Agnieszka Radwanska lists her favourite actress as Nicole Kidman.
Judging by the way she plays her tennis, the Australian Open fourth seed’s favourite Kidman movie is more likely to be “Dead Calm” than “Days of Thunder”.
There were few dazzling shots or big hits but even fewer errors as the calm, consistent Polish baseliner made Serbian star Ana Ivanovic her latest straight sets victim in what has already been an extraordinary year.
Radwanska won 6-2 6-4 in just 70 minutes on Sunday night to move into her third straight Australian Open quarter-final, against China’s Li Na.
It was her 13th straight win in succession this year, a run that has already netted titles in Auckland and Sydney.
She hit just 14 winners to Ivanovic’s 35, but made a remarkably low four unforced errors compared to the Serb’s 34.
After Radwanska cruised through the first set in just 27 minutes, Ivanovic, a former world No.1 and Australian Open finalist, tried to increase the tempo in the second, charging to the net more often.
It worked to an extent, making the match much more of a contest.
But Radwanska’s consistent placement and clever lobs still eventually wore down the crowd favourite, in what was the Pole’s fifth straight win over Ivanovic.
The in-form Radwanska fell at the quarter-final stage in the past two years and has never been further in Melbourne.
But she will like her chances against Li, who she beat comfortably in the semi-finals of the Sydney International.