Agnieszka Radwanska

2014 Roland Garros is officially underway! Agnieszka Radwanska was the first winner of this year’s tournament as she defeated the world number 34, Zhang Shuai, 6-3 6-0.  On paper, it looked like a tough match as Zhang has been in good form of late having made the quarter-finals of Rome.  It was a competitive start to the match as the pair traded six consecutive breaks.  Zhang has a powerful game and early on, she was taking advantage of Radwanska’s weak service deliveries, which weren’t doing much on this heavy Parisien surface.

After breaking again to *4-3, Radwanska took control of the match and didn’t lose another game as she wrapped up the victory in just 62 minutes.  Radwanska did what she does best, getting plenty of balls back, forcing errors and frustrating Zhang, who became far too impatient in the second set.  It was a tough draw for Zhang, who could have won a few rounds if she had been a little more fortunate.  Zhang will next be in action at the AEGON Classic at Birmingham in two weeks time.  This was a very solid start to the tournament for Radwanska who hit 21 winners to just 12 unforced errors in the match.  She will no doubt have been pleased to get the job done quickly after a competitive opening to the match.  She often gets bogged down in lengthy matches at the Grand Slams, which can affect her later on in the tournament.  Roland Garros is perhaps, Radwanska’s weakest slam.  The  draw is reasonable enough though that semi-finals should not be out of question if she continues to play well this fortnight.