Agnieszka Radwańska

Agnieszka Radwańska

Radwańska after winning Toray Pan Pacific Open in 2011
Country (sports)	Poland
Residence	Kraków, Poland
Born	(1989-03-06) 6 March 1989 Kraków, Poland
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	23 April 2005
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$13,138,492
Singles
Career record	400 - 167 (70%)
Career titles	13 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 2 (9 July 2012)
Current ranking	No. 4 (23 September 2013)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013)
French Open	QF (2013)
Wimbledon	F (2012)
US Open	4R (2007, 2008, 2012, 2013)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2012)
Doubles
Career record	111–86
Career titles	2 WTA, 2 ITF titles
Highest ranking	No. 16 (10 October 2011)
Current ranking	No. 336 (24 June 2013)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2010)
French Open	QF (2009, 2010)
Wimbledon	3R (2007, 2011, 2012)
US Open	SF (2011)
Last updated on: 17 June 2013.

Agnieszka Radwańska [aɡˈɲɛʂka radˈvaɲska] (born 6 March 1989) is a Polish professional tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 2 in July 2012, and is currently ranked world no. 4. Known for constructing points and making intelligent use of the court, she has won twelve career singles titles.

Radwańska holds a number of tennis accolades. She is the first Polish player in the Open Era to reach the singles final of a Grand Slam (the 2012 Wimbledon Championships), the first Pole to claim a WTA singles title (the 2007 Nordea Nordic Light Open), and the winner of the longest three-set match played at the WTA Tour Championships. She won the WTA Award for Most Impressive Newcomer in 2006, and has been voted the WTA's most popular player for two consecutive years (2011–2012) in polls held by WTATennis.com.

For her accomplishments in sport and for representing her country with distinction, in 2013 she was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski.

Personal life

Born in Kraków, Radwańska began playing tennis at the age of four after her father introduced her to the sport. Her younger sister, Urszula, is also a tennis player. Radwańska has named Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis as inspirations. In 2009, Radwańska became a WTA ambassador for Habitat for Humanity. She has also studied tourism at universities in Kraków. Radwańska is a practicing Roman Catholic, and she took part in the Polish Catholic campaign "Nie wstydzę się Jezusa!" ("I'm not ashamed of Jesus!"). She released a video for the campaign in which she urged her fans to "not be ashamed of believing" and arranged her tennis balls so they would read "JEZUS" ("JESUS"). In the summer of 2013, she was disqualified from this campaign after posing naked for ESPN's The Body Issue.

Career

2005–2006: Early years

Radwańska won the junior singles title at Wimbledon in 2005, defeating Tamira Paszek. She went on to win the junior French Open title in 2006 with a victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She played her first WTA tournament at the 2006 J&S Cup (later known as the Warsaw Open) in Warsaw, defeating Anastasia Myskina in her opening match. She advanced to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Elena Dementieva in three sets.

At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the fourth round to Kim Clijsters. She went on to drop a second-round match to Tatiana Golovin at the US Open. At the Fortis Championships Luxembourg tournament, Radwańska lost in the semifinals to Francesca Schiavone after defeating former world no. 1 Venus Williams in the second round and Dementieva in the quarterfinals.

2007–2008: Tennis firsts

Radwańska in action at the 2007 US Open.

Radwańska participated at the 2007 Australian Open, but she was upset by Ana Ivanovic in the second round. At the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open, Radwańska defeated her longtime idol, Martina Hingis, in a three-set third-round match. She exited in the fourth round following a loss to Tathiana Garbin.

In August 2007, Agnieszka Radwańska became the first Polish player in history to claim a WTA tour singles title, defeating Vera Dushevina in the final of the Nordea Nordic Light Open. She went on to defeat defending champion Maria Sharapova in the third round of the US Open, before losing to Shahar Pe'er in the fourth round.

Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open, upsetting world no. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round, then following it up with a defeat of 14th seeded Nadia Petrova before eventually falling to Daniela Hantuchová. At the Pattaya Women's Open in Thailand, Radwańska won her second WTA singles title, beating Jill Craybas in the final. At the Qatar Ladies Open, Radwańska reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. In May 2008, she won the İstanbul Cup on red clay with a victory over Elena Dementieva, earning her third WTA title. She then reached the fourth round of the French Open, but was defeated there by third-seed and eventual semi-finalist Jelena Janković.

On grass, Radwańska won the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, defeating Nadia Petrova in the final. At Wimbledon, she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, then lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. At the Olympics in Beijing, Radwańska lost a second-round match to Francesca Schiavone. She went on to reach the fourth round of the US Open, losing to Venus Williams. She later went to the 2008 WTA Tour Championships as an alternate and replaced Ana Ivanovic after the latter withdrew. She defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. Radwańska ended the year as the first Polish woman to surpass US $1 million in career prize money, as well as the first to be ranked world no. 10.

2009–2010

Radwańska playing at the 2009 US Open.

Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Medibank International Sydney, losing in three sets to eventual champion Elena Dementieva. She was defeated in the first round of the Australian Open by Kateryna Bondarenko.

At the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, she defeated Samantha Stosur and Aleksandra Wozniak en route to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. At the Sony Ericsson Open, she lost a three-set fourth-round match to Venus Williams. She reached the fourth round of the 2009 French Open, falling in three sets to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. She and Urszula also reached the quarterfinals in doubles. She went on to reach her second consecutive quarterfinal at Wimbledon, falling to Venus Williams.

She reached her first semifinal of the 2009 season in Tokyo, where she fell in three sets to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. She reached her first final of the year in China, losing in straight sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Radwańska and her doubles partner Maria Kirilenko reached the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open, losing to the world no. 1 pairing of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in three sets. In Indian Wells, Radwańska won her fifth straight match against Marion Bartoli, and went on to upset Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals before losing to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. Radwańska entered the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was defeated in the quarterfinals by Venus Williams. At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, she was defeated in the fourth round by Li Na, whom she had beaten at the same stage the previous year.

Radwańska reached the final of the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open, falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Due to a stress fracture in her foot, Radwańska's 2010 season ended at the China Open, where she lost a three-set match to Angelique Kerber. Radwańska subsequently finished 2010 outside the Top 10.

2011: Ascent

Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. She went on to reach the fourth round in Indian Wells, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka, and the quarterfinals in Miami, losing to Vera Zvonareva. However, she won the Miami doubles title with Daniela Hantuchová, defeating Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber. She went on to reach the fourth round of the 2011 French Open, losing to Maria Sharapova.

Radwańska suffered her earliest ever exit at Wimbledon, when she was defeated in the second round by Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovská. At the 2011 Mercury Insurance Open, Radwańska advanced to the final and defeated rival Vera Zvonareva in straight sets. With the victory, she earned her first title since winning in Eastbourne in 2008. At the 2011 Rogers Cup in Toronto, she once again defeated Zvonareva in the third round, coming back from a 0–4 deficit in the second set. She went on to lose a three-set semifinal match against Samantha Stosur.

After defeating her sister Urszula in the first round of the US Open, she was upset in the second round by eventual semifinalist Angelique Kerber. She avenged this loss at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, defeating Kerber in three sets before advancing to the final, where she won her third straight match against Vera Zvonareva, earning her first Premier 5 title.

At the 2011 China Open, she defeated Zheng Jie, Sofia Arvidsson, Ana Ivanovic (who retired from their quarter-final match due to a back injury), and Flavia Pennetta in straight sets, before winning a three-set final against Andrea Petkovic. She qualified for her first season-ending championship at the WTA Championships in Istanbul, taking the 8th spot when Marion Bartoli was unable to win the title in Moscow.

Going into the 2011 WTA Tour Championships, Radwańska was labeled by the media as one of the hottest players on tour. She dropped a three-set opening match to Caroline Wozniacki. She then won her fourth straight match against Vera Zvonareva, coming back from a 3–5 deficit in the third set and saving three match points. To advance to the semifinals, she needed to win at least one set against Petra Kvitová, but eventually lost in straight sets. She ended the year ranked 8th with a 46–18 record, and was named WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player.

