It has been a turbulent few months for Agnieszka Radwanska. The Polish No. 1 has been on a disappointing trend of surprise losses and upsets that were anything but normal from one of the craftiest players on the tour. This week in Madrid, she was able to regain some of her long-lost fervor and secured her spot in the second round of the tournament. There, she will come up against Aussie Casey Dellacqua, whom she has only faced once previously on the professional tour. Radwanksa leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

Seeded ninth due to her drop in ranking, Radwanska produced a performance that fans had not seen in months, as she stormed to a 6-4, 3-0 lead against Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena before closing out the match six games later.

“Clay is not really my favorite surface, and every win for me is a good win,” Radwanska said. “I know Spaniards are very dangerous on clay, so I knew I’d have to run a lot today. We had a lot of good rallies. I think we had a really good match, so I’m happy I could win in straight sets today.”

Her opponent, Casey Dellacqua also needed just a pair of sets to advance to the second round of the tournament, as she beat Italian wildcard Francesca Shiavone 6-4, 7-6(5) to set up the rematch.
This is just the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional series, with Radwanska leading the head-to-head series 1-0. The Pole’s victory took place during a Wimbledon encounter last season, which does not add much to their upcoming clay-court encounter. While the Pole should find solace in her solid showing on Sunday, she will have to show consistency if she is to advance on a surface that she doesn’t find overly comfortable.