky 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court.

Agnieszka Radwanska in action during her third round victory today (Getty/Clive Brunskill)
Agnieszka Radwanska in action during her third round victory today (Getty/Clive Brunskill)

Radwanska, who has struggled throughout 2017 ahead of Wimbledon, was simply overpowered in the first set and looked set for another early exit, though made just five unforced errors in the second and third sets as she eventually nullified the threat from Bacsinszky, who became far too erratic in the final stages to secure the victory.

The Pole will next be in action on Monday, where she will face off against seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the last eight.

Radwanska just too consistent for Bacsinszky

It was undoubtedly a nervy start by both women, with a trade of breaks opening proceedings on Centre Court, though both seemingly settled into the match as both held to restore order. However, with her confidence seemingly buoyed by her run to the French Open semifinal last month, Bacsinszky was the far more aggressive of the two and broke for the second time, this time consolidating for a 4-2 lead in the opener.

Whilst Bacsinszky was effectively attacking and looking fairly comfortable on court, Radwanska, as she has looked for large parts of the season, was far too passive and was unable to threaten the Swiss in the closing stages of the first set. The Pole gave the 19th seed an opportunity to break for the third time with some poor play, and a backhand winner saw the Swiss break to seal the opening set 6-3.

Timea Bacsinszky during her third round loss to Agnieskza Radwanska at Wimbledon (Getty/Clive Brunskill)
Timea Bacsinszky during her third round loss to Agnieszka Radwanska at Wimbledon (Getty/Clive Brunskill)

Bacsinszky had been the better player by a reasonable margin in the opening set, though crucially missed the opportunity to break Radwanska in the ninth seeds opening game of the second set, and the Pole began to grow in confidence. With a few more errors creeping into the Swiss’ game, the ninth-seeded Pole became more free with her play and broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set.

The Pole was now fairly impressive on serve, stopping Bacsinszky from taking any potential opportunity and consistently easing herself towards taking herself to a decider. After one poor service game, Bacsinszky was solid on her own serve, but she could do little as Radwanska comfortably held to send this match to a decider, and a break to start the decider put the former Wimbledon finalist in the driving seat.

Timea Bacsinszky and Agnieszka Radwanska meet at the net following their third round encounter (Getty/Clive Brunskill)
Timea Bacsinszky and Agnieszka Radwanska meet at the net following their third round encounter (Getty/Clive Brunskill)

By this point, Bacsinszky was making far too many mistakes, and she was made to pay for them by her opponent, who was now putting in one of her most composed performances of the season. Radwanska sealed a double break to put herself three games from victory, and it was evident by now that the nineteenth seed had little fight left, with the Pole breaking for the third time. Radwanska suffered a slight wobble serving for the win, losing serve despite building a 30-0 lead, though she recovered to break to seal a place in the second week.

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About the author
Oliver Dickson Jefford
20. English Literature student at the University of Southampton. Aspiring sports journalist from Hertfordshire.