Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska survived a thrilling fightback by American Jill Craybas to win the Pattaya Open on Sunday and capture her second career title. Radwanska battled through a turbulent two-hour match to win 6-2 1-6 7-6, beating the determined Craybas 7-4 in a tense final-set tiebreaker.
"It was a very strange match, but the most important thing is I won the match," said Radwanska, who has gained a reputation as a tennis giant-slayer having knocked out Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova in her last two grand slams.
"I was very surprised, the first and second sets were over quickly, the third set should have been easy for me but it wasn't," she told reporters.
Radwanska looked on course for another easy win after outclassing her error-prone opponent in the first set but the seventh-seeded Craybas turned the tables in the second.
Craybas's stinging returns started finding the court instead of the net, drawing the usually composed Radwanska into a string of uncharacteristic mistakes to force the decider. The 18-year-old Pole came back fighting and stormed to a 5-1 lead but Craybas refused to give in, stunning Radwanska by saving two championship points and surging ahead 6-5.
Radwanska came out on top in a final game loaded with long, entertaining rallies to force the tiebreak. "She came back, she was fighting to the last point, I could have finished the match twice, but I didn't," Radwanska added. "I was nervous and everything put me off."