2012: World No. 2 & first Grand Slam final

During the first four months of 2012, Radwańska won two singles titles and amassed a record of 28–5, defeating all opponents but then-world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka.

Following losses in the Apia International, the Australian Open, and the Qatar Total Open, she won her first title of the season at the Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating Julia Görges in straight sets. After advancing to the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, she reached a new ranking of world no. 4. Her second title came at the Sony Ericsson Open, where she defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, advancing to a championship match against Maria Sharapova. Radwańska won the championship without losing a set throughout the tournament.

Her fifth loss of the season, and fifth to Azarenka, came in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She then entered the Mutua Madrid Open, where she lost to Azarenka in the semifinals, securing the world no. 3 ranking. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she lost her opening-round match to Petra Cetkovská, marking her first loss of the year to someone other than Azarenka. In the final of the Brussels Open, Radwańska defeated Simona Halep in straight sets, winning her third WTA title of the year and tenth in her career. At the French Open, she defeated Venus Williams in the second round, but then fell in the third round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Radwańska reached her first career Grand Slam final at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals and Angelique Kerber in the semifinals, losing the championship match to Serena Williams in three sets. By advancing to the final, she became the first Polish player in the Open Era to reach the championship round of a Grand Slam singles tournament, and attained a new ranking of world no. 2. Radwańska was the flag bearer for Poland in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She lost in the opening round to Julia Görges.

During the summer hard court season Radwańska was twice one match away from becoming the world no. 1. She would lose to Li Na on both occasions, in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Rogers Cup and the 2012 Western & Southern Open. Radwańska was defeated in the fourth round of the 2012 US Open by Roberta Vinci. She again reached the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, losing in three sets to Nadia Petrova. She exited the China Open following a quarterfinal loss to Li Na. Radwańska won her opening round robin match at the WTA Championships, defeating the defending champion Petra Kvitová in straight sets. She then lost a three-set match to Maria Sharapova. She advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Sara Errani, which marked the longest three-set match in the history of the tournament, but exited following a loss to Serena Williams. She then defeated Williams in straight sets during an exhibition in Toronto. At the conclusion of the season, Radwańska won WTA Awards for Fan Favorite Facebook Profile and Fan Favorite Video, and was again named Fan Favorite Singles Player.

2013

Radwańska began her season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where she defeated Yanina Wickmayer in the final to win the 11th singles title of her career. She won her second straight tournament of 2013 at the Apia International, where she defeated Dominika Cibulková without losing a game.

Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, exiting the tournament following a loss to Li Na. She went on to play the Qatar Total Open where she was eliminated in the semifinals by then-world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka, the eventual champion. She also reached the quarterfinals in Dubai, where she lost to Petra Kvitová. In the BNP Paribas Open, she lost in the fourth round to Maria Kirilenko. She then entered the Sony Open as the defending champion. During her quarterfinal win against Kirsten Flipkens, Radwańska won a point with a spinning backhand volley, which was labeled the shot of the year by numerous media outlets. She exited the tournament with a loss to Serena Williams in the semifinals. After early losses in her clay court season, she advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time, where she lost to fifth seed Sara Errani. She beat Li Na in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2013 but lost her semfinal match to Sabine Lisicki. She then entered the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, where she has received a bye into the second round and beat Francesca Schiavone for a place in the quarterfinals. She then beat 6th seed Varvara Lepchenko, as well as Jamie Hampton, losing to Dominika Cibulková in the final.

In September, Radwańska defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win the KDB Korea Open, her third singles title of 2013.

Rivalries

Radwańska vs. Zvonareva

Radwańska and Zvonareva following the 2011 Pan Pacific Open final.

Radwańska has a rivalry with Russian player Vera Zvonareva, which began in 2007. Radwańska leads the series 4–2.

Throughout their meetings, Radwańska has proven able to match Zvonareva's pace and movements around the court. Zvonareva is considered the more powerful of the two, while Radwańska has been noted as more focused at times, utilizing what Sports Illustrated's Courtney Nguyen dubbed "selective aggression" during the pair's 2011 matches.

