Linz, 14.Oktober 2009 - It might seem glamorous, but it isn’t easy to play in Beijing one week and Linz the next. Especially if you have played the Beijing final on a fast outdoor court and you have to switch to a slow court indoors. That was the challenge facing second seed Agnieszka Radwanska at the Generali Ladies on Wednesday, and she would be the first to admit that she didn’t play the greatest of matches. But she did enough to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu 6-4 6-2.

It was a bit messy, especially in the first set with the seven breaks of serve. The second set started off the same way with breaks in the first two games. Radwanska also had to fight off two break points before she managed to hold for 2-1, but then the Pole finally managed to assert herself and take control. A backhand winner down the line gave her a break for 4-2, and a further break at 5-2 gave her the match.

´Actually she’s uncomfortable to play, especially here where it’s slow and you can’t finish the ball that quick,´ said Radwanska. ´In the first set it was a little bit tight and was so close. In the second set I was feeling much better. It was tough because I’ve only practised once here, and this is indoors and the surface is so slow so you have to run three times more than in Asia. I’m just happy that I won in two sets and it was not that long because I’m a little bit tired after two busy weeks.´

She will now play Alize Cornet, who back in February was ranked 11 in the world. That was then. Now she is ranked 48 after an unexpected and extraordinary slump in form.

Up until February everything was fine, and the French teenager had won nine matches. But then it all turned sour. She did well in July in Bad Gastein where she won three matches to reach the semi-finals, but in her other 17 tournaments since February she won a total of only six matches.

On Wednesday she faced Germany’s Kristina Barrois, who had beaten her easily at Indian Wells at the beginning of her slump. This time Cornet came through 4-6 6-3 6-3. There was one break in the first set. In the second, Cornet leveled the match by breaking to lead 4-2 and then crucially saving a break point to hold for 5-2. In the final set, it was Cornet who earned the only break to lead 3-2.

´It was very important for me to win that match,´ she said. ´It’s been a tough year for me. The beginning of the year was not so bad, but then I got injured and my shoulder was really painful so I had to stop for a few weeks. Then I was less motivated and it was really hard to go on the court and play and fight like usually.

´I was not so much in the mood to play tennis. I was practising really good but each time I was going on the court for a competition I was not motivated anymore. I was playing one set and then not fighting anymore. It was not me because I really love tennis and the competition is my passion. The last two months has been better and I’m a fighter again on the court. I know I’m really ready to play my best tennis again. It’s a shame it’s the end of the year and I have to wait two more months for some tournaments.´

The less said about Bammer’s match, the better. She was beaten 6-3 6-1 in under an hour by Alexandra Dulgheru, who apologised afterwards for disappointing Bammer’s hometown supporters. The bare facts are that Bammer won just 36 percent of the points, was broken five times, and she won just 25 percent of points on her second serve. Disappointing from a player who had beaten Serena Williams just a couple of months ago on her way to the Cincinnati quarter-finals.

Third seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer struggled to beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, needing six set points to clinch the first set and earning just one break in the second set to lead 3-2. Fourth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain had an easier time in beating Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3 6-4, but fifth seeded Iveta Benesova fell 6-4 7-5 to Petra Kvitova in an all-Czech clash.