Wimbledon Day 8, Quarter-Final Preview: Agnieszka Radwanska v Madison Keys

KeysEquipped with a dreamy draw, Madison Keys has snapped up her berth in the final eight of Wimbledon. Last year, she won Eastbourne but then an injury forced to retire from a delayed third round match against Yaroslava Shvedova. This year she lost early in Eastbourne, trounced in fact by Belinda Bencic, 6-2 6-2. She came into Wimby fit and healthy but without matches; she got fortunate with the draw and has worked her way through it. Keys’s form has not been impressive at all but she’s been getting the wins. Against Stefanie Voegele in the first round, Keys was down a break and a set and against Olga Govortsova in the fourth round, she was also forced to come from a set down before edging a tight second set. Keys produced some remarkable defence on set point to force a decider. She lost her serve immediately at the start of the third set but played a sound game to break back before winning the next five games.

Radwanska is back in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon which never looked likely after she was dumped out of the first round of Roland Garros by Annika Beck. She had worrying losses to Monica Niculescu (5-7 6-4 6-0, semi-finals) and Belinda Bencic (6-4 4-6 6-0, final) at Nottingham and Eastbourne respectively but showed some great form before those matches. At Wimbledon, Radwanska was untroubled by two big hitters, Lucie Hradecka and Ajla Tomljanovic in the first two rounds and then produced a second set comeback to defeat Casey Dellacqua in straights. In the fourth round, Radwanska produced a majestic performance to take out Jelena Jankovic, 7-5 6-4. It was a wonderful match full of inventive rallies, plenty of shots at the net and both players being dragged to all positions of the court. Jankovic didn’t play a bad match at all, in fact she played a pretty great match. Radwanska just had that bit more court craft.

Radwanska leads the head-to-head against Keys, 3-0. Their closest match came at Wimbledon where Keys pushed Radwanska all the way in an entertaining three setter, 7-5 4-6 6-3. Form suggests Aga all the way. I can’t believe i’m even considering a Keys win because she has not played well at all. I’ve just got this nagging feeling that Keys might do something extraordinary. Keys is now in the quarters and i’m waiting for that moment where it all just clicks into place for her… i’m waiting for it, but I wonder if it’s just not coming!

I put my hands up here… this could be a hilarious misjudgement as if Keys is not on her game and can’t get her serve going, Radwanska will absolutely dance past her in two, easy sets. I still worry though that Aga is vulnerable after the year she has been through and what happened in Eastbourne where she was clearly choked losing in the final with a third set bagel. Again, please read the preview and don’t just judge the prediction because i’m really, really, really on the fence!

Prediction: Keys d. Radwanska in 3 sets

Poll results: 73% of readers correctly predicted that Radwanska would beat Keys and 82% of readers correctly predicted that Keys would beat Govortsova

30 thoughts on “Wimbledon Day 8, Quarter-Final Preview: Agnieszka Radwanska v Madison Keys

  1. This match is impossible to call.
    I am sure Davenport will give Keys good advice for this match.
    I still think Radwanska has trouble closing sets, she really needs to work on that. I hope Aga gives her 100% tomorrow and does not get down when she is trailing in the match.
    If Keys is playing her best I dont necessarily think it will go her away provided Radwanska also plays her best.

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  2. Im sure it’ll be a straight sets win. Leaning towards Radwanska, though Keys could well pull a blinder and blast her off the court.

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    • Keys is the American version of Kvitova. You don’t know what will happen next. Aga will induce long rallies because everyone knows Keys is most likely to find the net after 5 to 6 shots. Furthermore, Aga knows how to beat her. If she wants to beat Aga, she has to fire “ACES”. I love to see Keys winning but…

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      • Funnily enough I was watching Wawrinka thinking he was the make Kvitova. On his day it’d take a meteor to stop him. On his bad days I could beat him LOL.

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  3. This match to me is a ‘coin toss:)’ If Madison gets her serve and fhand going,she has to keep her UFE low,she has the power to hit Aga off the court,Aga will move Madison around the court,also will try to bring Madison forward to the net.I must say when Davenport took over coaching Madison,Madison’s movement has improved.

    Madison to win in 3 sets.

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  4. Logically, Aga should win this unless Keys firing up many aces. If Keys can get pass this test, she has a chance to reach the final. Like I said before, she needs one good match to ignite her.

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  5. Madison says her R3 loss to Aga at 2013 Wimbledon is her most tortured loss in her career, so she’ll probably come out really focused. Having said that, since 2012, and putting aside the weird performance against Makarova, Aga is so hard to put away at Wimbledon. I think Aga gets the win.

