With the spotlight almost exclusively on them, Julia Goerges and Agnieszka Radwanska delivered one of the highest-quality opening-round matches I've seen at any tournament. And even when the rain gave way to sun, and Novak Djokovic surfaced on Court 1, the Bravo television network stayed with this battle until its end (bravo). Because of that, we in the U.S. saw the coda of Goerges' tour de force, a rocket forehand return winner—her 56th of the match—that sealed her 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4 upset of the Wimbledon finalist.
Georges has been inside the Top 30 all year long, but she's only been beyond the quarterfinals of a tournament once (and that was way back in February, in Dubai). In the meantime, fellow Germans Mona Barthel, Sabine Lisicki, and especially Angelique Kerber have grabbed more headlines with their impressive play. Today was a reminder of what Goerges can do when her game is at its peak. Her shots—all of them—looked devastatingly beautiful on grass, and for all Radwanska was able to do on her own terms, she was never able to disrupt Georges' timing or explosiveness for extended spells.
Even the second set, which Radwanska took in a tiebreaker, was a struggle for the second seed. Her major liability was on display at 4-4, when Radwanska opened the court by deflecting a Goerges strike with her signature, "kneel-down" forehand but was unable to finish the point with a winner. Goerges didn't end up winning the point, but she got a good swing on the ball during a rally that probably should have been over. While Radwanska's game is fluid and very effective on turf, it's still susceptible to a powerful player that's hitting winners. Then again, I suppose anyone's game would be vulnerable to such an assault, but Radwanska’s in particular.
Radwanska helped her cause tremendously on serve, using a no-nonsense motion that inspires accuracy, if not aces (unlike Goerges, who struck 20). Her placement is so good and at times so tough to read—aside from the eventual match point—that Georges was often caught off guard when returning, giving Radwanska short replies to do with as she pleased. Two such serves (and subsequent Goerges errors) led to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreaker, which the Pole secured to force a third set.
Even when Radwanska broke to lead 2-1 in the third, Goerges never seemed out of contention. Her aggressive mentality earned her the break back to level the match at 3-3, and when she got one of the most generous net cords I’ve ever seen when serving at 4-4, 15-all, you had a feeling that it might be her day. But if Goerges was lucky during that game, one where she saved two break points and produced her toughest and most critical hold of the match (won with, of all shots, a dropper), she was showing skill the other 99 percent of the time.
With Radwanska serving down 5-4, she hit a running forehand well wide to fall behind 0-30. Goerges soon earned double match point with a down-the-line forehand that Radwanska could barely get a racquet on. Apparently, that wasn’t enough; Goerges’ rocket return winner flew past Radwanska, the favorite’s racquet, and zoomed the underdog into the second round.