Their first match occurred during the 2007 Kremlin Cup, with Zvonareva winning in straight sets. The two did not play again until the 2011 season, when Radwańska won four of their five matches—including the finals of the Mercury Insurance Open and the Pan Pacific Open. Their final meeting of 2011 was an acclaimed match at the WTA Championships. Trailing 3–5 in the third set, Radwańska saved three match points and went on to win in three sets. The victory marked her fourth straight win against Zvonareva, whom she described as "very consistent and always tough to beat."

Radwańska vs. Li

Radwańska and Li Na first played in 2009. Li leads the series 6–5. Radwańska has won the majority of their matches on grass and their only meeting on clay. Li leads the rivalry on hard courts.

Radwańska vs. Ivanovic

Radwańska and Ana Ivanovic had their first professional meeting in 2006. Radwańska leads the series 8–3. The majority of their matches have been played on hard courts. Radwańska leads their match-ups on clay.

Playing style and equipment

Radwańska hitting a crouching forehand.

In 2012, Tom Perrotta of The Wall Street Journal called Radwańska "the most tactically sound, subtle tennis player in the world."

Radwańska's game is founded on variety, mobility, and a tendency to anticipate her opponent's movements. She often uses this style to construct rallies—either opening the court up for a winner, or prompting a surprised opponent to hit a misplaced return. Her primary weapons include a mixture of slices and lobs, along with her ability to hit the ball at a variety of angles. She also makes use of a disguised drop shot, often swung with the same motion as a normal stroke during a rally. She is also noted for her crouching shots, during which she quickly drops in place to return or redirect a low ball, along with her use of an overhead backhand while on defense.

One of Radwańska's main weaknesses is her lack of power in her serve and return. Her serve, especially her second serve, is generally slow and vulnerable to attack. Her shots sometimes lack penetration on the court, posing little threat to power hitters.

Tennis commentators, including former pro Wojciech Fibak, have compared her playing style to that of Martina Hingis, with Fibak describing her as "a natural mover who understands the geometry of the court". Radwańska has cited Hingis as an inspiration. She and Hingis had their lone career meeting in 2007, with Radwańska winning in three sets.

Radwańska uses Babolat Pure Drive Lite racquets, and is sponsored by Lotto apparel.

Coaches

In 2011, Radwańska began working with Fed Cup coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who replaced her father. Borna Bikic, a veteran coach on the WTA Tour, briefly joined them in 2012.

Career statistics

Main article: Agnieszka Radwańska career statistics

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	2012	Wimbledon	Grass	Serena Williams	1–6, 7–5, 2–6

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	SR	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	2R	QF	1R	3R	QF	QF	QF	0 / 7	19–7
French Open	A	1R	4R	4R	2R	4R	3R	QF	0 / 7	16–7
Wimbledon	4R	3R	QF	QF	4R	2R	F	SF	0 / 8	28–8
US Open	2R	4R	4R	2R	2R	2R	4R	4R	0 / 8	16–8
Win–Loss	4–2	6–4	14–4	8–4	7–4	9–4	15–4	16–4	0 / 30	79–30

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	SR	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	1R	1R	2R	SF	3R	3R	A	0 / 6	9–6
French Open	3R	1R	QF	QF	1R	2R	A	0 / 6	9–6
Wimbledon	3R	2R	1R	2R	3R	3R	A	0 / 6	8–6
US Open	2R	1R	1R	3R	SF	A		0 / 5	7–5
Win–Loss	5–4	1–4	4–4	10–4	8–4	5–3		0 / 23	33–23

Awards

2006

• WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year

2011

• WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player

2012

• WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player
• WTA Fan Favourite Video
• WTA Fan Favourite Fanpage on Facebook

2013

• Fed Cup Heart Award

See also

• Poland Fed Cup team

References

External links

• Official website
• Agnieszka Radwańska at the Women's Tennis Association
• Template:ITF junior profile
• Agnieszka Radwańska at the Billie Jean King Cup