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  6. My pre match fav’s and Picks

    >>Agnieszka Radwanska to defeat Madison Keys—–with the kinda form Aga showed its hard to see Keys over-powering her.Aga is yet to lose a set while keys has got to QF’s toiling a lot.

    >> Serena to defeat Azarenka——I don’t see the Belarusian troubling Serena after her spectacular performance against her sis.

    >>Maria to defeat Coco—-Maria to march ahead if her first serve percentage is good.

    >>Mugu to defeat Timea—-Now this one is the trickiest of the lot but i will stick with Mugu as pre match fav.

    Disclaimer——In play match trade can change with in-play changes.Use your own skills.Stay safe.Cheerzzz

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    • @Vivek, quite interesting to see your list of pre match favs and picks. It would seem very clear to me that you are somewhat sitting on the fence and playing too safe. Normally, I would always look to a list like this to tell me about something interesting that I never knew. You just seem to have copied and pasted the bookies match list and believed it enough to publish it. I think I am going to be very safe with the prediction that you get at least one or two wrong for definite.(logical thinking) Here is where I think everyone’s focal point should be – Two pairs that must assuredly bring one winner from a common denominator; Sharapova vs Vandeweghe and Radwanska vs Keys. Both Americans play karma karzi tennis and are error machines. they are also the best pair of natural grass-courters among the four judging from the assortment of artilery. Both must produce at least one winner. The handicap of normal reasoning should lead one to believe once ball is in play Sharapova and Radwanska should be favorites every time. In conclusion I believe even though Keys seems to be slowly clawing her form back into place, there is still a gap too far to bridge as she comes against the water-tight defence of Aggy. the two of the flopped just before wimbledon at the hands of Bencic. I believe that it is Aggy who has healed better and is the one who is more zoned in. Really and truly I cannot see Madison winning too many rallies once ball in play.

      So it just means that I should have nothing to say about Vandeweghe as I have already excluded Madison. No criminal record, No previous fingerprints and no DNA. First meeting, has not dropped a set?? ok ok!! Just so that you do not get carried away with my boisterous silly rant on this chic,for betting purposes, Vandeweghe +4.5 brings the bacon home. It should really be interesting!!!!!

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      • Well Jite years of toiling and experience have taught me to always play safe.Excitement and action is for amaeturs and losers, pros only look for easy trades and run as soon as possible.Just because you want to listen something interesting from normal odds dosen’t mean that every other guy should sound different.

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      • Sharapova is a pretty great grass court player herself. She hits a hard, HEAVY ball that stays very low. Her serve really comes through on a grass court and it’s difficult for anyone to get back.
        Her problem the last few years has been making the transition from clay, but an extra week appears to have done her a lot of good. But losing the way she did to Kerber and Kvitova in ’14 and ’11 is no shame at all, they were both on fire.

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    • Garbine vs Timi will decide in three sets. It can go either way. I think Timi has better chance. I may be wrong but I really doubt Garbine can sustain her intensity. Not to mention that Timi will surely change her tempo and rhythm. Garbine will struggle with net plays and drop shots. Mind you, this Timis is no the AO 2015 Timi anymore.

      Coco vs Maria. It depends on one factor – their serves. If Maria serves are shit today, she will be punished. Coco is a crazy horse. It is difficult to tell her form. She can lose to anyone in two sets anytime (i.e. Kiki Bertens). However, I think this match will likely settle in three sets.

      I will probably keep my money for all these matches. I will sit back and enjoy these matches.

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      • I have this feeling Simon may upset. He’s looking like a potential upset. And Fed has cruised a little too easily. Playing somebody who gets most balls back after a string of big hitters could be challenging for Fed.

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      • True. Simon played really well to send birdman home. I think Birdman was working too hard overnight with her pretty wife before match loll!

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  7. Everyone on television has picked Keys against Radwanska, Wilander who gave good insights in Williams-Azarenka and Sharapova-Vandeweghe, went for power players in the bottom half for Muguruza and Keys.

    Personally I would like at least one crafty player in the final either Radwanska or Bacinszky. Though I dont know if we had any crafty players win Wimbledon since Hingis and Novotna back in the 1990s.

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    • Even the number of crafty players in the tour is dwindling by the years. If you have Maria Sharapova as the ‘Queen of Clay’ , a self professed ‘cow on ice’, cleaning up players on the craftiest of all surfaces, you know it is bleak times for said crafty types.

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      • Just because she won 2 French Open, she is Queen on clay. Serena have more titles on clay than Maria.

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      • Oh common dude….Joko is Joko……….no need to do anything now……made the amount that i wouldn’t in all the 4 ladies QF’s….but seriouly Andy is now the crown contender.

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      • I usually won’t bet on my fav. players when they play each other (Garbine and Timi). Maria, Aga, Serena won in 2-1 already made me smile.

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