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 The Italian, who said she will retire after the tournament, struck
her 11th backhand winner crisply down the line on her fourth match
point to seal an impressive 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over the Pole at the
Singapore Indoor Stadium.
It was Pennetta's first win in the Red Group after she was blown
away by top seed Simona Halep of Romania 6-0 6-3 in her opener on
Sunday. The Italian said a pep talk from her coach had proved the
difference.
"(He) just came in the court and told me to be more aggressive, to
be more with my backhand more than my forehand," the 33-year-old
Italian told reporters.
"He just told me... 'keep going and try to go for the shot'."
Halep faces Maria Sharapova later on Tuesday where a victory for the
Romanian would eliminate Radwanska, who was beaten by the Russian in
her opener and looked weary after a hectic recent schedule in a bid
to qualify for the eight-woman finals.
"The concentration was really slipping away sometimes and I wasn't
focused enough," Radwanska said.
The Polish world number six had started brightly, twice holding a
break in the first set but was broken when trying to serve it out at
5-4 and Pennetta's dominant backhand took control as the Italian
prevailed in the tie-breaker.
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Pennetta had a worrying moment in the tie-breaker when she appeared
to hurt her ankle and needed a medical time out in the third game of
the second set because of blisters but the issues failed to halt her
ambition.
She crushed 37 winners against an increasingly deflated Radwanska,
who played with a heavily tapped shoulder, and secured the sole
break in the seventh game with a powerful backhand return before
confidently riding out winner.
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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